bey is like

Bey is like "omg you guys i am so close to zach hill right now."

New Death Grips vinyl reveals that Robert Pattinson played guitar on "Birds" http://t.co/l7DJjSZOx4 pic.twitter.com/YNh3cbVcsa

— Stereogum (@stereogum) November 29, 2014

Hot Mix 2013: #80 to 71

| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

80. Daniel Johnston “Space Ducks Theme Song”

We're assuming Daniel's comic book (also called Space Ducks) includes some contextual explanation for the war in Austin, Texas. Robot quack noises suggest a childlike sci-fi universe starring anamorphic ducks (confirmed by the cover art for the comic itself). His most memorable jam since 1996's “Dream Scream.”
https://soundcloud.com/presskit-1/01-space-ducks-dan-version

79. Body/Head “Abstract”
Yes, we know the picture is of Sonic Youth on The Simpsons and not of Body/Head, the band Kim Gordon formed with Bill Nace in 2012. (It was tough for us to find interesting Kim Gordon-related memes.) Our video treatment for "Abstract" would show Kim Gordon and Bill Nace confined in adjacent holding cells, belting out the demons of their respective loneliness. The warden doesn't seem to notice or care that pedal boards and amps are keeping them company before all hell breaks loose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcEp5gR8rM0 "Abstract" appears to be unavailable to stream from soundcloud, hype machine or bandcamp. we tried.

78. Jay-Z “Tom Ford”
Is this Jay-Z's lame “Don't do drugs” jam? Magna Carta officially kicks off the era of “Dad-Rap,” stuff that sounds decently modern but mostly appeals to the baser impulses of hiphop fans who are old enough to run for president.* The chorus alludes to hiphop's recent incredibly lame obsession with fashion designers, essentially stating “I'm too dope and important to associate with the same recreational activity as common college freshmen.” And while the 8-bit beat took as much shit as the lyrical hook, the song musically still impresses us enough to place as “essential 2013.” Call it a guilty pleasure if you'd like.

(*As opposed to nostalgia-rap. Joey Badass loves dem 90s-nostalgia beats, but he's only 18 and raps about fantasy crack-deals. Def not Dad-Rap.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkgekVh7oKI

77. Deerhunter “Monomania”

Let's paraphrase Bradford Cox's rant from Deerhunter's appearance at Governor's Ball NYC: "Oil is made from our dead ancestors, and it's being used to provide power for all of the bands that are playing today, so if you think about it, all the bands playing today are being brought to you by our dead ancestors." Seems logical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYUENZQ84-E

76. Fake Shark Real Zombie “Get Weird”
A guilty pleasure discovery from ILX's “Worst songs of the year” thread. Yes, the song title is literal; “Get Weird” achieves a series of consistently bizarre moments for 3 solid minutes. If the listener doesn't immediately run away in terror (possibly after screaming something to the affect of “this sucks”), repeated listens might eventually reveal a pop song that's probably best described as “inventively dumb” or “creatively stupid.” We hear Fake Shark falling somewhere within the realm of “Juggalo-approved rock bands who we probably should hate, but they're actually not that bad at songwriting,” i.e. The Bloodhound Gang, Brokencyde and CKY, but with a warped undercurrent reminiscent of Ween and Butthole Surfers. Fellow Ween-fan Henry Rollins approves of Fake Shark enough to supply cameos on their records. WEIRD.
https://soundcloud.com/glassbox-1/fake-shark-real-zombie-get

75. Grass Is Green “Vacation 2.0”

Andy Chevernak says, "It's a dystopia." Jesse Weiss says, "It's a journey." Devin McKnight says, "Don't take your vacation time too seriously. Relax bud." And that concludes our exclusive interview with Grass Is Green on the modern classic "Vacation 2.0," the preview track from their hotly anticipated LP Vacation Vinny set for release on January 14, 2014. "2.0" includes what we like to call "The ol' 1-2 switch 'em," in which interim bassist Mike Thomas trades spots with Devin for some tasty guttural baritone guitar with a fat Thee Oh Sees delay pedal. The video is set to debut any day now. Video director Darl Ferm says: "I wrote it, I edited it, I directed it, and I also did cinematography." Let's leave the final word for Grass Is Green fanatic, Sadie Dupuis: It's hard for me to listen to the bridge of this hot new Grass is Green jawn without hearing the verse melody of Self's "Dog You Are." According to Darl, Andy improvises the lyrics to that part live, so my 2014 resolution is to get him to sing "We all know you're leaving this town."
https://soundcloud.com/explodinginsoundrecords/grass-is-green-vacation-2-0 for some reason the bandcamp embed won't work until the whole album is available


