100 Songs I Loved In 2014
I do some version of this every year, but 2014 was really stressful because it felt like there was just TOO MUCH GREAT MUSIC TO LISTEN TO. Maybe it’s my ever broadening taste, but at one point my “to listen to playlist” had 2000 songs on it and I thought “I’m just never going to get through this.” And to be honest, I didn’t ever end up listening to every single album I wanted to this year. Still, I realized I’m not a music critic and there was no need for this to be comprehensive. So: these aren’t the best or the most important songs of 2014, they are just 100 songs that did a number on me and made up the soundtrack to a very emotional, overwhelming, ridiculous, stupid, fun, dumb year. Here’s to 2015.
Oh, and here’s the playlist so you can play along (minus the three songs on this list that aren’t on Spotify, but I embedded those!):
❤ ❤ ❤,
Summer Anne Burton
Cloud Nothings, “I’m Not Part Of Me”
“I’m Not Part Of Me” is ostensibly about a breakup but the hooky garage guitars and lyrics like “I’m learning how to be here and nowhere else, how to focus on what I can do myself” make me feel like the narrator is past the anger stage and has moved on to acceptance and mindfulness. For me, this is a song about learning to love yourself, figuring out how to be alone, and about embracing your own attachment to the past without allowing it to tie you down. This is my single favorite song of the year and I think it will be “part of me” for the rest of my life.
OG Maco, “U Guessed It”
The first time I heard this song I was in my friend Alex’s car in LA and he was like “wait, have you heard ‘U Guessed It’ yet?!” I hadn’t, he played it, and I just sat in the passenger seat feeling like one of those cartoon characters whose jaw actually physically hits the ground. As soon as it was over I picked my jaw up and we listened to it again. In the months since, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to listen to this song without immediately hitting repeat. “U Guessed It” has an inescapable, addictive charisma and swagger that will change your life if you just let it in.
Future, “I Be U”
My favorite love song of 2014 is quiet, sensual, and raw. It has a spiritual, serious quality that’s unusual in the old “one for the ladies” hip-hop track. And when Future croaks out “I be you baby” in the chorus, my heart crumples and crinkles into a hopeful little ball.
Angel Olsen, “Lights Out”
Angel Olsen made my favorite album of the year with Burn Your Fire For No Witness and it was hard to pick a favorite among the record’s perfect tunes. But “Lights Out” is more than a good song, it’s also a mantra and a letter of advice, a guide for getting through the worst days and a method for waking up every morning.
Alexis Taylor, “Dolly and Porter”
“Dolly and Porter” from Hot Chip lead singer Alexis Taylor’s excellent solo album, Await Barbarians just really scratches an itch I didn’t know I had until it clawed at me. I listened to this song a ludicrious number of times this year. “I’m in your head and your heart,” it goes, and it’s true.
Spoon, “Inside Out”
I’ve been listening to Spoon for as long as I’ve been a grown-up, and I’ve seen them play live probably a couple dozen times. The thing I loved about this year’s Spoon album is that it felt like the band channeled all of the cryptic resonance and simple sexiness of their early records without being at all regressive or dated. This song is so great and if you like it too, you should listen to the Song Exploder episode where Jim Eno breaks it down, peeling back layer upon layer of genius.
Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea, “Problem”
I haven’t and still don’t really consider myself to be a huge Ariana Grande fan, but when I looked at my “year in review” on Spotify it told me that Ms. Grande was, in fact, the artist I had played most in 2014. How did this happen? Well, songs like “Problem” have a place in my life like the bags of candy I sometimes buy at the drug store. I think “oh, this will last me a few weeks” and a few hours later I’m surrounded by wrappers and disappointed with myself. There have been days where I have listened to “Problem” 20 times without even noticing. That’s the magic of truly excellent pop music, and I’ve come to accept it.
Sam Hunt, “Leave The Night On”
My favorite country song of the year employs some dad humor level wordplay — we can leave the NIGHT on, it’s like LIGHT on, get it?!?!?!!?!? — a reference to Train (one of my least favorite bands of all time), and the line “killing in your Levi’s.” And yet… everytime I listen to this song, which is every day, I smile like a fucking idiot. It just makes me so happy. Sorry I can’t say it better than that. Maybe if you listen to it and you get it too, we’re soulmates.
