50 Favorite Songs of 2011 [25-1]

Find Songs 50-26 here
25. Churchill - The Only One
24. StartYourOwnRebellion - Live Like an Outlaw
23. Dawes - If I Wanted Someone
22. Delicate Steve - The Ballad of Speck and Pebble
21. Neighbors - Watergun
20. Jennie Abrahamson - Hard to Come By
19. Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp
18. The Barr Brothers - Beggar in the Morning
17. Monogrenade - Ce Soir 
16. Dolorean - The Unfazed
15. The Antlers - I Don't Want Love
14. Cataldo - Rock of Calvary
13. Ambassadors - Unconsolable 
12. Cults - You Know What I Mean
11. Slow Club - Half Drunk
10. Future Islands - Before the Bridge
9. Seryn - Untitled
8. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Heart on a String
7. The Middle East - Jesus Came to my Birthday Party
6. Other Lives - For 12
5. Sin Fang - Fall Down Slow
4. Diego Garcia - Roses and Wine
3. Shakey Graves - Built to Roam
2. Big Snow Big Thaw - Damn Allegheny
1. Of Monsters and Men - From Finner

Get The Songs:

Songs 50-26: Download ZIP

Songs 25-1 : Download ZIP

Stream Playlist: On Spotify 

 I wrote down 50 of my most listened to songs from 2011, without repeating a band, based on my last.fm account. The only flaw is that some songs had the advantage of spending more time in my library than others. There's plenty I've left out, and frankly a "best of" list would look a little bit different, but I'm really happy with how this list turned out and it's probably more interesting than an attempted best of list.  I hope you can enjoy it and maybe find some favorites too. Check out yesterday's post: songs 50 - 26.

[Video] Slow Club - If We're Still Alive

Love. It's no secret that this album will be one of my top ten of the year.
Moshi Moshi - Slow Club - If We're Still Alive on MUZU.

Slow Club - Paradise

I'm completely enamored with Slow Club. Even though I gushed about their most recent single, Two Cousins, I feel like I haven't adequately articulated this yet. It was the end of 2009, not very long ago, when I was getting into their music. Their latest album, Paradise, has taken them in a completely different direction and I love both sounds. I don't know how many bands you can say that about. To generalize, they went from twee folk-pop to a raucous indie rock-pop sound in a short two years (sorry for the genre blahs). It's a big change for a fan to hurdle, and it came without a transition EP, but Slow Club makes it easy by doing both so well. Have a listen to the two tracks below and hear the difference for yourself.

Slow Club - It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful (from 2009's Yeah, So)

Slow Club - If We're Still Alive (from 2011's Paradise)

Watch the video for their single "Where I'm Waking"// Stream the albums on Spotify.

Slow Club - Two Cousins

Sheffield's Slow Club might have originally caught your eye when they played water glasses, or their adorable single "Christmas TV" that inevitably end up on indie christmas mixes every year, or maybe this is the first you're hearing of them. Their sound has grown up, there is now more rock and less twee, and it works for them. In a way it's twee music for people who don't think they like twee. It's messy and lively and I find that combination irresistible. I know I'm late to be writing about this album that was released in June, but during the perfect September weekend I was completely immersed in this album, recklessly dancing around my apartment without a care. We all need albums that allow you to do that, perhaps Paradise is the one for you.

Slow Club - Two Cousins

Slow Club - It doesn't have to be beautiful

Here is some alternative folky fun from the UK. This song just happened to have the best video but they have a lot of other songs that you should listen to before you pass a final judgement. Specifically, "When I go" because it reminds me of that song from the movie Juno. They even use glass bottles as instruments. Also check out "Christmas TV" which was featured on Chuck this year and "Me and You" because it will make you laugh.