rafi-dangelo

Top 100 Songs of 2011. (Numbers 50-26)

(Numbers 100-76)

(Numbers 75-51)

50. Marsha Ambrosius “I Hope She Cheats On You With a Basketball Player”

Any song with “Kim Kardashian-ed her way up” should win an immediate Grammy. Plus, the groove is smooth.

49. Atlas Sound “Te Amo”

Deerhunter’s lead singer makes sparse arrangements fill up a room on this album track.

48. Buffalo Tom “Lost Weekend”

Buffalo Tom still succeeds at releasing straight-forward, 90s radio-rock jams.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

47. Calvin Harris “Bounce” feat. Kelis

Calvin and Kelis recapture their dance magic on this precursor to Rihanna’s “We Found Love.”

46. Veronica Falls “All Eyes On You”

1960s surf rock meets 2000s indie alternative on this catchy tune.

Top 100 Songs of 2011. (Numbers 75-51)

(Numbers 100-76)

75. Olivia “December”

The former red-headed stepchild of G-Unit uses a few bongos and well-placed strings to sing her heart out.

74. Smith Westerns “Weekend”

The lead single from Dye It Blonde by these Chicago youngsters is a bubbly slice of driving indie rock.

73. Britney Spears “Big Fat Bass” feat. will.i.am

The bass is indeed fat on this dance track from the Black Eyed Peas super-producer.

72. Jay-Z & Kanye West “Otis”

Jay & Kanye take it old school, trading bars back and forth with no chorus atop a classic Otis Redding sample.

71. Justice “Canon”

What would happen if Daft Punk re-did the score to Rocky? This song.

Top 100 Songs of 2011. (Numbers 100 - 76)

100. The Dirtbombs “Good Life”

This garage band covers Inner City’s classic old-school dance classic on their tribute album to Detroit techno and club music.

99. Young Galaxy “Open Your Heart”

Indie-electro outfit Young Galaxy covers Madonna’s “Open Your Heart” on Paper Bag Records’ tribute to her True Blue album.

Young Galaxy - Open Your Heart by The FADER

98. David Guetta feat. Nicki Minaj “Turn Me On”

David Guetta gets Nicki Minaj to step out of her comfort zone and sing (with autotune, naturally) against a thumping club beat.

97. The Strokes “Under Cover of Darkness”

The Strokes try to re-capture the magic of Is This It with their first single in five years, a throwback to “Last Night.”

96. Destroyer “Savage Night at the Opera”

Nine albums in, Dan Bejar is as smooth as ever, especially on this cut which feels like what would happen if 1987-era Sade replaced Ms. Adu with a random white man.

Top 50 albums of 2011. (Top 10)

And here are my top 10 albums of 2011. I checked around, and only a couple of them made any official top ten lists…but all those rankings are boo-zhee anyway and this is what you really should be listening to. (Not really…this is just what I like…)

Numbers 50-31 here.
Numbers 30-11 here.

Top 50 albums of 2011. (Numbers 30-11)

Numbers 50-31 here.

Top 50 albums of 2011. (Numbers 50 through 31)

These are mini-reviews of my favorite albums this year because I like sharing what music I’m currently digging. I feel like a lot of End of the Year lists are too concerned with what was fresh even if it wasn’t that good (The Weeknd) and too cool to admit when an album was good in spite of the “artist” it came from (that Britney album was some quality dance music).

So this is me, from cheesy pop to pretentious indie crap with some obvious picks and probably a few surprises. It’s heavier on country than most lists (country is the biggest selling genre in the US…the fact that so many “cool” people ignore it is beyond me) and includes a lot of lightweight radio pop (just because the artist is manufactured doesn’t mean the producers didn’t create enjoyable music), but they’re ranked in order of greatness.

Listen to this track.

Vince Gill “True Love” feat. Amy Grant

Best of 2011.

Listen to this track.

Cults “Walk At Night”

Cults

Best of 2011.

(Source: lavendersindecember)