My OKSee predecessor, Stephen Carradini, and I received hundreds of physical copies submitted to our little cubicle in the back of the Gazette offices this year, in addition to the hundreds of digital solicitations from PR companies, in addition to the occasional, much-appreciated, personal hand-changing of musical media, be that CD, vinyl or yes, even cassette tape.

It’s a ton of music to listen to, but we were up to the task. The sonic wheat’s now sorted from the chaff, and not in any particular order. So peruse our list for those quality albums you may have missed, recall a few you’ve forgotten and hopefully even find a new artist to love in the process. Let’s get started.

1. Fucked Up — “David Comes to Life”

2. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — “Belong”

3. Matt the Electrician — “Accidental Thief”

4. Horse Thief — “Grow Deep, Grow Wild”

5. Kurt Vile — “Smoke Ring for My Halo”

6. Beetyman — “The Underdog”

7. Youth Lagoon — “The Year of Hibernation”

8. Neon Indian — “Era Extraña”

9. The Drums — “Portamento”

10. Wilco — “The Whole Love”

11. Laura Marling — “A Creature I Don’t Know”

12. Yuck — “Yuck”

13. Icona Pop — “Nights Like This EP”

14. Ryan Lawson and the Hack & Saw Nation — “Hack and Saw Nation”

15. Riley Jantzen — “Feathers”

16. The Workweek — “Promises, Promises”

17. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks — “Mirror Traffic”

18. Small Sur — “Tones”

19. Wye Oak — “Civilian”

20. The Roots — “undun”

21. Crown Imperial — “Crown Imperial”

22. The Damn Quails — “Down the Hatch”

23. Zach Winters — “They Were Longing for a Better Country”

24. Twin Sister — “In Heaven”

25. St. Vincent — “Strange Mercy”

26. The Weeknd — “House of Balloons”

27. Kanye West & Jay-Z — “Watch the Throne”

28. Washed Out — “Within and Without”

29. Givers — “In Light”

30. tUnE-yArDs — “w h o k i l l”

31. Manchester Orchestra — “Simple Math”

32. Josh Sallee — “Return to Sender”

33. Kite Flying Robot — “Solid Gold”

34. Death Cab for Cutie — “Codes and Keys”

35. Chris Bathgate — “Salt Year”

36. Smith Westerns — “Dye It Blonde”

37. Danny Brown — “XXX”

38. Destroyer — “Kaputt”

39. A$AP Rocky — “LIVELOVEA$AP”

40. Cut Copy — “Zonoscope”

OKS in 2011 — Monday:  Your Most-Viewed Music Videos
OKS in 2011 — Tuesday:  The Year in Photos
OKS in 2011 — Wednesday: By the numbers
OKS in 2011 — Thursday: OKSee's Honorable Mention Albums of the Year
OKS in 2011 — Friday: OKSee's 30 Favorite Albums of 2011