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theholidaytracklist · 5 years

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50 Tracks 2019

Welcome!! This is your annual installment of 50 Tracks, the musical greeting card to all of my favorite people both near and far. I hope that you and yours have been enjoying the holiday season, the brightness of the lights in the cold of winter, and the warm comforts of steady tradition. May you carry this joy into the boundless opportunity of the new year!

2019 was similar to its predecessor in that it was short on truly great music but deep in really good music, though I think there was actually more depth in album quality this year than last. As I say every year, music continues to be a mirror for where we are individually and as a world, so it’s no surprise that many of the artists I chose to select here are echoing the dynamics I find myself exploring in the twilight of 2019: feelings of uncertainty, existential dread, hedonistic joy, comic apathy, anger and catharsis, obstacles of love, wavering currents of hope. As I age I recognize more and more the way that music can act as a prism through which my emotional thought is refracted and colored, and I am both unsettled by the distorting impact that may have on my perspective, as well as being in awe of the tidal force that it plays in my understanding of the world around me. I hope at least one of these songs or artists can have that level of impact on you as well.

As always, the list is limited to one entry per artist. It was frequently challenging to choose one song to represent the impact that many of these cohesive albums had on me this year, so when the featured artist had multiple songs that were among my favorites of the year, those additional songs will be denoted below the main entry in [Brackets]. Click on the bolded song titles to open the accompanying YouTube video. Enjoy!

Honorable Mentions:

Chromatics - Closer To Grey

We’ll start things off with the washed out driving electronics of Portland quartet Chromatics, who dropped a surprise seventh album in October, also titled Closer to Grey. Always good to set a mood, Johnny Jewel and company deliver another gem here, perfectly scoring my snowed-out back road wanderings this winter.

Clams Casino - Rune

Now almost 10 years into a career that has already seen a remarkable amount of both commercial and critical high notes, New Jersey producer Clams Casino continues to be central in forming hip hop’s next waves. Returning with only his second proper studio album, November's Moon Trip Radio was another dive into his ambient side, ripe with both churning anthems like Rune and delicate moments that feel like watching butterflies flutter about in the sun.

[Twilit]

Crumb - Fall Down

Crumb is a wonderful indie-psych quartet of Brooklyn-based musicians who formed while attending Tufts University right in my backyard. The band quickly received some strong buzz with 2017’s Locket, and followed that up with their first full-length project Jinx this June. That record is stocked with fuzzy little tunnels of sound, with Fall Down being my personal favorite.

JPEGMAFIA - Jesus Forgive Me, I Am A Thot

I've been aware of the artist affectionately known as Peggy for the last couple of years, and while I didn't see last year's Veteran as the achievement some felt it was, I definitely respect the creativity, individuality, and force of the man as an artist. With the attitude of a punkster, a sample folder of the Gods, and a sound born in the deepest cockles of the internet, one of JPEGMafia’s greatest strengths is just how much he attacks you with his musical vision. It’s never worked as well as it does here on the whip-tight energy of Jesus Forgive Me I Am A Thot.

Mannequin Pussy - Drunk II

I'm not even going to try to defend this band name, it's one of the worst I've ever come across. That said, the Philly foursome are proving three albums into their young career that their music can be just as affecting, with lead singer Marisa Dabice delivering a powerhouse turn here with her desperate musings on Drunk II.

Mariah The Scientist - Beetlejuice

I still know very little about Atlanta R&B singer Mariah The Scientist, and the lack of overall noise about the 21 year-old fits with the somewhat strangely elusive feel of Beetlejuice off her August debut Master. On the one hand her age, the look of this video, and her connection to Tory Lanez paint the picture of an R&B B-level flash. And yet the measured power in her voice here, the patience of the production (those drums wait until 1:40 to kick in), and the way her jaded lyrics feel decidedly genuine all point towards a much more promising young artist.

Sir - Mood (ft. Zacari)

A stand out from Inglewoed singer and TDE artist Sir’s latest Chasing Summer, Mood is the well-balanced poolside cocktail for your taste buds. Here the hook comes from label-mate Zacari, who provided a similar garnish for Kendrick on 2017’s Love, and had his own song in contention with Don’t Trip from back in the spring.

