Top 5 Alt/Rock Songs Of 2011

2011 wasn't exactly a banner year for rock music, as industry heavyweights like the New York Times and yours truly claimed.  However, that doesn't mean there weren't still some great new releases this year.  Honorable mention goes to Two Door Cinema Club, whose hit "What You Know" would have been #1 on this list, but, alas, it came out in 2010.  As such, here are the top 5 alt/rock songs of 2011.

5. Parachute- "What I Know":

Very pretty and evocative song.  I'd have preferred for it to pick up a little more at some point, sort of like their last hit, "Under Control" did, but nevertheless, this is a hard song not to like.

4. AWOLNATION- "Sail":

Again, a very evocative song, but in a very different way.  This is, I dare say, haunting.  The last song, I would maybe listen to in a field on a sunny day.  This one, more like as I drove through a rundown industrial district on a rainy day after I had just made a big mistake and I was starting to feel emo about it.  Unusual for me to like a song like that, but if it's done well, I'll enjoy just about anything.

3. Grouplove- "Tongue Tied":

Yes, I just featured this one, and yes, it's the song from the iPod Touch commercial.  But it already made into the top 5.  The Alt/Rock list was not a hard one to break into this year.

2. Coldplay- "Paradise":

Great song, incredibly awesome video.  Easily one of the best videos of the year (if I had more time, I'd do a countdown of that as well).  If you don't like this video, there might be something wrong with you.  Like, you don't have feelings or something of that nature. Could be one of two things: you have Aspergers, or you're a Terminator.  I hope for our sake it's the first one...

1. Young The Giant- "My Body":

Yep, I recently featured this one too.  As I said, it was mighty easy to make this list this year.  Had I made it in other years, there would have been clawing and grabbing to make the top 5, let alone the top spot.  But this year, Young The Giant waltzed right in here and snagged it from a pitiful field of uninspired pretenders.  Maybe these guys can give the "scene" a boost of energy in 2012, and beef up the contenders a bit.  Here's hoping they do.

Technology Update: Coldplay Allows iTunes Stream Of Their New Song, "Princess Of China (feat. Rihanna)"

Never before have I seen iTunes stream an entire song as a way of promoting an upcoming album.  Very interesting.  Is this a one-time deal or a new business plan?  Either way, what a great song to choose to debut this new concept- with Coldplay and Rihanna you can't go wrong.  It's for a limited time only, and they're supposedly offering a new song each day, so you should probably go and listen to it now  I can't link to iTunes directly, but if you're reading this, you own a computer, so you probably have iTunes anyway, so check it out.  And I'll provide this bootleg YouTube version if you're too lazy to open another application.

Song Of The Day: Coldplay- "Paradise"

It truly is incredible how Coldplay manages to update their sound with each album.  They started out as basic, yet very melodic Brit-rock, then went more orchestral with 2008's Viva La Vida, and now they have a little more bass going on as they count down to the Oct. 24 release of their newest album Mylo Xyloto (don't ask, I have less than zero idea what that means or even what language it is).  But all their shifts in sound have only been minor alterations in the overall scheme of things, because lead singer Chris Martin's voice is such a constant, allowing the listener to immediately recognize any of their songs as distinctly Coldplay. 

I should mention, also, that all of these slightly different Coldplay sounds have been done with the utmost care and production value, which means they all sound really good.  And "Paradise" is no exception.  I've always taken Coldplay a little bit for granted, but maybe I should start getting excited for this new album, because it could be one of the best of the year.