Are you ready for some of this hot fuego? Let's jump back in:
| Follow "Straight Fire 2017" on Spotify |
| #200 - 166 || #165 - 131 || #130 - 101 || #100 -71 || #70 - 41 || #40 - 21 || #20 - 1 |
| All 200 Songs |
40. Lil B “Free Life” / Lil B “Wasup JoJo” / Lil B ”Hip Hop”
"Hip Hop" descends from simpler times. If you're an artist in a genre that lets you get away with repeating the genre name and settling on that as a song's entire chorus, then you have every right to let that happen. "Wasup Jojo" exposes Lil B's perplexing dichotomy; he is at once introspective and philosophical but also a fun-loving and horny rock star. This all helps Black Ken (apparently his first "official" mixtape) gracefully build upon Lil B's prolific and out-of-step discography. He's never marched in time with modern trends, nor walked away from what made him special. He never needed to. Black Ken throws back, but it's very of the moment; it's not forward-thinking, but it sounds like it's from a different timeline. It's his shiniest and most sparkling sounding album to date, but its human imperfections are its most alluring assets.Free Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqnj60sTXJY
Wasup JoJo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0A0vEI6KWE
Hip Hop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Z_XK4ZnsA
39. PRETTYMUCH f/ French Montana “No More”
Can hot boy bands survive in the post-TRL era? If it sounds like "No More," then we sure hope so! [EDIT: We just realized this song possibly kinda sounds like "Try Again" by Aaliyah. This is probably a good thing though.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_LvrurBG2M
38. Sheer Mag “Suffer Me”
More like SHRED Mag.
37. BEAK> “Sex Music”
In 1973, a college student named Patrick Cowley recorded several albums of slinky, mysterious and almost noir-sounding instrumental electronic music. A gay porn company called Fox Studio bought all of this music not long afterwards, and the songs were featured for years in many of the early erotic videos that single-handedly kickstarted the VHS industry into existence. Throughout the '80s and '90s, VHS became a beloved multi-million dollar business built upon a successful foundation of durable, easily transportable porn movies. About 40 years later, the mid 2010s albums from a cut-from-marble artist named Torn Hawk and his accompanying VHS-manipulation videos are among the only other close examples of ultra-masculine lofi aesthetic that seems anywhere close to what BEAK> has created here. "Sex Music" is the debut from BEAK>'s new line-up. (They also released a Christmas song last December.) The 2010-era hipster irony of Altered Zones has no place here. "Sex Music" is the real deal. Also, BEAK> has signed to a new U.S. label and we're expecting their long-awaited third album before the end of 2018.
36. Playboi Carti "Magnolia" / Lil Uzi Vert “XO Tour Llif3”
Now That's What I Call Vape, Vol 666
35. Code Orange “Bleeding In The Blur”
Earlier this year, Rivers Cuomo tweeted, "Grunge is cool again," possibly hinting a suggestion for how the late '10s could be an era when grunge returns. While this provides us some (probably false) hope for Weezer's next few records, bands like Code Orange are already headed down their grungiest path, slowing down the tempo on songs like "Bleeding In The Blur" and switching out their singer. It's not as indebted to Sub Pop's Love Battery or Mudhoney 7-inches; more like Alice In Chains, further down the post-grunge spiral and nearly intersecting with White Pony and Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses. Death to IPA-metal. Death to indie-metal. Code Orange transcends beyond this and might just be the current leaders of the new school.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9-l8_t4AS8
34. Nelly Furtado “Paris Sun”
Whoa Nelly!
33. Kendrick Lamar “FEAR.”
As an album title, DAMN. (all caps, plus punctuation) expresses observation, reflection, and a strong, possibly overwhelming reaction. Sadly, it might be the opposite of "Alright." The record feels appropriately cluttered and claustrophobic. Impressive as a whole, only a few of its tracks felt as strong as standalone singles. While the spacey "FEAR." might be its only song that could have appeared on either good kid maad city or To Pimp A Butterfly, it's the deep breath of sonic representation DAMN. required - still as dense as its album's sister jams, but arguably the most musically satisfying on its own. If "DUCKWORTH." and "XXX." display the clutter itself, "FEAR." is up-at-4AM stuck between a youthful memory and trying to make sense of it all. "If I could smoke fear away, I'd roll that motherfucker up."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT-jY8kHTl0
32. Maren Morris “My Church”
She was losing her religion, cursing on Sundays and indulging in debauchery. But now Maren Morris has found her church in the FM dial - a claim that clashes with our experience, since we haven't been able to enjoy corporate radio since at least 2012. But we're happy Maren digs it. We checked out some pop-country stations a couple weeks ago, and nothing seemed especially egregious compared to how it sounded in the '90s. There's a lot less Brooks & Dunn and Leann Rimes. There's a lot more of the awkward #wokeness in songs like "I Believe Most People Are Good" (a far drive from the days of "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off") and they play the shit out of that Florida Georgia Line song that doesn't seem to wanna go away anytime soon. Maren gets the "home" feeling from faith placed into iHeartRadio's program directors. And the "My Church" chorus spun on the FM dial in our brains for 3 or 4 nights in a row. P.S. The word "God" is not mentioned once in this entire song.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p-HQ6ip8Gc
31. The Rubs “Wrong/Right Girl” / The Rubs “Wrap My Life”
You love The Rubs. "Wrap My Life" is some of the finest pre-Rubber Soul-core we've heard in over a decade. (That would be stuff that directly descends from Beatles For Sale and/or the non-film tracks from Side B of Help!)
