The Spotify mix now includes 100 through 81 plus all those bonuses. Give a listen!
| 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 |
90. PC Worship “Rust”
Just saw the commercial for the new Kidz Bop and it should come as no surprise that "Rust" and "Gypsy's" are tracks 1 and 2 respectively. Makes complete sense if you know brats like we do; all 4th through 7th graders love dissonant drone and the sound of flushing toilets; they love PC Worship and know all the words to Social Rust; when they get bored, they draw PC Worship logos on their Surgery Channel trapper keepers. I'll never understand these fuckin' kids these days and their Surgery Channel. It's just like sometimes you don't wanna see that stuff, you know? Like you're just flipping through the channels looking for Charles Barkley porn or whatever and BOOM there's Little Richard on MTV getting open heart surgery. There's this wolf pressing his face against the window and he's like screaming at us right now. 89. T.I. featuring Young Thug “About the Money”
We were starting to miss T.I. and figured he was a goner. Leave it to Floyd Mayweather of all people to get T.I. back into the spotlight of buzz and gossip. At that point, returning to the radio was a no brainer, as he prepped the same checklist as everyone else who charted on hiphop stations in 2014. After crossing "Call DJ Mustard" off his list (resulting in "No Mediocre"), he did the other thing everyone else did: Stealing the triplet-rap thing from Migos' "Versace," a mostly annoying and timely trend which probably just recently died alongside the end of 2014 itself. Migos doesn't even use it anymore. "About the Money" is probably the only other charting instance besides "Versace" that accents the triplet cadence in an interesting way, while the keyboard loop seemed suspiciously familiar. It's not from Basement Jaxx's "Where's Your Head At," but possibly something similar.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etfIdtm-OC8
88. Midnight “No Mercy for Mayhem”
Death-rock is still with us, alive and well. Bands like 45 Grave and Turbonegro carried the torch over to Cleveland's Midnight, who administered much needed defibrillation in the mid-2000s, a necessary resuscitation essentially saving the genre from falling victim to corny call-and-response cliches ("and i like it like it and i love it love it"). They got drums, guitars and death galore, but strangely enough, buried way in there you'll also find melodies, huge riffs, and honest-to-satan catchy hooks. Coming to a Return of the Living Dead sequel near you.
87. Shamir “On the Regular” / tUnE-yArDs "Water Fountain"
Remember those kids on the playground during recess who were all about double-dutch and handclap memorization games? Down Down Baby and Miss Mary Mack and all that shit. And that other one that was like "Miss Lucy had a steamboat the steamboat had a bell Miss Lucy went to heaven and the steamboat went to hello operator give me number 9 and somethin somethin somethin i will kick your behind the fridgerator there was a piece of glass miss lucy stepped upon it and she somethin broke her ask me no more questions tell me no more lies the boys are in the somethin somethin." So yeah, those kids grew up and became Shamir and tUne-yArDs. Now you know.
Shamir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp9GgdCgMXk
tUnE-yArDs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbiFcPhccu8
86. Eyehategod “Robitussin and Rejection”
The internet buzz suggests a few of the songs on Eyehategod's outstanding self-titled have been floating around and performed live since as early as 2008. While the uncharacteristically energetic "Agitation Propaganda" or the death-puppet dangling limbs sludge-romp of "Nobody Told Me" could have fit into our Hot Mix just as easily, "Robitussin and Rejection" wins for cutting the deepest. With agonizing, devastating hopelessness intact, nothing beats the lowest depths. At that point, just say fuck it and find literally any fucking drug you can get your hands on. If you can't find money for real drugs, then go raid your parents' closet or your girlfriend's bathroom or anywhere, and just swallow the first thing you can find. Mom's got Robitussin. Cool. Wash it down with your own piss. Numb the pain and move on.85. Azealia Banks “BBD”
The NY girl's Boston tribute. It's our 2nd favorite song on Broke With Expensive Taste after "212," but mostly because it doesn't confront the listener with the album's predominant excessively-musical production which removed all the grit and rawness from almost all of its other new songs. A few instances on BWET get so EDM-corny and unnecessarily melodic that it sounds like she's rapping or singing over MarioKart (and not in a good way). "BBD" unfortunately indulges the OTHER thing that brought down this record: Her impeccable rap flow on "212" seems to have been completely abandoned in favor of a quieter lower-register Missy Elliott impression meshed with a thick, heavy Long Island accent. Although in this instance, the "BBD" recipe actually works: dancable, catchy, fun, and just minimal enough that it made almost no difference. As much as we love "212," part of us wishes she hadn't included it. While we understand why it's there (money), it supplies a glaring reminder of what we're not receiving. (Note: Well we're not changing this now, but it turns out this song was actually released over 2 years ago on 1/1/13 and isn't one of the album's 12 newer songs. Go figure.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lidf7koHmI8
84. Mac Demarco "Let Her Go"