Beyonce and Nicki Minaj, “Flawless Remix”
Look, the two best women in popular music today together on a song about female empowerment that includes the line “I’m Texas forever like Bun B” was guaranteed a spot on my list the moment it was released. What’s cool is that it’s even better, harder, and more fun than I could have ever imagined.
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids”
I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. Chesney’s nostalgic reminiscence is ebullient and the line “growing up in little pink houses / making out on living room couches” never fails to cheer me up.
Walter Martin + Karen O., “Sing To Me”
I wasn’t really expecting for Walter Martin from The Walkmen to release an album of folky kids music, but I’m not complaining. This song works as a kid’s tune but also conjures up the whimsical optimism that anyone who’s ever been freshly in love has felt. “I like all of you. I’d like to roll up in a ball of you. I’d like to breach the castle wall of you, and sing a concert in a hall of you.”
Rico Love, “They Don’t Know”
This song is meant to be played from a car with the windows rolled down, singing along with as much silly swagger as you can muster. Just don’t get so caught up in the perfectly repetitive chorus to miss the comedic gems on the verses such as “Instagram, you don’t even like pictures… that’s why I’m fucking with ya.”
Shamir, “I Know It’s A Good Thing”
20-year-old Shamir is definitely my favorite ~new artist~ of the year. He released his debut Northtown this summer and the whole album is refreshingly un-pin-down-able, marked by his immediately recognizable, unique countertenor. I don’t know what genre this is (disco? funk? hip-hop? give me some of all of it), but, well, I know it’s a good thing.
Taylor Swift, “Out Of The Woods”
This live version will have to do, but I don’t hold the whole “no Spotify” bit against Taylor since she released one of the best albums of the year and it was totally worth my $12.99. Anyway: “Out of the Woods” was released as sort of a semi-single, but to me it is the most creative and catchy song on the album. Most importantly, this song does what I need Taylor for: making the lovelorn 20-year-old nerd inside of me sing along.
Charli XCX, “Boom Clap”
This song sounds exactly like having a powerful crush feels like. What more can you ask from a pop single?
Justin Townes Earle, “Wanna Be A Stranger”
Being the son of Steve Earle and named after Townes Van Zandt must feel like a lot to live up to, but JTE has done a great job of carving out his own thoughtful hipster-folk path. His 2014 album Single Mothers is definitely my favorite of his career, and this song does a rare thing and articulates a common feeling (restless unhappiness) in a surprising new way. It’s a sad song, but the kind that makes you feel better instead of worse because you realize that there are other people who understand exactly how you feel.
TOPS, “Way To Be Loved”
This is one of those songs I’ve listened to many dozens of times but I never quite remember to pay enough attention to it to figure out what it’s, like, “about.” That’s not a diss at all, it just means that this song sounds so pleasant that my brain and often debilitating heart actually just stop working for long enough to enjoy it. That’s a feat.
Becky G, “Shower”
I have no doubt that “Shower” will endure in my life, and in the hearts of anyone with a crush, long after the world has forgotten about Becky G. I don’t mean to be cruel — I’m sure Becky is a very nice person — but the unselfconscious blissiness of this love song is clearly more significant than any one manic pixie dream pop star.
Jeremih + YG, “Don’t Tell Em”
This song starts with my favorite ever re-working of a classic lyric in service of an R&B jam: “rhythm is a dancer / I need a companion.” My god, it brings me joy. This song works on a few different levels for me — it makes me giggle, it goes well on makeout mixes, and, most importantly, it’s the perfect soundtrack to dancing in that one getting-low-finger-snaps-eyeing-someone-cute kind of way. Great year for R&B about side dishes. Don’t tell em, don’t tell em.
Mr Twin Sister, “Blush”
Oh, speaking of makeout songs. Truthfully, I love this song but I can’t even listen to it in any normal context. Bye.
Lydia Loveless, “They Don’t Know”
Guys! Lydia Loveless is so good! Her 2014 album Somewhere Else is my new go to for convincing Yankees to take country music seriously. The whole album is great, but this cover of an underrated Kirsty McColl song (also covered by Tracy Ullman)is my favorite. It updates the song perfectly, not straying too far from what makes the original special and what made Ullman’s version pop, but instead blending the best of both versions into a modern country tune that would feel equally at home on any pop country radio station, a dusty dive bar jukebox, or on a mixtape for your boo.
