Top 50 Songs of 2011

20. tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness” (4AD)
[single; from w h o k i l l
Buy at iTunes

Some songs are bottled energy and some songs are explosions of energy, their detonations and the shrapnel of emotion released only intensified by the undertows of tensions running through them, along say the spine of a fluid, snaking bassline. “Bizness” definitely falls in this latter category, uncontained in the whole like the expertly controlled unruliness of Merrill Garbus’ vocals. But for all that frantic exertion of force, it is also a killer pop song, its many musical ideas bound together in an arrangement that derives from its heady surprises the slippery satisfaction of the desires it elicits. – Tyler Parks

19. Frank Ocean – “Novacane” (Def Jam)
[single; from Nostalgia, Ultra] Buy at iTunes

The greatest fascination about the rise of Frank Ocean is that he’s almost all singer. His vocals are incredibly nuanced, incredibly hard for the layman to duplicate in the shower, and are big throwbacks to the lounges, radio halls and moody acumen of Sinatra and his league of extraordinary gentlemen. Def Jam theatrics aside, Ocean’s been remarkably gimmick-free: his association with the Odd Future rowdies is barely mentioned anymore and most of the raves over his first New York shows were simply about how cool it was to go see a guy sing while wearing a suit onstage.

Having said all that, Ocean the crooner wrote the shit out of “Novacane.” It’s traceable to hashtag rap’s most inspired moments (“I went to see Jigga/ she went to see Z Trip/ perfect“; “cocaine for breakfast/ yikes“) but is structured more like a haunted short film about a hollow, dysfunctional android programming his way through people. The imagery isn’t really more dank and fetid than anything off In The Wee Small Hours, but “Novacane” is fully a product of the overstimulated present, a metallic cry for help from a man stuck in the serious business of cutting ties but wanting out of it. In a past life Ocean wrote songs for other people, but none like this. – Anthony Strain

18. The Antlers – “I Don’t Want Love” (Transgressive-Frenchkiss)
[single; from Burst Apart] Buy at iTunes

Even when Peter Silberman isn’t relating his narratives through the prism of a hospice worker and a terminally ill cancer patient, there’s still plenty of pain oozing out of his voice. His falsetto emanates ache in a way that’s nearly always stirring and almost never overwrought. Even if the circumstances in “I Don’t Want Love” aren’t quite as dire as those posed on the band’s prior album, the territory explored is familiar; Silberman’s still finding himself on the wrong end of a mentally abusive relationship as he belts, “I let you inside/ So you can push me around.” It underscores just how well he thrives artistically when his heart is being wrung out. More immediate than any of the songs on their distressing breakthrough, “I Don’t Want Love” proved that the Antlers’ atmospheric pop could effectively be transformed into something gorgeously anthemic. – Chris Karman

17. The Weeknd – “The Morning” (self-released)
[single; from House of Balloons]

Getting actual chills over something is pretty rare/cheesy, but when Jacques Greene started his set for RinseFM last spring with this track’s one-two synth/guitar opener it almost happened. Or at least I haven’t had a three-second-long burst of clarity that vivid since I glimpsed a piece of Swan Lake video art in LA and had to be led from the gallery. “The Morning” is technically the only proper song off The Weeknd’s darkly addictive debut mixtape, but the verse-chorus-verse structure is really only there for show. The song’s all mood: after-party detritus, supreme comedowns, the dawn’s early light. So pretty much the whole general gestalt of Abel Tesfaye’s little project, further distinguished by jaw-dropping, did-I-hear-that-right, nervous-grin lines like “got the walls kickin’ like they six months pregnant” and “better slow down/ she’ll feel it in the morning.” Tesfaye is already the most prominently five-tooled player in contemporary R&B and “The Morning,” proper or no, sounds like nothing so much as a revolution. – Anthony Strain

16. Bon Iver – “Holocene” (Jagjaguwar)
[single; from Bon Iver] Buy at iTunes

For Bon Iver’s second album, frontman Justin Vernon doubled his roster of musicians and migrated far from the halcyon winter songs of For Emma, Forever Ago. The change was dramatic but far from reckless. On June 21st the band performed a rendition of “Holocene” on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,” and even if the earthy instincts that once defined Bon Iver were shadowed by electric guitars and dueling drum sets, the mournful themes of their younger years were still bright as day and breathtaking to hear once again. “Holocene” is a milestone recording for the band, a trembling reflection on the past, much like the contents of For Emma. However, in the swoon of guitars and saxophones there’s a glimmer of hope that marks a new season in Bon Iver’s work. – Dan Chapman