Probably the best from the more traditional-sounding half of Salad Days. The subdued chorus doesn't resolve itself until after returning back to the verse section, suggesting an unsettled, bittersweet type of freedom. It's kinda weird and lame how stupidly large the Demarco-backlash has grown over the past two years. Yeah, of course he's a fucking weird rockstar, but he's a weirdo who basically invented his own specific combination of recording technique, guitar timbre and tone, achieving a distinct and instantly recognizable atmosphere. And he's still able to write very good songs within the somewhat strict parameters he's built for himself. And what's more, it kinda sounds like Pod-era Ween. All of these things rule. If a few fans of Vampire Weekend or The 1975 or Neutral Milk can't take another weirdo in the world, what difference does it really make? Haters gon' haight.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neu3_4MeGls
83. The Notwist "Casino"
Rollin' the dice. "See the dice roll just like me." What's that movie where the dude's like "Life's a risk. Everything's a risk." It probably sucks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m18L18wcypI
82. Xiu Xiu "Black Dick"
DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK. DICK.81. Ariel Pink “Lipstick”
The Mysterious Cities of Gold has to be somewhere in top 10 best TV theme songs. So after the theme song is finished, queue "Lipstick" to play as the episode begins, setting the scene and panning the landscape. (Or this show could also work.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRmtrT6hoPM
| 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 |
Matt Mahaffey must have been hoarding all kinds of crazy ideas and unreleased sELf jams since the Gizmodgery days. Bring on that full length already. In the meantime, we would like to thank sELf for teasing our genitalia with the best "'90s reunion" release (EP or otherwise) of 2014 and the true follow-up to Breakfast With Girls, comfortably and refreshingly in character. (P.S. The whole “'90s reunion” concept somewhat inevitably hit the wall this year. Expectations were justifiably high for Pixies' Indy Cindy, a disappointing album, yes, but certainly undeserving of its most scathing reviews. Those 2 stray Failure tracks were kinda predictably shite though. And there was no new Polvo or Dinosaur stuff. But at least Will Smith didn't attempt a comeback album. Unless he did? Whatever.)
Speaking of Fresh Prince, we never expected to see Carlton, Hillary and Ashley's OTHER long-lost cousin Azealia placing on a Hot Mix ever again. And yet here we are. As far as segmented pop gems are concerned, "Chasing Time" suggests ambitions on par with the masterfully woven (and ultimately dated) "Bad Romance," released almost exactly 5 years prior alongside a similarly flashy and fashion-y promo vid. While "Bad Romance" was a puzzle where every piece perfectly congealed, "Chasing Time" exposes too many square pegs, possibly due to multiple elements intended to be sung at wildly different tempos. And yet, it's somehow grown into something of an earworm over the past few weeks. It's still structured less awkwardly than Ariana Grande's "Problem," one of pop's biggest cash-flow generators of 2014, so who knows. With enough time, awkwardness can start to sound normal or even awesome. How could we say no?
There were so many good songs in 2014 that it didn't seem so strange to exclude "0 to 100." And while we were proud of ourselves for putting together a Drake-less Hot Mix for the first time since "Best I Ever Had," we kinda blew it with this one. We don't really know much about Childish Gambino, but we woke up with this song stuck in our heads at least 3 or 4 times in 2014 without knowing what it was. Turns out that it's another singing rapper who used to act on a TV show. Oh joy. Another awesome pop song disguised in hiphop clothing and sunglasses. Hey, it happens. We don't do a "guilty pleasure" list anymore, but this one woulda placed. So this is apparently what hiphop will sound like 5 years after 
So basic, so primal, so minimal, and yet somehow it's also probably the poppiest and catchiest song Brian Chippendale has ever played on. We're lol'ing pretty quietly at that concept right now. Try it out though, preferably while driving around with friends, singing along and punching the car's ceiling. We're guessing Andrew WK probably loves this song. Maybe Garth Algar can have this cassette in his mirthmobile collection ready for a headbanging scene when they finally get around to shooting Wayne's World 3. Also check out Chippendale's recently posted thoughts on 2014 turning to 2015 right over here: 
So we were way off in our initial impression, because we thought this song was about a fancy absinthe bar where everyone is super focused but also stumbling around and knocking over tables, surrounded by candlelight. We wanted to see how far off we were, so we contacted Vacation Vinny engineer Julian Fader who recalls, "They did all those songs in like 1 or 2 days." This didn't explain what we were hoping for, so we asked guitarist Devin McKnight, who admits, "I didn't write that song. 'B-Kind' is a song I wish we would play more, but we can't without the double vocals. I understand. Andy's got a vision." So based on this, we figured out that Andy Chervenak was the songwriter, who we tracked down at a Two Inch Astronaut show a few nights ago. Andy explains, "'B-Kind' is a song about people getting really rude and being unhappy with them afterwards." Fair enough. We still think it's about fancy people with a brain full of absinthe whippin' off the towel and showin' off the goods. And we know we're wrong. We accept this.
