These are, in my humble opinion, some of the best songs released in 2011, in no specific order. I could make a very long list of songs, but I figured I’d keep it short with just the bare essential jams of 2011. All of these songs gave me goosebumps the first time I heard them and most of them still have that effect on me today. If you wish to hear more amazing tracks, be sure to check out some of the albums and EP’s that scored high in my list of the best albums and EP’s of 2011 or in this year’s Readers’ Poll - plenty of great tracks to be found on those releases too.

d’Eon - Transparency
     taken from Darkbloom

How to Dress Well - Suicide Dream 2 (orchestral version)
     taken from just once

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
     taken from Wounded Rhymes

Björk - Crystalline
     taken from Biophilia

Lana Del Rey - Video Games
     taken from Video Games / Blue Jeans

James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
     taken from James Blake

tUnE-yArDs - Bizness
     taken from w h o k i l l

A$AP Rocky - Palace
     taken from LiveLoveA$AP

The Weeknd - The Fall
     taken from Echoes Of Silence

Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
     taken from Born To Die

Jamie xx - Far Nearer
     taken from Far Nearer

The Weeknd - What You Need
     taken from House Of Balloons

Bon Iver - I Can’t Make You Love Me / Nick of Time
     taken from Calgary

These are, in my humble opinion, the best albums released in 2011 - or at least the ones I enjoyed most. This is today’s version - if I take another look at this list in 3 months or so I’ll definitely want to move up/bump down some albums.

Please note that jj’s KILLS was (indeed) released in December 2010, but it’s one of the albums I’ve had on repeat all throughout 2011 so I gladly make an exception for it in this list. 

Without further ado, here you go.

33 Cocknbullkid - Adulthood
32 Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
31 Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
30 Björk - Biophilia
29 Gang Gang Dance - Glass Jar
28 Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
27 Panda Bear - Tomboy
26 Zola Jesus - Conatus
25 Feist - Metals
24 Metronomy - The English Riviera
23 The Throne - Watch The Throne
22 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
21 James Blake - James Blake
20 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
19 Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
18 Clare Maguire - Light After Dark
17 Destroyer - Kaputt
16 tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
15 Austra - Feel It Break
14 NewVillager - NewVillager
13 A$AP Rocky - LiveLoveA$AP
12 Twin Sister - In Heaven
11 Active Child - You Are All I see

10 Balam Acab - WANDER / WONDER

9 Korallreven - An Album By Korallreven

8 Frank Ocean - nostalgia, ULTRA

7 jj - KILLS

6 Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver

5 Planningtorock - W

4 The Antlers - Burst Apart

3 Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

2 The Weeknd - The Trilogy

1 Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation

01 Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation
02 The Weeknd - The Trilogy
03 Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
04 The Antlers - Burst Apart
05 Planningtorock - W
06 Bon Iver - Bon Iver, Bon Iver
07 jj - KILLS
08 Frank Ocean - nostalgia, ULTRA
09 Korallreven - An Album By Korallreven 
10 Balam Acab - WANDER / WONDER
11 Active Child - You Are All I See
12 Twin Sister - In Heaven
13 A$AP Rocky - LiveLoveA$AP
14 NewVillager - NewVillager
15 Austra - Feel It Break
16 tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l
17 Destroyer - Kaputt
18 Clare Maguire - Light After Dark
19 Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
20 Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost
21 James Blake - James Blake
22 St. Vincent - Strange Mercy 
23 The Throne - Watch The Throne
24 Metronomy - The English Riviera
25 Feist - Metals
26 Zola Jesus - Conatus
27 Panda Bear - Tomboy
28 Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
29 Gang Gang Dance - Glass Jar
30 Björk - Biophilia
31 Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
32 Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow
33 Cocknbullkid - Adulthood

Antony and the Johnsons - Christina’s Farm
     directed by Milica Zec

Youth Lagoon - Montana
     directed by Tyler T. Williams

NewVillager - LightHouse
     directed by Ben Dickinson

Memory Tapes - Yes I Know
     directed by Eric Epstein

Wintercoats - Working on a Dream
     directed by Brendan Canty and Conal Thomson

