2011 Year in Review Part III: The Songs

Continuing on with our look back at 2011, here are the 100 songs that I really couldn't get enough of, complete with YouTube links where possible.

100. "Total Decay" - The Soft Moon
99. "Holocene" - Bon Iver
98. "Judas" - Lady Gaga
97. "Jesus Fever" - Kurt Vile
96. "Second Chance" - Peter Bjorn & John
95. "Freaks and Geeks" - Childish Gambino
94. "Sadness is a Blessing" - Lykke Li
93. "The Grain" - Hammers of Misfortune
92. "The Body" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
91. "Norgaard" - The Vaccines
90. "Hair" - Lady Gaga
89. "Wake and Be Fine" - Okkervil River
88. "Ashes & Fire" - Ryan Adams
87. "The Wilhelm Scream" - James Blake
86. "Bizness" - tUnE-yArDs
85. "Replica" - Oneohtrix Point Never
84. "Days" - The Drums
83. "Cruel" - St. Vincent
82. "Riding for the Feeling" - Bill Callahan
81. "1 + 1" - Beyonce
80. "Then It's White" - The Field
79. "Novacane" - Frank Ocean
78. "Last Night at the Jetty" - Panda Bear
77. "Space Is Only Noise If You Can See" - Nicolas Jaar
76. "Goodbye Bread" - Ty Segall
75. "Ice Cream" - Battles f. Matais Aguayo
74. "Kaputt" - Destroyer
73. "Icons of Summer" - Cold Cave
72. "Down in the Valley" - The Head and The Heart
71. "Grown Ocean" - Fleet Foxes
70. "I Wanna Go" - Britney Spears
69. "Powa" - tUnE-yArDs
68. "It's A Crime (Caribou Mix)" - Virgo Four
67. "Wrong Feels Right" - Dum Dum Girls
66. "Abducted" - Cults
65. "You're Blessed" - Iceage
64. "Banana Ripple" - Junior Boys
63. "For Love (I Come Your Friend)" - Thundercat
62. "Amor Fati" - Washed Out
61. "Need You Now" - Cut Copy
60. "Blue Jeans" - Lana Del Rey
59. "Jam For Jerry" - Holy Ghost!
58. "Someone Like You" - Adele
57. "Through the Floor" - Crystal Stilts
56. "Voice" - Soft Metals
55. "Gangsta" - tUnE-yArDs
54. "Touch" - The Crystal Ark
53. "It's Real" - Real Estate
52. "Family Tree" - Black Lips
51. "Ric Flair" - Killer Mike
50. "The Devil's Orchard" - Opeth
49. "Street Joy" - White Denim
48. "Intro" - M83 f. Zola Jesus
47. "Rolling in the Deep" - Adele
46. "Otis" - Jay-Z & Kanye West
45. "Blue Cassette" - Friendly Fires
44. "Pencil Pimp" - Sepacure
43. "Helplessness Blues" - Fleet Foxes
42. "Manic" - Azari & III
41. "Baby Missiles" - The War On Drugs
40. "Killin' the Vibe" - Ducktails
39. "Believer" - John Maus
38. "Far Nearer" - Jamie xx
37. "Swerve... (Noir not withstanding)" - Shabazz Palaces
36. "By Your Hand" - Los Campesinos!
35. "How Deep Is Your Love" - The Rapture
34. "Ultra Thizz" - Rustie
33. "Beastin'" - E-40
32. "I'll Take Care of U" - Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx
31. "Snooze 4 Love" - Todd Terje
30. "Broken Record" - Katy B
29. "You and I" - Lady Gaga
28. "Ni**as in Paris" - Jay-Z & Kanye West
27. "Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People
26. "Glass Jar" - Gang Gang Dance
25. "Emergency Room" - Ford & Lopatin
24. "Bad Example" - Pistol Annies
23. "Austere" - The Joy Formidable
22. "Green Aisles" - Real Estate
21. "Chinatown" - Destroyer
20. "Mona Lisa" - Atlas Sound
19. "Get Away" - Yuck
18. "Vomit" - Girls
17. "Hell On Heels" - Pistol Annies
16. "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga
15. "Underworld USA" - Cold Cave
14. "Tourist U.F.O." - Boston Spaceships f. J Mascis
13. "Whirring" - The Joy Formidable
12. "Curl of the Burl" - Mastodon
11. "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" - Coldplay


10. "Romance" - Wild Flag
This was a perfect song to open Wild Flag's debut record, immediately putting to rest all of the Sleater-Kinney talk and letting us know that this was an entirely new entity that deserved to be reckoned with on its own terms. And oh what terms they were. Bouncy, joyful, muscular, a lot of things that indie rocks lacks far too often.


