2019 in Review
Soon I will be banging my head against the wall to make an end-of-decade list, but for now, here's the best music of 2019, keeping my tedious writing as brief as possible.
The 25 Best Songs of 2019
25. William Doyle - 'Nobody Else Will Tell You'
Very Brian Eno, which is great.
24. Wilco - 'Love Is Everywhere (Beware)'
A low key folk rock song with a killer guitar line.
23. The Tallest Man on Earth - 'I'm a Stranger Now'
Kristian Mattson has started becoming a bit by-the-numbers, but he still knows how to write a great song.
22. Alex Cameron - 'Far from Born Again'
A defence of sex workers set to a goofy beat and some dooh-dooh-ing. Catchy as hell.
21. The National - 'Light Years'
The last in a long line of great piano ballads from The National. They could write them in their sleep at this point.
20. FKA twigs - 'Cellophane'
Her best vocal performance yet. It's weird that a song this raw and sad is actually about Robert Pattinson, though.
19. Pup - 'Scorpion Hill'
I keep telling myself I don't like pop punk, and yet here we are.
18. Lil Nas X - 'Old Town Road (Remix)'
This is now one of the biggest songs of all time. It was a great song to start with, and with the remix, Miley Cyrus' father has finally birthed something good.
17. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'Hollywood'
A 14-minute epic rambling about fire, cougars, and a Buddhist story of loss. It's classic Cave, and also very much not that at all.
16. Sharon Van Etten - 'Seventeen'
A great singer tries her hardest to tear her vocal cords to shreds, and it's great.
15. Billie Eilish - 'Bad Guy'
Yeah, 2019 actually had two hit songs that were really good. When my little sister is quoting it on Instagram while my girlfriend is dancing around to it at home, you know a song has got legs.
14. Daniel Norgren - 'The Flow'
Very atmospheric and chill rock song with some very strange whistling in it.
13. Thom Yorke - 'Dawn Chorus'
Basically a poem, delivered in a near monotone voice, and it's one of the most beautiful things he's ever done.
12. Charli XCX featuring Christine and the Queens - 'Gone'
The best pop song of the year.
11. Tyler, the Creator - 'EARFQUAKE'
Not sure how a song this goofy-sounding can be so romantic and tortured, but somehow it manages.
10. Craig Finn - 'A Bathtub in the Kitchen'
Craig Finn is very good at writing about sad people begging their friends for money. "I can't keep saying thank you, Francis" is one of the best lyric lines of the year, trust me.
9. Purple Mountains - 'That's Just the Way That I Feel'
David Berman wrote one of the funniest, cleverest and most musically upbeat songs of his career. It's also one of 10 songs that effectively served as his suicide note.
8. The 1975 - 'People'
I used to think the 1975 were trying to be the new Coldplay, and here they are, kind of sounding like Marilyn Manson.
7. Lana Del Rey - 'Norman fucking Rockwell'
Sort of the "Cool Girl" speech from Gone Girl, except funny and gorgeous. Four or five other Lana Del Rey songs could have made this spot, but this one wins out because I really like that little gallopping thing that the piano does. It's a thing that I'm into.
6. Mister Ferrari - 'Judy Jo'
The music video features clips from Betty Boop, and clips of Cab Calloway dancing. The fact that the song fits perfectly with those visuals is amazing. Now fucking release the album already.
5. A.A. Bondy - 'Diamond Skull'
Scattered images of modern society set to bluesy guitar strumming. It's another thing that I'm into.
4. (Sandy) Alex G - 'Gretel'
A confusing mishmash of chipmunk vocals, classic indie folk and a dark and dramatic and perfect guitar line that should clash with everything else, but doesn't.
3. Bon Iver - 'Hey, Ma'
Justin Vernon's lyrics are kind of fragmented and obscure by design, but "full time you talk your money up while it's living in a coal mine" really hits like a brick for me. The chorus is also just the most plainly gorgeous thing he's ever done, and plainly gorgeous is kind of his thing.
2. These New Puritans - 'Infinity Vibraphones'
High art rock drama. Also truth in advertising; those vibraphones feel pretty damn infinite to me.
1. Big Thief - 'Cattails'
Everything about this song is great - the loose drumming, the piano freakouts in the background, Adrienne Lenker's beautiful lyrics and breathy delivery - but the real reason this song is at the top of my list is because of that guitar line. It's a 12-string acoustic guitar line that has a real forward momentum to it, and it is absolutely mesmerising. I live for the parts of this song where the guitar is just allowed to breathe and swell and be perfect.
The 10 Best Albums of 2019
10. Daniel Norgren - Wooh Dang
Apparently, this weird Swedish dude has been making Rolling Stones-inspired roots music for years, and nobody saw fit to inform me. Not every song lands, but some of the ones that do could have been on Exile on Main St.
9. William Doyle - Your Wilderness Revisited
I discovered this pretty late in the year, and still haven't really absorbed it. But any album that is this clearly indebted to Brian Eno albums like Another Green World (and that actually features Eno on a track) is worth absorbing.
8. Big Thief - U.F.O.F.
Big Thief released two very good folk rock albums in the same year. This first one is the best, though. 'Cattails' is actually a bit of an anomaly, the rest being less exuberant and a bit darker. Still, a great album.
7. Craig Finn - I Need a New War
Craig Finn also released an album with his fantastic band The Hold Steady in 2019, and it was good, but I think he saved the best for himself. This album is full of beautiful character portraits, personality and warmth.
6. These New Puritans - Inside the Rose
This is a criminally underrated and overlooked British band who took six years to follow up one of the best albums of the decade (spoilers), and it seems like this barely made a blip. Well, that's bullshit. This is a gorgeous, meticulously arranged and produced album.
5. Bon Iver - i,i
Justin Vernon kind of combined the sounds of his last two albums, and made another really really really ridiculously good album.
4. Tyler, the Creator - IGOR
One of the great musical reinventions of the decade. I'm pretty sure I don't really have synesthesia, but when I listen to the messy, weird-ass music on this album, the colour scheme of the album cover swirls around in my head. I love it, is what I'm saying.
3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen
Nick Cave lost his son in 2015. His 2016 album Skeleton Tree was largely written before, and recorded after. As such, it had a shell-shocked, circling-the-drain kind of feeling to it. This is the first album he's written since his son's death, and it feels more like climbing up a tree to heaven, and not only because one of the songs literally uses that imagery. Like Skeleton Tree, it's quite unlike anything in his 40-year career.
2. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
David Berman left the music business for 10 years, then came back with one of the best albums of his career. A few weeks after it came out, he committed suicide. It's a testament to his skill as a writer and his delivery as a singer that everyone was shocked by this, in spite of song titles like 'All My Happiness Is Gone' and 'Maybe I'm the Only One for Me' and lines like "The dead know what they're doing when they leave this world behind". His music had this way of smiling through the pain that made it quite uplifting. As a final artistic statement, it's up there with Cohen or Bowie. It's heartbreaking, but, again, quite uplifting.
1. Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!
Lana Del Rey has made some good songs in the past, but she always felt like a novelty act to me. Then, in 2018, she released 'Mariners Apartment Complex', her best song up to that point. A few weeks later, she released 'Venice Bitch', which was as good, if not better. Then I found out she was calling her next album "Norman Fucking Rockwell", and I was completely won over. I must have checked the internet weekly for updates about the release date, until it finally arrived at the end of August. Very rarely have I been that excited about a new album release, and had my expectations met so completely. 14 tracks, over an hour of music, and it's all great; funny, clever, vicious and beautiful.
Much like Father John Misty's Pure Comedy (also one of the best albums of the decade), it could have been released as a part of the Laurel Canyon scene in the early 70s, and would have been considered an absolute classic by now, except that the lyrics couldn't have been written any time but now, by anyone but her (or him, as in the contrasting example - sentence structuring is hard).
Halfway through 2019, I was worried it was going to turn out to be just as underwhelming as 2018 in terms of great music. But any year with an album this good is a good year for music.
2018 in review
2018 was a bad year for music, potentially the worst this decade. Like any other year, there was plenty of good music, but there was a real shortage of truly great music. In a better year, plenty of the music on these lists would not have made the cut, especially in the album section.
Still, there's always some great music, so here's me celebrating it with my usual hyperbolic and clumsy writing. I apologise in advance.
Top 25 Songs of 2018
25. Radio Zydeco - 'La. Beat (Breakdown)' featuring C.C. Adcock
This song could have very easily slipped me by, as it seems to have done for almost everyone. I know absolutely nothing about Radio Zydeco, and simply stumbled over this song because it features C.C. Adcock, possibly the greatest musician that almost no one has heard of. It's a fun song.
24. Ghost - 'Dance Macabre'
The catchiest song they've ever done. A sound-alike word play as lame as "be with you/bewitch you" is a lot easier to overlook when the song around it is great.
23. Pinegrove - 'Intrepid'
If Pinegrove manage to get back on track after the trouble they've gone through in the last year or so, they have the potential to become one of the best indie bands working today. In the meantime. 'Intrepid' is a glorious song.
22. IDLES - 'Colossus'
Two songs for the prize of one: epic post-punk with distorted bass and booming drums, then a faster, shoutier 'Lust for Life'-style outro. Both are great.
21. Pusha T - 'The Games We Play'
Typically confrontational, shit-talking Pusha over an amazing instrumental.
20. Hop Along - 'How Simple'
Frances Quinlan is a vocal powerhouse.
19. Shannon Shaw - 'Golden Frames'
Retro torch singing somewhere between Janis Joplin and Duffy. Gorgeous.
18. Iceage - 'Broken Hours'
Iceage's best song of 2018 was a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the album. And yet they kept 'Plead the Fifth'. What.
17. Father John Misty - 'The Palace'
Unusually naked, bare songwriting even by Josh Tillman's standards. There's something about his wheezy falsetto on the chorus that really works. Josh has called God's Favorite Customer his Tonight's the Night, which I guess makes this his 'Borrowed Tune', except he actually wrote the tune. Also: "Last night I wrote a poem/Man, I must've been in the poem zone".
16. Mitski - 'Geyser'
Mitski is a very versatile songwriter, and 'Geyser' is the best showcase of everything she does best. A heart-on-sleeve, dancing-with-eyes-closed kind of song.
15. Low - 'Disarray'
Low changed up their sound after 25 years, but kept everything that made them great in the first place. The vocal harmonies on this track are stunning.
14. Phosphorescent - 'Christmas Down Under'
You can't go wrong with vocoder backing vocals and a distorted, emotional guitar solo. Don't quote me on that. This song is gorgeous.
13. Glen Hansard - 'Movin' On'
The best song Glen's done in years, showing off his still kind of underutilised guitar skills, as well as his still powerful and wonderful voice.
12. Tropical Fuck Storm - 'You Let My Tyres Down'
Australian "supergroup" with the best band name of the year, Tropical Fuck Storm are made up of half of The Drones. It sounds quite a lot like a Drones song, meaning it creeps and then explodes with noisy guitar squall and somersaulting vocals. Works for me.
11. Daughters - 'Daughter'
This being one of the more reserved cuts on Daughters' new album in no way makes it easy, pleasant listening, but it's pretty damn awesome.
10. Janelle Monáe - 'Make Me Feel'
If you want to make the sexiest song of the year, make it sound like Prince's 'Kiss'. Getting an official seal of approval from The Purple One himself doesn't hurt.
9. Titus Andronicus - 'Above the Bodega (Local Business)'
A laid-back rock song in the vein of Exile on Main St. about how you can keep your day-drinking from everyone but the guy at the store. I get this song.
8. Childish Gambino - 'This Is America'
One of the weirdest songs to ever top the Billboard Hot 100. The music video is one of the greatest things ever, but it'd be a crime to sell the song itself short. Even after many listens, the jarring, jumbled transitions between afrobeat and trap still get to me. It's a hilarious and unsettling song, like the entirety of Get Out in less than 4 minutes.
7. The Voidz - 'AlieNNatioN'
I couldn't possibly top The Needle Drop's description of this song: "Very sad, sanitised, futuristic elevator music, like I'm riding up the elevator at my desk job in the year 2048, and I know that once I reach the top floor, I'm gonna get fired." Julian Casablancas needs to stay this weird.
6. Young Fathers - 'In My View'
Not necessary the classic, fist-pumping anthem that Young Fathers do so well, but nonetheless an expertly built song that serves to showcase everything that makes Young Fathers one of the greatest bands of the century.
5. Car Seat Headrest - 'Beach Life-in-Death'
A multi-part, 13-minute, ambitious monster of an indie rock song. It's chock-full of lines equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking: "I pretended I was drunk when I came out to my friends/I never came out to my friends/We were all on Skype/And I laughed and I changed the subject". Will Toledo is my age, which naturally makes me resent him. He wrote this song when he was 19, which makes me want to go live in the sewers.
4. Ought - 'Desire'
For some reason, Tim Darcy decided to give up his David Byrne/Tom Verlaine sneer for a warbling, slurred vocal affectation, like Elvis Presley on quaaludes. The result is Ought's best song yet, an open-hearted, blue-eyed soul masterpiece.
3. Jeff Tweedy - 'Having Been Is No Way to Be'
Jeff Tweedy calls out fans who wish he'd go back to abusing painkillers so he'd make the kind of music they want him to be making. That's a hell of a thing to put in a song. The result is one of his best songs, in a 25 year career of great songs.
2. The 1975 - 'Love It If We Made It'
The fact that this song is repeatedly compared to 'We Didn't Start the Fire' is frustrating and unfair. First, the inspiration was Prince's 'Sign 'O' the Times', which isn't nearly as shameful. Second, the music and lyrics are actually, y'know, good. I love it when singers say "fuck my limitations" and basically just beat their vocal chords into submission in order to pull off a performance that should be beyond them (see also Japandroids' 'The House That Heaven Built'). And apparently, I love when quoting the leader of the free world (a phrase that sounds very sarcastic lately) elevates bullshit into poetry: "Thank you Kanye, very cool!" may be the best lyric of 2018, somehow.
1. Mister Ferrari - 'Good Times at the Museum'
I've been following this band for years, and watching their growth has been truly incredible. I had heard this song performed live, but even so, the recording caught me off guard. The first time I heard it, I barely had time to register one amazing thing about it before something else knocked me on my ass. Jonathan comes out swinging, sounding better than he ever has. Markus' backing vocals are great, then he comes in on lead vocals for a verse and sounds incredible. The overdriven guitar solo rips. The structure is great, the lyrics are hilarious, and the song is catchy as hell. Then it was over, and I was left muttering "holy shit" to myself before hitting replay. It's like a great lost Clash song. It's fast and fun and funny and catchy and awesome. I needed this song in 2018, and I cannot fucking wait for their debut album in 2019.
Top 10 Albums of 2018
10. Iceage - Beyondless
Iceage singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt has spent the last few years making up for English being his second language by digging up words that no modern English speaker has even heard up. It's a little much sometimes, but it works with the vibe Iceage is going for, which increasingly seems to be Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. If you know anything about me, you know I approve. Beyondless isn't as watertight as their last album (and sole masterpiece) Plowing into the Field of Love - for one, the production is a little flat, and they decided to leave the most ferocious song off the album (see song list above), but even when they're not at their best, Iceage are still pretty damn good.
9. Low - Double Negative
Low are one of the original "slow-core" bands, a designation that always sounded like a not-so-subtle insult to me. What it really means is they tend to keep to downtempo songs with a lot of atmosphere and a strong focus on sound and melody. Double Negative is them saying, "yeah, but what if we did that, but, like, kicked the shit out of it?" Songs like 'Tempest' and 'Rome (Always in the Dark)' are so drowned in fuzz and other effects it's like vaguely hearing a radio transmission through a concrete wall. It's a beautiful, exhausting listen.
8. Ghost - Prequelle
Ghost is a completely ridiculous band. Now that Tobias Forge has been officially unmasked as the only real member of the band, it appears he's decided to lean into the camp even more, which makes the look-how-metal-we-are album cover kind of hilarious. It's the right call to make, though. Ghost has always been a heavy metal band in the same way Kiss is a heavy metal band, meaning it's really a pop band with heavy guitars. Tobias has great pop instincts. He writes great riffs, great melodies and slathers the album in amazing vocal harmonies.