30. LOOΠΔ / ODD EYE CIRCLE “Girl Front”
We were about to express surprise that a fresh new dope K-pop group has arrived that doesn't have 7 or 9 or 12 or 15 members. After a certain point, the abundance of large-numbered group members enters Polyphonic Spree levels of absurdity, removing any discernible way to connect. Brockhampton are packaged as a similarly daunting collective, whereas Odd Future took their time over the course of several years, slowly introducing more characters over a 3-4 year span to anyone willing to care or listen. It turns out that ODD EYE CIRCLE are trying out a similar tactic. They are NOT a 3 member group as we originally thought, but rather were introduced on "Girl Front" as 3 singers from a 12-member girl group. (Where's the bullshit clickbait thinkpiece on this?? "Bands shouldn't have more than 7 members" makes just as little sense as a headline complaining about set-lengths longer than an equally arbitrary 20 minute limit.) It's often helpful when there's a stand-out or a ringer among the crew. Perhaps the "Girl Front" crew are those ringers. We can retain 3 personalities. We like remembering things about band members. We like bands.
29. Charli XCX “Boys”
Yo Charli, what the fuck? Your Soundcloud was definitely streaming "Boys" a few short days ago, but now it's just a 30-second preview. Say it ain't so, Charli. We're not switching this to a Youtube link. No. Not happening.28. Alex G “Brick”
Blown out production and hardcore screams are exactly what Alex G's last album needed. "Brick" is yet another of his essential weirdo experiments, which maybe should be packaged far down the road into an immense weirdo comp. Nothing's off limits. This makes the "Alex G goes country" headline (accompanying the premiere of "Bobby") seem entirely laughable. We'd love to hear a live version of this song.27. Jute Gyte "Mice Eating Gold"
Our pitch for Netflix: Once a week, we'll premiere another 2 hour movie about the end of the world. It's a series titled Normalize Armageddon intended to lessen the fear of "we're all fucked." Each week, watch the sun get so hot that everything starts melting. People start melting and eventually burst into flames. Watch yourself melt. Watch your friends melt your family. Watch net neutrality melt. Watch Bitcoin melt. And that's just the title sequence.26. Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie “In My World”
"I think I'm in trouble," sang Lindsay Buckingham as the other members of Fleetwood Mac threw him down a flight of stairs. As of 2018, he's been very much fired from The Mack, and it should be pretty easy to figure out why since Steamy Nicks was the only band member who refused to participate in Buckingham/McVie's shockingly dope 2017 album. "In My World" sounds like a lost Tango In The Night deep cut, reprising the "love noises" from "Big Love" and sprinkled with Mick Fleetwood's signature snare tone (probably the #1 drummer in rock history who is recognized more for tone than prowess of rudiments or whatever). Kinda bullshit that this couldn't have been called a Fleetwood Mac album, but swap out Buckingham for Nicks (neither of whom are O.G.), and it's suddenly okay. But not so weirdly, the snare tone steals the show here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwBy3TvzPEU
25. Winter “Jaded”
Are you ready for some "Gigantic"/Yuck riffage? What's so funny? Why are you laughing? No seriously, what's so funny? What did we say? Did we say something weird? There's a talking-on-the-phone solo in this song which kind of reminds us of the break-down from the Hanson bonus track that was written by the 9-year-old kid (Zac). So anyway, you're still laughing. This is what modern rock radio should sound like right now. There are plenty of sick pop-grunge songs that should be charting, but instead iHeartRadio continues playing Imagine Dragons. Oh wait, it's 4:21. That's why you're cracking up. Now we get it.24. Lil Yachty “Lady in Yellow”
The Lil Yachty LP Teenage Emotions actually does suck. It's a shitty album with 5 really good songs and 5 more kinda ok songs, which would have been enough for a decent 10 song trap-pop LP, but instead Yachty decided to bloat the album to 21 songs with music that is for the most part pretty fucking awful (such as the one where the chorus is an interpolation of Tegan and Sara's "Walking With The Ghost"). It seems like he's still experimenting with his brand and trying to discover who he is and how to be portrayed. The most interesting moments on Teenage Emotions - the parts that won us over and convinced us that he was worth our attention - were the strange outsider moments where he stepped very far out of the confines of trap. We were intrigued enough by "Lady In Yellow" that it inspired a tribute post last August. "A summer jam by nature, "Lady In Yellow" implies sunshine, sundresses and some Sunny D. [But once the fall semester begins], the underlining bittersweetness in the most melancholy summer jams changes from green-to-yellow alongside the leaves." The end of summer 2017 turning to September was a strange but welcome transition.
This song includes our favorite misheard lyric of the year: "Little miss lady in the yellow / Hello / Would you like to push the petal to the metal with me?" These are not the real words. // Lil Yachty is also a huge Coldplay fan (no, really) so we'd like to guess there's some "Yellow" reference in here as well. We'll discuss this song a little more in two years when we finally get around to "Lit Mix 2017." Guilty as charged. All of the above.
23. Gnarwhal “Light-Up City”
Mid-semester bummin'. Adolescent pent-up frustration. Break all the pencils in half.
22. Guided By Voices “Overloaded”
"Diver Dan" was Robert Pollard's best song of 2017, but we think the best GBV jam of the year was "Overloaded," written by their current drummer and former Shudder To Think member Kevin March (who coincidentally looks a lot like Craig Wedren). Kevin submitted his demo to The Guided for their planned double-album and was considering having the band re-record it, but instead Pollard gave one listen and said "it's done." This ended up being the final version included on August By Cake. Pollard was right; the tape warble and lo-fi elements compliment the song perfectly. No need to add anything else.Diver Dan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_doXkkkzw0
Overloaded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQzw0kn-GfU
21. Rico Nasty “Block List”
| Follow "Straight Fire 2017" on Spotify |
| #200 - 166 || #165 - 131 || #130 - 101 || #100 -71 || #70 - 41 || #40 - 21 || #20 - 1 |
| All 200 Songs |
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