The second instalment of our Albums of the Year countdown features some of 2011′s finest singer-songwriters, as well as some old stalwarts and the odd bolt from the blue… Click here for part 1.

We’re building a Spotify playlist containing a track from each album (where available) which you can find here, and if you think we’ve lost our minds, tell us about it by email , Twitter and Facebook.

40. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi (Domino)

It is hard to believe that just over a year ago, few people had heard of Anna Calvi. In January, she released a debut album of captivating gothic darkness, which brimmed with allure and no end of confidence, and was subsequently nominated for the Mercury Prize. Once the lazy journalistic comparisons with Polly Harvey had been dispensed with, Calvi revealed herself as a fascinating and powerful new talent. John Freeman

39. Beirut – The Rip Tide (Pompeii)

Who knew that Beirut were a pop band? Years of complex layering and delicious blending of instrumentation and styles led to The Rip Tide, the album where Zach Condon didn’t so much abandon his wildly diverse influences as sublimate them into a coherent, cohesive statement. Songs like ‘East Harlem’ sound both invigoratingly direct and hugely personal and marked a watershed of sorts for the talented Mr Condon. Of course, the clue was always in the album title. Joe Nawaz

38. Cashier No.9 – To The Death Of Fun (Bella Union)

Whether it was the David Holmes production, the first-class songwriting, the street-smart lyrics, the shimmering guitars, or just the laconic drawl of Danny Todd, Cashier’s debut album offered up an embarrassment of riches. The early singles hinted at some kind of baggy influenced, country-rock stomper, but To The Death of Fun was a different kind of beast altogether, a wonderful collection of whimsical pop, sounding quite unlike anything else out there at the moment. Steven Rainey

37. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones (Xtra Mile)

Like PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake, Frank Turner’s fourth solo album is a proud statement of English identity in an era when such expression is usually confined to football matches. It’s Turner’s most elaborate production to date, culminating with ironic church organ on atheist anthem ‘Glory Hallelujah,’ though a capella folk tune ‘English Curse’ is the better highlight. Overall, England Keep My Bones is every bit as consistent as 2008’s brilliant Love, Ire & Song. Dave Donnelly

36. Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts (Matador)

Demolished Thoughts came from a much mellower, more contemplative Thurston Moore than we’ve been used to hearing over the last few decades – perhaps not surprising given his recently announced break-up with wife Kim Gordon, which has left the future of Sonic Youth in the balance. Majestically orchestrated songs like ‘Mina Loy’, ‘Illuminine’ and ‘Benediction’, left a somewhat autumnal underlying theme to the music, which is as often grandiose as it is low-key and ambient. This is probably his best solo offering yet. Stevie Lennox

35. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest (Acony)

You wait eight years for a Gillian Welch album to come along, and then… well, one finally does. After the comparative jauntiness of Soul Journey, Welch and her collaborator Dave Rawlings went back to basics with just two voices, two guitars. The result was a musically sparse record, but one imbued with Welch’s trademark dark storytelling and an almost unbearable crystalline beauty. Stunning. Lauren Murphy

34. Tyler, The Creator – Goblin (XL)

Having led teenage rap collective Odd Future from the relative obscurity of the blogosphere to the head table of mainstream hip-hop, Tyler, The Creator appropriately became the first member to put out an album on a real label. The album was a brutally hard glimpse into Tyler’s delicately stacked thought process as he reveals the ill-effects of having an absent father, his insecurities with girls and own amazement at the controversy that has surrounded him. He’s a troublemaker, for sure, but behind the chants of “kill people, burn shit, fuck school”, this was a fascinating insight into the talented 20-year-old’s acidic psyche. Dean Van Nguyen

33. Danny Brown – XXX (Fool’s Gold)

Nope, the title doesn’t refer to pornography, but rather the roman numerals for 30, the age of Detroit rapper Danny Brown. A somewhat advanced age for a still-emerging MC, some point to his Flock Of Seagulls/anime-style haircut and alternative dress sense as reasons for his lack of progress in a notoriously image-conscious genre. But whatever, Brown rapped harder than anyone else in 2011. His flow is unhinged, monstrous, unpredictable and slightly scary, and to compliment his style, XXX was chock-full of horror-movie-like beats. Dean Van Nguyen

32. Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light Pt.1 (Southern Lord)

The first part of Dylan Carlson’s funereal two-parter, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 is a dark and beautifully mournful culmination of the Seattle instrumental band’s sound. Like Philip Glass at his most cyclical, it’s the subtle nuances that burrow through make practically every song of this record indispensable. Droning, elegiac and generally triumphant, the second part cannot come soon enough. Brian Coney

EARTH – Father Midnight by Southern Lord

31. Josh T. Pearson – Last Of The Country Gentlemen (Mute)

The luxuriously-bearded former Lift To Experience frontman’s solo debut was a thing of crushing, desolate beauty: seven lengthy, minimalist folk songs (eight if you got the vinyl) of delicately-picked guitar adorned only occasionally with mournful fiddle, piano and Pearson’s hushed, whispered vocals. Charting the break-up of a doomed relationship with frequent allusions to religion and the demon booze, this was a harrowing, heart-rending listen that made Leonard Cohen sound like Olly Murs. Neill Dougan

Josh T. Pearson – Sorry With A Song (Single Version) by Mute UK

Onto 30-21?