Hey, wake up! This is important. As we all know, last year cannot officially end until Poploser shares its favorite albums (and apparently I slept on my own editorial deadline of 11:59pm on December 31.) After careful deliberation (read: 3-12 beers), we have compiled an authoritative list on the ten best albums of 2011. Our intrepid staff writer/bourbon connoisseur, Grant (pictured on right, working hard on his next Poploser article), even shared our list with the Village Voice‘s famous Pazz & Jop poll.

Just for you, the all-important reader/accidental visitor, we will attempt to nutshell each album with the verve and pinnache that is the hallmark of Poploser’s priceless insights.
So yeah, you’re welcome.

Remember when guitars were the focal point of a song, “indie” was “alternative”, and Kennedy was somebody? All the Islands do. The Future Starts Somewhere is teeming with 90s nostalgia: barely audible, shoegazer-inspired vocal phrasings, distorted waves of tonal guitars interrupted by minor chord musings, precision percussion, and washed-out bass lines holding the entire beautifully muddled, melodic mess up. Add a trendy dash of progressive rock, and you have The Future Starts Somewhere: an infallible album fit for both the aged and grizzled veterans of the 90s alternative circuit and the exploratory ears of today’s sonic youth. Grab this Oslo foursome’s album today.

♫ “Grabbed the Wheel”