| 100 - 81 || 80 - 61 || 60 - 41 || 40 - 21 || 20 - 1 |
| All 100 Songs |
This is by far the longest it's taken us to finish one of these, and it's technically incomplete in case no one has noticed yet. Most of the entries have no description. The photo editing is now at peak stream-of-consciousness, perhaps reflecting the chaotic, nonsensical, anarchic, apathetic, nihilistic nature of human existence throughout 2018-2019.
#1 2018 was a much better year for albums than singles/tracks/non-album-trx/etc, and the decline has left us disheartened, discouraged, and unmotivated to praise a year of songs that simply weren't as good. We really tried our best to make this feel like a solid representation.
#2 We have already written about many of the artists in this Thicc Mix, especially ones whose tracks represent album highlights. For example, No Age or Uncle Acid or Beak's consistently dope string of releases feels like a no brainer for a list like this -- but we're not good enough at writing to think of anything different to say than what we said last time.
#3 Not as much time as we used to have. Maybe BDE Mix 2019 will all happen throughout January 2020 though. Let's hope so.
So now finally the whole thing is here. The lower quantity of dopeness reflects the drop from a 200 song list down to 100, chosen from a much smaller than usual pool of eligible jams. (On the bright side, it became easier for legit dope jams to shine and place higher than they would have 3-4 years ago.)
Now who's ready to party down???
100. Kali Uchis f/ Tyler the Creator & Bootsy Collins “After the Storm (Pete Rock Remix)” / Kali Uchis "In My Dreams"
99. Gulch “Burning Desire to Draw Last Breath”
98. Sleep “Leagues Beneath”
97. Cash Rivers and the Sinners “Cheap Truck”
Should we just upload this one ourselves? Robert Pollard's weirdo country band released a 69 song album last October, as if there weren't enough 69 song albums in the world. But just to make it all the more frustrating, it's not streaming anywhere. The chorus goes like this "Would you like to take a ride with me in my cheap truck?" The world of streaming media could use some of this.https://www.guidedbyvoices.com/more-news/2018/9/12/cash-rivers-and-the-sinners-do-not-try-to-adjust-your-set-i-am-the-horizontal-and-the-vertical
96. Sunwatchers “Loop #2”
Typically described with tags like avant-jazz, free-rock, psychedelic, and the like, Sunwatchers chose to close out their 2018 odds-and-sods collection with the year's most enticingly strange meditation. It's incredible that this song exists, but how did this happen and why is jam-rock heading in this direction? Our theory all but rules out the possibility that one band members' 7-inch copy of "Too Drunk To Fuck" became scratched to the point where a skip in the vinyl aligned just perfectly enough that Jello Biafra's lyrics change to "I got diarrhea today-hay." With the groove locked in, Sunwatchers' ambiance hovers over the loop as it repeats over 100 times. Thanks to word-association, we can't help but think of frequent diarrhea victim Wesley Willis who released multiple LPs on Jello's record label Alternative Tenticles between the late '90s and early '00s. 95. Ella Mai "Trip"
What would have been one of the decade's most beloved one-hit-wonders became a two-hit-wonder by December as "Trip" hit #1 on Billboard's Rhythmic chart and secured a nice little area in the lower 20 of Billboard's end-of-year Hot 100 (where the generally strongest charting songs of the past few years have hid). Can she turn her streak into a two-album stride? We'll likely find out by the end of 2019. In the meantime, it sounds like "Trip" still gets mad radio spins. So iHeart did at least one thing correctly in the past year. For more info, Ella Mai did one of those Genius annotation videos that we weirdly don't hate yet.94. Deerhoof “Live to Tell”
93. Blues Lawyer "Charity Case"
Unjustly missing out on the Grammy for "Best New Band Name."
92. Drake “Nice For What”
Drake: "What's a dick for? Oh, wait. I get it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9BwWKXjVaI
91. Lil B “Keke That’s My Kitty”
90. Cut Chemist “Moonlightin’ With Biz”
89. Baked “Good For You”
We tried to find a gif of Gilbert Gottfried and Beetlejuice yelling "Goo for you" at each other to no avail.