7. Pusha T - DAYTONA
Fucking Kanye. After going off the rails more than ever, he released 5 albums in 5 weeks, including a solo album that's the worst thing he's ever done by a country mile (he calls referring to himself in the third person as "my bipolar shit", says he's a superhero, then shrieks like a goddamn lunatic... it's the worst moment in music of 2018), and a collaboration with Kid Cudi that's actually very good, but not good enough for me to look past the fact that I'm listening to Kanye West. He's still a great producer, though, and Pusha T is a great rapper, so DAYTONA is actually worth returning to. When 90-minute albums are apparently becoming a mainstream norm, releasing a 7 song album that's just over 20 minutes is inspired and very welcome. The beats are fantastic, there are no weak spots (save maybe Kanye's one verse on the album - you can't escape him even if you try) and Pusha shit-talking Drake turned into the most amusing feud in years (in which Drake got absolutely destroyed).
6. Father John Misty - God's Favorite Customer
It was obvious that Josh Tillman put everything he had into 2017s Pure Comedy, so the last thing I expected him to do was come out with a new album barely a year later. But he had some demons to exorcise, and he's a stellar songwriter, so who's complaining? The production is a little hit-or-miss, but he gets to show off his unfairly amazing voice, and his lyrics are either hilarious or heartbreaking or both. You kind of worry about his mental state, though. I hope he's okay.
5. Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar
Young Fathers weren't going to top White Men Are Black Men Too. Very few bands could reach those heights to begin with, never mind transcend them. Instead, they've gone slightly more hi-fi and a bit darker. But as I stated above (and will continue to shout from the rooftops forever), they are one of the greatest bands of the century, and a step down for them is like going from Mount Everest to K2. They can still look down on just about everyone else, is what I'm saying. Their vocal interplay remains stunning - they are three distinct and fantastic singers, yet so versatile that it can still be difficult to tell who's singing. And their songs are still impossibly catchy and incredibly idiosyncratic.
4. The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships
I kind of wrote off The 1975 without hearing them: their name sounds like they're trying too hard to be something (though I'm not sure what), and their last album was called I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it. Seriously. And yet. After 'Love It If We Made It', I had to actually check them out. Turns out, they're actually a very good band. They have a severe case of trying to do every kind of music at once ("Oasis, but sad. No, Joy Division, but uplifting. No, Bon Iver. No, jazz!"), but I'm hardly the right person to complain about that, and anyway, most of their experiments turn out really well. It's the kind of musical ambition that cynics like to scoff at, but cynicism is for assholes, and this album is great.
3. Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
Industrial, no wave, grindcore and noise rock aren't exactly my genres. If they were, this would be my favourite album of the year, because it's technically flawless. It accomplishes everything it sets out to do, and does it as well as it possibly could. It's a dark, dismal experience, with unsettling vocals and absolutely harrowing guitar sounds. It reminds me of the first time I heard Death Grips, which is somehow one of my favourite bands (not very on-brand for me, I know). It's all a bit overwhelming, and it's not exactly something I listen to for pleasure, but it's also something I can't help but return to.
2. Jeff Tweedy - WARM
Jeff Tweedy is low-key one of the greatest songwriters working today, and his first proper solo album is up there with his best work. He shows off his versatility while keeping everything grounded and cohesive and uncharacteristically direct. WARM is an apt title - it's the best way to describe the arrangements, the lyrics, the mood, and that voice, which only seems to be getting better with age. The lack of truly great music in 2018 was a bit disheartening, so to have both The 1975 and Jeff Tweedy drop their albums on November 30th was a huge relief. I'm especially grateful for WARM. It was just what I needed.
1. Car Seat Headrest - Twin Fantasy
I'm basically beating a dead horse at this point, but what better way to signify what a musically lacklustre year 2018 was than the fact that the best album of the year was actually made in 2011? Back when Will Toledo was a big name only on Bandcamp and dropped something like 6 albums a year, Twin Fantasy was his low-fi magnum opus. I've tried listening to it, and it's tough. It's clear that the songs are incredible, but the lack of resources really shows in the recordings. They just can't live up to these songs. Will obviously felt the same, because he apparently stipulated in his record contract that he was to be allowed to remake it. It's hardly a hi-fi marvel now, but Twin Fantasy finally gets to sound like what it is, which is a kind-of-sort-of concept album about teenage heartbreak, told with total self awareness and brilliant songwriting. It's full of everything you need from a clever indie rock album, like quotable singalong lines ("Don't worry/You and me won't be alone no more"), amazing guitar riffs ('Nervous Young Inhumans') and some honest to god indie rock anthems of the sort that no one really makes anymore ('Bodys', 'Sober to Death', 'Beach Life-in-Death'). If any album this year has the potential to go down as a modern classic, it's Twin Fantasy.
2017 in Review
2017 is a serious contender for best music year of the decade so far. It’s just as well, considering how the year went in all other avenues (well, the films were actually pretty great, too). But no more on that. Let’s put the year to bed. This is the best music of 2017. You may disagree, but I listened to more music this year than you did.
THE 25 BEST SONGS OF 2017
25. Lindsey Buckingham & Christine McVie - Sleeping Around the Corner
These two have written a bunch of the greatest songs of all time (and I’ll fight you on that score), and well into their old age (68 and 74, respectively), they could still write a killer chorus in their sleep. This song being exhibit A.
24. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Holy Mountain
Same as above, really. Noel’s 50, and has gone as experimental as I guess he possibly could. Still, it’s an immediate pop song, and there’s not really anything that weird about it. That tin whistle thing, sampled from some obscure 70s song, is beyond catchy.
23. The National - Turtleneck
The National have really taken their sound as far as it can go. There are few surprises left. Enter guitar solos, a first in their 7 album career. On this track, singer Matt Berninger also lets loose vocally in a way he usually only does live, which I’ve been missing in their recorded output.
22. The Killers - Run for Cover
The best song from these guys since 2004, basically. Catchy and sharply produced. I could’ve done without actually using the phrase “fake news“, though.
21. Perfume Genius - Wreath
Catchiness hasn’t really been what Mike Hadreas has been about, but he pulls it off here. With a yodel, no less.
20. Moses Sumney - Doomed
A weightless, beautiful ballad that allows Sumney’s fantastic voice to take center stage, as it should be.
19. Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.
Not sure how Kendrick manages going “mainstream” while remaining one of the most artistically dedicated rappers on the planet, but he pulls it off. This song is hilarious and also awesome.
18. LCD Soundsystem - Oh Baby
The return of one of my favourite bands finds them mostly staying in their well-established lane, but this song does manage to bring a heretofore unexplored croon to James Murphy’s voice. I’m liking the results.
17. Richard Dawson - Soldier
Not many people go about writing medieval sounding folk songs these days, but here’s Richard Dawson dark aging it up. The story - a soldier fearing the coming battle and longing for the arms of his lover - is simple but beautifully told.
16. King Krule - Dum Surfer
Filthy as they are, I want to live in the sonic spaces Archy Marshall creates.
15. Roger Waters - Broken Bones
Not really someone I expected to care about by this point, but Waters delivers some of his best writing in decades, and some of the best singing of his life. I just wish he’d shut the fuck up about the Israel boycott, already.
14. High Contrast - Shotgun Mouthwash
T2 Trainspotting needed to open with the same kind of punch that ‘Lust for Life’ once brought to the proceedings, and this was the song to do it. It’s punchy, kind of weird, and a lot of fun.
13. Mount Eerie - Real Death
In 2017 i rediscovered Phil Elverum, one of my favourite songwriters of all time. And yes, this song absolutely showcases what a great songwriter he is, but the subject matter leaves a lot to be desired. Which is not his fault, and kind of the point of the song to begin with.
12. Kesha - Praying
Never in a million years would I have imagined I would one day unconditionally love a Kesha song, but here we are. Her vocal is astonishing, and the fact that I can say that about the same woman who warbled her way through ‘Tik Tok’ is pretty unbelievable. But I‘ve found I cannot listen to this song without sobbing uncontrollably, which is just downright impractical.
11. Algiers - Walk Like a Panther
A bastard hybrid of punk, rock, gospel and soul, Algiers hit hard on all fronts. The vocal is absolutely unhinged.
10. Feist - Any Party
A song that kind of stretches back and forth between frail emotion and badass, Kinks-y guitar displays. Turns out, Feist is great at both.
9. Hundred Waters - Blanket Me
No song this year was better served by repetition. A good portion of this song has the title phrase being repeated like a mantra, folding vocal upon vocal, and instrumental layer upon instrumental layer. The result is mesmerising.
8. Craig Finn - God in Chicago
Literally a short story set to music, 'God in Chicago' falls on the slightly depressing side, but more than anything, it's a deeply touching, human story, and the music cushioning it is beautiful. Like all great short stories, it provides the outlines, and lets you fill in the blanks.
7. Mister Ferrari - Bangin’ on the Radio
If I could get you to listen to just one song on this list, it would be this one. This Stockholm-based band is due to release their debut album in 2018. They sound like a great, lost British garage rock band from the 1970s, and this is my favourite song of theirs. Also, that's my brother on bass and backing vocals. Yeah, blah blah nepotism, but I just fucking love this song and this band, and they wouldn't place on this list if that wasn't the case. Listen to the song here and here.
6. Father John Misty - Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution
Another short story: The governments and corporations are all overthrown, and humanity returns to a pre-technological age. Global warming is halted, even reversed, and everyone is miserable and bored out of their minds. Classic Josh Tillman. It's hard to pick a favourite from an album like Pure Comedy, but the chorus is the best moment on the entire album.
5. Fleet Foxes - Third of May / Ōdaigahara
Fleet Foxes go prog folk. This nine-minute opus takes a while to digest, but once it does, it reveals itself as one of their very best songs, up there with 'Ragged Wood', 'Helplessness Blues' and 'The Shrine / An Argument'. It manages some riveting starts and stops, but mostly it's just plain gorgeous.
4. The Mountain Goats - Rain in Soho
A dramatic song with hammering pianos, booming drums and some silly but still cool choir backing. The progression of verses and choruses is expertly structured, and by the third verse 'Rain in Soho' absolutely rips.
3. Spoon - Hot Thoughts
A great rock song is hard to argue with, but also to talk about. This is the best rock song of the year - every sound is where it should be, nothing is missing, the playing and singing are meticulous. Enough said, really.
2. Lorde - Green Light
So apparently, Max Martin called this song "incorrect songwriting". Actually, he might be right. It's also a perfect pop song. Everything works - the house piano, the catty and cathartic lyrics, the sing-song bridge and the confetti-raining-down chorus. A contender for greatest pop song of the decade.
1. Young Fathers - Only God Knows
A Young Fathers song topped my 2015 list. And they have a new album coming out in 2018, which means they have a real shot of topping my 2018 list as well. I don't like being this predictable, but the thing is, Young Fathers is the best new band of the 2010s, and it's not even that close (much love to Majical Cloudz and Death Grips, though).
'Only God Knows' was given to T2 Trainspotting to close the film out, and while it did that admirably, it's too great a song to be looked at in such a limited context. It's a sprawling, loud, messy, life-affirming gospel song. The Leith Congregational Choir makes an appearance. Kayus Bankole, usually the sideman if such a thing can exist in this group, gives the manic, barking vocal performance of a lifetime. If you like music, you should like this song.
THE 10 BEST ALBUMS OF 2017
10. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
A lot may have changed since 2011, but you wouldn't know it listening to LCD Soundsystem here. It's still business as usual for them. When you're one of the greatest bands of all time, though, that's not really a bad thing. Besides, some darkness does creep into the music, to great effect: 'I Used To' and 'Black Screen' are heavy with sorrow for the loss of David Bowie (a noble song subject if ever there was one), and 'How Do You Sleep?' is an absolutely savage takedown of an old friend. Their true glory days may be behind them (it's hard to come back from a 3 hour farewell gig at Madison Square Garden, frankly), but American Dream shows they've still got juice left in the tank. Also, I got to see them live in 2017, a privilege I never thought I'd have.
Essential tracks: Oh Baby, I Used To, How Do You Sleep?, Call the Police, American Dream
9. The Mountain Goats - Goths
John Darnielle has been telling stories for over 20 years at this point. And he really is a fantastic storyteller (also a very nice guy, at least on Twitter - we both have Summoning tattoos). 'Rain in Soho' may be my favourite song on the album, but it's actually a bit of an outlier, as it's really the only song without a clear narrative to present. Elsewhere, the lead singer of Sisters of Mercy faces the mundane humiliation of returning to his hometown, a failing musician decides to pack in his career and takes a job at LucasArts, and a forgotten band is given a tender euology that quotes their Wikipedia page. All in honour of goth culture, though mostly without any goth music being played.
Essential tracks: Rain in Soho, Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds, The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement, Shelved, Abandoned Fleesh
8. King Krule - The Ooz
I think Archy Marshall's King Krule project might actually be best compared to the original British punk bands of the late 1970s. Strip away the (gorgeous) underwater sonics and the genre blending, and what you're left with is an angry young man with an ugly but powerful voice, exploring general disaffection. Or, put in a less pretentious but equally annoying way: #relatable. (Please forgive me).
Essential tracks: Biscuit Town, The Locomotive, Dum Surfer, Czech One, Vidual, Half Man Half Shark
7. Feist - Pleasure
I first heard Feist back in 2011, when she was going through a bit of a transitional period, moving away from indie pop towards a rootsier, more stripped back sound. I guess if her transition led her here, all is as it should be. On first listen, this album really underwhelmed me, but it somehow clung itself to my subconscious, and I had to listen again. And again. And these low-fi, shaky songs truly blossomed.
Essential tracks: Pleasure, Get Not High, Get Not Low, Lost Dreams, Any Party, A Man Is Not His Song, Century
6. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.
Somehow, this guy keeps evolving. Not content with making two of the most acclaimed hiphop albums of all time, he goes ahead and makes a third one, with yet another album-spanning, complex theme. Only, this time, he goes from the jazzy, funky To Pimp a Butterfly to tackle pop-rap, of all things. And he's fucking great at it - 'LOYALTY.' is the kind of song Drake would have killed for, but it's better than Drake ever could've made it. Go figure.
Essential tracks: DNA. ELEMENT. FEEL. LOYALTY. HUMBLE. LUST. FEAR.
5. Fleet Foxes - Crack-Up
Together with Feist, this is a good indictation that I should never trust my first impressions: I was so disappointed with this album when I first heard it. It felt like an underwritten (or overwritten), lesser version of Helplessness Blues, several years after that would've been acceptable or understandable. But when I'd had time to adjust to their ambitious nature, these songs revealed themselves as intricate, stunningly produced and performed, and very worthy follow-ups to their predecessor.
Essential tracks: I Am All That I Need/Arroyo Seco/Thumbprint Scar, Cassius, Kept Woman, Third of May/Ōdaigahara, If You Need to, Keep Time on Me, Mearcstapa, Crack-Up
4. Mount Eerie, A Crow Looked at Me
There have been quite a few albums about grief in recent years, but none quite like this. I don't really want to talk about it - it's all a google away if you're curious. I'll just say that these songs are deeply beautiful, deeply human things, and deserve to be heard, if you can stomach them.
Essential tracks: Real Death, Seaweed, Ravens, Forest Fire, Swims, Toothbrush/Trash, Soria Moria, Crow
3. Spoon - Hot Thoughts
Every year, I seem to discover a still-active, long-running rock band that I realise I should've started listening to much, much earlier. This year, that band was Spoon, a remarkably tight, fun and consistent rock band. And here's Hot Thoughts, one of their best albums. Keys dominate in a way they haven't previously, and while there are plenty of punchy rock songs, they also pull off some spacey, low-key numbers, including a sax-drenched instrumental closer. Great songwriting, great sound and no filler.
Essential tracks: Hot Thoughts, WhisperI'lllistentohearit, Do I Have to Talk You Into It, First Caress, Pink Up, Can I Sit Next to You, I Ain't the One, Us
2. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
The world is burning, if mostly figuratively. It's hard not to get cynical and dejected. Josh Tillman - a glorious, dejected cynic - pisses on the flames and gives his thoughts on the human condition. He has many, many, many thoughts, most of them hilarious, depressing or both. Pure Comedy is like a great 70s piano rock album, like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road or Sail Away, only performed by a self-aware narcissist. In the end, it's actually an uplifting experience, because Tillman is too good a singer, songwriter and comedian for it to be otherwise.
