We don't remember how this was found but it's in reference to some other blog...
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| All 100 Songs |
60. Wicca Phase Springs Eternal “I Fell” / Code Orange “Let Me In”
As Bray Wyatt seized responsibility to turn up the horrorcore to 11 and usher his re-brand as The Fiend, he realized his previous entrance from The Jesus and Mary Chain would not be easy to follow. Wisely selected, Code Orange surpassed all expectations with bludgeoning grace. But our favorite between these two might be Darby Allin's "I Fell," arguably the best Marilyn Manson jam of the 2010s (fake Manson or otherwise). In the highly unlikely event of Darby and Fiend facing each other in the ring, we'd sadly place 4 to 5 odds in favor of The Fiend, although an upset would not disappoint.59. Blood Incantation “Inner Paths (To Outer Space)”
Blood Incantation's "Great Gig In The Sky," the growing meditative mid-LP noise crusher. In Jayson Greene's review, he quotes the band saying it was “improvised 'on psychedelics over a period of several months' [evolving] entirely in unexpected leaps, dissolving into synthesizer washes and backmasked guitars and then plunging ahead, again, stirring up the primordial ooze."58. Young Guv “Patterns Prevail”
Me and the boys.
57. Maren Morris “Girl”
Without hyperbole, our hopes for the Hero follow up were higher than Obama's cocaine blunts on a sunny Sunday 4:20. This means the hopes were very high. Criminally underrated (as was the case with far too many 2010s LPs), Hero is a rare "11 songs 11 singles" record that happened maybe once-per-year in the 2010s. In the meantime, we pretended "The Middle" didn't suck and maintained optimism. Now that she has an actual hit, this could potentially lead to huge crossover jams. We're gonna give Maren benefit of the doubt here. She's talented enough to write another Hero, so it must be the label's fault. "Can you make these songs suck more?" The power ballad title track sadly ended up as Girl's best song, eventually spinning on a 2-3 day loop in our brain-chemical-controlled playlist, so that should count for something. ("The Bones" is also fine and would have placed in the 101-200 range.)56. Jute Gyte “Dissected Grace”
55. Ariana Grande f/ Social House “Boyfriend”
Time once again to reiterate how many years since summer radio drives didn't suck. Since we recall Summer 2013 so fondly, we're guessing it might have been the last decent summer for Top 40. It was the summer of "#Beautiful" and "The Way," Mariah Carey's final summer song and Ariana Grande's breakthrough single. We're guessing Mariah's diva/narcissist tendencies might prevent any officially cosigned "passing of the torch" moment, but Ariana Grande's singles have filled the void ever since, peaking in 2018 with "No Tears Left To Cry." Thank U Next dropped so quickly afterwards, leaving the summer radio landscape wide open. Social House saw their opportunity to capitalize with an obvious "Thank U Next" ripoff, and thank the good lord they did. We needed it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SRxBTtspYM
54. (Sandy) Alex G “Gretel”
53. Purple Mountains “All My Happiness Is Gone”
52. Carly Rae Jepsen “I’ll Be Your Girl”
Hot challenge: Locate the true 3/4 waltzes of chart hits. Apparently, Ed Sheeran had a huge hit about two years ago with a song called "Perfect" that was the 15th biggest song of the decade. We love "Kiss From A Rose" and "Iris." We do not love Edwin McCain or Lifehouse. An old Paramore single called "The Only Exception" came up. Question: What do all of these tracks have in common? The answer: Despite Google's insistence, none of these are true waltzes. They're all played in a slow 6/8 emphasizing kick on the 1 and snare on the 2 -- a less challenging time signature to market and sell to the shmaltz-core wedding-ballad demographic. Both a true waltz and decidedly non-shmaltz, "I'll Be Your Girl" uses the odd timing to hint an overtone of endearing awkwardness. A long time ago in the midst of Weezer's 6/8-heavy Pinkerton era, "No Other One" became their lone true waltz - equally endearing and awkward, but way clumsier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqBGjbpzpl4
51. CZ Wang and Neo Image f/ Separated At Birth “Just Off Wave”
50. MGMT “In The Afternoon”
Faint / Up against your way-hail / Through the thick and thayl / You will wait untay-hayl
49. Vertical Scratchers “Song of Earth”
48. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib “Crime Pays”
47. Nudie Mag “Please Be The One”
46. Palehound “Urban Drip”
Fun game: Sing Steve Lacy's "Playground" replacing the word "Playground" for "Palehound." Lemme tell ya somethin: this thing works. (Note: We have never tried this.)Part of us is hoping that we never figure out the mysteriously specific but hard-to-place production reference in "Urban Drip." It's definitely from a singer-songwriter late-'60s or '70s, ie, Wings, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, etc. Whatever it is, we haven't heard any other band nail it with as much conviction in the past 3 or 4 decades of music. Serious skillz to pay the billz.
