"Holocene" is the one of Bon Iver/Justin Vernon's most beautiful ballads, up there with "Skinny Love". Vernon's vocals are ethereal and the addition of those snare drums adds to the majestic sound of the music.
19 Hooray For Earth "No Love"
Hooray For Earth is one part MGMT and one part Flaming Lips[, and "No Love" is their undeniable peak on 2011s True Loves. It's a full blown dance track, with one of the best beats of any song this year. Lyrically, it's a gem too.
18 Elbow "lippy kids"
Guy Garvey is the lead singer and lead lyricist of Elbow, one of the best UK-based bands playing music right now. In 2011 they released Build A Rocket Boys! to universal critical acclaim, and "lippy kids" is the heart and soul of the album. "kids" is all about the ups and downs of being a kid, set to the most beautiful, lush instrumentation of 2011. Garvey's powerful vocals give the song even more of an emotional resonance.
17 Drake featuring Rihanna "Take Care"
So Gil-Scott Heron, Jamie xx, Rihanna and Drake walk in to a bar... wait, this isn't a joke; the four actually did collaborate and the result was actually one of the best songs of 2011? Oh yes, between Drake's heartfelt rap, Rihanna's smoke-filled vocals, Jamie xx's production and Heron's sampled vocals during the bridge, the four distinct artists combine to create a masterful pop song. It's hard to imagine Drake is only on album #2 when he's releasing music of this quality.
16 Radiohead "Lotus Flower"
The King Of Limbs may not have been as big of a hit as In Rainbows, but first single "Lotus Flower" is up there with the band's best work. The band sounds more like they did on Amnesiac here than any other album they've previously recorded, and Thom Yorke's vocals are truly hypnotic. And in an age where music videos are only as good as their outlandish budget and run time, Radiohead released one of the best videos of the year, with Yorke dancing freely to the music, putting everyone not named Beyoncé to shame.
50. Blood Pressures, The Kills
49. In The Mountain In The Cloud, Portugal. The Man
48. Rapprocher, Class Actress
47. Born This Way, Lady GaGa
46. Pickin' Up The Pieces, Fitz and the Tantrums
45. Anna Calvi, Anna Calvi
44. El Camino, The Black Keys
43. undun, The Roots
42. Strange Mercy, St. Vincent
41. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
40. Metals, Feist
39. The Whole Love, Wilco
38. Days, Real Estate
37. Rome, Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi
36. Camp, Childish Gambino
35. Wounded Rhymes, Lykke Li
34. In The Grave Of Your Love, The Rapture
33. The King Of Limbs, Radiohead
32. Biophilia, Bjork
31. Coastal Grooves, Blood Orange
30. Mirror Traffic, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
29. The Year Of Hibernation, Youth Lagoon
28. 21, Adele
27. Lights, Ellie Goulding
26. Watch The Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West
25. Space Is Only Noise, Nicolas Jaar
24. 4, Beyoncé
23. 50 Words For Snow, Kate Bush
22. Ravedeath, 1972, Tim Hecker
21. Conatus, Zola Jesus
50. Blood Pressures, The Kills
46. Pickin' Up The Pieces, Fitz and the Tantrums 45. Anna Calvi, Anna Calvi
44. El Camino, The Black Keys
43. undun, The Roots
42. Strange Mercy, St. Vincent 41. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
40. Metals, Feist 35. Wounded Rhymes, Lykke Li
33. The King Of Limbs, Radiohead
32. Biophilia, Bjork 28. 21, Adele
27. Lights, Ellie Goulding
26. Watch The Throne, Jay-Z & Kanye West
24. 4, Beyoncé
17 Wild Beasts, Smother
100 The Strokes "Machu Piccu"
99 Ganglians "Things To Know"
98 Dreamers Of The Ghetto "Connection"
97 Active Child "Hanging On"
96 Real Estate "Out Of Tune"
95 Matthew Herbert "December"
94 Frank Ocean "Novacane"
93 Unknown Mortal Orchestra "FFunny FFriends"
92 Butcher Boy "Imperial"
91 The Kills "Future Starts Slow"
90 Cults "Rave On"
89 Release The Sunbird "No Light"
88 Penguin Prison "Don't **** With My Money"
87 Forest Fire "They Pray Execution Style"
86 Waters "San Francisco"
85 Little Dragon "Ritual Union"
84 Future Islands "Balance"
83 Radiohead "Bloom"
82 Jay-Z & Kanye West "Gotta Have It"
81 Blood Orange "Sutphin Boulevard"
80 Lady GaGa "Born This Way"
79 Adele "Set Fire To The Rain"
78 Mara Carlyle "Weird Girl"
77 Nerves Junior "Swimmer's Ear"
76 The Black Keys "Little Black Submarine"
75 Atlas Sound "Flagstaff"
74 Wild Beasts "Bed Of Nails"
73 Cant "The Edge"
72 Neon Indian "Future Sick"