Essential tracks: Pure Comedy, Total Entertainment Forever, Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution, Birdie, Leaving LA, When the God of Love Returns, There'll Be Hell to Pay, So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain, In Twenty Years or So
1. Lorde - Melodrama
I like 'Royals', but I did not realise what I was getting with this album. Maybe it would've helped to know that David Bowie referred to Lorde as "the future of music". But really, I couldn't have expected the best pop album of the decade when I first turned on Melodrama. I just figured I'd find a song or two that were worth hearing again. But the first song was 'Green Light', and then every subsequent song was a spacious, tightly written pop masterpiece. These are drinking songs sad to be drinking songs, hate songs angry to not be love songs, and pop songs that don't realise that they don't need to be this sophisticated, but persist in being perfect. This album is a fucking masterpiece from beginning to end. And Ella Yelich-O'Connor is 21 years old, because I apparently need an inferiority complex.
Essential tracks: ALL OF THEM
2016 in Review
Boy, that was a shit year, huh?
Kent broke up. Majical Cloudz broke up. David Bowie died. As did Leonard Cohen, Prince, Merle Haggard, Alan Vega, Greg Lake, Keith Emerson, George Martin, Dennis Davis, Maurice White, Olle Ljungström, Freddie Wadling, George Michael, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few more. And those are just the musicians. And let's not even talk about all the other reasons this was the worst year of my lifetime.
I'm about ready to move on from 2016. And since I'm already quite late to the punch, I'm combining the song and album lists into one post. Expect a lot of half-arsed, lazy and shitty writing.
The 25 best songs of 2016
25. Danny Brown, 'Rolling Stone'
24. Massive Attack, 'Take It There' (featuring Tricky)23. Kevin Morby, 'I Have Been to the Mountain'
22. Run the Jewels, 'Legend Has It'
21. Iggy Pop, 'Break Into Your Heart'
20. Animal Collective, 'FloriDada'
19. Savages, 'Adore'
18. Håkan Hellström, 'Elefanten & sparven'
17. Ghost, 'Square Hammer'
16. Jeff Rosenstock, 'Wave Goodnight to Me'
15. Kanye West, 'No More Parties in L.A.' (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
14. Leonard Cohen, 'You Want It Darker'
13. PJ Harvey, 'The Wheel'
12. Marching Church, 'Lion's Den'
11. Xiu Xiu, 'Falling'
10. Car Seat Headrest, 'Fill in the Blank'
Just a great rock song. Well-structured, catchy, and the best guitar riff of the year.
9. Anohni, '4 Degrees'
Anohni's voice is the very definition of vulnerable, which makes it all the more striking how forceful she's being on '4 Degrees'. It's a booming, gorgeous, terrifying song. And it's about climate change denial. So, fun times all around.
8. Radiohead, 'True Love Waits'
This song existed only in live recordings for well over 20 years before being recorded. It took me a while to wrap my head around this very off-kilter piano arrangement, but it finally clicked. What Thom Yorke used to belt out, he now sings with a cracked, dusty falsetto that sells the song's tired vulnerability that much more. True Love Waits is one of Radiohead's best songs, and now it has the studio quality to prove it.
7. Angel Olsen, 'Shut Up Kiss Me'
A fantastic, rockabilly-ish song that demands, and deserves, all your love and attention.
6. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 'Magneto'
One of the most hypnotic songs of Nick Cave's career. Like a lot of the songs from Skeleton Tree, the instruments are barely in time and barely there, giving it a circling-the-drain kind of atmosphere. The lyrics are remarkable. During the choruses, I find myself holding my breath.
5. Moses Sumney, 'Lonely World'
It starts out small and jazzy. Before long, the vocal hook kicks in, bass and drums join it, and the song shoots into the fucking stratosphere.
4. The Drones, 'To Think That I Once Loved You'
A song so good I kind-of-but-not-really stole it. It has a creeping build that finally unlocks with the second chorus, when Gareth Liddiard's massive voice hits against the eerie harmonies like a sledgehammer. It's nice, is what I'm saying.
3. Bon Iver, '8 (circle)'
Justin Vernon wrote such a great verse melody he barely leaves it for the entire song. I'm not complaining. And as much as I love his falsetto, he has never sounded as good as he does here, stretching out his lower, earthier register to gorgeous effect.
2. Kent, 'Förlåtelsen'
The synth line that functions as the beating heart of this song sounds like it should have existed for decades. The vocal is perfectly phrased, every word and intonation a thing of wonder. The outro is almost overwhelming. The fact that this isn't even Kent's best song is a good indicator of why they are my favourite band of all time.
1. David Bowie, 'Blackstar'
I've loved David Bowie's music for years, but it was only after he died that I went through his entire discography, start to finish. With that in mind, I can say in no uncertain terms that 'Blackstar' is one of his greatest songs, meaning it's one of the greatest songs of all time. It goes from being terrifying to beautiful to kind of funny and campy and back to terrifying over 10 minutes. It has a saxophone solo so breathtakingly perfect that the song could've ended after three minutes and it would still be my favourite song of the year. 'Blackstar' is made up of familiar enough parts, but the whole is unlike anything I have ever heard. Best song of the year.
The 10 best albums of 2016
10. Angel Olsen, My Woman
In 2016, Angel Olsen finally became great. My Woman splits itself down the middle, with bouncy rock songs in the front end and wailing ballads in the back, and she really nails both versions of herself.
Essential tracks: Intern, Shut Up Kiss Me, Heart Shaped Face, Sister
9. Car Seat Headrest, Teens of Denial
A sprawling, ambitious indie rock record. Will Toledo is a wordy, intellectual and very clever lyricist, but more than that he's a very skilled songwriter who will drag songs out for 7, 8 or 11 minutes without becoming tedious. Plus, it kind of fucking rocks.
Essential tracks: Fill in the Blank, Vincent, Destroyed by Hippy Powers, Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales
8. Jeff Rosenstock, WORRY.
One genre of music I felt pretty sure in thinking I had no interest in whatsoever was pop-punk. Then I heard Jeff Rosenstock, so I guess pop-punk is okay (but Green Day can still go fuck themselves). The songs on WORRY. are loud, fun and catchy from start to finish, and Jeff seems to blow out his voice on just about every single song. Also, he - somehow - ends the album with an Abbey Road-style medley, and it is - somehow - amazing.
Essential tracks: We Begged 2 Explode, Pash Rash, Wave Goodnight to Me, I Did Something Weird Last Night, HELLLLHOOOLLE, The Fuzz
7. The Drones, Feelin' Kinda Free
The Drones are Australian, and make quite a bit of social commentary about Australia in their lyrics. Most of it is over my head, but there's no mistaking their harsh, cynical attitude. Singer Gareth Liddiard sounds like if Glen Hansard grew up listening to a lot of Nick Cave. The music is fuzzy, creeping and all over the place. There's also a great song about the Taman Shud case, one of the weirdest unsolved murder cases ever. So it's educational, too.
Essential tracks: Private Execution, Taman Shud, Then They Came for Me, To Think That I Once Loved You
6. Xiu Xiu, Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks
Few artists who cover songs manage to fully capture the spirit of the original while making it their own. Xiu Xiu manages this for an entire album. Xiu Xiu make weird, creepy, broken music, which is a perfect fit for the Twin Peaks soundtrack. The instrumentals are louder and more menacing, and the songs that do have vocals are even moodier and more theatrical. Then there's 'Josie's Past', which is either unlistenable or a stroke of genius.
Essential tracks: Laura Palmer's Theme, Into the Night, Blue Frank/Pink Room, Sycamore Tree, Dance of the Dream Man, Falling
5. Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool
A Moon Shaped Pool is one of the least strange albums Radiohead has released, but it may also be one of their most beautiful. It's certainly their quietest, and saddest. The songs are soaked in gorgeous string arrangements. Thom Yorke allows his voice to crack and falter. It's all very human, but weirdly very detached. I love this album, but I'm not sure what to think about it.
Essential tracks: Burn the Witch, Daydreaming, Decks Dark, Desert Island Disk, Identikit, The Numbers, True Love Waits
4. Bon Iver, 22, a Million
I've loved a lot of Bon Iver songs, but this is the first time I've found myself loving them for an entire album. While their last album was polished almost to a fault, 22, a Million sounds unfinished. You can hear the insides of the songs, all the cracks and blown out speakers. For whatever reason, this really works for me. The titles are absolutely ridiculous, though.
Essential tracks: 22 (OVER S∞∞N), 10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄, 715 - CR∑∑KS, 33 "GOD", 29 #Strafford APTS, 8 (circle)
3. Kent, Då som nu för alltid
Kent's last album is not their best, nor did it need to be. It's a big, bright, nostalgic collection of great songs that are kind of all over the place, and it works. They basically go hard rock for the first and only time in their career on 'Gigi', they go more explicitly political than ever on 'Falska profeter', they literally call the last song 'the last song', and it's got a children's choir on it. I got to see them two more times before they quit, and most of the songs were even bigger, brighter and more nostalgic live. Då som nu för alltid is not the Kent album I'll return to the most in years to come, but I'll always be happy they ended on such a strong note.
Essential tracks: Andromeda, Vi är för alltid, Den vänstra stranden, Vi är inte längre där, Förlåtelsen, Gigi, Falska profeter, Den sista sången
2. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Skeleton Tree
"I think I'm losing my voice", Nick Cave says in One More Time with Feeling, the film that was released together with this album. He didn't, but it has never sounded as tired as it does on Skeleton Tree. The songs float around in open space, the vocals barely in sync with the music half the time. Nick Cave lost his son. Most of the lyrics were already written before, most of the music was arranged and recorded after. This is an album about grief, but it also isn't. Either way, it's powerful, beautiful music.
Essential tracks: Jesus Alone, Girl in Amber, Magneto, Anthrocene, I Need You, Distant Sky
1. David Bowie, Blackstar
Blackstar is not the best album of 2016 because David Bowie died. Blackstar is the best album of 2016 because the music is flawless. Because, again, nothing else really sounds like this. Because Bowie was singing as well as he ever had. And yes, because he was dealing with the fact that he was dying, and he made it into a peerless, remarkable work of art. There aren't enough superlatives I can throw at this album. It's Bowie's greatest album since 1977. Sorry to be repetitive, but that means that it's one of the greatest albums of all time.
Essential tracks: Blackstar, 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore, Lazarus, Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), Girl Loves Me, Dollar Days, I Can't Give Everything Away
The Best Albums of 2015
I'm about ready to let the past year rest and start looking forward to new music (Kent, Radiohead and LCD Soundsystem are all supposed to be dropping albums this year).
So, saying a very belated final goodbye to 2015, here are my ten favourite albums of the last year.
10. Blur, The Magic Whip
Less experimental weirdness, more just happy to be working together again, Blur came back from a twelve-year album silence with a sweet, lovable collection of songs that mine from just about every era of the band's very varied past. The result is scatterbrained, but very satisfying.
Essential tracks: Lonesome Street, New World Towers, Go Out, Pyongyang, Ong Ong
9. FKA twigs, M3LL155X
An EP of only five tracks is at a natural disadvantage against albums, but this EP is brilliant enough to make its way onto this list. Louder, weirder and more direct than her previous releases, M3LL155X (pronounced "Melissa") establishes FKA twigs as a unique artist, and by far the best R&B artist working right now.
Essential tracks: Figure 8, In Time, Mothercreep
8. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie & Lowell
Carrie & Lowell is an almost unbearably personal album about death, loss and family. Its songs are quiet things made huge by solid arrangements, beautiful harmonies and the best lyrics Stevens has ever penned. Listening to this album feels borderline obscene, as does writing about it, but it's simply too good to shy away from.
Essential tracks: Death with Dignity, Should Have Known Better, All of Me Wants All of You, Fourth of July, John My Beloved
7. Majical Cloudz, Are You Alone?
When Majical Cloudz change, they do so in tiny increments. For one thing, most songs on Are You Alone? have actual choruses, which already sets it apart from 2013's Impersonator. The songs are also slightly warmer, and less I-am-staring-into-your-very-soul intense. For the most part, however, they stick to what they do best: slow, emotionally potent synth pop songs that unfold piece by piece with every repeat of the core vocal melody. So far, the formula continues to yield wonderful results.
Essential tracks: Disappeared, Control, Silver Car Crash, Change, Downtown, Game Show, Call on Me
6. Sleater-Kinney, No Cities to Love
Just in time for their first album in ten years, I discovered Sleater-Kinney. I worked my way through their back catalogue (seven albums between 1995 and 2005), and they pretty much immediately became one of my favourite bands. No Cities to Love is not their best effort, but it's a very worthy addition to their discography, and at a time when actual rock music has mostly disappeared or gotten very boring, it is absolutely essential. Carrie Brownstein is still one of the best guitarists in the world, and Corin Tucker's voice is still a massive force of nature.
Essential tracks: Price Tag, Fangless, Surface Envy, No Cities to Love, A New Wave, Gimme Love, Bury Our Friends
5. Ghost, Meliora
Underneath the makeup, the masks, the fake, campy Satanism and the anonymity, there's a group of Swedish musicians who love The Beatles and ABBA, and have the writing chops to show off those influences. The melodies soar (the explosive vocal harmonies on 'He Is' hit me every single time), the riffs are tight as hell, and for as grandiose and epic as the music gets, there's always a palpable sense of fun.
Essential tracks: Spirit, From the Pinnacle to the Pit, Cirice, He Is, Majesty, Absolution
4. Father John Misty, I Love You, Honeybear
Josh Tillman decided to make an album about what happens when the ultimate cynical asshole falls head-over-heels in love, and the result is one of the funniest, most romantic albums I have ever heard. The songwriting is varied, and never falls short of gorgeous, the singing is pure go-hard-or-go-home, and the lyrics are the pettiest bullshit and the most beautifully romantic sentiments smashed together. If you get the chance to see Father John Misty live, take it: his balls-to-the-wall intense take on 'The Ideal Husband' is worth the ticket price alone.
Essential tracks: I Love You Honeybear, Chateau Lobby #4 (In C for Two Virgins), When You're Smiling and Astride Me, Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow, The Ideal Husband, Bored in the USA, Holy Shit, I Went to the Store One Day
3. Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
To Pimp a Butterfly wants to be The Best and Most Important Hip Hop Album of All Time, and far be it from me to pretend to be any kind of expert on hip hop, but I would say it succeeds (and its placement on this list is in no way meant as an insult to the genre, I swear). Kendrick takes on many different roles, voices, styles and attitudes, to eloquently and thoughtully tackle racism, self-love, self-hatred, survivor's guilt, sex, drugs, gang wars, greed, fame, and just about anything else he has time for over the album's 80 minutes. It's one of the most effective concept albums ever made, and a sprawling epic about black culture.
Essential tracks: Wesley's Theory, King Kunta, These Walls, u, Alright, For Sale? (Interlude), How Much a Dollar Cost, The Blacker the Berry, You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said), i
2. Jamie xx, In Colour
This album will always make me think of where I first heard it, which was London in the springtime. That alone gives it a special place in my heart. I have never been to a rave, but this is basically a mellow love letter to the rave scene, with a stupid banger featuring Young Thug thrown into the mix just for the fun of it. Apart from that (quite fun) sore thumb, it's mostly instrumentals, with three songs with vocal contributions from Jamie's bandmates in The xx. If I have a single favourite thing in music, it's that intangible quality when there's a swell, of voices or instruments or both, that just surges into pure fucking bliss. Those are musical moments to get lost in, and Jamie brings them out repeatedly and expertly on this album, all with the single best production of the year.
Essential tracks: Gosh, Sleep Sound, SeeSaw, Obvs, Hold Tight, Loud Places, The Rest Is Noise, Girl
1. Young Fathers, White Men Are Black Men Too
Young Fathers are hard to pin down, musically. Wikipedia helpfully tells me that their genres are pop and hip hop. There's hardly any rapping on this album, and what little there is could just as well be called "spoken word", or, perhaps more accurately, "shouting". And I can't say I've heard much music this abrasive that I would readily classify as "pop". There are elements of soul, trip hop, indie rock and African influences. Suffice it to say, these are three guys with fantastic voices, singing and screaming their hearts out to music that is both chaotic and uplifting, jarring and life-affirming. There's lo-fi desperation and anger, but there's also sweetness, with songs that are "pop" in the sense that they are insanely and beautifully catchy. Most of all, there's a feeling of freedom, community and joy. I can't say enough good things about this album, and I almost missed out on it entirely (again: Aaron, you are awesome). It makes me happy, and that's why, after a stupid amount of deliberation, and a couple of rewrites, it tops my list.
