the music of 2011: the top 25 singles. Dec 29 '11    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Revelation [Digipak] by Journey From $12 Machine Gun Etiquette by The Damned From $40 The Bottom Line After all... pretty good year. Perhaps it's worth noting that 2011 was the first year I've ever felt like an old man. Allow me to explain. When I joined this site, way back in September of 2000, I was fifteen years old. Hungry for new music, sure, but still discovering the classics; weaned on a steady diet of gospel music and classic rock, but having nourished my rogueish side on hip-hop; aware of the radio, but just as likely to dust off dad's old Aerosmith and Eagles records all the same. In my late teens and early 20s, I had all the ambition of my young self, but none of the financial constraints. I had disposable income to spare, and nothing to spend it on but leisurely pursuits like music. I mowed through new releases like a fiend, I discovered classic upon beautiful classic; my year-end lists included 50 albums, and they were only the ones I LOVED.  Now I'm 26. I'm married; I have dumbasssed responsibilities to take care of; and, perhaps most importantly, I have a stable, fun, and ultimately rewarding career as a local DJ. It's brought me a livable wage and minor local celebrity, so I can hardly complain; problem is, I'm requested a substantial number of songs by drunken, barely-legal collegiates on a nightly basis. These people know The Roots as Jimmy Fallon's house band; their hunger for music begins and ends with what they hear on the radio. Which is fine: I'm not here to tell you that radio music is awful. In fact, you'll find yourself quite familiar with many of the songs on this list here; it's a singles list, after all, and many of these were pop hits. But my work computer tells me that my most-played song of the year was dunderheaded duo LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem", and I can promise you that I've played it MAYBE twice of my own accord; it's this sort of thing that makes me think I'm becoming prematurely out of touch with modern music. I don't get Ke$ha, and I never will; I appreciated Cobra Starship when they were singing the "Snakes on a Plane" theme song, but now I can't tell what makes them different from the Ke$has and LMFAOs of this world. Lil' Wayne's appeal remains one of the great modern mysteries to me.  That said, I've been keeping a closer eye on pop music this year than the past few, and while standouts haven't been as readily apparent, they've been there. This list attempts to whittle the year down to 25 standout singles; despite Ke$ha's attempts to slaughter it, pop music remains alive and, occasionally, vital. Here's the best of the best. 25. "My Racing Thoughts," Jack's Mannequin There's something about a good underdog story that everyone loves, and Andrew McMahon's leukemia diagnosis a few years back threatened to put him down for good. But when I saw his band in Boston this summer, the now cancer-free tunesmith was such an infectiously lovable scamp onstage that the crowd reaction dwarfed that of headliners Guster. Even in the thick of disease, McMahon's Jack's Mannequin tunes have never been dour affairs; he never shied away from his ailment, but he's always embraced life -- and all of its glorious peaks and valleys -- wholly and without courting pity. If Jack's latest record, Places & Things, is any indication, he's gonna be writing lively piano-pop jams like "My Racing Thoughts" for a long while, and I couldn't be happier about that. 24. "Lonely Boy," The Black Keys It's weird to think that The Black Keys are the only survivors of the turn of the century garage-rock revival -- outliving even Jack and Meg -- but then again, their curiously retro blues-rock seems of an era without being confined to it. "Lonely Boy" is only the latest example, and if it won't go down as one of their defining singles, it's fuzzy Stooges guitar and tinny T.Rex organ damn near promises that it'll make some kids day when he discovers it on a Nuggets compilation three decades from now. 23. "Promises, Promises," Incubus In which Incubus switch their steez up considerably, and end up coming across as the mature, classy band they've always hinted at being; "Promises" seems to directly court my sympathies by boasting tight harmonies, a shuffling piano groove, and quarter-life ennui, but it's one of frontman Brandon Boyd's most immediate hooks and immaculately-sung vocals, so I'm inclined to think more people out there like it, too. 22. "Marvin's Room," Drake I'll admit that it took me a while to get Drake -- or what seems like a while for a guy that appears to have been ingrained in pop culture for what seems like an eternity. Still, that doesn't negate the effectiveness of "Marvin's Room", structured as a morose drunken phone call made to an ex after the euphoria of a night out has worn off. Entirely sung with barely-concealed bitterness and palpable sadness, it's a somber affair, to be sure, but Drake -- who's Take Care turned out to be one of the better surprises of the year -- pulls the risky gambit off with bruised hubris and stark, excoriating honesty. When he sings "I've had sex four times this week -- I'll explain," it immediately becomes apparent that he's the only guy in hip-hop outside of Kanye who can make this kind of confession sound utterly shameful. 21. "Time Spent In Los Angeles," Dawes I purposely avoided Dawes for a little while in 2011 because I didn't think I needed another folksy indie-rock trio in my life; even when I reluctantly purchased Nothing is Wrong, I didn't listen to it right away. I gave them until the end of track 1 to hook me, and damn if they didn't come out blazing with "Time Spent", the sort of gloriously mellow, impeccably harmonized Laurel Canyon bliss that immediately establishes the trio as the heirs apparent to the throne vacated by, of all people, The Eagles. It's laconic, and white-bread, but unlike so many of their peers, there's an emotional honesty underneath it all that brings everything home nicely. 