Bon Iver - Holocene
     directed by Nabil Elderkin

The Golden Filter - S Y N D R O M E S
     directed by Kristoffer Borgli

Woodkid - Iron
     directed by Yoann “Woodkid” Lemoinne

Warpaint - Warpaint
     directed by Ted Newsome

Planningtorock - Living It Out
     directed by Planningtorock

Panda Bear - Surfers Hymn
     directed by Sam Fleischner

Glass Candy - Halloween
     directed by Alberto Rossini

Lykke Li - Sadness Is A Blessing
     directed by Tarik Saleh

Twin Shadow - At My Heels
     made by Jamie Harley

Balam Acab - Welcome
     made by Maiya

M83 - Wait
     made by Franck Deron

special mention: High5Collective

The boys of the High5Collective have been treating us on some visual masterpieces this year; it all started with a video for The Weeknd’s The Morning but before you knew it this hard-working crew were shooting/releasing videos every week. They even ended up shooting an official video for Thinking About You, a new Frank Ocean jam. H5C are not afraid to shock you with their videos: there is always someone (almost) naked, something on fire, someone way too sexy or something weird or simply scary going on. But that’s what makes their work interesting. Subscribe to their channel on vimeo, as they will be sharing more (exciting!) stuff in the next year; for now, watch a selection of some of their works below.

These are, in my humble opinion, the best EP’s released in 2011 - or at least the ones I enjoyed most. Please note that 2-track EP’s (Lana Del Rey, Purity Ring, Nicolas Jaar, Alex Winston, etc) are nowhere to be found in this list because one of the criteria for my personal list of EP’s is having at least 3 tracks. You can stream the top 5 in its entirity if you click on the artwork!

25 Florrie - Experiments
24 Sunless ‘97 - Making Waves
23 Boy Friend - Boy Friend
22 Icona Pop - Nights Like This
21 Kurt Vile - So Outta Reach
20 Slime - Increases
19 Chad Valley - Equatorial Ultravox
18 How to Dress Well - Just Once
17 Jamie N Commons - The Preacher EP
16 Keep Shelly in Athens - Our Own Dream
15 Holy Other - With U
14 James Blake - Enough Thunder
13 Vondelpark - nyc stuff and nyc bags
12 King Krule - King Krule
11 Clams Casino - Rainforest
10 Saint Saviour - Anatomy
9 Woodkid - Iron EP
8 Elite Gymnastics - r u i n 1 + r u i n 2
7 Niki & the Dove - The Drummer
6 Grimes & d’Eon - Darkbloom

5 Light Asylum - In Tension

4 DARKSIDE - DARKSIDE EP

3 Southern Shores - Atlantic

2 Oliver Tank - Dreams

1 Wintercoats - Sketches EP

01 Wintercoats - Sketches EP
02 Oliver Tank - Dreams
03 Southern Shores - Atlantic
04 DARKSIDE - DARKSIDE EP
05 Light Asylum - In Tension
06 Grimes & d’Eon - Darkbloom
07 Niki & the Dove - The Drummer
08 Elite Gymnastics - r u i n 1 + r u i n 2 
09 Woodkid - Iron EP
10 Saint Saviour - Anatomy
11 Clams Casino - Rainforest
12 King Krule - King Krule
13 Vondelpark - nyc stuff and nyc bags
14 James Blake - Enough Thunder
15 Holy Other - With U
16 Keep Shelly in Athens - Our Own Dream
17 Jamie N Commons - The Preacher EP
18 How to Dress Well - Just Once
19 Chad Valley - Equatorial Ultravox
20 Slime - Increases
21 Kurt Vile - So Outta Reach
22 Icona Pop - Nights Like This
23 Boy Friend - Boy Friend
24 Sunless ‘97 - Making Waves
25 Florrie - Experiments