71 Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Norah Jones "Problem Queen"
70 M83 "Wait"
69 The Weeknd "Life Of The Party"
68 I Break Horses "Pulse"
67 High Places "Sonora"
66 Britney Spears "Till The World Ends"
65 Beyoncé featuring André 3000 "Party"
64 New Look "The Ballad"
63 Class Actress "Weekend"
62 Florence + The Machine "Shake It Out"
61 Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks "Tigers"
60 King Creosote & Jon Hopkins "John Taylor's Month Away"
59 St. Vincent "Surgeon"
58 Kreayshawn "Gucci Gucci"
57 Foster The People "Helena Beat"
56 The Roots featuring Big K.R.I.T. & Dice Raw "Make My"
55 Other Lives "As I Lay My Head Down"
54 Milagres "Glowing Mouth"
53 Drake featuring Stevie Wonder "Doing It Wrong"
52 Wild Beasts "Plaything"
51 A$AP Rocky featuring Schoolboy Q "Brand New Guy"
50 Sepalcure "Breezin'"
49 Widowspeak "Gun Shy"
48 Rihanna "Where Have You Been"
47 Lykke Li "I Follow Rivers"
46 Okkervil River "We Need A Myth"
45 My Brightest Diamond "Be Brave"
44 Drake "Marvin's Room"
43 Real Estate "All The Same"
42 The Antlers "No Widows"
41 The Horrors "I Can See Through You"
40 Ellie Goulding "Lights" (Bassnectar Remix)
39 Youth Lagoon "17"
38 Nicolas Jaar "Space Is Only Noise If You Can See"
37 Adele "Rolling In The Deep"
36 My Morning Jacket "Holdin On To Black Metal"
35 Feist "Graveyard"
34 Tinariwen "Tamiditin Tan Ufrawen"
33 Björk "Crystalline"
32 Kate Bush "Snowed In At Wheeler Street"
31 The War On Drugs "Brothers"
30 The Rapture "In The Grace Of Your Love"
29 Tim Hecker "In The Fog II"
28 Lady GaGa "Heavy Metal Lover"
27 Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues"
26 St. Vincent "Cheerleader"
25 Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi featuring Jack White "Two Against One"
24 Bobby "Tomb Bloom"
23 Zola Jesus "Seekir"
22 A$AP Rocky "Houston Old Head"
21 tUnE-yArDs "Gangsta"
20 Bon Iver "Holocene"
19 Hooray For Earth "No Love"
18 Elbow "lippy kids"
17 Drake featuring Rihanna "Take Care"
16 Radiohead "Lotus Flower"
"1+1" is one of the greatest love songs of our time. While 4 may not have had the huge hit singles, her songs still resonated with the public. Take "1+1" for example; the video has 22,000,000+ hits, without the song even being a single. There's a reason for that, because on this track Beyoncé delivers her most emotionally powerful vocals yet. After all the self-empowerment anthems, for the first time she "lets down her guard" to her lover (damn you, Jay-Z!) and shows that while 1 is good, 1+1 is even better.
14. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks "No One Is (As I Are Be)"
This was honestly the last thing I expected to hear from Stephen Malkmus. The ex-Pavement frontman is known (at least from his former band) for his punk-rock, indie-grunge music. On "No One Is" Malkmus turns the tables, recording a beautiful, simple acoustic ballad. And if you think you've lost Malkmus to old age, think again: his lyrics here are some of the wittiest he's written since his Pavement days.
13. PJ Harvey "All & Everyone"
"Death was everywhere..." begins PJ Harvey's best track off her stellar 2011 album Let England Shake. The song is a slow-rolling grower, lasting nearly 6 minutes. It's PJ Harvey at her best, creating complex melodies and great lyrics.
12. Adele "Someone Like You"
Do you have your tissues ready? Ok, good. Because to this day, almost a full year after the song was released, "Someone Like You" still tugs on my heart. You can hear Adele's pain shine though on the most beautiful piano ballad of 2011. This is also Adele's career-defining song at the moment, equally saddening and uplifting. Adele makes falling in love seem like a game of Russian Roulette. Sometimes you win, but it only takes once to shoot you down.
11. Girls "Vomit"
Girls is one of America's greatest rock bands at the moment, and "Vomit" is the greatest song they've ever recorded. Coming off the amazing album Father, Son, Holy Ghost, "Vomit" begins with lead singer Christopher Owens sings over crunchy guitars "nights I spend alone I spend looking for you, baby" and the way he sings "baby" hits me every time. But what he's really looking for is "love", and as the song builds to a Dark Side Of The Moon-esque climax, complete with some amazing soulful vocals by Tisha Frederick, life doesn't feel so hopeless. Looking for love will never be easy, but no matter what road we take, the journey will always lead us to where we need to be.