Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify
| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
30. KW Griff featuring Pork Chop “Bring In The Katz”
This guy REALLY wants to bring in the katz. We’re assuming the vocalist is Pork Chop, who sounds suspiciously similar to DJ Kool in “Let Me Clear My Throat” or Sagat in “Funk Dat.” The song begins with KW Griff’s new jack swing throwback beats, while Pork Chop assumes “they’re ready,” although after the katz are brought in, he retracts, saying it’s actually too much for them. Towards the middle, Pork Chop calls out those who “already know” what’s happening, including Miss Peaches and Kay Swift among many others. We have no idea who these people are, but apparently they know. But as listeners, do we know? By the time the song is over, we might know, but we also might not know. Perhaps one day, we will all know.| Youtube |
29. Mr. Dream “Fatherland”
Everything we want to say about “Fatherland” has pretty much already been said in our “Believing and Shitting” entry, but we’ll try our best. The vocal delay, stabbing guitar tones and dissonance are set in place here just as effectively as on the EP’s 5 other outstanding tracks, although Fatherland’s eponymous screamer is its only moment that could have been on Faith No More’s Angel Dust. Its vocal performance similarly combines the best elements of both John Lydon and Mike Patton, two of rock’s most confrontational and artistically challenging lead singers who have actually scored MTV hits. (“Rise” and “Epic,” respectfully.) While we're unsure what the lyrics are about, we've somehow associated the term “fatherland” with its prominent usage on In Living Color’s “Lassie ‘90” sketch. Any actual political connotations shot over our heads.| Soundcloud |
28. Animal Collective “Today’s Supernatural”
Centipede Hz is Animal Collective’s Back to the Future Part 2. The record presents an alternate version of what direction AC could’ve taken following 2005’s Feels and 2007’s Strawberry Jam. It still follows the “childhood memories drug flashback” theme that underlines their entire catalog, but takes it in a different direction than what evolved into 2009’s hugely acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavillion. MPP was hugely overrated, while Centipede is hugely underrated, splitting the difference of their relatively equal value. They’re both right around 8.7 out of 10. And we understand this to be a highly unpopular opinion, but if y’all don’t like it, y’all can bounce. Like seriously... We’re not sure how songs like "Today's Supernatural" or "Applesauce" are considered any worse than “Grass” or “Peacebone.” They're fucking awesome. GTFO with your bad attitudes.| Soundcloud |
27. Solange “Losing You”
We tend to favor songs with handclaps, although the claps in “Losing You” strangely do not encourage clapping along. A sample of a “female shriek” also appears in every measure, similar to the one in Janet Jackson’s “Alright.” The success of Solange’s EP seem far more reliant on those same pop elements that assisted Janet’s late-80’s output, as opposed to traditional R&B. It seems wrong to label “Losing You” (or Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange for that matter) as part of the current “movement” of “hipster-friendly R&B” described by SPIN and Pitchfork and like 500 other online music publications. We’re also noticing that Solange’s words are not especially deep, and the compelling nature of “Losing You” has more to do with her presence and Dev Hynes’ production. We hear Twin Peaks in the ominous synth outro (a TV show which premiered during the same era as Rhythm Nation 1814). Chill vibes.| Soundcloud |
26. Cloud Nothings “Fall In”
Remember in “Bart the Murderer” when Bart’s having a bad day and ends up stumbling down the stairs into Fat Tony’s “Legitimate Businessman’s Club?” The chorus of “Fall In” remind us of that cartoonish “stumbling” (the kind that doesn’t break anyone’s neck) with its strange beat placements and bizarre drum pattern. Even though it’s easy to place the beats during the verses and bridge, the “fall in, fall in” chorus still fucks with us every time. Dylan Baldi’s roughness and strain during the verses are present throughout the majority of Attack On Memory. But we hear its bridge section as the key to this song: “Nothing left for you to use” sung quietly and thus more affectingly than possibly any other section of the album, over four bars of sustained Cmaj7 chords. “Fall In” also never resolves to the dominant chord (if we’re hearing it correctly) suggesting a sense of frustration that accompanies the inability to accept lack of closure.| Youtube |
25. Josh Homme “Nobody To Love”
| Youtube |
24. Nicki Minaj “Come On A Cone”