Smino - Klink

It feels like Smino’s hip-hop sensibilities are all very relevant to the collective sound in 2020, which might be part of the reason (writing killer hooks always helps) the St. Louis rapper is as well-connected in the community as he is. With ties to Dreamville and everyone in the Chicago scene, Smino blends influences like Nelly, Outkast, Ludacris, and Bone Thugs with his own cartoon flow to create something unique on every feature. I’m stoked to see him and 50 Track alums No Name and Saba join up for more music together as Ghetto Sage in 2020.

Spirit Family Reunion - Come Our Way

Spirit Family Reunion gave us another fulfilling entry into their version of the American Songbook this year with August's Ride Free, the Brooklyn band’s third stellar LP of traditional folk/bluegrass/gospel music. This album saw Nick Panken and friends share a little more of themselves and their view on the state of the world in 2019, with some of that slow entropy leaking into the easy country road malaise of Come Our Way.

Zsela - Noise

Zsela is 24-year old Zsela Thompson, half-sister of actress Tessa Thompson and currently unknown darling of the music/fashion world, releasing hauntingly composed folk ballads and then playing sets on runways, in moody bars, and in quiet churches. Both Noise and Earlier Days made a strong impression on me this year, and if Thompson can approach the heights of current tour mates like Cat Power and Angel Olsen, she’ll be doing just fine.

[Earlier Days]

50.) 03 Greedo & Kenny Beats - Disco Shit (ft. Freddie Gibbs)

03 Greedo hasn't necessarily done much to make me take notice to this point, but as a fan of Kenny Beats (check out his YouTube show The Cave if you haven't) I gave their collaborative album Netflix & Deal a listen, and while this is one of the lone standouts, Greedo might deliver the hook of the year right here. The way his voice hits this beat is butter, and with the bonus of hearing an auto-tuned Gibbs, this one is too good to deny.

49.) Girlpool - What Chaos Is Imaginary

LA duo Girlpool have graced this list a couple of times before, but February's What Chaos Is Imaginary was the first record they've released an album since founding member Avery Tucker's voice became profoundly impacted by hormone therapy. Tucker entered the gender flow in 2017 and has had to cope with the impact that flow has had on his voice, once a huge part of the band’s sonic identity The title track of that record is proof enough of the band’s resilience, with Harmony Tividad’s voice wielding much of that restorative power.

48.) Rich Brian - Yellow (ft. Bekon)

After being somewhat of a meme throw-in in this area of the list with his song Dat Stick (as Rich Chigga) back in 2016, Brian Emmanuel has steadily become a legitimate artist in hip hop, following up 2018’s solid Amen with The Sailor this July. Lead single Yellow is a creative revelation for Brian, introducing a wave of psych elements, the prominence of his singing voice in new ways, and a more direct window into his pain.

47.) Sacred Paws - The Conversation

Indie rock duo Sacred Paws won the Scottish Album of the Year Award with their 2017 debut Strike A Match, and returned with more noodly goodness with May’s Run Around The Sun. The Conversation was just one of a number of tracks on that record with a similar 90s sunshine sensibility that feels so blissfully hopeful and welcome in this era of existentialism in music.

[Almost It] [Brush Your Hair]

46.) Danny Brown - Dirty Laundry

With uknowwhatimsayin, his first record in the shadow of 2016’s Atrocity Exhbition, Danny Brown says his goal was to create a hodge-podge of sounds and ideas, like how when people tack ‘you know what I’m saying?’ to the end of heir sentences they’re usually not saying much. The record comes off sounding much more New York than Detroit, but Danny keeps his manic energy, hitting his spots with a range of humor, wit, and tenacity over Q-Tip led production.

[Best Life] [Change Up] [Combat] [Savage Nomad]

45.) Boy Scouts - All Right

Boy Scouts is Oakland singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Taylor Vick, and her record Free Company made it across my desk relatively late in this process, as her stellar track Get Well Soon graced some other end-of-the-year lists. But it was the chugging blues and golden refrain of All Right, complete with space confetti synths, that really permeated my being. One of those relatively soft songs you can still head bang to.

[Get Well Soon]

44.) Brockhampton - Dearly Departed

Ginger was a step forward for the boys of Brockhampton, even if it failed to reach the same dizzying heights of any of the Saturation trilogy. Still trying to find their footing in the wake of traumatic transition, BH have oscillated between an R&B sound (giving Bearface and Joba more reps and streamlining production) and a gritty oddball sound (more bombastic Romil production with Matt, Meryln, KA, and Dom front and center). Dearly Departed is the emotional centerpiece of Ginger and sees the group confronting the anger and pain that Ameer’s absence has left them with.

