As long-time readers know, every year I compile a two-CD mix of the year’s best new music. I started doing it way back in 2000, before there was Napster or iPods or indoor plumbing. And I’ve done it every year since. It has become something of an obsession.

Anyway, I just finished the mix for 2011. Here’s the set list, linked (where possible) to an FMB:

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side one.
01. boy & bear: milk & sticks
02. the black keys: lonely boy
03. the cool kids: swimsuits (f. mayer hawthorne)
04. jason isbell & the 400 unit: codeine
05. jessica lea mayfield: trouble
06. bon iver: towers
07. deer tick: make believe
08. telekinesis: car crash
09. lloyd: dedication to my ex (miss that) (f. andre 3000)
10. girls: die
11. alexander: truth
12. mates of state: at least i have you
13. noah and the whale: l.i.f.e.g.o.e.s.o.n.
14. wild flag: romance
15. shabazz palaces: swerve
16. foster the people: pumped up kicks
17. cults: never saw the point
18. beastie boys: nonstop disco powerpack
19. dum dum girls: bedroom eyes
20. emmy the great: trellick tower

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side two.
01. milo greene: 1957
02. the rural alberta advantage: stamp
03. of monsters and men: dirty paws
04. elliott brood: northern air
05. the head and the heart: ghosts
06. wilco: born alone
07. middle brother: million dollar bill
08. blitzen trapper: fletcher
09. pistol annies: takin’ pills
10. hayes carll: another like you
11. g. love: you’ve got to die (f. the avett brothers)
12. thao & mirah: teeth
13. the middle east: jesus came to my birthday party
14. james blake: a case of you
15. okkervil river: the valley
16. white denim: drug
17. adele: someone like you
18. the decemberists: june hymn
19. the low anthem: ghost woman blues
20. dolorean: how is it

More info on the mix here.

What were your favorites of the year?