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 |
Entitled fans on Twitter need to drop this imaginary idea that Grammy voters are obligated to acknowledge the previous year's best music. Grammy voters don't read your thinkpieces and give zero fucks about live tweets. This is the same organization that once named Starlight Vocal Band their Best New Artist. Their first ever Best Metal award went to Jethro Tull (who won against Metallica). They claimed that a Steely Dan reunion album from 2000 was more deserving of Best Album than Radiohead or Eminem. So why in the world would anyone think that anyone other than Bruno Mars was going to walk away with Album, Record and Song of the Year? And why is it worth complaining about publicly? Are people really that bored? How embarrassing does our culture need to get before Twitter stops giving more power to awards show committees? Wasn't it great in the '90s when bands like Soundgarden or Beck or Fiona Apple did not thank God or the fans but instead would accept their award by saying how meaningless it was? (P.S. We kept hearing a version of "That's What I Like It" with Gucci Mane thinking this was the version that got played on the iHeartRadio but forgetting that this was probably the version that got played on Hot 97. And we were ready to say "So the Grammy voters will actually award a song that includes rapping," but it didn't actually include any rap so that sucks.)
Queens and Desert Sessions had a consistently outstanding run of dopeness between 1997 and 2008. With over a full decade since their last essential recordings, their graceful coast through "legacy band" stature received its first truly major speed bump in December when Josh Homme instinctively assaulted a concert photographer mid-set. Josh has gotten away with being a fucking asshole for long enough. Perhaps he should consider avoiding stupid fucking mistakes like this in the future. As for "The Evil Has Landed," it's probably the weakest standout track from any QOTSA album, but a standout nonetheless. 
Is it possible for radio-country to return to the dopeness of the shit kickin' '70s and further from power-country? We were ready to call Willie "The last living Highwayman," but it turns out that Kris Kristofferson is still alive. Whoops. Margo needs a few more hits, and country radio will likely oblige if given enough time. We know he has new music out almost every year, but Willie's voice feels like a revelation in this song. It makes you wanna shout "YES."
As an album preview, "Way Back" felt like false advertising. It's the record's only moment that resembles classic LaFace. We suspected that Organized Noize may have been responsible for the song's production, but two millennial-age writers and producers threw this one together instead. Snoop's verse may have kept the song off of some R&B stations, not unlike "Waterfalls" - 22 years later, R&B stations still insist on playing the rapless edit. Why should "Way Back" be any different? Some things never change.
Her first album in 5 years was previewed with a video shot on VHS for a low key and uncharacteristically chill pop song that had pretty much no shot at chart success. After some soul searching, she realized that conforming to 2017 chart pop was not in her best interests. Plus, she's Nelly Furtado so she can do whatever the hell she wants either way. There are 4 or 5 other songs that would have been more immediately catchy lead singles, but she deliberately moved in the opposite direction. No push to radio. Released in Q1. No end of year lists. Fuck the charts. She got exactly what she wanted.
"I Believe In A Thing Called Love" charted and was played on MTV during an era that does not feel especially distant, although most music fans seem unaware that The Darkness still exists. The lack of adventure inherent within current programming all but guarantees that The Darkness will never chart with another single. But for fans of Permission To Land and One Way Ticket who might be interested, these two songs are probably the best singles they've released in over 10 years. 
Not a joke: It was recently announced that "Perplexing Pegasus" was not only an album preview, but a triple-album preview. So now that "Black Beatles" has cemented Sremm's legacy as "no longer one-album-wonders," one would think they might want to generate a less obnoxious jump to "career artist" status. All Things Must Pass was the only time this worked (although weirdly Speakerboxxx/The Love Below would probably have been more palatable as a triple-album, with 45-50 minutes per disc instead of 2 dauntingly giant 79 minute CDs, which still wasn't enough to fit the album's final song). The average millennial attention span will likely not be able to hold up for three LPs worth of Rae Sremmurd. P.S. This will probably also be the 1st triple-album in the history of pop music to include zero odd "Revolution 9" experiments or crazy jam sessions. Prove us wrong please.
Pour one out for Doe B. Hazy sadness permeates the hiphop community mourning what may have evolved into a much larger career. A string of remixes and mixtape cuts followed in the aftermath of “Let Me Find Out (Remix),” supplying the proof that he was worth such a tribute. Social media provides immediacy in our recent discoveries, although Doe B, T.I. and Juicy J concern themselves with dark discoveries that might be revealed in person (or through texting): “Let me find out you puttin' molly all in that champagne and she don't even know” implies the lowest scum. The unfortunate realities of trap life don't always reveal the lightest subject matter. 
In Groundhog Day (directed by the late, great Harold Ramis), Bill Murray struggles to grasp his overwhelming superpowers: “I am a God. I'm not THE God - I don't think - but I'm A God.” Kanye seems far more comfortable with his similar position of power, approaching yet another item to cross from his extensively absurd bucket list: standing elevated in New York City above a mile-deep crowd and screaming “I am a God" through a PA system. This might imply the logical continuation that began in 2010 with “No one man should have all that power.” “I Am a God” signifies the moment when someone realizes they might be uncontrollably drunk with power, recognizing the bizarre reality of their existence. Beyonce experienced a similar fate, probably around the time where she admitted via Youtube, "I am more powerful than my mind can digest or understand." The video may have been yanked, but she's clearly in the same boat (or yacht, whatever).