20. "Walk," Foo Fighters The Foos are so reliable at crafting impeccably hooky modern rock that they're often staples of lists like these without actually accomplishing anything outside of their wheelhouse, but in their best moments, they're able to craft anthems that marry their meat and potatoes rock approach to startling emotional honesty. "Best Of You", still their finest single to date, accomplished this nicely, and "Walk" is their best replication of that success since, boasting the kind of larger than life chorus that Dave Grohl seems to have in bottomless abundance, and Grohl's anthemic glee at middle-aged self-discovery is infectious. 19. "The Bad in Each Other," Feist It's nice to hear this side of Leslie Feist; sure, we all loved "1234", but the former Broken Social Scenester hasn't been this emotionally naked and dusky in some time. It's a low-key rumination on romantic dysfunction with a Calexico chaser, and it's lovely. 18. "Shake It Out," Florence + the Machine I'll admit that I wrote Florence Welch off as a one-trick pony after the euphoric sugar rush of "Dog Days Are Over", a titanic example of pop indie done right that nevertheless didn't seem to have a natural second act. Shame on me -- Florence's Ceremonials is one of the best records of the year, and it's full of tracks that bottle the charm of "Dog Days" without slavishly replicating it. "Shake It Out" is one of the best, a full-bodied, mystical rave-up that plays to the rafters, and commands your hips to follow the directions set forth in its title. 17. "Holocene," Bon Iver Speaking of second acts, Bon Iver came back strong this year after figurehead Justin Vernon's legendary exodus into the Wisconsin wilderness threatened to overshadow the music on his debut LP, For Emma, Forever Ago. The self-titled sophomore set still hinges on Vernon's multi-tracked, ethereal falsetto and abstract emotional accessibility, but it expands the sonic pallette exponentially. And yet, the mournful "Holocene" is an album highlight, and it's perhaps the closest Vernon and company come to recreating the cabin-bound, lonesome folk of that debut. Vernon's strength as a songwriter remains making an emotional connection through music rather than through lyrics; he's uncannily able to project exactly what he's trying to say, even when the lyrics don't make a ton of sense. "Holocene" is no exception, and when Vernon repurposes an old Who chorus into a solemn, resigned "I can see for miles, and miles, and miles", we know just what the man means. And it's breathtaking. 16. "You and I," Lady Gaga "You and I" is a rather straightforward power-ballad for a woman who's made her name creating some of the most viscerally batshiit dance-pop of the past decade. I'm firmly in Gaga's corner, it's true -- after the frenzied dancefloor brilliance of "Bad Romance", how could you not be? -- but it's nice to see that she can play things pretty straight-faced and still come across as an effective, engaging performer. She may never get her due, it's true, but at least us apologists have "You and I", a track that we can remind grouchy traditionalists that they'd still adore to this day if Elton John had recorded it in 1978. 15. "Best Thing I Never Had," Beyonce As much as I love Gaga, Beyonce's the pop princess to beat in my eyes; 4 may have underperformed, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The piano-laced "Best Thing I Never Had" proves that Lady B is the queen of resilient kiss-offs; sassy and fractured in equal measure, Beyonce's vocal proves her the eminent purveyor of high-water pop music, and one of the most dynamic and exciting vocalists to ever grace the mainstream arena. 14. "We Found Love," Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris I don't know that I'll ever be a true Rihanna apologist -- she's got a knack for a truly great earworm, and has her name on some of the best pop tunes of the past decade, but she's simply put out too much music for all of it to be gold-plated pop of the highest order. No matter: "We Found Love" IS gold-plated pop of the highest order, and when the drum track kicks in, its euphoria, personified. 13. "Stereo Hearts," Gym Class Heroes feat. Adam Levine I don't care that Travie McCoy's pretty much on autopilot for the duration of "Stereo Hearts", or that the entire song hinges on that tired old my-heart-is-a-boombox metaphor; what I do care about is that lovely hook, and the fact that it's been on an endless loop in my head since the second I first heard it. 12. "Marvin & Chardonnay," Big Sean feat. Kanye West and Roscoe Dash Finally, a hip-hop song that treats sex as something to be excited about; Sean and Kanye sound so genuinely excited at the prospect of lovemaking that the song bursts at the seams with glee, and as come-ons go, you could go a little worse than "just to set the mood, I brought some Marvin Gaye and chardonnay". Most importantly, it's infectious, breezy, immaculately-performed hip-hop, the kind of thing that Big Sean brings to his debut record in spades.  