10. You Know What I Mean - Cults
9. It Takes Time To Be A Man - The Rapture
8. Million Dollar Bill - Middle Brother
7. Ni**as In Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
6. Surgeon - St. Vincent
5. Powa - tUnE-yArDs
4. County Line - Cass McCombs
3. Marvin’s Room - Drake
2. Love On Top - Beyonce
1. Vomit - Girls
20. Mornin’ - Star Slinger
fun as shit, mayne, and probably the feel-good song of the year/my lifetime. and if you can’t tell why I love this song just from listening to it, then I sure as hell can’t describe it to you. star slinger can do no wrong.
19. Wilhelm Scream - James Blake
the most out-of-left-field musical experience I had all year. listening to wilhelm scream for the first time is a singular experience. the negative space lulls you into this blearily rapt mind frame- in a haze but totally entrenched in every beat and vocal flourish. even as the song changes from a simple r&b refrain to something more, something layered and complex, the heart of the song is never obscured, giving the listener a clean focal point while chaos reigns around it.
18. Motivation (Diplo Remix) - Kelly Rowland feat. Lil Wayne
hands down the sexiest song of the year. diplo turns the beat on its head and keeps flipping some strange gravity switch that only he knows about. kelly rowland sings like she hasn’t ever before, her voice writhing and moaning all over the track. but it’s the way diplo turns rowland into some club goddess at the end of the song that you really get a sense of just how IN HEAT she is.
17. Honey Bunny - Girls
I honestly can’t begin to count how many times my friends & I have sang or quoted this song to each other. there’s an energy that permeates the room the second someone hits play on this song and it’s because you immediately remember what you are in store for: an abbreviated, but fully formed and endlessly rejuvenating pop-rock jam.
16. How Deep Is Your Love? - The Rapture
for a song about a broken heart, it sure is hella danceable. although this word has been overused about a million times, this song is nothing short of epic. the first three minutes could be a song by itself, setting the stage with a catchy piano line, thumping drums and handclaps everywhere. but after that, when the bottom falls out of the song and the desperate yelp of a question emerges- “how deep is your love?”- that’s when the rapture become dance floor gods. everything starts piling on more and more, faster than before. the saxophone jumps in and all hell breaks loose and suddenly a “hallelujah!” is floating over the whole song and a solid minute of grade-a bliss serves as the outro to a song you never want to end.
15. Gotta Have It - Jay-Z & Kanye West
this song comes in with one of the creepiest, most foreboding beats the neptunes have ever crafted building over two bars until kanye bursts in, literally tripping over himself to cheerfully greet “white america.” (right?) this track had some of the most exciting and engaging rap on the entire album. jay & ye trade off lines and sometimes words, and while both sound just as pompous and filthy fucking rich as ever, there is something that is absolutely and undeniably thrilling about hearing kanye spit “maybachs on -bachs on -bachs on -bachs on -bachs.”
14. Bizness - tUnE-yArDs
there is a pure, tangible and visceral power that exists in this song, resounding from merrill garbus in both words and sounds. she makes music that has never been made before, not even close. and what a bad ass bitch, honestly. her voice is not only her primary instrument, it is also her strongest. she weaves the entire song around it, from the fluttering opening notes to the totally convicted shouts of “what’s the bizness, yeah!” and “don’t take my life away!” it’s a rally cry for nothing or for everything or for herself, and it’s this universality that makes it so powerful.
13. Nothing - Young Man
the best cut from what was probably the most overlooked album of the year. warm and inviting from the get-go, this song is the apex of the layered, hypnotic effect that young man loves to employ. there’s a quality to it that I can’t quite put my finger on that makes me want to listen to this song over and over. maybe it’s the shoe-gazey guitars or super-dramatic drum machines or maybe this song just rules and there’s no other way to put it.
12. Look What You’ve Done - Drake
a touching, honest ballad steeped in sincerity (lol.) drake gets down to what truly matters and spends the song thanking his mother and uncle in really specific and surprisingly ADORABLE ways. it’s a simple song with a nostalgic piano line over a rolling beat, but the way drake expresses his in-debtedness makes the song as good as it is. drake re: his uncle- “I never really had no one like you, man, this all new shit. made the world I knew bigger, changed the way that I viewed it.” awwwww
11. Baby Missiles - The War on Drugs
baby missiles was my own personal anthem this summer. it’s galloping and raucous from the very beginning but it builds with shouts of desired triumph rising above the clang and a blaring harmonica reminding you just how alive you should be feeling. this song so blatantly calls upon springsteen, but it never feels imitative or dated. Perhaps that’s because it possesses such a timeless heart; it’s filled with an urge to just let it all roll off of you, to just move on.
previously-
best songs of 2011: 30-21
best songs of 2011: 40-31
best songs of 2011: 50-41
best songs of 2011: 100-51
best songs of 2011 (not from 2011)
40. I’m Not Going Anywhere - Nika + Rory
gothy gothy gothy as ever, nika roza danilova aka zola jesus wails an overwhelmingly creepy love story over a stuttering, synth-driven backdrop. it’s a punch to the gut and a shiver down yr spine at the same time.
