2011 was an incredible year for music, and even though it’s now February, it’s never too late to take a look back at the best songs of the year. This is especially true because one of the songs in my top five wasn’t introduced to me until sometime last month, a good couple weeks after the year had ended. Still counts though, right? Of course it does, ya big jerk. Don’t you try and suppress my creativity!
Naturally, I recognize the MySpace-esque “creativity” of listing other peoples’ songs, but I do not actually consider this creativity. Either way, I’ve narrowed it all down to 20 songs and I’m not going to number them, but a loose ranking goes with the order, so do with that what you will. At any rate, I sort of marathon-ed through the write-ups, so don’t expect anything terribly analytic and certainly don’t expect any sense-making. Just listen to the tracks. Enjoy.
Astronautalis – Holy Water
I have to be honest, I listened to this song six or seven times before I actually realized what he was saying word-for-word. It took even longer to really get a true grasp of what the meaning of the song was, but the realization that it was totally badass in every way conceivable came around 20 seconds in. Rarely do I ever like a song without understanding it, but there was an immediate feeling of “it doesn’t matter what he’s saying, it has to be awesome, at this point.” The song is like a lyrical adrenaline dump, something I’ve found to be consistent on This Is Our Science, but not something I can attest to with other releases as I am, admittedly, unfamiliar. When “Holy Water” kicks off, it’s like he completely loses himself in the song, quite literally spitting with passion that I can’t help but admire and really get into.
Grieves – Bloody Poetry
Gotta love good piano, good trumpet and good lyrics in any kind of hip-hop/rap song. There was no way around me loving this track, even if the track was a rap about … I don’t know, changing diapers instead of the metaphor-journey that actually follows. In reality, it’s a beautiful song that is, in my mind, about an artist struggling to resist many temptations and with a deep urge to be heard. He wants to be understood, as evidenced by my favorite line “This is what it’s like to bleed ink/put your fingers in it and paint me a picture of what you think.” Can’t express accurately how much it applies to me on different levels.
Perc – My Head Is Slowly Exploding
I’m not very knowledgeable with any forms of techno, electronica, trance or whatever that dubstep thing is, these days. I do, however, know engaging music when I hear it, and this track from Perc is an experience like no other. It’s psychological ambiance done at its best, perfect for a horror video game or even a random boss fight. There’s a certain industrial aspect that I really love at this point, and I think I like it because it reminds me of my favorite video game of all time, Phantom Dust. It’s a song that fosters panic, even as I listen while I write this paragraph, I’m feeling very nervous. I love it.
Ben Marwood – J.J. Abrams
The first track I heard from Marwood and the first time I wrote him off. Whats The Ruckus (note: the inspiration for me to start writing about music again) wouldn’t shutup about Marwood, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I don’t know why I wrote this track off, but I definitely didn’t listen to it all the way through. This isn’t the last time Marwood appears on this list, either, and objectively, this might be his best track. The references, the metaphors, the imagery and the absolute catchiness of it all makes it the best to sing along to. Ironic because the track “Singalong” appears here. Spoilers!
Kendrick Lamar – Rigamortis
I think it’s the monotone quality of his voice that really gets to me in this song. It’s so calm and “whatever” that they’re talking about dead people, and then Lamar is rapping about how absolutely badass he is, something every emcee ever engages in. And then back to “He dead.” I don’t understand it, but I love it. It’s a brilliant track with great, great raps.
Thrice – Promises
Here’s a band that I actually have disliked for many years, but I’m not one to hold a grudge, by any means. They’re a band that likes to reinvent themselves with each release and that’s something I can get behind, especially if they reinvent themselves into a dynamic band that embraces multiple elements of the music it creates, without trying to just make it onto the radio. Ironically, the song I’ve gone with is the one that did make it onto the radio, but it’s still a great one. I love the rough and drawn out quality of the lead singers’ voice. It’s just perfectly executed and the kind of thing I look for in rock these days.
Larry and His Flask – Ebb and Flow
It’s probably just the “The steady sway of agony and iron/Like ebony and ivory gone wrong” that made me really get into this track, and you know what? That’s OK. The smoothness of that line (and really, all the lines in the song) compounded with the roughness of the lead singer’s voice is enough to create a parallel with the song itself. Yes, I am insinuating that I am saying, to me, the song is about the song. That just happened. Listen to it.
The Dear Hunter – Mr. Mallum
Totally alright with admitting that it’s the instrumentation that drew me into this song. It doesn’t hurt that I’m a sucker for songs that begin with “Mr.” I don’t know why, but I love it when there’s something not entirely unlike a character in my mind, even if that character is just an idea illustrated through the guise of being a person. That probably comes from the fact that I wrote fiction before I ever wrote about music. But tracks like Mr. Mallum create a bond between myself and this mystery man, and it helps that Casey Crescenzo has an amazing voice and should be required by law to sing everything he says as loudly as possible.
Protest The Hero – Moonlight
Who’s up for a radical change in genre? This guy is! Protest The Hero is basically my favorite metal band of any kind at this point, and though the chorus of this track is far too “Avenged Sevenfold-y” for my tastes, I can’t help but love everything else about it. The instrumentation and the power with which this guy sings is ridiculous. It’s a track fit for everything, I think. I can read, write, clean and do … other stuff to. It’s so soaring and purpose-driven that I can’t help but sing along with it.
Mayer Hawthorne – Can’t Stop
Gotta say, everything this guy does it absolutely off the hook. This white Barry White is my idol right now, and this is real love-making music right here. Plus, he’s featuring Snoop Dogg in the way that Snoop was meant to be featured. Anyway, he’s got that voice that, if I were into guys, I’d probably be all over him. I’m pretty OK with saying that because I’m just that secure with myself in that I know I don’t actually want to bop his bip, but ya know what I’m getting at. This is folk-y, blues-y, soul-y and so much more. Just listen to it and try not to groove. I dare you.