88. Kanye West “Lift Yourself” / Kanye West & Lil Pump f/ Adele Givens “I Love It”
The imaginary 2018 Kanye album that included these and 10-12 other similarly bizarre, unfinished experiments (that likely exist on an external hardrive somewhere) might have been a more appropriate follow-up to the lone artifact from his "disjointedness is cohesion" era -- the sprawling, possibly unfinished, and predictably underappreciated The Life of Pablo. Rap's answer to Third/Sister Lovers right down to the uncertainty in its last minute title changes, Pablo is now probably his most unheralded since 808s following a pattern of musical influence more clearly defined in hindsight; 808s was ultimately proven as the single most influential record of the past decade. More recently, his attempts to subvert modern album-length restrictions feel ripe for the streaming era. With release dates and frequent media assets as overemphasized as ever, releasing 2016's scrapped Turbo Graffx 16 as a rushed double-LP would have only wasted resources. Why not spread out the public's attention with five release dates instead of one? Make them all EP-length, 20 minutes each, but call them full-length albums anyway. The brevity encourages not only listener engagement but repeated plays. Even better, labeling them full-length dissuades Billboard charts, music writers, and fans from brushing them aside as anything less than a complete artistic statement. And then just for fun, why not bookend these five releases with two extraordinarily bizarre teaser singles that all but reflect any lack of silliness these records might hold? Very few other artists have tried this "extended release period" tactic just yet, but the idea is out there, and there's no reason not to. P.S. Sorry to disappoint, but facts are facts: "Lift Yourself" had 2018's most memorable verse (accurately described in the song itself as "these bars"); meanwhile, the kids on the playground who knew anything about "Story of Adidon" forgot about its existence within weeks.
Lift Yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fbyfDbi-MI
I Love It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwQgjq0mCdE
87. Bruno Mars f/ Cardi B “Finesse (Remix)”
This one actually pisses us off because it proves that Bruno Mars LLC (and his team of thousands) could single-handedly assist the long-awaited comeback of "fun music getting played on FM radio" with just a few easy phonecalls. As for Cardi B, we don't really get the hype surrounding LP1. But we like her, and we suspect her next record might be cool if she doesn't go all fairweather on us like Katy Perry --- which likely wouldn't even be her fault if it did work out that way. Welcome to the machine, Cardi B. This is your life now. Hell awaits you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsoLEjrDogU
86. Fritz Welch “The Donal Judd vs Elmer Fudd Inner Space Crisis”
85. Kodak Black “I Get Lonely”
We incorrectly lost hope long ago for emo-trap's eventual dabble in accidental left-of-spectrum outsider-ness. Kodak Black proves us wrong again; like one lost little star, his radiance shines closer to Lil B than Lil Peep. 100% worth the hype.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7bo6batUH4
84. Roseblood “Black Veil”
Still no word on when this full length is due, but the handful of preview songs in their live sets kick serious ass. Get ready.
83. Hoodboi f/ Tkay Maidza “Glide”
2018's best song about bagel bites. Welcome back Tkay. This is probably her 2nd best song after "U-Huh."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJG6DFdkqSQ
82. Heele “The Paper Sky”
Godzilla continues his brooding lonely journey. He applied to 5 or 6 veterinarian schools, but still no acceptance letters. He's been swiping left and right for months, but still no matches. Godzilla stays out of everyone's sight because they assume he wants to attack, even though he just wants what we all want.
81. Pusha T “If You Know You Know”
Unpopular take: We were kinda unimpressed with Daytona?? And it's not like Kanye's production doesn't always work with Pusha. Afterall, that was the exact team who killed it with "Numbers On The Boards" five years prior. But something feels different here. Maxi-singles used to occasionally run as long as seven songs, and Daytona starts to feel that way by the end. The rigid deliberate blueprint of "If You Know You Know" might be Kanye's only 2018 music resembling The Blueprint. But then it's follow by six uncooked ideas that might have sounded amazing without the record's loose, wobbly architecture.And how about that horrific album art?? Did all parties involved seriously think people would just be like "oh cool, that's a great idea for an album cover?" Its embarrassing context should never have been promoted as a selling point. Next time, try keeping it a secret for as long as possible.
| 100 - 81 || 80 - 61 || 60 - 41 || 40 - 21 || 20 - 1 |
| All 100 Songs |
Where can we buy those "DO YOUR CHORES / SMOKE BEER" shirts? Odd Future figured out how to rip off Earth Wind & Fire. One sweep of the Fender Rhodes from "Dapper" is like an instant time machine back to the breezy frustrations of Summer 2016 - a bummer summer for sure, but the music was dope, and at least Bojack S3 and Stranger Things were sick. Coulda been a lot worse. "I could turn a pussy to a kiddie pool" might be our guilty pleasure lyric of the year.
The journey through Carly Rae's various hair excursions began early in the promo-cycle for E•MO•TION. The red hair from her album cover was dyed black early enough to not appear in any videos. But these adventures wouldn't have grabbed our attention had it not been for our official 2016 "Mullet Of The Year" award. We're having trouble remembering when the mullet debuted, but it appeared on her socials in a round of photos that were intended to showcase things that were not her mullet. Unless we're mistaken, she never attempted to engage fans with a mullet announcement, almost as if she didn't give a shit and was like "yea, I dunno. I guess I have a mullet. Who the fuck cares" and then just continued on with her life. This made both Carly Rae and her possibly accidental mullet even more endearing. And also, "Higher" is a really good song.
