As someone who rarely consumes music from some genres, I don’t feel justified in making a “top” list for 2011. The “favorite” appellation should give me latitude to feature those albums that I liked best, free from any obligation to consider music from genres that I don’t enjoy as much. My listening habits have skewed more folk in the last year or two, though I don’t think I’m pigeonholed just yet.

2011 was an interesting year, musically. Reflecting on the albums that came out, there were a few disappointments. Among others, Radiohead, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, tUnE-yArDs and Wilco released albums that weren’t nearly as gripping as their previous work. On the plus side, I got to see more live music than ever, including most musicians on this list. Here are my eight favorite albums. Enjoy!

1. Frank Fairfield – Out on the Open West (Poor Old Lance)
2. Tristen – Charlatans at the Garden Gate (Matchstick Murder)
3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Minnesota, WI)
4. Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings – The Harrow & The Harvest (Down Along the Dixie Line)
5. Adele – 21 (Someone Like You)
6. Beirut – The Rip Tide (Payne’s Bay)
7. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (New Years’ Eve)
8. Jolie Holland – Pint of Blood (Little Birds)