D’Angelo & The Vanguard, “Back To The Future (Part 1)”
Hard to pick a favorite on what will probably end up being the defining album of 2014, but “Back To the Future (Part 1)” does something good to me. Lyrics about the gravitational pull of the past, the addictive qualities about nostalgia, and the disappointments of growing older already put this squarely in my lane, and then, the sound. Jesus, the sound. All I can say is that D’Angelo can take as much time as he wants releasing albums if they’re going to be this good. This one can sustain me for a long, long time.
Son Little, “Your Love Will Blow Me Away When My Heart Aches”
Modern blues is a bit of a blind spot for me, besides Gary Clark Jr.. I’m not even sure if Son Little’s tunes can be classified as blues in any strict way, but what this song evokes for me is the same thing I feel when I listen to the stripped down, guitar + pleading magic formula of Robert Johnson. It isn’t like anything else I heard this year, and it’s beautiful.
Willie Nelson, “Whenever You Come Around”
OK, so, this selection is unapologetically personal. I’ve grown up with Nelson’s voice woven into the fabric of my life as if he was an old family friend, and the Vince Gill he’s covering here is a song I treasured when I first started listening to music obsessively. I was about 14 when I bought the album the original appeared on and played it damn near to death, laying around nursing my crushes and early adolescent feelings. The lyrics of the song are perfect for the simple, overwhelming version of love you imagine is real at that age, and the juxtaposition of 81-year-old (!) Willie Nelson singing lyrics so innocent and tender is what makes this a very, very special song for me. “I get weak in the knees, and I lose my breath.”
Karen O., “Ooo”
This song is just classic Summerbait: lo fi static and humming and corny lyrics about like-liking someone, all from an album actually named Crush Songs. Karen gets it. Also, the video below — made as a surprise for Karen O. by Spike Jonze and Elle Fanning — is my favorite music video of the year.
Mac Demarco, “Salad Days”
Mac is so fucking chill man. I wish I could drink this song out of a coconut.
War on Drugs, “An Ocean Between The Waves”
I’ve been listening to War on Drugs for years now and Lost In The Dreams is no doubt the band’s finest work, a masterpiece of hazy, special guitars and that ephemeral cool rock dude thing that otherwise seems to have been completely lost to the ‘70s. This song doesn’t fall into of the neat categories that Songs Summer Loves usually do: it’s not a song about or for having a crush on someone, I can’t dance or sing along to it, and it doesn’t make me feel deeply depressed. To make it onto a list of mine without being any of those things takes an extraordinary musical accomplishment, and this is.
The New Pornographers, “Champions Of Red Wine”
I have this theory that The New Pornographers have snuck into the nooks and crannies of my life, they’re taking notes, and emerging with this very delightful, cinematic soundtrack that will punctuate the movie they’re clearly making about me. Maybe I’m a narcissist or maybe it’s true.
Trey Songz, “All We Do”
“All we do is fuck, drink, and sleep.” #relationshipgoals
Warm Soda, “Young Restless Hearts”
This song sounds like it came right off the soundtrack of a ‘90s movie starring Ethan Embry that I would have watched like 100 times as a teen. Put on your best platform sneakers and dance with me.
MØ, “Say You’ll Be There”
SPEAKING OF THE ‘90s. This cover makes me happy, and I’m well aware that my happiness stems from my own personal weakness for cheesy nostalgia, and that this charming cover doesn’t really bring anything all that exciting to the Spice Girls classic it pays tribute to. I don’t care. Let love into your heart. Say you will be there.
Rick Ross feat. Kanye West and Big Sean, “Sanctified”
I’m pre-disposed to give anything with Kanye on it a lot of time to grow on me, and that’s exactly what happened with this track. The first time I heard it I was kinda like “IDK, IDK” about the cliche “groupies in the lobby” references, but goddamn it, it worked it’s way into my rotation. I think it’s basically just three things: 1. Kanye rhyming “handkerchief” with “sanctified,” 2. the way he delivers the line “Really?! ME?!? Too aggressive?!” with so much believable incredulity, 3. the appropriate enshrinement of Nicki Minaj as the ultimate successful person’s bad bitch.