The devil is on one shoulder growling, "La Croix is the best. Buy lots of La Croix right now. Fuck all that other shit." Devil tempts you to think with your dick only. The angel is on the other shoulder gently whispering, "Dude, go for Schweppes. It's a good choice, and it's on sale." The angel wants you to think with your heart and do the right thing. At the last minute, you impulsively choose some weird brand like IZZE. Devil and Angel are both facepalming like "omg you idiot" and are very disappointed in you.
Spotlight on Andy Cherv. The phrase "Progress Report" and the song title "At Risk Student" incorrectly places our heads in a high school setting throughout most of the Personal Life LP. No, it's not a concept album. But our heads always envision high school music videos anyway because it feels like an experience when human dignity is at its most vulnerable. "Andy's" sounds like disillusionment and isolation while watching the slow dances at senior prom. After crushing on some babe for four years, you get to see whoever it is making out with someone else from the other side of the room and you're just like "oh cool" and knock over some tables on your way out. "Done learning my lesson."
"Oui" was technically 2015 but we saw it show up on many 2016 lists, so it's fair game. And we tied it to "Zaddy" because both songs are great examples of why we should never hope to live in a world without smooth R&B crooners charismatically boasting their natural heat. We're pretty sure that 107.5 WBLS has yet to fully embrace Ty Dolla $ign, but we remain hopeful for his eventual dominance over R&B airwaves. WBLS is gonna get renamed WBL$ by the time this is over.
Joey & Chance went for the tongue-in-cheek approach: "Where the girls at with the credit cards?" Seriously. It's 2017. Musicians are broke and can't afford luxurious dates (although Chance probably still has some leftover Kitkat money). Pitchfork sneakily snuck this song into the curiously high #43 position on their end-of-year feature - a surprising choice since they usually don't rep for fake-Neptunes summer party jams. The differences between this song and 
We recently read through the chapter in Klosterman's I Wear The Black Hat about how fun it might be to witness Kanye failing at something just one time: "I believe a cataclysmic Kanye West collapse might be the most dramatic thing he'd ever create. It would be the musical event of the decade."
A lot of what we wanted to say about "Yeah I Said It" was relying on "I want you to homicide it" being a misheard lyric, which it is not. Those are the real words. However, we did just discover a huge shocker: The producer responsible for the introspective-sounding beat is none other than Timbaland, who has been sadly absent from our Hot/Lit Mixes since at least 5 years ago, if not longer. But this is also kinda sad since Timbaland now just immediately makes us wonder about what Aaliyah might have been up to in 2016/2017. It's very likely she would be pumping out hit records that sound like Anti.
Kanye's last-minute extra credit assignment totally suckered people like us who want a hotass beat and the type of energy that only stream-of-consciousness can deliver. The dopeness establishes itself within seconds, allowing Kanye to ride it out and speak his mind about whatever was happening that day."Check it out. This the bonus track. My favorite albums used to have bonus joints like this." In the first 2 minutes, it sounds like he's building to a point. "You had me drivin' far enough to switch the time zone / You was the best of all time at the time tho / You wasn't mine tho / But I still drove 30 hours." Relating to "common people" emotion is beneath Kanye West, although it seems like he's oddly shooting for this within a few lyrical passages.
While searching for the Bandcamp stream of "The Paradox Of Thrift," we came across 
We're as shocked as anyone. Failure and Autolux released mid-2010s LPs only nine months apart from each other. Many people would have lost that bet. 
There aren't nearly as many songs with crazy drums anymore. Bowie's Earthling LP from '97 stretched into this a bit with the drum-and-bass freak-outs on "Little Wonder," but a song like "Killing A Little Time" required similar frantic, maddening urgency to a pair of late '90s jams: Nine Inch Nails "The Perfect Drug" and Fiona Apple's "Fast As You Can." He knows it's a losing battle no matter what, and it's tough to hear him cope: "I'm falling, man ... I'm fading, man..." But he wants it to end on his terms. By maintaining desperation to keep his momentum as wild as possible, he then maximizes as much stolen borrowed time as he's capable of collecting. It's also remarkable how great his voice sounds - arguably among the very best voices of any recent legacy artist, since so many of them experienced drastic vocal changes after years of abuse from cigarette smoke or worse. Bowie's voice is among the great treasures of rock history.
There are ONLY two ways to interpret the lyric "Put your sweats on for me."
Mitski and Angel Olsen (more Mitski tho) have brought the mid-2010s its eagerly anticipated Tori resurgence. Mitski's recent output sounds like the shit that would have been on Lilith Fair had the festival existed in 1992. In that sense, this sounds way more specifically '90s-retro than any of the vaguely '90s sounding Big Muff guitar bands of the past 5 years. 