This is the one where Nicki Minaj sucks her own dick for three minutes, straight-up announcing mid-song “I’m not masturbatin’, but I’m feelin’ myself.” Yeah, no shit. Lame boasts need to be earned, but if anyone deserves them at the moment, Nicki is that chick. Over the past ten years, it wasn’t uncommon to hear of hiphop fans unable to respect the current state of the lamestream, recalling the days when workaholics like James Brown could be correctly regarded as “the hardest working man in show business.” But if there’s anything we’ve learned about weirdo starlets like Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga, it’s that they’ve worked incredibly hard to achieve their status. So anyway... Forget everything we just said, because this song is so fucking bizarre that it literally could have been about any topic and still would’ve landed in our top 30. As if the sweetly sung “dick in your face, put my dick in your face, e-yea” on its own wasn’t enough. If Roman Reloaded had been trimmed of all the crap, reduced to its 10-12 best jams, we would be re-considering album of the year.| Soundcloud |
23. Grass Is Green “Somebody’s Something”
Grass Is Green throws a curveball with a song that mentions throwing a baseball. Coincidence? Arguably the centerpiece of Ronson, the uncharacteristically spacious ballad “Somebody’s Something” may be one of those somber “key to the album” moments we’ve noticed on other third albums over the past decade. It’s never intentional, but The Strokes’ “Ask Me Anything” and No Age’s “Common Heat” are among our favorite examples. (“How Near How Far” from Trail of Dead’s third album is a more sonically apt musical comparison, and one of our favorite songs ever, but not quite as spacious or any more solemn than the rest of Source Tags and Codes.) The unexpected space hides its complexities, deceivingly presenting itself as less bizarre and more straightforward than the rest of Ronson. (After dozens of listens, we still haven’t figured out where the measures or time-signature would be placed.) This also may be the song where Alex Prieto’s engineering is at its most vulnerable, displaying a successful evasion of excessive digital gloss heard too often from rock albums in the 2010's, especially from those recently tagged as "90’s-revivalists" like Yuck, Metz and The Men. Ronson instead opts for an analog-sounding production value more congruent with Unwound, Drive Like Jehu or Polvo, made all the more surprising by its pairing with progressively modern songwriting.| Soundcloud |
22. Big Freedia “Booty-Whop”
“BENDITOVERBENDITOVERBENDITOVER.” Nothing in this great big world seems to make Big Freedia happier than a club (or basement, or college dorm) full of party animals (usually chicks) bent over at the waste and waving their huge asses up in the air, with the option of cheek slaps, either from the bender or by a close friend or loved one. Azz everywhere. You know like when the skin jiggles and there’s a wave and it goes “blub blub blub.” That visual is emulated throughout “Booty-Whop.” The relentless excitement of this song turned out to be unexpectedly addictive. In one specific moment, Big Freedia sings “whoaaaa-oa” and then later in the song, the exact off-pitch “whoaaaa-oa” appears a second time, fun as fuck for singing along. In our humble opinions, this is the defining moment in Freedia’s huge catalog of bangers. P.S. HUGE GOOD NEWS: Big Freedia reality show coming soon. (The bad news: It's on Fuse.)| Youtube |
21. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Mature Themes”
Dan Fogelberg's bad acid trip. Attention to detail appears in elements like the Moog synths, and especially the subtly abrupt fadeout, fitting the song within 2:50 and securing rotation on bizarro AM stations circa 1976. The album lays out its paradoxes more plainly than on 2010’s Before Today. The title track of Mature Themes is sung with an especially silly rhythm, while the themes within his self-referential lyrics are notably less-than-silly. He refers to his age, 35, and his height, 5’4, so he's probably referring to himself. He says “I want it to be true,” but at this point, will Ariel Pink ever be able to display absolute sincerity? This justifies his revivalist nature, borrowing the sounds and spirit of earnest mid-70’s singer-songwriters to say the opposite of what everyone assumes he’s saying, flipping the irony backwards. A sort of reverse meta-irony is his only remaining option for speaking his mind, so that he can mask his honesty. He’s actually not kidding when he sings “I want it to be good” over and over again. “Good,” the most general positive adjective that exists. Not “great” or “amazing.” He knows he can’t provide such things right now. But he can at least strive for “good.”| Youtube |
Hot Mix 2012 on Spotify
| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
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