Best Songs of 2011: 20-11
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)
Best Songs of 2011: 30-21
30. Cruel - St. Vincent
a manic, on-the-edge pop song that’s constantly revving itself up by switching from panicky and paranoid to blissed out and confident every few lines. it creates a nervous energy that builds through annie clark’s voice and jolting guitar until the final chorus where it finally bursts into complete, joyful release.
29. Rolling Stone - The Weeknd
the first weeknd song I ever heard, rolling stone seriously blew my mind. it is a sad pleading slow jam that slowly unhinges, abel tesfaye investing more and more into this girl as the song goes on. his absolutely incredible voice paired with a simple guitar and killer production make a classic r&b combination sound fresh.
28. Long Boat Pass - Tennis
a tight, balmy pop song executed brilliantly. although it is short, it makes quite an impression, with fiercely sunny guitars and a beautiful melody brought to life by alaina moore’s vintage-sounding chirp. its powerful ending has all synapses firing full $peed.
27. Separator - Radiohead
what radiohead does best- thom yorke multiplies himself and goes all “whiny angel choir.” somehow this song keeps reverberating back on itself until it reaches it’s peak, then fades away like a highea.
26. Fall Creek Boys Choir - James Blake & Bon Iver
you never know what is gonna happen when two artists collaborate, but this time, you kind of did. each is so complimentary to the other, it seems like a shock that this hadn’t happened earlier. justin vernon provided the gorgeous pieces and james blake arranged it and rearranged it like only he can, and the result is a stunning elegiac hymn.
25. The Real Her - Drake feat. Lil Wayne & Andre 3000
drake confesses love for a new girl, par for the course. but drake sounds just as comfortable as ever and the beat is so dizzy and so disoriented that it draws you in and just as lil wayne starts to croak his short but inspired verse, the beat flips and it’s subtle but so satisfying. however it’s not until andre 3000 jumps in that you really get to hear how well that beat can be manipulated. and honestly, andre’s verse is one of my very favorite parts of the album.
24. I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl - Wavves
I love the way wavves is evolving. if they wanna make pop music, then I am all aboard. this song in particular is anthemic and exhilarating, but it never seems forced or cloying. nathan williams’ voice rides the guitars like he rides skateboards or waves on the ocean or something. also, I’m a huge sucker for wavves’ patented “never gonna stop me!” coda.
23. Die - Girls
it starts with a minute and a half of the most blistering guitars in girls’ history until christopher owens pops in shortly to inform us all that “we’re all gonna die! we’re all gonna die! we’re all gonna die! we’re all gonna die!” before jumping into another minute of psychedelic riffz. it finishes of with coming down music featuring slide guitars and flutes, so I guess what I’m saying is- you do the math.
22. Countdown - Beyonce
bombastic and exploding with more ideas than lady gaga’s had her whole career. it’s a song that makes pretty much everyone want to move their bodies. ugh, beyonce <3.
21. Calgary - Bon Iver
this one made me cry in public once and even though that is really unnecessary and embarrassing, it made me love the song more. kinda like we shared a traumatizing experience together which is practically how all of his songs make you feel, but in a nice way. anyways, when the stormy part starts, holy shit!
previously-
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)
I HEARD ONCE THAT THEY WOULD RATHER HEAR ABOUT MEMORIES THAN ENEMIES
RATHER HEAR WHAT WAS OR WHAT WILL BE THAN WHAT IS
RATHER HEAR HOW YOU GOT IT OVER HOW MUCH IT COST YOU
RATHER HEAR ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF OR HOW YOU LOST YOU
RATHER YOU MAKE THIS AN OPEN LETTER
ABOUT FAMILY AND STRUGGLE AND IT TAKING FOREVER
ABOUT HEARTS THAT YOU’VE BROKEN
AND TIES THAT YOU’VE SEVERED
NO DOUBT IN MY MIND
THAT’LL MAKE THEM FEEL BETTER
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
replacement girl by drake feat. trey songz
ooooold school drake all day every day.
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headlines by drake
I GUESS IT REALLY IS JUST ME, MYSELF, AND ALL MY MILLIONS
music for right now.
so long marianne by leonard cohen
gone for the summer (part two) by teen daze
november 18th by drake
debaser by the pixies
bhang bhang by dum dum girls
when my time comes by dawes
shut it down by drake feat. the-dream
tenderoni by kele
lemonade kid by KAK
today’s playlist
alps by ratatat
bare feast by ratatat
our deal by best coast
chinatown by wild nothing
billar by ratatat
nothing ever happened by deerhunter
find your love by drake
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find your love by drake (produced by kanye west)
holy shit this song is swank as fuck.