[Sugar] [If You Pray Right]

43.) Oso Leone - Virtual U

Virtual U is a sticky ode to modern distance from Barelona-based band Oso Leone, who broke a 5 year fast with their third record Gallery Love back in March. Striking a similar tone as modern bedroom bands like Rhye, with influences from the world of jazz, fusion, and 90’s pop, this one ripples with a meditative swagger.

42.) Pivot Gang - No Vest (ft. Mick Jenkins)

2019 was the year where we finally got a handful of “Crew” records from some of the most vibrant gangs in hip-hop (with Travis’ Jack Boys project only releasing in the days before this was published), and the three big ones all made the list. First up is Pivot Gang, the west-side Chicago clique who have been putting out diverse independent hip-hop for the past ten years. The group lives on without founding member John Walt, who was memorialized in group leader Saba’s tour de force Prom/King from last year. Their first studio album You Can’t Sit With Us is littered with standouts, but here’s the Mick Jenkins featured No Vest, where you get to see all three core members turn a verse.

[Bible] [Mortal Kombat] [Hero]

41.) Kanye West - Follow God

It’s a strange time to be a Kanye fan on the eve of 2020. While he’s (thankfully) not following through on his promise to run for president this coming year, Kanye has continued to thrust himself into the social/political consciousness in recent years, and in increasingly destructive ways. I’ve always been a Kanye defender, partly because I understand the bond bond between art and artist to be inherently tumultuous, and because I’ve seen Kanye as an impulsive, narcissistic, and emotional, but ultimately harmless musical savant, who consistently reinvents himself and pushes genre forward. I thought The Life of Pablo was a flawed masterpiece, and furthered the notion of Kanye as a towering artist, both in reality and inside of his head. His decision to scrap Yandhi and replace it with Jesus is King will become one of the more bizarre ‘what ifs?’ in hip-hop history, and the combination of his pseudo-religiosity and Trumpathy (just made that up) are signs of a man cracking under the weight of his own ‘icon’ obsession. To Kanye, Trump represents the pinnacle of ego achievement, I don’t think he so much endorses the politics as much as he is blinded by the raw power of Trump’s being. As documented in the Jesus is King videos, Kanye is building a rural kingdom in Wyoming, Kardashian clan fully in tow, his personal brand of middle-age dad paranoia melding with the existential paranoia sitting heavy in the 2019 air. But even with all of the baggage he brings these days, Kanye can still make remarkable music. Even at 1:45 Follow God is the standout moment from JiK, but if you want an indication of what the record may have sounded like in the Yandhi alternate timeline, and what this man is still capable of, check out the OG version of Selah linked below or revel in the power of Use This Gospel’s solo (whether you prefer Mike Dean or Kenny G).

[Original Selah] [Use This Gospel]

40.) Gerry Read - It’ll All Be Over (DJ Koze Remix)

This is the second straight year that DJ Koze has made a loop-heavy dance floor smash that begs for repeat plays. Last year it was his Gladys Knight sampling shake of Pick Up and this year it was his re-work of his label signee Gerry Read’s equally groovy It’ll All Be Over that nustled into a warm place in my subconscious.

39.) Dreamville - Costa Rica

Here’s the second crew record to make the list, with the exuberant Costa Rica from Dreamville’s third Revenge of the Dreamers compilation. The last installment of this series was all the way back in 2015 however, and even though label-head J. Cole remains the leader of Dreamville, III is a different monster purely in scale. With a swollen features list, swollen track list, and a stable of new talent since 2015 that includes J.I.D and Earthgang, III is groundbreaking in its consistency and it’s commercial appeal. Alongside posse cuts and introspective bangers, Costa Rica is notable in that it jams 9 artists into three and a half minutes and none of them are named J. Cole.

[Wells Fargo] [Sacrifices]

38.) Joji - Sanctuary

Another memer gone good, Joji made this list for the first time last year with the understated sleeper Test Drive but in 2020 he left twitch subtlety behind for the quiet grandeur of Sanctuary. Appropriately laid over the backdrop of space opera and ruminating on the soul’s solace in love’s intimacy, Sanctuary is a stunning 180 for the man formerly known as Filthy Frank.