We never realized Chance is essentially idolized all throughout Chicago, probably more now than any other current rapper. Kanye is global; even back when he felt the most localized, his global ubiquity made true localization seem impossible. Chief Keef always felt localized when profiled in Vice docs and the like, but 2013 was a while ago, and he hasn't truly regained momentum since then. Like many current rappers, Chance is still unsigned and reps locally more than not. Plus, his "Best New Artist" Grammy has brought him one step closer to "beloved" territory - a very exclusive club of extremely famous rappers that include Lauryn Hill, Outkast and a few others. (Kanye is not a beloved rapper. His eligibility disappeared a while ago.) 2017 is Chance's moment, and "All Night" - despite its anti-club anti-label anti-blog subject matter - has been one of Chicago's hottest club bangers of the past year. We've only heard it on NYC's Hot 97 once, but it's a megahit in Chicago, perhaps a sign that a new era of regional hits may be on its way.
This one refreshes. We know it was intended as a throwaway one-off (featuring members of Jackal Onasis, Ian Sweet and Stove messing around with pro-tools), but "Cowboy" felt like it accidentally captured something very specific about last summer. The band name Skatebored suggests a slacker/stoner approach, and the e-drums give it a uniquely hazy, rave quality, but with way more happy strands of weed than ecstasy pills.
Quietly appearing smack in the center of a comp release, this stray track may have gone unnoticed even for Pinback superfans. It's probably a new song and not a throwaway from 2012 or earlier, yet sounding more quintessentially Pinback than almost anything they've released since Autumn Of The Seraphs. When Mom asks "What does Pinback sound like?" you can feel okay playing her this song. Welcome back Rob Crow.
After nearly 25 years of existence, SoCal's finest Spanish-language grindcore band was finally mentioned on prominent music blogs in 2016 thanks to a single they released with the word "Trump" in the title. Go figure. Before instant fact checking was a normal thing, we were skeptical of the kids on the playground who told us that Faith No More's Billy Gould was the bass player for Brujeria throughout the '90s. (To be fair, these were the same kids who started the rumor that Kurt Cobain consumed 4000 calorie breakfasts every day.) However, Wikipedia now confirms it: Billy Gould is responsible for the deeply heavy ass-kicking bass line in the intro of "Mantando Gueros '97" from the Gummo soundtrack CD. '90s grindcore and deathmetal are the true '90s nostalgia bands.
It's time for another exciting edition of "Riffin' on Weezer." *canned applause* (No joke. We're extremely qualified for a weekly talk show where we only discuss Weezer things. Podcast CEOs: Our starting pay rates are very reasonable.) Weezer's 2011-2016 era wasn't so bad compared to the devastatingly grating 2004-2010 era. "King Of The World" could have been a decent Maladroit follow-up single. (A lot of people really love "Beverly Hills" for some reason even though it's just kinda okay. "King Of The World" is objectively better.) // Not sure what else to discuss, but we do enjoy this picture of Weezer (minus Rivers and Pat Wilson) accepting an award for "Buddy Holly" at the VMAs in 1995. (
In 1970, John Lennon wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered "Instant Karma!" with Phil Spector over the course of a single day (January 27th). Its 7-inch was released on vinyl 10 days later, February 6th. It reached #3 on the US charts, went platinum by the year's end, has appeared in Nike commercials and is considered among his most revered hit songs. 
There are fewer charting hits now than at any point since the '60s. Placing blame on playlisting is slowly making more and more sense, as Billboard's own "Hot 100" Spotify playlist contains streams that count toward their own chart results. (How is this not a problem again?) And with so few of those charting hits resembling anything that could be described as "fun," it's incredible that wedding bands and bar bands can still add current charting songs that feel reasonably multi-generational to their repertoires. A few weeks ago at a town fair, we heard a cover band begin their set with "24k Magic" and "Cake By The Ocean" (followed by "Rude," "Locked Out Of Heaven," "Uptown Funk" and 3 hours of '70s/'80s covers). Even Mr. Garrison was feeling DNCE this year. Keep the party alive.
Is this the first time Elton John and Busta Rhymes were on the same song? We should Google this, but we'd rather leave the question open for now.
What's the significance of the recorder?
The most important Twitter moment of 2016 was obviously 
The word "Wormed" keeps reminding us of the word "Marooned," which is also the title of what we thought at the time (age 12) was the most disturbing season 1 episode of Ren & Stimpy or any of the more warped Commander Höek and Cadet Stimpy adventures, like the one when their molecules began to dissipate throughout the atmosphere. We want to believe that John K. is a Wormed fan. We really do.