My 35 Favorite Tracks of 2011

I wouldn't call myself a music connoisseur. Not out loud. That would be pretentious.

I will admit out loud, however, that more than in any other recent year, I spent less time seeking out new music and wandering listlessly around audio blogs. I was just too busy, so my tastes tended not to stray from the familiar. If it wasn't a band I didn't already know - or a song that wasn't perfect for a workout/house-cleaning/long pensive drive down Hollywood Blvd Playlist - then it probably never streamed through my earbuds. Sorry, Music!

And yet, coming up with 50 Tracks from 2011 that I loved was not too difficult. Haha, just kidding, I could only think of 35. But - but! - just because a song is a treadmill song doesn't mean it isn't brilliant. And just because an artist makes my year-end list every year doesn't mean they don't always deserve it. So, keeping in mind that I've been less than musically adventurous this year, I humbly offer up my favorites.

(Also worth noting: Some of these aren't quite 2011 tracks, but 2011 is when I discovered them. So to me they're 2011 tracks. Kind of like how maybe you all die when I go to sleep and come back to life when I wake up. Also: I put "Rolling on the Deep" on my list last year because I AM A SORCERER.)

"Youth Knows No Pain" by Lykke Li
Aggressive and aggressively retro. If I ever take up smoking, I'm totally going to play this song while smoking and watching Tarantino films.

"Won't Back Down" by Eminem feat. P!nk
Last time I played this track, I banged my knee on the front of the treadmill because I started running so damn fast. It's not Em at his most introspective, or even his most clever, but with sputtering percussion and an insane sense of momentum, it's his most wild track.

"Barton Hollow" by The Civil Wars
This song feels like being baptized in an old-timey river. I mean that in a really positive way, obviously.

"Mind Your Manners" by Chiddy Bang & Icona Pop
OK, there's some treacly sentiments such as "I'm living in the moment" and something about a butterfly. But as far as indie playground rap goes (that's a genre, right?), "Mind Your Manners" has the bounce and spirit to rise above its own Hallmark moments.

"Let's Win!" by Alexander
Here's that folksy indie pop I was looking for! Why didn't you tell me about this, Wes Anderson. THAT'S YOUR JOB.

"More" by Usher
This will sound crazy but this song kind of sounds like it was maybe written for Queen. It's an arena-rocker but it's somehow also a dancehall jam. Usher seems really eager to please us and he succeeds. Well, he pleased me; this song barely charted.

"Shake It Out" by Florence + The Machine
Florence usually sounds like she's singing with the vibrating edges of her damned soul, but on "Shake It Out," she rips it out and splashes it around while somehow maintaining her maybe-I'm-just-a-Renaissance-painting-who-came-alive vibe.


"Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj
You guys would tell me if I had that super bass, right? I also really love that this monster hit led to the briefly awkward moment of a 6-year-old girl singing, "He might sell coke!" on Ellen.

"Don't Move" by Phantogram
"Don't Move" starts like a beautifully cacophonous collage and then the ethereal vocals come in and sweep over it and when you hear the repeating line of "Keep your body still," you know you should probably do the opposite.

"Hell in Heels" by Pistol Annies
The best, most fun, most rocking feminist anthem of the year came from Miranda Lambert's pistol-packin' country grrl group.

"Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyonce
No one does kiss-offs like Beyonce. She's pretty much the Ultimate Master. (Someone please add that to her Wikipedia page.) So even though I think "WTF?" every time I hear her sing, "You showed your ass and I saw the real you," I still feel every intended growl and moment of soft regret.

"Girls Girls $" by Theophilus London
Oh, Theophilus, you have the craziest shopping list!


"Gangsta" by Tune-Yards
I could just as easily have put "Powa"or "Bizness" on here. But at the end of the day, I'm going to go with the caterwauled storytelling that sounds almost like it was recorded in a back alley. In Jamaica.

"Otis" by The Throne
OK, I haven't actually given Watch the Throne a fair listen from beginning to end and, yes, I need to do that. But until that happens, I'll highlight this Redding-sampled slice of anything-but-tenderness that may or may not have blasted through my car windows throughout July and August.

"Little Black Submarines" by The Black Keys
I could have chosen any track off the brilliant El Camino, but in a gun-to-my-head situation - which is a situation that people writing year-end blog posts always find themselves in! - I'll go with "Little Black Submarines." It starts where The White Stripes left off, but adds a swell of cathartic pain that never sounded this brokenhearted when Jack White sang it. And then, halfway through, they amp up the catharsis.

"You Da One" by Rihanna
I get a little bored with the disco stick waving of "We Found Love," but I can bump along with the breezy professions of young romantic interludes on "You Da One," in which Rihanna sounds, well, actually happy.