37.) Kevin Abstract - Joyride

It’s easy to feel like Brockhampton have been taking their sweet time with their music over the past two years, but the you remember that’s only because they put out three classics in 2017 alone, and then you realize that Kevin Abstact’s Arizona Baby is basically a BH companion record, and they probably scrapped at least two albums worth of music post-Saturation, and you realize the sheer pace these boys are moving at. I personally felt Arizona Baby was a better record pound-for-pound than Ginger, and I think a lot of that is because Romil’s production really shines through, with the horns and atmosphere of Joyride being a great example.

[Baby Boy] [Georgia]

36.) Tame Impala - Borderline

I'm not sure whether or not Kevin Parker is feeling the weight of expectation, but the uncertainty in the rollout for his fourth studio album (appropriately titled The Slow Rush and now scheduled for February) has been interesting to watch. It’s not like an artist of Parker’s caliber to cave under public reception, but it seems like that’s ultimately what happened as he chose to delay the album after playing SNL and initially releasing two singles from the project back in April. While the lead single Patience did feel a bit uninspired, the salt-breeze pop of companion Borderline has been in rotation ever since.

35.) Earthgang - Proud Of U (ft. Young Thug)

It was hard to pick an Earthgang track largely because it’s always hard to pick a Young Thug track. I could have just as easily used this as his entry as well (more from him later), but Thugger and Earthgang deserve their own spot this year, with the latter releasing their major label debut with September’s Mirrorland, a refraction of their vibrant funk-rap. While it may not be the best showcase of the style of Atlanta duo Johnny Venus & Doctur Dot, Proud of U was undeniable this year. More samplings from Mirrorland are linked below, and Venus is featured prominently on Dreamville’s terrific Sacrifices.

[Bank] [This Side] [Top Down]

34.) Florist - Time is a Dark Feeling

Florist graced the list back in 2017 with the serene reflections of What I Wanted to Hold, a collection of polaroids, winter scenes through cold kitchen windows, dreams of warmth. They’ve done it again this year with Time is a Dark Feeling, a contemplation of the void out ahead of us, and the way it clings to your bones with a hollow chill.

33.) Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Crime Pays

5 years after Pinata, the initial studio collaboration of Gary Indiana heavy hitter Freddie Gibbs and legendary producer Madlib, the duo returned for the highly anticipated follow-up Bandana in June. Freddie has been a favorite of mine the past several years and the flow is extra nice over Madlib production, like on the twinkle-laced ‘making it’ anthem Crime Pays. Freddie and Danny Brown both share a love of Midwest disco style, and use their videos to play characters, act goofy, and explore their aesthetic.

[Half Manne Half Cocaine] [Palmolive]

32.) Grace Ives - Mirror

This DIY pop number feels like it just shook itself into existence. It certainly shook itself into my brain this year, and to watch Brooklyn musician Grace Ives perform it, with sudden barks and stops and starts, it feels like it shakes her pretty good too.

31.) Maxo Kream - Meet Again

With his second studio album Brandon Banks Houston MC Maxo Kream shows off one of the best voice/flow combinations in the game, as well as a growing storytelling ability, both on full display here on Meet Again. Maxo uses prison correspondence to paint a picture of his life’s traumas: how money, drugs, and the judicial system have systematically destroyed those around him. You’re left almost as amazed at the story as you the skill with which he tells it.

[Change] [8 Figures]

30.) Daughter Of Swords - Dawnbreaker

Man, the delicacy of this song is so wonderful. Daughter of Swords is the solo venture from former Mountain Man member Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and the tenderness she crafts both in her finger picking and in the gentle lilt of her voice is so striking that Dawnbreaker is demanding of your attention on every play.

29.) Young Thug - What’s The Move (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)

I told you that it’s hard to pick just one Thugger song. His best albums (So Much Fun is a good one) sort of flow into each other both in sound and in quality, so that every beat, ad-lib, and vocal cadence hits like a familiar friend, with no one song standing out. You’re not a fan of just one Thugger song, you’re a fan of the whole Thugger experience.

