1. YOUTH LAGOON
Cannons
A crunchy 808 beat and snowy synth notes; a high and distant lead vocal and overall sense of magic and sadness. [youtube]9_g0TpTmIIk[/youtube]
2. JEFF BRIDGES
What A Little Bit Of Love Can Do
I don’t why I like it so much, it’s just weirdly awesome. Makes me want to don cowboys boots have sex with an old man, and that is a rare condition. [youtube]YS_2P1DnNWE[/youtube]
3. FOSTER THE PEOPLE
Pumped Up Kicks
Inner city violence has never been so adorable. [youtube]SDTZ7iX4vTQ[/youtube]
4. ST VINCENT
Cheerleader
One of the most interesting talents to emerge in 2011, Annie Clark rolls from slinky, melodic verses to the most brash, bombastic chorus on this superb track. [youtube]F9E41K8dxWE[/youtube]
5. JAMES BLAKE
Wilhelm Scream
This impossibly pretty boy and his creepy wailing voice still give me shivers. [youtube]MVgEaDemxjc[/youtube]
6. WE ARE AUGUSTINES
Chapel Song
The debut single from this hopelessly earnest Brooklyn band is naked and brutal, a feverish and honest tune. [youtube]LYXhAmlfNP0[/youtube]
7. RADIOHEAD
Lotus Flower
What they do is make very organic but clinical electro that is somehow profoundly human and also quite horrible. Still. [youtube]cfOa1a8hYP8[/youtube]
8. BEIRUT
East Harlem
Zach lost the gulag nostalgia and found his voice with this beautiful, light-hearted lament. [youtube]nGxAUphrpi8[/youtube]
9. WU LYF
Dirt
The sheer bombastic balls of this ‘heavy pop’ single, the feral appropriation of Arcade Fire’s baroque pop loveliness, made mince meat of my heart. [youtube]uEcuL9JwA_g[/youtube]
10. THE STROKES
Life Is Simple In The Moonlight
It’s not even a single, I’ve just listened to the damn thing four hundred times this year. How’s this for the most awkward but oddly affecting lyrics in modern music: “Innocence itself in America today/Is a crime just like Cornel West would say.” [youtube]2iTY0R5-28Q[/youtube]
Honourables:
Back of Your Neck HOWLER, Calgary BON IVER, Crystalline BJORK, California EMA, Super Bass NICKY MINAJ, Chemmie JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN, Dishonest John THE JIM JONES REVIEW, When The Thames Froze SMITH & BURROWS, So American PORTUGAL, THE MAN, Screaming Bloody Murder SUM 41.
