TOP 50 OF 2011: #30 - #21

We continue to scale the heights of 2011's musical talent...


-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

#30
"Live Those Days Tonight"
Friendly Fires


The first single from the mindblowing "Pala" most definately showcased Friendly Fires 2.0: clubbier, more epic and 10x BIGGER than their debut. Scaling the heights of "Jump in the Pool" but whilst the band partied during the verses and took a breather during the chorus of that song, Ed Macfarlane and crew go from hook to hook in "Live...", huge tribal drumming and a 90s rave vibe ensuring that this was Friendly Fires as you had never heard them before.



#29
"Into the Valley" (feat. Karl Dixon) (Julio Bashmore Mix)
Classixx

First remix of the list, and continuing with the rave mood, this is a simple but stunningly effective mix that drags Classixx's 80s pastiche "Into the Valley" into the 90s, simply with a funky 3 chord piano motif, and that's all it needs. Euphoric and quite beautiful.



#28
"Fast Challenges"
Chad Valley

The first track we heard off Chad Valley's second EP was definately still chillwave, but it's clear that mastermind Hugo wants to be taken seriously on the dancefloor, and when that beat kicks in at 1.15, and not to mention when the chords hit at 1.32, it's impossible not to be drawn in. The weird beauty of his self-titled EP is still very much alive, but this is by any standards a huge track, and Hugo's voice soars above it. Hell it needs to, the house chords just get bigger and bigger as the track goes on, melodies flying around at all angles. If this is Chad Valley's direction from now on, bring on his full length in 2012.



#27
"Give it All Back"
Noah and the Whale

"Give it All Back" is Charlie Fink's frank and touching account of (we assume) the band's youthful beginnings. Someone described this as a mix of "Summer of '69" and LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends". This is a freakishly accurate depiction, with it's youthful charm and shamelessly uplifting and anthemic melody, it's the nostalgia anthem of 2012.



#26
"Til Death" (Denzal Park Mix)
Wynter Gordon

The original "Til Death" was a pretty tepid affair, which makes this remix all the more surprising. A stoic verse suddenly breaks into what has to be the biggest pop chorus of the year, complete with lightning strike walls of synth. When Wynter cries "TAKE MY LIFE!" it's as exhilarating on the 100th listen as the first. And I would know, it's at the top of my iTunes most played list.



#25
"The Wilhelm Scream"
James Blake

The only other track on James Blake's self-titled debut that even slightly resembles the sense of commercial melody of Feist cover (cover!) of "Limit to Your Love", "The Wilhelm Scream" was the obvious choice for a second single. However, radio-friendly tactics aside, the track is the nearest thing on the record that shows us a human side to Mr Blake, and there is an air of desperation in his voice as he (comparatively to the rest of the record) cries "I don't know about my love anymore, all I know is I'm falling, might as well fall in". You can tell that his computer can tell that James is close to breaking out of his robotic façade as the track progresses, when the fader is gradually pushed up until ominous cloud-synth chords have swallowed the track, and Blake's voice, whole. An intriguing, and actually quite emotional, listen.



#24
"Give Up The Ghost"
Radiohead

One listen to the introspective and fragile "King of Limbs" and you can feel yourself growing old with Radiohead. On "Give Up The Ghost", a gathering of background Thoms weakly emplore "don't hurt me" on a loop throughout, and his falsetto has rarely sounded more fearful. But there's no sign of angsty, panicky tenor here, ala "Wolf at the Door", this is resigned fear and gentle pleading, and quite honestly, Radiohead has never sounded more beautiful.



#23
"Need You Now"
Cut Copy

On the opener to Cut Copy's fairly epic 3rd record "Zonoscope", singer Dan Whitford begins with a mumble and ends with a desperate cry of "I know we're going crazy, but I need you now". The track does something similar. Opening with the quiet burble of electronics and pads, the track builds and builds and builds upon a hypnotic groove, until a euphoric climax that will dazzle stargazers everywhere. If Cut Copy were once known for providing hook upon hook, its clear they've learnt a better trick. Sometimes a track's payoff can be good enough to warrant a bit of a build up, and what a, WHAT a build up.



