#yes this is based on that tom cardy song

[dukeyeatsdeodorant]

Logan and Remus on a date

Logan: So, what is your favourite movie?

Remus: Ohh y'know, the classics! Human centipede, Jigsaw-

As Remus lists off more disturbing/horror movies, Logan smiles and nods.

Logan, thinking to himself: Dear lord, I'm definitely going to get murdered tonight.

[bhaal-battle-beer-bard]

✨Let's talk about OCs!✨How would you describe your OC's personality/aesthetic? What's your favourite thing about them? Tell us a fun fact(s) about your OC or their creation!

❤️Send this to at least 3 people to spread some OC appreciation!❤️

Thank you 😃😘 OC appreciation is really important. Well, in the BG3 community it's massive anyway. Maybe it will spill over into other fandoms too, so more and more of it 😉 (I wouldn't dare talk about my OCs from other fandoms to be honest 😅🫣)

To not always only do it for Saulus, I will do it for all my three Tavs😁

Saulus' aesthetic is a classy romantic bard one: you have flowers, nature, birds and wooden instruments playing with the colours of the wind. You should know her bard book by now 😉 That is it!

Have real bhaal babe Saulus then it will change to grotesque blood, gore, skulls and madness. So let's better stay with the butterflies and flowers Saulus 😅

In clothes her aesthetic started from a battle bard always in her medium armour.

In the camp she only ever wore decent high-necked clothing. Swapping clothes with Shadowheart's strict Sharite wardrobe was the order of the day because she also likes dark leather, dark purple and silver.

Simply anything to cover as much of her skin as possible, which she does not find desirable like Astarion's flawless porcelain skin.

But thanks to Astarion and other Tav friends and the great @aristenfromwarsaw , who showed her the beauty of her body, Saulus has stopped looking at her body the wrong way and has started loving it.

Now she dares to show more and more skin; yes, she even likes to show her thighs and occasionally her stomach 😉 And sees that she also deserves beautiful dresses, which she loves to wear. Or some crazy black leather clothes are also still her style 😉 (The full bhaal mode is something😂) She no longer hides and now enjoys being sexy and trying new things. She is either an elegant lady or a degenerate Bhaal Leather Warrior, those are her styles xDDD

And that is the fun fact and what I love most about her: She was created for an evil run and just ended up to be and become more and more the silliest good time girl ever! 😄 That is her and I can't deny it. She loves love. She can have a sense of humor like a twelve-year-old boy. She is infinitely stupid and naive when it comes to the people she loves. She doesn't mince her words and is incredibly wisecracking, but she only means it in a funny way.

Oh and her whole character is based on the song Perception check from Tom Cardy 😄 (She hit harder than every warrior)

✨Devorah's aesthetic is dress up doll all the way. She is a drow. She is magnificent. She is beautiful. ✨

Her colors were pink and green at first. Then I saw that blue, black, red and white suit her just as well 😂 So she always matched all her make up and body painting to her clothes. She always wore the finest robes. Better to be well dressed than to be too good. And she had no problem walking around in underwear or even completely naked. 😏😉

So beauty, fine fabrics, beautiful colors, luminous under dark mushrooms are her aesthetic.

Fun fact+most likey: I always liked the name Devorah and thought I would use it in the next fantasy game. I didn't know that Lae'zel's voice actress was called that xD She can give the meanest evil eye "thanks" to Volo 😆

She is playing the flute because Tom Cardy the human bard does ;)The gnome kink came from Barcus' "I would kiss you, but neither of us deserves that" which I didn't have in the first two runs and it stuck in my mind so funny as her mission to kiss him xD Being a drow is just fabulous 😏 All the little goblin men love her 💁‍♀️ It just stayed and...yes I have stupid sense of humor and I love it 😆😆 This bard side of BG3 is kinky, ok? 😄

Jeleyah's aesthetic was based on the fact that blue is her color and she has a slightly Nordic touch. ✨

She is always at the forefront with her golden heavy armor. The shield of her comrades. In camp, however, she likes to take off the armor to show the woman underneath. The loving, attentive and tender woman that she is. Then she likes to wear very feminine and figure-hugging clothes.

Fun fact+most likey: I created her in almost every race because I couldn't decide 😂 And in the end I decided on half-elf. And I still think she looks beautiful. I just love her eyes and her gentle face. Really. Her sweet, beautiful face brings me joy. Especially because I know that she always wanted to do the right thing for everyone and always put the needs of her friends first.

