50 Best Singles of 2011
The year's best songs included Adele delivering the breakup scorcher to end all breakup scorchers, Beyoncé slathering a triumphant love song in crazy sauce and Lady Gaga giving us the year's best arena jam.
Contributors: Stacey Anderson, Jon Dolan, David Fricke, Will Hermes, Monica Herrera, Jody Rosen, Rob Sheffield, Simon Vozick-Levinson
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Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Adventures of Raindance Maggie’
The Chili Peppers storm back to life with one of their sexiest grooves – and the shadowy tale of a "lipstick junkie" who Anthony Kiedis can’t get out of his head.
Related
• Simon Vozick-Levinson's Original Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'The Adventures of Raindance Maggie'
• 'The Red Hot Chili Peppers: An Oral/Visual History By The Red Hot Chili Peppers' -
Pains of Being Pure at Heart, ‘Heart In Your Heartbreak’
New York guys (and girl) cook up pure indie-pop ecstasy – Cure synths, sweater-shredding riffs and an angel-dweeb singer with a touch of soft swagger.
Related
• Rob Sheffield's Original Review: Pains of Being Pure at Heart's 'Belong'
• Band to Watch: Pains of Being Pure at Heart Show Off a Bold New Sound -
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, ‘The Death of You and Me’
The Oasis refugee's wackiest moment ever: loping folk rock with Beatles–Kinks orchestrations and paranoid lyrics that add up to pub-rant poetry.
Related
• Listen: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds'
• Video: Noel Gallagher On Videos, His Brother, the Spin Doctors -
Atlas Sound, ‘Mona Lisa’
Bradford Cox spins a hazy vision of fine art and faraway stars, set to an exquisite dream-pop melody.
Related
• Bradford Cox Talks Nervous Breakdown, New Atlas Sound Album
• Simon Vozick-Levinson's Original Review: Atlas Sound's 'Parallax' -
Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire feat. Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown and El-P, ‘The Last Huzzah’
The cream of New York's underground-rap scene (plus a maniac from Detroit) huddle around a trash-can fire of a beat, hurling deranged poetry.
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Cass McCombs, ‘The Same Thing’
This sweetly psychedelic nugget sounds like a lost gem from Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends.
Related
• Video: Cass McCombs' 'The Same Thing'
• Lauren Sloss' Original Review: Cass McCombs' 'Wits End' -
The Joy Formidable, ‘The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie’
Nearly eight minutes of cranium-rattling alt-rock noise, building an end-of-days racket from singer-guitarist Ritzy Bryan's juddering riffs and furious wails.
Related
• Will Hermes' Original Review: The Joy Formidable's 'Big Roar'
• Band to Watch: Joy Formidable Revive Female-Fronted Nineties Rock -
Hayes Carll, ‘KMAG YOYO’
A brilliantly ramshackle soldier's story involving drugs, space travel and – why not? – David Bowie, recited in a "Subterranean Homesick Blues" cadence.
Related
• Rolling Stone Live: Hayes Carll Plays Lonesome Folk Ballads
• Will Hermes' Original Review: Hayes Carll's 'KMAG YOYO' -
Eleanor Friedberger, ‘My Mistakes’
The Fiery Furnaces' singer turns in a sketch of vivid regret, featuring a sprightly garage-pop groove and one of the year's sweetest melodies.
Related
• Video: Eleanor Friedberger Gets Nostalgic in 'My Mistakes' -
Coldplay, ‘Paradise’
Chris Martin at his most euphoric, grabbing us by the guts with strings, hand claps and Bono-bubble-bath ooh-oohs.
Related
• Josh Eells' Original Review: Coldplay's 'Mylo Xyloto'
• Coldplay: Live in Photos -
Girls, ‘Vomit’
An epic indie-rock power ballad – just imagine Pink Floyd reborn as low-fi guitar punishers.
Related
• Simon Vozick-Levinson's Original review: Girls' 'Vomit' -
EMA, ‘California’
A mesmerizing rant about West Coast youth from a punk-folk firebrand: "Fuck California, you made me boring," she sings. Boring? No chance.
