Tastiest of 2011 - Little Dragon

Maybe it's my Swedish heritage. Maybe it's my new found love of dance-pop-electro-funk (who doesn't love dance-pop-electro-funk??). Maybe it's my love of Game of Thrones (note the dragon reference). I'm not sure what it is, but this past summer I really got into Sweden's Little Dragon. This band became somewhat well known in the U.S. with electronica fans for their collaborations with Gorillaz. However, their album Ritual Union from this year proved they can do it on their own. Lead singer Yukimi Nagano has Swedish, Japanese, and American roots and all three manifest themselves in her soulful, R&B style of Euro-pop. Hells yes!
Here's two of my favorite songs from the album. First, the title track, Ritual Union...

...and Little Man.

Plus, as I mentioned before, Little Dragon is all about the collaboration. This year they appeared on SBTRKT's album (found on nearly every top 50 list of the year). Here's the song Wildfire: