My top 5 songs for 2011

2011 was a year of discovering a lot of new music.  I was getting pretty bored with my iTunes playlists, and good music is a necessity for the long commutes I experienced throughout the year.

It seems that I always make a playlist for every change of season - there are just some songs that I only listen to during certain parts of the year, for whatever reason.  Does anyone else do this?  When an album just feels like summer?  Or fall?

Of course, there were other songs that were on every one of my playlists, no matter what the season.  And my 2011 playlists were definitely dominated by female artists this past year, which hasn't been the case in the past. Here's my top 5 of 2011:

• Florence and the Machine - Shake it Out

I only really started listening to Florence this year, and when her new album came out this fall, I devoured it.  I listened to this song almost every morning going to work.

• Little Dragon - Ritual Union

This was the song of the summer for me.  I really love that electro-funk sound.

• St. Vincent - Surgeon

I love Annie Clark's lyrics.  They're raw, and honest, and beautiful.  This song especially.

• Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait

Oh, Arcade Fire, you can do no wrong in my eyes.  I listened to this song almost every day last winter when commuting to Hokuyo.  

• Sufjan Stevens - I Walked

This album was quite a departure from Sufjan's previous, folky sound, but I like it.  I guess I'm going through an electronic music phase.  Anyway, it's still beautiful.