December 17, 2011

Best Songs of 2011

For the first time ever I have put together a 'best songs of the year' list. I'm going to make this an annual tradition to accompany my best albums of the year list.

Below are the top 100 tracks of the year as chosen by me, each one a magnificent gem:


1. Handsome Furs: “Serve the People”

This was a no-brainer for me. It's a fantastic song with anthemic, pump-your-fist-in-anger lyrics. "Serve the People" was the perfect theme-song for 2011, a year in which the protester was dubbed the person of the year by TIME Magazine. Above is the unofficial video for this track which I think does a better job than the official version at capturing its tone and spirit.


2. Fleet Foxes: “Helplessness Blues”


3. Opeth: “Devil’s Orchard”


4. PJ Harvey: ""The Words That Maketh Murder”"

TRAIL OF DEAD - Weight of the Sun (or the Post-Modern Prometheus) by Superball Music
5. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead: “Weight of the Sun (Or, the Post-Modern Prometheus)"


6. Hooray for Earth: “Sails”


7. Real Estate: “It’s Real”


8. Deerhoof: “The Merry Barracks”


9. Chad Van Gaalen: “Peace on the Rise”


10. Cults: “Abducted”


11. Gang Gang Dance: “Glass Jar”


12. John Maus: “Head for the Country”


13. James Blake: “Wilhelms Scream”


14. Fucked Up: “Queen of Hearts”


15. Gang Gang Dance: “MindKilla”


16. Girls: “Vomit”


17. tunE-yArDs: ""Bizness"


18. Anna Calvi: “Suzanne And I”


19. Kurt Vile: "Jesus Fever"


20. Smith Westerns: “Weekend”


Here's the entire list: The top 100 songs of 2011:
  1. Handsome Furs: “Serve the People”
  2. Fleet Foxes: “Helplessness Blues”
  3. Opeth: “Devil’s Orchard”
  4. "PJ Harvey: "The Words That Maketh Murder"
  5. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead: “Weight of the Sun (Or, the Post-Modern Prometheus)"
  6. Hooray for Earth: “Sails”
  7. Real Estate: “It’s Real”
  8. Deerhoof: “The Merry Barracks”
  9. Chad Van Gaalen: “Peace on the Rise”
  10. Cults: “Abducted”
  11. Gang Gang Dance: “Glass Jar”
  12. John Maus: “Head for the Country”
  13. James Blake: “The Wilhelm Scream”
  14. Fucked Up: “Queen of Hearts”
  15. Gang Gang Dance: “MindKilla”
  16. Girls: “Vomit”
  17. tunE-yArDs: "Bizness"
  18. Anna Calvi: “Suzanne And I”
  19. Kurt Vile: "Jesus Fever"
  20. Smith Westerns: “Weekend”
  21. Oneohtrix Point Never: “Replica”
  22. TV On the Radio: “Repetition”
  23. Liturgy: “Returner”
  24. Girls: “Alex”
  25. Plaid: “At Last”
  26. Real Estate: “Green Aisles”
  27. The Weeknd: “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls”
  28. tunE-yArDs: "Gangsta”
  29. Adele: “Someone Like You""
  30. Bon Iver: “Perth”
  31. Cass McCombs: “The Lonely Doll”
  32. Shabazz Palaces: “Swerve...The Reeping of All That is Worthwhile (Noir Not Withstanding)”
  33. Snowman: “Snakes & Ladders”
  34. The Horrors: “Still Life”
  35. tUnE-yArDs: ""Powa""
  36. Wolves in the Throneroom: “Thuja Magus Imperium”
  37. Bill Callahan: “America!”
  38. Cass McCombs: “County Line
  39. Cymbals Eat Guitars: “Rifle Eyesight (Proper Name)”
  40. Fleet Foxes: “Grown Ocean”
  41. Cymbals Eat Guitars: “The Current”
  42. Deafheaven: “Violet”
  43. EMA: “California”
  44. Gang Gang Dance: “Adult Goth”
  45. Krallice: “Diotma”
  46. The Field: “Is This Power""
  47. Destroyer: “Kaputt”
  48. Fleet Foxes: “Lorelai""
  49. M83: “Midnight City”
  50. Nicolas Jaar: “Space Is Only a Noise If You Can See”
  51. Panda Bear: “Last Night At the Jetty”
  52. St. Vincent: “Cruel”
  53. Youth Lagoon: “Afternoon”
  54. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead: “Summer Of All Dead Souls""
  55. Tim Hecker: “The Piano Drop”
  56. Frank Ocean: “Songs for Women”
  57. Hooray for Earth: “True Loves”
  58. Twerps: “Coast to Coast”
  59. The Weeknd: “The Morning”
  60. Adele: “Rolling in the Deep""
  61. Low: “You See Everything”
  62. The Oh Sees: “The Dream”
  63. Atlas Sound: “Terra Incognita”
  64. Kurt Vile: "Baby's Arms"
  65. Blut Aus Nord: “Epitome 6”
  66. Rusko + Rezzo: “Lick the Lizard”
  67. St. Vincent: “Surgeon”
  68. Washed Out: “Amor Fati”
  69. Snowman: “Hyena”
  70. PJ Harvey: “Let England Shake”
  71. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead: “Pure Radio Cosplay""
  72. Amon Tobin: “Morning Ms Candis”
  73. Bill Callahan: “Riding for the Feeling”
  74. Bon Iver: “Holocene”
  75. Danny Brown: “Monopoly”
  76. Destroyer: “Chinatown”
  77. Iceage: “White Rune”
  78. John Maus: “Believer”
  79. Liturgy: “Generation”
  80. Atlas Sound: “Te Amo”
  81. Black Keys: “Lonely Boy”
  82. James Blake: “Limit to Your Love""
  83. Lykke Li: “I Follow Rivers”
  84. The Soft Moon: “Total Decay”
  85. Cloud Nothings: “No Future/No Past”
  86. Tyler the Creator: “Yonkers”
  87. Trash Talk: “Awake”
  88. Drake: “Headlines”
  89. PJ Harvey: ""Written On The Forehead”
  90. Smith Westerns: “All Die Young""
  91. TV On the Radio: “Second Song”
  92. Beirut: “Sante Fe”
  93. Julianna Barwick: “Prizewinning”
  94. Fiend: “Absolutely”
  95. Moonsorrow: “Muinaiset”
  96. Toro Y Moi: “New Beat”
  97. Phantogram: “Don’t Move”
  98. Priestbird: “Who Will Lead Us”
  99. Bon Iver: “Calgary”
  100. Primus: “Eternal Consumption Engine”
Honorable mention (listed alphabetically):

