#sexualize looking like you’re on your deathbed 24/7

[ultramarinaa]

Is there a reason everyone draws Jon with really long hair? Is it explicitly mentioned in the podcast ? If so, what made you decide otherwise? Would you ever draw male Jon with luscious long locks?

OHOHOHOHO I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT FOR SO LONG THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY DEAR ANON

In canon we don’t know a lot about John’s appearance. So we don’t really have an image of how long is his hair. But from information we DO KNOW John looks older than he actually is, is graying prematurely and doesn’t look in best shape. We also know he doesn’t really take good care of himself and I think it’s safe to assume that if his skin was in horrible shape then so was his hair.

I saw a lot of people assume that John grew his hair during his 6 month coma. Which I am extremely opposed to. Mainly that he was clinically dead and also dragged from explosion, so probably his hair got burned off. Furthermore he is still an unhealthy, constantly stressed man in his early 30s so I doubt he is even able to grow his hair past his neck (and if he can it probably looks thin and bad).

So I’m sorry to say to long hair John fans but you probably won’t see him with long luscious locks from me

It’s time for us to sexualize receding hairline!!!

[lucienballard]

The Velvet Underground’s 30 greatest songs – ranked!

30. Ride Into the Sun (1969)The Velvets recorded two versions of Ride Into the Sun: a fabulous 1969 instrumental laden with fuzz guitar and a hushed 1970 vocal take backed by organ. Somewhere between the two lies one of their great lost songs; Lou Reed’s disappointingly flat 1972 solo version doesn’t do it justice at all.

29. Run Run Run (1967)For all the shock engendered by the lyrics of Heroin and I’m Waiting for My Man, the most malevolent-sounding track on the debut album might be Run Run Run, a powerful R&B groove lent a gripping darkness by Reed’s noisy guitar playing and the screw-you-I-take-drugs sneer of his vocals.

28. Beginning to See the Light (1969)The title suggests awakening, the melody is bright, but the lyrics are dark and bitter. They may have been directed at John Cale, who played on an initial version of the song, which was subsequently re-recorded after Reed sacked him, against the wishes of his bandmates. A ferocious 1969 live version amps up the tension.

27. Foggy Notion (1969)Reed was a lifelong doo-wop fan. His passion usually found its expression when the Velvet Underground recorded backing vocals for their ballads – as on Candy Says – but the tough, rocking Foggy Notion went a stage further, gleefully stealing a chunk of the Solitaires’ 1955 single Later for You Baby.

26. The Gift (1968)In which the band set a two-chord grind that may, or may not, have been based on their instrumental Booker T in one channel and a blackly comic Reed short story read by Cale in the other. “If you’re a mad fiend like we are, you’ll listen to them both together,” offered the producer, Tom Wilson.

25. Guess I’m Falling in Love (1967)Recorded at the White Light/White Heat sessions, but never completed, the April 1967 live recording of Guess I’m Falling in Love – taped at the Gymnasium in New York – will more than suffice. It boasts three chords, a distinct rhythm and blues influence, Reed in streetwise, so-what punk mode and explosive guitar solos somehow potentiated by the rough sound quality.

24. Temptation Inside Your Heart (1968)“It was not Mein Kampf – my struggle,” the guitarist Sterling Morrison once reflected of the Velvet Underground’s career. “It was fun.” A delightful late Cale-era outtake that inadvertently captured Morrison, Cale and Reed’s giggly backchat as they recorded the backing vocals, Temptation Inside Your Heart bears that assessment out.

23. New Age (1970)New Age comes in two varieties. Take your pick from the world-weary, small-hours rumination found on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, or the more epic studio version that the Velvets biographer Victor Bockris suggested was “an attempt to present some encouraging statements to a confused audience as the 70s began”. Both are superb.

22. After Hours (1969)The Velvets’ eponymous 1969 album ends, improbably, with the drummer, Moe Tucker, singing a song that could have dated from the pre-rock era. The twist is that her childlike voice and the cute melody conceals an almost unbearably sad song, ostensibly a celebration of small-hours boozing, but filled with longing and regret.