74. Polvo “Light, Raking” / Polvo "Some Songs"
Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper negotiate through mind games in the live action Hollywood version of Grand Theft Auto. "Light Raking" pumps loudly during the intense bus chase, while "Some Songs" is reserved for the pensive feelings montage. For Polvo, Siberia secures their slot reigning among the best reformed 90s indie-bands.
"Light, Raking" VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMa4-d3JW-8
"Some Songs" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdj4bG1ufVQ

73. Queens of the Stone Age “I Sat By The Ocean”
...Like Clockwork turned out to be the first Queens album with no re-recordings of previously released non-album tracks. (Last year, we incorrectly predicted it would include “Nobody to Love,” Josh Homme's one-off solo jam from a movie soundtrack.) This new era for QOTSA def doesn't skimp on the guest cameos and features stoner anthems like "I Sat By The Ocean," just as large in scope as the biggest jams of their classic 1997-2007 lineage, but with an additional layer of perspective and wisdom that can only be acquired from a well deserved 6-year hiatus.
https://soundcloud.com/qotsa/i-sat-by-the-ocean

72. Ariana Grande featuring Big Sean “Right There”
Actual blatant 90s nostalgia: The direct descendents of Mariah Carey playing Lil Kim to Big Sean's Puff Daddy. Raise the roof.


71. Beyonce “XO”
Katy Perry is the presence that signals over-saturation of any hot radio trend. We accurately predicted early in 2013 that Katy's album would certainly arrive with a civil-war-wave influenced radio hit. And it didn't take long before “Roar” finally arrived, just in time to cash-in on dismal washboard/stomping/banjo vomit from the likes of The Lumineers and Imagine Dragons. However, no one could have predicted such an immense ray of light from the most unlikely of places: Appearing as an early highlight on Beyonce's self-titled, “XO” acts as the antithesis of “Roar,” essentially justifying the entire civil-war-wave subgenre while supplying the world with its artistic and commercial pinnacle all within the same breath. Fuck em up.

| Hot Mix 2013 on Spotify |

| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |

beyonce/queen troll

This fuckin thing from over the summer... We saw some friends post this on facebook.


These songs have almost nothing to do with each other. Who the fuck would hear "Run The World (Girls)" for the first or second or twentieth time and think to themselves, "now here's a song that's just BEGGING to be compared to Bohemian Rhapsody." "Run The World" didn't even chart that well and isn't nearly as famous as "Bohemian Rhapsody." It seems like an unfair comparison that someone threw together just to troll the frustrated 70's rock fans of Facebook and see how far they could carry a bullshit meme.

Beyonce and Freddie Mercury are both very famous names that generate millions of dollars year after year. This is essentially the base of their similarities, thus making them easy targets for the "popist vs rockist" debate. The image seems to side with the rockists, although it's debatable whether the responsible party truly believes what they're preaching deep down.

"Run The World" isn't exactly bland and simple. It's not the greatest song we've ever heard or anything, but it's adequately structured, with a steady enough progression of ideas and fragments that it actually sounds to us like an equal amount of thought and effort went into BOTH songs.

"Run The World" sounds like it had 6 writers and 4 producers. It's not a surprise to learn this. Yes, it's overproduced, but that's part of what makes it a good song. It takes serious-ass skill to throw together this type of production. In some settings, it can actually be more difficult to write and produce collaboratively.

Despite its complexities, it's similarly unsurprising that Freddie Mercury was the lone songwriter of "Bohemian Rhapsody," in which he plays a character experiencing a flamboyantly wine-drenched and non-linear journey through the process of suicide, with all its glorious darkness and fabulous insanity intact. And the music carefully matches these extremities. While not intended by Queen as kid stuff, kids REALLY love to sing along to it 30+ years on, because it's also fun and kinda wacky sounding. But it's also a rarity in that it's probably the most famous pop song that goes on for six minutes while hardly repeating itself. We could go on and on about how great this song is... Freddie was obviously gifted, etc, etc...

But the point is that it's unfair to judge the music of MOST songs against "Bohemian Rhapsody." "Run The World" is hardly a prime example of a pop song that deserved this. And despite what 70's rock fans might think about it, gloss and shimmer can still reveal depth.

Plus, removing half of the lyrics from both songs and placing them side-by-side is hardly a strong argument.

Not sure why we're still going on about this... Nothing really matters.

NOTE: "Run The World" missed out on our "Hot Mix 2011," although we happily included "Party" from the same album at #61. WE have yet to post an official 70's mix, although "Bohemian Rhapsody" was included on a "bored at work 70's list" at #48 a couple years back.