over the course of this week, i’ll be posting my annual best of lists. as a complete list nerd, this is my favorite time of the year here on the ol’ blog. here’s the lists i’ll be posting:

yesterday (tuesday): best new music discoveries
today: cover songs
tomorrow (thursday): songs
friday: albums

i assume that if you don’t love a good cover, then you must hate america. they’re great. while there’s a whole lot of bad covers, there’s always a good list (my initial list before narrowing them down was about 48 songs) of great cover songs each year. from youtube sensations to old country singers trying something new, here’s my list of 2011′s best cover songs:

one of my all-time favorite bands is (was?) nickel creek. and no member shined brighter than mandolinist and vocalist chris thile. since his departure, he’s not only had a successful solo career, but is now forging a new trail with one of the most fresh and inventive “bluegrass” (for lack of a better word…) bands in quite some time.

the punch brothers’ album, antifogmatic was one of my favorite (#5, to be precise) albums of 2010. it was complex and layered and just a beautiful album.

a couple days ago (hey, it’s been a busy couple days…), we found out september’s track: the beatles’ revolution.

while this is the first beatles track we’ve gotten in 2011 (we got a couple last year), i had a bit of an eye roll moment. obviously, they have great songs but there’s only so many times you can hear a beatles song covered until it sounds exactly the same every single time.

but.

derek webb has once again surpassed my assumptions.

throughout 2010, i blogged about derek webb’s latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. fans were able to cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album was recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. from january to december, webb released 1 track each month. for those who would like to catch up, here’s the total track listing (with links to my blog posts):

ast year, i began a new blog series, of sorts, in which i compiled a mix of the best music i had discovered in the preceding two months. the series and mixes are called, two in review. read the original post for details of why i started this.

it is finished.

since last january, i’ve been blogging about derek webb’s latest innovative project called democracy vol. 1. fans were able to cast votes for up to 12 songs that they wanted webb to cover. then, the 12 songs receiving the most votes would be covered by webb for the album. the album was recorded over the span of 2010, with 1 track being recorded and released each month. from january to november, webb released the first eleven tracks. here’s the current track listing:

1. the beatles: while my guitar gently weeps
2. coldplay: fix you
3. bob dylan: the times they are a-changin’
4. gnarls barkley: who’s gonna save my soul
5. sufjan stevens: chicago
6. u2: where the streets have no name
7. huey lewis and the news: power of love
8. the beatles: eleanor rigby
9. simon and garfunkel: the sound of silence
10. radiohead: karma police
11. leonard cohen: hallelujah

instead of releasing the the full list of tracks, webb revealed each track month-by-month. and today, we found out the twelfth and final one.