21. I Can’t Stand It (1969)Amid the Velvets’ songs about drugs and drag queens lurked the plaintive sound of Reed pining for his college sweetheart, Shelley Albin, the subject of Pale Blue Eyes, I Found a Reason and I Can’t Stand It. The latter’s cocky strut is disrupted by a desperate lyrical plea: “If Shelley would just come back, it’d be all right.”

20. The Black Angel’s Death Song (1967)There is something folky and vaguely Dylan-esque at the heart of The Black Angel’s Death Song, but by the time Cale had finished with it – alternately strafing it with screeching, insistent viola and hissing into the microphone in lieu of a chorus – it sounded, and still sounds, unique.

19. I Found a Reason (1970)It is one of the ironies of the Velvet Underground that the most forward-thinking, groundbreaking band of their era could occasionally sound like old-fashioned rock’n’roll revivalists. Buried on side two of Loaded was one of the loveliest of Lou Reed’s loving homages to doo-wop, complete with spoken-word section.

18. Some Kinda Love (1969)Musically straightforward, sensual in tone, Some Kinda Love is a complex business, part seduction soundtrack, part refusal to be hemmed in by standard categories of sexuality – “no kinds of love are better than others … the possibilities are endless / and for me to miss one / would seem to be groundless”. Killer line: “Between thought and expression lies a lifetime.”

17. European Son (1967)European Son isn’t a song so much as an eruption. It sounds like a band overturning the established order of rock’n’roll, almost literally: after two brief verses, it bursts into thrilling frantic chaos with a verbatim crash, like the contents of an upended table hitting the floor.

16. Rock & Roll (1970)It is hard to see Loaded’s driving, joyous hymn to music’s redemptive power – “her life was saved by rock and roll” – as anything other than disguised autobiography on the part of Reed. The suggestion that music will endure “despite all the amputations”, meanwhile, seems to look forward to his departure from the Velvet Underground.

15. Candy Says (1969)No one else in 1969 was writing songs remotely like Candy Says, a stunning, tender pen portrait of the transgender Warhol superstar Candy Darling set to a gentle doo-wop inspired backing. Its melancholy seems to presage the note Darling wrote on her deathbed in 1974: “I had no desire for life left … I am just so bored by everything.”

14. Sunday Morning (1967)Sunday Morning was written at the behest of Wilson. He wanted a single that might conceivably get on the radio; he got a haunting, melancholy sigh of a song, its battered wistfulness and undercurrent of paranoia – “watch out, the world’s behind you” – the perfect encapsulation of morning-after regret.

13. What Goes On (1969)Morrison maintained that the studio incarnation of What Goes On wasn’t a patch on the live versions the band performed with Cale on organ. Maybe, but the studio incarnation featuring Cale’s replacement, Doug Yule, is great. It prickles with nervous energy, Reed’s guitar playing is amazing, its churning coda takes up half the song and it still feels too short.

12. Femme Fatale (1967)Apparently provoked by the damaged, doomed Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick – with whom Cale had a brief affair – Femme Fatale is as beautiful and fragile as its inspiration. The story of a wary, ruined former suitor warning others off the titular anti-heroine is lent a chilly edge by Nico’s delivery.

11. I Heard Her Call My Name (1968)In the Velvets’ early days, Reed purported to be “the fastest guitarist alive”. A berserk claim, but his Ornette Coleman-inspired solos on I Heard Her Call My Name are some of the most extraordinary and viscerally exciting in rock history, frequently atonal, spiked with ear-splitting feedback and pregnant pauses.

10. Ocean (1969)The Velvet Underground recorded Ocean several times – one version is supposed to feature the return of Cale on organ – but never released it in their lifetime, which seems extraordinary. It is among the greatest of their later songs, its atmosphere beautiful, the epic ebb and flow of its sound completely immersive.

9. I’m Waiting for the Man (1967)An unvarnished lyrical depiction of scoring drugs tied to music on which Reed’s rock’n’roll smarts and Cale’s background in minimalist classical music – the pounding, one-chord piano part – meld in a kind of relentless perfection. Amusingly, there is now a pharmacy at the song’s fabled location of Lexington 125.

