Top Songs Of 2011 (100-81)
Top Songs Of 2011 (80-61)
So let's get to the batch of the next 20 songs all the way up to just outside the top 40. YouTube clips are provided for your aural pleasures. Enjoy!
60. Cymbals Eat Guitars-Keep Me Waiting
The straight up music blitz at the beginning of "Keep Me Waiting" is all out sound very comaprible to something off of My Bloody Valentine's epic "Loveless". The smart lyrics though put it over the top, a kind of ode to a best vacation ever on a boat "motorboats drone styrofoam/the coolers packed with beer and soda/ splotchy shadows juke like floaters" in which lead singer Joseph D?Agostino ends the song stating "I?m glad I?m back/but it?s a goddamn bore." Vacations suck when they end, don't they?
59. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart-Belong
If people were a little but put off with the crunching guitars on The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's sophomore album "Belong", they could still revel in the Kip Berman's twee pop like vocals from their debut album. But it turned out the mix between the two culminated in some of the finest songs of 2011, one of the best being the title song. When Berman sings "I know it is wrong but we just don't belong" over those big guitars, it's almost heavenly.
58. Foo Fighters-These Days
I've always had a bone to pick with Foo fighters releasing inconsistent albums, but their 2011 release "Wasting Light" had enough consistently good tunes since their sophomore "The Color And The Shape" to make me change my mind a bit. My favorite is in the middle of the album. "These Days" is a slice of post-grunge rock that with it's silent-loud dynamics is the biggest pleaser from Grohl and the gang this go round. Probably the shoe in for Best Rock album at the Grammys in February.
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| Iron & Wine |
When I listened to the new Iron & Wine album "Kiss Each Other Clean" back in January, all I could think was "Wow, Sam Beam is going with a big sound here." It was tough throughout the year to pick my favorites as well ("Walking Far From Home", "Me and Lazarus", "Your Fake name Is Good Enough For Me" all just missed the cut for favorite songs). So my second favorite is the glorious "Glad Man Singing", maybe because the simple harmony reminds me of Beam's previous works.
56. Death Cab For Cutie-Stay Young, Go Dancing
Never been a huge Death Cab fan, their singles have been pleasant and that's been enough for me. The last song on "Codes and Keys" just glistens with love and wistful energy. Lead man Ben Gibbard was clearly a
man in love on this album, and on the lovely sentiment of "Stay Young Go Dancing" he swoons in the chorus "Cause when she sings I hear a symphony". Unfortunately, Gibbard divorced his wife Zooey Deschanel. The next album may be the best divorce album of all time...
55. TV On The Radio-Will Do
When I think TV On The Radio, the words bittersweet ballads of love have never crossed my mind before. But that's exactly what "Will Do" is and it works in so many ways. Starting off with vibraphones or xylophones, it slowly finds its way through a failing relationship and gets to a proper chorus with Tunde Adebimpe sweetly singing "Anytime will do, what choice of words will take me back to you". TV On The Radio's best love song in their cannon.
54. Beirut-East Harlem
Even if the the latest album "Rip Tide" feels like the same old Beirut, it still is better than a lot of music out there. The lead off single "East Harlem" brings the same vibe Beirut has brought before but it sounds like a band that is starting to nail down their craft. Lead singer Zazhary Condon sounds a bit more convincing and the payoff horn section still brings a chill to the spine. "East Harlem" is a standout across the board.
53. Woods-Who Do I Think I Am?
Woods keep pace with their previous material with a handful of light folk-psychedelic numbers with their latest album "Sun and Shade". Although nothing struck me as hard as last year's "Suffering Season", there is strange sentiment running through "Who Do I Think I Am?". It's a song which reminds you that sometimes you need to just step back and evaluate where you are in life instead of what you've become.
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| The War On Drugs |
This hopped up version of "Baby Missiles" is great. The original version first appeared on The War On Drugs "Constant Future" EP in 2010. But here it's treated with more vivaciousness and colorful keyboards help bring this song to another level. Dare I say...it reminds me of Dire Straits in spirit a little bit? Plus it makes me want to strut with a bit of swagger which always is a sign of a good song to me.
51. Cults-Abducted
As I said with "O My God" at #66, Cults in one sitting is too much for me. But the finest moments are a joy. "Abducted", the lead off song from their debut album, sparkles with all out joyousness and works just fine. Plus when Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivion trade off vocals, those songs seem to be the most memorable of the batch. "Abducted" is the finest moment of their debut album.