39. Body Work/Fuck My Brains Out - The-Dream
like everything terius nash releases, this song is flawless and sparkling from start to finish. his talent is showcased in the way the music morphs seamlessly from the neo-funk of body work to the assuredly amorphic transition to the snarling precision of fuck my brains out. it’s an impressive opus of carnal desire.
38. Lightworks - Atlas Sound
bradford rules and also so does this song. in contrast to much of the rest of “parallax,” it lets a little sun in. it possesses a surprisingly carefree energy, which is why I think it stood out. all in all, it’s triumphant, both in aim and in spirit.
37. Wicked Games - The Weeknd
what’s left to be said? drugs and bitches and infidelity and moral depravity and I wanna slurp up every last drop because it is velvety heroin and resonates in that fucked up place inside us all. “take you down another level, get you dancing with the devil.” truly the stickiest, most satisfyingly tragic ode to a one-night stand of the year.
36. Nothing But Love (1+1 Demo) - The-Dream
pretty much the complete opposite of the weeknd.
35. No Church In The Wild - Jay-Z & Kanye West feat. Frank Ocean
a vicious, thorough meditation on power, corruption, and religion that references plato’s euthyphro, compares jay & ye to the holy trinity, and generally accuses civilization of being more savage then the wild itself. it’s kinda got everything: a spooky-as-hell palate of sounds, metaphors twisted in references folding in on analogies, and tru-life lessons from ye & jay.
34. Then & Now - Young Man
when this song really gets in its groove, it shines with a hypnotic easiness that washes over everything, lulling it in and out of focus. the guitar takes on a texture only heard in alien worlds and colin caulfield’s vocals stack up and play off of each other and the pay-off is phenomenal.
33. One More Night - Fucked Up
this is the shining jewel in the album’s crown- a perfect slice of the juxtaposition between hard and soft, heavy and light, ugly and pretty that fucked up so consistently harnesses. this is a song about a man trying to live after his lover has died. he is grappling with the loss of their love and although that pain is ugly, there is beauty in his sadness: “the memories stay like a seed in the rain, I’ll nurture our love and live through it again, she’s alive in my head so I’ll live there instead and remember our love.”
32. Silly Bears - Akron/Family
a jovial, chugging lil gem about two bears looking for honey in an ancient forest. the completely unrestrained vocal lines soar throughout the song, guitar lines wriggle along steadily, and it all culminates with one of akron/family’s signature sugar rush climaxes. who cares if it is basically about nothing?
31. You Da One- Rihanna
short, sweet, and so crazily catchy. I imagine this is what falling in love over coconut milk in the caribbean on ecstasy at age 13 would be like.
previously-
best songs of 2011: 50-41
best songs of 2011: 100-51
best of 2011 (not from 2011)
50. Generator First Floor (Aislyn Remix) - Freelance Whales
a veritable fantasy island of a song, complete with cawing birds, enchanting sirens, and a rocket to the moon.
49. 6’ 7’ - Lil Wayne feat. Cory Gunz
new old weezy! basically 3 minutes of lil wayne spewing line after genius line (like he hasn’t done in years) on a bonkers beat and 1 minute of cory gunz doing “eh, alright.”
48. Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall - Coldplay
it’s exhilarating to no end and just when you think it can’t get better, it does. essentially how I imagine crystal meth to be. (teach me, jesse pinkman)
47. Mary, Don’t You Weep - Bodies of Water
a spectacular, gloriously cathartic song about “single moms taking things one day at a time.” seriously.
46. Dystopia - YACHT
“the earth, the earth the earth is on fire! we don’t have no daughter; let the motherfucker burn!” is how this song starts, so, duh. refreshingly in-yr-face.
45. Video Games - Lana Del Rey
idk, she’s sexy?
44. Need You Now - Cut Copy
if this song was a cult, I’d drink the kool-aid because got-damn I’m a believer. this song at p4k 2k11 was literally, actually, and truly the best 7 minutes of my year.
