2011 Music Roundup, part 2: Original Songs

Top 20 Original Songs

20. Foster The People, "Helena Beats"
I'm sorry everyone, but I just cannot stand "Pumped Up Kicks." This song is far superior to FTP's megahit.


19. The Sounds, "Something To Die For"
The lead single from the album of the same name, which is the only album this year that I downloaded at midnight on the day of its release.


18. Dum Dum Girls, "Bedroom Eyes"
These indiepop girls are always low key and infectious.


17. Erik Hassle, "Are You Leaving"
I generally do not care for male vocals, especially in modern pop music. This is an exception.


16. Martin Solveig & Dragonette (featuring Idoling), "Big In Japan (Album version)"
No, it's not an Alphaville cover. Just a catchy club track.


15. Moby, "Be The One"
Moby's output has been on a steady decline for a few years now, but every now and then he manages to sound like his old self again.


14. OK Go, "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard"
The single from the soundtrack to Morgan Spurlock's The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.


13. Sleepy Rebels, "Better Day"
This band is so charming, sweet and soft. Which is probably why no one ever notices them (and also why the link is for an iTunes page, because this song is not on Youtube)

Listen to a 90-second sample here.

12. Eleanor Friedberger, "I Won't Fall Apart On You Tonight"
I was never a big fan of The Fiery Furnaces, but their lead singer's solo album this year is fantastic.


11. Lindi Ortega, "All My Friends"
Nick got to meet her. I'm incredibly jealous.


10. Esben And The Witch, "Marching Song"
I love the song too, but the video is AMAZING!


9. Sleepy Rebels, "Beautiful"
And here they are again, the only artists with more than one song in my Top 20.

Listen to a 90-second sample here.

8. Florence + The Machine, "Shake It Out"
What can I say, I like bombastic pop.


7. Kidneythieves, "The Invisible Plan"
While I really liked her solo work, I'm happy that Free Dominguez is back with her old band. Newer industrial pop/rock is pretty terrible, so I'd like to keep as many of the genre's veterans around as possible.


6. Lady Gaga, "Born This Way"
Sure, it may rob its beat from a Madonna song, but since Gaga is Madonna's heir-apparent anyway, I don't see it as a problem.


5. The Joy Formidable, "Whirring"
I've never liked any instance where I've seen them perform this song live, but damn do I love the studio version.


4. Shiny Toy Guns, "The Sun"
Since reteaming with their original singer Carah Faye Charnow, Shiny Toy Guns keep saying a new album is coming. But so far this one song is the only evidence that they've done anything at all.


I also really like the remix they released, which makes the song sound at home in the late-1980's.


3. Balam Acab, "Oh, Why"
This was my go-to song for relaxing this year.


2. Ivy, "The Conversation"
Ivy returned after a 5 year break with one of their strongest albums yet. The songs get better and better as the album progresses, leading to this great closing track.



1. The Raveonettes, "Apparitions"
I listened to no other song as often this year as I did this one. Sparse, kinda haunting, but still catchy. I love it.

2011 Music Roundup, part 1: Covers

Partly stealing the idea from my friend Nick and partly because I did this last year and absolutely love being timely and consistent with my posts, I now present my opinions on the music that came out this past year (and also concur with Nick's opinion that 2011 was a stellar year for music).

Top 10 Cover Songs

10. Sarah Darling, U2's "With or Without You"
A quiet, sweet cover of U2's classic ballad by a talented young country singer I had the pleasure of seeing live this summer (even though I generally don't like country music). Also she's originally from Des Moines and graduated from SE Polk, facts I did not yet know when I became a fan of hers. So that's cool.



9. Amanda Palmer, Nirvana's "Polly"
For the album's 20th anniversary, Spin Magazine commissioned a variety of artists to cover every track of Nirvana's "Nevermind." The result were...mixed, to be polite. But Palmer's version of "Polly" kicks all kinds of ass.


8. Fiona Apple and Jon Brion, Buddy Holly's "Everyday"
Fiona Apple. Buddy Holly. 'Nuff said.


7. Florence + The Machine, Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love"
Released this year as part of a collection of b-sides from the band's 2009 album "Lungs." Like everything she sings, Florence Welch makes this one her own.


6. Beautiful Small Machines, MIA's "Paper Planes"
This is an alternate version of their MIA cover that the band released early to their fans, the regular version of which will be released on an EP in 2012.


5. Ladytron, Death in June's "Little Black Angel"
Included as a new track on their Greatest Hits album, and later released as a single.


4. Lissie, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"
I'm a Lady Gaga fan, yet I may actually like Lissie's version of the song better.



3. Dum Dum Girls, The Smiths' "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out"
I definitely prefer this version to the original. But I also hate The Smiths, so this preference makes more sense.


2. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross featuring Karen O., Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song"
From the soundtrack to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and featured in the movie's trailer, this is exactly the kind of aggressive coolness you'd expect from a Zeppelin/Reznor/Ross/O mash-up.


1. Q Magazine, U2's entire "Achtung Baby"
Like Spin did with Nirvana's milestone album, Q Magazine had a collection of artists pay tribute to every track on U2's "Achtung Baby", with far better results than Spin's effort. So I'm using that as a chance to cheat and post multiple songs under one entry, because I can.

The Killers, "Ultraviolet"
Brandon Flowers was born to cover Bono.


The Fray, "Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World"
I usually hate The Fray, but they sure do a good job with this one.


Jack White, "Love Is Blindness"
It's Jack White, of course this was going to be good.