Radiohead – The King of Limbs
Unfortunately, one of the best albums of the year (in my opinion) has been subject to some of the worst qualities of the music-listening world: shallowness, self-righteousness, and stubbornness. Listeners who were waiting for a logical follow-up to 2007’s brilliant In Rainbows instead got a follow-up that was something more [...]

Not all of your favorite songs made the cut for WVAU’s Top 10. Here are 10 honorable mentions, with music by Smith Westerns, Wild Flag and Neon Indian.

Lou Reed and Metallica – Lulu
I know what they say about Lulu. But I listened anyway, and found out they’re completely wrong. The negativity surrounding Lulu started before the album even came out, with critics tearing apart the odd combination of Lou’s deadpan voice and Metallica’s power riffs, and internet trolls turning the repeated line [...]

#2 Album:
St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
It is more than understandable that Annie Clark is perhaps the most lusted-after woman in indie-rock today (she tops the list of Stereogum’s top indie crushes of 2011), but for slightly less obvious reasons than one might suppose. Beyond her stunningly good looks, skin so-fair-it’s-not-fair, impeccable style, and impressive musicianship [...]

#3 Album:
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
“This is not a place,” Justin Vernon coos on the album’s glacial introduction, “Perth.” Bon Iver’s first album (2008’s haunting For Emma, Forever Ago) is largely associated with its creation during his heartbroken retreat to an isolated northern cabin, a detail that adds special poignancy to its spare beauty. But [...]

The Front Bottoms – The Front Bottoms
Did your 2011 lack the dark comedy lyrics of folk punk, the danceable melodies of your favorite 2009 synth-pop band, the belting choruses of your emotional middle school years, and the DIY New Jersey attitude? Have no fear, The Front Bottoms are here.
On their self-titled debut [...]

Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra.
With his first major release, Frank Ocean emerges as a broken-hearted sensitive crooner (a.k.a. an oddball) in the OFWGKTA crew, the angry youth-driven group that the public has deemed to be the worst thing since unsliced bread. While parents worried themselves silly with the Wolf Gang’s violent-sex crazed dirty raps, Ocean [...]