Goodbye, 2011; hello, 2012!

It’s been an interesting year, and I’m looking forward to the next one – the first one where I consider myself “settled”, in a job, a flat, with no massive change looming in my immediate future. On one hand this is a bit dull not to have big plans, but on the other one it’s just really nice to be able to relax and just live.

Like every year I’ve put together a mix of music I’ve been listening to this year – 25 songs I added to my iTunes Library in the past 12 months and that stand out to me, not more than one song per artist.

I actually listened to much less music this year, because my love for audiobooks took off massively, but I did go to several great concerts and saw, among others, My Chemical Romance (twice), CAKE, Panic! at the Disco (3 times!), The Cat Empire, and two days at Leeds Festival. Also, I listened to a lot of covers, even liked some of them, and a few long-time favorites released new stuff – most notably of course one of my favorite guys ever, the talented Patrick Stump! In any case, I hope you enjoy… 🙂

Finding my footing
[Photo taken at the Rhine here in Basel, while waiting for the big fireworks display for the Swiss national holiday on August 1.]

1. PSAPP – Hi!
2. Sonja Indin – Silver Sky | a childhood friend of mine released her first CD
3. Patrick Wolf – Time Of My Life
4. Noah & the Whale – L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
5. My Chemical Romance – #SINGItForJapan | so happy I finally saw them live – also, remembering Fukushima…
6. The Naked and the Famous – All of This
7. Mama Kin – Beat and Holler | opened for The Cat Empire, bought the CD
8. The Decemberists – Calamity Song
9. Crippled Black Phoenix – Whissendine | my bff dragged me to their show and I really liked it
10. CAKE – Sick of You
11. Bruno Mars – The Lazy Song | c’mon, he got SPOCK to be in his video!
12. Adele – Set Fire to the Rain
13. Empires – Hells Heroes
14. Eels – I Like the Way This Is Going
15. Rodrigo y Gabriela – Tamacun
16. Roomie ft. Magdalena Engstr̦m РMoves Like Jagger (Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera)
17. Vicci Martinez – The Dog Days Are Over (Florence & the Machine) | from ‘The Voice’, the first ever singing competition I enjoyed
18. Stark Sands – Hey Ya
19. Lindsay Ray – Brand New Day
20. Panic! at the Disco – Sarah Smiles | love this band even more now that I’ve seen them in the new formation
21. Metric – Gold Guns Girls
22. Freja Bluegrass Band – Under the Pale Moon (Ace of Base)
23. The Cat Empire – Call Me Home
24. Vitamin String Quartet – Clint Eastwood (Gorillaz)
25. Patrick Stump – Bad Side of 25 | it was hard to pick just one song off ‘Soul Punk‘, let me tell you!

Download mp3s: single tracks (@ Mediafire) – .zip (137mb)

And let me send you off with this New Year’s wish from the amazing Neil Gaiman:

black-and-white text art May your coming year be filled with
magic & dreams &
good madness.
I hope you read some fine books
& kiss someone who thinks you’re
wonderful,
and don’t forget to make some art
(write or draw or build or sing
or live as only you can)
and I hope, somewhere in the next year,
you surprise yourself.
~Neil Gaiman

Can’t say it much better than this, can I?