A math rock band who used to worship Drive Like Jehu discovers Satan. The results are otherworldly - a creepily warped or even psychedelic version of hell . Descending dissonant chords emit the aura of dark, confusing chaos. Atmosphere aside, the songwriting on this record displays nothing less than killer craftsmanship, with “Haunting Sense” ruling hard as the feared dark lord within its universe. Thou shalt sacrifice a goat on the sixth hour of the sixth day in the sixth month. Victory is ours.
“I think it's kind of a ripoff of a Mannequin Pussy song,” admits Owen Gruesome, guitarist from Joanna Gruesome and songwriter of the sludgy and pensive “Wussy Void,” one of the defining slacker-anthems of the year. A few nights ago, we sat down with Owen, lead vocalist Alanna McArdle and lead guitarist George Nicholls, prior to a recent sold out UK concert, for our big exclusive interview:
What might have been intended as Fat's swansong turned into a new era for Jeff Meff. "Sad History Month" boasts closer production value to Fat's pre-hiatus LP, thanks to Philly's most badass sound engineers Dan Angel and James Ryskalchick. But the song's first half is injected with so much sludgy drone and teetering distorted piano octaves that one might not decipher any difference from their earlier self-produced material. Halfway through a particularly rough hospital visit, overbearingly chaotic brain chemicals surge. Devastatingly gothic drones give way to a sunrise that doesn't signal a new dawn. The sun is completely up in flames as a pensive morning arrives. The previously painful stabbing piano re-enters with clarity, but slowly builds in intensity. Curious grinding noises emerge within the final few seconds before an abrupt cut to silence.
We forgot where we heard this quote, but a wise man once noted that the scariest moment in a suspense thriller isn't when the monster or killer is slicing and dicing, but rather the moment of anticipation. It's that gripping moment just as the door handle starts to turn in slow motion. With that said, “Sin Guia, No” could have easily fit onto the soundtrack of a suspenseful 60s spy movie (or in a vaguely similar art-house film like Blow Up or something). The atmosphere surrounding Juana increases in intensity throughout the song's 5 minutes. As the enemy suddenly catches onto our hero's scheme, sexy-spy will need to think fast in order to avert the situation.
Did we mention yet that this was the first Queens album with no re-recordings? In its place, they've cranked the “David Bowie” knob far louder than on previous releases, although certain circles may have noted a sudden resemblance to Pile's Dripping LP from 2012. The entire calendar year of 2013 progressed with no new music from Pile, who have since admitted strong influence from Josh Homme and Dave Grohl, fused with their own personalized flair. Perhaps coincidentally, this flair appears generously within “My God is the Sun,” perhaps the biggest hit song Pile never had. Is it possible that Grohl places Kris Kuss among his drumming contemporaries? Does Josh Homme's current phase of songwriting include Pile among his same echoes of influence that Brian Wilson offered Paul McCartney, in turn offering influence to Brian Jones and Keith Richards? And most importantly, when will the QOTSA/Pile tour pummel across the United States and beyond? All this and more will be answered in due time.
Dreamy teenage-slack and slo-mo weed haze saturates Jackson Scott's 2013 output. His one-man-band uses home recording equipment in a similar style to Mac Demarco's first 2 albums, striking his instruments very quietly and compressed with just enough reverb to evoke gentle dreamy immersion. Even the nearly whispered double-layer vocals don't know their own strength, as if they may push over large furniture without really trying. He should also be commended for the best usage of Christmas bells since prior to indie-rock's hokey 2007-era fascination with glockenspiel. “Evie” and the unfortunately titled “Sandy” are his catchiest early standouts, while “That Awful Sound” may best represent Jackson's charmingly lazy naivety.
Nigel Godrich's contributions to Pavement's Terror Twilight seem especially prevalent in the pristine clarity of “Wakin' on a Pretty Day,” the ultimate wake and bake jam of 2013. The atmosphere strongly evokes clear summer morning skies accompanied by the satisfaction one may receive from a morning coffee and/or cigarette (or in Kurt Vile's case, the stoned-wisdom perspective). Forget about your cellphone for a few hours. Step away from immediacy and urgency. Allow the next two minutes to feel like 20 and simply enjoy the feeling of being alive in a perfect moment alone. 
We'll have to apologize for indulging yet another Connections/Bob Pollard comparison, even though nothing else on their LP raises more suspicions than “1980 Called.” We'd like the think the song title partially disses the overwhelmingly pushy marketing tactic of equating modern music to previous styles or eras. The differences are both subtle and crucial: Connections slightly buries their lyrics in delay, while Pollard typically pushes lyrics closer to the forefront, emphasizing melodic hooks alongside enunciation. The next great Ohio band has arrived.
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.
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.
A guilty pleasure discovery from 
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.
...Like Clockwork turned out to be the first Queens album with no re-recordings of previously released non-album tracks. (Last year, 
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. 