Here are my 40 favorite songs from 2011….

Al Scorch’s Tired Ghostly Town from Tired Ghostly Town (Self Released)

You can listen to it here.

Bombadil’s The Pony Express from All That The Rain Promises (Ramseur)

Case Studies’ Dagger from The World Is Just a Shape to Fill The Night (Sacred Bones)

The Cave Singers’ Swim Club from No Witch (Jagjaguwar)

Cloud Nothing’s For No Reason from I Will Talk To You / For No Reason (Carpark)

Damien Juardo’s Thax Douglas #1 from Live at Landlocked (Secretly Canadian)

Dark Mean’s Happy Banjo from Self Titled (Bandcamp)

David Bazan’s Don’t Change from Strange Negotiations (Barsuk)

The Dodos’ Don’t Try And Hide It from No Color (Frenchkiss)

Ducktails’ Killin’ The Vibe from Arcade Dynamics (Woodist)

Football, etc’s Mouthguard from the Draft (Count Your Lucky Stars)

Frightened Rabbit’s Scottish Winds from Self Titled EP (Self Released)

The Front Bottom’s Rhode Island from Self Titled (Bar None)

High Dive’s Tennessee from Self Titled (No Idea)

Into It. Over It’s The Frames That Used To Greet Me from Proper (No Sleep)

J.  Mascis’ I’ve Been Thinking from Circle (Sub Pop)

Joie De Vivre’s Vicodin Lite from Four Way Split (Count Your Lucky Stars)

Joyce Manor’s Constant Headache from Self Titled (6131)

M83’s Midnight City from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute)

Mannequin Men’s Hobby Girl from Self Titled (Addenda)

Matt Pond PA’s Love To Get Used from Spring Fools (MRI)

Mixtapes’ Hey Baby from Castle Songs (Death To False Hope)

The Mountain Goats’ High Hawk Season from All Eternals Deck (Merge)

Owen’s No Place Like Home from Ghost Town (Polyvinyl)

P.S. Eliot’s Shitty and Tragic from Sadie (Salinas)

Purple Seven’s On The Corner from Volume One (Bandcamp)

You can listen to it here.

Ramshackle Glory’s Your Heart is Muscle The Size of Your Fist from Live the Dream (Plan It X)

The Rural Alberta Advantage’s Good Night from Departing (Saddle Creek)

The Sea and Cake’s Up On The North Shore from Moonlight Butterfly (Thrill Jockey)

Signals Midwest’s Family Crest from Latitudes and Longitude (Tiny Engines)

The Smith Street Band’s Southeast Facing Wall from Southeast Facing Wall (Jacknife)

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Bigger Than Your Yard from Tape Club (Polyvinyl)

You can listen here

Spraynard’s Spooky, Scary from Funtitled (Asian Man)

Thurston Moore’s Benediction from Demolished Thoughts (Matador)

Timber Timbre’s Black Water from Creep on Creeping On (Arts & Crafts)

Times New Viking;s Fuck Her Tears from Dancer Equried (Wichita)

Wavelets’ Kelly Hewitt Loves Waterworld from Athaletics (Tiny Engines)

Waxahatchee’s Whisky and Math from Split with Chris Clavin (Plan It X)

Wild Flag’s Future Crimes from Self Titled (Merge)

The Wooden Birds’ Criminals Win from Two Matchsticks (Barsuk)