Related
• Rob Sheffield's Original Review: EMA's 'California'
• Meet EMA: Queen of Distortion and Lo-Fi Style -
Middle Brother, ‘Blue Eyes’
Three alt-country all-stars make a rollicking and supercatchy declaration of dysfunctional love to "a Southern girl without the drawl. . . the only one who can make me crawl.”
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Nas, ‘Nasty’
Stunning braggadocio over a sick old-school beat: "Any rebuttal to what I utter get box-cuttered."
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Tom Waits, ‘Satisfied’
This growling roadhouse stomp is a late-breaking response to the Stones' greatest hit – with Keith himself riffing along.
Related
• Video: Tom Waits' 'Satisfied'
• Will Hermes' Original Review: Tom Waits' 'Bad As Me' -
R.E.M., ‘We All Go Back To Where We Belong’
Their final statement is a vintage folk-elegy R.E.M. ballad. This time the elegy was for them – and us, too.
Related
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: R.E.M.'s 'We All Go Back To Where We Belong'
• R.E.M. R.I.P.: Thank You for Running it Into the Ground -
Das Racist, ‘Girl’
The Brooklyn indie-rap jokers try a seductive R&B jam, even if their idea of a hot date is watching Hulu on the laptop while getting baked with a girl who has cigarette-scented hair.
Related
• Rob Sheffield's Original Review: Das Racist's 'Relax'
• Video: Trickster Rappers Das Racist Joke Around SXSW -
Beastie Boys feat. Santigold, ‘Don’t Play No Games That I Can’t Win’
Mike D, Ad Rock and MCA knock out a punky reggae groove and hook up with Santigold for a freewheeling generational summit. Best Borscht Belt-ready rhyme: "You lost/Like clams with no tartar sauce."
Related
• Video: Beastie Boys' 'Don't Play No Games That I Can't Win'
• Rob Sheffield's Original Review: Beastie Boys' 'Hot Sauce Committee Part Two' -
Tune-Yards, ‘Bizness’
The lead single from Merrill Garbus' sonic mindmelt, Whokill, is a liquid rush of sound: garage-y Afropop powered by Garbus' fluttering vocalizations and keening yowl.
Related
• Eric Magnuson's Original Review: Tune-Yards' 'Bizness'
• Jody Rosen's Original Review: Tune-Yards' 'Whokill' -
Killer Mike, ‘Ric Flair’
A thunderous rapper, a booming gutbucket beat, samples of one of pro wrestling's most esteemed egomaniacs, Ric Flair – the testosterone flowing through this Southern hiphop crusher rises to WWE SmackDown levels.
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• Jon Dolan's Original Review: Killer Mike's 'Ric Flair' -
Eric Church, ‘Springsteen’
Name-checking "Born to Run" and "I'm on Fire," the tough North Carolina country singer pays tribute to the Garden State's greatest rocker – and the memories of teenage romance his songs evoke.
Related
• Jody Rosen's Original Review: Eric Church's 'Chief' -
Adele, ‘Rumour Has It’
The vengeful, pounding flip side of "Rolling in the Deep": Adele steals her man back from the other woman, then dumps him just for laughs, over the perfect number of funky hand claps.
Related
• Will Hermes' Original Review: Adele's '21'
• Video: Adele on '21': 'The Songs On Here Are The Most Articulate I've Ever Written' -
Dawes, ‘Million Dollar Bill’
Sweet country rock about a guy who dreams of getting famous so his ex-girlfriend will hurt every time she sees his face – terrible plan, excellent SoCal harmonies.
Related
• Video: Dawes Debut New Songs, Reveal How They Recorded Second Album
• Will Hermes' Original Review: Dawes' 'Nothing Is Wrong' -
Lady Gaga, ‘You and I’
A sky-high power ballad that sings the glories of a "cool Nebraska guy" who wears high heels and loves Neil Young.
Related
• Video: Lady Gaga's 'Yoü and I'
• The Ultimate Ranking of Lady Gaga's Catalog -
Miranda Lambert, ‘Mama’s Broken Heart’
A rip-roaring song about going ballistic after a breakup, with a fiendishly catchy tune atop a blazing cow-punk groove.
Related
• Miranda Lambert: 'I Still Don't Think of Myself as Famous' -
Lykke Li, ‘Youth Knows No Pain’
The Stockholm songbird howls a gothic garage-rock tune that sounds like a classic Doors jam spiked with icy Nordic beauty.
