Daily Playlist — Top 200 Tracks of 2017 (200–181)
The first installment of our Best of 2017 series
A note before we start, any songs released before Dec 2016, as well as any songs that already made it to last year’s list, is cut off from this list. Hence, do not expect to see cuts like The xx’s “On Hold,” Julie Bynre’s “Natural Blue,” or Sampha’s “Blood on Me.”
200. Mr. Jukes ft. BJ The Chicago Kid — “Angels/Your Love”
A mini-suite of two songs stitched together into a solid jazz/R&B fusion with an expertly executed instrumental sample.
199. Francesco Gabbani — “Occidentali’s Karma”
Forget the Eurovision performance (though it’s entertaining in a totally different way), it’s actually a catchy pop song with meaningful messages.
198. Objekt — “Theme from Q”
A fitting tribute to a club in Berlin, the track compresses an entire night of club music manifest into seven dizzying minutes.
197. Sufjan Stevens — “Mystery of Love”
Sufjan Stevens works his magic on this serenade, which serves as the accompaniment to one of the most well-received films this year.
196. Hundred Waters — “Blanket Me”
“Blanket Me” sketches out an introspective space, mediating Hundred Waters’ previous bright electronic sounds and acoustic sounds.
195. Kendrick Lamar ft. Zacari — “LOVE.”
This track is unlike most of the materials that Kendrick Lamar has released, trading rapid-fire rapping for a slick, mesmerizing R&B slow jam.
194. Tove Lo — “disco tits”
The structure that “disco tits” uses is the cleverest we have seen from her, and the result is a cool and erotic blend of 70s disco and 90s house.
193. BROCKHAMPTON — “STAR”
On this cut from the first installment of the trilogy they released this year, BROCKHAMPTON proves that they have the star power to revamp boy bands.
192. Ozuna — “Se Preparó”
The starter pack if you want to explore reggaeton.
191. Liam Gallagher — “For What It’s Worth”
A throwback to the hay-day of Britpop with its undeniable Oasis pop rock vibe. (For those who don’t know, Liam Gallagher is the lead singer of Oasis, one of the pioneers of the Britpop movement in the 90s.)
190. Queens of the Stone Age — “The Way You Used to Do”
Disco inferno meets top-notch alt-rock to make a devillish and contagious guilty pleasure.
189. Ruthven — “Evil”
After releasing two amazingly sensual demos back in 2011/2012 and a leaked album that was quickly taken off Bandcamp, Jai Paul finally resurfaced with a new project called Paul Institute, created together with his brother A.K. Paul, and released two new singles, which are both good enough to keep us waiting for another 5 years. And yes, please DO NOT mistake these Paul brothers for the disgustingly trashy duo on YouTube.
188. Smino — “Anita”
This one slow but funky rap song sends the love to all the underappreciated anitas out there.
187. Kamaiyah — “Build You Up”
What if Destiny’s Child female empowerment anthems are repackaged as hip-hop tracks? Kamaiyah gives you one definitive answer.
186. Yo Gotti ft. Nicki Minaj — “Rake It Up”
Nicki Minaj made quite a few feature spots this year, but none come close to this pole-friendly trap track.
185. Broken Social Scene — “Hug of Thunder”
Amidst the twangy guitar and surging beats, Broken Social Scene’s Leslie Feist reminisces on her adolescent days
184. Ravyn Lenae — “Sticky”
The 18-year-old singer combines R&B and funk for a perfectly fun and funky about the unpredictability of a love interest.
183. Sheer Maq — “Need to Feel Your Love”
Sheer Maq pairs old-school 70s funk-rock vibe with a new angle on love, with the front woman demanding more from a lover whose love does not match her own.
182. Syd — “Bad Dream/No Looking Back”
Sys released a great debut earlier this year, but this is her best work yet, capturing the essence of the R&B sound built on the beats in her debut and using it to great effect.
181. Grouper — “Children”
Ambient music usually strays from lyrical content and tends towards the sound and the atmosphere, but this one is a different case. Liz Harris shelved this song after feeling that “something about the content and energy [of the song] felt distinct in a way that didn’t fit the rest of the music,” only to release it this year, amidst “chaotic and painful political times.”