Ben Marwood – Singalong
This is Marwood just about as his best, giving you hooks and a very catchy chorus with plenty of metaphors to lean on and make it more than just that: a catchy chorus. It’s a song that one would be perfectly happy just listening to and enjoying how delightfully catchy it sounds, but when you delve a little deeper, unveils an intricate, lovely message. Discover it.
Kendrick Lamar – HiiiPOWER
At first glance, HiiiPOWER is a song about black unity and rising above for persons of color. This is an admirable message, always has been and doesn’t exclude other races while doing so. That’s cool. But upon further listening, it’s very clear the song’s message in itself simply uses the black figures of Martin Luther King, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton to illustrate a point. HiiiPOWER is much more than one race standing above, it’s about the universal respect for each other and the understanding that each of us need to individually rise above all the bullshit and madness in the world. Respect, honor, heart in his own words. It’s a song that really gets me pumped, and probably makes me like it more outside of the music itself. Which, by the way, is absolutely excellent.
Dessa – Dixon’s Girl
Oh, Dessa. You know just how to make me think, vibe, and hate my inferior brain all at once. Her lyrics are better than any I’ve ever encountered before and nothing you can say will change that. As I write this, I hate myself because I think this track should be higher on the list. In fact, I’m going to go ahead and make this list not a numbered one, so I can’t really say that the others are above this one. You would see much more Dessa on this list if this wasn’t kind of cheating since this song is actually from 2010, and this is just a re-make with a live band. But I don’t care. It’s my list and this song is amazing, and would be even if it wasn’t in her voice. But it is, so it’s like way better.
Grouplove – Colours
I heard this track via a Facebook friend and I’ve probably listened to it more than any other on this list and that’s not just because I made it the ringtone for my girlfriend. It strikes me that some might find the repetitiveness of the opening lines to be a little annoying, but I think it fits his voice perfectly and, naturally, is awesome in every way to me. Take the word “Colours,” and change it to “Cards,” and you’ve got the meaning of the song: you’ve only got the cards you’ve been dealt. There’s no need to be sad – accept yourself and all is good. The message doesn’t particularly strike me because I’m ten kinds of badass, but ya know, it doesn’t hurt.
Lisa Hannigan – A Sail
Lisa has such a calm, calculated voice with just the right kind of accent that I can’t quite place on my own that it just hits me perfectly. I think her voice works best here, with solid but subtle instrumentation to back the pace set by her voice, which is a constant from beginning to end. There’s not a significant climax to the track and that fits her voice perfectly. It’s a consistent, soothing and powerful ride.
The Dear Hunter – Lillian
The Violet portion of The Color Spectrum gave me chills and really engaged me like none of the other colors could, and all four of them might just be my top four from the collection of EPs, but this one is definitely my favorite. I think it’s because the soaring chorus that, to me, is something that The Dear Hunter has made a signature for years. My favorite tracks have always been the ones in which Casey Crescenzo just belts it out there in all its glory. As for the meaning, I can’t quite shake the feeling that Lillian is an actress in … a porno. The lyrics line up, don’t they? That’s the impression I got the very first time I listened to it, and it stuck.
Fair to Midland – Short-Haired Tornado
There’s a little bit of disappointment that this is the only song that, in the end, I could include of this list from this release, given it was my most anticipated album of the last five years. That being said, it was a great album and this is my favorite song from it. The lyrics, as is a constant with Fair To Midland, are absolutely brilliant. I also love the electric mandolin and, of course, the xylophone-like instrument in the background. These guys blend so many things together so well that it’s breathtaking. Of course, it helps that the vocals are soaring and out there, to the point where I want to yell them out loud. Since I wear headphones, this can get off.
Astronauatlis – Thomas Jefferson
I’d heard of Astronautalis before, but I didn’t give them a listen until the girlie suggested I do so. This was the first track I listened to and I’m immediately struck by how raw and powerful his voice is during the chorus. I also love the fact that he manages to flow and sort of rap while keeping the raw and “in-your-face” quality he exudes when he’s yelling the chorus. The song is so angry and built on self-reflection that I’m constantly changing my opinion what it’s really about. I also am not huge on sharing such things so I’ll just say it makes it totally on how raw and powerful the chorus is.
Ben Marwood – Toil
Ah yes, the third track from Mr. Marwood on this list, and the one that took me the longest to come around to. While the entire album, Outside There’s A Curse is predicated on how catchy it can be while still managing to have superior lyrics, this song doesn’t get all-that catchy until about halfway through, but it builds upon itself, reaching a high point with the lines “With a love for the macabre, and a sideline in back jokes/We’d rather sing of Lovecraft than sit through Hollyoaks” that I can’t help but sing along with every single time it happens. It helps that those lyrics make me nerd-out and I imagine, you know, my friends and I. If only I were as cool as Ben Marwood.
Larry and His Flask – End of an Era
My favorite song from my favorite album of the year, the song has everything I look for in a slow song of its type. It has the message with the carefully crafted lyrics, but the amount of emotion that the lead singer pushes into his voice just gives me a sense of purpose that might not be there otherwise. The horns halfway through just set the tone so well, I feel as though they’re an extension of the guy’s voice, really. Their somber tones transition well to and from his raw voice and … I have a hard time really describing this how I want to. Everything feels inadequate. It’s a song bigger than myself, and I’ll just leave it at that.
