| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
50. Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks "Little Fang"
Springtime. Smiley sunshine pop. Authentic '70s AM Gold not intended for mainstream consumption. Lindsay Buckingham & Donald Fagen had twin babies and one of them got lost and ended up in a psych ward after swallowing too much acid and he turned out to be Ariel Pink, but the one they raised properly wrote and sang on "Little Fang."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6cngTn2_NY
49. Two Inch Astronaut “Part of Your Scene”
We were pretty psyched after we saw T.Scene burnouts Dead Wives getting cited by Two Inch Astronaut as a reference point for "Part of Your Scene." However, due to beer consumption, we embarrassingly ended up asking Matt Gatwood and Sam Rosenberg about this a few months later.Matt: "'Part of Your Scene' is our Smashing Pumpkins / Foo Fighters homage."
TMK: I guess that makes a lot more sense than Dead Wives.
Matt: "Well, Dead Wives has some Smashing Pumpkins sounding songs."
TMK: True. Was the Dead Wives citation a joke? We were pretty proud of that.
Sam: "No! It wasn't a joke. That was the way it happened. Daniel [Pouridas] and I were trying to impersonate other bands. I think we tried to do a Roomrunner one too, right before trying out the Dead Wives impression that resulted in 'Part of Your Scene.' Just going through impersonations of other bands. None of them were very accurate, but we liked [how that one sounded]."
48. Flagland "Not a Joke"
While Kevin Smith was compiling the Mallrats soundtrack, Doc Brown paid him a visit from the year 1985 (after returning from 2015) and he was like "Morty! I mean Marty! I mean Kevin Smith. Come back to 1985 with me." So Kevin Smith went back to 1985 because who the fuck wouldn't, but all that Doc Brown wanted to talk about was the vinyl resurgence of the 2010s and Flagland's Love Hard LP. Kevin Smith was like "Oh cool, I guess I'll just be on my way then. Hey what's that over there?" and that was his way of distracting Doc Brown while he stole the time machine and went to 2015. Doc Brown was like "cool, well like don't die or anything because I kinda need that thing." And Kevin Smith was like "no worries, I'm just gonna real quick just check out the Flagland album on Bandcamp and then I'll go to the Silent Barn and buy the Flagland LP on vinyl." And so he went to 2015 and did all of that and returned the time machine to Doc Brown who was pissed at him, and he didn't say anything. He just dropped off Kevin Smith back to 1995 and peaced. But then Kevin Smith was all like "oh fuck, I guess I can't put 'Not A Joke' on the Mallrats soundtrack because I totally forgot that vinyl isn't cool yet and none of my friends have turntables and they don't know how to use download codes. So I guess I'm gonna have to wait a few years until I can buy a turntable from Amazon.Com. I also find it strange that snotty vocals and mid-tempo songs with loud guitars are basically all it takes to get 2015-era interviewer blogger dudes to think that all you listen to is Last Splash and Siamese Dream. I wonder if the Mallrats soundtrack will ever be pressed to vinyl for Record Store Day." 47. FKA Twigs “Two Weeks”
Janet Jackson's "Any Time, Any Place" mashed with something from Portishead's Third. This wasn't as raunchy as The Weeknd's "Wicked Games," and it sounds way better. Using the excessive, whispered "fucks" and "mothafuckas" to more of a sensual effect, the dirty words end up kinda pulling in the listener super close. And before you know it, boom - the chorus is stuck in your head (probably for about two weeks). More fun facts: Her face looks like how people's faces look when you're on acid. Also, she's ok at dancing. No big whoop:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yDP9MKVhZc
46. Lil B “Fuck KD (Kevin Durant Diss)”
The surprisingly solid NBA-themed concept mixtape Hoop Life not only turned out to be Lil B's most #BASED since God's Father but also represents the culmination of Lil B's most notorious Twitter feud.***Taste My Kids Presents: A Brief History of Lil B Vs. Kevin Durant***
#BASED LIFE IS FOREVER.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBQ2mjkvYY8
45. D'Angelo “Ain't That Easy”
Black Messiah was introduced to the world with a jam that was meticulously planned to sound completely unplanned, spontaneous and unlabored. When those hasty first-pass write-ups started arriving in the hundreds during the AM of 12/15/14 (It's really only been one month?), many early reviewers immediately cited There's A Riot Goin' On for its similar effortlessness, even though it's the only time Black Messiah sounds this way. The long journey that D'Angelo & Co traveled to deliver Black Messiah seemed to pay off the most within that first moment. Playful, smiling and nodding in the jam session with Q-Tip.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZoxdPGu_4E
44. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib featuring Danny Brown "High"
The Biggie sample introduces the first hit, right before Madlib's beat kicks in. "High" is about the following moment, the euphoria that seems infinite even though IRL it might only last 3 minutes (as long as the song itself). Danny Brown enters the room with confidence during verse three, only moments before the "wtf just happened" crash and burn within the last 25 seconds. Smoking the dipper only makes matters worse as everything comes down (a strange turn not usually taken within hiphop). There isn't even time for a victorious third chorus before reality settles in. Some people's faces hover overhead. "Are you ok? God bless, man."43. Nick Jonas “Jealous” / Taylor Swift “Style”
Who exactly does Taylor Swift subtweet when she debates "evil pop" vs "smart pop?" No one can be sure, although two points are certain. #1: She regards her own album 1989 as "smart pop." And #2: Even though she doesn't name names, odds are stacked in favor of her arch-nemesis Katy Perry's album Prism regarded "evil pop." This would be kinda fascinating if true, considering that Max Martin co-wrote and co-produced 10 of the songs on Prism and 9 of the songs on 1989 (and that Martin's three #1's from 2014 were "Dark Horse," "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space"). Basically, Taylor's buds are "smart," but the kids like Miley who laugh at Taylor while her back's turned are "evil." As the current greatest savant of fan engagement continues encouraging her million-plus disciples to side with "smart pop," most fans have nitpicked her body language enough to deduce that she's remained on good terms with The Jonas Bros since her split from whichever one of them used to dig her out back in the day. So this probably means that Taylor calls Nick Jonas' self-titled "smart." We should hope so at least, since "Jealous" and "Style" are so uncannily similar sounding: Same key, same tempo, same drum beat, etc.
We slightly prefer "Jealous" (a non-Max Martin jam) over "Style," despite the silly lyrics ("Puffin' my chest" lol) which are kinda NBD because the rhythm of the lyrics kinda roll off the tongue nicely. (And also it sounds kinda like "Adorn" by Miguel which is also same key & tempo.) She's too sexy/beautiful. And he STILL gets jealous - meaning he's felt this way on-and-off for a while, which means he's prolly a controlling/dick BF. We'd like to think he might be playing a character here.
Jealous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw04QD1LaB0
Style: http://vimeo.com/112467570
42. Vertical Scratchers “Way Out”
Like Ween's Pure Guava or Dark Side of the Moon or your favorite mixtape, Daughter of Everything is one of those perfectly sequenced records where the segues and transitions get just as ingrained as the songs themselves. You'll be minding your business one day and realize Track 1 is stuck in your head. But not long afterwards you'll realize that Track 4 is stuck only seconds before also realizing that the entire album has been playing in your brain for the past 10 minutes. (The quick intro song "Wait No Longer" came onto a mix the other day, and it was def unsettling hearing it lead into anything other than Track 2.) So yeah anyway, the moral of the story is that "Way Out" is dope enough that it actually works on its own. It's also the one that probably sounds most like The Kinks.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ_XvZbc50o
41. Richard Dawson “The Vile Stuff”
Enormous and minimal. After one of the most impressive solo guitar intros we've ever heard (lasting almost 4 minutes - almost as if it's a separate song), the groove locks and the whole thing just dives head-first into a head-nodding, meditative trance. Everything sounds so exposed and live and one-take. #RARE #Magic There's a couple verses, some bridges, and choruses, so its structure actually isn't that strange except for the fact that it's a 16 minute song that feels closer to 6 minutes. Bad History Month should tour with this guy.Here's a version that removes most of the dope intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQVlNt6DAxY
| Hot Mix 2014 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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