I'll just list a few of my favourite songs of the year to start with. I won't rank them because that's impossible. Only one song per artist.
I'm bad at describing and discussing music but I've tried to say a few things about each song anyway.
The Antlers - Putting The Dog To Sleep.
Most people, myself included, prefer Hospice over Burst Apart. This one song, however, blows every song on Hospice, and Burst Apart for that matter, out of the water. I love the conviction Silberman puts into his singing. It's just an emotional song with beautiful ambient sounds in the background. Especially the last 2.5 minutes are gorgeous.
Amatorski - Soldier
I didn't want to make this list too predictable and "old" for you guys so putting a few Belgian bands in there won't hurt. This is one of the most talented young bands here. They released their debut album this year. It's a beautiful record full of melancholy that works perfectly in the winter. This is my favourite track from that album. It's difficult to describe their music though. I've seen them being compared to Radiohead, Sigur Ros and Portishead. Portishead is the one that's the most acuurate according to me although that might just be because the lead singer is a woman.
dEUS - Ghost
I'll just follow the last one up with another Belgian band. This band is often seen as Belgium's best rock band. They released their sixth album this year. They developped from a pretty experimental band that made chaotic albums influenced by many different genres to a more traditional rock band. Their last effort is full of great songs and will probably finish highly on my year-end list. Ghost is just a brilliant song. The first part is very radio-friendly with an extremely catchy chorus. The second part of the song is where it's at though. It becomes this bass-heavy monster that ends way too soon (and suddenly).
Radiohead - Codex
I just had to put a Radiohead song in here. This is probably the most Radioheady song on The King Of Limbs. It's also the best track of that album. Thom Yorke has knack for writing beautiful piano parts. This song reminds me a lot of Pyramid Song and in my humble opinion, it's even better. The piano is absolutely beautiful. It's like sunlight glistening in the water. The lyrics paint a beautiful impressionistic picture of being one with nature. The part between the two verses where the horn kicks in is stunning.
Fleet Foxes - The Shrine/An Argument
Helplessness Blues is definitely my favourite album of 2011 and this is my favourite on that album. It's also Fleet Foxes' most ambitious song to date being more than 8 minutes long. And what an 8 minutes. It starts like a normal soundong Fleet Foxes song with beautiful singing. I love the way Pecknold sings
Sunlight over me no matter what I do. Then the song picks up speed and it becomes pretty intense. Then the noise dies down and you get a dreamy pause before the finale. The saxophone(?) solo is divisive. Even I don't always like it. When I'm in the right mood it works great. Sometimes I hate that part, but the rest of the song is so great that I don't really mind.
Destroyer - Kaputt
What an amazing song by an amazing artist. I don't know why I love this song so much. I just do. The song makes me feel happy. It's as if you're reminded of some great time you once had despite not knowing what time it was. It also helps that random parts of the song pop into my head frequently.
Spinvis - Oostende
This is actually a song by a Dutch artist. I jut discovered him recently and I've been hooked since. This song is full of wonderful, funny and melancholic lyrics about a certain girl. Normally I don't pay much attention to the lyrics but they add a lot to this song (none of you will understand them of course
) It's a catchy song as well.
M83 - Midnight City
I don't think this song needs more hype. Pure bliss.
Massive Attack & Burial - Four Walls
I fell in love with Burial this year and I quite like the latest Nassive Attack album as well (it's the only one I've heard). I was obviously excited for this collabopration and it didn't disappoint. I'm still waiting for an official digital release.
How do you describe it? Difficult. I saw a certain magazine describing it as folllows:
It's like crouching into the deepest, darkest hole on Earth for 12 minutes.