Essential tracks: Still Running, Shame, 27, Rain or Shine, Sirens, Old Rock n Roll, Nest, Liberated, John Doe, Get Started
The Best Songs of 2015
This list is arriving a little later than expected. It's mostly down to David Bowie dying, making me momentarily uninterested in any music other than his (and, so far, Blackstar is the best album of 2016, no contest). It did give me the chance to come back to 2015 with some relatively fresh ears again, so there is that.
Considering what an extremely shitty year 2015 was for the world, I at least take a small amount of solace in that it was an amazing year for music. Here are my 25 favourite songs of 2015.
25. Joakim Berg & Lisa Nilsson, 'Innan vi faller'
Lisa's mannered kind of voice bores me, but she does harmonise quite nicely with Joakim on one of the more restrained songs he's written in years, and his songwriting is good enough to make it work.
24. Beach House, 'Somewhere Tonight'
Beach House have always kind of sounded like they belong onstage at The Road House in Twin Peaks, but never more so than with 'Somewhere Tonight'. During the wonderful organ runs, I close my eyes and see Audrey Horne dancing.
23. The Weeknd, 'Can't Feel My Face'
One of the biggest hits of the year was a Michael Jackson pastische from a Canadian with the stupidest hair since A Flock of Seagulls. That chorus, though.
22. Blur, 'Go Out'
The best song off of Blur's great comeback album goes for the groove-riding fuzz of 13, which works for me, since that's my favourite Blur album. It's silly and borderline laddish, but it works.
21. Radiohead, 'Spectre'
It's probably a good thing Sam Smith ended up doing the theme song for the latest Bond film, since 'Spectre' is frankly too good for the film it was supposedly written for. A gorgeous, slightly off-kilter piano ballad, it makes me excited for the album they're (hopefully) releasing this year.
20. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, 'The Right Stuff'
I really didn't expect to ever love another song by Noel Gallagher, but here we are, with the best song he's written in 10 years, and one of the most subtle songs of his career.
19. Deerhunter, 'Snakeskin'
A funky, cocky rock song, that sticks out like a sore thumb on Deerhunter's latest album, but beats out the rest with sheer force of personality.
18. EL VY, 'I'm the Man to Be'
Matt Berninger takes a break from The National to form a new project where he gets to holler shit like "I'm peaceful 'cause my dick's in sunlight", and hint at autoerotic asphyxiation. It's glorious.
17. The Pop Group, 'Mad Truth'
The singer is ridiculous, the lyrics are weak, and the groove and production is unassailably amazing.
16. Kendrick Lamar, 'The Blacker the Berry'
The angriest song of the year tackles racism, police shootings and self-hatred, and it's upsetting, a little scary, and so so satisfying.
Considering what an extremely shitty year 2015 was for the world, I at least take a small amount of solace in that it was an amazing year for music. Here are my 25 favourite songs of 2015.
25. Joakim Berg & Lisa Nilsson, 'Innan vi faller'
Lisa's mannered kind of voice bores me, but she does harmonise quite nicely with Joakim on one of the more restrained songs he's written in years, and his songwriting is good enough to make it work.
24. Beach House, 'Somewhere Tonight'
Beach House have always kind of sounded like they belong onstage at The Road House in Twin Peaks, but never more so than with 'Somewhere Tonight'. During the wonderful organ runs, I close my eyes and see Audrey Horne dancing.
23. The Weeknd, 'Can't Feel My Face'
One of the biggest hits of the year was a Michael Jackson pastische from a Canadian with the stupidest hair since A Flock of Seagulls. That chorus, though.
22. Blur, 'Go Out'
The best song off of Blur's great comeback album goes for the groove-riding fuzz of 13, which works for me, since that's my favourite Blur album. It's silly and borderline laddish, but it works.
21. Radiohead, 'Spectre'
It's probably a good thing Sam Smith ended up doing the theme song for the latest Bond film, since 'Spectre' is frankly too good for the film it was supposedly written for. A gorgeous, slightly off-kilter piano ballad, it makes me excited for the album they're (hopefully) releasing this year.
20. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, 'The Right Stuff'
I really didn't expect to ever love another song by Noel Gallagher, but here we are, with the best song he's written in 10 years, and one of the most subtle songs of his career.
19. Deerhunter, 'Snakeskin'
A funky, cocky rock song, that sticks out like a sore thumb on Deerhunter's latest album, but beats out the rest with sheer force of personality.
18. EL VY, 'I'm the Man to Be'
Matt Berninger takes a break from The National to form a new project where he gets to holler shit like "I'm peaceful 'cause my dick's in sunlight", and hint at autoerotic asphyxiation. It's glorious.
17. The Pop Group, 'Mad Truth'
The singer is ridiculous, the lyrics are weak, and the groove and production is unassailably amazing.
16. Kendrick Lamar, 'The Blacker the Berry'
The angriest song of the year tackles racism, police shootings and self-hatred, and it's upsetting, a little scary, and so so satisfying.
15. Tame Impala, 'Let It Happen'
A gorgeous synth pop song with some of the best production and a couple of the best riffs of the year.
14. Joanna Newsom, 'Sapokanikan'
No one really writes lyrics like Joanna Newsom, densely packed with archaic and obscure words, references and allegories. This would all count for nothing if she couldn't make them soar, and she absolutely does that on 'Sapokanikan', starting out cute and playful before steadily climbing to a beautiful crescendo.
13. Sufjan Stevens, 'Death with Dignity'
A heartbreaking song that, while never reaching much higher than a whisper, somehow manages to feel enormously loud.
12. Kurt Vile, 'Pretty Pimpin'
Kurt Vile comes off like the laziest man in music, but he at least had enough energy to write some amazingly hypnotic guitar picking that wouldn't be close to be overstaying its welcome, even if the song was twice as long.
11. Father John Misty, 'The Ideal Husband'
Picking a favourite song from Father John Misty's I Love You, Honeybear has not been an easy process, but 'The Ideal Husband' wins out by being an absolute monster when played live.
10. Will Butler, 'Anna'
It's almost a joke song, but... it's just so fucking catchy.
9. Majical Cloudz, 'Call on Me'
Devon Welsh is a bit of a limited songwriter: there are love songs, there are anxiety songs, and there are friendship songs, and some overlap between the three. 'Call on Me' is a friendship song that might as well be a love song, a song of such intense devotion it's verging on overwhelming. "I am your friend till I lie in the ground", he sings, putting every ounce of emotion he has into it. And who doesn't want a friend like that?
8. The Tallest Man on Earth, 'Dark Bird Is Home'
In 2015, Kristian Mattson finally let a full band into his music, and the results were mixed. On 'Dark Bird Is Home', though, he made it work wonders, by saving the band for the crescendo that the whole song is steadily building up to, and when it finally does come (punctuated by a sigh, and an "oh fuck..."), it's perfect, and the best song of his career.
7. Dan Deacon, 'When I Was Done Dying'
'When I Was Done Dying' is basically The Lion King on ecstasy, an existential journey with a tribal, primitive vibe colliding with washes of electronics. It's a glorious mess.
6. Ghost, 'From the Pinnacle to the Pit'
Anchored by a filthy bass line, this is a tight, theatrical and relentless rock song. I have listened to this song more times than any other song this year, and it is not even close to getting old.
5. FKA twigs, 'Figure 8'
FKA twigs is that rare kind of artist who makes music that feels futuristic, and 'Figure 8' is the best she's ever sounded. The music clicks and whirrs, explodes and then doubles back on itself. It's a powerful listen.
4. Sleater-Kinney, 'No Cities to Love'
I can't quite put my finger on it, but the chorus of this song just hits a sweet spot that makes it into pure ear candy. The snaking, restless guitar lines during the verses don't exactly hurt, either.
3. Jamie xx, 'Loud Places'
Speaking of ear candy, this song has it in abundance: there's what sounds like the clinking of bottles, the seamlessly sampled chorus, the production on the drums when they swell for said chorus, and then there's the guest vocals from Romy, the best she has ever sounded. This song should be mandatory for all weddings, funerals and dance floors.
2. LCD Soundsystem, 'Christmas Will Break Your Heart'
A Christmas present from one of your favourite bands is always a nice thing, but when that band supposedly broke up nearly five years ago? When the present is one of the best songs they have ever released? And when the song is closely followed by the announcement that, yes, they are reforming, touring and making another album? That's a Christmas fucking miracle.
1. Young Fathers, 'Shame'
The most uplifting song to ever feature the word "cunts". Seriously though, I might have a tendency to lean towards sad-sounding songs, but there's nothing like a song that puts a smile on your face and makes you go "fuck yeah", and no song in 2015 did more of that for me than 'Shame'. It's an unstoppable fist-pumper, a loud, chaotic mess, and it is, no question, my favourite song of the year. Aaron, I still owe you a beer or three for turning me on to these guys.
The Decade So Far: The Top 10 Albums of 2010-2014
"Soonish" is a funny word. These are my favourite albums of the decade.
Honourable mentions:
Chelsea Wolfe, Apokalypsis - 2011
Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory - 2012
Death Grips, NO LOVE DEEP WEB - 2012
Destroyer, Kaputt - 2011
Håkan Hellström, 2 steg från Paradise - 2010
Josh T. Pearson, Last of the Country Gentlemen - 2011
Kent, Jag är inte rädd för mörkret - 2012
My Bloody Valentine, mbv - 2013
The National, Trouble Will Find Me - 2013
Sun Kil Moon, Benji - 2014
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City - 2013
10. The Books, The Way Out - 2010
The Books used sampling in a slightly unhinged and surreal manner, here merging scrambled self-help recordings, children issuing death threats and rabbit bedtime stories with electronics, acoustic guitars and general insanity. Top this off with the occasional, beautiful original vocal from Nick Zammuto, and you've got a wonderfully mixed bag of hilarious and relaxing music.
BEST TRACKS: GROUP AUTOGENICS I, IDKT, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT, A COLD FREEZIN' NIGHT, ALL YOU NEED IS A WALL, FREE TRANSLATOR
9. Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do - 2012
This album has a wholly ridiculous title, but there's nothing ridiculous about the album itself. Accompanied by bare bones acoustic instruments, Fiona's voice is an absolute showstealer. She fluctuates between sombre, low-key confessions ("I made it to a dinner date/My teardrops seasoned every plate"), throat-shattering agression ("I ran out of white dove's feathers to soak up the hot piss that comes from your mouth every time you adress me") and adult playfulness ("I kept touching my neck, to guide your eye to where I wanted you to kiss me when we find some time alone"). These songs are small things made enormous by a masterful singer and lyricist.
BEST TRACKS: EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, DAREDEVIL, VALENTINE, LEFT ALONE, PERIPHERY, ANYTHING WE WANT, HOT KNIFE
8. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs - 2010
Arcade Fire are full of big statements, big feelings, words and phrases repeated and deconstructed (just count how many times kids/children are mentioned). The Suburbs is their overblown, glorious concept album about - what else - suburban kids. Arcade Fire don't do subtlety, but give them an hour and sixteen tracks of childish indulgence, and they'll win you over by enthusiasm alone, not to mention great songwriting.
BEST TRACKS: THE SUBURBS, READY TO START, MODERN MAN, ROCOCO, CITY WITH NO CHILDREN, MONTH OF MAY, WE USED TO WAIT, SPRAWL II (MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS)
7. Death Grips, The Money Store - 2012
Death Grips are a loud, angry and weird band. Frontman MC Ride rarely goes softer than a shout. The music is all blaring synths, revving engines and collapsing drums. And yet, The Money Store is the closest thing they have to an "accessible" album, owing to the fact that these weirdos have some legitimate songwriting chops. 'The Fever (Aye Aye)', 'Get Got' and 'The Cage' are anchored by catchy synth lines, and 'I've Seen Footage' and 'Hacker' are borderline danceable, in a mosh pit kind of way. The Money Store is an intense album, but if you can get past its attempts to violently scare you away, it's also intensely rewarding.
BEST TRACKS: GET GOT, THE FEVER (AYE AYE), LOST BOYS, BLACKJACK, I'VE SEEN FOOTAGE, SYSTEM BLOWER, THE CAGE, BITCH PLEASE, HACKER
6. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues - 2011
An improvement on their already great debut in just about every way, Helplessness Blues is gorgeous, huge sounding folk rock, with poetic and existential lyrics, some songs broken up into multiple parts, and nearly all songs carried skyward by the best vocal harmonies since god only knows (yes, that was extremely cheap of me). Despite all these big words and ideas, Helplessness Blues is very easy to get into, and very hard to get out of your head.
BEST TRACKS: MONTEZUMA, BEDOUIN DRESS, SIM SALA BIM, BATTERY KINZIE, HELPLESSNESS BLUES, SOMEONE YOU'D ADMIRE, THE SHRINE/AN ARGUMENT, BLUE SPOTTED TAIL, GROWN OCEAN
5. The National, High Violet - 2010
High Violet was the album where The National finally started to capture the intensity of their live shows on record (and I can tell you from personal experience that The National is one of the finest live bands in the world).There are spine crushingingly good fistpumpers ('Bloodbuzz Ohio', 'England', 'Afraid of Everyone'), smaller, looser songs that flourish into gorgeous crescendos ('Sorrow', 'Runaway', 'Anyone's Ghost') and two string soaked, heartstring tugging bookends ('Terrible Love' and 'Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks'). At the center of all these songs stands Matt Berninger, his wonderful baritone stronger than ever, and his lyrics balancing perfectly between banality, poetry and decadence.
BEST TRACKS: SORROW, LITTLE FAITH, AFRAID OF EVERYONE, BLOODBUZZ OHIO, RUNAWAY, CONVERSATION 16, ENGLAND, VANDERLYLE CRYBABY GEEKS
4. LCD Soundsytem, This Is Happening - 2010
James Murphy's last album before retiring LCD Soundsystem is a blowout party, all blaring synths, slurred speech and regret. It's fun as hell: 'Dance Yrself Clean' has Murphy crashing his vocal cords while someone's "blowing Marxism to pieces", 'Drunk Girls' asserts that "love is an astronaut, it comes back but it's never the same", and 'Pow Pow' is a rambling monologue about... something, I'm not sure. Elsewhere, Murphy portrays crushingly adult heartbreak on 'I Can Change', and makes fun of the idea of being a commercial band on 'You Wanted a Hit'. It's hard to say if quitting while they're ahead was a good idea, but LCD Soundsystem undeniably went out on the strongest of notes.
BEST TRACKS: DANCE YRSELF CLEAN, DRUNK GIRLS, ALL I WANT, I CAN CHANGE, YOU WANTED A HIT, POW POW, HOME
3. Majical Cloudz, Impersonator - 2013
Majical Cloudz' songs are minimalist things that don't so much move from start to finish as circle back and forth around the same drain. Any given song might have as little as three or four looped elements to carry the instrumental, all to set the stage for Devon Welsh's voice. And it is quite a voice; fullthroated and full of heart, earnest to the point of discomfort as he belts out confrontational lines like "hey man, sooner or later you'll be dead" or "we'll be just like the roaches, my love". It's all a bit emotionally exhausting, really, but in a way that is somehow inviting, comforting and hypnotically beautiful.
BEST TRACKS: IMPERSONATOR, THIS IS MAGIC, CHILDHOOD'S END, I DO SING FOR YOU, TURNS TURNS TURNS, SILVER RINGS, BUGS DON'T BUZZ, NOTEBOOK
2. Swans, To Be Kind - 2014
At two hours in length, this is a relentless behemoth of an album. Swans are not particularly interested in things like verses and choruses, instead assaulting your ears with punishing, roaring buildups, before ultimately being crushed and disintegrated under their own weight. Despite this, Michael Gira (with a voice like old leather, rubbed raw and stretched tight) & Co. actually pull off some fairly varied songwriting on To Be Kind: 'Just a Little Boy' is a 12-minute, slow motion predatory blues number, 'A Little God in My Hands' starts out as swampy funk before a blaring, fuzzy explosion throws the song into overdrive, and 'Oxygen' begins with a heavy, filthy bass riff, then just builds and builds over its eight minutes to a deafening roar, with Michael Gira's vocals facing the intensity of the music blow for blow. I would say that To Be Kind is a trial to get through, but though it might very well be for some, or even most, its two hours are a trancelike, nigh on perfect experience that just sails by for me. Also, "there are millions and millions of stars in your eyes" is simply one of the greatest album-closing lines ever.