#22
"Midnight City"
M83

The first single from M83's "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" took the 80s movie soundtrack feel from "Saturdays = Youth" to a whole new level. Vangelis pads abound as usual, but this time, the drums pounded out a dance beat Madonna would have favoured and the track features one of the most distinctive vocal hooks of the year, one that won't leave your head for days, nay months. And that saxophone solo at the end is just a stroke of genius.



#21
"Take Me Over"
Cut Copy

On their last record, "In Ghost Colours", cuts like "Hearts on Fire" and "Lights and Music" were indie rave classics that pummelled you with enough gorgeous hooks to last you until their next record, but this time round, the band wants you to LISTEN a bit more, and appreciate the sheer songcraft and love expressed in their music. "Take Me Over" is given the space to breathe and its carefree, wonderful chorus, with all its little vocal adlibs, is virtually sing-song, caressed by a million spiralling synths and a laid back beat that encourages but doesn't force you to dance. Quite simply, it knows it doesn't need to.




-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -

TOMORROW WE ENTER THE TOP 20. Such fun.

TOP 50 OF 2011: #50 - #41

2011 on the whole felt distinctly good rather than great. For me, the UK dance music scene was the only really interesting musical movement, with Dubstep taking off in a spectacular way, making its way defiantly into the charts. Easy to forget now, but the emergence of Katy B had an early role to play in this, her incredible 2010 single "Katy On A Mission" paving the way for underground artists to have a pop at the mainstream in 2011. Even Britney Spears had a faux-dubstep interlude in her track, and manufactured groups like The Wanted, Sugababes and The Saturdays had a go at it. Although hardly a musical tour de force, it was refreshing to hear harder sounds become more popular in pop. Although taking a look at the UK top 10 at any point this year, and all you'd see is Eurodance trash, so its influence wasn't entirely successful yet. The line between Urban and Europop is now so blurred now that the term "Chart" is all that is needed.

I'd like to see Moombahton, a fusion of Electro House and Reggaeton, really take off in 2012, but when dubstep DJ Skrillex is nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll, maybe we're in for another year of the same sounds. Saying that, a lot of Urban acts are nominated this year, such as the recently skyrocketed-to-notoriety 19 year old NYC rapper Azealia Banks and the edgy soul'n'B Frank Ocean, so maybe it's the year of MOBO? I personally wouldn't have a problem with that.

A lot of my favourite songs of this year are from the dance music scene. As always, anything 80s or 90s tinged has tickled my music taste buds, and the summer was quite good for indie bands going all out party-party, Friendly Fires and Foster The People to name but two. Lo-fi Chillwave is still happening and is still a wonderful genre, though much less prominent this year, despite our sweltering extended summer practically craving this kind of music. Thanks to rise of the sensitive black male artist, like The Weeknd and Drake, Rap become a much more melancholic place, and these artists have provided us with some surprisingly beautiful music also.

But as always, no matter what the charts dictate as the nation's "taste" and no matter what genres come and go, the best songs of any year are always those that bear no relation to any scene, and couldn't care less, because it's simply about the song-writing. A certain big boned, big hearted and big mouthed London girl made this apparent this year, and it's no surprise she is this year's runaway star. More about her later.

So on with this list... let's do 10 at a time shall we?

#50
"Original Don" (feat. The Partysquad)
Major Lazer

A fine example of what is so great about underground dance music: no boundaries. Quirk-loving DJ duo Diplo and Switch's Major Lazer project has always been a weird and wonderful one, taking bits and bobs from Dancehall, Hip Hop, Dubstep, Eurodance and, as of this skullcrushing single, Hard House. It's clear that Major Lazer has no intention of following any dance blueprint at all here, not that they ever did, and "Original Don" hints that it will break into dubstep for its first 60 seconds before a cry of "Run the track!", when a thunderous Hardcore kick takes over, and a bizarre yet hypnotic medley of synths follow.



#49
"Halogen (I Could Be A Shadow)"
Neon Indian

Anyone familiar to synthpop artist Neon Indian's first EP will have been blown away by the x10 approach taken on their debut full-length "Era Extrana", especially album highlight "Halogen", which could not sound bigger if it tried. The whole onslaught of choir synths, massive beats and that eerie lead synth sounds and feels like being beamed up by a UFO. And it's so damn catchy and euphoric.