"What Do You Want" by Jerrod Niemann
Hands down, the best thinking-about-you-while-drinking song of the year. And that is kinda a HUGE genre.


"Slight Work" by Wale feat. Big Sean
I won't lie; I miss Mixtape Wale, who seemed more courageous and daring, both with his production and his curious social statements. So while his new album doesn't have the bite I'm used to, this Diplo-produced track has multiple elements of surprise and some of Wale's best rhymes.

"The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga
Born This Way is a really solid album, even if we tend to get caught up in the theatrics more than the music. My favorite track is the third single, a perfect example of straightforward, rousing pop music.

"No Strings" by Mayer Hawthorne
Seductive old school R&B; Hawthorne's ode to commitment-free loving actually betrays his weakness for old-fashioned romance.

"Mama's Broken Heart" by Miranda Lambert
"Go hide your crazy and start acting like a lady" demands the mother of the broken-hearted narrator. But the crazy, fortunately, stays in the foreground as the damaged, losing-it "lady" unravels at the expense of her mother's carefully constructed facade.

"Cbat" by Hudson Mohawke
This is mostly just an awkwardly repeating riff, but to me, it feels like the tribal dance of the iGeneration.

"Starry Eyed" by Ellie Goulding
She sounds like she's being swallowed up in her own excitement and passion while dreamlike soundscapes cascade around her. When Ellie falls in love, it feels like a star collapsing.

"Do It Like a Dude" by Jessie J
I'm not sure where exactly this should fall on the postfeminist measuring stick, but the girl's got mad swagger (that's a thing, right?) and it gets nicely highlighted on this banger that rocks the floorboards. I do not, however, condone spiky lipstick.


"The Circle Married the Line" by Feist
It's typically gentle, but this standout track from Metals is wistful and hopeful, and full of beautiful textures. It's a love song that's just downright lovely.

"You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" by Cee-Lo
Rave On, a pretty great Buddy Holly tribute album, came out this year. And the cut that works best? This jaunty ode to being "square," performed by pop's roundest star.

"Like This" by E-603
Haha, I kind of found a way to put "Rolling in the Deep" on here. Gotchya! Seriously though, E-603 is nipping at Girl Talk's heels in the brilliant mashing department and Smokeshow is clever and intoxicating from beginning to end. He turns transitions into exciting moments of recognition. I'm highlighting "Like This" because of its mind-bendingly awesome mash of Adele, Ace of Base, Mims, LCD Soundsystem, Len, and many more.

"Houdini" by Foster the People
While we were pumping up our kicks, we might have overlooked this dreamy bit of electro-rock that was made to be played over montages of teenagers partying when their parents are out of town.

"Sleazy Remix" by Ke$ha featuring Andre 3000
I miss OutKast and, honestly, this was a fun way to get a little fill of Andre this year. And I will (semi-confidently) defend Ke$ha's "trash pop" any day of the week.

"Take Off Your Shirt" by Bibio
Some fun, loose guitar-driven rock with an undeniably raw and sex-tinged undercurrent. The kind of song that the neighbor kid's garage band would write, if they were way better.

"I Wrote The Book" by Beth Ditto
For Ditto, this is actually restrained. She reins in her gritty diva-ness and recasts herself as an 80s dance-pop songstress, full of melodic cooing and subtle proclamations.

"If I Die Young" by The Band Perry
It took a while, but this country hit really grew on me. It's a surprising hit, considering what a peaceful, calm song it is about death. But it has real soul and I'll be damned (pun intended) if the hook of that chorus doesn't seep into your mind-grapes for days.

"Bounce" by Calvin Harris featuring Kelis
Calvin Harris does his best beep-booping here (and he does a lot of it - and he does it well, don't get me wrong) in this Europop confection that, despite being great in its own right, now sounds like the prequel to "We Found Love."


"Sweat" by Casely featuring Lil Jon and Machel Montano
Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" was a classic lesson in how to NOT incorporate a club sample into an R&B song. Luckily, Casely released "Sweat," an ode to swapping bodily fluid on the dance floor, and he uses the exact same sample as Beyonce: Major Lazer's "Pon de Floor." It's the kind of song perfect for a NappyTabs routine. By letting the sample stand on its own - with Lil Jon throwing some grunts and "Sweat!"s over it - it gives the track a series of thumping, energizing climaxes. That's what she said.

"Someone Like You" by Adele
I heard it so many times that I started to FEEL FEELINGS. It was weird and uncomfortable.


OK, that's all I've got. Since, musically, I've been living in a cave, I happily invite you to tell me what I've been missing and what I really need to check out. We can turn 2012 into a year of redemption!

Or you can just use the comments section to bash me for my awful taste. Either way.

(On Twitter at @AaronFullerton)