There are also two ways of identifying "favorites." I could go by the numbers: create a smart playlist of everything I added in 2011, and sort it by play count. This way is honest and true, because it reflects how many times I actually listened to an album or song, but it scares me. Before I even look, I know that I'm going to be embarassed by the number of times I listened to Ke$ha. Any number >1 is probably unacceptable in polite society, but I'm OK with the fact that I like her songs. I'm just afraid to find out how much I like them. The other way to define favorites is by feel: spend 15 minutes in silence, meditating on the music I heard last year, and see which albums and songs percolate into my consciousness. There are three reasons this approach would fail, though:

1. I'm terrible at coming up with lists off the top of my head.

So, this list is going to be a hybrid: music that was released, or that I came across for the first time, in 2011 sorted by a combination of play count and my sense that X years from now it's going to stand out as memorable or important. So, without further ado or excuse-making, here was My Favorite New Music of 2011:

1. Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead (2008). Using Shazam, I identified a chunk of "Do the Panic" that played during the 50/50 trailer, and I wound up listening to this album over 30 times last year. As an unapologetic lover of The O.C., and a fan especially of the opening credits and Jason Schwartzman, I don't know how I went so long without giving Phantom Planet some attention. This oversight was corrected in 2011.
2. Best Coast - Crazy for You (2010). Beautiful, ethereal, salt-water drenched pop music. Lo-fi melodies and catchy riffs. This video! What's not to love?
3. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (2011). I spent almost as much time listening to this record as I did looking forward to its release. A fantastic third effort from Annie Clarke, the best artist-as-a-band working today. See her live while she's still playing clubs, before she goes all Pop Mart on the stadium circuit. Also: best album cover of the year. Also also: best Fallon musical guest of the year. Can anyone downshift from guitar-shredding badass to half-surprised, mildly self-satisfied ingénue faster than Annie does at the end of the song?
4. Bon Iver - Bon Iver (2011). Speaking of artists-as-a-band, Justin Vernon's sophomore release was second on my most-anticipated list, and very high on my most-listened-to list. I think it's all I played for the two weeks after it came out. A perfect, almost seamless, companion to Vernon's debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, which would've made my list in 2010 (two years after its release) if I'd had one then.
5. She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas (2011). Exactly what I hoped it would be, although "Baby, It's Cold Outside" was a letdown.
6. Vanessa Carlton - Rabbits on the Run (2011). Say, kids - do you like the innocuous pop music sung by women with pretty voices?* I do, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Well, maybe a little.
7. Cold War Kids - Mine is Yours (2011). If you enjoy rock and/or roll, you will love this record. More polished than their first two releases, which are frankly hard to match, but very enjoyable still.
8. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (2009). Saw them on Conan last year, and was hooked. The fact that they we still promoting a 2-year-old album makes me feel a little better about being behind the curve on finding them out.
9. Parker, Stone, et. al. - The Book of Mormon (2011). What can I say that I haven't already said? This will certainly be among the most enduring favorites of 2011.
10. They Might Be Giants - Join Us (2011). I'm slightly surprised at how little I listened to this record. Still a great album from my one of my all-time favorite bands.
11. Waterdeep - No Doubt of Sunshine (2011). A reliably good husband/wife band puts out another excellent record.
12. Ke$ha - Animal (2010). I am not going to disclose a play count here, and by that metric it would be much higher on this list, but I will admit that I listened to "Your Love is My Drug" more than any non-Phantom Planet song in 2011.

Bonus List: four albums released in 2011 that I listened to much less than I would've expected, but will definitely still be listening to five years from now:

1. Wilco - The Whole Love
2. Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
3. Jonathan Coulton - Artificial Heart
4. David Bazan - Strange Negotiations

For what it's worth, I added 892 songs to my library last year. That number is inflated a little because it includes a couple of those amazon.com 99 Essential… collections that often go on sale for $4. And I realize that it's already passé to think of a music library in terms of a collection of files on a particular computer, but on the other hand - what would you have said 20 years ago if someone predicted you'd be able to buy 100 Christmas classics for $4 and have them delivered to your ears within minutes of purchase?

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*While we're making Letterman references, I've been meaning to ask: are we watching the slow, public derangement of this once-king of late night? Or am I the only one still watching? He became an unapologetic Dirty Old Man years ago. He's recently embraced an absolutely bizarre and wholly un-funny relationship with Twitter. On the rare occasion that I see him interview a guest, I realize that he's become a horrible, horrible interviewer.