The end of an era: No Top 300 this year

Back in 1999 I was eagerly listening to the Top 2000 on the Dutch Radio 2 with the best music of all time. It even inspired me to make such a list myself. I started off in December 1999 making a top 50 of my all-time favourite songs with, I had to look it up in a 12 years old notebook, "De Bestemming" by Marco Borsato on the number 1 spot. In the years after that I added 50 more songs every year to my list until I reached the magic number of 300. It took me 2 days to put together the list (not including the preparations, that usually started in August already), but it was worth it. It became a real tradition for me to make such a list in the period between Christmas and New Year.

The past few years however it got harder and harder for me to make such a list, as I like so many different kinds of music and it's almost impossible to compare and rank them. This year I was also lacking the time and will power to make the necessary preparations and therefore I had to decide, with a heavy heart, not to make a top 300 this year.

I realize that this is (obviously) a huge disappointment for many of you. I also realize that I must give a compensation to the people that were relying on me to help them find new music to start the new year with. So I retrieved a top 30 of the music that I listened to the most during the past year from last.fm. You can find the list below. I put links to YouTube for my top 10 favourite songs in 2011, for those that want to check out what kind of music I am listening to on a daily basis.

1. Sunrise Avenue – Hollywood Hills (Can't wait to see them live in Prague in 2012)
2. Ryan Star – Right Now
3. The Story So Far – I Didn't Slap You (Not suitable for parents; make sure your sound is not too loud when the video starts)
4. Sunrise Avenue – Fairytale Gone Bad
5. My Chemical Romance – Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) (Again: not suitable for parents...)
6. The Pretty Reckless – Just Tonight (Can you believe that the girl was just 17 when this video was made?)
7. Neon Trees – Animal
8. The Script – For The First Time
9. Bryan Rice – No Promises (The Danish original, much better than the cover version by Shayne Ward)
10. Every Avenue – Tell Me I'm A Wreck (My favourite song at the moment)
11. Handsome Poets – Dance (The War Is Over)
12. Weezer – Perfect Situation
13. Scouting For Girls – This Ain't A Love Song
14. Idool 2011 Finalisten – More To Me
15. Handsome Poets – Silence Is Sexy
16. Donkeyboy – Sometimes
17. Ryan Star – Start A Fire
18. The Bigger Lights – Hey Summer
19. Ryan Star – Breathe
20. The Downtown Fiction – I Just Wanna Run
21. Secondhand Serenade – Fall For You
22. Something Corporate – Watch the Sky
23. Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know
24. Sherwood – Ground Beneath My Feet
25. Carolina Liar – Last Night
26. Negative – Won't Let Go
27. Reamonn – Supergirl
28. The Moog – When I See You
29. Alexander Rybak – Funny Little World
30. Volumia! – Afscheid

Finally, I'd like to wish you all the best for 2012 and I hope to see you again next year!