8. I’ll Be Your Mirror (1967)A song about Reed’s affair with Nico that could just as easily be about Andy Warhol’s approach to art, I’ll Be Your Mirror is one of those Velvet Underground tracks that makes their initial commercial failure seem baffling. How could a pop song as wonderful as this fail to attract attention? Nico and Morrison on stage at the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry annual dinner in 1966.

7. White Light/White Heat (1968)A delirious paean to amphetamine, its subject reflected in the lyrics – “I surely do love to watch that stuff tip itself in” – and the turbulent, distorted rush of its sound. The band appear to be barely in control as it careers along; the chaotic finale, where Cale finally loses his grip on the bass line, is just fantastic.

6. Heroin (1967)Heroin was the deal-breaker at early Velvets gigs, provoking a “howl of bewilderment and outrage”. The shock of its subject matter has dulled with time, but its surges from folky lament to sonic riot still sound breathtaking. Oddly sweet moment: Reed’s chuckle as Tucker loses her place amid the maelstrom and suddenly stops playing.

5. Pale Blue Eyes (1969)“High energy does not necessarily mean fast,” Reed once argued. “High energy has to do with heart.” Hushed, limpidly beautiful and almost unbearably sad, Pale Blue Eyes’ depiction of a strained, adulterous relationship proves his point. In its own vulnerable way, it is as powerful as anything the Velvet Underground recorded.

4. Sweet Jane (1970)Sweet Jane started life as a ballad – see the versions recorded live at the Matrix in San Francisco in 1969 – but, sped and toughened up, it became as succinct and perfect a rock’n’roll song as has ever been written, based around one of the greatest riffs of all time.

3. Venus in Furs (1967)For a band who inspired so much other music, the Velvet Underground’s catalogue is remarkably rich with songs that still sound like nothing else; they were as inimitable as they were influential. Venus in Furs is a case in point: umpteen artists were galvanised by its dark, austere atmosphere; none succeeded in replicating it.

2. Sister Ray (1968)A monumental journey into hitherto-uncharted musical territory, where a primitive garage-rock riff meets Hubert Selby-inspired lyrics and improvisation that sounds like a psychological drama playing out between Reed and Cale, all at skull-splitting volume. Fifty-three years later, it is without peer for white-knuckle intensity.

1. All Tomorrow’s Parties (1967)Ninety per cent of the Velvet Underground’s oeuvre consists of no-further-questions classics. The astonishingly high standard of almost everything they did makes picking their “best” song a matter of personal preference, rather than qualitative judgment. So let’s go for Warhol’s favourite, on which the sour and sweet aspects of their debut album entwine faultlessly. The melody is exquisite; the music monolithic and unrelenting, powered by Cale’s hammering piano and Tucker’s stately drums; Nico’s performance perfectly inhabits the lyrics, which turn a depiction of a woman choosing what dress to wear into a meditation on emptiness and regret. It is original and utterly masterly: the Velvet Underground in a nutshell.

source

[bughead-fic-request]

I would like to thank @leaalda for making these amazing banners.

This is an effort to spread the word about all fan fiction writers in our little fandom. If you would like to be featured or nominate a writer, please contact me. Please reblog this post if you can and check out some of @sylwrites work!

1. First things first, if someone wanted to read your stories where can they find them?

They’re posted exclusively on AO3.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m in my mid-twenties and I live in Canada. I have a giant dog that’s a lumbering buffoon of an animal and less free time than I’d like.

3. What do you never leave home without?

As a true millennial, my cell phone.

4. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Early bird.

5. If you could live in any fictional world, which one would you choose and why?

Probably something totally unachievable like Harry Potter, just to be escapist.

6. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met.

Literally no one. I saw Billy Bush from afar once (pre-Trump tape days), but that’s it.

7. What are some of your favorite movies/TV?

I’m a big fan of mafia movies from the 70s through the 90s, like Casino and Goodfellas. Shows like Riverdale are a guilty pleasure, but I also love Game of Thrones and Westworld.

8. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians?