45. Fury “Angels Over Berlin”
44. Desert Sessions “Something You Can’t See”
Scissor Sisters dude sings this one. We forget which one he is. Pretty sure we liked this better than Like Clockwork or Villians. We're curious to know, what exactly are the 11 or 12 people involved in this project so busy with? What was preventing them from carving out an extra week or two so that the first Desert Sessions record since 2003 didn't have to be 7-and-a-half songs long? Where's the love? Can they do another one of these ASAP?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8XIOz5E5ug
43. Maneka “Time In the Barrel”
Maneka has played "Time In The Barrel" live only once, at their album release show last July. Can they bring it back? No one minds that the one little part sounds like "Drain You." In fact, the jam holds up, especially the free noise section in the middle. A Rick and Morty reference regarding cancel-culture may or may not have influenced the song title and lyrics, although we had trouble locating a more specific origin. No disrespect to Jim Croce. Meanwhile, Bojack (the character, not the show) got sentenced to some literal-ass barrel time, with Princess Carolyn erroneously theorizing that "people forget." [Kobe rant redacted.] Yeah anyway... Maneka! Great band! Serious bangers! Open up the pit!42. DaBaby “BOP”
41. Hatchie “Without A Blush” / Hatchie “Unwanted Guest”
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| All 100 Songs |
"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.
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 
Earlier this year, 
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."
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.
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. 
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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 
"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.
The kids can tell when journalists try to coin a trend and fail. For 3 days in August 2016, the phrase "millennial whoop" appeared in a few headlines referring to wordless choruses of oo's or oa's sung to unimaginatively simple major-chord melodies. Since August, no one dared utter this horrendously embarrassing phrase ever again. And what's worse, one of the examples cited by The Guardian and Youtube was Frank Ocean's "Ivy," a genuinely good song that has almost nothing in common with anything else cited -- especially since IT HAS NO CHORUS. The bad example that ruined the hypothesis.
"Lately, I can't even look at my mother without wanting to stab her repeatedly." Television should never, EVER reboot My So-Called Life. But in the hypothetical universe where this is somehow a good idea, Field Mouse should be somewhere on the soundtrack in one of the scenes where Angela turns up the volume knob on her combination-CD-player-alarm-clock in an effort to rebel against the stronghand of Mom & Dad.
Now 20 years after Beavis & Butthead's proper series finale, any bands lucky enough to have their video critiqued (even if B&B thought it sucked) should still be asked for a reaction. They're a part of history now. Chavez is a special case, since they're possibly the only instance where Mike Judge now works alongside one of the band members (on Silicon Valley). 
“It’s been a while. Lots to talk about. I’m glad you’re still here.” Wait, so she's singing to the listener? Hey, that's pretty cool, although it might be less awkward if we pretend she's still singing to that dude from the "Anytime Anyplace" video. P.S. Her best Diana Ross tribute since "Doesn't Really Matter."
An extreme juxtaposition: On one side, this is an incredibly musical punk song with an intro that sounds like it might be paying homage to The Smithereens or Marshall Crenshaw. Nine seconds later, all hell will break loose. *SCREEEEEEAM.* Don't get it twisted: "I Fucking Hate Sports" isn't rage based around misplaced teen angst. It's a depressingly intense frustration with an inability to find a place that fits. And yes, catharsis helps.
