You Ain’t No Picasso’s favorite songs of 2011
December 5th, 2011 by Matt
2011 was (another) odd year for music. It felt like the average quality of albums was raised a bit, but nothing really stood out as a life-changing album or single of the year. Still, there was a lot of great music to be heard. Here’s fifty of my favorite tracks from the year, ranging from bedroom indie pop and nerdcore rap to classic acts and bands who haven’t even put out an EP yet. I’m sure I forgot a ton of great music (and I’m more sure that you’ve heard some great stuff that I haven’t), so let me know what I forgot in the comments.
You Ain’t No Picasso’s favorite songs of 2011
#50: Gauntlet Hair – Top Bunk
#49: BOAT – King Kong
#48: Jovontaes – Mountain Pass
#47: The Deloreans – Buffalo
#46: Man Man – Piranhas Club
#45: Tom Waits – Bad As Me
#44: Amanda Mair – Doubt
#43: Wild Flag – Racehorse
#42: Childish Gambino – Freaks and Geeks
#41: Smith Westerns – Weekend
#40: Real Estate – It’s Real
#39: Hooray for Earth – No Love
#38: Friends – I’m His Girl
#37: Cage the Elephant – Always Something
#36: Unknown Mortal Orchestra – How Can You Luv Me
#35: Lil Wayne – 6 Foot 7 Foot
#34: NewVillager – Light House
#33: Idiot Glee – Trouble at the Dancehall
#32: Peter Bjorn and John – I Know You Don’t Love Me
#31: Okkervil River – The Valley
#30: Black Keys – Lonely Boy
#29: Givers – Up Up Up
#28: M83 – Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
#27: Sleeper Agent – Get it Daddy
#26: Decemberists – Rox in the Box
#25: They Might Be Giants – Cloissone
#24: MC Frontalot – Captains of Industry
#23: Heavenly States – Berlin Wall
#22: Middle Brother – Me Me Me
#21: Diamond Rings – Show Me Your Stuff
#20: Twin Sister – Bad Street
#19: Fleet Foxes – Grown Ocean
#18: Yellow Ostrich – WHALE
#17: The Weeknd – High For This
#16: Cults – Abducted
#15: Little Scream – Cannons
#14: Cass McCombs – County Line
#13: Radiohead – Lotus Flower
#12: Battles – Ice Cream
#11: Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers
#10: Handsome Furs – No Feelings
#9: COOLRUNNINGS – Chorus
#8: Portugal the Man – All Your Light (Times Like These)
#7: Bosco Delrey – Evil
#6: Beastie Boys – Make Some Noise
#5: Mister Heavenly – Bronx Sniper
#4: St Vincent – Cruel
#3: My Morning Jacket – Victory Dance
#2: tUnE-yArDs – Gangsta
#1: Oregon Bike Trails – High School Lover
Tags: Amanda Mair·Battles·Beastie Boys·Black Keys·BOAT·Bosco Delrey·Cage the Elephant·Cass McCombs·Childish Gambino·COOLRUNNINGS·cults·Decemberists·Diamond Rings·Fleet Foxes·Friends·Gauntlet Hair·Givers·Handsome Furs·Heavenly States·Hooray For Earth·Idiot Glee·Jovontaes·Lil Wayne·Little Scream·Lykke Li·M83·Man Man·MC Frontalot·Middle Brother·Mister Heavenly·mp3·My Morning Jacket·NewVillager·Okkervil River·Oregon Bike Trail·Peter Bjorn and John·Portugal the Man·Radiohead·Real Estate·Sleeper Agent·Smith Westerns·St Vincent·The Deloreans·The Weeknd·They Might Be Giants·Tom Waits·Tune-Yards·Twin Sister·Unknown Mortal Orchestra·Wild Flag·Yellow Ostrich
Laurie // Dec 5, 2011 at 8:06 am
“Tell Me You Love Me” by Desert Noises. https://www.facebook.com/desertnoises.
nick // Dec 5, 2011 at 9:51 am
i guess i just like different stuff
Matt // Dec 5, 2011 at 10:05 am
Laurie: I wrote up Desert Noises not too long ago, but hadn’t heard that track! Thanks!
http://www.youaintnopicasso.com/2011/11/20/mp3-desert-noises-highway-cars/
Nick: What’d you like from the year?
Graham // Dec 5, 2011 at 10:12 am
“The Wake” by The Albertans
Jeremy // Dec 5, 2011 at 10:28 am
“Summer Song” by Matt Duncan
“Waste” by Foster the People
“Miss You” by Foster the People
“Made in America” by Kanye West and Jay-Z
Isaac // Dec 5, 2011 at 3:01 pm
One of the songs I can’t stop listening to from this year is Mister Heavenly’s “I Am A Hologram.”
Taylor // Dec 5, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Nice list Matt! I put this into a Spotify playlist for easier listening. Here’s the link if anyone else is interested: http://spoti.fi/u0bEJ0
David // Dec 5, 2011 at 5:44 pm
solid list, but where’s “Jesus Fever” by Kurt Vile? also Fucked Up “Queen of Hearts,” “One Sunday Morning” by Wilco, “Winter Beats” by I Break Horses
james // Dec 5, 2011 at 7:18 pm
great idea taylor, thx!
Thomas // Dec 6, 2011 at 8:08 am
Hah so good to see Oregon Bike Trails made your summer as well!
Shame not too many see the beauty of the Wild Beasts album, Smother..
Swa // Dec 6, 2011 at 6:26 pm
The Rapture – How Deep is Your Love? That song stuck in my head for months after I heard it.
Also, gotta go with Still New instead of Weekend by Smith-Westerns.
Good list man.
Miki // Dec 9, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Great list. Other songs I really liked this year:
Moon Duo: Mazes
Black Joe Louis & the Honeybears: “Booty City”
Jessica Lea Mayfield: “Our Hearts Are Wrong”
Thao & Mirah: “Eleven”
Times New Viking: “Ever Falling in Love”
Veronica Falls: “Bad Feeling”
The War on Drugs: “Come to the City”
White Denim: “Drug”
Surfer Blood: “I’m Not Ready”
The Dirtbombs: “Sharivari”
Anna Calvi: “Suzanne and I”
Dum Dum Girls: “He Gets Me High”
Grouper: “She Loves Me That Way”
Hospitality: “Betty Wang”
Slow Club: “Two Cousins”
Diego Garcia: “You Were Never There”
Chad VanGaalen: “Peace Is on the Rise”
Dirty Beaches: “True Blue”
Lindsay // Dec 13, 2011 at 10:18 am
Nice to see TMBG’s Cloissone and Childish Gambino on here. :3
Matt // Dec 17, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Miki: I had that Thao & Mirah track in my first draft of this list. Lots of other good stuff in yours!