Nesby Phips, “Passive Casanova”
This kid’s twangy rap voice, slow flow, and screwed production makes me feel like I’m at home in Texas. He’s from New Orleans, but his super southern, drawly delivery of the line “I’m that awesome” is so ‘90s Houston rap and that shit melts my heart.
Danity Kaye feat. Tyga, “Lemonade”
At one point when I was at home listening to this song I genuinely thought about setting up a video camera in my living room and making one of those creepy homemade YouTube dance videos. That kind of dumb, brazen confidence is exactly what this banger inspires.
Popcaan, “Everything Nice”
Popcaan is a 25 year old Jamaican artist who was sampled on Yeezus and released his debut this year. This song, and really the whole album, is so wide-eyed and blissed out and yet cool? I thought from years of experience that it was impossible to be this earnest and not embarrass yourself, but Popcaan miraculously manages it.
Jenny Lewis, “One Of The Guys”
I miss Rilo Kiley. Luckily, Jenny Lewis still exists and even occasionally, as with “One Of The Guys,” hits the same nerve that RK hammered away at constantly. This is empathetic songwriting that touches on universal, relatable themes in super-exciting and surprising ways. This song is so dang comforting. Jenny knows how hard you’ve tried.
RAC & YACHT, “405”
I spent a month in L.A. this year and I did a lot of sitting in the passenger seat of cars smiling out the window, and this song is basically about that so of course I love it. Tweeish indie pop is the genre of music that I probably have the lowest bar for. I don’t really care if this song is smart or special or if it sounds just like 10,000 other songs in the world. It’s good for rolling down the windows and smiling at the sunshine. What more do you want?
Jessica Lea Mayfield, “I Wanna Love You”
If you haven’t felt this dizzy, toxic, frightening way about someone, congrats. P.S. has a guitar solo ever articulated an emotion so clearly?
Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison, “This Will Be Our Year”
I’ve been listening to Kelly and Bruce, both separately and as the adorable duo they are here, for close to two decades. A lot of my tastes have changed in that time, but this kind of understated folk music from Austin is in my bloodstream. This song is a cover of a great Zombies tune I have put on an awful lot of mixtapes, but Kelly and Bruce’s version is so different and so sweet that it feels brand new. Here’s to 2015.
Love Dollhouse, “Can I”
OK, just stop for a second and enjoy this video (the song isn’t on Spotify anyway) because it is such cheesy R&B girl group perfection. Which the song is too! This song is so unpretentious and sweet. I want to throw a slumber party just so we can coordinate a dance to this song. TRUE!
Kelis feat. Sal Masekela, “Bless The Telephone”
Here we are. This is an acoustic folk song. Yes, it’s that Kelis. “Bless The Telephone” stood me still the first time I heard it, and I still haven’t managed to get a thing done whenever it’s on.
Beck, “Don’t Let It Go”
I’m a big fan of Sad!Beck because I’m a sad bastardette who would rather wallow in feelings than be bowled over by musical innovation or invitations for white dudes to dance. This song is cryptic but undeniably appropriate for both whiskey drinking and wallowing in regret.
Sylvan Esso, “Coffee”
If that Beck song is good for whiskey and wallowing, this hypnotic tune is good for wine and warmth. This is perf fireplace cuddling music, but the fireplace is one of those weird fake electric ones with a big glass pane.
Flesh Lights, “Just About Due”
If I had my way, Austin’s Flesh Lights would be a super famous band. I think they could pull it off! Their songs have the perfect early ‘00s throwback balance of punk rock messiness and pop catchiness. And they’re cute boys, AND they have perfect front row singalong lyrics such as “Don’t ask me why I’m breathin’, because I’m just about through!” UGH, MAKE THIS BAND FAMOUS ALREADY, TEENS.
Frankie Cosmos, “I Do Too”
One of my least favorite new Things To Talk About In 2014 is the concept of “vocal fry,” which is that growly, sleepy thing that people often use Zooey Deschanel as an example of. Vocal fry is apparently “the new upspeak,” which I guess means it’s the new way to make excuses for why dudes don’t take women seriously and dismiss them as idiots. I don’t like this trend for a lot of good reasons, and for a couple selfish ones. For one, I think I accidentally naturally have pretty intense vocal fry that I can’t do much about. For two, it’s one of my favorite things in the world in a singing voice! That ol’ sleepy grit gets me every time. Which is a lot of words to say I fucking love Frankie Cosmos’s voice so much (and fuck the haters).