[Surf] [Light It Up] [Ecstasy] [Circle Of Bosses]

28.) Bedouine - Bird

I was just going on about how the tenderness of Daughter of Swords felt so strikingly apart, but Azniv Korkejian (who records as Bedouine) specializes in those tender songs that grab you by the collar and hold you close. The Syrian-American singer-songwriter recollects titans like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, as well as contemporaries like Jessica Pratt and Tobias Jesso Jr., and Bird is an entry equal to those masters.

27.) ScHoolboy Q - Numb Numb Juice

Even though CrasH Talk was something of a flop for TDE stalwart ScHoolboy Q, he still managed to produce one of the best pure rap songs of the year with dizzying lead single Numb Numb Juice. Packed with raw attitude along with memorable lines and cadences, it’s a song that feels a lot longer that its two minute run time and has crazy replay value.

26.) Davido - Disturbance

For those like me whose knowledge of world music trends is limited, you should know that Afrobeat (and more specifically Naija-beat from Nigeria) is having a moment right now. With so much similarity to the more melody-driven hip-hop sound that’s so prevalent stateside, and the role the Toronto cliques have already had in incorporating island sounds to the masses the past few years, it makes sense that modern Afrobeat would have so much crossover appeal. There’s a lot of artists primed to take advantage of that wave, but most agree that Davido is the current living legend of Afrobeat, and with perfect little songs like Disturbance from A Good Time, it’s easy to see why.

25.) Angel Olsen - All Mirrors

Perhaps one of the current living legends of alternative music, St. Louis native Angel Olsen first graced this list all the way back in 2014 with the sorrowful May As Well. Things have changed a lot in the past 5 years, with Olsen eventually evolving to a much more expansive, almost gothically theatrical sound throughout the crest that was her 2019 album All Mirrors. The title track, along with the soaring Lark, are the best offerings.

[Lark]

24.) Toro y Moi - Who I Am

Who I Am is off of Toro Y Moi’s terrific electronic/dance record Outer Peace from early January, whose lead single Freelance was one of my favorite songs from 2018, clocking in at #14 on last years’s list. The rest of the record was equally strong, especially in Chaz’ ability to craft minimalistic chill electronica that still gets stuck in your head. Most of those more laid back tracks are those below, because Who I Am is another upbeat party song in the same throbbing vein of Freelance.

[New House] [Baby Drive it Down] [Monte Carlo]

23.) Nilufer Yanya - Melt

I had thought this may be the third time on the list for the low-key London songbird Nilufer Yanya, but in checking the record I’m reminded that she just put out a bunch worthy of inclusion back in 2017 when I first caught wind of her, starting with Golden Cage and culminating with Baby Luv. Returning this year with March’s Miss Universe Yanya gives us another strong collection to choose from. I’m partial to the jazz-club sound of Melt, but you can’t go wrong with these other three either.

[Heat Rises] [Tears] [Safety Net]

22.) Denzel Curry - Ricky

One of the more consistent and unique young voices in hip-hop, Dade county’s Denzel Curry has been on the map for over 6 years despite not being 25 yet. Starting with 2013′s cloud rap classic Nostalgic 64 (released while Zel was in high school) and graduating to critical emo-rap darling with last year’s Ta13oo, Curry decided to just hit us with some straight bangers in 2019 with Zuu.

[Carolmart] [Speedboat] [Wish]

21.) FKA Twigs - sad day

The bulk of Magdelene (co-produced by 50 Track alum Nicolas Jaar) may not be the kind of music that I’m dying to listen to again and again, but I can’t deny the artistic plane that FKA Twigs (also an alum with 2014′s Two Weeks) is operating on throughout the record inspired by her tabloid breakup with actor Robert Pattinson. Tracks and videos like Cellophane are a remarkable testament to Twig’s raw emotive power (like bright liquid flowing from a freshly cracked melon), but it was the melodic flutterings and glitchy atmosphere of sad day that got lodged in my brain.

[Cellophane]

20.) (Sandy) Alex G - Gretel

This song, from Philadelphia indie artist Alex G, bounced around a lot throughout the process of this list, from the cutting room floor to the honorable mentions and ultimately all the way up to kicking off the top 20. Gretel might sound somewhat inauspicious at first, but there’s a lot to unpack here, and it benefited from being in rotation since the summer, making it a Maine-house stargazing staple. With elements of acts like Elliot Smith, Broken Social Scene, and even the late Lil Peep, Giannascoli has carved a beautiful little space between genre.