I mostly listen to alternative rock/pop and indie, but honestly lately I mostly listen to podcasts.

9. Favorite Books?

For purely sentimental reasons, Harry Potter. I’m also a pretty big fan of dystopian fiction (like 1984, not YA).

10. Favorite Food?

Chicken, probably, in various forms.

11. Biggest pet peeve?

They’re probably all driving-related. I have hella road rage.

12. What did you want to be when you were little? What do you want to be now?

I wanted to be a writer when I was little. Now I am pretty fulfilled in my current job and its career path, but to be super-broad, I just want to contribute meaningfully.

13. What are your biggest fears? Do you have any strange fears?

I have thalassophobia (a persistent fear of the sea or of sea travel), for sure, and I really hate earthworms for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

14. When you are on your deathbed what would be the one you’d regret not doing?

Not travelling more, probably.

Okay… lets talk about your writing!

15. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for the Bughead fandom?

My favourite fic I’ve written is ”a million ways to bleed”.

16. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

Honestly, the most recent one – “meet the morning”. It wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do for no reason at all and it ended up as sort of a fluffy garbage-fest, which still made a lot of people happy, but it’s not my best work by a long shot and it’s put a little bit of a hit in my self-image haha.

17. How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? Do you people watch? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?

Usually it starts with a basic plot point. In the case of Fall in Light, for example, it was – hey, let’s write a roommates AU. Then it just got way darker. Sometimes it’s informed by life experiences (I’ll go camping then suddenly sit with an idea about camping for two days, for example).

18. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

I’m still trying to figure out a way to write some kind of a Jason-Blossom-never-died canon divergent thing, but I’ve never hit on a great plot driver and at this point a lot of fics with that premise have been done so I’m no longer that interested in it.

19. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

I shall refer you to question 16 :)

20. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

Man, I’m not really sure I can pick a favourite. I tried really hard to handle a certain event that happens to Betty in Fall in Light with as much respect, sensitivity and care as I possibly could, and I am pretty satisfied with how it turned out, so maybe that.

21.Favorite character to write?

Betty, because as a fellow Type A overachiever, I relate too hard.

22. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written?

I don’t have any specific lines of dialogue that I have been proud of in terms of their phrasing or anything like that. To be honest I think my fics are a little heavier on the prose than dialogue.

23. Best comment/review you’ve ever received?

Any review where people are able to break down multiple things in a chapter that they liked and explain them and why they liked them is my favourite. Particularly on new and/or ongoing fics; I hope those people understand how valuable I find the detailed feedback to be and just how much it gives me confidence to continue. A lot of these people are also writers, like @lessoleilscouchants and @onceuponamirror but there are a lot of them on and off tumblr that I am so grateful for.

I suppose if I had to pick one or two, there were a few people that reached out to me about Fall in Light who said that they were sexual assault survivors and that they were grateful to see their recovery experiences reflected in a respectful way, which I really valued. It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss if I couldn’t do it right.

24. How do you handle bad reviews or comments?

Really, really poorly, which is why my anon ask is not on and why for the first bit I didn’t even allow anonymous commenting on AO3. I totally welcome and love legitimate feedback, but rudeness for the sake of rudeness isn’t something I deal with well.

25. If you could change anything in any of your stories, what would it be?

Never look back, man, you’re not going that way.

26. What is your favorite story you’ve ever written? Any fandom?

Ever? Man, probably Fall in Light and its codas, honestly. Before this I wrote a little for The 100 and before that, I hadn’t written in many years, so there’s not that much to choose from.

27. What are you reading right now? Both fan fiction and general fiction?

I’m reading a fair bit of fic, I think. Trying to keep updated on a few long-running multi-chapters that likely everyone else is also reading. There are a lot of others out there that I need to catch up on/start reading as well, but I’m waiting for a little more free time to hit me as I do have a really stressful job and a pretty demanding ‘real life’.  