#48
"Jealousy"
Will Young

Despite a disappointing record, first single "Jealousy" is Will Young's "Dancing on My Own", and the softly pulsing eurodance and honest, stripped down lyrical delivery, with knowing homosexual undertones (mainly thanks to the video), suits him down to a tee. No drama, no pretense, just pure, simple emotion that sounds very personal.



#47
"Heavy Metal Lover"
Lady Gaga

On an album full of huge heavy metal sized dance tunes, it's surprising that the one track that mentions the genre specifically is actually one the most stripped down tracks on the record. It's also a refreshingly low key, hypnotic and perversely beautiful addition to the absurdly overblown affair that is "Born This Way" the album. Featuring hands down the catchiest vocal hook on the album also helps. Alongside "So Happy I Could Die" from "Fame Monster", "Heavy Metal Lover" shows the real dark, 3 dimensional side to Gaga's music.



#46
"How Beautiful It Could Be"
Toddla T

A skinny white boy doing a genre as black-oriented as Dancehall was always going to be eventful, but Toddla T proves to be adept at making the genre sound fresh and interesting with every track on his brilliant debut. "How Beautiful It Could Be" is just life-affirmingly good, feeling like a track truly bringing the world's music fans together, with 90s house chords providing a warm, fuzzy backing for his thunderous Caribbean beats and the joyous dancehall vocals.

LISTEN HERE.

#45
"Honey Mine" (feat. Victoria Bergsman)
Korallreven

Featuring the keyboardist from my beloved Radio Dept., Daniel Tjader, the lazy dub rhythms of "Honey Mine" by Korallreven usher in the same ethereal dancing melodies and distant guitar licks of The Radio Dept. themselves, but with the soft murmers of Taken by Trees vocalist Victoria Bergsman to serenade us. Essentially a balearic outtake from "Clinging to a Scheme", that would've stood out as one of that record's best tracks had it been included. "Shine on... shine on..." sings Bergsman in a rare moment of letting her voice soar, and if we close our eyes, the sun is still shining, and this is the soundtrack.





#44
"Shell Suite"
Chad Valley


Showing how timeless the genre of Chillwave truly is, Chad Valley's "Equatorial Ultravox" was so much more than a sun-washed guilty 80s pleasure. Full of heartbreakingly beautiful emotional climaxes, humongous atmospheric dance beats and wonderfully ethereal vocal tapestries, "Shell Suite" is simply the emotional climax of the record. Seemingly structureless, this song brings to mind walking aimlessly into the distance, and could happily go on for hours, so uplifting is its refrain.





#43
"Love On Top"
Beyonce


Guilty pleasure alert. "4" isn't an astounding album, but with Beyonce, the astonishment comes when she pulls out of the bag a handful of classic singles from each record. "Girls", "End of Time" and "Countdown" are all standard Beyonce single-material; bossy, camp R&B stompers; and "1+1", although damp on record, is breathtaking live. But "Love On Top", with its 80s urban vibes, camp as Christmas chorus hook, ridiculous multiple key changes, pompous beat and sugary sweet lyrics is all so, so wrong, yet, as one wishes it didn't have to said, so, so right.





#42
"Hurting"
Friendly Fires


From one guilty pleasure to another, Friendly Fires were never exactly cheese averse, but "Hurting" is all out Stilton onslaught. Once again, 80s funk tinged, nay, drenched (seeing a pattern here?), and featuring quite simply Friendly Fires' campest chorus ever, it never ceases to bring a goofy grin to the face, and an uncontrollable urge to the feet. "Can't keep feeling the pain of your touch, your touch keeps on hurting"... how do they get away with a lyric like that? They're Friendly Fires, they just do.

And the video is just so gloriously silly, you have to watch it.

#41
"What You Need"
The Weeknd

The Weeknd brings The-Dream's lush, silky, porny R&B sound to a whole new level, putting said producer to shame with his dark, eerie, breathless come-ons and woozy, drunken beats. "What You Need" is just one of many perfect tracks, but the simplicity of the phrase "He's what you want, I'm what you need" sums up what The Weeknd's music is all about: seduction. And quite frankly, it's the sexiest song of 2012. Have sex to it. Now.



-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   

TOMORROW, #40-#31, see you then.