11. "Make My," The Roots feat. Big K.R.I.T. and Dice Raw Big K.R.I.T. and Black Thought come correct with their verses; Dice Raw, in his new role as hook man, contributes a terrifically low-key chorus. Still, it's nothing if it's not about the music, and the Roots' tight, soulful instrumental takes center stage riding out to the coda. "Make My" is the kind of thing The Roots can turn out in their sleep, but that doesn't make it any less inspiring for the rest of us. 10. "#Trendin," The Original 7ven I suppose if you'd told me that a nostalgia act churning out electro-funk about how popular their frontman is on Twitter would end up being one of my favorite singles of the year -- well, I don't imagine I'd have said anything, because that's too bizarre of a sentence for me to comprehend. Nevertheless, here we are, and the return of the freshly-christened Morris Day and The Time yielded a near-perfect fifteen-track party record. The salivation commenced when "#Trendin" was released; even after 20 years of dormancy, the 7ven still sound as vital and charismatic as ever. Even the goofy lyrics -- destined to be dated in a few short years -- are given new life by Morris Day, who's irascible delivery can smooth over pretty much anything. All that, and the song's still gloriously, insidiously funky. 9. "Set Fire to the Rain," Adele There's little down that 2011 will go down in the books as the year of Adele; the cavern-scaling voice that burst forth from the scorned Brit siren was one of the year's greatest success stories, and it's likely to net her Grammy gold in 2012. Her album, 21, may have been a little heavy on the ballads -- let's not forget how overwhelmingly ubiquitous the crushing "Someone Like You" became in the year's second half, even spawning a funny SNL sketch about its communal misery -- but there's no denying that the sparks fly when Adele latches on to a scorned-woman anthem like this little barnburner. It's an emotionally naked and feisty power ballad, sure, but "Set Fire to the Rain" is also Adele's catchiest single to date, and that larger than life chorus is proof of her legacy. 8. "Jack Sparrow," The Lonely Island feat. Michael Bolton Of course, sometimes it's all about fun and games. SNL's Andy Samberg and his motley crew of pop-culture parodists made waves a few years back with a little song about boxed extremities, but the Lonely Island stepped their game up with album two, Turtleneck & Chain. The album's highlight just might be this little meta-number where Michael Bolton interrupts their Usher-esque club jam with a synthy earworm hook about his favorite film character. And yes, Bolton sounds great, in addition to being surprisingly hilarious. 7. "Breaking Up With God," The Ark It was the last year of active duty for the members of Swedish pop masters The Ark, but they went out with a bang with this final single, a defiant tossing-off of religious shackles that manages the feat of being the single most instantly familiar and hooky of their career. The mood is melancholy but resilient; Ola Salo's lead vocal among his most expressive and emotionally naked; and, lyrically, Salo's gift for molding the English language into unique and inventive phrasework remains golden up until the bitter end. Parting is sorrow, it's true, but it's so, so sweet. 6. "When I Start to (Break It All Down)," Erasure Erasure -- perhaps the single finest synthpop act still standing -- didn't hit it out of the park with their new album, Tomorrow's World. No matter: "Break It All Down" boasts one of Andy Bell's finest-ever vocals, and indeed slowly builds its pop charms into the most irresistable single this band has crafted since pop hall of fame entry "A Little Respect". 5. "Love On Top," Beyonce As effective of a kiss-off as Beyonce can mount -- see this list's earlier Lady B entry, "Best Thing I Never Had" -- the woman spins unbridled enthusiasm into pop gold. The effervescent "Crazy In Love" was the Knowles/Jay-Z coming out party, and this New Edition-style throwback jam finds Beyonce settling into domestic bliss with style. Had the song stopped before its final two minutes, it'd still be one of the most infectious singles of the year, but Miss Knowles has to go ahead and ice the cake with a series of dizzying, superfluous, and glorious key changes that pretty much to reaffirm your knowledge that, yup, chick can sing. 4. "We Are Young," Fun. feat. Janelle Monae Nate Ruess' original project, The Format, will always be sorely missed, but as long as he's making irrepressibly catchy baroque indie pop with his newest project, Fun., things'll be just fine. Is futuristic r&b siren Monae really necessary on the track? Perhaps not, but why complain with this beautifully ebullient ode to undying youth? 3. "Otis," Jay-Z and Kanye West I'm not sure how people were lukewarm on this. An irresistable chopped-up Otis Redding sample? Check. A legitimate sense of camraderie between the two veteran rappers/on-again-off-again BFFs? Check. The most glib and celebratory either emcee has been in years? Check. A win? Check, check, check. All the checkmarks for this quick gem. 2. "Super Bass," Nicki Minaj Miss Minaj showed promise on her idiosyncratic guest appearances and feisty originals prior to the release of her debut; when Pink Friday dropped in late 2010, it wasn't necessarily a huge disappointment, but Nicki was clearly relying far too much on her perceived knack for pop tunes for her own good. As such, go-nowhere love songs like "Right Thru Me" and "Fly" landed with a resounding thud, until Nicki unleashed this sparkling gem on the public. It's not necessarily that it's the best single from a femcee since Missy Elliott's heyday, although that's true. "Super Bass" is remarkable for finally harnessing Nicki's knack for a pop hook AND her penchant for lightning-quick, off-the-wall flowing. And it's glorious. 1. "Rolling in the Deep," Adele Look, I'm not gonna be able to tell you anything about "Rolling in the Deep" you didn't already know. It's inescapable. Let's just acknowledge that, out of all the songs on this list, Adele's chart-topper is the best, and by a long shot most enduring, single of 2011. Hope you've enjoyed! Stay tuned for top albums!

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