Soundtrack of the City – For 2011

If you have Spotify, you can hear my Best Tracks of 2011, aka The Tunes That Helped Me Get Through a Challenging but Amazing Year here.

If not, here is the list below, in no particular order. I hope this playlist gives you the same relief, joy and comfort that it did for me this past year. If so, feel free to share your favourites too.

1. Cough Syrup – Young The Giant

2. Unconsolable – Ambassadors

3. No Rest – Dry the River

4. MoneyGrabber – Fitz & the Tantrums

5. Young Blood – The Naked & Famous

6. I Stand Alone – Theophilus London

7. Holocene – Bon Iver

8. Do I Wait – Ryan Adams

9. No Church in the Wild – Watch the Throne

10. Someone Like You – Adele

11. The Wilhelm Scream – James Blake

12. Fair Warning – Penguin Prison

13. Titanium – David Guetta featuring Sia

14. Whirring – The Joy Formidable

15. Somebody That I Used To Know – Gotye

16. Headlong into the Abyss – We Are Augustines

17. This is Why We Fight – The Decemberists

18. We Found Love – Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris

19. Take Care – Drake featuring Rihanna

20. Shake It Out – Florence & the Machine (The Weeknd remix)

Florence & The Machine – Shake It Out (The Weeknd Remix) by W-R-G

And my favourite album – the sublime Diamond Mine from Jon Hopkins and King Creosote, which can be streamed here.

Oh, and best gigs of the year? Again, in no order of any sort – go!

1. Sade at the Prudential Center 

2. Acoustic Africa at BB Kings

3. U2 at the New Meadowlands Stadium

4. Beyonce at the Roseland Ballroom

5. Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden

6. Ryan Adams at the Ed Sullivan Theatre

7. Peter Gabriel, Live on Letterman

8. Florence & the Machine at the Creators Project, under the Manhattan Bridge

9. Alabama Shakes in the East Village

10. Brandon Flowers at Hammerstein Ballroom (this one was actually in Dec ’10, but it was too good to leave out!)

In the words of Florence Welch: it’s hard to dance with a devil on your back, so shake him off, and enjoy 2012!