2011 Songs of the Year - 100-81

I still can't believe it is the end of the 2011 already. Before I know it, I will be getting all geared up for Coachella again. Oh well, I won't get too ahead of myself. Starting today I will be counting down my top 100 favorite songs of the year, ending with the Number 1 track on Friday. These songs are not necessarily official singles released by the artist. More often than not, they are deeper album cuts that spoke to me more. I also limited it to one track per artist, which made things both easier and more difficult.

Tom Vek - Seizemic by modularpeople

100. Tom Vek - "Seizemic"

Herky jerky synth pop from Tom Vek. I loved all the different layers and his arch, hiccuped vocals. Not for everyone, but if you enjoy quirky pop music, Tom Vek is a go-to person.



99. Neon Indian - "Polish Girl"

Reigning in the eccentricities of his first album that annoyed me to no end, Neon Indian focused more on pure song craft, and the first single from Era Extrana was this deliciously retro bit of sci-fi synth funk.



98. Gang Gang Dance - "Adult Goth"

Gang Gang Dance didn't necessarily reign in their eccentricities so much as the world caught up with them. What normally would sound completely alien now sounds familiar and enveloping. Not that this passes for Top 40 music whatsoever, "Adult Goth" one of the standout tracks on Eye Contact, is a fractured art rock dream, never losing control of the mission at hand.



97. Florence + The Machine - "Seven Devils"

Ceremonials was a complete disappointment to me, favoring over the top arrangements on each track, bludgeoning the listener over the head. Despite this almost crippling structure to the album, there are some fine tracks to be heard. "Seven Devils" is all slow burn delivery, building its bed of pianos and strings into a crescendo of other-worldliness. I don't count Florence Welch out yet, as long as she still has songs like this in her.

Siriusmo - Nights off by CULTURESHAKER

96. Siriusmo - "Nights Off"

German producer Siriusmo never sticks to one genre or theme for too long before bouncing on to another one, which truly makes his album Mosaik live up to its title. "Nights Off" which is featured on the album, is all one slow build of analog synths and vibes, until the drop, throwing everything into a dance floor maelstrom.



95. The Field - "Then It's White"

The Field's shtick is fairly well-known by now, but each release shows him slightly tweaking what he does into something fresh. Looping State of Mind is chock full of his spacey take on techno, but what really stands out is left field tracks like "Then It's White," an almost 8 minute ambient track with hauntingly atmospheric synths over a meandering, beautiful piano melody. Barely reaching a beat above a heartbeat, the track insinuates itself in your head, and is a lovely end to an almost perfect album.



94. Beyonce - "I Miss You"

I don't mind admitting that I love Beyonce, or admitting that I thought her album 4 was completely dreadful. So, with such a horrid review, how is one of her songs on this list? Well, for one, it is an amazing ballad written by Frank Ocean, and has one of Beyonce's typically emotion packed deliveries. On an album filled with such dreck it was a pearl amongst swine.



93. Esben and the Witch - "Eumenides"

Reminding me of early Dead Can Dance, Siouxsie and the Banshees and This Mortal Coil, UK trio Esben and the Witch brought goth cool to 2011. "Eumenides" is a centerpiece of the record Violet Cries, and is a 6 minute tutorial in how to do drama correctly.



92. Class Actress - "Need To Know"

While not everything worked on their debut album Rapprocher, Class Actress knows how to work their Nu Shooz meets Depeche Mode style, and nothing sounded quite as funky and sinister as the electro-funk workout "Need to Know." Elizabeth Harper's sexy cooing over the slick beats and dense bed of synthesizers was completely intoxicating.



91. Oneohtrix Point Never - "Replica"

Known more for analog synthesizer drones than anything, Oneohtrix Point Never (a.k.a. Daniel Lopatin) surprised many with this year's Replica, which found him working with a lot of samples, and even incorporating beats into his music. Title track "Replica" contains no beats, but immerses you in a world of plaintive piano melodies, squiggling synths, and lots of found noises and sounds. The beauty of the piece is in how much there is a sense of tension and terror lurking in the background.



90. The Joy Formidable - "The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie"

Obviously, at the first band meeting for The Joy Formidable the consensus was go big or go home. For such a small band, they know how to whomp up the energy, adding lots of loud stadium ready guitars and shoegaze textures to their power pop. First song on their debut album The Big Roar, "The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie" is a gorgeous, demanding track full of lots of rises and falls. It is tailor made for arenas and stadiums, and based on their well-received live shows, that is not too far off.



89. Peter Bjorn & John - "Second Chance"

How do you ever live up to a fluke hit single like "Young Folks?" Well, for PBJ they released a follow up album that essentially blew any of the good will from their hit album. And on the follow up to that, they actually put together a better album than Writer's Block, as witnessed by their second incredibly fluke hit single "Good Times," which is all whoo-woos, cowbell, handclaps, and fuzzed out guitars. Lighting can strike twice.



88. Joker - "Slaughterhouse" (ft. Silas)

Despite putting out of the most disappointing debut albums of the year, Joker still has some good tricks up his sleeve. His collaboration with Silas is proof that he can still put together a banging track. The soulful vocals of Silas help make this more than just a good dubstep instrumental.



87. WU LYF - "We Bros"

Almost over-hyped to death, WU LYF is one of the few bands that lived up to it. From their brilliant debut album Go Tell Fire To The Mountain, "We Bros" was the calling card for their sound and aesthetic. Featuring the love-it-or-hate-it yelping singing of Ellery Roberts over chiming guitars and droning organ, the track is a call to arms to return to being brothers of men. It is a tremendous opening statement, and makes them one of the bands to watch in 2012.



86. Yuck - "Get Away"

If you are going to blatantly steal a signature sound, you better have the chops and balls to back it up. Scotland's Yuck does, and shows that their Dinosaur JR/Sonic Youth/Pixies sound sometimes transcended and bettered their influences. "Get Away" is a gorgeous squall of a song that is pure noise ear candy.



85. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - "The Heart In Your Heartache"

The Alan Moulder/Flood produced second album from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart just didn't speak to me as a whole. It added too much gloss to their already shambling sound and just didn't fit. With that said, I still find myself coming back to this track over and over again. It's as catchy as the bird flu.



84. Cassettes Won't Listen - "Perfect Day"

When the mood strikes him, this one man project formed by Jason Drake can create perfect little pop songs. While the album EVINSPACEY was passable at best, "Perfect Day" is just a catchy, beautiful piece of synth pop, that is elevated by one of the saddest synth line melodies I have heard.



83. Skinny Puppy - "Wavy"

Legendary industrial band Skinny Puppy confounded my expectations this year by releasing not just a good album, but a pretty darn good one. One of the standout tracks on hanDover is this slow-burning song that is one of the softest, most beautiful in their catalog. Delicate keyboards and looped acoustic guitars are the perfect foil to Ogre's atypically sung vocals.



82. Iceage - "You're Blessed"

Two minutes of coiled post-punk fury.



81. Bibio - "Excuses"

Although Mind Bokeh was far too scattershot to be successful, however, "Excuses" is a completely brilliant single. I liken it to an electronica "Paranoid Android," featuring three sections that propel the song. The first an ambient intro, moving into a FlyLo beat music pop track, before ending in a funked out breakdown. It is truly a mesmerizing single.