Real Estate, “Past Lives”
This song was the lynchpin of a mix I made earlier this year about visiting Austin since I moved to NYC and having a lot of feelings about it. It perfectly describes and puts a melody to the confusion of mixing memories and travel and old friends and new feelings. “This is not the same place that I used to know, but it still has that same old sound.”
Weaves, “Shithole”
This song is ostensibly a bit gloomy —I mean, it’s a grunge throwback with the line“I’m living in a shithole” — but it has an unshowered joyfulness that I can’t get enough of.
Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”
First of all, this song is a rip-off of “Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty, which is a great song. That said: it’s also really fucking pretty. I haven’t followed Smith’s career closely, but this is how you do a big pop ballad. I’m listening to this song on my headphones without distractions right now and there are hundreds of tiny goosebumps covering my bare skin.
Ariel Pink, “Put Your Number In My Phone”
I really enjoy the cynical winkiness of this breezy summertime song. As evidenced by almost every other song I’ve enjoyed this year, I tend to veer towards sensitivity and earnestness, but there’s something so clever about the way this tune pokes at the old “aww, a boy singing about liking a girl” formula. The tune seems sweet, but there’s a slight undertone of creepiness and then, bang, a sample of an explicitly annoyed woman who did indeed put her number in his phone but never got a call back.
Alvvays, “Adult Diversion”
My friend Esme, the most devoted music fan I’ve ever known, introduced me to so many of my favorite tunes. Ever since she died three years ago, I often hear new songs and think immediately of her first: “Esme would cussing love this song.” If I was making Esme a mixtape for this year, this would be the first song on it.
Avi Buffalo, “Overwhelmed With Pride”
“And these birds seem so fucking free” is one of my favorite lyrics of the year / ever. This has that whole “chorus singing the chorus” thing happening, which can be a little played but it works in the context of this musically dense, mysterious little fairy tale of a tune.
Allah-Las, “Better Than Mine”
I love a good ~cheesy advice~ singalong, and even better when the advice itself is REALLY GOOD: “He told me always take some time just to wonder, and always come to question what you’re told.”
Sharon Von Etten, “Every Time The Sun Comes Up”
I wish I could kiss Sharon Von Etten hard on the mouth for writing this weird, gorgeous, funny, touching, complex song and for having one of my favorite voices in music. That’s all.
Azealia Banks, “Ice Princess”
Azealia is very, very, very, very good at playing an extremely specific role in my life, which is: making songs that I like to listen to on my morning commute when I’m on the crowded L train. She makes me feel invincible.
Ramesh, “The King”
For most cool girls who lived in Austin in the mid-’00s, Ramesh Srivastava’s voice will conjure up some angels and maybe demons thanks to his once buzzy indie pop band Voxtrot and their shows, which were always fine opportunities to gaze at bangs that looked better than yours and boys in nice sweaters bopping their heads. Anyways, I disgress. This song is cheesy as fuck but I love it anyway. Ramesh has always been good at singing songs that include a lot of words a girl has been waiting to hear from someone specific her entire life.
Nicki Minaj feat. Beyonce, “Feeling Myself”
Although I made a rule to only include one song per artist, this still warranted inclusion because “Flawless Remix” is Beyonce featuring Nicki and “Feeling Myself” is Nicki featuring Beyonce. It makes me happy when ladies love each other! This song is an ode to ego, female masturbation, empowered sexuality, and girl power. Praise hands emoji x 10000000000.
Dolly Parton, “Blue Smoke”
“Oh, did someone say female empowerment?” -Dolly fucking Parton.
Ricky Eat Acid, “In My Dreams We’re Almost Touching”
“My only wish is I die real, my only wish is I die real, my only wish is I die real, my only wish is I die real, my only wish is I die real, my only wish is I die real.” I don’t know either, this song just feeds something I didn’t know existed in the pit of my stomach.
Sturgill Simpson, “Life of Sin”
Simpson has been rightfully praised for his appropriately named 2014 album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. My pick “Life of Sin” is actually one of the most tradition-ish tracks on the album, which either makes me boring or just southern.
King Tuff, “Headbanger”
“Punk Rock Girl” for metalheads. Obviously, I dig it. This is precisely the kind of song that makes me especially sad that mixtapes are dead.