Related
• Jody Rosen's Original Review: Lykke Li's 'Wounded Rhymes'
• Swedish Sensation Lykke Li Closes New York Fashion Week at DKNY Show -
Smith Westerns, ‘Weekend’
Chicago kids discover Bowie and Bolan and flip it into languid bliss.
Related
• Band of the Week: The Sixties Inspired Smith Westerns
• Video Playlist: The Smith Westerns Go Acoustic -
Tyler, the Creator, ‘Yonkers’
Rap's most polarizing young star stabs Bruno Mars and disses Jesus – and somehow, all the bad vibes are mesmerizing.
Related
• Jonah Weiner's Original Review: Tyler, The Creator's 'Yonkers'
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Bon Iver, ‘Holocene’
The cathedral-folk sound is idyllic, the memories of an ex are terrifying. This takes sensitive-guy poetry somewhere sublime.
Related
• Video: Bon Iver's 'Holocene'
• Bon Iver's 'Bon Iver': A Track-by-Track Breakdown -
Paul Simon, ‘The Afterlife’
Simon delves into the mysteries of the great beyond: Over a waterfall of African guitar, our hero gets to heaven only to have to fill out a form and wait in a line.
Related
• Will Hermes' Original Review: Paul Simon's 'The Afterlife'
• Paul Simon's New Video for 'The Afterlife' -
Jay-Z and Kanye West, ‘Welcome to the Jungle’
Hova calls himself the black Axl Rose, riding a Swizz Beatz groove that slams like a hip-hop GnR.
Related
• Kanye West and Jay-Z's 'Watch the Throne': A Track-by-Track Breakdown
• Jody Rosen's Original Review: Jay-Z and Kanye West's 'Watch the Throne' -
Lucinda Williams, ‘Blessed’
A stunning blues-rock benediction of loss and bruising revelation.
Related
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: Lucinda Williams' 'Blessed' -
Black Keys, ‘Little Black Submarines’
Raw power, Black Keys style: A wintry folk ballad erupts into a wind-whipped burner with a sugar crusted psych-rock chorus.
Related
• Will Hermes' Original Review: Black Keys' 'El Camino' -
Wilco, ‘I Might’
Wilco cut loose: a fuzz bass, a "96 Tears" organ and Jeff Tweedy deciding he's not too old to set the kids on fire.
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Fleet Foxes, ‘Lorelai’
A gold-spun folk homily so pretty that you almost don’t notice its broken heart.
Related
• Fleet Foxes Get Existential on Second Album, 'Helplessness Blues'
• David Fricke's Original Review: Fleet Foxes' 'Helplessness Blues' -
TV on the Radio, ‘You’
Five Brooklyn artistes deliver their version of a weak-kneed Coldplay ballad: a breakup lament full of high-lonesome croons and perfect synth architecture.
Related
• Video: Exclusive Interview with TV on the Radio at SXSW 2011
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: TV on the Radio's 'Nine Types of Light' -
Sleeper Agent, ‘Get It Daddy’
A garage-punk firecracker that keeps exploding, with lusty wails from 19-year-old Alex Kandel.
Related
• Band to Watch: Sleeper Agent Make Hook-Filled, Horomone-Fueled Garage Rock
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: Sleeper Agent's 'Celebrasion' -
My Morning Jacket, ‘Circuital’
Spacey effects, big-sky jamming and Jim James' pie-eyed humanism. Both epic and deeply friendly – MMJ in a nutshell.
Related
• Listen: My Morning Jacket's 'Circuital'
• My Morning Jacket Find Killer New Groove on 'Circuital' -
Lloyd feat. Andre 3000 and Lil Wayne, ‘Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)’
Now, that's how you do a breakup song: a vulgar soul chorus ("Oh, no/Where did your pussy go?"), a Motown beat and a supersly guest shot from Andre 3000.
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Foster the People, ‘Pumped Up Kicks’
2011's Little Song That Could: an unreasonably catchy psych-pop ditty that crashed the charts with lyrics about a deranged youth on a shooting spree.
Related
• Band to Watch: Foster the People's Pumped-Up Psych-Pop
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: Foster the People's 'Torches' -
The Decemberists, ‘Don’t Carry It All’
The Portlanders streamline their sound with a broad-shouldered groove, Tom Petty harmonica and an impossibly pretty roots-folk melody the Band might have dreamt up in 1968.