19.) Frank Ocean - In My Room

Mostly in hibernation since the dual releases of Endless and Blonde back in 2016, Frank Ocean slowly begun sticking his head out of the cave in late 2020 with a trail of singles from a supposed forthcoming third studio album. Two of the tracks were released across all platforms including the mumbly DHL, and three others (Dear April, Cayendo, Little Demon) that were released as vinyl-exclusive singles. These four songs range from puzzling to promising, but despite the shipping reference Frank really only delivers on the final cut, the dualistic In My Room. On the first half of Room Frank gives one of his more cohesive and well performed rap verses to date, exploring themes of bravado, ambition, and hate, while the second half blossoms into his familiar melodic coos, both halves hopefully a harbinger of things to come in 2020.

18.) Beast Coast - Coast Clear

The third and final crew record on our list is from the collective known as Beast Coast, long an informal tag for the combination of three prominent Brooklyn groups who finally hybridized for a full-length project Escape From New York in 2019. Beast Coast is Pro Era (Joey Bada$$, Kirk Knight, CJ Fly, Nyck Caution, Powers Pleasant, etc), Flatbush Zombies (Meechy Darko, Erick Arc Elliott, Zombie Juice), and The Underachievers (AK The Savior, Issa Gold). All three of those groups have been featured individually on the list before so the hype was definitely real for me, and I was so thankful that Escape turned out so great. Coast Clear was my personal favorite and served as the encore when I saw these guys in August (which was wild), but check out the video for Left Hand if you need a more formal introduction.

[Left Hand] [One More Round] [Bones]

17.) Aldous Harding - The Barrel

Aldous Harding hails from Lyttelton NZ, a small town near Christchurch that lies on the same peninsula where I would often take the bus to have a day at the beach. The Barrel, a strange little dance/folk number, only found its way to me as I was combing other year-in-review lists this past month making sure I didn’t miss anything, which always makes for trickiness when ranking them among other songs I’ve been listening to for months. But the uniqueness of this track (magnified by the music video), the seamless way the backing vocals are integrated to the latter half of the song, and the Grateful Dead-esque guitar part combined to give me the sense that this one might endure into 2020 and beyond.

16.) Daniel Caesar - Cyanide

Toronto’s Daniel Caesar has been one of my personal favorite R&B artists since I heard his track Death & Taxes back in 2015, his neo-soul/gospel sound culminating with 2017′s terrific Freudian. His second album Case Study 01 out this past June drifted away from that gospel influence and introduced more electronic and island sounds, as exhibited on the effervescence of Cyanide.

[Entropy] [Frontal Lobe Muzik] [Restore The Feeling]

15.) Frankie Cosmos - Rings on a Tree

The evolution of Frankie Cosmos from minute-long journal-entry-style lo-fi bedroom recordings free on Bandcamp to full-band alt princess has been one of my favorite artist trajectories to witness, and she returned with her fourth studio record Close It Quietly this September. Now her fourth appearance on 50 Tracks, Rings on a Tree was featured as a full-band song on that record, but a stripped down piano version that was included on Kline’s Haunted Items EP from March is the version I’m giving you here. A hopeful little yarn about love and death and suicide.

[Actin’ Weird] [41st]

14.) 2 Chainz - Money in the Way

I can’t tell you that I expected a 2 Chainz song to be in the top 15, especially above artists like Frank, Twigs, Angel, and Denzel. I mean what is this, 2011? That my friends is the joyous power of Money in the Way: a triumphant, brass heavy victory lap and one of the most fun rap songs you’ll ever hear. I challenge you to not bop your head with a goofy ass smile to this one.

[NCAA]

13.) SALES - Rainy day Loop (Parent’s House Remix)

SALES may not have put out a record in 2019 (they’re still touring 2018′s forever & ever) but they still managed to get a song on the list, as they released a remix of Rainy Day Loop from that record this past March. Keeping the core melody, but accelerating the pace and swirling in the drum kit, SALES create an entirely new song on the remix, so much so that I didn’t recognize it on first listen. The beat billows and bends through the atmosphere, with lines like ‘watch me fade away’ ‘stuck in a rut’ and ‘watching everything around me come undone’ supplying you with the chillest depressive episode ever.

