As usual, the top 10 is largely made out of old favourites of mine with the top 3 artists on the chart remaining unchanged from last year. Arcade Fire jumped 20 spots all the way to #4 on the strength of their most recent album The Suburbs, and TV On The Radio was the other modern artist in the top 10 climbing six spots to land at #6.
Big jumps were made by three bands who released new albums in 2011: Iron & Wine, The Decemberists, and Fleet Foxes. All three bands are also major contenders in this year's Dynammy Awards.
The biggest heatseeker in the top 50 was Shearwater who leaped 167 points to land at #25 on the chart. This was mostly thanks to last year's Dynammy Award winning album The Golden Archipelago which had several tracks in heavy rotation for most of the year. Shearwater has a new album coming in 2012, and the first single Breaking The Yearlings just became the first new song I've added into heavy rotation in 2012, so it remains to be seen whether Shearwater's latest album will have a similar impact on the charts.
And now, without any further delay, here's the chart in its entireity:
Top 50 Artists
1. Led Zeppelin [no change]
2. The Beatles [no change]
3. Big Country [no change]
4. Arcade Fire [+20]
5. Bob Marley [-3]
6. TV On The Radio [+6]
7. The Smithereens [-3]
8. Big Sugar [-3]
9. Eurythmics [-3]
10. Steve Earle [-2]
11. Wilco [-4]
12. Iron & Wine [+47]
13. The Decemberists [+60]
14. Sinead O'Connor [+1]
15. The Clash [+3]
16. Chris Isaak [-2]
17. XTC [-2]
18. Crowded House [no change]
19. U2 [-10]
20. Depeche Mode [-10]
21. Everclear [-4]
22. Bob Dylan [-11]
23. Blur [-4]
24. Pearl Jam [-2]
25. Shearwater [+167]
26. Fleet Foxes [+26]
27. Bloc Party [-14]
28. Yazoo [+3]
29. The Rolling Stones [+20]
30. Handsome Furs [+5]
31. My Morning Jacket [-5]
32. The Pogues [-12]
33. AC/DC [-10]
34. Ron Sexsmith [+17]
35. Tom Waits [-14]
36. Paul Simon [-2]
37. LCD Soundsystem [+8]
38. The New Pornographers [+4]
39. The Tragically Hip [+1]
40. The White Stripes [-12]
41. R.E.M. [-5]
42. Lucinda Williams [-12]
43. Bruce Springsteen [-6]
44. Dire Straits [-5]
45. The Police [no change]
46. Talking Heads [+8]
47. Beck [-15]
48. The Smashing Pumpkins [+5]
49. Against Me! [+39]
50. Neil Young [-2]
So that's the chart story for artists in 2011, but what about songs and albums?
Looking at the top tracks played is kind of pointless since the list would be very similar to the Song Of The Year nominees for the Dynammy Awards, but I took a look at the top albums played this year and decided to list the top 10, not counting greatest hits collections.
Top 10 Albums
1. Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago
2. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
3. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
4. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead
5. Chris Isaak - Forever Blue
6. The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You
7. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean
8. Bat For Lashes - Fur And Gold
9. Yaz - Upstairs At Eric's
10. Joe Jackson - Look Sharp
Last year's Dynammy Award winner for best album finished on top of the chart, followed by an old favourite from Lucinda Williams and an album of the year nominee from last year, The Suburbs. The King Is Dead was the highest ranking album from 2011 and the only one to crack the top 10 besides Kiss Each Other Clean, so does that mean those albums are front runners for Album Of The Year? Yes and no. Both albums are nominated, but both albums were released early in the year and had a longer period in heavy rotation. There was no way for an album released in the summer or fall to catch up in terms of airplay, but something like TV On The Radio's Nine Types Of Light might have had a stronger impact on me over a shorter timeframe.
In case you missed it, you can see the bottom half of the Top 100 artists by clicking here.
And there's still lots of time to vote in this year's Dynammy Awards. You can view the entire list of nominees and register your vote by clicking here.
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