The Best Fit Fifty: Tracks of 2011

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25. Modeselektor ft Miss Platnum – Berlin

Party bands don’t get any bigger than Modeselektor. Monkeytown, their third record, was the final stop on a journey that’s seen them break down the walls of Berlin techno with an enormous bat made of fun. If ‘In Loving Memory’ was the sound of two Berghain acolytes, ‘Berlin’ is the sound of two big kids who refuse to grow up.
-Josh Hall

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24. Zomby – Natalia’s Song

It’s a shame that Zomby is increasingly known better for cancelling shows than for making records. Dedication was one of the year’s best. Deconstructed almost to the point of collapse, it reached its unsettling peak early on with the stunning ‘Natalia’s Song’.
-Josh Hall

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23. Connan Mockasin – Forever Dolphin Love

Connan Mockasin has an extraordinary talent. He manages to create whole worlds within his songs, filled to the brim with different textures, with beauty, adventure and sadness. The title track from his debut album Forever Dolphin Love is a perfect example of this. A ten minute venture through the colourful, bright mind of Mockasin, the song harbours bass lines as funky as his breakdowns are blissful. A truly original track.
-Francine Gorman

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22. Azealia Banks – 212

One of my big regrets of 2011 was missing Azealia Banks’ show at Koko. How lovely it would, I imagine, have been to watch the crowd singing every word of a track laden with more tongue-in-cheek obscenity than any released this year. “Imma ruin you cunt” indeed.
-Josh Hall

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21. Crushed Beaks – Sundogs

After the serrated-edge guitars of their early demos, Crushed Beaks’ debut single came as something of a surprise. Gone was the staccato, replaced with thick layers of swaddling reverb and arena sized drums. ‘Sun Dogs’ was written in a shed, recorded in a church, and mastered in Abbey Road – and fittingly, it sounds like the best garage band you’ve ever heard, playing in the biggest room you’ve ever seen.
-Josh Hall