15. Atlas Sound – “Mona Lisa” (4AD)
[from Parallax] Buy at iTunes

Songs that immediately reveal their identity as transmissions from another dimension channeled by their makers are few and far between, and when they arrive you hope you are one of the lucky ones who recognize them for what they are: mysteries. Mysteries that may be looked at from every angle, analyzed, conjecturally given sense by those that hear them, but that always outlast the explanations and descriptions given of them. “Mona Lisa” is one of those tunes, contagious, seemingly perfect in the vagaries of its lyrical content and the way it seems to match so perfectly the chords and melodies with which it is bound up. It’s got you in awe, with a sigh and an expanse of delight. – Tyler Parks

14. Fucked Up – “Queen of Hearts” (Matador)
[single; from David Comes to Life] Buy at iTunes

I never thought I’d hear the phrase “Let’s fall in love!” in a Fucked Up song, but then again it’s never been entirely out of the question. The Toronto hardcore sextet’s modus operandi has always been far outside of old school hardcore conventions, and as such, a love story between anarchists in working class England is a fine example of what they’re truly capable. “Queen of Hearts” blows open the doors to David Comes to Life‘s complex love story, tragedy and ultimate search for meaning, but it’s also merely an intense and fantastically written punk rock anthem. Four and a half minutes of destructive melody, Damian Abraham’s trademark vocal barks and a surprisingly sweet guest appearance from Cults’ Madeline Follin turn this into one massacre of a Valentine’s Day. Slamdance to this with your sweetheart. – Jeff Terich

13. Panda Bear – “Afterburner” (Paw Tracks)
[from Tomboy] Buy at iTunes

“Afterburner” proceeds from a simple premise: if you lay down what you’re laying down over a steady 4/4 beat you can get pretty crazy and still have your toes touching down on the plane that we live our everyday lives on. It’s a premise that informed Arthur Russell’s disco tracks and one that puts Noah Lennox in league with any number of producers and performers who have sought to merge dancing, psychedelia and pop. That said, this particular tune is a pretty dark one, circling in on itself, somewhat claustrophobic for all of its mechanical marching forward. The clouds of sound generated with guitar delay and a splattering of other effects may protect the voice at the center from a threatening outside world, but they also seal it in, and in the end that isolation and the thought locked in a loop that proceeds from it is the dark but attractive dream that charges “Afterburner.” – Tyler Parks

12. Dirty Beaches – “Lord Knows Best” (Zoo Music)
[from Badlands] Buy at iTunes

Did you ever notice how on Twin Peaks no one ever listened to actual songs? All the radios and jukeboxes simply emitted random guitar riffs from `50s rock. Apparently Soundgarden, hypothetically existing not too far from there, was of no interest to them. Twenty years later though, what seemed like hollow filler is now sufficiently chilling thanks to Dirty Beaches (AKA Alex Zhang Hungtai, AKA some guy from Canada). This lo-fi slow dance number oozes big city cool and small town weird, topped off with the reverbed, weary vocals of a man who just shot someone but was underwhelmed by the result. – Chris Morgan

11. Cold Cave – “Confetti”
[from Cherish the Light Years] Buy at iTunes

Atmospherically speaking, the instrumentation on Cold Cave’s “Confetti” is spectacular, and does a perfect job of capturing everything great about vintage new wave and synthpop. But the lyrics are what really separate the song from the rest of the herd. At its core the song seems to be a meditation on confidence as Wesley Eisold sings about how he’s always believed he could rule the world (and we all know everybody wants to), but at the same time fosters some deep seated insecurities: “I feel guilty for being alive/ when so many beautiful people have died.” The lyrics really drive the pacing of the song — by the time of the climax Eisold has ditched any previous apprehensions and now sings, “I feel so good on the outside.” If nothing else, “Confetti” has proven that Cold Cave is capable of rocking a jam while touching the soul. – Donny Giovannini