[arty-ffxiv]

about me — people i’d like to know better.

LAST SONG. Online - TWRP Feat. Tom Cardy & Montaigne. I’ve been a fan of TWRP for a number of years now, as well as loving Tom Cardy’s chaotic energy from when I used to watch his Tiktoks (I’ve since deleted the app as it was a huge time-waster for me), so when I heard that they had collabed for a song I knew it’d be a banger. I’ve had it on repeat since it was released.

FAVORITE COLOR. I really love dark greens, burgundy and warm, autumnal yellows. My bestie also gifted me an Oracle deck for my birthday and I adore the similar colours/ wintry forest palette that it has. I think it’s been a big inspiration, even if the cards keep calling me out!

CURRENTLY READING. I’ve been slowly plodding my way through The Way of Kings  by Brandon Sanderson; I’m enjoying it but just have not had the spoons/ attention span to dedicate to reading. I tend to gravitate towards audiobooks nowadays, which I listen to when I’m driving.

The most recent books I’ve finished have been audiobooks during my commutes- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy, and Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell.

CURRENTLY WATCHING. I’m watching more YouTube at the moment than serialized shows. One of my favourite YouTube channels, Lore Dump, has started a series on the Yakuza games and I’m really enjoying the chaotic energy that Chase brings to the host seat. 

The idea behind the channel is that one of the three hosts does a full plot recap of a game franchise that the other two have not played or aren’t familiar with. They’re long form videos that you can treat like podcasts or put on in the background (I use them for my commute to/ from work), and they’ve covered series like Bioshock, Metal Gear, Red Dead Redemption and Batman. They also did a 12 video series on Kingdom Hearts that is just under 30 hours long, which I highly recommend if you’re into long haul deep dives!

I love it because the hosts clearly love the series they’re talking about dearly, and hearing the others gradually getting swept up in the excitement of the narratives is really entertaining.

SWEET, SAVORY, OR SPICY? I’m a sucker for savoury foods, but I do get the occasional craving for sweet foods. Sadly I can’t tolerate spicy foods like I used to :<

RELATIONSHIP STATUS. Happily married for the past eight (nearly nine) years! My partner and I married young, and it’s hard to believe it’s been so long already. I adore him so much and it’s been a joy to grow alongside him.

LAST THING YOU GOOGLED. “Do they make scuba suits for dogs”.  This was for our modern day TTRPG game, using the ‘Everyday Heroes’ module for D&D 5e. 

The game is set in Australia in the 2070s after a catastrophic rise in sea levels, and because we’re playing in our home state, we’ve been able to use google maps and a lot of real-world resources in the game which has been super fun. We’ve even made an interactive map to keep track of important locations.

In our last session, we found information that points to us needing to go to locations under the new sealine and joked about taking our rangers’ sniffer dog along on the dive.

The answer we got is yes, there absolutely are diving suits for dogs.

CURRENT OBSESSION. I’ve been getting back into playing mobile games in my downtime! A few long-time favourites of mine are below- bear in mind that I’m on Android so these may not be available on iOS if you want to check them out.

The main one I’ve been playing is called Luna Story; it’s the first in a series of 3 apps that are nonogram-based games. Using a grid and a sequence of numbers, you fill in the grid to create pictures. I’ve had Luna Story installed on my phone for years and have been sporadically playing it, but I’ve recently dived into it again and am playing it before bed, on my lunch break and even when I wake up some mornings. The grid sizes range from beginner (5x5) to advanced (20 x 20) and uses super cute pixel art.

The other is called My Oasis, which is an idle clicker game where you progressively grow an island with animals. It’s got lots of positive little messages in it, like the abilities to buff your clicking being called virtues- like ‘compassion’, ‘selflessness’, etc. The animals I’ve chosen for my island are all favourites of the people I love- a fox for my little sister, a red panda for my husband, giraffe for my mum- even a racoon for myself. The animals can speak via bubbles with encouraging messages, and sing to you- you can sing back to them with a little keyboard at the bottom of the screen. Super cute, if a little clunky at times.

Tagged By: Thank you @why-raven for the tag! ♥

Tagging: @zenmai--jikake--no--komoriuta, @gatheredfates, @riftdancing, @ishgard, @this-is-ris, @thefreelanceangel and anyone else who wants to do this! ♥

[phoenixyfriend]

End of the year - 1, 14, 20

End of the year Asks

1. Song of the year?

Answered this in another ask so my second answer would be... H.S by Tom Cardy. Yes it's a meme song. Yes it fucks.