12.) Tierra Whack - Only Child

Looking back with hindsight on 2018′s list there were at least three major acts I missed. The first was the self-titled album by one of my favorite electronic arts Chrome Sparks (see O, My Perfection), the second we’ll get to in a bit. The third was Philly’s Tierra Whack, who put out one of the most unique, fresh, and ambitious projects I’ve ever heard with 2018′s Whack World, a 15-track album with a run time of less than 16 minutes due to each song being ~1:00 snippets that were deliberately made to sound incomplete but cohesive. She then shot a 16-minute video for the album, which showcases different sounds, flows, characters, and lyrical foci. One of the best things I heard this year by far. She followed Whack World up with some loosies early this year, including Only Child which was promptly stuck in my head for a month. This girl is so god damn creative it blows my mind. But as she says on Wasteland, ‘There’s a long line, there’s a wait.’

[Wasteland]

11.) Tyler, the Creator - A Boy is a Gun

Speaking of fascinating trajectories to witness, who would have seen IGOR coming from Tyler back in the early OF days? Taking his patented in-your-face persona, applying it to his newly open queerness, and splashed against a canvas of neo-soul maturity, heavenly samples, and his trusty voice mods, Tyler put out one of the more complete and personally meaningful albums of 2019, like a vicious snake shedding his beautiful skin.

[Earfquake]

10.) Jai Paul - He

One of the most influential artists of the past ten years that you’ve probably never heard of, Jai Paul was on the precipice of music stardom back in 2012 on the strength of singles BTSTU and Jasmine. Those two tracks were hugely responsible for breaking the levee of the modern electronic/pop sound further popularized by people like James Blake, whose output over the past decade has itself had wide-spread influence that spans genres. Jai Paul was readying his full-length debut for 2013 when it got mysteriously leaked online, putting a series of events into motion that resulted in Paul essentially withdrawing from the music industry and eventually starting his own institute/label with his brother in his native UK. Then, 6 years later and without warning, Paul re-surfaced with an official release of the originally leaked album as well as two new singles, one of which is He, the lovechild of Prince, Michael Jackson, and Bon Iver.

9.) Bon Iver - Hey Ma

Speeaaking of whom, Justin Vernon also returned with only his second record in the past 8 years and his first since 2016′s sterling 22, A Million. Forever taking the vocal tech advancements he helped create and popularize and pushing them further into the future, I,I twists and contorts those sounds and places them on new sonic landscapes. Lead single Hey Ma may be the most generally accessible of the album’s songs but it’s also the one that stuck the most. Check out iMi for a taste of what the rest of the record sounds like.

[iMi]

8.) Vampire Weekend - 2021

By far the most difficult song selection on the list this year, I would ask that you just view this as the Father of the Bride spot as opposed to just 2021, because as you can see below, I could have basically taken anything from the whole album (in fact, with the exception of #3 we’re basically in best album mode from here on out). A brilliant return from the biggest band in the world with assists from people like Haim, Steve Lacy, and Mark Ronson, FotB is a dizzying and vibrant record with a singular feeling despite its wide diversity of sound. 2021 was the second song I remember hearing from the record (after Harmony Hall) and despite its minimalism compared with the rest of the record, it was the one that took up the largest residence in my brain and also illustrates that half-dread/half-hope feeling that I’ve been trying to communicate throughout the list as a whole.

[Sympathy] [Flower Moon] [Harmony Hall] [Bambina] [This Life] [Stranger] [Sunflower]

7.) SAINt JHN - Monica Lewinsky (ft. A Boogie wit da Hoodie)

Man, I can’t express how much this album took me by surprise and subsequently dominated my listening cycle for much of late summer. SAINt JHN, the Guyanese-American former pop songwriter turned star who hit #44 on this list last year with his spacey party anthem I Heard You Got Too Litt Last Night destroyed any idea of one-song wonder with August’s Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs. Monica Lewinsky is my personal favorite but this album is crazy deep throughout; different moods, different flows, love songs, bangers, strip club jams, yell-it-out-the-car-window shit, Lenny fucking Kravitz people.