BEST TRACKS: SCREEN SHOT, JUST A LITTLE BOY (FOR CHESTER BURNETT), A LITTLE GOD IN MY HANDS, BRING THE SUN/TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE, SHE LOVES US, KIRSTEN SUPINE, OXYGEN, TO BE KIND
1. Kent, Tigerdrottningen - 2014
It almost saddens me how predictable I am, but really, from first listen, it was only ever going to be Tigerdrottningen at the top spot. By their eleventh album, Kent are just such effortlessly brilliant songwriters that they are basically immune to making anything less than a great album. Tigerdrottningen is Kent's most varied collection of songs yet, while still flowing remarkably well as an album. Several songs are backed, pushed along and elevated by some truly great female vocals, an addition that has been strangely underutilised by Kent in the past, and one which opens the songs up in new ways. Joakim Berg has written better lyrics, but never have they been more openhearted, earnest and to-the-point than on Tigerdrottningen. To my obviously very biased mind, everything about this album is just perfect, from crystalline opener 'Mirage' to classic Kent guitar explosion closer 'Den andra sidan', even down to the kind-of-ugly but kind-of-gorgeous album cover. If it's not their best album (and really, Röd is the only other contender), it's still the best album of the decade so far.
BEST TRACKS: MIRAGE, VAR ÄR VI NU?, SKOGARNA, LA BELLE EPOQUE, SVART SNÖ, ALLT HAR SIN TID, INNAN HIMLEN FALLER NER, DIN ENDA VÄN, GODHET, SIMMAREN, DEN ANDRA SIDAN
The Decade So Far: The Top 25 Songs of 2010-2014
So, it seems we have some changes to adress. Firstly, I am not just churning out two obligatory posts at the tail-end of the year and then leaving this blog as dormant as a groundhog that can't see shadows all that well (metaphors are not my strong suit), but actually attempting to blow some life into this empty, cowering husk. Secondly, I have decided to start writing this blog in English. The reasons for this are twofold: a) I have friends who don't speak or read Swedish all that well, and I want them to at least be able to pretend to read this blog in order to fuel my fragile ego, and b) Despite Swedish being my first language, I am better at expressing myself with the English language, as you can obviously see from how charming and funny this blog has become all of a sudden.
So. The first half of the 2010's has come and gone, and the kind of person who likes to say things like "there just isn't any good music coming out anymore" can kindly a) go fuck themselves, and b) read this post to be proven wrong (in whichever order they prefer). Apart from my persistent nicotine abuse and the occasional whisky haze, discovering new, great music is my drug of choice, and so I have compiled a list of the best rushes of the last half-decade. Unlike certain "serious" music publications (*cough* Pitchfork *cough*), I thought it best to actually wait until 2014 was over before compiling such a list. And so, with 2014 receding into a hazy, racially tense memory, here are my favourite songs of the last five years, with an album list to follow soon-ish.
25. Giles Corey, Spectral Bride - 2011
Giles Corey's self-titled debut is a concept album about getting through a suicidial depression (clearly, a barrel of laughs all around), and 'Spectral Bride' is its drunken singalong centre. With its clangy acoustic guitar, barroom piano and multi-tracked vocals, it would be kind of a fun song, if not for lines like "I hope I survive this fucking week alone".
24. King Krule, Easy Easy - 2013
I can't really forgive him for not allowing that fantastic chorus a few more turns, but if your chief complaint about a song is how you wish it just went on forever, it's really not that bad.
23. Autre Ne Veut, Play by Play - 2013
An RnB ballad about (I think) calling someone just to hear their voice mail, this song is basically all climax, with singer Arthur Ashin just going in guns blazing from start to finish.
22. Grinderman, Kitchenette - 2010
The last ten years or so of Nick Cave's career alternates between ultra literate surrealism and ultra literate horny-old-man-shtick. 'Kitchenette' firmly plants its filthy feet in the latter, having Nick seduce a housewife with every trick up his salesman sleeves. His musical backing is appropriately sticky.
21. Markus Krunegård, Korallreven & Vintergatan - 2012
Sure, the melody might be lifted from Radiohead's 'Let Down', but great production, singing and lyrics go a long way to make up for it. Every instance of Markus' slide into falsetto is alone worth the price of admission.
20. Japandroids, The House That Heaven Built - 2012
If you want some "fuck-yeah-I'm-still-alive" rock music, look no further. "If they try to slow you down, tell them all to go to hell" is about as life-affirming as it's going to get.
19. Josh T. Pearson, Sorry with a Song - 2011
A self-pitying modern country song, with a bearded beast of a man desperately apologising for drinking, cheating and everything else under the sun and moon, it might have been grating if he didn't sound so goddamn sincere.
18. Joanna Newsom, Good Intentions Paving Company - 2010
A real road movie of a song, Newsom's off-kilter voice belts out these absolutely gorgeous, wordplay-filled lyrics like a kindergarten teacher with a belly full of wine.
17. Timber Timbre, Hot Dreams - 2014
At what point does devotion become obsession? This song should be a good tipper of scales. It's a balancing act between loving and threatening, and the finishing saxophone flourish makes you not care which way the balance is leaning.
16. Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues - 2011
Feeling unsure about your place in this cold, mechanical world? Fleet Foxes have got you covered. How about tending to an orchard? Their harmonies and clear-ringing guitars make it sound like the logical thing to do.
15. Death Grips, Takyon (Death Yon) - 2011
Like all of Death Grips' songs, this is not one for the faint of heart. Or for most other people. The amount of agression and volume that is unleashed in the very first seconds of this song is enough for most sane people to recoil, but if you enjoy your genres bended, then give this hiphop/noise/industrial/hardcore meltdown a listen.
14. Bon Iver, Holocene - 2011
Possibly this decade's most maddeningly beautiful lyrics are found on this song, with Justin Vernon's measured falsetto garbling them into a guessing game of epic proportions. The cycling acoustic guitar-pickings and sparse but powerful backing instrumentation make for an all-round gorgeous song.
13. Cloud Nothings, Wasted Days - 2012
Between the throat-shredding shrieks of "I THOUGHT! I WOULD! BE MORE! THAN THIS!" and the cyclone instrumental that takes up the centre of the song, this is one intense, 90's style rock song. I thought I would be more than this too, so this song is a good remedy.
12. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs - 2010
The opening title track to Arcade Fire's brilliant third album is a classic overture, with all the record's themes firmly established, a crystalline production (a little bit of Beatles-esque bass never hurts) and all the earnestness of the teenagers the band still are at heart.
11. Majical Cloudz, Turns Turns Turns - 2013
10. The National, I Need My Girl - 2013
From the first tentative live version released way back in 2011, I was mildly obsessed with this song, and its final studio version only cemented my feelings. 'I Need My Girl' has everything I want from a love song: desperation, longing, regret, devotion and the edges of a larger story, found in the fineprint. In my own way, I have been trying to write this song ever since.
9. Future Islands, Seasons (Waiting on You) - 2014
Perhaps I spoke too soon with Majical Cloudz, for here is an equally intense vocalist, but one who takes it one step further with sheer joyous force. 'Seasons' is Future Islands' ultimate tour de force, propelling them into the status of synth-pop gods forever and ever, amen.
8. LCD Soundsystem, Dance Yrself Clean - 2010
Everything seems so calm and collected, until those synths blow the speakers and any doors in the vicinity off their hinges, and James Murphy crashes into it like a man on a mission (which he is) and steroids (which he was). His kamikaze performance elevates this already great song into an epic party, blowing out his voice in a truly inspiring fashion.
7. The National, Bloodbuzz Ohio - 2010
For such a dour band, The National can still pull off a fist-pumping anthem like nobody's business. 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' might be their crowning achievment, with its solid drums, masterful builds and releases of tension, and Matt Berninger's calm baritone resting above it all.
6. Tom Waits, Hell Broke Luce - 2011
Tom Waits' best song in two decades is one of the most chaotic things he has ever recorded. The off-kilter handclaps, booming drums and dashes of machine guns and bombs set the stage for a military man laying down some harsh truths. Waits' voice has often been described as a bark, but rarely has that been more true than here, spitting out lines like "get me another bodybag, the bodybag's full", "my face was scorched, scorched!" and "left, right, left!" with all the indignation of a starving mutt fresh out of a dog fighting ring.
5. Radiohead, The Daily Mail - 2011
Radiohead is, simply put, one of the greatest and most technically talented bands of all time. With The King of Limbs, their 2011 album, they displayed this immense talent with rhythms, production and loads of soaring falsetto from frontman Thom Yorke. This made for some excellent songs, but some of that off-the-wall intensity they have delivered in the past was still missing. Then along comes 'The Daily Mail', recorded live-in-studio and released as a single. Baffingly not included on the album, this ranks up there among their strongest songs, starting out as an expertly sung, creaking piano piece before an overload of horns and stabbing guitars takes the song into the stratosphere, with Yorke howling over the din like a banshee.
4. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Higgs Boson Blues - 2013
Nick Cave is a storyteller. The story he's telling here bastardises and transcends philosophy, religion, time, particle physics, the history of rock 'n roll and Miley Cyrus. He's also a fucking master entertainer, so he supports his musings with a voice that creaks, pleads and hollers over a rising and falling blues backing. The end result is a perfect mess, the operative word being 'perfect'.
3. Kent, Mirage - 2014
My favourite song of 2014 is five-and-a-half minutes of pure ear candy, with every little sonic detail clicking into place. From the stuttering, unfurling intro down to its final seconds of glorious falsetto, the band just delivers a faultless, flawless pop song.
2. M83, Midnight City - 2011
From the first looped, distorted yelps that set the song in motion, 'Midnight City' is a gorgeous, blissful party, racing to the finish line of that saxophone solo, which is simply one of the Great Moments in music. This is a song to get lost in, a song to get your heart racing, adrenaline shooting our your ears and love for the world shooting out from every pore of your body.
1. Kent, 999 - 2012
Ten albums and seventeen years into their career, my favourite band released their best song. Like many of their songs, '999' deals with growing up. Missing what was left behind. Realising that you've abandoned your old ideals for new ones. Feeling lost in your own head, your own history, and the small world you've created for yourself. But never before have they tackled these themes with so much clarity and finesse. Never before have they written a song so vibrant, expansive and bursting at the seams. Never before have they combined lyrics and melody into such a powerhouse of a song. Everything just works with '999'. It is everything Kent have ever been capable of, fully realised, and it is my favourite song of the decade.
2014: Album
Här är årets 10 bästa album.
10. clipping., CLPPNG
clipping. blandar friskt välbekanta hiphopteman (sex, droger, etc.) med mer okonventionella historier (en kvinnlig seriemördare, en pyroman som får en dos av sin egen medicin, etc.), och filtrerar det genom kreativ, oberäknelig instrumentation (’Get up’ består till exempel av inte mycket mer än ett alarm från en klockradio). Allt hålls samman av en tekniskt skicklig och textmässigt kreativ rappare, och refränger som trots allt kaos lyckas med att vara svängiga.
BÄSTA SPÅR: INTRO, BODY AND BLOOD, WORK WORK, TAKING OFF, DREAM, GET UP, INSIDE OUT, STORY 2, ENDS
9. Cloud Nothings, Here and nowhere else
Mer enhetligt och fokuserat än deras album Attack on Memory från 2012, med en på gott och ont lite råare ljudbild. Cloud Nothings ser framförallt till att göra sina låtar slagkraftiga: vartenda ett av dessa åtta spår har gitarriff och sångmelodier som sätter sig fast. Trummisen Jayson Gerycz är också kolossalt bra, och ger låtarna en intensiv framåtrörelse.
BÄSTA SPÅR: NOW HEAR IN, PSYCHIC TRAUMA, JUST SEE FEAR, NO THOUGHTS, PATTERN WALKS, I’M NOT PART OF ME
8. Ariel Pink, pom pom
De senaste åren har jag snappat upp en och annan låt från Ariel Pink som jag gillat, men jag har aldrig riktigt fått grepp om honom. Efter pom pom kan jag konstatera att det inte är meningen att man ska få grepp om Ariel Pink, och att det är helt i sin ordning. Albumets sjutton spår vandrar entusiastiskt och förvirrat igenom så många subgenrer de hinner med, från psykedeliska pastischer i stil med tidig Pink Floyd till somrig 60-talspop, från goth-parodier till uppriktig 80-talistisk syntpop, och till och med reklamjinglar. pom pom är ett extremt fånigt album, men Ariel Pink tar sig an musiken med en sådan entusiasm och med ett så gediget låtskrivarlynne att albumets fånighet endast blir ett plus.
BÄSTA SPÅR: PLASTIC RAINCOATS IN THE PIG PARADE, WHITE FRECKLES, FOUR SHADOWS, NOT ENOUGH VIOLENCE, PUT YOUR NUMBER IN MY PHONE, NEGATIV ED, BLACK BALLERINA, PICTURE ME GONE, DAYZED INN DAYDREAMS
7. Future Islands, Singles
Future Islands är inte ett nytt band, men som de flesta andra hörde jag dem först i år, efter deras storslagna framträdande på David Letterman. Vilket för mig till sångaren, Samuel T Herring, som nog kan vara årets stora upptäckt. Han är olik någon sångare jag tidigare hört eller sett: han dansar med en vettvillig inlevelse, och hans röst låter full av grus. Han är fullständigt fängslande, och musiken ankrar honom runt stark, slagkraftig pop, med fokus på svängig, melodisk bas och glittrande syntslingor. Detta är beroendeframkallande musik, och ett band jag kommer se fram att höra mer av.
BÄSTA SPÅR: SEASONS (WAITING ON YOU), DOVES, BACK IN THE TALL GRASS, A SONG FOR OUR GRANDFATHERS, LIGHT HOUSE, FALL FROM GRACE, A DREAM OF YOU AND ME
6. Sun Kil Moon, Benji
Benji består av elva hjärtskärande och djupt empatiska små noveller till låtar, där Mark Kozelek lägger hela sitt liv under ett mikroskop: hans syssling och morbror dog båda i bränder orsakade av exploderande sprejburkar, han älskar sin mamma och fasar inför den dagen då hon inte kommer finnas där, hans pappa var något hård mot honom men uppfostrade honom rätt, hans vän Ben Gibbard från The Postal Service ger honom ett visst mått av professionell svartsjuka, och han spenderar en dag hos sin pappas vän, som inväntar rättegång för att ha gett sin fru aktiv dödshjälp. Sedan har vi låtar som ’I watched the film ’The Song Remains the Same’’ och ’Richard Ramirez died today of natural causes’, som går igenom så mycket småfakta och filosofiska funderingar att de kunde ha utgjort ett eget album. Allt detta bygger Mark Kozelek runt vackert skriven och varierad musik, och en klar, krispig ljudbild. Benji är ett vackert, sorgligt, smart och roligt album, och värt att återkomma till om och om igen.
BÄSTA SPÅR: CARISSA, I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT MY MOTHER’S LOVE, DOGS, PRAY FOR NEWTOWN, JIM WISE, I WATCHED THE FILM ‘THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME’, RICHARD RAMIREZ DIED TODAY OF NATURAL CAUSES, BEN’S MY FRIEND
5. Run the Jewels, Run the Jewels 2
Run the Jewels, en duo bestående av rapparna Killer Mike och El-P, är bland det bästa jag någonsin hört i hiphopväg. Instrumentationen är stundom mörk och tät, stundom ryckig och upplyftande, och rakt igenom den konsekvent bästa hiphopinstrumentation jag hört på ett album. Som rappare är Killer Mike och El-P tekniska och lyriska mästare, med ett flyt som är få förunnat, fullt av allitterationer, kvicka ordvitsar, underfundiga metaforer och bitande samhällskommentarer. Oavsett om de tacklar systematisk rasism (’Early’), ett smärtsamt förflutet som knarklangare (’Crown’), sexuellt begär (den komiskt snuskiga ’Love again’) eller bara välberättigat skrytande om deras status som rappare (’Jeopardy’, 'Oh my darling don't cry') så håller de en oerhört hög klass, och ett fokus som aldrig släpper. De strävar uppenbart efter storhet, och de lyckas fullständigt.