14. Favorite book you read this year?

I haven't been reading so instead I'm going to say you should watch Abigail Thorn's (PhilosophyTube) video on the failures of the NHS.

20. What’s something you learned this year?

I like to bingewatch video essays and documentaries, so I learned a lot, but... let's go with 'Taiwan's security is based largely on its intellectual property and trade secrets regarding semiconductors.'

Less politically, I learned to be way more careful about my walnuts because it's very easy for them to go bad and make your cookie or bar or bake taste really weird.

[terribledactyl]

YOU. I want Numbers 7, 17, 27, 78 and 87. Full spread all years + lyrics the WORKS. if you want to anyway.

OKAY. Sorry this took a minute. I was tempted to write which alter playlists certain songs show up on but this would mean nothing to anyone and will just be additional info available on request! I will always gladly explain my alters’ character playlists.

2024

7: Monster Song (Demo) - Dom Fera

For this one, I really like the chorus. The moon’s not burning through my skin tonight / so maybe that’s never been true / and the view’s not different when you think you’re right / and the lake is nothing but blue

17: Tongues and Teeth - The Crane Wives

I know that you mean so well / but I am not a vessel for your good intent

27: PERCEPTION CHECK - Tom Cardy

Fuck, his body’s just lying there, right? / right? / yes (don’t)

78: Sleep Now In The Fire - Rage Against the Machine

This one I don’t really have a favorite lyric, it’s just a banger. Cop-out, I know

87: This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race - Fall Out Boy

Bandwagon’s full / please catch another

2023

7: Start Again - Sam Tsui

We love, we lose / and we think the best defense is distance

17: Talk Too Much - COIN

Honey come put your lips on mine / and shut me up

27: What’s My Age Again? - blink-182

They don’t make homophobia like this anymore and at least they’re not as pussy as Taylor Swift to try and hide that they were homophobic in the aughts. I said I was the cops and your husband’s in jail / the state looks down on sodomy

78: When Did Your Heart Go Missing? - Rooney

I find the lyrics “I treat you like a princess / but your life is just one big mess” very stimmy to sing

87: Puppet Boy - DEVO

I can’t hear you puppet boy / now dance dance dance

2022

7: I Miss You - blink-182

👍

17: Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) - Will Wood

Run your diagnostic tests, it’s posited nobody dies agnostic / but we still dial 9-1-1

27: Newton’s First - The Altogether

Just existing ain’t enough / so when it comes to my own birthday / I’ll forgo the bags of stuff / for a chance to prove I’ve earned them / just a fork a knife and cup / so I can eat my words and swallow all my pride

78: 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton

i looped this in my car at starbucks during my lunch after a customer yelled at me and i cried for the entire thirty minutes. That’s more important than a favorite lyric

87: Helena - My Chemical Romance

I wrote a poem based on a combination of this song, the song Gloomy Sunday, and my own psychosis. This also is more important than a favorite lyric. Here’s the poem

2021

7: This Is War - Ben Kweller

Also no favorite lyric cuz it’s just a banger

17: Dear Dictator - Saint Motel

Not too late to say you’re sorry / but it’s too late to truly mean it

27: Fences - Paramore

You’re always on display / for everyone to watch and learn from

78: Going Home Again - This Way To The Egress

Our motor has died, we rely on the mercy of the wind / one day we’ll realize the end is where we begin

87: Not the Villain - S. J. Tucker

As an individual alter I must say I do like this song, especially the lines “You may call my truest name and fling it to the floor” and “you’d think this was the ending; we both have come so far / it’ll break your heart how very much alike we are”

2020

7: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston

No favorite lyric this song is 100% banger I’ll take Zero criticism

17: Lemon Boy - Cavetown

I found out my friends are more of the savory type / and they weren’t too keen on compromising with a nice lemon pie

27: Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy - Fall Out Boy

Someday I’ll appreciate in value / get off my ass and call you / the mean time, I’ll sport my brand new fashion / of waking up with pants on at four in the afternoon

78: Boys Don’t Cry - The Cure

No favorite lyric, just a song I like

87: King of Anything - Sara Bareilles

This one has no favorite lyric because I enjoy almost every lyric

2019

7: Under Pressure - Queen, David Bowie

love’s such an old fashioned word / and love dares you to care for / the people on the edge of the night

