Best of 2011 - Music

This is typically the main focus of this blog, and one of the reasons I started this blog.

Here's a link to: http://sharemyplaylists.com/pete-s-best-of-2011. This will let you launch a playable version of the list in Spotify if you're interested (and subscribed to Spotify).

On to the list! (in no particular order)
# Track (click for lyrics) Artist
1. Victory Dance My Morning Jacket - Great slow, building pump-up song.
2. Pumped Up Kicks Foster The People - I first heard this in early january 2011, and immediately loved it, so much so that it's been my ringtone since then. It's starting to get a little over played, and I've been searching for a new ringtone for a few months now, but it is still a great song (can't hate the band for getting too popular).
3. I Don't Wanna Care Right Now - feat. MDMA Lupe Fiasco - Lupe is always awesome. I think there are other more meaningful songs on Lasers, but this one is super catchy and imho the most fun.
4. Hey - Milk & Sugar Club Mix Milk & Sugar vs. Vaya Con Dios - I heard this while in SA for a friends wedding. Catchy, hip, incredibly cool video.
5. Young Blood The Naked And Famous - Good song, not much more to say.
6. Firework Katy Perry - This became my wedding anthem. 3 to 4 times this year I found myself jumping wildly on the dance floor to this song. Only once was I captured on video.
7. MoneyGrabber Fitz and The Tantrums - Cool retro sound, also bordering on omnipresent.
8. Ten Cent Pistol The Black Keys - After watching the videos for Tighten Up and Lonely Boy, I'm kind of tempted to pick one of them, but I wanted to go a little off the beaten path here. It's great to see the Black Keys finally getting their due.
9. Tears Dry On Their Own Amy Winehouse - I always kind of liked Amy Winehouse songs without ever listening to a whole album. Then I heard this and absolutely loved this song, and decided to go back and listen to all of her albums. Great stuff. Sorry it took her death to make me appreciate her music.
10. Sim Sala Bim Fleet Foxes - So many great songs on Helplessness Blues, but I had to pick one.
11. Midnight City M83 - Everyone else's song of the year. Definitely a great track from a great album.
12. Barton Hollow The Civil Wars - I saw a video for this on Palladia.
13. Gangsta Tune-Yards - Everyone else has Powa on their best of 2011 list. I might even like Powa better, but I heard Gangsta first (via a friend's Spotify playlist).
14. Art Of Almost Wilco - Had to get Wilco on here, according to Last.fm, they're my favorite band.
15. Revolving Doors Gorillaz - The first all iPad album was much better than I expected, but I am partial to Gorrillaz.
16. Shake It Out Florence + The Machine - Couple of great tracks from Florence this year.
17. Super Bass Nicki Minaj - Ironically not particularly bass heavy, but Nicki Minaj is great.
18. We Used to Wait Arcade Fire - Technically came out in 2010, but I'm in a holding pattern right now. Waiting is my every day.

Album of the year goes to Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues. Loved this album. 8 of my top 10 most listened to tracks in the second half of 2011. My second most listened to artist over that period.

Best of 2011 - How to Get out of a Car

In a close race, my favorite method for exiting and entering automobiles in 2011, was 2 legs at a time. I kind of took this for granted in early 2011, getting in and out of the car 1 leg at a time, pretty much every time. Post surgery it was a little too much of a struggle and I was forced to use 2 legs to get out of the car. While I have regained the ability to exit or enter a car 1 leg at a time, I still think that 2 legs at once was my favorite way to get out of a car in 2011.

Best of 2011 - Books

I gave myself a goal to read a book every month in 2011. I didn't quite accomplish that, but I did read 14  books, so I got there on average. I tried to alternate fiction and non-fiction. Here's the list:

January
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
Outliers - Malcom Gladwell

February
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

March
Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
Choke - Chuck Palahniuk

April
The 4 Hour Body - Tim Ferriss

May
Galore - Michael Crummey
Born to Run - Christopher McDougall

June
Freedom - Jonathon Franzen
Long Way Round - Ewan McGregor

October
Solar - Ian McEwan
Lost in Shangri-La - Mitchell Zuckoff

November
Robopocalypse - Daniel H Wilson

I really enjoyed all the books, and I think the fiction vs non-fiction balance really worked well in keeping me interested. I intended to pick a favorite, but it's a lot tougher than I thought it would be. The social science aspects on the Gladwell were really fascinating (and I'm not a guy who is normally interested in the soft sciences). I did read a good amount of quality fiction, Solar was a bit of a slog, taking me several months to finish, but the payoff at the end was worth it (I am a sucker for universal messages, broad philosophical statements about the nature of man, etc.).

I guess if I was held at gunpoint and had to pick a favorite, I'd pick Long Way Round. Ewan McGregor's adventure tale was captivating and inspiring. I started researching getting a motorcycle license, looking for international adventure etc. Of course, I read this right after we found out my wife was pregnant, and while recovering from a torn ACL, so I did not get to do much adventuring, but it still was a great read.

More on Music Services...

Great cnet article on music services