BÄSTA SPÅR: JEOPARDY, OH MY DARLING DON’T CRY, BLOCKBUSTER NIGHT PART 1, CLOSE YOUR EYES (AND COUNT TO FUCK), LIE CHEAT STEAL, EARLY, LOVE AGAIN (AKINYELE BACK), CROWN, ANGEL DUSTER
4. Timber Timbre, Hot dreams
Timber Timbre gör sensuell, filmisk och stundtals mörk musik, med en tät, behaglig atmosfär. Saxofon, xylofon och mellotron kombinerat med typiskt 50/60-talspop: om Roy Orbison hade gjort soundtracket till en film av David Lynch hade det kunnat låta ungefär såhär. Om den beskrivningen inte får dig att vilja höra detta album omgående kan jag inte hjälpa dig.
BÄSTA SPÅR: BEAT THE DRUM SLOWLY, HOT DREAMS, CURTAINS!?, BRING ME SIMPLE MEN, GRAND CANYON, THIS LOW COMMOTION, RUN FROM ME, THE THREE SISTERS
3. Iceage, Plowing into the field of love
Efter två korta, intensiva och skräniga punkskivor har danska Iceage breddat ut sig, och resultatet är strålande. Instrument som piano, akustiska gitarrer, viola, trumpet och mandolin ger en ny karaktär till deras låtar, och på kuppen har de också blivit tightare, mer självsäkra musiker. Elias Bender Rønnenfelt kan fortfarande inte sjunga ordentligt, men hans darrande, sura stämma har också förbättrats, och namn som Ian Curtis och Nick Cave har, inte helt oförtjänt, börjat nämnas i samma andetag som hans eget. Plowing into the field of love är stökig, skränig musik; den slår vilt omkring sig i alla riktningar, och den träffar förödande ofta.
BÄSTA SPÅR: ON MY FINGERS, THE LORD’S FAVORITE, HOW MANY, GLASSY EYED DORMANT AND VEILED, STAY, ABUNDANT LIVING, FOREVER, AGAINST THE MOON, SIMONY, PLOWING INTO THE FIELD OF LOVE
2. Swans, To be kind
To be kind är som en slägga: varje låt slår hårt, målmedvetet, repetitivt och obevekligt, i allt från fem till 34 minuter, hur mycket tid som än behövs för att få allt att rämna. Swans sysslar inte med små gester, utan skriver låtar som växer, stegrar och slutligen exploderar i total katarsis. Det är inte ett album för den otålige (det tickar in på 121 minuter), eller för den som vill ha tydlig framåtrörelse och variation: låtarna hittar en takt, ett groove, ett riff, och gör dessa till cirkulerande mantran, som bara blir högre och högre tills det antingen når ett crescendo eller faller isär. Och mitt i alltihop står Michael Gira, med en röst som utslitet och hårt åtspänt läder, och predikar, bönar, hotar, vrålar och gurglar om vartannat.
BÄSTA SPÅR: SCREEN SHOT, JUST A LITTLE BOY (CHESTER BURNETT), A LITTLE GOD IN MY HANDS, BRING THE SUN/TOUSSAINT L’OUVERTURE, SHE LOVES US, KIRSTEN SUPINE, OXYGEN, TO BE KIND
1. Kent, Tigerdrottningen
Efter första genomlyssningen, på den där bänken i solskenet i slutet av april, rådde det ingen tvekan om vilket album som skulle toppa den här listan. Detta är inte en garanti när det kommer till Kents musik; jag älskar alltid deras album, men det är inte alltid de dominerar över all annan musik på det sättet som Tigerdrottningen gjorde för mig 2014. Varje enskild låt är ett under av produktion och låtskrivarfiness, varje refräng slår an strängar ända in i märgen, varje stavelse Jocke Berg häver ur sig etsar sig fast i min själ. Texter om ungdom kontra vuxenlivet, ansvarstagande, ångest, förändring, längtan, kärlek och politisk misär omges av perfekt pop- och rockmusik. Jag har visserligen en allmän tendens att höja Kent till skyarna, men nu går det bara inte att låta bli. Efter elva album håller de fortfarande en löjligt hög klass, och nu har de överträffat sig själva: i skrivande stund är jag beredd att kalla Tigerdrottningen för Kents bästa album, vilket för min räkning gör det till det bästa svenska albumet genom tiderna.
BÄSTA SPÅR: MIRAGE, VAR ÄR VI NU?, SKOGARNA, LA BELLE EPOQUE, SVART SNÖ, ALLT HAR SIN TID, INNAN HIMLEN FALLER NER, DIN ENDA VÄN, GODHET, SIMMAREN, DEN ANDRA SIDAN
2014: Låtar
Här är årets 25 bästa låtar.
25. Hundred Waters, Murmurs
På grund av mitt sommarjobb kommer jag nog alltid associera denna låt med en ekande kyrka. Det passar låtens atmosfär, med mjukt mässande sång och markerande pianoackord.
24. La Dispute, Woman (in mirror)
Till skillnad från La Dispute:s tidare storverk, den fullständigt förkrossande ’King Park’, är ’Woman (in mirror’) avskalad och samlad. Jordan Dreyer håller sig på konversationsnivå, resten av bandet likaså.
23. Leonard Cohen, Nevermind
’Nevermind’ hittar balansen mellan musik och text som ibland saknas på Cohens senaste låtar: han håller sig till en rytmisk viskning som klär hans 80-åriga röst, han ackompanjeras av inte mycket mer än ett elpiano, en bastrumma, och en kvinna som bönar om fred på arabiska.
22. First Aid Kit, Cedar lane
First Aid Kit fungerar som bäst när de låter samspelet mellan sina röster stå i centrum. Case in point: den undersköna avslutningen i ’Cedar Lane’.
21. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Give us a kiss
Under hösten 2013 arbetades den in på turnén, och i år släpptes äntligen en inspelning av denna lågmälda pärla, som hade passat väl in på Push the Sky Away i fjol.
20. St. Vincent, Rattlesnake
Detta flummiga öppningsspår visar upp St. Vincent i högform: hon är naken och svettig, hon blir jagad av en skallerorm, refrängen låter som en uppkäftig barnramsa och det avslutande gitarrsolot låter som en Bumbibjörn som fastnat i en mixer.
19. Liars, Pro anti anti
Låter som ett elektroniskt Rammstein.
18. clipping., Taking off
Daveed Diggs går från double time till triple time, och andra hiphoptermer jag bara har en vag förståelse för, och instrumentationen sprakar, mullrar och kompletteras av lite smakfull saxofon.
17. Sharon Van Etten, Your love is killing me
I hennes bästa låt hittills lägger Sharon Van Etten minimalismen åt sidan och kastar ut sin röst, bara vibrato och frustration, på en bädd av (post?)rockgitarrer och reverb.
16. Lykke Li, Gunshot
Lykke Li har aldrig låtit bättre, och trummorna och de mörka pianotonerna som accentuerar refrängen höjer låten från mycket bra till fantastisk.
15. Perfume Genius, Queen
”No family is safe when I sashay” är antingen årets fyndigaste eller tuffaste textrad.
14. The War On Drugs, Red eyes
”Woo!” *Gitarrsolo*.
13. Ought, Habit
Teknisk och energisk postpunk i stil med Television eller Talking Heads, med en släng av Velvet Underground. Snyggt, kul, medryckande, och jag får känna mig smart som kan höra influenserna. Everybody wins.
12. Have a Nice Life, Defenestration song
Have a Nice Life mässar ”get off my back!”, och det är lo-fi, och det är underbart.
11. Sun Kil Moon, Richard Ramirez died today of natural causes
En seriemördare dör av cancer i väntan på avrättning. James Gandolfini var lika gammal som Sonic Youth:s trummis när han dog. Mark Kozelek har problem med sin prostata, och han ska flyga hem till Ohio för att gå på familjebegravning. Also: bluesiga gitarrplock. Allt är sammanlänkat.
10. Majical Cloudz, Your eyes
Tekniskt sett fuskar jag väl, eftersom detta bara är en nyinspelning av en äldre låt, men Majical Cloudz släppte bara en låt i år, och jag tänker inte låta den gå onämnd. Som förra årets material är ’Your eyes’ hyfsat minimalistisk, med loopad instrumentation och fokus på Devon Welsh:s barytonstämma. Nytt är en mjukare, mer samlad sånginsats från Welsh, och instrumentation som nästan kan beskrivas som glad, eller åtminstone lite uppåt. Jag tar vad jag kan få, och det jag får är årets tionde bästa låt.
9. Sia, Chandelier
Årets mest depressiva partylåt. Refrängen exploderar i ett konfettiregn, och Sia:s röst är så stark att jag dör lite. Musikvideon är också väldigt bra.
8. Ariel Pink, Not enough violence
Ursäkta, men ibland behövs lite forcerade och långsökta liknelser. Så, om Frank Zappa hade försökt skriva en låt inspirerad av The Cure:s ’One hundred years’, och sedan spelat in den så lo-fi som möjligt, hade det kanske låtit som ’Not enough violence’. Kanske. ”You’re fertilizer on the body farm”.
7. Run the Jewels, Close your eyes (and count to fuck)
Zack de la Rocha från Rage Against the Machine:s röst arbetas in i själva instrumentationen medan Killer Mike och El-P hetsar till fängelseupplopp, sedan får han gå loss med en svidande gästvers. Årets hiphoplåt. Och årets låttitel, nu när vi ändå är igång.
6. Swans, Just a little boy (for Chester Burnett)
Tolv minuter av ”blues” som rör sig långsamt nog för att man förr eller senare ska inse att Michael Gira sjunger från perspektivet av ett foster. ”I need looooooove” mullrar han, och svaras av demoniska skratt. En låt att drunkna i.
5. Iceage, Forever
Iceage har gett lite svängrum till sin punkformel, och har fått en ny tyngd på köpet. Elias Bender Rønnenfelt sjunger slarvigt men med stor patos, och jublande trumpeter hoppar in i crescendot till sista refräng.
4. Timber Timbre, Hot dreams
”I wanna dance with a black woman”. Alright. “I wanna wake from hot dreams of you” Snyggt. “I wanna follow through on all my promises and threats to you, babe”. Hmm. *Saxofonsolo*. Årets sexigaste låt.
3. Cloud Nothings, I'm not part of me
Dylan Baldi har överträffat sig själv. ’I’m not part of me’ är hans bästa låt hittills, obevekligt catchy men samtidigt rå nog för att inte skämmas inför låtar som hans förra mästerverk, ’Wasted Days’.
2. Future Islands, Seasons (waiting on you)
En fullständigt perfekt poplåt, framförd av en sångare som dansar som besatt, slår sig för bröstet, stirrar galet och uppriktigt på publiken och slänger ur sig lite growling då och då för att hålla det intressant. Låten står mer än väl på egna ben, men för helvete, se liveklipp av denna fantastiska låt.
1. Kent, Mirage
Jocke Berg med armarna höjda framför sig i blått ljus. När trummorna drar igång, och låter som att de ska kollapsa in i sig själva. Första genomlyssningen, på en bänk i solskenet. Hur Jocke får till något som är svårt att sätta fingret på men som låter fullständigt magiskt när han sjunger ”jag ser, jag ser en himmel utan moln”. Hur gitarrerna ekar enskilda, dominerande ackord i refrängen. Falsetten. Hur synt och bas glider in i introt. Introt överhuvudtaget. ”Le mirage betyder hägring”. Det fanns flera Kentlåtar som tävlade om förstaplatsen för mig, men ’Mirage’ hamnade här för alla smådetaljer, alla saker den drar till minnes, och för att det helt enkelt är en helt jävla makalöst bra låt.
0. Postcard, Open
Visst är det lite otight på sina ställen. Visst ligger sången lite för högt och basen lite för lågt i mixen. Visst är inspelningen i sig lite sisådär i ljudkvalitet. Men jag är stolt över den här låten. Jag är stolt över människorna som spelar den med mig, stolt över hur väl den fungerar som avslutning på våra (alltför sporadiska) spelningar, stolt över att folk som ser oss tenderar att säga "fan vad bra den där sista var, vad hette den?", stolt över att få klämma i för full hals och sedan stå där utmattad när Pontus river av sitt skitsnygga solo. Jag hade annars satt en låt som heter 'In her own image' här, men den har vi inte spelat in än. Good things come to those who wait, förhoppningsvis.
Tack för mig.
2013: Album
Förlåt. Jag försökte skriva om dessa album. Det gick inget vidare. Så. Fuck it. Inga förklaringar, inget halvhjärtat försök att sammanfatta ett helt album i några meningar. Inte i år. Lyssna och låt albumen tala för sig själva, om ni är intresserade.
10. Sigur Rós, Kveikur
BÄSTA SPÅR: BRENNISTEINN, HRAFNTINNA, ÍSJAKI, KVEIKUR, RAFSTRAUMUR, VAR
9. Håkan Hellström, Det kommer aldrig va över för mig
BÄSTA SPÅR: DET KOMMER ALDRIG VA ÖVER FÖR MIG, DU KAN GÅ DIN EGEN VÄG, NÄR LYKTORNA TÄNDS, PISTOL, VALBORG, LIVETS TEATER, STREET HUSTLE
8. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away
BÄSTA SPÅR: WE NO WHO U R, WATER'S EDGE, JUBILEE STREET, MERMAIDS, HIGGS BOSON BLUES, PUSH THE SKY AWAY
7. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
BÄSTA SPÅR: REFLEKTOR, WE EXIST, HERE COMES THE NIGHT TIME, NORMAL PERSON, AWFUL SOUND (OH EURYDICE), IT'S NEVER OVER (OH ORPHEUS), PORNO, AFTERLIFE
6. Queens of the Stone Age, ...Like Clockwork
BÄSTA SPÅR: KEEP YOUR EYES PEELED, THE VAMPYRE OF TIME AND MEMORY, IF I HAD A TAIL, MY GOD IS THE SUN, KALOPSIA, SMOOTH SAILING, I APPEAR MISSING, ...LIKE CLOCKWORK
5. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
BÄSTA SPÅR: OBVIOUS BICYCLE, UNBELIEVERS, STEP, DIANE YOUNG, DON'T LIE, HANNAH HUNT, YA HEY
4. The Knife, Shaking the Habitual
BÄSTA SPÅR: A TOOTH FOR AN EYE, FULL OF FIRE, A CHERRY ON TOP, WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND ME, RAGING LUNG, NETWORKING, STAY OUT HERE
3. My Bloody Valentine, m b v
2. The National, Trouble Will Find Me
1. Majical Cloudz, Impersonator
2013: Låtar
Då var det dags igen. 2013 var ett bra år. Här är mina favoritlåtar från det gångna året.
25. Savages, Shut Up
Postpunkrecept 2013: bas och trummor högt upp i mixen, vass, dynamisk gitarr, och ylande sång från en fransk kvinna vars brytning gör den engelska texten svår att urskilja, men vars hängivelse gör sången lätt att älska.
Postpunkrecept 2013: bas och trummor högt upp i mixen, vass, dynamisk gitarr, och ylande sång från en fransk kvinna vars brytning gör den engelska texten svår att urskilja, men vars hängivelse gör sången lätt att älska.
24. Veronica Maggio, Låtsas som det regnar
'Låtsas som det regnar' känns som en andlig uppföljare till 2011s 'Snälla bli min', ännu en sorglig ballad där Veronicas vackra röst får stå i centrum. Ganska så hjärtskärande, helt igenom vackert.
'Låtsas som det regnar' känns som en andlig uppföljare till 2011s 'Snälla bli min', ännu en sorglig ballad där Veronicas vackra röst får stå i centrum. Ganska så hjärtskärande, helt igenom vackert.
23. Buke and Gase, Twisting the Lasso of Truth
”Fight, goddammit stand up and fight” är ett mantra värt att hurra för, särskilt när det omges av så härligt skruvad musik.
22. Eminem, Bad Guy
Det har gått tolv år sedan Eminem släppte ett bra album. Det är väl bara logiskt att han lyckas nå gamla höjder när albumtiteln (The Marshall Mathers LP 2) uttryckligen försöker göra just det. 'Bad Guy' är en fenomenal uppföljare till gamla klassikern 'Stan', där Stans lillebror tar ut sin hämnd, och Eminem sätter ribban för sig själv.
21. Daft Punk, Instant Crush
Jag gillar 'Get Lucky'. Jag gör verkligen det. 'Instant Crush' är dock inte överspelad, och The Strokes sångare Julian Casablancas gör sig uppenbarligen bättre med falsett i andra band än sitt eget.
