Some quick notes, then a playlist link followed by my list that you have no reason to read because you’ll already have the playlist at that point and can just decide your own order because, presumably, you’re an adult and can form your own opinions about things.

  1. These are my 50 favorite songs of 2011. Not yours (well, maybe yours). Not Pitchfork’s. Not NPR’s. Not Rolling Stone’s. It’s not supposed to make sense. It doesn’t make sense. Just enjoy it.
  2. I only let myself pick one song from each artist to avoid a list made up almost entirely of Ha Ha Tonka, M83, and The Weeknd. Because honestly, that’s pretty much what you’d get right now.  So really, it’s not at all my actual top 50 songs. Sorry for the confusion (not sorry at all).
  3. Speaking of The Weeknd, he’s not on Spotify, so the link to his song opens up in YouTube. Deal with it.
  4. If you think for a second that Beyonce song is a joke, you need to reevaluate your life.  I’m surprised it didn’t make the top 10, honestly.
  5. “Rolling in the Deep” was awesome the first few times around, and I can’t deny that. It’s not awesome any more, but I can comfortably blame society for that.

You can listen to the full list in no particular order on Spotify here: Top 50 Songs of 2011 or listen to tracks individually as you go through the list.  They all got links, don’t you worry.

Anyway, here’s that list I was talking about:

50 The Boxer Rebellion – Step Out Of The Car
49 Found – Shallow
48 Okkervil River – Piratess
47 Adele – Rolling In The Deep
46 St. Vincent – Cruel
45 The Joy Formidable – The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie
44 Little Dragon – Ritual Union
43 Theophilus London – Love Is Real – feat. Holly Miranda
42 The Kills – DNA
41 Milagres – Glowing Mouth
40 Cut Copy – Take Me Over
39 Austra – Darken Her Horse
38 James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream
37 Beyoncé – Countdown
36 Eleanor Friedberger – My Mistakes
35 Grouplove – Colours
34 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
33 J Cole featuring JAY Z – Mr. Nice Watch – Explicit Version
32 The Civil Wars – I’ve Got This Friend
31 Danger Mouse  – Roman Blue
30 Apparat – The Soft Voices Die
29 araabMUZIK – Silent World
28 Givers – Meantime
27 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – When I Open My Eyes
26 Tune-Yards – You Yes You
25 The Weeknd – House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls
24 PJ Harvey – The Glorious Land
23 Panda Bear – Last Night At The Jetty
22 Holy Ghost! – Wait And See
21 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now
20 Bon Iver – Perth
19 The Bewitched Hands – Happy With You
18 Raphael Saadiq – Go To Hell
17 Jay-Z & Kanye West– Who Gon Stop Me
16 WILD FLAG – Boom
15 Wilco – I Might
14 Toro Y Moi – All Alone
13 M83 – Raconte-Moi Une Histoire
12 The Horrors – Endless Blue
11 Girls – Die
10 Devotchka – The Common Good
9 The Dodos – Don’t Try and Hide It
8 Jamie xx – Far Nearer
7 The Strokes – Under Cover Of Darkness
6 Cults – Abducted
5 Starf***er – Julius
4 Sbtrkt – Pharaohs (feat. Roses Gabor)
3 Yuck – Operation
2 Ha Ha Tonka – Made Example Of
1 Washed Out – Amor Fati