As far as general fiction goes, I’m not actually reading anything at the moment. I try to keep as updated on current events as possible and consume what is probably an unhealthy amount of news media instead. I am aware that this is not ideal, thank you in advance for your concern :)

28. Do you have an advice for writers that want to get into this fandom but might be scared?

A few key points:

Make a plan/outline, that’ll help to keep you going forward if you get distracted or lose your drive halfway through

Get a beta reader to help keep you consistent, in-character and on track

Get a tumblr to introduce yourself to the community and help promote your work

Then, once you have a finished product: just post it! What’s the worst that can happen?

If people are wondering about comment/kudo ratio and hit count and ways to increase all of those things, I’d say that length and frequency of updates are a couple other contributing factors to success (in addition to what a lot of other people have said in great posts elsewhere on tumblr). If you’re concerned about not having a lot of time to write in between updates, I encourage people to stockpile a few updates and release them at a reasonable rate so that you don’t put a lot of undue stress on yourself later when you have twenty-five asks all bugging you for updates. I think this goes without saying, but nobody who is writing fic is doing it for any reason other than enjoyment, and if it starts to cause you stress and unhappiness, that goes against its entire purpose. This is one of those areas where I am a big hypocrite, because I never do that (see: my impatience, greed, and need for validation through the kindness of internet strangers), but I do think it’s a great concept if you would like to keep your fic in the top few most recent pages of the Bughead tag without sacrificing quality because of frantic late-night writing that’s done simply to appease reviewer644 in Tulsa, or whatever.

[all-they-say-is-na-na-na]

All They Say Is Na Na Na’s Best of 2016 - Top 150 Singles

150 Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - "Arthropoda" 149 LUH - "I&I" 148 VIOLENCE - "Psycud" 147 Julianna Barwick - "Nebula" 146 Ariana Grande feat. Nicki Minaj - "Side to Side" 145 Ian William Craig - "Contain (Astoria Version)" 144 Róisín Murphy - "Whatever" 143 That Poppy - "Money" 142 Flume feat. Tove Lo - "Say It" 141 CC Dust - "Never Going to Die" 140 Lipgloss Twins - "Doodle" 139 The Range - "Florida" 138 Powell feat. Jonny - "Jonny" 137 Sia - "Cheap Thrills" 136 Olga Bell - "ATA" 135 Kaytranada - "Lite Spots" 134 The Body - "The Fall and the Guilt" 133 Amnesia Scanner - "AS Crust" 132 Mark Pritchard feat. Thom Yorke - "Beautiful People" 131 Sleigh Bells - "It's Just Us Now" 130 NV - "Kata" 129 Factory Floor - "Ya" 128 Emmsjé Gauti - "Strákarnir" 127 GAIKA - "Glad We Found It" 126 ANOHNI - "Crisis" 125 María Usbeck - "Moai y Yo" 124 Britney Spears feat. Tinashe - "Slumber Party" 123 Babyfather feat. Arca & Lil Yachty - "Meditation" 122 Santigold - "Banshee" 121 Tanya Tagaq - "Retribution" 120 cupcakKe - "Juicy Coochie" 119 Death Grips - "Giving Bad People Good Ideas" 118 The 1975 - "Somebody Else" 117 Beyoncé - "Hold Up" 116 Samaris - "Wanted 2 Say" 115 Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna - "This Is What You Came For" 114 Tim Hecker - "Castrati Stack" 113 Grimes - "California" 112 Skepta - "Man" 111 AlunaGeorge feat. Leikeli47 & Dreezy - "Mean What I Mean" 110 KDA feat. Tinashe - "Just Say" 109 The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk - "Starboy" 108 Primal Scream & Sky Ferreira - "Where the Light Gets In" 107 NAO - "Fool to Love" 106 felicita - "Heads Will Roll/I Will Devour You" 105 Motion Graphics - "Airdrop" 104 Lapsley feat. DJ Koze - "Operator" 103 Tove Lo - "Cool Girl" 102 clipping. - "Baby Don't Sleep" 101 Baauer feat. M.I.A. & G-Dragon - "Temple"