[High School Reunion] [Who Do you Blame?] [5 Thousand Singles] [All I Want is a Yacht] [Trophies] [Borders] [Wedding Day]

6.) Whitney - Giving Up

Three years after their debut album Light Upon the Lake splashed onto the indie the Chicago’s Whitney returned in August with the equally satisfying Forever Turned Around. This record will forever be imprinted with images of back road New England foliage, oranges and yellows and browns. The build that starts after a moment of silence at 1:45 of Giving Up and continues for the next minute or so is one of my favorite moments in music this year. The way the brass and guitar take turns with that little riff is orgasm in music form, complete with the afterglow.

[Valleys (My Love)] [Friend of Mine] [Used to be Lonely]

5.) Twin Peaks - Lookout Low

First off I want to complete my earlier thought and say that the final act I missed out on from the 2018 list was a duo named Grapetooth, the side band of Twin Peaks singer/guitarist Clay Frankel. Along with producer Chris Bailoni and inspired by 80′s Japanese New Wave their self-titled record was full of in-your-face tunes like Violent. Clay re-joined his fellow Twin Peaks dudes in 2019 and with Lookout Low they’ve continued to hone a mature sound that owes more to classic rock and bands like the Grateful Dead than their former DIY days would have suggested. This record made me sing along, play more guitar, and man did they put on a killer show when I saw them last month. Sweet noodly goodness.

[Sunken II] [Better Than Stoned] [Casey’s Groove] [Dance through It] [Ferry Song]

4.) Caroline Polachek - Door

I was a fan of Caroline Polachek’s voice and style via her duo Chairlift, who broke up in 2016 but had great songs like I Belong in Your Arms and Amanaemonesia, so when I heard she was putting out a solo record I was intrigued. Then I heard Door and it blew my gosh darn sock off. Then I heard the rest of the album and shucks howdy if it didn’t blow the other sock clean off too. Polachek has such an amazingly etherial voice, and she’s learning to fully wield it it almost Caroline Shaw-like ways on October’s incredible Pang, which like SAINt JHN before her demonstrates so many different beautiful incarnations of her vocal talent.

[So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings] [Go As A Dream] [Caroline Shut Up] [Look At Me Now] [Ocean of Tears] [Pang] [Hit Me Where it Hurts] [New Normal]

3.) Big Thief - Cattails

Big Thief released two very different albums in 2019 (U.F.O.F. and Two Hands) en route to their most successful and critically acclaimed year as a band. And while I didn’t connect with either of those projects quite as much as I’ve dug their work in the past, they still managed to re-claim the same #3 slot they occupied on this list two years ago. In 2017 it was on the back of the stunning Mary, and this year it’s with the equally affecting Cattails, a song that weaves together pain, joy, grief, and freedom and hits me right in the heart.

[Orange] [Not]

2.) James Blake - Can’t Believe The Way We Flow

I mentioned the influence that James Blake has had on the past decade in music while talking about Jai Paul earlier, and while I‘ve seen and understood that impact for some time, that hasn’t always translated into my enjoyment of his output as a solo artist. That changed with Assume Form, the fourth record from the London producer which saw him find new channels to explore the use of his voice (both his natural voice and distorted with endless layers of effect) as an instrument atop his skeletal creations. Can’t Believe The Way We Flow rose to the top of a handful of great tracks from the project, with an Animal Collective-like sound and a refrain that’s probably about love, but could just as easily be about humanity tumbling down the flowing ribbon of time.

[Into The Red] [Don’t Miss It] [I’ll Come Too]

1.) Bibio - Curls

This was the first year in a while where I really had not idea what the #1 song might be until I really started getting into the list this past month. The past several years there’s been a clear leader (Amen Dunes, Brockhampton, Ultralight Beam, Mural), and while Bibio made the list back in 2016, it was with the decidedly electronic Light Up The Sky. Ribbons, out this past April, was my first exposure to Bibio as a folk artist, and this record perfectly incapsulates what I was talking about in my intro as far as music that acts as a prism to shape my understanding of things. Ribbons was the lens through which I saw the world this spring, and this album is full of written songs and instrumental tracks that create mood, that create feeling, that can brighten or provoke fear. Curls is one of those rare songs that acts like a pensieve: gaze into it and feel it cradle you, watch as it paints dream-like pictures from your memories, feel its nostalgia, feel its sadness, feel hope, feel joy, and feel love.

[It’s Your Bones] [The Art of Living] [Before] [Old Graffiti] [Patchouli May] [Watch The Flies]

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