17: Twin Sized Mattress - The Front Bottoms

With tears in my eyes, I begged you to stay / you said “hey man I love you but no fucking way”

27: feelings are fatal - mxmtoon

I need to let go and I swear that I’ve tried / but opening up means trusting others / and that’s just too much, I don’t want to bother

78: The Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra

I don’t have a favorite lyric because this song is best enjoyed by remembering what it’s like to be twelve with a budding personality disorder

87: Troublemaker (feat. Flo Rida) - Oly Murs, Flo Rida

I first heard this song in a 2p!hetalia MEP and it cemented itself in my musical lexicon to be played periodically ever since. It transcends favorite lyrics. Here

[linklocus]

Good news: I had my first dream shift! 

Bad news: I remember almost nothing about it.

All I remember is that I was there, as well as wally and someone else (I've narrowed it down to probably either Julie or Eddie). Also worth mentioning I don't actually have any memory of being Barnaby in the dream, except the self-perception of being blue. I'm assuming based on context that I was Barnaby. Oh also, because my dreams can't just be Me In SituationsTM, they have to relate to something I'd do irl, my conscious immersive daydreamer brain, seeing the end of the dream scenario, want "oh! A situation with characters and a song! We know what to do!" And tried to take over the dream and turn it into a daydream. And yes there *was* a song already, and it'd be really helpful if I could remember the song, since it give me a lot of context and maybe jog my memory of the dream. but instead all I have is the song my conscious brain tried to turn on next: Red Flags by Tom Cardy. I have a vague sense that the original song was not by Tom Cardy and the situation it was in had nothing to do with the concept of Red Flags. Idk, it's 7am and I just woke up obviously, I'm just rambling. 

-Barnaby B. Beagle, Welcome Home(🍰)

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 13/02/2021 (Digga D, AJ Tracey, Cardi B)

It’s not as big of a week as it is just a confusing one, so there’s no pre-amble. Olivia Rodrigo spends a fifth week at #1 with “drivers license” and let’s start REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

I started writing this a bit later than usual so I just want to rush through most of what’s here. The songs dropping out of the UK Top 75 are either debuts from not long ago like “Notorious” by Bugzy Malone featuring Chip and “Lo Vas A Olvidar” by Billie Eilish and ROSALÍA, or songs that have been here for a while, like “Monster”  by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper and “Dynamite” by BTS. We even have some #1 hits dropping out of the Top 75 this week, like “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac, “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion and “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. In terms of fallers, we have, seemingly, some of the older Winter cuts being replaced, as we see “Sweet Melody” by Little Mix getting a harsh streaming cut down to #30,  “Whoopty” by CJ down to #33, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa and remixed by DaBaby down to #34 (although this could rebound given the album release), “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #37, “SO DONE” by The Kid YAOI at #57, “All I Want” by Olivia Rodrigo at #61, “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax at #62, “Train Wreck” by James Arthur at #63, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #64, “Take You Dancing” by Jason Derulo at #65, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #68, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi at #72 and “Golden” by Harry Styles at #73, as well as some more recent debuts, including the entirety of Fredo’s album impact from last week, as “Money Talks” with Dave is at #11, “Ready” with Summer Walker at #31 and “Burner on Deck” with Young Adz and the late Pop Smoke at #32. “Skin” by Sabrina Carpenter and “Apricots”  by Bicep aren’t faring that well either, at #51 and #56 respectively. When I said these songs are being replaced, I wasn’t overestimating anything as we have our new crop of hits seemingly all surging, as “Martin & Gina” by Polo G is at #54, “Be the One” by Rudimental, MORGAN, TIKE and Digga D is at #49, “Best Friend” by Saweetie featuring Doja Cat is at #42, “My Head & My Heart” by Ava Max is at #35, “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” by Jason Derulo and Nuka is at #27, “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals is at #24, “Your Love (9PM)” by ATB, Topic and A7S is at #23 (it’s honestly starting to grow on me), and “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd is somehow back up to #20. Speaking of the top 20, we also have “Friday” by Riton, Nightcrawlers and Musafa & Hypeman dopamine re-editing itself up to #16, “Save Your Tears” also by the Weeknd at #15, and two new top 10 hits, both songs with basically the same chart run and genre. “Goosebumps” by Travis Scott, remixed by HVME, remixed by Travis Scott is at #10, becoming HVME’s first and Travis’ fourth top 10 hit here in Britain. We also have “The Business” by Tiesto grooving up to #7, becoming Tiesto’s fourth top 10 hit. I honestly feel bad for the still completely uncredited vocalist. We also have a third new top 10 entry but that’s a debut that we can discuss later. I should also note that “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek is back at #74, and a winning Eurovision song, “Arcade”, by Dutch singer Duncan Lawrence is also back at #39 off of the back of some TikTok traction. I think this is the most streamed Eurovision now – I’d watch out for this being a big hit. Welp, time to get into our really, and I mean REALLY, varied and weird crop of new arrivals, starting with...

