My Favorites of 2011: Music

I am a list person, so I always love this time of year when all of the best-of-the-year lists come out. I thought I would share with you my own little compilation of favorites from 2011, beginning with music.

This year, upon the release of Bon Iver's new self-titled album, I became obsessed. And then I saw him perform live and it was hands down one of the best shows that I have ever seen. Kathleen Edwards, who he is apparently dating, opened for him and she blew me away. I got goosebumps while listening to her, she is that amazing. She has a new album coming out in January, and I highly recommend you check it out, especially the track, Change the Sheets.

I'm not going to lie, I am a rather big fan of Ryan Gosling (for his acting skills, obviously) so I kind of blindly went to see Drive, without watching any previews. I had heard good things about it and the movie was getting decent reviews so I figured, why not? Big mistake. It was quite possibly one of the most terrifying movies I have ever seen! I don't do very well with anything scary or intense and this was a lot of both. However, it was rather well done and there was not much dialogue throughout the film, more of a showing rather than telling story, which I enjoyed except for when I was hiding behind my scarf (basically the entire 2nd half of the film). The music in the film is fantastic, made up of primarily musical scores by Cliff Martinez. I can't get enough of track #3, A Real Hero by College featuring Electric Youth.

I stumbled upon the Swedish band Little Dragon through NPR, and I am glad that I did. Ritual Union is the name of their newest release and my favorite track on the album. A nice new musical discovery for 2011!

Up next: Favorite Recipes of 2011