Hey, Carly Rae likes you. She really, really, really, really likes you. She told us. And her smiley repetition isn't just confined to single word mantras. "One more time" singalongs strategically recur throughout E•MO•TION, and the "Making the Most" instance is probably the one where we wish she had opted for a hint of variance. It feels like 80% chorus, but it's perfectly structured otherwise: The bridge builds to a grand slam, representing the pinnacle of Carly Rae's big night. The last 15 seconds utilize "the ominous minor-key outro" motif, a cue that may or may not have derived from "Lovefool." It goes by quick, but it might be the most mysteriously satisfying moment from any recent pop record.
How exactly did this song generate such a viciously negative reaction? Are we crazy? Was this the No Jacket Required of 2015? As a standalone single without the context of the three names attached, there's really nothing objectively shitty about it. Had it been sung by Taylor Swift or that Shotgun Annies thing (or whatever Miranda Lambert's group is called), it would have been heard by completely different people, framed in a different context and thus judged as a song instead of a headline. And besides, we'd rather hear Rihanna sing something like this than almost any modern country singer. It's probably the only recent simple-guitar-&-vocals jam we can recall with so many buried weird noises. 
We have no "Best shows we saw in 2015" list this year. But Beak> in Bristol would have been an easy #1. We imagine this show had almost nothing in common with 
Sigur Ros goes pop. Slow motion playgrounds. 55 degrees. Overcast skies. Beach Music sounds very "rite of passage." "Thorns" specifically is the earliest point in someone's life when they can observe a sunset or a cloud formation and perceive it as a perfect gift. The song's cryptic lyrics and title suggest an allure that leads to prickly stings. 
Winner of the "Best Song Called 'Hello' of the Year" Award. Without releasing any new albums or singles of his own between 2004 and 2009, Andre 3000 remained the grand champion of guest rappers. His effortless flow assisted jams like 
Jute Gyte's impressively prolific catalog of free Bandcamp releases focuses on two genres: Blackmetal and ambient. The whole of his blackmetal catalog resembles a balloon with a diameter of several lightyears infinitely expanding far past what was previously deemed imaginable. In this case, it's the first noisy blackmetal on our radar that features a creepily sped-up series of music boxes played simultaneously, with rhythm and atonal dissonance occurring by virtue of controlled chaos. 
"Sour diesel" refers to a weed strain. Thank you Rap Genius. When old people complain "there's no good rap anymore," please remind them that Redman still fills his albums with classic-sounding jams, just as high quality as his radio hits from 1995. Some artists prefer to change with the times, while others aren't finished exploring the sounds that earned them their original fanbase. 
Earworm alert: That 16-note intro tends to stick. Class of 2015’s singer-songwriter VIPs not only fuel our hope for the future of this genre but lead the pack with a notable lack of pretention unseen since at least 15 years ago. Out of all of them (which includes names like Alex Giannascoli and Taylor Ross), Ellen Kempner’s songwriting development - dating back to 
The vocals seem vulnerable to analog peaking upon entering the red. We highly doubt any of the music on E•MO•TION was taped, but this one aspect (also obvious on a few other songs) raises our suspicions. Also, the Rap Geniuses revealed that two of this song's co-writers were formerly in Boston's own The Click Five, who along with Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger are responsible for 
The waging war in this humble place against the forces of darkness where Satan's seed is, the zip code of this evil place is the mark of the beast: 666. The ritual begins slowly, working around the circular room. After all 33 candles are lit, the dark spirits may receive the signal to enter. A slow, dark mass fills the atmosphere, overtaking everything in its path with spirits working their way in and out, left and right. There's no escaping it. "Slow Death," The Deadbeats' finest epic, is the opposite of an exorcism. It invites the demons in. [Note: The song is actually so satanic that it's one of the few jams on Hot Mix 2015 completely unavailable outside of legal streaming services.]
