There’s no way around it: 2011 was an astoundingly good year in pop music.

Not since the 2007 reign of Kylie‘s X, Britney‘s Blackout, Rihanna‘s Good Girl Gone Bad and Girl’s Aloud‘s Tangled Up has there been such a strong showing in pop: We found love in the most hopeless of places, hung onto a moment and danced to the beat of our drums ’til the world ended (well, until next year anyway.)

As per usual, I’ve hemmed and hawed over a final ranking for my favorite records released over the past year. Although I wasn’t initially going to rank them numerically (YAY–everybody wins!), I ultimately realized that was just a cop-out.

Nonetheless, every album featured on this list deserves to be on included on everyone’s iPods and Spotify/iTunes libraries (or, dare I say it, in your CD players), because they’re all beautiful in their way.

Now, I present my Top 25 Albums of 2011. And if you’re not satisfied with the ranking? Please…don’t hold it against me.

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“Did you hear, Flopdele? “Moves Like Jagger” is #1 in America.”
“Wait, what? Seriously? Ew. Just a moment–someone hold my cigarette.”

Well, so much for that: After a shocking coup last week with her triumphant rise to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 aboard Maroon 5‘s “Moves Like Jagger,” Legendtina now finds herself simmering down to #2 like a pot full of Sabi‘s floppy vegetables.

After her performance of the song at the 2011 VMA’s, Adele rose from #19 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Someone Like You”–a stunning sales jump (and testament to the undeniable influence of the Video Music Awards). This is now Adele’s second #1 from 21–the top selling album of the year thus far.

From Billboard:

Following an acclaimed performance of the song on the MTV Video Music Awards Aug. 28, Adele’s stark ballad “Someone Like You” bounds to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, vaulting 19-1 with dual Digital and Airplay Gainer honors.

“Like” leaps 11-1 on Digital Songs with 275,000 downloads sold (up 191%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. On Radio Songs, the track blasts 42-19 with 46 million all-format audience impressions (up 59%), according to Nielsen BDS.

When prompted for an official response to the news, Queen Floptina had only this to offer:

Yes, it’s true: The witchy Miss Florence Welch has returned!

After several months of touring ’round the world and many weeks spent recording with acclaimed British producer Paul Epworth (Adele, Kate Nash) at England’s famed Abbey Road Studios, the fiery-headed chanteuse is back with “What The Water Gave Me,” the whimsical lead single from her as-of-yet untitled sophomore effort, due out on November 7.

As she told Pitchfork in an interview posted today, their work on Lungs–especially “Cosmic Love” (my personal favorite)–inspired Welch to keep collaborating with Epworth: “The way that “Cosmic Love” turned out really made me want to do the whole next record with him. That song was written in like half an hour in a tiny bedroom studio and I always had this idea for a really big sound coming from all that clatter, and he managed to capture that on record in the best way.”

Just as with all great Florence productions, “What The Water Gave Me” weaves together echoed, otherworldly instrumentation and pleasant plucks of harp with Welch’s soulful sound; her voice quivering above crashing drums and noisy guitar licks as she throws her head back to deliver howl after almighty howl by the song’s massive finale. Add in an organ and the sobering chant of a choir and et voila: Florence is taking us to CHURCH!

As one of the most genuinely exciting new artists to have emerged in the past decade–as well as the driving force behind one of my top albums of 2009–it’s reassuring to see (and hear!) that Lady Welch is right on track with her follow-up: It’s spooky. It’s soulful. It’s flawless. Were you expecting anything less?

“What the Water Gave Me” was released on August 23. (iTunes)

It’s a weird, awful phenomenon when an artist dies.

There’s the initial news reports, the disbelief, the outcry and sorrow from fans, the pandering by non-fans crawling out from the woodwork, the detractors, the well-intentioned wise words, the mean-spirited off-color jokes and everything else in between.

But with Amy Winehouse, it was different–for me at least–because there was a personal connection underneath it all. And while I don’t mean to discredit or devalue the loss of any pop culture figure, Amy was an invaluable part of my life–someone to whom I could readily point to as responsible for shaping my taste in music today.

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Another year, another MTV Video Music Awards, which means it’s time for a whole ‘nother round of Kanye rage and death threats from Britney stans demanding to know whether or not she’ll be performing this year.

But before we get into that whole mess–it’s the nominees for the 2011 MTV VMAs!

Last night, MTV opened up the vote for the 2011 MTV Music Video Awards. And almost just as quickly, the tweets began to fill up my timeline with various outbursts and damning remarks: #MTVFail! #MTVFail! So what’s got everyone’s panties in an Ashley Tizzydale? Let’s see who made the cut…below the cut.

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Is there anyone more deserving of smashing global success than Adele?

She’s lovely, sublimely talented, and down-to-earth — and her sound has evolved from 19‘s highly listenable but rather unassuming adult-contemporary pop to 21‘s striking collection of enormous, earth-shaking four-minute soul-inflected masterpieces.

But American audiences are notoriously fickle, especially to the more sophisticated end of the pop spectrum that the Brits keep gamely producing. This makes it even more of a pleasant surprise to see that Adele has stormed the U.S. charts, snagging the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 and selling over 352,000 copies, marking the largest sales for any release since last November.

Sales were no doubt bolstered by a string of well-publicized appearances on Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel, Chelsea Lately, and The Early Show — but Adele’s chart success also feels like a thrillingly meritocratic reception for an artist who genuinely deserves it.

And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Adele’s hard-earned success than with a stunning new remix from Chicago DJ Johnny Lawson, who has breathed new life into Adele’s instant classic “Rolling In the Deep.”

In Lawson’s capable hands, the pounding Paul Epworth-produced track gets a ’90s house makeover, complete with thrilling tribal beats and the best everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation I’ve heard in a minute.

Adele helped to kick off the 2011 Brit Awards tonight with a performance of “Someone Like You,” the final song off of her incredible sophomore record, 21.

The supremely talented UK songstress absolutely nailed the performance of her devastating piano ballad, proving exactly why her latest album has soared to #1 on album charts in over 17 countries (and counting.)

Chills and tears all around.

Adele’s 21 was released in the UK on January 21. (iTunes UK)