2011 wasn't the year that I learned how to ride BMX or do magic tricks so that I could become a millionaire by performing them at a boardwalk somewhere. It's not the year that I learned how to make souffles the way that Top Chefs do or the year that I became a Real Housewife. I didn't learn how to do a backflip off of a pier or buy a pet donkey. I didn't rename every color in a box of Crayolas or find a way to charm snakes (so that they'd trust me so that I could train them to bite my enemies).
In the scheme of things, 2011 wasn't a gamechanger for me. It just simply...was.
But 2011 was different in one way...
2011 was the year that I totally, completely 120 thousand percent fully discovered and fell in love with...
Eurotrash.
Excuse me, European pop music.
I know what you're thinking. But Julie, we know you love British music. You're still listening to All Saints ten years after they've stopped being relevant.
But it's gotten so much worse.
So without much more blathering on my end, I present to you, the most defining part of my 2011: Eurotrash. European pop music is so innovative and fresh that it's finally spreading across the pond and giving American pop music the kick in the ass it needed (Hallelujah! It put Britney's Femme Fatale album on a completely different level than Circus). PLUS...this was yet again the year that Adele kicked ass on the charts for one of the most amazing albums ever.
So...
This is my long awaited blog to you.
You're welcome.
This compilation (click the title above -- it's a link to download the wholeeeee playlist) features just a few of the songs that I've had on constant rotation this past year. But get it now, because once the default number of days pass on MediaFire, it's gone. I'm too poor to pay for that stuff.
Start fine print:
Oh...and always, this is just a sampling. If you fall in love with it, you really should support the artist and buy their music.
End fine print.
Tracklist:
1. "Promise This" - Cheryl Cole
2. "All About Tonight" - Pixie Lott
3. "Yeah Yeah Yeah" - The Sounds
4. "Guns and Horses" - Ellie Goulding
5. "Set Fire to the Rain" (Skrillex Remix) - Adele
6. "Beat of My Drum" - Nicola Roberts
7. "3 Words" - Cheryl Cole feat. Will.i.am
8. "Shake It Out" - Florence and The Machine
9. "What Do You Take Me For?" - Pixie Lott feat. Pusha T
10. "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)" - Ellie Goulding
11. "Hello" - Martin Solveig feat. Dragonette
12. "Come Get It Now" - Pixie Lott
13. "Like Smoke" - Amy Winehouse feat. Nas
14. "Radioactive" - Marina & The Diamonds
15. "Fight For This Love" - Cheryl Cole
16. "Promise This" (Cheryl Cole Cover performed on Live Lounge) - Adele
BONUS TRACKS:
(Meaning that they're not by European artists, but they feel so Eurotrashy they deserve a place on this playlist)
1. "In The Dark" - Dev
2. "Faster Kill Pussycat" - Paul Oakenfold feat. Brittany Murphy
3. "I Get Around" - Dragonette
4. "Love You Like a Love Song" - Selena Gomez & The Scene
Track Breakdown (By Artist):
The Artist: Adele
The Tracks: "Set Fire to the Rain (Skrillex Remix)" & "Promise This" (Cheryl Cole Cover)
The music charts this year BELONGED to Adele. The tracks that I've chosen here are kind of unconventional...but Mari got me hooked on the Skrillex remix...and Cheryl Cole is practically the British version of Britney Spears for me. So Adele covering her music is pure gold.
The Artist: Amy Winehouse
The Tracks: "Like Smoke"
2011 saw a lot of my favorite people dying...Ryan Dunn. Amy Winehouse. I know that people aren't immortal (especially if their past behavior or risky events leading up to their deaths puts their life as well as other in danger), but it still really surprised me. I mean...Amy Winehouse did horse tranquilizers. HORSE TRANQUILIZERS. And they didn't kill her then. I mean, how many people have two syringes of adrenaline shot into their heart and still manage to survive? Anyway...say what you will about her, but I still say her voice is unlike anyone else's in the best possible sense. "Like Smoke" is on her forthcoming album and all it manages to make me do is get really depressed over the fact that she's not around to create anymore incredible music.
The Artist: Cheryl Cole
The Tracks: "Promise This" & "3 Words" & "Fight For This Love"
Cheryl Cole became one of my absolute favorite people this year. I discovered Girls Aloud a few years back, but just stumbled across Cole's solo work this year...and couldn't stop listening. In the spring, it was announced that she'd cross the pond and become a judge on the US version of the X-Factor and I was so ecstatic...then just as quickly, Simon canned her...which is why I boycotted all things X-Factor this year (minus the awesome commercial Pepsi did for them where they revived Britney's Pepsi commercials...). Love her music, love her. The end.
Oh...one more thing: Cheryl Cole is the covergirl for this mix. In case any (none) of you were wondering...
The Artist: Dev
The Tracks: "In the Dark"
Honkus has been a fan of Dev for awhile...but it took me awhile to warm up following her contribution to Far East Movement's "Like a G6." Terrible songggggggg...and it's not even because of her. But...nonetheless, this song all but poked at me to download it...and it sooooo hasn't disappointed. Here's to hoping her latest album is just as awesome as this one song is.
The Artist: Dragonette
The Tracks: "I Get Around"
Yeah you do...
Um. Anyway. Infectious song, infectious chorus. Another great Dragonette song that feels less Eurotrashy but is still awesome: "Jesus Doesn't Love Me Anymore."
The Artist: Ellie Goulding
The Tracks: "Guns and Horses" & "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)"
Her voice is just so...haunting. And I don't mean haunting as in American Horror story Rubberman/Walking Dead Zombie Biting Your Face Off. But it's not far off. I love it.
The Artist: Florence and The Machine
The Tracks: "Shake It Out"
Love love love this song.
The Artist: Marina & The Diamonds
The Tracks: "Radioactive"
As some of you know (Mari), I was obsessed not long ago with Marina's "Oh No!" This track is almost completely different, but still way Marina & The Diamonds worthy. It's a bit more mellow, but it's got one hell of a beat.
The Artist: Martin Solveig
The Tracks: "Hello"
This song has had radio play in the U.S. but I still love it anyway. Solveig also stole Dragonette away for another song called "Boys and Girls" which is worthy of looking up on YouTube. The video for it is fan-freaking-tastic.
The Artist: Nicola Roberts
The Tracks: "Beat Of My Drum"
Nicola, like Cheryl, is also a member of Girls Aloud. I read online before getting this album that it is "the best album of the year." I don't agree...but I do agree that this song is superrrrr infectious.
The Artist: Paul Oakenfold
The Tracks: "Faster Kill Pussycat" (featuring Brittany Murphy)
This song is a few years old, but it's still just as good as it ever was.
The Artist: Pixie Lott
The Tracks: "All About Tonight" & "Come Get It Now" & "What Do You Take Me For?"
Lott's "All About Tonight" is one of my favorite songs of the moment. Plus it helps that Selena Gomez is also a Eurotrash fiend and has Lott on her latest album.
The Artist: Selena Gomez & The Scene
The Tracks: "Love You Like a Love Song"
As stated above, Gomez seems to be in on the Eurotrash trend...which is why I think this song is pretty close to perfection.
The Artist: The Sounds
The Tracks: "Yeah Yeah Yeah"
Need you even ask why??