100 MO - "Drum" 99 Phantogram - "You Don't Get Me High Anymore" 98 Triángulo de Amor Bizarro - "Baila Sumeria" 97 D.R.A.M feat. Lil Yachty - "Broccoli" 96 Mykki Blanco feat. Jean Deaux - "Loner" 95 Austra - "Utopia" 94 Moderat - "Running" 93 Xenia Rubinos - "Mexican Chef" 92 Bon Iver - "10 d E A T h b R E a s T ⚄ ⚄" 91 Zara Larsson - "Lush Life" 90 Chairlift - "Crying in Public" 89 Carla Dal Forno - "Fast Moving Cars" 88 Allie X - "Old Habits, Die Hard" 87 serpentwithfeet - "four ethers" 86 Kero Kero Bonito - "Break" 85 Lafawndah - "Tan" 84 Arca - "Sin Rumbo" 83 Santigold - "Chasing Shadows" 82 AlunaGeorge - "I Remember" 81 Ariana Grande - "Dangerous Woman" 80 cupcakKe - "Picking Cotton" 79 Clarence Clarity - "Vapid Feels Are Vapid" 78 Rae Sremmurd feat. Gucci Mane - "Black Beatles" 77 Hannah Diamond - "Fade Away" 76 M.I.A. - "Go Off" 75 Snakehips feat. Tinashe & Chance the Rapper - "All My Friends" 74 Tim Hecker - "Black Phase" 73 NAO - "Girlfriend" 72 Shura - "What's It Gonna Be?" 71 Porches - "Be Apart" 70 Danny L Harle feat. Caroline Polachek - "Ashes of Love" 69 Lust for Youth - "Sudden Ambitions" 68 Katie Gately - "Lift" 67 Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - "Love's Refrain" 66 Flume feat. Kai - "Never Be Like You" 65 Dua Lipa - "Hotter Than Hell" 64 Katy B feat. Chris Lorenzo - "I Wanna Be" 63 Beyoncé - "Sorry" 62 ABRA - "CRYBABY" 61 Kanye West feat. Ty Dolla $ign & Post Malone - "Fade" 60 Preoccupations - "Anxiety" 59 Junior Boys - "Big Black Coat" 58 Róisín Murphy - "Ten Miles High" 57 Kaytranada feat. Syd - "You're the One" 56 Motion Graphics - "Houzzfunction" 55 Moderat - "Reminder" 54 Tegan and Sara - "Boyfriend" 53 Charli XCX feat. Lil Yachty - "After the Afterparty" 52 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Jesus Alone" 51 Gwenno - "Fratolish Hiang Perpeshki" 50 BANKS - "Gemini Feed" 49 Chairlift - "Romeo" 48 Christine and the Queens - "Tilted" 47 Solange feat. Sampha - "Don't Touch My Hair" 46 Sleigh Bells - "I Can Only Stare" 45 Death Grips - "Eh" 44 Beyoncé - "Formation" 43 Angel Olsen - "Shut Up Kiss Me" 42 María Usbeck - "Uno De Tus Ojos" 41 Oneohtrix Point Never - "Animals" 40 James Blake feat. Bon Iver - "I Need a Forest Fire" 39 felicita - "A New Family" 38 Danny Brown - "Pneumonia" 37 Deakin - "Just Am" 36 Shura - "Touch" 35 The Avalanches - "Subways" 34 Jessy Lanza - "Oh No" 33 MO - "Final Song" 32 CHVRCHES - "Clearest Blue" 31 ANOHNI - "Drone Bomb Me" 30 The xx - "On Hold" 29 Jenny Hval - "Female Vampire" 28 Mitski - "Your Best American Girl" 27 Rihanna feat. Drake - "Work" 26 David Bowie - "I Can't Give Everything Away" 25 Bridgit Mendler feat. Kaiydo - "Atlantis" 24 Angel Olsen - "Intern" 23 FKA twigs - "Good to Love" 22 Frank Ocean - "Nikes" 21 Radiohead - "Burn the Witch" 20 Carly Rae Jepsen - "Boy Problems" 19 Blood Orange - "Augustine" 18 Amnesia Scanner - "AS Chingy" 17 Kero Kero Bonito - "Trampoline" 16 Charli XCX - "Vroom Vroom" 15 Rihanna - "Needed Me" 14 Mitski - "Happy" 13 Olga Bell - "Randomness" 12 Beyoncé - "All Night" 11 Grimes - "Kill V. Maim"

---

10 Xiu Xiu - "Falling"

"Falling" by Julee Cruise, the theme song of Twin Peaks is actually one of my favorite songs of all time. But I wouldn't feel like it's a stretch to say that Xiu Xiu's version is nearly as good. It sounds more rock-influenced, louder, but also darker and sinister (like their best songs). Personally, I love it when artists make song covers that sound so creative and unique. 

