2011

3 January 2012

So, I think we can all agree that 2011 was quite the year, right?

A lot, err, happened.

From a personal perspective it was pretty good. Being part of the whole Adele thing was undeniably fun (if not a little bit surreal at several points), as was working another Radiohead record (although the record itself was really only a component in a larger whole). It’s fair to say work dominated 2011 for me, which is both good and bad. More non-work things in 2012 would be sensible, although I think I think that every year.

It seemed as though 2011 in general was less good for albums, and much better for single tracks. There was no great album of 2012, in my opinion. A good year for music, then, but not a great year for the long player format. I don’t think that’s any result of a grand “the world is changing” shift away from albums, more just that by pure coincidence and bad luck no one happened to make a collection of tracks that was “right” this year.

So, to that end rather then do a best albums of 2011 list that probably shouldn’t have a #1, I’ve compiled a list of my favourite 40 tracks of the year. 40, because it turned out that’s about how many I liked. It ranges about a bit genre-wise, which I think illustrates potentially illustrates a wider trend of the Internet enabling people to easily try stuff out that’s not traditionally in their comfort zone.

Spotify is the reason Rihanna is on this list, basically.

Best tracks of 2011

40. Baby Missiles – The War On Drugs
39. Georgie Ray – British Sea Power
38. 212 – Azealia Banks
37. A Chore – Tom Vek
36. Terra Incognita – Atlas Sound
35. Surgeon – St. Vincent
34. Countdown – Beyonce
33. The Words That Maketh Murder – PJ Harvey
32. Calgary – Bon Iver
31. Under Cover of Darkness – The Strokes
30. New Brigade – Iceage
29. Villains of the Moon – Cold Cave
28. Otis – Watch The Throne
27. Queen of Hearts – Fucked Up
26. Jesus Fever – Kurt Vile
25. Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair – Arctic Monkeys
24. California – EMA
23. Beat of My Drum – Nicola Roberts
22. Hold On – SBTRKT
21. Someone Like You – Adele
20. Everything Goes My Way – Metronomy
19. White Limo – Foo Fighters
18. Headlines – Drake
17. Scarlet – 2:54
16. Endless Blue – The Horrors
15. She – Tyler, The Creator
14. Diamond Way – Jeff The Brotherhood
13. Codex – Radiohead
12. NY is Killing Me – Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx
11. Dirt – WU LYF
10. We Found Love – Rihanna
9. The Wilhelm Scream – James Blake
8. Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx shuffle) – Adele
7. Goshen – Beirut
6. The Look – Metronomy
5. Powa – Tune-Yards
4. Video Games – Lana Del Ray
3. BTSTU – Jai Paul
2. Mozaik – Zomby
1. The Daily Mail – Radiohead

You can listen to these tracks as a playlist on Spotify (if they’re on there).

From: Articles

3 January 2012