My Top 50 songs of 2011

Like every self-respecting blogger, time for my best of list of the year.

I generally lack the dedication, attention or time to listen to a whole album now (my favourite album was a re-issue of an 1989 album from Pretty Wicked Head, the only band to ever sign to a major label from my home-town, the only albums I listened to a lot being the Weeknd and PJ Harvey's) so it would be disingenuous to make a list of my favourite albums. Instead, here’s 50 of my favourite songs of 2011, some cringe-worthy, like the Selena Gomez song that got trapped in my psyche by my wife overplaying it  in the car and at home (at least, I can be thankful that her Justin Bieber fetish didn't break me down). Most of the other songs are cherry-picked from web-sites and albums. The only artist to appear twice is Lana Del Rey- I couldn’t separate her two entries and the backlash against her (she was a failed pop singer called Lizzy Grant who changed her name as well as her lips in order to succeed) failed to deter me from her charms. There's a home-town bias (three of the fifty are by New Zealand artists) and a notable, almost complete lack of heavy tracks (only a track from Liturgy who have been nailed hard by their scene as sell-outs) and a preponderance of female singers (like the aforementioned Lana Del Rey, St. Vincent, Lykke Li and PJ Harvey to name a few). Maybe I’m getting melancholic in my old age.

Here's my list (in alphabetical order by song-title)

A.D.H.D - Kendrick Lamar                             

Abducted  -  Cults                                      

A Part of Me  -  The Adults                        

Belong  -  The Pains of Being Pure at Heart                                          

Bizness  -  TunE-yArDs                                        

Blue Jeans  -  Lana Del Rey                            

Lana Del Rey:only artist to have two entries.

Bones  -  Male Bonding           

California  -  EMA                                               

Cold Feet  -  Liam Finn           

Countdown  -  Beyonce

Dirt  -  WU LYF                                               

Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair  -  Arctic Monkeys           

Don’t Play No Game That I Can't Win  -  Beastie Boys (ft. Santigold)

Far Nearer  -  Jamie XX                       

FFunny Frends  -  Unknown Mortal Orchestra                                   

Freaks And Geeks  -  Childish Gambino                                   

Generation  -  Liturgy

Liturgy: Band under attack.

Get Away  -  Yuck

Gucci Gucci  -  Kreayshawn                                               

Holocene  -  Bon Iver           

I Don't Want Love  -  The Antlers           

I Follow Rivers  -  Lykke Li           

I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl  -  Wavves           

I'm God  -  Clams Casino                       

I’m On One  -  DJ Khaled Ft Lil Wayne, Drake, Rick Ross           

It's Real  -  Real Estate                       

Jesus Fever  -  Kurt Vile                                               

John  -  Lil Wayne (feat. Rick Ross)                       

Love You Like a Love Song  -  Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez: Horrific case of my taste being influenced by marital over-exposure.

Midnight City  -  M83                                   

Monopoly  -  Danny Brown                                   

My God  -  Pusha T           

Need You Now  -  Cut Copy           

No Church In The Wild  -  Jay-Z & Kanye West (feat. Frank Ocean)

Novacane  -  Frank Ocean           

Out Getting Ribs  -  Zoo Kid

Pumped Up Kicks   -  Foster the People

Pure Radio Cosplay  -  ....And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

Rolling in the Deep  -  Adele           

She Found A Way Out  -  Cant           

Some Children (Ft Michael McDonald)  -  Holy Ghost!                                   

Street Halo [Hyperdub]  -  Burial                                               

Surgeon  -  St. Vincent           

The Last Huzzah  -  Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire ft. Despot, Das Racist,
Danny Brown and EL-P           

Video Games  -  Lana Del Ray                       

Vomit  -  Girls           

Wicked Games  -  The Weeknd            

Winter Beats  -  I Break Horses           

The Words That Maketh Murder  -  PJ Harvey           

Yonkers  -  Tyler, The Creator