9. "Til the World Ends" - Britney Spears
By all rights Brit should have should have faded into the ether long before now, but her crafty choice in collaborators means has allowed her to stay current well past her predicted expiration date. She still isn't a great singer, but she knows how to put her talents to use and at least someone in her stable has an ear to the ground. This take on timely Europop was great fun and a treat to hear every single time it popped up on the radio.


8. "Midnight City" - M83
On an epic double-album packed wall-to-wall with widescreen cinematic moments that your local IMAX screen could barely contain, this was the most epic of them all. While this isn't the first time we've heard this guy do a sustained track-length build like this, but this was certainly the best.


7. "County Line" - Cass McCombs
This track seems incongruous when listed next to all of the other big pop moments on my tracks list, but this wormed its way into my head just as surely as anything Gaga or Britney gave us. Its an easy cop out to call this something like what Bob Dylan would be doing if he was 25 in 2011, but its pretty true. A masterful tune from an exciting talent, one that made its pleasures immediately known without relying on cheap gimmick.


6. "Yonkers" - Tyler, The Creator
Even if the Odd Future guys manage to piss away all of their remaining good will through boneheaded tweets and vile acts of misogyny, this track will stand as a prime example of the kind of bonkers stuff they were capable of tossing off. The shadowy, minimal beat was the initial draw, but Tyler's self-devouring lyrics were equally engaging - smart and introspective in ways that too many of the collective's other works were not.


5. "Countdown" - Beyonce
I still cannot even begin to fathom why this song was not absolutely massive. I'll never understand why people would choose to listen to garbage like Ke$ha and LMFAO when Beyonce is dropping absolutely bombshells like this. I don't know, just stop reading this and watch the video. It's amazing too.


4. "Queen of Hearts" - Fucked Up
Who'd have thought one of the most immediate pop songs of 2011 would have come from a Canadian post-hardcore collective better known for outrageous live shows and throat-shredding vocals? Who'd have thought it also would have come from a rock opera about star-crossed lovers? Not many, but then 2011 was kind of a fucked up year. The parent album was near double-digits in singalong anthems, but this was the shiniest of the whole bunch and the one I returned too most often. Green Day who?

3. "Video Games" - Lana Del Rey
I remember when this first crept up out of the ether and the YouTube video was getting passed around the internet like so many lolcats. The first time I watched it I nearly gave up 30 seconds in ("eh, kind of boring"), but I was transfixed by the vocals and couldn't click away. By the time I pulled myself out of the trance I had watched the video six times. Wistful, dreamlike, cutting, nostalgic, definitely sexy - there was a reason this quickly became one of the most buzz-worthy songs of the year. We'll see if she can sustain this mood over a full LP later this month, but I'm happy just to have this song in my life.


2. "The Edge of Glory" - Lady Gaga
As you probably noticed while scanning this list, I liked a lot of what Gaga gave us this year, but none as much as this. Everybody wants to talk about the sax solo or the eighties vibe, rightfully so, but I can't stop thinking about how well she sells this song. Lots of artists would kill for this sort of anthem, but they'd have no idea what to do with it once it dropped in their laps. Forget the meat suits or the drag personas, the truly scary thing about Gaga is how effortless she makes this whole superstar pop singer thing seem.


1. "Super Bass" - Nicki Minaj
When Nicki first started popping up on mixtapes a few years ago, I was instantly attracted to her playful mix of Missy Elliott and Lil Kim. Her ability to flip accents and voices like so many metaphors over the course of a couple bars left me stunned more than once. Which is why I was so disappointed when her album dropped and it felt like someone was trying to mold her into the next Rihanna or Pink. I wanted the raw, uncut Nicki that stole "Monster" out from under Kanye and Jay-Z last year, not the Nicki singing choruses and cuddling up with the king of r&bore, Drake. Then summer came along and this song was everywhere, completely redeeming in three minutes and twenty seconds every other mediocre thing she'd unleashed. Playful verses, a giant chorus, and a killer bridge - this was the perfect summertime pop song. Thing is, sitting here six months later in the middle of a Chicago winter, it still sounds amazing.