Best of 2011: The Los Angeles Times’ Top 10 Pop Albums
10. F-ed Up’s “David Comes to Life” (Matador Records)
9. Eleanor Friedberger’s “Last Summer” (Merge)
8. King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ “Diamond Mine” (Domino)
7. Shabazz Palaces’ “Black Up” (Sub Pop)
6. James Pants’ “James Pants” (Stones Throw)
5. Adele’s “21” (Columbia Records)
4. Tom Waits’ “Bad as Me” (Anti- Records)
3. Frank Ocean’s “Nostalgia, Ultra” (tumblr download)
2. Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer’s “Re: ECM” (ECM Records)
1. PJ Harvey’s “Let England Shake” (Vagrant/Island/Def Jam)
By Randall Roberts of The Los Angeles Times
MORE BEST OF 2011 LISTS
Fred Rudofsky’s Top 10 Theater Concerts
Paste Magazine’s Top 20 New Bands
J. Eric Smith’s Top Album
Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Albums
Brian Patneaude’s Top 5 CDs
American Film Institute’s Top 10 Movies
Stanley Johnson’s Top 10 Concerts
Richard Brody’s Top Books
Sebastien Barre’s Best of the Year
New York Magazine’s Top 10 TV Shows
Fred Rudofsky’s Top 10 Bar/Club Gigs
Steve Nover’s Top 10 CDs
Greg Haymes’ Top Music Video
Paste Magazine’s Top 10 Albums
The New York Times’ Top 10 Books
Mike Hotter’s Top 10 Albums
Kirsten Ferguson’s Top 10 Live Cover Songs
The A.V. Club’s Top 10 Comedy Albums
Ed Conway’s Top 10 Pop Albums
What qualifies something as “pop” anymore?
It’s actually a good list. I’m just confused by the label.
Kevin – In the case of the LA Times or other big city papers, “pop” is likely a somewhat all-encompassing term for popular music. I assume that’s to differentiate it from classical (and maybe jazz), which are music genres probably covered by other dedicated critics.