You know I’ve been seeing a lot of Best of 2011 list floating around the internet and TV and I figured since I enjoy top 5’s and it’s just that time of year to do so I’d compose my picks for the best cuts of the year, but before I get into anything I’m going to point out that while I enjoy just being all about me, myself, and I on this faithful little blog I’m going to have to point out a few tunes that while aren’t the most quality tunes that really do deserve to be noted for just how freaking big they were this year like…
5. Super Bass-Nicki Minaj
This year was chocked full of high energy pop infused electronic mess’ all over radio and for the better part of this year I was forced to listen to quite a bit of top 40 and of all the guilty pleasures I endured this one was honestly the biggest surprise. Now I’ve always been aware of Nicki Minaj and her various assets, but the music she does at best was a very well done series of Rap Verses and easily avoidable songs but one day I’m trolling the Youtube’s and I see this odd little square box for this Video on the main page for this song with a very pink Nicki and decided to give it the old college heave ho and give this song a listen.
I’m not going to lie to you at first I was a good bit unprepared for the 808 heavy blast of sugary sweet pop coated catchiness that I was about to listen to and for whatever reason the only thing that came to mind was that white people would love this….Don’t judge me.
Needless to say I was more then correct because not too soon after a Taylor Swift endorsement this song blew the fuck up and the next thing I know I’m hearing it EVERYWEHRE and while I will note that Party Rock Anthem was the bigger tune this one I feel I would rather note as being worthwhile in the realms of pop tunes I have to note as being worthwhile to losing some credibility over.
Ok I’m going to make note that Pop radio always tries to get atleast one alternative act into their rotation of tunes in order to 1. Give people a break from the auto tuned mess and 2. Give some sense of credibility but every year something odd seems to creep in and oh was this year’s underdog a dozy.
4. Pumped Up Kicks-Foster and the People
Now if threre was one surprisingly HUGE hit that occurred this year it’d be this song by a landslide because I honestly didn’t even remotely expect this spaced out little jam about someone losing their shit and going on a killing spree to even remotely crack top 40 but for whatever reason by the grace of god these guys have become the breakout act of 2011.
You know even after the massive amount of radio play this song has been subjugated to it still has this kind of refreshingly strung out sound to it that’s still as warm and tripped out as the first time I heard it and thought Pumped was some radio edit. The sheer hypnotic nature of this little indie rock gem seemed to really creep into radio and just took over person after person and while I will admit that Mumford and Sons folk rock styling’s where the kick in the balls modern radio needed this song just more seems like a radio staple that’s less pretentious more accessible and think for that it really is one of the best tunes and my personal pick for brake out song of 2011.
Now as great as this song is your reading Sam’s Song Of the Day people and if you’ve been reading every day you know that there’s one particular artist that’s probably dominated more post then anyone else this year.
3. Cry Baby-Cee-Lo Green
AHHHHH yeah people it’s time to yet again write about the all mighty lady killer himself Cee-Lo, “MO Fakun Lady Killa,” Green and I’m guessing this choice is at best a bit confusing but let me explain myself here.
Ok now I’m going to have to say people that while, “Fuck You,” was not only a monumentally amazing number and the most gratifyingly successful number of the year I personally feel that while the song as a whole lacks what really is the finer points of the Lady Killer album which is the showcasing of how Cee-Lo is really the modern day sultan of soul, the man with the master plan to make all them panties drop, the undeniably most well crafted performer out there when it comes to taking that retro-grooved sound and making it sound like an instant classic and of all the songs off the masterpiece that is The Lady Killer I feel that this is the best released single in terms of giving the listener an idea of what’s to come on that album.
Although now that I’m sitting here listening to it for the sake of really being able to review it I’ve come to realize that over its sincerely soulful vocal performance and it’s slower pace it’s really one of the classiest get the hell over yourself tunes I’ve ever heard and in it’s smoother then smooth sound it’s hiding this mildly egocentric tale of how her broke the ex-lovers heart to a point where she’s now made him the bad guy in this situation which is both classy and awesome, but even an amusingly off beat video staring the all mighty Urkle couldn’t catapult this song to the heights of the next two tunes which to say the least was a decision I really had to think hard about.
2. Rolling in the Deep-Adele
Honestly amongst the heap of tunes that felt the desire to come out this year this one slowly but surely managed to chug it’s ever so powerfully soulful sound onto radio and just carved out a path of destruction that almost no one could match.
This song was a slow burner in a lot of ways because the first time I heard it I didn’t really quite understand what I was about to be completely overtaken by but this song grew and grew and then out of nowhere it just suddenly became this behemoth of a hit that everyone just couldn’t escape and didn’t really want to for that matter. This song is even now after so many rotations still this overwhelmingly huge sounding blast of misery that only someone who is both pissed off and vocally gifted could do because this song just starts off ever so simply with a bare boned guitar and Adele’s voice in a hollow room before then erupting in this huge almost tribal sound that she then belts out these god given bits of rage and power that just grab you from the heart strings and make you want to yell fuck you to that person that broke your heart this year.
Really this song is just one of many cuts on an album that really deserves all the credit as being the best of the year and as great as this song and it’s corresponding album are I just can’t call it number one even though every single best off 2011 list out there from Rolling Stone to VH1 would like to tell me there was just one song this year that blew my mind in ways I really couldn’t of ever figured it would and that would be….
1. Rope-Foo Fighters
Now if there was one song this year that I can say that not only made an impact on me that was both instantaneous and lasting it was this and not only did this song blow my damn mind but it finally made me realize just why these guys are constantly considered to be the best, yes ladies and gentlemen I have finally found the way of the foo.
As powerful as Adele’s voice is nothing beats the rush of power an electric guitar can bring and not only did they bring the rock they made my choice for the greatest song of 2011.
To be honesty I’ve always been on the fence about this band because as much as I dislike Dave Grohl as a person I’ve always felt that this band really just makes very catchy records that all grow old as soon as the radio decides to rotate them every five minutes but this song was different. From the first time I really heard the echoing intro I wasn’t sure what to expect but then out of nowhere I suddenly got blasted with this furiously steady stream of ever so heavy guitars before then being greeted with the familiar sound of Dave Grohl giving a very melodic verse before then erupting in a series of bouncing yelps before then singing this ever so larger then life Chorus that instantaneously made me have to go listen to this song another 150 times and buy the album.
No shit people this song alone made walk out and buy a copy of what was to be a surprisingly amazing album and even now after so many rotations just like the first time I ever heard this song I still can’t control my desire to jump up and scream this song as I feverously air guitar the fuck out of this very garage-rock influenced rocker that brought just the right amount of ass kicking rockers Alternative rock radio needed amongst the haze of electro-indie dominance and for that I have to give it credit as being my choice as the best song of 2011.
Well there you go people those are my picks for the 5 best songs of 2011 it really has been a bad ass year for music which is both a surprise and a pleasant change I can’t wait to go through yet another years batch of songs of the day hopefully covering some bad ass tunes before this predicted end of the world.
Thank you for reading this year here's to another year of shenanigans.
-Sam