9 Danny L Harle feat. Carly Rae Jepsen - "Super Natural"

I feel like this is the song that positions PC Music properly inside the pop world. Sure, SOPHIE has had their collaborations with Madonna and Charli XCX, but in terms of accessibility, this is their poppiest song. And it's without a doubt one of their best for that same reason. Also Carly does her thing as great she always does. 

8 Danny Brown - "When It Rain"

There's just so much going on here. The production is so dense, I love the ringtone-like sounds over the heavy, glitchy footwork/ghettotech-meets-industrial instrumental, and Danny Brown's delivery here is probably one of his most aggressive performances to date. It's like Death Grips... except that this is 1000 times more punk for real. Also the video fits perfectly with the song! 

7 Ariana Grande - "Into You"

I don't think anybody expected a track like "Into You" from Ariana. I don't exactly know what makes this song so good, but the combination of her excellent vocals, the catchy hook, the (silly but) fun lyrics about love and sex and the bombastic production makes this probably one of the greatest pop songs since "Run Away With Me". 

6 Jenny Hval - "Conceptual Romance"

In a way, this is Jenny’s most “pop” track to date – unlike the songs from 'Apocalypse, girl.’ and her previous albums, this has a definite hook and a relatively normal structure. But her lyrics deal with usual themes for her, such as identity, conceptual art, sexuality, and it has a more atmospheric, darker vibe than the previous single from 'Blood Bitch'. And it's also one of her best songs to date too, so there's that. 

5 Radiohead - "Daydreaming"

“Daydreaming” is kind of the opposite to "Burn the Witch" – as an ambient-pop track and everything, but they do share some similarities, like the usage of strings and electronics, but lyrically is very interesting as well, possibly referring to Yorke’s divorce, after spending 23 years with his wife (literally “half of his life”, as its said backwards at the end of the song), giving it a very personal edge, which is one of the reasons this is now one of my favorite Radiohead songs ever.

4 Solange - "Cranes in the Sky"

“Cranes in the Sky” was written about eight years ago with soul icon Raphael Saadiq, it’s a slow, dreamy song that mentions all the ways she tried to get over her depression – by drinking, reading, having sex, dancing, none of which were successful. This song is gorgeous, probably one of my favorites of hers ever and without a doubt one of the best singles of the year. 

3 Jessy Lanza - "It Means I Love You"

I don't know exactly why, but I always found this song so fascinating. It probably isn't the track from her record that it's you in the most immediate way (that would be "VV Violence"), but the shangaan electro sample and the whole footwork-meets-Björk vibe of the track is just excellent. I'm also surprised to see how much love this song got, but it's totally deserved. 

2 David Bowie - "Lazarus"

“Lazarus” is probably the song where the references to death are the most obvious. First, its title, is a reference to the biblical figure of Lazarus, the man who died, but was brought back to life by Jesus himself, and is often a synonym of resurrection. In the video, we have him literally on his deathbed, fighting against his demons, but still creating art. But, the most important thing, the lyrics, are probably the most direct, poignant on the entirety of the record, with the soulcrashing opening lines “Look up here / I’m in heaven / I got scars that can’t be seen”, and its wonderful (but choatic) instrumental ending.

1 Rihanna - "Kiss It Better"

Her best vocal performance (the harmonies!). Her best lyrics in the topic of sex (shout-out to Natalia Kills by the way!). Probably one of her best instrumentals too. Overall, one of her best songs ever, and I feel like giving her the #1. is totally justified and deserved. This is the "Run Away With Me" of 2016, because honestly I still don't get why this wasn't a #1. smash. But anyways, talent won regardless.