Popjustice top 45 singles of 2011

Jealousy #10
http://www.popjustice.com/index.php?option...01&Itemid=9

The Fab Four of 2011
22 DECEMBER 2011 |

My selection of the best albums of 2011 – and one to look out for next year (which will now doubtless prove a flop).

Rock

Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi

With the voice of a banshee, guitar skills of Jeff Buckley and looks of a supermodel, Anna Calvi was 2011’s most arresting solo artist. The tunes didn’t always match the talent on her self-titled debut. But when they did, as on the strutting Desire and Latin-infused No More Words, the result was something singular, sexy and spine tingling.

Urban

Katy B – On A Mission

A year that saw the end of Mike Skinner’s The Streets welcomed a new chronicler of urban nightlife: Katy B.  Whether berating boyfriends on Why You Always Here or curfew flouting on Moving with the Lights On, B’s narratives on clubbing in the capital were honest and convincing: here was a girl who sounded like she’d experienced the rugged joys of the night bus home. On another year, this could have bagged the Mercury Prize.

Folk

John T. Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen

Like John Grant before him, Josh T. Pearson came back from the bridge with this melancholic masterpiece. The former frontman Lift To Experience – psych-rockers beloved of John Peel – re-emerged as an acoustic troubadour armed with sprawling songs full of religious questioning and romantic upheaval. It’s not an easy listen, but it’s well worth the investment.

Pop

Will Young – Echoes

In which the original and best Pop Idol moved away from the saccharine balladry to a series of swooning electro-poppers. Young’s voice retains its delicate quality, but this time he’s singing over pounding beats and synths. And if there’s been a better pop single this year than Jealousy, my name’s Simon Cowell.

11. Will Young: 'Jealousy' - Chart peak #5. Young's trailer for his fifth album was a sad-pop disco number in which he wore an all-in-one lycra bodysuit in the accompanying video. What's not to like?

Thanks again Sunday.

DS & Popjustice are loving Will this year.

Do you think we need a separate thread for all these year end charts?

Yes TT that's a great idea..it will be easy to find them and they wont get lost in this thread.

I've started a new pinned topic. Quite a few lists already.

Sunday would you mind checking I haven't missed any and will anyone finding any more post them in here as well as the pinned thread so we can pass comments in here and keep the other just for reviews.

Echoes is #8 on this list but it won't let me copy it over.

http://www.whatsthatmusicguy.net/p/best-of...-and-songs.html

Will Young-Echoes-RCA

Male pop was lacking this year (as it seems to almost every year). Yes, Bruno Mars was there, but he was there a tad too much. Will Young, though ten years young in the business, seemed to come out of nowhere with this (should I say it?) pop gem. And the fact that he worked with one (just one) producer on the entire album shows how great the guy really is. Classy minimalist pop. That's all you need.(Recommended Track:Losing Myself)

Top 20 Albums of 2011: 14-13
14. Will Young - Echoes

The 2011 version of a George Michael album. It took awhile for this to stick with me, but once it did, I was really enchanted. I've never completely enjoyed a Will Young album before. His music has always been too... well... boring for me. With Echoes, though, he struck the perfect balance between ballad and uptempo, organic and electronic. The best "grown up" pop album of the year

16. Echoes
Will Young
(Released in August on RCA)

While the early promise of a “dance album” might have been a slight over-exaggeration on Will’s part, Echoes sees Young take the confessional foundations of Let it Go and infuse an electro-pop edge, making his sound more contemporary than it has been for years without losing his nostalgic charm. ‘Jealousy’ throbs out of the speakers, building to a gorgeous crescendo over a pulsing beat – one of the best songs of his career.

Meanwhile, centrepiece ‘Outsider’ shows that Will still gives good ballad and ‘Come On’ is his most invigorating track since ‘Switch it On’. When it comes to TV talent shows, Young is proof, if any was needed, that talent will out.

Download: ‘Jealousy’

Popjustice top 45 singles of 2011

Jealousy #10
http://www.popjustice.com/index

Best of 2011-Top singles of the year
William Young ~ Jealousy: Ten years into his career, William has become that rare popstar that continually evolves but with a firm grasp on what elements of his career have determined his success and an eye on a quality output. His latest return single Jealousy was a charmer from start to finish...

Pretend I am giving out these awards in a posh hotel in London, surrounded by drunken popstrels...

Artists of the Year: Will Young and Florrie. He finally reaches his sublime peak with Echoes ten years into his career. And Florrie, after a period of finding her musical voice, releases Experiments, the most listenable, concise pop music collection this year.

Singing Voice(s) Of The Year: Ed MacFarlane from Friendly Fires, Will Young, and Wild Beasts' Hayden Thorpe, whose voice finally tipped from weird to so right in 2012. And lippy Lana Del Rey (aka Lizzie Grant) for some fearless "monotonic" trilling. And Adele, of course.

Producer Of The Year: Richard X for his work on Will Young's perfectly realized Electro Pop Moment, Echoes. Total eleganza. Careening emotion without breaking a sweat.

Live Show Of The Year: Without a doubt, for sheer (gay) spectacle and audience love, Kylie Minogue slayed them (in Fairfax, VA of all places). Also loved Will Young at Shepherd's Bush Empire in West London. He owned the stage... "totes" imperial/totes adorbs. Both had excellent tour programmes too.