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Top 40 Tracks of 2019

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6RvJKcx2aPZbQv93RQHj1J?si=z7_Z3l5lTOOeRhc0WS0bLQ

Kids - PUP Is a list of songs reflective of where I feel my year has been? Or are they aspirational to where I want the next year to go? It feels like a bit of both. I don’t even remember what was going on the month I stumbled on this song but I know I was feeling bad at times and playing this song at full volume in my car and shouting along really made me feel better. "I should have tapped out/given in to my demons" says so much with so few words. I’m not into punk but if it was all like this I would be.

It Might Be Time - Tame Impala The drums sound like When The Levee Breaks, aka the best sounding drums of all time. Through the transitive property, this track kicks ass. Also love it when an exciting song has a dour message about getting old letting the dream of the eternal party die.

Paramour - Anna Meredith This song is so kinetic and exciting on its own and then I found out Anna Meredith is a composer with an OBE and did the soundtrack for Eighth Grade. She seems cool. Also from 3:25 on this song absolutely slays - a drop, a squealing 80s guitar solo, and then this devastating beat... you gotta love it.

Younger - The Mountain Goats John Darnielle is obviously a real lyrics wiz but this one especially really does feel like it's from a Dungeons and Dragons game. It actually reminds me of this comic called Head Lopper which is sort of an encapsulation of every swords and sorcery fantasy wrapped into one. The bassline gives so much space in the verses and when those backing vocals come in with the chorus things really feel epic. Also, gotta respect the sax solo.

Frontier - Holly Herndon I'm already obsessed with Shape Singing, so of course I was on board in the first ten seconds. On top of that Holly taught an A.I. to add tracks using human voices, and then she went back to the root traditions of songwriting to write a song about climate change?!?! Incredible. I was talking to my brother about this track and he brought up the fact that the lyrics seem to pit both older generations and the Earth itself as antagonistic toward the listener. "This Earth doesn't care for what we need, what we breathe/A frontier of green or of dust" What a call to action. I can just imagine a remnant of humanity singing this in caves 400 years from now once the wasteland is scoured clean.

Pressure To Party - Julia Jacklin How are all of these Australians so good at making pop-rock all of a sudden? I saw Julia Jacklin play at The Cedar last month and she was so pleasant and nice and this song was the closer because of course it was. What a beautiful song, the melody is perfect.

The Barrel - Aldous Harding This one was a surprise when I was putting the playlist together. I had completely forgotten about it but it's just an incredible groove and her voice is so clear and nice. The weird high talky voice coming in on the third chorus is the exact type of left-field choice I want in a song.

If You Want It - Jay Som This was playing in the background of a coffee shop and when the solo comes in at 1:35 I literally dropped everything and pulled up Shazam to figure out what I was listening to.

Heavy Heavy - Pom Pom Squad Every once in a while an artist just hits a rich vein of angst in the songwriting mines and Pom Pom Squad hit the motherlode. The build on this song destroys me.

Proud - The Nunnery I saw The Nunnery twice this year and both times I was blown away. She loops every track live almost effortlessly. This one is about how she's proud of you for getting out of your house.

Mine Right Now - Sigrid I hope when Sigrid came up with the chorus for this song she took herself out for an expensive meal.

Whitsand Bay - Metronomy An album that snuck in near the end of the year. This feels like a throwback to 2010, which I will not explain any further.

Chain Reaction - Control Top Wow this song really kicks ass!!!! The lyrics feel like a parody somehow but actually they're perfect?!

Bratebrann - Kvelertak I have loved these guys for a long time and got to seen them in Chicago back in 2014. They are getting less metal and more rock and I don't hate it! I always forget how good every metal drummer is and then a song like this comes along and I'm air drumming along with them.

Larry, Sleepover Friend - Ecce Shnak What the hell is this song even? I have no idea why I like this weird operatic nonsense but this track specifically gets me. The rest of their stuff is not interesting in any way but sometimes an artist can write some weird perfect single and this is one of them.

NICE OUT - Kilo Kish Weird minor key pop should be a bigger genre.

So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings - Caroline Polachek This title makes me laugh, and quite frankly Caroline wrote a better Haim song than the girls from Haim.

Drunk II - Mannequin Pussy "And everyone says to me, 'Missy you're so strong' but what if I don't wanna be?" UGH AMAZING

Hungry Child - Hot Chip Hot Chip releases an album every couple years like clockwork and on every album there are at least 2 songs that go into the all-time great Hot Chip songs. Their Greatest Hits album would be unbelievable.

Turning - Ben Noble Apparently a Minneapolis local! What a groove this song gets into!

Lark - Angel Olsen I know I'm supposed to hold up Burn Your Fire No Witness as a landmark all-time album but honestly I think it's super boring. Then Lauren played this song for me when we were on a long road trip and I had to stop and ask who we were listening to because I was so stunned. More music should have a string section.

The other 20 songs are great too but I’m lazy!

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The Forging of the Sampo by Gallen Kallela