Yessir, it has started, the countdown of the 50 best tracks of 2011! Everyday I’ll post one track in the Daily Clip section, but if you missed one don’t worry, after each batch of five I’ll be sure to post those songs with links on the site (you’ll find it in the main post). So for the next 50 days, nothing but the best, here we go!
Okay, so the album as a whole, for me, didn’t do it. Some of the songs were just a bit too experimental for me personally. Luckily there were some highs on there as well, and when this band hits the mark it really hits it. The vocals on this one are magnificent, love the (steel?)drums and the way this song constantly finds ways to propel itself forward. The vocals have a bit of edge to it, which juxtapose nicely with the beats and drums. I also love it when they put the vocals alone with the beat, that’s really lovely, and the voice somehow gets so powerful, really triggers something which really puts this song over the top for me. That’s excellence right there.
Oh boy, Nicholas got it on this year and delivered some tunes that would all be worthy of being somewhere, some place on the list. I picked this one perhaps because it was one of the first I heard by him, perhaps because it has this really old school house thing going on which I really like, but certainly because it should get people on the dancefloor. Really old school house with the beat and then the piano coming in, some nice repetition to get into it, and then those strong vocals really complete it all. I would be dropping this on the dancefloor at a house party in a heartbeat, no question. This fits right in. And as said, Nicholas really has had this whole string of stellar releases this year, so definitely one to keep an eye on and to turn to if you want to fill out your set.
You know what, this really is the point where it’s all five star excellence. I would be happy to put this track at the top of any list, and then realize there are still twelve songs to come! Fuck me. This song is the lead off for Little Dragon’s ace album of the same name. They deserve all the plaudits they’ve received for just the first two tracks alone. Love the music, and these melancholic vocals fit in so well. “These ritual unions have got me in trouble again”, she laments. So it packs plenty of emotion, and in the meantime the drums keep it up at a steady pace so to keep the song moving along nicely. Very strong showing from this Danish band.
Oh, I remember this being my soundtrack whilst walking to and from the local (yet awesome) festival here (at which the band responsible for the previous song, Little Dragon, played). Its got this lazy disco beat going to set both the tempo and the mood, and after a while Adeline Michele comes in to sing that it was “Just another night without your love”. Greg Wilson, though, takes his time to get there with all kinds of lovely variations on the initial sounds to really paint the right picture. Just short of three minutes in Michele starts narrating her story of love lost and how she longs for being held in someones arms again and truly feeling a spark. For she knows, When it’s good, it’s so good. So if you’re walking around at night dreaming about someone to look you in the eyes lovingly, this surely is the right song for you.
So much to love about this song. First of all, the tight drums and how that propels the song forward. Secondly, it is so catchy and dancey. Thirdly, it is so heartfelt. Instead going ballad after friend of the band (and Juan MacLean drummer) Jerry Fuchs died, the lads of Holy Ghost! go into homage mode by recalling the mourning process with this TUNE. In the chorus they sing “I’ve got the feeling I’ve done / something half wrong / it surrounds me / drowns me in it”, just to indicate that you can be emotional, you can say something conveying feeling, whilst you are making people dance. Excellence by the DFA duo, whom I interviewed as far back as 2010 (it’s 2012 now, remember?).
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