Top 100 Singles of 2011

Happy New Year from Cool Music Central! We're starting 2012 with the ultimate 2011 playlist containing no less than 100 excellent singles or EPs from the past 12 months.

The first half of our selection which makes up our official Top 50 Singles of 2011 list, has a ranking order and the rule of including just one single from each artist or group for a more varied and hopefully more interesting result. This rule does not apply for the second half of the selection which is presented in pretty much random order. All the songs here were either released as singles or EPs in the past year or given away as free mp3s which means that no album tracks were included in this Top 100. To find out some of our favorite album tracks of the year, check out our Listening Habits posts for 2011 here.

And now that you know the rules of the game, let's start the music - here's Cool Music Central's Top 100 Singles of 2011:

The Top 50

1.   The Words That Maketh Murder - P.J. HARVEY
2.   Future Crimes - WILD FLAG
3.   Blackout - ANNA CALVI
4.   Gangsta - TUNE-YARDS
5.   He Gets Me High (He Gets Me High EP) - DUM DUM GIRLS
6.   Bad Feeling - VERONICA FALLS
7.   Milkman - EMA
8.   Two Different Ways - FACTORY FLOOR
9.   Lonely Boy - THE BLACK KEYS
10. Under Cover Of Darkness - THE STROKES
11. Will Do - TV ON THE RADIO
12. Eat Yr Heart - HTRK
13. Vessel - ZOLA JESUS
14. Future Starts Slow - THE KILLS
15. My Mistakes - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
16. I’m His Girl - FRIENDS
17. I Follow Rivers - LYKKE LI
18. Go Outside - CULTS
19. I Heard You Say - VIVIAN GIRLS
20. It's Real - REAL ESTATE
21. Surrender - THE DUKE SPIRIT
22. Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair - ARCTIC MONKEYS
23. Two Against One (feat. Jack White) - DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI
24. Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man - GRINDERMAN
25. On The Corner - THE TWILIGHT SINGERS
26. Uberlin - R.E.M.
27. This Is Why We Fight - THE DECEMBERISTS
28. You Are A Tourist - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
29. Year Off - HIGH PLACES
30. Lazy Noon (Our Own Dream EP) - KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS
31. Rill Rill - SLEIGH BELLS
32. Kaputt - DESTROYER
33. Weekend - SMITH WESTERNS
34. Belong - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
35. Through The Floor - CRYSTAL STILTS
36. When You Cut - MOON DUO
37. I Might - WILCO
38. Jejune Stars - BRIGHT EYES
39. Cuckoo - STILL CORNERS
40. How Deep Is Your Love? - THE RAPTURE
41. Throw Away This - TELEPATHE
42. Love Song - HUSBAND
43. The Butcher - RADIOHEAD
44. Mindkilla - GANG GANG DANCE
45. Yonkers - TYLER, THE CREATOR
46. Make Some Noise - BEASTIE BOYS
47. Post Break-Up Sex - THE VACCINES
48. Holing Out - YUCK
49. Austere - THE JOY FORMIDABLE
50. Face In The Crowd - CAT'S EYES

The Top 50 video playlist:

The next 50 in random play mode:

The Glorious Land - P.J. HARVEY
Desire - ‎ ANNA CALVI
~ (R E A L L O V E) - FACTORY FLOOR
Hauntin' Me - KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS
Our Last Waltz - HOLD KISS KILL
Laptop Dog - THE FALL
Senator - STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS
Satellite - THE KILLS
Marked - EMA
Friend Crush - FRIENDS
A Chore - TOM VEK
Gun Shy - WIDOWSPEAK
Common Burn - MAZZY STAR
Holding On To Black Metal - MY MORNING JACKET
Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES
Calgary - BON IVER
East Harlem - BEIRUT
Jesus Fever - KURT VILE
Repatriated - HANDSOME FURS
Two Minutes - WIRE
The Other Shoe - FUCKED UP
So High - RINGO DEATHSTARR
Buy Nothing Day - THE GO! TEAM
Chorea - ESBEN AND THE WITCH
Only The Lonely EP - UNKLE
Ego / Mirror - THOM YORKE / BURIAL / FOUR TET
Your Past Life As A Blast - OKKERVIL RIVER
Rollercoaster - BLACK MOUNTAIN
Bess St. - WHITE DENIM
The Great Pan Is Dead - COLD CAVE
Still Life - THE HORRORS
How It Ended - THE DRUMS
Young Blood - THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
Ace Of Hz - LADYTRON
Street Halo - BURIAL
San Pedro - MOGWAI
Sixteen Shades Of Black & Blue - FUJIYA & MIYAGI
Energy - SPANK ROCK
Everything Goes My Way - METRONOMY
Stilyagi - PURO INSTINCT
Mallory - THE HISTORY OF APPLE PIE
Calyer - BEACH FOSSILS
The Unsinkable Fats Domino - GUIDED BY VOICES
Rope - FOO FIGHTERS
Honey Bunny - GIRLS
Singularity - BRIGHT EYES
Long Live the King EP - THE DECEMBERISTS
Covers EP - FRANZ FERDINAND
Total Decay EP - THE SOFT MOON
I’m Still In The Night EP - SALEM

(mp3s via stereogum, pitchfork, gorilla vs. bear, matador and sub pop)

Top 60 Albums of 2011 (1 to 30)

Merry Xmas from Cool Music Central! In a slight break from tradition, this year we are presenting our year-end Best Albums list in our festive Christmas edition and we're keeping our favorite tracks of the year for the first post of the New Year.

