Well, it is 1.11.6. When I decided we would be hanging these lists up on the Internet today, I decided 111 choices was just as appropriate as any other arbitrary number. Most of these are LPs of new material, though there are some notable choices both in terms of older material finally seeing the light of day and the inclusion of a few EPs and splits. In any case, here they are: the 111 best albums I remember hearing this year. Yeah, it was a good one.

1. Sunn 0))), Black One

2. Antony & The Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now

3. Animal Collective, Feels

4. The Game, The Documentary

5. The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday

6. Dalek, Absence

7. M.I.A., Arular

8. Sage Francis, A Healthy Distrust

9. The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, The Mother of Love Emulates the Shapes of Cynthia

10. Daniel Menche, Sirocoo

11. John Vanderslice, Pixel Revolt

12. Menomena, Under an Hour

13. The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree

14. Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra La La Band, Horses in the Sky

15. Thelonius Monk Quartet with John Coltrane, Live at Carnegie Hall

16. KONONO N°1, Congotronics

17. Akron/Family & Angels of Light, Akron/Family & Angels of Light

18. Ryan Adams, Jacksonville City Nights

19. OM, Variations on a Theme

20. Deerhoof, The Runners Four

21. Stars, Set Yourself on Fire
22. The Perceptionists, Black Dialogue
23. M83, Before the Dawn Heals Us
24. Boredoms, Seadrum/House of Sun
25. Little Brother, The Minstrel Show
26. Iron & Wine, Woman King EP
27. Sigur Ros, Takk…
28. The Rosebuds, Birds Make Good Neighbors
29. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan
30. The Clientele, Strange Geometry
31. Bright Eyes, Digitial Ash in a Digital Urn
32. Chris Mills, Wall to Wall Sessions
33. Phosphorescent, Aw Come Aw Wry
34. Okkervil River, Black Sheep Boy
35. Steve Reid Ensemble, Spirit Walk
36. Derek Bailey, Carpal Tunnel
37. 13 & God, 13 & God
38. My Morning Jacket, Z
39. Wilco, Kicking Television
40. Amina, AminaminA
41. Kanye West, Late Registration
42. Architecture in Helsinki, In Case We Die
43. Lightning Bolt, Hypermagic Mountain
44. Danger Doom, The Mouse and The Mask
45. Big Bear, Big Bear
46. Akron/Family, Akron/Family
47. Smog, A River Ain’t Too Much to Love
48. Ume, Urgent Sea
49. Stillhouse, Through the Winter
50. Six Organs of Admittance, School of the Flower
51. Jens Lekman, Oh You’re So Silent Jens
52. Work Clothes, These are the Shoes We Wear
53. Chatham County Line, Route 23
54. Devendra Banhart, Cripple Crow
55. Vashti Bunyan, Lookaftering
56. Mi and L’au, Mi and L’au
57. Cage, Hell’s Winter
58. The Joggers, With a Cape and a Cane
59. Ryan Adams, Cold Roses
60. Spoon, Gimme Fiction
61. Growing, His Return
62. Ticonderoga, The Heilig-Levine LP
63. Eluvium, Talk Amongst the Trees
64. Laura Cantrell, Humming by the Flowered Vine
65. Slum Village, Slum Village
66. Gang Gang Dance, God’s Money
67. Keith Jarrett, Radiance
68. Black Mountain, Black Mountain
69. Deyarmond Edison, Silent Signs
70. Amadou & Mariam, Dimanche a Bamako
71. Sufjan stevens, Illinoise
72. Bloc Party, Silent Alarm
73. Low, The Great Destroyer
74. Constantines, Tournament of Hearts
75. Broken Social Scene, Broken Social Scene
76. Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell, Begonias
77. Feist, Let it Die
78. Tussle, Kling Klang
79. Mahjongg, Raydoncong
80. Blood on the Wall, Awesomer
81. The National, Alligator
82. Johann Johannson, Dis
83. Portastatic, Bright Ideas
84. Bell Orchestre, Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light
85. Scout Niblett, Kidnapped by Neptune
86. Nine Black Alps, Nine Black Alps
87. John Wilkes Booze, The Heliocentric Views of John Wilkes Booze
88. Xiu Xiu, La Foret
89. Cale/Conrad/Maclise/Young/Zazeela, Inside the Dream Syndicate: Volume 1: Day of Niagara
90. Boom Bip, Blue Eyed in the Red Room
91. Boduf Songs, Boduf Songs
92. Earthless, Sonic Prayer
93. Boris with Merzbow, Sun Baked Snow Cave
94. Sleater-Kinney, The Woods
95. Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
96. Marissa Nadler, The Saga of Mayflower May
97. Betty LaVette, I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise
98. Pelican, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
99. Howe Gelb, Arizona, Amp and Alternator
100. Xiu Xiu Larsen, XXL
101. Sam Prekop, Your New Professor
102. Burning Star Core, The Very Heart of the World
103. Richard Swift, The Novelist & Walking Without Effort
104. The Strugglers, You Win
105. Solomon Burke, Make Do with What You Got
106. Missy Elliott, The Cookbook
107. The Robot Ate Me, Carousel Waltz
108. Mice Parade, Bem-Vinda Vontade
109. Meredith Bragg & The Terminals, Vol. 1
110. Supergrass, Road to Rouen
111. Nada Surf, The Weight is the Gift