A big day for big big exclusives. Here's the good word from Kelly and Ben from Geronimo!
There's this song from Floor's 2004 album called “Nothing I Remember.” The entire song is literally two notes - a low C (downtuned from an E-string) ringing out with tons of feedback for four measures followed by a B (12 frets higher) for four measures - back and forth for 15 minutes while the drummer plays this really simple, slow, loud pattern that only consists of snare and kick drum. Aside from Dopesmoker, it's probably the definitive stoner metal jam, and there was a moment when it finally made sense for us. The devastating, crushing, hopeless drone exudes nothing more than “fuck literally everything and everyone ever and bury me in a cloud of grav rips for the rest of eternity.” This is basically the standard by which all other stoner metal is judged. 
We previously brushed these guys aside as more of a novelty band. But their 2011 transformation from punk-goth to psychedelic-goth seems like one of those career-defining decisions, along the lines of "Radiohead gets more depressed." The backwards guitars and horn section in “Still Life” suggest nothing short of a perfect marriage between Joy Division and Magical Mystery Tour.
One of our brightest “bands to watch” suggestions for 2012... Half-Sonic Youth, half-MBV, with various injections of punk and 60's garage to match the band’s personal specifications. It’s not exactly “cheering up” music, but 2011 was just that kind of year...
Once again, Yuck sounds like a non-90’s band on “The Wall” - in this case, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The song presents a paradox, becoming increasingly complex in its simplicity, churning in the same 4 or 5 lines of lyric sung over and over... This all comes to a head within the last minute or so, with the vocal “screams" suggesting desperation that cuts even deeper, possibly the true "key" to this song.
Distorted guitars... And yet Smith Westerns don’t receive a “90’s-retro” tag. Tyler The Creator threw "Weekend" on a summer mixtape from last July, which was thoughtful of him. But from where we stand, “Weekend” sounds just as good at any time throughout the year. It sounds like the type of song that would show up at the conclusion of a "feel good" movie just as the narrator says "So everything worked out. Everything was gonna be a-ok." And then it fades to black, and this song continues playing over the credits.
“I’m about to drive in the ocean / I’m about to swim from something bigger than me.” It’s hard to ignore the use of “Ocean...” Self-exploration? Escape from pain? We’re thinking this might be another drug song like “Novacane,” but if so, it’s more ambiguous and shoots way deeper and darker...
“Dying on the inside / Dying on the inside / Dying on the inside / Dying on the inside / Dying on the inside / Dying on the inside” over a seemingly endless pummeling of (dare we say “epic”) chord-changes. With a few years hindsight, the great sprawling double-LP’s of this era - such as The Suburbs and David Comes To Life - will be embraced among rock historians just the same as The River and London Calling. In the meantime, songs like “The Other Shoe” are Fucked Up’s answer to a pop single. 2012 totally needs more songs like this.
Favorite song of 2011 with the c-word (12 times by our count). Crush of the year. All her strengths in under 3:30. With so many hugely memorable hooks, who needs a chorus? You couldn’t ask for a better introductory single. Her new kickass jam “Liquorice” leaked 2 weeks ago, just before year’s end. It’s too good to not include it here, although 90% of this placement is all about our love of “212.”
Side B of Blood Lust contains crazy-ass super powers. At the party, you don’t play Side B of Blood Lust towards the end of the night after everyone’s wasted as fuck. And it’s not “let’s get this party moving” music. Side B of Blood Lust is the secret weapon. You pull this shit out right in the fucking middle of the party, right when shit’s about to get REAL AS FUCK. Tony Iommi? J Mascis? They would love this album just as much as every old dude who’s stuck in 1985 or earlier, longing for the days when rock music kicked serious ass. Sadly, none of these people will ever hear the best psychedelic pop-metal album of the last 20 years, and we hope to be proven wrong on that prediction...
Dank, squirming, gruesome production... The music morphs over the stagnant drum beat like Gregor Samsa morphing into an insect. Tyler gets to yell about his obsession with Adventure Time and cinnamon, and he indulges more into his Eminem obsessions by going off about his deadbeat dad (no one cares... maybe he should rap about Earl instead), as well as the first of his many empty (yet poignant) threats to Bruno Mars. Anything but derivative.
Our most anticipated LP of the moment is probably the next release from the dark, noisy and 80’s-goth sounds of Merchandise. They posted an unheard 2008 demo on their blog a few weeks ago. With such a fat bassline, this is probably the most Cure-sounding thing they’ve done yet, which got our attention VERY quickly.