Bahamas, “All The Time”
I really love the contrast in this song between the droney guitar and Afie Jurvanen’s lovely voice. I also like how the “laying in my bed on downers” pacing of the music in this song compliments in the lyrics so perfectly: “I’ve got all the time in the world, don’t want you want some of that?”
Jhene Aiko feat. Cocaine 80s, “To Love & Die”
It was really a great year for sexy, empowered female R&B. A lot of folks were talking about FKA Twigs, which I haven’t been able to get deeply into. But Jhene Aiko, I’m feeling you. This song is sensual, but it’s also spiritual, thoughtful, and mysterious. The instrumentation feels a bit random and unmelodic, like musicians are just shedding notes one at a time as Jhene beckons them into the bedroom.
James Vincent McMorrow, “Cavalier”
Nesting in a bed of shredded paperbacks and flannel shirts, James Vincent McMorrow sings in a very pretty whisper, somewhere in between Bon Iver and Sam Smith. I’d say this song is a lullabye, but I’m worried about the kind of ghosts from your past would show up in your dreams, so maybe just listen to it when you feel like you need something quieter than silence.
Kendrick Lamar, “i”
I love that this is the song Kendrick released when everyone was waiting to see what he would do next: it’s basically him rapping about self-respect and keeping a positive attitude in the face of all the bullshit in the world over an ISLEY BROTHERS track. This song is what moms wish all rappers were like, and it’s so uncool that it circles back to super fucking cool again.
Ex Hex, “Don’t Wanna Lose”
It was a good year for the ladies. Ex Hex gave all of us that have been missing the golden ‘90s era of girl rock groups exactly what we needed, and I’ll be bedroom dancing to this tune forever.
Nick Jonas feat. Tinashe, “Jealous Remix”
I’m extremely pro-pop, but I never expected for a Jonas brother gone solo to make a song I love as much as “Jealous.” This song is packed with cliches and questionable intentions, but OMFG it just sounds so good.
Say Hi, “When I Think About You”
This song sounds like something sung by a dude wearing very tight jeans in a late ‘80s music video starring, like, Elle Macpherson. Unapologetically corny appears to be taking up a lot of space in my lane in 2014.
Montgomery, “Pinata”
This song makes me blush. Literally, my face is warm and pink right now.
Kilo Kish, “Locket”
This isn’t a love song — I think it might be about Facebook?! — but it still has the open-hearted, tactile, seductive quality that so much of the music I loved this year has in common. Kilo’s voice is otherworldly.
SZA, “HiiiJack”
Holy fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this song is just so PRETTY. This is the pastel watercolor masterpiece of music, chopped and screwed section and all. “Stationary, birds wings, small canary, princess”
Martha, “1997, Passing In The Hallway”
Reading the title of this song and then listening to it for the first time is the most satisfyingly, beautifully perfect experience of all time: this song sounds so precisely like what you think it’s going to sound like that it’s exhilirating. I’ve decided “exactly that it says on the tin” is an underrated quality in music because I genuinely almost burst into tears of joy the first time I heard this fucking song.
I LOVE MAKONNEN feat. Drake, “Tuesday Remix”
I used to work the weekends and go out every weeknight, so this song speaks to my heart. To be fair, I probably never partied as hard as these dudes, but still. I also really love that Drake’s drug reference in this song is “upstairs I got Xans in an Advil bottle, I don’t take them shits, but you do, so I got ‘em for you.” SO THOUGHTFUL!
Tami Neilson, “Texas”
Sometimes I find young people who perform mega retro music too cheesy, like those intense rockabillies who only have 70 year old appliances in their house. But Tami has broken through that for me. This is authentic enough that you’d almost believe it’s from 1955, but it’s not dumbed down or parody. Nope, this song is genuine, adorable, and I’d love to two-step to it.
Elle Varner feat. A$AP Ferg, “Don’t Wanna Dance”
Elle Varner is so underrated, and this song expresses such a perfect, specific sentiment. “DJ playing all these love songs, like I really need that. And I’m ‘bout to get so messed up, like I really need that.” And then it goes into the chorus, which is such a head rolling delight that you almost forget for a second how righteously annoyed with life the protaganist is.
Generationals, “Would You Want Me”
More sweet bleepy-bloopy dancey pop music, please. This song always has my head bopping pleasantly.