50. M83-Reunion
The hands down winner of the best "wordless chorus" song in the countdown. Anthony Gonzalez worked a double album that for those who have patience, could find a lot fine songs. "Reunion" is a song that rushes by with 80's synth pop and guitars mixed to some great drums. A lot of the time, "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" works on big arena atmosphere and I can't think of a better song on it to work in that area than "Reunion".
M83 Reunion from Chibi87 on Vimeo.
49. Kurt Vile-Jesus Fever
"Smoke Ring For My Halo" is full of nocturnal songs, some up the tempo and others ("On Tour", "Ghost Town", "Peeping Tom") all work the tempo down a lot. "Jesus Fever" is one of the more upbeat songs on "Smoke Ring..." but Vile's lyrics are what throws it into the top 100. "Pack my suitcase with myself, but I'm already gone" he starts off and lets his fine guitar strumming lead his journey down the road.
48. Tune-Yards-You Yes You
Eccentric and disjointedly catchy at every turn, the best moments on the sophomore album "Whokill" from Tune-Yards erupt at the seams with bouncy grooves and lead singer Merrill Garbus' identifiably strong vocals. On "You Yes You", she finds the perfect range with a song that is sunny in disposition: "Now that everything is gonna be okay, now that everything is gonna be alright" is irresistible. It feels like it's a lost classic being played by a cover band on a beach somewhere.
47. Real Estate-Green Aisles
My favorite song Real Estate's "Days" album is "Green Aisles". A lot of the songs on "Days" find the band maturing and finding space to work in at an effortless pace. It's that chorus on "Green Aisles" that sticks out most. "All those wasted miles, all those wasted drives through green aisles" conjures up memories and then shines a positive light that it was worth the trip "Our careless lifestyle it was not so unwise". "Days" is my hands down winner for Sunday afternoon road trip albums in 2011.
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| Battles |
Let's just say, the opening minute workout on "Ice Cream" as the song finds its proper groove is breathtaking. During one workout this year, I was running quicker than I could manage when this came on the IPOD and I somehow found the perfect rhythm to run. Never mind the lyrics are half sung in Spanish and serve as an extra instrument in the rest of the song, "Ice Cream" was a breath of fresh air this past summer.
45. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks-Stick Figures In Love
It had been awhile since I've picked up a Malkmus' LP (since his debut). But maybe it had something to do with "Pavement Reunion Fever" that I go interested in his LP "Tune Grief". It was a straight up solid album with a batch of songs worth repeated listens. The guitar played the star on "Tune Grief" and my favorite "Stick Figures In Love" reminded me of old Pavement memories the most, especially the opening guitar part.
44. Fleet Foxes-Lorelai
With so many strong songs on "Helplessness Blues", I'm having troubles picking my favorites to make the top 100 (Just missing is "The Shrine/An Argument" and "Grown Ocean"). The waltz of "Lorelai" is a personal favorite as one of the more upbeat songs on the LP with Robin Pecknold providing the perfect nostalgic wordplay: "I was old news to you then" finds him looking back at a past love of his with fondness...much like a lot of other songs on this fantastic sophomore effort.
43. Crystal Stilts-Shake The Shackles
I think one of the most underrated albums of the past year was Crystal Stilts" "In Love With Oblivion". They moved their Joy Division in the graveyard sound to the 60's Go-Go's. Their first single was "Shake The Shackles" which basically swings along a great groove with a Ray Manzarek like organ piercing through. Brad Hargett muses Jim Morrison and the whole thing is like a lost Doors' classic smash.
42. The Antlers-Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
"Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out" is tension filled with Silberman counting off the ways his relationship is fallling apart "One dumb night two bad decisions don't divide to cancel out" until it culminates in a devastating chorus "You and I divorced but not devout, every night my teeth are falling out." The song then busts into an all out frenzy, a bit similar to Radiohead's "Just".
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| The Joy Formidable |
I can take just a little bit of 90's nostalgia in today's music every once in awhile if it is done right. The Joy Formidable's "Whirring" sounds like a lost classic from 1994. Lead singer Riitzy Bryan shines as she sings each line with conviction on "Whirring" and the soundtrack of buzzing alt rock guitars is a total adrenaline rush, not an easy feet even to accomplish in the midst of the nineties. Even better yet, the album version has a three minute ending that literally brings the house down.
Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2011/12/top-100-songs-of-2001-60-41.html
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