25. Bare Wires // “Ready to Go”
24. Monster Treasure // “I Don’t Give a Shit”
23. The Tambo Rays // “Doubt”
22. Sonny and the Sunsets // “Teen Age Thugs”
21. The Fresh and Onlys // “I Would Not Know the Devil”
20. Dominant Legs // “Hoop Of Love”
19. Magic Trick // “Daylight Moon”
18. Surf Club // “BB”
17. Pamela // “Lie Down (Eye Contact)”
16. Lilac // “Cathedral”
15. Rank/Xerox // “Nausea”
14. Ty Segall + Mikal Cronin // “Fame”
13. Part Time // “I Wanna Take You Out”
12. Permanent Collection // “Let it Go”
11. Melted Toys // “Rose Again”
10. Wax Idols // “Gold Sneakers”
9. Ganglians // “Drop The Act”
8. Blasted Canyons // “Blood On The Wall”
7. Terry Malts // “Tumble Down”
6. Royal Baths // “Darling Divine”
5. Ty Segall // “Where Your Head Goes”
4. Thee Oh Sees // “The Dream”
3. Sic Alps // “Breadhead”
2. Mikal Cronin // “Get Along”
1. PreTeen // “The Motorcycle Accident”

The Bay Area absolutely smashed it in 2011, with some of our favorite artists releasing amazing albums, EPs and cassettes that we’ve been listening to endlessly this year. It was incredibly difficult to cull the past 12 months to our favorite 15 releases, but we did it anyway. Check them out below and let us know what you think in the comments.

15 The Sandwitches // Mrs. Jones’ Cookie

mp3:
The Sandwitches // “Lightfoot”

14 Bare Wires // Cheap Perfume

mp3:
Bare Wires // “Cheap Perfume”

13 King Lollipop // Woodland Whoopee Songs

mp3:
King Lollipop // “Cheeseburger and Fries”

12 Pamela // Pamela is Hungover

mp3:
Pamela // “Lie Down (Eye Contact)”

11 Weekend // Red

mp3:
Weekend // “Hazel”

10 Wet Illustrated // Wet Illustrated

mp3:
Wet Illustrated // “Gypsy Town”

09 Ty Segall // Goodbye Bread

mp3:
Ty Segall // “Goodbye Bread”

08 Swiftumz // Swiftumz

Hunx collaborator Christopher McVicker managed to release one of the most understated albums of the year under the moniker Swiftumz. “Don’t Trip” is an immersive collection of hazy, moving jams that transcends the limits of bedroom pop.

mp3:
Swiftumz // “4EVA”

07 Rank Xerox // Rank Xerox

Rank/Xerox // “Sterile Regions”


Rank/Xerox // “Nausea”

06 Blasted Canyons // Blasted Canyons

Never before has an ode to weed and ice cream sounded so raw, explosive and all-together effortless.

mp3:
Blasted Canyons // “Ice Cream Man”

05 White Fence // Is Growing Faith

mp3:
White Fence // “And By Always”

04 Ty Segall // Singles 2007-2010

mp3:
Ty Segall // “Bullet Proof Nothing”

03 Wax Idols // No Future

The debut LP by Wax Idols features singer/songwriter Hether Fortune elevating the charming pop sensibilities found on her earlier work to a complete full-length, with lyrics veering from the lovesick to the macabre.

mp3:
Wax Idols // “Gold Sneakers”

02 Mikal Cronin // Mikal Cronin

This scuzzed-out compilation of pop songs marked a solid debut album from Moonhearts/Ty Segall collaborator Mikal Cronin. Unexpectedly wistful and incredibly catchy, this is a record we’ve been spinning endlessly.

mp3:
Mikal Cronin // “Get Along”

01 Thee Oh Sees // Carrion Crawler/The Dream

Thee Oh Sees scorched through 2011, releasing two mind-blowing full-length albums and a singles only double-LP all while maintaining a frenetic touring schedule that recently concluded (with Total Control). Carrion Crawler/The Dream was announced only a few weeks after Castlemania, and proved to be the “pummeling” record John Dwyer promised it to be. An instant classic and our unequivocal favorite record of 2011.

mp3:
Thee Oh Sees // “The Dream”

Thee Oh Sees // “Carrion Crawler”

NME recently put together a “cool list” of music makers and shakers for 2011; GorillavsBear did a good job ripping it apart in their list and perhaps pointed out the obvious in stating that making “‘cool lists’ is not really that cool.” Nevertheless, here’s our Bay Area version. Let us know what you hate in the comments.

10 Shiv Mehra // Creepers

mp3:
Creepers // “Spiral”

09 Corey Cunningham // Terry Malts

mp3:
Terry Malts // “Tumble Down”

08 Lars Finberg // Thee Oh Sees

mp3:
Thee Oh Sees // “The Dream”

07 Mikal Cronin

mp3:
Mikal Cronin // “Get Along”

06 Mark Tester // BURNT ONES

mp3:
Burnt Ones // “Do the Spell (Loud)”

05 Robbie Simon // Wet Illustrated

mp3:
Wet Illustrated // “Gypsy Town”

04 Tim Presley // White Fence

03 Blasted Canyons

02 Chris McVicker // Swiftumz

mp3:
Swiftumz // “Angelita”

01 Mike Donovan // Sic Alps

mp3:
Sic Alps // “Breadhead”

Here are our top 10 favorite artist Bandcamps - our favorite source of high-quality streamable music - all of which we have written about before. Let us know if we’ve missed anything:

1. Burnt Ones

Features: Free download(s); full-album stream; extensive discography.

2. Art Museums (Burundi Cloud)

Features: Full-album streams; extensive discography; memories.