Run The Jewels feat Zack De La Rocha, “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)”
This is NOT the kind of rap that moms like, and sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
Spooky Black, “Pull”
This guy falls into that weird category of R&Bish artists who might be doing this whole thing ironically, or maybe NOT?! He’s a white kid who wears dresses like this and I just don’t even know. “Run my fingers through your fucking hair” is so hilarious and yet touching in a teenage way? Spooky Black leaves me with way more questions than answers, but I love the slightly dischordant, wavy sound of this song and it puts me to sleep and tucks me in so maybe it doesn’t matter whether he means it.
Conor Oberst, “Time Forgot”
I have a lot of feelings about Conor Oberst — there isn’t a single voice on earth that is as loaded with nostalgia for me. That said, his recent solo albums have been pretty hit or miss: this magical tune, “Time Forgot,” is a major highlight. Oberst has traded most of his references to addiction and deep depression to songs about spirituality, escaping to nature, mindfulness, and acceptance. In other words: he’s over 30, and it shows. “I’m gonna work for my sanity, give it everything I’ve got.” Me too, Coco.
Fifth Harmony, “Sledgehammer”
Honestly if you’re too cool for groups that are formed from the solo rejects of singing competitions, you’re being left behind. 1D is great and Fifth Harmony is maybe… even… better?! (*ducks from incoming 1D fan fire*) This energetic, exciting pop song song perfectly fills the hole in my life that’s been left by the conspicious lack of new Carly Rae Jepsen.
Nikki Lane feat. Dan Auerbach, “Love’s On Fire”
Ugh, I love a classic country duet so much. Is there anything more romantic in all of music than two twangy people singing beautifully together? “I lay around and hope you phone me, won’t you sing me to sleep tonight?”
SBTRKT feat. Raury, “Higher”
Raury’s rapping on this song has that dizzyingly fast but still incredibly smooth flow that seems like a superpower to me. The track mostly seems to exist to lift his voice up on the pedestal it deserves, and it does a great job. This song is cool in an untouchable way.
First Aid Kit, “A Long Time Ago”
The ladies of First Aid Kid probably have the most remarkable, hair-raising voices on my list, due maybe mostly to their harmonizing. Listening to them sing this incredibly heartfelt chorus together feels like what I imagine church is like for religious folks.
Ryan Adams, “My Wrecking Ball”
Heeeeeeeeeey, Ryan Adams released a great album in 2014! Miracles never cease. I haven’t loved Ryan this much since 2001.“My Wrecking Ball” is particularly, notably great for people like me who think of Heartbreaker as an old, close friend who they have to stay up all night talking to at least once a year. This song has the haunting, familiar, inside-your-brain beauty of his best work. It hurts me and I love it so much.
Thom Yorke, “All For The Best”
This cover from a tribute to Mark Mulcahy is a stunner. It’s bare and sad and beautiful. It’s not recommended if you’re going through intense life changes or struggling with getting out of bed. Otherwise, you should be able to handle it.
Jason Eady, “Whiskey & You”
I’m a sucker for a heartbroken country song — it’s in my Texas bones. Jason Eady delivers here with a complex, perfectly paced analogy that takes a few listens to fully settle in. The lyrics are great, but it’s really about the melody and delivery here. Giving this song my full attention always makes me cry.
Tinashe feat. Schoolboy Q, “2 On”
Tinashe was one of the best artists to emerge this year, and this song is so fun. It’s a purely positive celebration of getting high and partying and doin’ it, but instead of overselling with some flashy ~party beats~ and noise, this song is so smooth and chilled out. Tinashe sings “hotbox in my car now” like she’s reciting poetry.
Selena Gomez, “The Heart Wants What It Wants”
Selena’s performance of this song during the AMAs (a schlocky “awards show” in name only) really blew me away — she was either nakedly emotionally vulnerable or she deserves an Oscar for her emotional performance. I don’t really care — I’m a sucker for a mid-tempo ballad with a catchy, earwormy chorus, and this is a great one.
Tony Molina, “Nowhere to Go”
The longest song on Tony Molina’s Dissed and Dismissed is one minute and 32 seconds. This one is 48 seconds. It’s simple to the point of laziness, and sounds exactly like all 100 of its influences at once. It’s also so fucking charming and fun and great. Sometimes I go to the bar and I want to drink shitty beer, you know?