To describe the year's music in just one sentence, I'll just repeat what I was saying back in October: in 2011 the girls had all the best tunes!

As early as February it became clear as day that with a masterpiece like "Let England Shake", it would be rather impossible for anyone else to claim the "Album of the Year" title from P.J. Harvey (and that makes it three for Polly if you care to have a look here and also here).

The unprecedented female domination of our Top 5 was ensured by early autumn when indie rock all-stars Wild Flag delivered their debut LP bringing back some much needed punk passion in an increasingly laid back and chilled-out music world (no dubstep for me, thank you very much), while Dum Dum Girls returned with more of that good ol' girl-group sound we've enjoyed so much over the last couple of years.

The stellar debuts by rising stars Anna Calvi and Erika M. Anderson, aka EMA (also responsible for one of the best gigs we've enjoyed this year), complete our 2011 all-girl Top 5. Here's what the top half of the list of C.M.C.'s 60 favorite albums of the year looks like:

Top 30 Albums of 2011

1.   Let England Shake - P.J. HARVEY

"...Twenty years into her ever evolving, illustrious career P.J. Harvey has delivered another masterpiece; "Let England Shake" is one of those all-too-rare records with the power to enchant on the very first listen and haunt the listener for a lifetime" (read the complete post here)

2.   Wild Flag - WILD FLAG

"...an astonishing record, brimming with passionate punk-rock energy, dizzying guitars, wild rhythms and melodies that stick to your brain for weeks" (more here)

3.   Only In Dreams - DUM DUM GIRLS

"...A great work that solidifies the Dum Dum Girls' position as the leaders of the girl-group pack" (more here)

4.   Anna Calvi - ANNA CALVI

"...An album that introduces a major talent that looks certain to leave her mark in the new decade" (more here)

5.   Past Life Martyred Saints - EMA

"...A highly addictive record that sounds better and better every time I listen to it" (more here)

6.   Ersatz G.B. - THE FALL

"..."Ersatz GB" is, in a way, The Fall's heavy metal album, proving that there is still room for surprises in the unique Fall sound blueprint." (more here)

7.   w h o k i l l - TUNE-YARDS

"...Garbus is really shining with "w h o k i l l", one of the most inventive recordings of 2011" (more here)

8.   Nine Types Of Light - TV ON THE RADIO

"...robust, impeccably produced dance-rock rhythms and pop melodies with soul...it will certainly move your body and your mind" (more here)

9.   Cults - CULTS

"...Madeline Follin’s voice is ideal for the sugar sweet, love struck, girl-group sound of the band while Brian Oblivion’s guitar adds just the right amount of distortion to avoid making the recipe too sweet" (more here)

10. Wounded Rhymes - LYKKE LI

"...Lykke Li's "Wounded Rhymes" is my definition of a great pop record" (more here)

11. Blood Pressures - THE KILLS
12. Suck It and See - ARCTIC MONKEYS
13. Here Before - THE FEELIES
14. Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS
15. Work (Work, Work) - HTRK
16. Original Colors - HIGH PLACES
17. Soft Metals - SOFT METALS
18. Days - REAL ESTATE
19. Kaputt - DESTROYER
20. Strange Mercy - ST. VINCENT
21. El Camino - THE BLACK KEYS
22. Last Summer - ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
23. Belong - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
24. The King Of Limbs - RADIOHEAD
25. Conatus - ZOLA JESUS
26. Eye Contact - GANG GANG DANCE
27. West - WOODEN SHJIPS
28. Dynamite Steps - TWILIGHT SINGERS
29. Mirror Traffic - STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS
30. Black Up - SHABAZZ PALACES

The rest of our Top 60 Albums of 2011 is here.

And here is P.J. Harvey's "Let England Shake" in all its glory in 12 short films created by Seamus Murphy:

"Let England Shake" by P.J. Harvey

Want to find out what was the popular choice of the Greek blogosphere this year? Check out here a Top 20 created by the votes of more than 140 bloggers including yours truly. At least we agree on that all-important No. 1!

Top 60 Albums of 2011 (31 to 60)

C.M.C.'s "Albums of the Year" week continues with the first part of our Top 60 Albums of 2011 list. Check out below the albums from 31 to 60 plus some of those that came close but didn't make the cut, then come back on the Christmas weekend for the main course - our 30 favorites of the year.

