Don’t think of this as a “best-of” list–it’s way too personal for that. Think of this as a “favorites-of” list, or maybe even a “soundtrack-of” list. Lots of this music was released before 2011, but it just happened to find its way into my life in 2011. And I’m glad it did.
I’ve put together a Spotify playlist of some of these songs, and others, right here. Enjoy! And please share your favorites of the year in the comments–I’d love to know what your 2011 sounded like.
First song I downloaded in 2011: “Why Does The Sun Really Shine?”, They Might Be Giants (I believe Here Comes Science was on sale at Amazon in January.)
Five songs I played the most times in 2011: “If You Only Knew,” Kathryn Calder. “January Hymn,” The Decemberists. “Helplessness Blues,” Fleet Foxes. “Sunday Will Never Be The Same,” Spanky and Our Gang. “’39,” Queen.
Albums I dug the most in 2011: Are You My Mother, Kathryn Calder. The King Is Dead, The Decemberists. All Eternals Deck, The Mountain Goats. Collapse Into Now, R.E.M. The Head and the Heart, The Head and the Heart. Helplessness Blues, Fleet Foxes. Artificial Heart, Jonathan Coulton.
Runners-up: Join Us, They Might Be Giants. Sky Full Of Holes, Fountains of Wayne. Page One, Steven Page.
Songs of The Great Blizzard Of 2011: “January Hymn,” The Decemberists. “February,” Dar Williams. “Snow Days,” Trip Shakespeare.
Favorite shows of the year: Peter Mulvey with JT and the Clouds at SPACE. Jimmy Webb at SPACE. Lori McKenna and Young Mark Erelli at the Old Town School. Colin Hay at some random performing arts center in Schaumburg. Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams at SPACE. Yo La Tengo at the Green Music Festival. Harry and the Potters with Diagon Alley at Giddings Plaza. Jukebox the Ghost at Ribfest. The Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus at Millennium Park, for my mom’s 70th birthday. The Decemberists with The Head and the Heart at the Aragon. Mucca Pazza at Dawes Park. They Might Be Giants with Jonathan Coulton at the Vic. Tributosaurus as Queen at the Vic. Nerissa and Katryna Nields in Berwyn at the This Old House Concert series.
Favorite shows of the year, Out Of Town Edition: Erik Hokkanen’s Laboratory at Flipnotic’s in Austin. The Panorama Jazz Band at the Spotted Cat in New Orleans. Chapter Soul (three trombone guys) at Maison in New Orleans. The Cocksure Lads with Mike Ford at Hugh’s Room in Toronto.
Favorite shows of the year, Flat Five edition: The Flat Five at SPACE in January. The Flat Five at the Old Town School in July. The Flat Five at the Hideout Sunday night.
Other people’s songs I’ll never forget performing this year: “Diamonds and Rust” at the Gallery Cabaret Dylan tribute. “Lorraine” by Lori McKenna, for the 2U Mother’s Day service. “Hitting You” by Loudon Wainwright III and “Bloody Motherfucking Asshole” at the Gallery Cabaret Father’s Day tribute. “Conversation” by Joni Mitchell and “One Was Johnny” at the Gallery Cabaret “Girls Like Us” tribute. “The Seven Deadly Virtues” with Gail at church. “The Water Is Wide,” Indigo Girls/Sarah McLachlan/Jewel style, with Jen and Melissa, for the Pete Seeger service at church. “One” by Billy Jonas with Neal, Kat, and Gail for the guest service by the Ugandan minister. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”, “Crush With Eyeliner,” and “King of Comedy” by R.E.M., as part of my Acoustic Monster project, for a bunch of my friends at Perla Cafe. “Nothing Compares 2U” by request at a 2U karaoke party. “Can I Interest You In Hanukkah?” with Neal for Music Sunday.
Song I wrote this year and actually liked: “Mercury.” Yes, it was about my car.
Songs that came along at just the right time: “UBerlin,” R.E.M. “High Hawk Season,” The Mountain Goats. “Story Of My Life,” Social Distortion.
Song that will haunt my nightmares forever: “Skidoo,” from the film of the same name, as performed by Carol Channing.
Song I still like even after a year of overexposure: “Rolling in the Deep,” Adele. (Of course, I said the same thing last year about “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes…)
Bands I never, ever want to hear from again after this year: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes (see above), Mumford & Sons. Possibly the Civil Wars as well. Sorry, guys.
Best songs discovered via mp3 blogs: “If You Only Knew,” Kathryn Calder. “Rothko Chapel,” David Dondero. “Up Up Up,” Givers. “Jesse Likes Birds,” Carrie Elkin. “Don’t Gotta Work It Out,” Fitz & The Tantrums. “Ghost Bird,” Amanda Shires.
Best songs discovered via turntable.fm: “Concerning the Lincoln & Douglas Debates,” John Elliott. “I Don’t Know,” Lisa Hannigan. “Sophia,” Laura Marling.
Best song discovered via TV: “There’s A Platypus Controlling Me,” Dr. Doofenshmirtz. (I wish I were kidding.) (I’m not speaking metaphorically.) (The platypus controlling me is underneath the table.)
Best songs discovered via radio: “When People Go,” Craig Cardiff. “Spaceship Lullaby,” Sun Ra. “Holiday Road” as covered by The Dahlmanns.”Mayhem,” Imelda May. “Dig You Later (A Hubba Hubba Hubba),” Perry Como (seriously, have you heard this song? It is ridiculous. Thank you, Sirius XM ’40s on 4.)
Best song discovered via an author’s book playlist: “Greetings in Braille,” The Elected. (From John Green’s Paper Towns playlist.)
Best songs discovered via mix CDs: “Ode To A Koala Bear,” Paul McCartney (hee). “The Ghost of Emma Jean,” Beat Circus. “Squealing Pigs,” Admiral Fallow. “Both Hands,” Jay Brannan covering Ani DiFranco.
Best song discovered via the unplumbed depths of my own mp3 collection: “Lucklucky,” Veda Hille.
Last song I downloaded in 2011: “Coffee,” Yuna.