Hurray For The Riff Raff, “End of the Line”
The great thing about Hurray For The Riff Raff, to me, is that they aren’t trying to be some ~hipsterfied~ version of folk music. They’re cool, but they got there by keeping it real. This sounds exactly like the music I grew up listening to at the Kerrville Folk Festival with my mom, and it feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Courtney Bartnett, “History Eraser”
My mom once described one branch of my musical taste as “people who sound like they are making up the lyrics as they go along,” and I guess that’s pretty apt here. I dig it.
Love Inks, “Way Out”
My friend Sherry is the singer in Love Inks, a mega minimalist Austin band I just love. Their songs are some level of naked past “stripped down” and more like “just a skeleton.” This one is my favorite on their latest, Exi, because it’s very pretty and also makes me feel like I’m on good drugs
Tkay Maidza, “Switch Lanes”
The young female rapper from Australia we should all be talking about. Also, had to embed the music video for this one, it is incredibly beautiful and rad:
Bleachers, “I Wanna Get Better”
The band sounds sort of canned, the line “I didn’t know I was lonely till I saw your face” is some kind of weird amalgamation of Bjork and Carly Rae Jepsen, and this is precisely the kind of cheesy radio-friendly indie-ish rock that haters love to hate, hate, hate, but I don’t fucking care: I WANNA GET BETTER! I love talking about music and what makes something good, but ultimately I think music’s role in my life is to make me feel stuff, and this song makes me want to get carried away.
5 Seconds Of Summer, “She Looks So Perfect”
The first time I heard this song on the radio I laughed through the entire thing. “She looked so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear” is a lyric that could believably be from of an SNL parody of pop-punk. But I kept finding myself seeking it out, weeks later, saying to myself “I don’t really like this song, do I?” while I listened to it anyway. The night I found myself yelling along and dancing around my apartment, I admitted it: I really like this song. And about that whole SNL thing: a song originally written for an SNL sketch that might be our greatest hope for a new Christmas classic. And 5 Seconds Of Summer has given me hope for pop-punk again, in all of it’s infinitely teenage glory.
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, “If You Were Mine”
This Thao cover of a gorgeous Ray Charles classic is so sweet that it makes my face hurt. It makes me wish a girl had a crush on me and that this came from our karaoke party room at 1am.
Adrian Marcel feat. Sage The Gemini, “2am”
A velvety tribute to the humble 2am booty call: “It’s 2am, ah ah, I want it girl.” Simple and utterly perfect other than the dumb “kick it like jiu-jitsu” line (there isn’t even kicking in jiu-jitsu).
Eric Church, “Give Me Back My Hometown”
Let me get this out of the way: this song includes the line “My friends try to cheer me up / get together at the Pizza Hut.” It’s a line so dorky that the first time I heard it I literally doubled over at my desk. But I keep coming back to this song anyway. It does what country music does best: it tells a short story that has specific, evocative detail, but that also taps strongly into feelings we all have. Eric Church has one of my favorite voices in music, and he has a way of delivering lines that just punches me right in the gut (in a good way).
Big K.R.I.T. feat. Rico Love, “Pay Attention”
This song is about the hottest stripper in the club, and Big K.R.I.T.’s feelings for her. “I should have been paying more attention to you.” It’s an unapologetic, focused ode to the beauty of one lucky lady and it’s smooth as hell.
Mark Ronson + Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”
I first heard this song when Ronson and Mars performed it on SNL a few weeks ago, and I was blown away! I’ve had a grudging respect for Bruno Mars’ commitment to being the next MJ, and I thought his performance at the Superbowl this year was great, but I don’t think of myself as a fan. But this song works because it’s more than just another throwback: it’s a classic. I feel like we’ll be watching people dance to this song at weddings for generations.
Tricky feat. Tirzah, “Sun Down”
Tricky is the musical equivalent of the friend back home who — while everyone else grows up a bit — is still living exactly as you all did in your first years of adulthood, still wearing the same ill-fitting jeans, smoking Parliment Lights inside his apartment, trying to get laid. Tricky’s music isn’t as earth-shattering as I thought it was when I was 16, but it makes for a good enough cocktail of pity and jealousy and attraction that I’ll stay for one more drink.