Related
• Q&A: The Decemberists' Meloy on Metal, Musicals and Scary Jobs -
Lil Wayne feat. Cory Gunz, ‘Six Foot Seven Foot’
Backed by psychedelic synth burble and a "Banana Boat (Day-O)" sample, Wayne emerges from lockdown with four minutes of id-spew, meditating on death and dropping his cleverest line ever: "Real G's move in silence like lasagna."
Related
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: Lil Wayne feat. Cory Gunz's 'Six Foot Seven Foot'
• Lil Wayne: A History in Photos -
Beyonce, ‘Countdown’
A triumphal love song, slathered in crazy sauce: marching-band drums, backward-counting backup singers, honking horns and that weird-ass "boof-boof!" hook.
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Lady Gaga, ‘Edge of Glory’
The year's best arena jam: schlock-disco thunder that sounds like a million little monsters pounding Four Loko on Mount Olympus. Only Clarence Clemons could provide the brilliantly unnecessary sax solo that truly fires it into orbit.
Related
• Lady Gaga Releases Massive Pop Anthem
• Video: Lady Gaga Performs Solo Piano 'Edge of Glory' -
Radiohead, ‘Lotus Flower’
A warped love ballad in the style Radiohead defined on Amnesiac, but with a decade's worth of bonus misery – plus fractured loops, tons of bass and Thom Yorke's ghostly ache.
Related
• Radiohead's 'The King of Limbs': A Track-by-Track Breakdown
• Two Decades of Radiohead: Photos of the Band from 'Pablo Honey' to 'The King of Limbs' -
Paul Simon, ‘Rewrite’
Simon introduces us to a hard-luck Vietnam vet who's apparently revising a screenplay – and wishing he could do the same to his life. The story is so empathetic and vividly told, it's like we've known the guy for years.
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Foo Fighters, ‘These Days’
Dave Grohl cuts a tough, tender rock ballad Kurt could have admired: quietly moving verses followed by a cathartic, heartbroken chorus surrounded by a halo of guitar fuzz.
Related
• David Fricke's Original Review: Foo Fighters' 'Wasting Light'
• Video: Foo Fighters Hang with Rolling Stone and Talk 'Wasting Light' at SXSW -
Britney Spears, ‘Till The World Ends’
Brit delivers the Apocalypse Now of Eurotrash electrotrance disco songs, as that throbbing pulse builds to a pure drop-the-bomb chorus. And that "whoa-ho-ho" choir sounds like Cher leading an aircraft carrier full of gay sailors.
Related
• Jon Dolan's Original Review: Britney Spears' 'Till The World Ends'
• Photos: Britney Spears' 'Femme Fatale' Tour Kickoff -
Jay-Z and Kanye West, ‘Ni**as in Paris’
The year's most intense throwdown – minimalist thunder pegged to a tweedling synth line that seemed to taunt potential haters. The lyrics are full of opulence ("gold bottles" rhymes with "scold models"), but this is no breezy highlife jam: Kanye barks about wilding out in France, while Jay imagines the dark fate that could have awaited him had he not become Jay-Z.
Related
• Jay-Z & Kanye West's 'Watch the Throne'
• Kanye West & Jay-Z's 'Watch the Throne': A Track-by-Track Breakdown -
Adele, ‘Rolling in the Deep’
The biggest hit from the biggest album of the year is a breakup scorcher to beat all breakup scorchers, with Adele slinging bolts of regretful scorn amid gospel-tinged stomp and a gaggle of soul-sister backup singers. This is brokenhearted music that makes you feel like taking on the world – crackling with quiet menace in the intro, then slowly building to that gut-punch refrain of "We could have had it all!" How did such an old-school soul song dominate the charts next to Gaga and Katy Perry? Maybe it's the hint of hip-hop venom you hear amid the blues-steeped storminess when Adele tells her ex-lover she'll "lay your shit bare." Maybe it's that certain emotions – especially when channeled through a voice this powerful – will always seem timeless.
Related
• Barry Walters' Original Review: Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep'
• Photos: Choice Excerpts From Adele's Cover Story