43. I Follow Rivers - Lykke Li
the song’s howling tribal beat coupled with lykke li’s sultry pledge of allegiance completely entrances you, like this guy.
42. E.T. - Katy Perry feat. Kanye West
something about this beat screams “giant orgy!” to me. I love it so fucking much, I can even overlook the insufferable katy “california gurl” perry.
41. Lemonade - Braids
this song is so unlike anything I’ve ever heard before and it does things to my brain that I can’t even explain. it’s like the national anthem to some other reality where dolphins are earth’s dominant species and everything tastes like 7up.
previously -
best songs of 2011: 100-51
best of 2011 (not from 2011)
100. East Harlem - Beirut
99. Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay
98. Dedication To My Ex (Miss That) - Lloyd feat. Andre 3000
97. I Go Away (The Oos & Ahhs Dubstep Remix) - MNDR
96. 252 - Gem Club
95. Baby You Were There - TV Girl
94. Bow Chicka Wow Wow - Mike Posner feat. Lil Wayne
93. Hannah (Ra Ra Riot Remix) - Freelance Whales
92. Be So True - Total Babes
91. Dreams Money Can Buy - Drake
90. Why Do Fools Fall Out Of Love - Adam Young
89. Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey
88. Gotta Go - Oberhofer
87. Rolled Together - The Antlers
86. We Found Love - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris
85. Water & Beasts - A Lull
84. Blue Eyes - Middle Brother
83. Stay Away - Charli XCX
82. Dear Anne (Stan Pt. II) - Lil Wayne
81. Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx Remix) - Adele feat. Childish Gambino
80. High - Big Sean feat. Wiz Khalifa & Chiddy Bang
79. Cold War (Star Slinger Remix) - The Morning Benders
78. Eleven - Thao & Mirah feat. tUnE-yArDs
77. Don’t Move - Phantogram
76. 212 - Azealia Banks
75. Paradise Engineering - YACHT
74. Two Rivers - Small Black feat. Heems
73. All Die Young - Smith Westerns
72. Astoria - Starfucker
71. The Noose of Jah City - King Krule
70. Cheerleader - St. Vincent
69. Till The World Ends - Britney Spears
68. Empire Ants (Miami Horror Remix) - Gorillaz
67. Loft Music - The Weeknd
66. Kimmi In A Rice Field - Twin Sister
65. Headlines - Drake
64. You Yes You - tUnE-yArDs
63. Sadness is a Blessing - Lykke Li
62. Abducted - Cults
61. I’m On One - DJ Khaled, Drake, Lil Wayne, & Rick Ross
60. Alex - Girls
59. The Shrine/An Argument - Fleet Foxes
58. Towers - Bon Iver
57. Seafarer - Tennis
56. The Same Thing - Cass McCombs
55. Nodding Off - Wavves feat. Best Coast
54. Lotus Flower - Radiohead
53. End Of Time - Beyonce
52. Make Me Proud - Drake feat. Nicki Minaj
51. Milkshake - Yuck
I’m gonna kick off the week with some of my favorite songs from this this year that weren’t released in 2011. I heard some of these songs on the radio, some in movies, and some just came back from past lifetimes to say what up. Here they are (in alphabetical order):
Acid Raindrops - People Under The Stairs
Band of Gold - Freda Payne
Break My Stride - Matthew Wilder
Bushwick Blues - Delta Spirit
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Check On It - Beyonce feat. Slim Thug
crystal truth - guards
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Gimme Some Lovin’ - The Spencer Davis Group
Go All The Way - The Raspberries
I’m Real - Ja Rule & Jennifer Lopez
It’s Now or Never - Elvis Presley
Oh Mandy - The Spinto Band
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Rio - Duran Duran
Sister Golden Hair - America
Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
Take Me Home - Phil Collins
You Were Scared - Cloud Nothings
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
So those are the songs that didn’t come out in the great year of 2011 that I jammed on hardest. But there were others that I enjoyed as well… pretty much everything guardsreleased in 2010 was on heavy rotation in January, same with Akron/Family’s “Love is Simple” and “Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free.” I listened to every Fleetwood Mac song I could get my hands on, and I had a pretty lengthy period with Robyn circa 1995-2005. But nothing came close to Kids & Explosions’ “Shit Computer” which not only re-defined the concept of a “mash-up,” but proved to be one of the most aurally astounding albums I heard all year. Also it is free on their website so go get that shit.
Cool. Coolcoolcool. Best Songs of 2011 (#100-51) is up next, stay tuned.