  • A$AP Rocky: "Palace"
  • Amon Tobin: “Bedtime Stories”
  • Azelia Banks: "212"
  • Battles: “Ice Cream”
  • Battles: “My Machines”
  • Boris: “Spoon”
  • Burial: “Street Halo”
  • Cass McCombs: “Buried Alive”
  • Cass McCombs: “Humor Risk”
  • Cut Copy: “Need You Now”
  • Cut Copy: “Sun God”
  • Dirty Beaches: “Lord Knows Best”
  • Dirty Beaches: “Sweet 17”
  • DJ Quik: “Killer Dope”
  • Drake: “Doing it Wrong”
  • Fleet Foxes: "The Shrine/An Argument"
  • Fucked Up: “A Little Death”
  • Girls: “Honey Bunny”
  • Holy Ghost!: “Some Children”
  • Hooray for Earth: "No Love"
  • Iceage: “You’re Blessed”
  • Jane’s Addiction: “Irresistible Force”
  • Jay-Z & Kanye West: “Niggas In Paris”
  • Korallreven: “As Young as Yesterday”
  • Kurt Vile: “Ghost Town”
  • Lana Del Rey: "Video Games”
  • Lindstrom: “De Javu”
  • Machine Head: “Locust”
  • Neon Indian: “Polish Girl”
  • Panda Bear: “Afterburner”
  • Papercuts: “Do What You Will”
  • Priestbird: “Diamond”
  • Purity Ring: “Ungirthed”
  • The Antlers: “I Don’t Want Love”
  • The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: “Heart in Your Heartbreak”
  • Thundercat: “For Love I Come”
  • Tycho: "Hours"
  • Twin Sister: “Kimmi in a Rice Field”
  • Unknown Mortal Orchestra: “FFunny Friends"
  • Wilco: "One Sunday Morning"
  • Wu Lyf: “Heavy Pop”
  • Yacht: "Utopia/Dystopia"
  • Youth Lagoon: “July”
  • Yuck: “Get Away”


Comments welcome!

3 comments:

scout said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
scout said...

Awesome! You should make a Spotify playlist to share.

I'm surprised Wild Flag didn't make it onto either of your lists.

Ragle Gumm said...

Fuck the German GEMA!!! The majority of songs is not available for me on YouTube ... bastards!!!