Jag gillar 'Get Lucky'. Jag gör verkligen det. 'Instant Crush' är dock inte överspelad, och The Strokes sångare Julian Casablancas gör sig uppenbarligen bättre med falsett i andra band än sitt eget.
20. The Royal Concept, Damn
Detta band verkar alltid återkomma till mina listor. I år släppte de äntligen sitt debutalbum, en samling fina poprocklåtar, som dessvärre inte dyker upp på min albumlista. Nu dök ju visserligen Damn upp på 2010s lista, men denna nyinspelning fick mig att förälska mig i en fantastisk låt på nytt. Dessutom slipper man den ganska värdelösa texten i verserna från originalets version.
19. James Blake, Retrograde
James Blake låter äntligen sin röst komma till sin fulla rätt och stå i centrum, komplett med en loop av nynnande, och sången färdas från falsett ner till det lågaste låga och tillbaks igen. Ögonblicket när musiken sväller i refrängen är bland det bästa jag hört i år i musikväg.
18. Death Grips, You may think he loves you for your money but I know what he really loves you for it's your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat
En komiskt lång titel hämtad från en låt av Bob Dylan. Har Death Grips gått och blivit retro? Knappast. Detta är en av de mest brutala låtar de någonsin gjort, och tack och lov för det.
17. My Bloody Valentine, Wonder 2
'Wonder 2' är klassisk My Bloody Valentine: vacker sångmelodi så lågt ner i mixen att det är svårt att urskilja ett enda ord, och gitarrsvällningar att dreggla till. Plus att det låter som en helikopter.
16. Jai Paul, Str8 Outta Mumbai
Jai Paul är något slags geni. 2011 och 2012 släppte han en låt vardera, och många väntade spänt på ett album. Ett album dyker upp på internet. Det är Jai Pauls musik, men han påstår att det inte är han som lagt upp det, och ber alla att inte lyssna. Alla lyssnar. Sedan går det självklart också rykten om att Jai Paul i själva verket var den som lade upp albumet. Var sanningen än ligger känns det ointressant när man väl lyssnar på musiken. 'Str8 Outta Mumbai' är en skruvad sång, med bubblande gitarr, ett skimmer som kan vara elektroniskt (var hälften av ljuden kommer ifrån är svårt att urskilja) som spelar över refrängen, och helt plötsligt: Bollywood. Framtidsmusik.
15. Haim, The Wire
'The Wire' är en av de bästa poplåtar jag hört spelas på radio på väldigt länge. Det är något charmigt över syskonband, inte minst när de får sjunga en vers var. Det är en påtaglig känsla av gemenskap och glädje. I en sång med budskapet ”ledsen att jag dumpade dig, hoppas det är lugnt”. Självfallet.
'The Wire' är en av de bästa poplåtar jag hört spelas på radio på väldigt länge. Det är något charmigt över syskonband, inte minst när de får sjunga en vers var. Det är en påtaglig känsla av gemenskap och glädje. I en sång med budskapet ”ledsen att jag dumpade dig, hoppas det är lugnt”. Självfallet.
14. Arctic Monkeys, Do I Wanna Know?
Vissa som gillar Arctic Monkeys (läs: Joel) må inte vara så imponerande av riffet, men i mina öron är det årets sexigaste riff. Jag älskar sättet Alex Turners sång glider över rytmen i versen, samt hur han backas upp av falsettsång i refrängen.
13. Phosphorescent, Song for Zula
'Song for Zula' är framförallt en spröd låt, från den ekande basen till stråkarna som agerar refräng till Matthew Houcks sång. Spröd och sorglig, men ändå extremt upplyftande och vacker. En av de allra vackraste låtarna i år.
12. Sigur Rós, Kveikur
Efter förra årets lösa och långsamma Valtari gav Kveikur, och framförallt titelspåret, en känsla av whiplash. Det kan vara den hårdaste låt Sigur Rós har skrivit. Trummorna har fullt upp, och basen mullrar över alltihop medan Jónsi låter ungefär så hotfull som han är kapabel att låta.
11. Håkan Hellström, När lyktorna tänds
Det är fint när man kan ändra åsikt. Vid första lyssningen tyckte jag att 'När lyktorna tänds' var den solklart sämsta låten på Det kommer aldrig va över för mig. Men den växte, och blommade, och Håkans spelning i Borgholm i somras solifierade den som en av hans bästa låtar. Texten är Håkan i högform, och refrängen blir starkare för varje gång den upprepas.
10. Arcade Fire, Reflektor
Arcade Fire does disco. With David Bowie. And James Murphy. And it's their longest song ever. Mitt hjärta gläds.
9. Vampire Weekend, Hannah Hunt
'Hannah Hunt' har årets bästa text, en slags modern uppdatering av Simon & Garfunkels 'America', full av längtan bort, frustration och skönhet. Den är mästerligt uppbygd i hur den börjar nästan svävande och till slut exploderar när Ezra Koenig häver ur sig den sista refrängen.
8. Autre Ne Veut, Play by Play
'Play by Play' är ett enda stort klimax, från det första falsetterade ”ba-aaa-by” och framåt. Det känns logiskt att halva låten består av en enda upprepande, desperat och exstatisk refräng. För min del hade den gärna kunnat fortsätta i ett par minuter till.
7. Queens of the Stone Age, Keep Your Eyes Peeled
Gitarrtonen är hälften hotfullt monster, hälften sex. De två halvorna går bra ihop. 'Keep Your Eyes Peeled' rör sig framåt i oregelbundna taktarter (som jag är för okunnig för att kunna namnge) och känns som att den rör sig i cykler snarare än vers-brygga-refräng. En liten grej som golvar mig varje gång är när musiken upphör och trummorna kommer in på egen hand innan sista versen.
6. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Higgs Boson Blues
Nick Cave har alltid varit en fantastisk historieberättare i sina låtar, men han verkar ha nått en slags abstrakt och introvert punkt som gör hans texter bisarra på ett ett helt nytt sätt. Bluesen i 'Higgs Boson Blues' är långsam, episk, existentiell, och inkluderar Robert Johnson, Lucifer, en missionär, pygméer och Hannah Montana. Fair enough. Nick har sitt eget speciella sinne för humor. 'Higgs Boson Blues' är stundtals väldigt rolig, och fängslande från början till slut.
5. The Knife, A Tooth for an Eye
The Knifes bästa låt, någonsin. Karin Dreijer Andersson har aldrig låtit bättre än när hon nästan morrar fram rader som ”I'm telling you stories, trust meeeeeeee”. Musiken, naturlig och elektronisk, sprudlar. Örongodis.
4. Kanye West, Blood on the Leaves
Mycket har sagts om Kanye West, inte minst av honom själv. Han är nog något av en idiot. Men han är definitivt också något av ett geni. Kombinera en banger av TNGHT (stört band väl värt att kolla in) med Nina Simones version av 'Strange Fruit', pitcha upp båda. Sjung över. Med autotune. Briljant. Jag förlåter användningen av autotune, på grund av den fantastiska melodin. Rapversen är inte överdrivet intressant, men Kanye lyckas ändå få ut hyfsat mycket drama och desperation ur vad som i grund och botten är ”celebrity douchebag problems”.
3. King Krule, Easy Easy
Man får lite mindervärdeskomplex när man hör en nittonåring som är så begåvad och har en så utpräglad musikalisk identitet. En gitarr, en massa reverb, kanske lite bas i bakgrunden. Den där rösten. En otrolig refräng. Jag sörjer att den inte upprepas. Jag sörjer att den här låten är under tre minuter lång.
2. Majical Cloudz, Bugs Don't Buzz
Människor som är misstänksamma mot repetativ, avskalad musik kan bli avskräckta. Människor som tycker om vacker musik borde lyssna. 'Bugs Don't Buzz' har bara en versmelodi som upprepas sex gånger över tre ekande pianoackord. Men melodin är magisk. Texten är naken, hjärtskärande, vacker. Och sångaren Devon Welsh sjunger med så mycket styrka och känsla. Minimalism är inte din fiende. Atmosfär är din vän. Kärlekssånger är vackra. Jag gör inte låten rättvisa. Skit i mig, lyssna.
1. The National, I Need My Girl
Mina favoriter från Trouble Will Find Me har skiftat fram och tillbaka, men jag återvänder alltid till 'I Need My Girl'. Jag har älskat denna låt sedan den först spelades live i december 2011, längtat innerligt efter att få höra den på skiva, och drivit mina vänner till vansinne när jag insisterat på att spela den om och om igen. Jag älskar gitarrplocket, jag älskar sången, jag älskar texten, jag älskar melodin. Jag kan inte förklara så väl varför denna låt är helt oemotståndlig för mig. Vissa låtar blir bara en besatthet. Få låtar har tagit mig i besittning lika hårt som 'I Need My Girl'.
2012, del 2: album
Den här listan var mycket svårare än jag räknat med. Egentligen är de tre högst rankade albumen i denna lista alla mina favoriter. Men nåväl. Detta är mina tio favoritalbum från 2012.
10. Portico Quartet, Portico Quartet
Jazz är alltid en fråga om atmosfär, men det är länge sedan jag hörde så drömsk, harmonisk och meditativ jazz som Portico Quartet. Nu gör ju bandet elektronisk jazz, men detta albums atmosfär demonstrerar snarare en uppfinningsrikedom och ett otroligt samspel än någon form av förenklad genväg via elektroniken.
9. Spiritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Ett storslaget rockalbum i stil med Velvet Underground:s Loaded, men medan Lou Reed alltid låtit som att han har glimten i ögat känns Jason Pierce dödligt seriös. Därmed inte sagt att Sweet Heart Sweet Light är dystert; det är skräniga niominutare, distade riff och anthem-färdiga refränger så långt örat når.
BÄSTA SPÅR: HEY JANE, TOO LATE, HEADIN' FOR THE TOP NOW, MARY, LIFE IS A PROBLEM, SO LONG YOU PRETTY THING
8. Sharon Van Etten, Tramp
På något sätt lyckades jag glömma bort Tramp under en stor del av året, men när jag återupptäckte albumet under hösten hade det en tyngd som inte hade slagit mig vid första anblicken. Sharon Van Etten:s röst är så rakt på sak och uttrycksfull, och hennes sånger vecklar ut sig på ett oemotståndligt sätt.
7. iamamiwhoami, kin
Med sin anonymitet (som visserligen inte varade), välproducerade och skumma musikvideos och ända ner till smådetaljer som deras insisterande på att enbart använda små bokstäver kunde iamamiwhoami väldigt lätt ha känts mer som en gimmick än som ett projekt att ta på allvar, men som tur är överträffar musiken alla förväntningar. Musik som möts någonstans mellan vaggvisa och rave, och som lyckas kännas intellektuell, varierad och kul. Tänk Fever Ray, men med mer dansande.
bästa spår: sever, drops, good worker, play, in due order, idle talk, goods
6. The Tallest Man on Earth, There's No Leaving Now
Kul att jag sällan funnit hela American rambler-stuket lika intressant som när det presenterats av en man från Dalarna. Kristian Mattson är bara så fängslande att lyssna på: i sina sångmelodier, sina texter, sin hesa röst och sina svängiga gitarrplock. Och han har aldrig låtit bättre än här.
BÄSTA SPÅR: REVELATION BLUES, LEADING ME NOW, 1904, THERE'S NO LEAVING NOW, WIND AND WALLS, LITTLE BROTHER, CRIMINALS
5. Perfume Genius, Put Your Back N 2 It
Put Your Back N 2 It har väldigt simpelt uppbyggda sånger som slår hårda känslomässiga slag. Mike Hadreas låter hela tiden som om han balanserar på gränsen till tårar, och hans texter känns som poetiska dagboksanteckningar från någon som levt ett hårt liv. Om nu inte det lät som en negativ grej. Låtar som No Tear, All Waters och Hood får mig att vilja hålla om honom och säga till honom att allt kommer ordna sig. Om nu inte det lät mer tragiskt än lockande.
BÄSTA SPÅR: AWOL MARINE, NO TEAR, TAKE ME HOME, DARK PARTS, ALL WATERS, HOOD, PUT YOUR BACK N 2 IT
4. Kent, Jag är inte rädd för mörkret
BÄSTA SPÅR: GET GOT, THE FEVER (AYE AYE), LOST BOYS, BLACKJACK, HUSTLE BONES, I'VE SEEN FOOTAGE, SYSTEM BLOWER, THE CAGE, BITCH PLEASE, HACKER
Har Kent någonsin låtit mer Kent än nu? Jag är inte rädd för mörkret är inte deras bästa album, och inte heller deras bäst sammansatta album, men deras förmåga att helt enkelt skriva givande, medryckande poprocklåtar med slagkraftiga refränger har i princip aldrig varit bättre, och ändå lyckas de få det att låta som den mest naturliga saken i världen. Kent är inte mainstream; mainstream är Kent.
BÄSTA SPÅR: 999, PETROLEUM, ISIS & BAST, JAG SER DIG, TÄND PÅ, BEREDD PÅ ALLT, FÄRGER PÅ NATTEN, LÅT DOM KOMMA
3. Cloud Nothings, Attack on Memory
Den legendariske Steve Albini producerade Attack on Memory och medförde sin skarpa ljudbild till årets tveklöst bästa rockalbum. Inte för att han hade behövts för att göra albumet fantastiskt: Dylan Baldi och hans band är galet samspelta och skriver catchy-as-all-hell poppunk bredvid hårda emo-innan-emo-var-en-dålig-grej-jams. Med bara åtta låtar är det ett brottsligt kort album, men dessa åtta låtar är guld värda.
BÄSTA SPÅR: NO FUTURE/NO PAST, WASTED DAYS, FALL IN, STAY USELESS, NO SENTIMENT, OUR PLANS, CUT YOU
2. Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Det finns ingen som kan förolämpa sina ex lika förödande som Fiona Apple, men hon har vett att jämna ut spelplanen då och då genom att placera sina egna fel och brister under ett mikroskop, utan att fastna i vare sig medömkan eller bitterhet. Rader som "I ran out of white doves' feathers/to soak up the hot piss that comes from your mouth every time you address me" och "How can I ask anyone to love me/when all I do is beg to be left alone?" står sida vid sida på detta album, och det känns renande och upplyftande. Låtarna byggs upp av minimalistiska och idiosynkratiska slagverk, kontrabas och piano med stor pondus och Fionas röst, som jag skulle kalla änglalik om den inte vore så brutalt mänsklig. Hennes röst skär igenom allt som en kniv, och hennes sånger begraver sig i hjärnan, hjärtat, magen och ryggmärgen. Detta album känns lika naturligt som att andas, och lika livsnödvändigt.
BÄSTA SPÅR: EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, DAREDEVIL, VALENTINE, JONATHAN, LEFT ALONE, WEREWOLF, PERIPHERY, REGRET, ANYTHING WE WANT, HOT KNIFE
1. Death Grips, The Money Store
Hur mycket kan jag egentligen säga som albumomslaget inte redan säger åt mig? Jag kan väl säga att detta är det första av två album som Death Grips släppte under 2012, och att det andra (NO LOVE DEEP WEB, som också är väldigt bra) hade en stor bild av en erigerad penis på omslaget. Death Grips är inte särskilt diskreta eller familjevänliga, om man säger så. Men deras musik är så mycket mer än bara oljud. Det är bara meningen att det ska låta så smutsigt. Klarar man av smutsen blir man rikligt belönad med störda syntar, skickligt trummande och schizofrent rappande (om du inte föredrar att kalla det skrikande). Jag säljer kanske inte albumet så bra. Men det gör inget. Jag lyssnar igen och skriksjunger med istället. AYE AYE!
2012, del 1: Låtar
Ja, det är väl dags igen. Några saker behöver nämnas. Sak #1: jag gav upp på ett längre projekt rörande filmer. Kanske mest för att mer kunna fokusera på musiksidan av det hela. Kanske för jag inte kände att mitt eget intresse för film var lika stort längre. Sak #2: musiklistorna ska nu bli mindre och smidigare. Listor är svåra att göra, därför måste man kunna begränsa sig lite. Därför listar jag från och med nu 25 låtar och tio album från det gågna året.
Då var skitsnacket ingen läser ur världen. Vidare till listorna ingen läser.
25. The Trots, Josefine
Bluesig jazz eller jazzig blues om en mussångerska, inspirerat av en novell av Kafka. Och min bror utgör ena halvan av bandet. Vadå, jag jävig? Skiter jag i. Den här låten existerar för tillfället ingenstans på Internet; visst är det exklusivt?
