100 Songs for 2012: Outtakes

100 Songs for 2012 will be available December 10.  Every day between now and then, we'll be looking at five quality songs that didn't make the cut.

Today's cuts were the easiest of all - while I discovered these songs in 2012, and at one point thought they were 2012 releases, they actually came out in 2011.  So, a little retroactive recognition.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Heart on a String" (live)

Captivating live version of a song from Isbell's 2011 album, Here We Rest, which is actually a cover of a 1970 single by a singer named Candi Staton.  As much as I wanted to sneak this on on to the 2012 list, that would be like including "You Can't Always Get What You Want" just because Fun. has started playing it at shows.

Daniel Ellsworth and the Great Lakes - "Shoe Fits"

Featured musical guest on a January episode of the greatest podcast that has ever existed, "Shoe Fits" actually hit #7 on Amazon's Best Songs of 2011.  Even better, if your wedding video producer wants to use only easy-to-license background music ... Ellsworth is your man!

Wolf Gang - "Lions in Cages"

Decidedly not to be confused with the anarchist rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, this is a Canadian take on the kind of LA-based electro-rock that became completely omnipresent in the last couple years (Foster the People, Grouplove, Naked and Famous, etc.)

Serenades - "Ocean"

Side project of the singer from Shout Out Louds, sounds exactly like Shout Out Louds.  Which is great.

Capital Cities - "Safe and Sound"

Bonus points because Ilana knows the lead singer, another band following the Foster the People model (both sonically and in terms of blowing up on the internet without much in the way of an official release).  Odds-on favorite to take over the world next year.