Keep in mind that this list is actually a snapshot of an ongoing process. You'll get an idea of what made us tick in the past 12 months, but there will always be a few late discoveries that are going to change the picture slightly. As always, the final version of our "Best of the Year" list will appear in Cool Music Database, the central hub of all our year-end lists, sometime in 2012. Without any further ado, here's how the second half of our Top 60 currently looks like:

Top 60 Albums of 2011: 31 - 60

31. Hot Sauce Committee Part Two - BEASTIE BOYS
32. Cherish The Light Years - COLD CAVE
33. Angles - THE STROKES
34. The King Is Dead - THE DECEMBERISTS
35. Creatures Of An Hour - STILL CORNERS
36. Sound Kapital - HANDSOME FURS
37. Red Barked Tree - WIRE
38. D - WHITE DENIM
39. Smoke Ring For My Halo - KURT VILE
40. In Love With Oblivion - CRYSTAL STILTS
41. Mazes - MOON DUO
42. Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped - MOONFACE
43. In The Grace Of Your Love - THE RAPTURE
44. Kiss Each Other Clean - IRON AND WINE
45. Apocalypse - BILL CALLAHAN
46. Collapse Into Now - R.E.M.
47. Riot Now! - ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
48. David Comes To Life - FUCKED UP
49. Skying - THE HORRORS
50. Yuck - YUCK
51. The Big Roar - THE JOY FORMIDABLE
52. Bruiser - THE DUKE SPIRIT
53. Codes and Keys - DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
54. Degeneration Street - THE DEARS
55. Glass Prayer - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN
56. The Rip Tide - BEIRUT
57. The Whole Love - WILCO
58.  I Am Very Far - OKKERVIL RIVER
59. Share The Joy - VIVIAN GIRLS
60. Endless Now - MALE BONDING

Close, but no cigar: Portamento - THE DRUMS, Dye It Blonde - SMITH WESTERNS, Lollipop - MEAT PUPPETS, Tao Of The Dead - …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, Lenses Alien - CYMBALS EAT GUITARS, Violet Cries - ESBEN AND THE WITCH, The People's Key - BRIGHT EYES, C'mon - LOW, Alela Diane & Wild Divine - ALELA DIANE, Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES, Bon Iver - BON IVER, Demolished Thoughts - THURSTON MOORE, Circuital - MY MORNING JACKET, Hard Times And Nursery Rhymes - SOCIAL DISTORTION, Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS, Colour Trip - RINGO DEATHSTARR, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? - THE VACCINES, Leisure Seizure - TOM VEK, Passive Me Aggressive You - THE NAKED AND FAMOUS, Badlands - DIRTY BEACHES

Before we reveal our Top 30 for 2011, let me remind you what happened last year: click here for the complete 2010 Album list.

And here is a fine single from one of the albums just below the Top 30: "Cuckoo" is taken from Still Corners' very promising debut album "Creatures of An Hour", one of our Top 10 Debuts of the Year. The good news is that the band is scheduled to play our hometown on March 3rd, 2012 (see all their forthcoming dates here).

Still Corners - Cuckoo

Top 10 Debuts of 2011

Cool Music Central's "Albums of the Year" week starts here! The first installment, as usual, is dedicated to the best debuts of the year and between Wednesday and Saturday we'll unveil our Top 60 Albums of 2011 in two parts.

So let's start our year-end list-fest by giving props to the emerging new artists who offered us the most impressive debuts of 2011. For this Top 10 the focus is on newcomers who are starting to establish themselves with their first full-length efforts this year. New groups by already established musicians (Wild Flag or Shabazz Palaces for example) or first solo efforts by members of well-known bands (hello Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces) are not eligible for this list, although it's no less admirable to reinvent yourself and make a new beginning. Here's what we think are the ten most promising debuts of the year (click on the names of the first five to find out what we had to say about them during the past 12 months):

Top 10 Debut Albums of 2011

1.   Anna Calvi - ANNA CALVI

2.   Past Life Martyred Saints - EMA

3.   Cults - CULTS

4.   Veronica Falls - VERONICA FALLS

5.   Soft Metals - SOFT METALS

6.   Creatures Of An Hour - STILL CORNERS

7.   Yuck - YUCK

8.   The Big Roar - THE JOY FORMIDABLE

9.   Glass Prayer - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN

10. Violet Cries - ESBEN AND THE WITCH

Honorable mentions: Colour Trip - RINGO DEATHSTARR, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? - THE VACCINES, Passive Me Aggressive You - THE NAKED AND FAMOUS, Badlands - DIRTY BEACHES, Living In Patterns - POLLYN (new entry! - more about them soon).

Anna Calvi was by far the most blogged about new artist in Cool Music Central this year. Her debut album already sounds like one of this decade's classics to my ears, a timeless record that expertly combines classic rock 'n' roll with modern classical music influences to create a unique sound dominated by Calvi's powerful voice and her imaginative guitar playing. Here's the video for "Blackout", one of the highlights of her debut and also one of our Top 10 Singles of the year:

Anna Calvi - Blackout

For a trip down memory lane, check out below our "Best Debuts of the Year" lists from the past three years:

Top Debuts of 2010

Top Debuts of 2009

Top Debuts of 2008