24. Kendrick Lamar, Backseat Freestyle
Fråga mig inte hur, men på något sätt blev 2012 det år då jag slutade tolerera hiphop och började gilla det istället. Kendrick Lamar är extremt skicklig i hur han leker med rytmen och betoningarna i sina ord. Dessutom innehåller Backseat Freestyle orden "I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower/So I can fuck the world for 72 hours". Och det är både löjligt och fantastiskt.
Fråga mig inte hur, men på något sätt blev 2012 det år då jag slutade tolerera hiphop och började gilla det istället. Kendrick Lamar är extremt skicklig i hur han leker med rytmen och betoningarna i sina ord. Dessutom innehåller Backseat Freestyle orden "I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower/So I can fuck the world for 72 hours". Och det är både löjligt och fantastiskt.
23. Beach House, Wild
Beach House har alltid haft ett väldigt slipat men intimt sound, och det är imponerade att de nu också kan lägga till "episkt" till den beskrivningen utan att ha försakat intimiteten. Victoria Legrand:s röst svävar mer än någonsin.
Beach House har alltid haft ett väldigt slipat men intimt sound, och det är imponerade att de nu också kan lägga till "episkt" till den beskrivningen utan att ha försakat intimiteten. Victoria Legrand:s röst svävar mer än någonsin.
22. Ty Segall Band, I Bought My Eyes
Bra ny garagerock är sällsynt. I och för sig vill jag nästan hellre kalla Ty Segall Band för "grottrock". Och harmoniserade röster låter väldigt bra i den här särskilda grottan. Årets bästa låttitel också.
Bra ny garagerock är sällsynt. I och för sig vill jag nästan hellre kalla Ty Segall Band för "grottrock". Och harmoniserade röster låter väldigt bra i den här särskilda grottan. Årets bästa låttitel också.
21. Dinosaur Jr., Watch the Corners
J Mascis har en väldigt släpig och lugn röst, och den passar utmärkt till det bästa gitarrsolot som har spelats in på ett antal år.
J Mascis har en väldigt släpig och lugn röst, och den passar utmärkt till det bästa gitarrsolot som har spelats in på ett antal år.
20. Dirty Projectors, Offspring Are Blank
Jag kunde inte låta bli att störa min omgivning genom att sjunga på melodin till denna låt. Det är inte så mycket det att den är catchy, åtminstone inte på det typiska poplåtsättet. Men den är så bisarr, slingrig, och rätt omöjlig att få ur skallen ändå. Och refrängen låter som något av Led Zeppelin.
Jag kunde inte låta bli att störa min omgivning genom att sjunga på melodin till denna låt. Det är inte så mycket det att den är catchy, åtminstone inte på det typiska poplåtsättet. Men den är så bisarr, slingrig, och rätt omöjlig att få ur skallen ändå. Och refrängen låter som något av Led Zeppelin.
19. Leonard Cohen, Anyhow
Vid det här laget är Cohen:s röst så djup att den knappt finns längre. På ett sätt har han aldrig låtit bättre. Anyhow är väl inget praktexempel på hans mer poetiska ådra, men texten är ändå fyndig och smått dekadent, och musiken som backar honom är sparsam och smakfull.
Vid det här laget är Cohen:s röst så djup att den knappt finns längre. På ett sätt har han aldrig låtit bättre. Anyhow är väl inget praktexempel på hans mer poetiska ådra, men texten är ändå fyndig och smått dekadent, och musiken som backar honom är sparsam och smakfull.
18. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat, Mary Lambert, Same Love
Frank Ocean må ha kommit ut som gay/bi i år, och visst skapade det ringar på vattnet, men Macklemore överträffade honom genom att vara en straight rappare som skrev en låt där han tog ställning mot homofobi. Att låten sedan är otroligt vacker och träffande är ett klart plus.Mary Lamberts sjungna refräng kan framkalla både gåshud och klumpar i halsen.
17. Sharon Van Etten, Serpents
På ett album av mestadels lugna, akustiska låtar sticker visserligen den elektriska och aggressiva Serpents ut en hel del, men det är samtidigt en av Van Etten:s starkaste melodier, och jag vill alltid att den ska vara längre än sina ynka tre minuter. Vilket är både till låtens för- och nackdel.
På ett album av mestadels lugna, akustiska låtar sticker visserligen den elektriska och aggressiva Serpents ut en hel del, men det är samtidigt en av Van Etten:s starkaste melodier, och jag vill alltid att den ska vara längre än sina ynka tre minuter. Vilket är både till låtens för- och nackdel.
16. The Tallest Man on Earth, Little Brother
Kristian Mattson har en kraftfull röst, men den har nog aldrig låtit lika sårbar, eller lika vacker, som i Little Brother. Han låter dessutom som om hans sårbarhet är rättfärdigad, med texrader som "why are you drinking again little brother/when your rambling's the hard part of loving you?"
Kristian Mattson har en kraftfull röst, men den har nog aldrig låtit lika sårbar, eller lika vacker, som i Little Brother. Han låter dessutom som om hans sårbarhet är rättfärdigad, med texrader som "why are you drinking again little brother/when your rambling's the hard part of loving you?"
15. Markus Krunegård, Korallreven & vintergatan
Visst, jag har berättat för alla som velat lyssna (eller alla som jag inbillat mig lyssna) att melodin lånat lite väl häftigt från Radiohead:s Let Down, men det är svårt att hålla fast vid någon starkare indignation när Krunegård gör så mycket bra saker med den. Smått episk låt, vilket jag aldrig tidigare trott om Markus Krunegård.
Visst, jag har berättat för alla som velat lyssna (eller alla som jag inbillat mig lyssna) att melodin lånat lite väl häftigt från Radiohead:s Let Down, men det är svårt att hålla fast vid någon starkare indignation när Krunegård gör så mycket bra saker med den. Smått episk låt, vilket jag aldrig tidigare trott om Markus Krunegård.
14. Spiritualized, Life Is a Problem
Jason Pierce är tydligen ateist, men i Life Is a Problem använder han sig av Jesus, åtminstone som en idé om frälsning som han själv vet att han inte kan göra sig förtjänt av. Oavsett motiv är det kreativt och vackert, inte minst för ackompanjemanget av Disney-lika stråkar.
Jason Pierce är tydligen ateist, men i Life Is a Problem använder han sig av Jesus, åtminstone som en idé om frälsning som han själv vet att han inte kan göra sig förtjänt av. Oavsett motiv är det kreativt och vackert, inte minst för ackompanjemanget av Disney-lika stråkar.
13. Rhye, Open
I början av året dök Rhye upp som ett anonymt projekt. I november trädde skaparna sedan fram, men det anmärkningsvärda var inte så mycket deras identiteter som att sångaren var man och inte kvinna. Androgynitet åsido, Mike Milosh:s röst är varm, mjuk och sensuell, och kombinerat med musiken är Open en veritabel babymaker.
I början av året dök Rhye upp som ett anonymt projekt. I november trädde skaparna sedan fram, men det anmärkningsvärda var inte så mycket deras identiteter som att sångaren var man och inte kvinna. Androgynitet åsido, Mike Milosh:s röst är varm, mjuk och sensuell, och kombinerat med musiken är Open en veritabel babymaker.
12. Perfume Genius, All Waters
Same Love var som sagt en stark låt mot homofobi, men den har svårt att mäta sig mot känslan en faktisk homosexuell kan förmedla när han sjunger "when I can take your hand/on any crowded street/and hold you close to me/with no hesitation". Det finns väldigt mycket bakom de orden, men man behöver inte veta sammanhanget eller ens förstå språket för att påverkas av Mike Hadreas och hans spröda, underbara falsett.
Same Love var som sagt en stark låt mot homofobi, men den har svårt att mäta sig mot känslan en faktisk homosexuell kan förmedla när han sjunger "when I can take your hand/on any crowded street/and hold you close to me/with no hesitation". Det finns väldigt mycket bakom de orden, men man behöver inte veta sammanhanget eller ens förstå språket för att påverkas av Mike Hadreas och hans spröda, underbara falsett.
11. Japandroids, The House That Heaven Built
Jag hörde denna låt för första gången för två dagar sedan. Men det är okej; jag har inte riktigt kunnat slita mig ifrån den sedan dess, så jag har tagit igen för förlorad tid ganska väl. Här har vi ett riktigt rockanthem, komplett med skrikande sång, lätt call & response och en refräng om att de som står ivägen kan dra åt helvete. Men sedan har vi det här: "it's a lifeless life/with no fixed address to give/but you're not mine to die for anymore/so I must live". Där var jag såld, om jag inte varit det innan.
Jag hörde denna låt för första gången för två dagar sedan. Men det är okej; jag har inte riktigt kunnat slita mig ifrån den sedan dess, så jag har tagit igen för förlorad tid ganska väl. Här har vi ett riktigt rockanthem, komplett med skrikande sång, lätt call & response och en refräng om att de som står ivägen kan dra åt helvete. Men sedan har vi det här: "it's a lifeless life/with no fixed address to give/but you're not mine to die for anymore/so I must live". Där var jag såld, om jag inte varit det innan.
10. Gorillaz & James Murphy & André 3000, DoYaThing
Gorillaz och James Murphy i all ära (jo, verkligen), de upptar bara ungefär två minuter av denna 13 minuter långa monstrositet innan André 3000 går lös på den som en personlighetskluven hyena. När han rappar är han kontrollerad och målmedveten, när han sjunger har han ett skakigt R&B-gung, och när han skriker är han värdig en Oscar-nominering. Han är, som han i många minuter insisterar, the shit.
Gorillaz och James Murphy i all ära (jo, verkligen), de upptar bara ungefär två minuter av denna 13 minuter långa monstrositet innan André 3000 går lös på den som en personlighetskluven hyena. När han rappar är han kontrollerad och målmedveten, när han sjunger har han ett skakigt R&B-gung, och när han skriker är han värdig en Oscar-nominering. Han är, som han i många minuter insisterar, the shit.
9. iamamiwhoami, play
På tal om anonyma projekt. iamamiwhoami var tydligen lite av ett fenomen (för något år sedan) med sina välgjorda och skumma musikvideos och sin mörka elektropop. Numera vet man att iamamiwhoami leds av den svenska sångerskan Jonna Lee, men musiken lever fortfarande sitt eget liv. Inte minst med play, som påminner om The Knife:s Heartbeats sjunget med helium. Tydligen är vi svenskar väldigt bra på skum pop som ändå lyckas vara oerhört medryckande.
8. Foxygen, Make It Known
Många band försöker låta som The Beatles, The Rolling Stones och The Who. Färre ger sig på att låta som The Kinks. Men Foxygen vågar, och Make It Known gräver sig igenom 60-talsarkivet utan att skämmas, och dyker upp med en rockopera på fem minuter. Det går inte en sekund utan att någonting intressant händer.
Många band försöker låta som The Beatles, The Rolling Stones och The Who. Färre ger sig på att låta som The Kinks. Men Foxygen vågar, och Make It Known gräver sig igenom 60-talsarkivet utan att skämmas, och dyker upp med en rockopera på fem minuter. Det går inte en sekund utan att någonting intressant händer.
7. Fiona Apple, Left Alone
Årets sångprestation, utan tvekan. Apple demonstrerar sitt omfång, sin styrka och sin kreativitet i en dynamisk och varierad låt där hon skiftar mellan jazz, hiphop-liknande tal-sång och vad det än är hon håller på med i refrängerna.
Årets sångprestation, utan tvekan. Apple demonstrerar sitt omfång, sin styrka och sin kreativitet i en dynamisk och varierad låt där hon skiftar mellan jazz, hiphop-liknande tal-sång och vad det än är hon håller på med i refrängerna.
6. The Royal Concept, Goldrushed
2010 tipsades jag om Concept Store, ett nytt band som hade en singel ute. Den singeln hette Damn!, och var bland det bästa som spelades på radio det året. 2011 slutade sångaren, och den ena gitarristen tog över hans post. Nu hette de The Concept, och de släppte ett par fantastiska singlar. Nu heter de The Royal Concept, och de har turnerat USA och håller på att färdigställa ett debutalbum. Med låtar som D-d-dance, Gimme Twice och särskilt Goldrushed i bagaget har jag höga förväntningar. Vad ska jag säga om låten? Det finns synt i den. Och ett väldigt snyggt gitarriff. Det är en rättfram poplåt, men den har fördelen av att vara en otroligt bra sådan. Ibland krävs inte mer.
5. Portico Quartet feat. Cornelia, Steepless
Minns någon Idol 2004? Jag minns. Jag minns Cornelia Dahlgren. Hon hade en spröd, ljus och vacker röst. Hur hon kom att gästa en enstaka sång på ett album av ett band som kombinerar jazz och electronica är svårt att föreställa sig, men resultatet är ganska så oslagbart. Det låter som att det hör hemma i Twin Peaks.
4. Death Grips, The Fever (Aye Aye)
I verserna låter synten som ett larm som fastnat i en luftkonditionering. I refrängen låter den inte som någonting specifikt, den låter bara väldigt bra. Det är så mycket som händer i den här låten att det är lätt att man bara kallar det oljud och överger det. Då har man missat Zach Hill:s väldigt precisa trumkomp. Då har man blivit så obekväm av MC Ride:s skrikiga rappande att man inte märker hur skicklig han är. Då har man missat det förbannade syntriffet i refrängen. Lyssna igen.
3. Frank Ocean, Pyramids
Det var kanske aningen förvånande att jag började få en ordentlig uppskattning för hiphop i år, men det är ingenting mot hur förvånad jag blev över att jag verkligen älskade en R&B-låt. Fast Pyramids låter inte som någon R&B jag hört förr; det är en episk saga som förflyttar sig mellan antika Egypten och en nutida strippklubb och som har två distinkta delar med olika sound. Det instrumentala break som dyker upp ca en minut och tolv sekunder in och återkommer senare är det bästa ljud i någon låt från 2012.
2. Cloud Nothings, Wasted Days
Dylan Baldi låter som om han egentligen inte är en särskilt bra sångare, och istället gör allt på ren vilja. Han arbetar sig igenom två verser och två refränger med ett samspelt och kapabelt band i ryggen. Sedan kommer kaoset. Ett väldigt minimalistiskt basriff påbörjas, och i fem minuter arbetar sig bandet igenom ett intensivt och majestätiskt rockjam innan Baldi återvänder med och skriker sönder halsen på refrängen tills låten till slut kraschlandar med honom. Se det som en delad förstaplats.
1. Kent, 999
Jag skulle kunna prata om hur vågade Kent är som släpper en sju minuter lång förstasingel och vägrar korta ner den ens i radio, och jag antar att jag just gjorde det. Men jag finner det mer anmärkningsvärt att Kent i år släppte sitt tionde album. Och att de inledde det med en av sina absolut bästa låtar. Att Joakim Berg sällan skrivit en bättre melodi eller en skummare text ("Är du Michael Jackson/eller Michael Bolton?/Är du Pepsi?/Har du Cola?"). Att de där cirka 20 åren som Kent spelat ihop verkligen hörs i deras samspel. Kanske är jag aningen partisk, men jag har vänner som inte gillar Kent och som ändå inte kunnat förneka vilken bra låt 999 är. Det känns också som en passande kompanjon till Wasted Days. De är egentligen på delad förstaplats. Båda är känslomässigt och strukturellt omtumlande låtar. Men Wasted Days är bäst när dagarna känns just ganska så bortkastade. 999 är bäst när jag älskar livet. Och just nu är livet underbart.
2011: Musik del 2:2
Än en gång låter jag Pontus ta över och dela med sig av sin albumlista.
1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?
3. Veronica Maggio - Satan i gatan
4. King Krule - King Krule
5. Battles - Gloss Drop
6. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
7. Rustie - Glass Swords
8. Tom Waits - Bad as Me
9. Josh T. Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen
10. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
11. Destroyer - Kaputt
12. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
13. Little Dragon - Ritual Union
14. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
2. The Vaccines - What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?
3. Veronica Maggio - Satan i gatan
4. King Krule - King Krule
5. Battles - Gloss Drop
6. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise
7. Rustie - Glass Swords
8. Tom Waits - Bad as Me
9. Josh T. Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen
10. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
11. Destroyer - Kaputt
12. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
13. Little Dragon - Ritual Union
14. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