Make way for Bristol's smiley-est rock band as they challenge the punk aesthetic and stretch the rules of what to expect from a punk 4-piece. Their records proudly insert elements from not only UK-punk but also power-pop, grunge, and campfire singalongs. The key-change in "Dreams" is one of their catchiest moments, kinda like how Ash used to do it back in the mid-'90s on singles like 
A good old fashioned punk-rock double LP finally graces its presence upon the 2010s. Forgive us, but records like Screaming Females' Ugly from 2012 always kinda felt more like a CD-length album expanded to 2 LPs, while Tenement's Predatory Headlights actually feels like a sprawling magnum opus a la Zen Arcade complete with odd experiments and a well-paced tracklisting. It's a grand and impressive complete statement, which might be why we've yet to notice many reviewers cherry picking their own personal stand-outs. We're nerdy for singles though, and plus we still make mixtapes. Gravitating towards the late-'70s Americana of "You Keep Me Cool" was def a cool selection for some fiery summer mixes. Or wait, maybe it was a hot selection for some icy mixes?
Thanks to "Get Paid," fans of 1998's "bounce rap" trend might be more hopeful than usual for its big 2016 comeback. Sources have speculated that Jay-Z's forthcoming 2016 hit single "Can I Get A (Part 2)" will include the lyric "Can i get a part two?"* while Mariah Carey plans to revisit her "evil bizarro" counterpart previously featured in the video for 1999's "Heartbreaker."* Rap and pop might actually get fun and adventurous again. Also we thought Vince was saying "pocket fulla lean" which is a phrase that apparently doesn't mean anything, but it sounded cool at the time. 
"With an 'S' on your chest / You're feeling like a God." Political or no? Or maybe it's about Anthony Kiedis? You decide. There have been plenty of "why did they even bother" type of reunion records in the past couple years, with Indy Cindy and now Compton as two of the most baffling offenders. Sol Invictus (along with Failure's album released around the same time) was this year's rare instance of a "'90s reunion" record that didn't allow an extended hiatus to stain their nearly flawless discography. Overcoming the odds seems to be a huge factor in these reunions. So now, what's gonna happen with Mr. Bungle? Bare in mind that Trey Spruance DID in fact join FNM to perform King For A Day in its entirely back in 2011, somewhat increasing the almost non-existent odds that a Mr. Bungle reunion might ever happen within our lifetime. 
The salt imagery feels closely related to its album title, Beach Music. So it's possible that "Salt" is the key to this entire record, tying together its surrounding jams with its hugely nostalgic slow-motion cascades of rhythm and melody. Tween-life is when innocent crushes might feel the scariest. It's when friends ride bikes through the woods or down narrow alleys. It's the thrill of discovery and uncertainty and videogames and touching boobs. Not necessarily summery, but definitely full of memories and the creation of future memories. Alex G's records are all the better for including his atypical curveball jams, and "Salt" might be among the very best of those.
Congratulations to Stove, recipient of our coveted "Most Amazing Song Intro of 2015" award. Who knows what was contained within those libations, but the song's fire seems indebted, somewhat mirroring its themes of "wondering if you've made the right choices" and "deciding if it's too late to change" (not too far off from what might have informed Stove's recent re-branding). It doesn't matter if it's called Stove or Ovlov or McGuirk or Guitarmageddon, as long as it's got that smooth Stove seal of approval. That's how you know you're fucking with a quality-ass product. "Jock Dreams" highlights a very strong Side B with all those classic Stove moves you've grown to love over the years.
This contains possibly the darkness beat of 2015, sampled from The Velvet Underground and Nico of all places. But even with that in mind, the most surprising aspect of "Ask Charlamagne" is that Waka Flocka hasn't released a truly great song in over 5 years. We were certain that he had quietly retreated to the has-been camp, content with his unremarkable mixtapes and the millions of dollars he earned from "Hard In The Paint" and "No Hands." His official comeback begins now: "Ask Charlamagne" might be the best song this dude's ever laid to tape, his flow and swagger seemingly reinvented. It's the sound of someone who's had enough of wackness and fakeness, desperate to break away from a trap of cliches, no longer mired in self-parody. We're suddenly (shockingly) very excited for Flockaveli 2.
Track 3 is called "Under Control," while the chorus of track 4 includes the phrase "lose control." So it's possible that these two songs represent the ying and yang of Ego Death, one of the most oddly slept-on releases of 2015, front-loaded with 4 of the absolute best soul jams of the 2010s so far. The sensuous and sultry "Under Control" might have the record's best-sounding live instrumentation, while "Go With It" is anchored by one of the year's best basslines, recommended for any fans of Big Boi & Andre's "Royal Flush."