NEW ARRIVALS

#75 – “Roadtrip” – Dream and PmBata

Produced by Banrisk and Perish Beats

Okay, so this is a song by Minecraft YouTuber Dream, or at least that’s who I think he is. I think there was some kind of scandal related to him, and a couple people got involved and someone got doxed... listen, I don’t care. Not only is this song really not worthy of reviewing on the principle that unlike Wilbur Soot a couple weeks ago, Dream has never been a musician, which is clear from how involved no-name singer PmBata was in this, but I care for my private information not being made public so... What ridiculous excuse do I have to not review this? Okay, 1997 reggae-rock classic “Doin’ Time” by Sublime returns to #75 after Boris Johnson made a TikTok in the Houses of Parliament where he says “Pogchamp, Brexiteers, I just got tested for COVID-19” with the song in the background, and Joe Biden is on a Zoom call with him a few seconds later visibly annoyed because he prefers the New Radicals. Sure, let’s go with that. What was this entry about again?

#71 – “Goodbye” – Imanbek and Goodboys

Produced by Joris Mur, Imanbek and Goodboys

Everyone’s favourite Kazakh house producer Imanbek is finally back on the charts with his collaboration with British pop trio Goodboys, who you may know from their carbon-copy hits made with MEDUZA. After listening to that EP he made with Rita Ora, I’m slightly less impressed with Imanbek’s production, but that EP’s impact, if any, will be seen when the lead single featuring David Guetta and Gunna debuts low next week. Yes, seriously, all four on the same track. Anyway, this song, “Goodbye”, is actually pretty okay, with a generic deep house groove and fake hand-clap effectively saved by the Goodboys’ really intriguing vocal delivery and processing, which ends up in a Travis Scott-like Auto-Tune harmony that’s honestly pretty endearing right before the anti-climactic slap-house drop. The song’s lyrical content probably isn’t worth talking about, but it’s about a generic struggle with a break-up, and how hard it is for one of these good boys to say good bye. The build-up with the pre-chorus before the blue-balls second drop is kind of genius, and that’s probably my favourite part of the song outside of the abrupt vocaloid drop at the end. For what it’s worth, it takes more risks than most of these house-pop songs, most notably by having only a single verse in the middle of the song, and being really short, clocking in at less than two and a half minutes. It’s not as infectious as “Piece of Your Heart”, but this is fine. I’m glad it’s here if it’s going to give Imanbek another non-Rita Ora-assisted hit.

#60 – “Little Bit of Love” – Tom Grennan

Produced by Jamie Scott, LOSTBOY and Daniel Bryer

Tom Grennan is an English singer-songwriter who released their debut record in 2016 and was crowned by the BBC as the “Sound of 2017”, before dropping off the face of the Earth. He was brought to fame by a guest feature on a Chase & Status song that didn’t even do that well and now he’s back with the lead single from his upcoming sophomore effort, and his highest ever charting song. Well, is it any good? I mean, I like OneRepublic too. The rising strings here in the intro and chorus are pretty cool, and I’ll give it to Grennan for having an interesting voice but the odd level of grit in it does not fit well for this plastic production, which quickly devolves into vaguely danceable synth-mess that’s just not interesting. The content is mostly about unconditional love, particularly one that feels not particularly reciprocated, although some of the detail in the second verse feels like it’s going somewhere. I’ll admit, the chorus is catchy, but this mix puts way too much emphasis on a flawed vocal take from Grennan, which really detracts from the pathetic excuse for a bridge. I do enjoy how this feels like a flash-back to the mid-2010s, where happier, synth-based pop was this prominent, and I do love how the strings come back in the outro, but good production can’t do much to save a song that just feels under-cooked and definitely under-written. The OneRepublic comparison feels particularly fitting here too because their stuff tends to be just as stagnant, not to mention the lyrical riffs off of “Counting Stars”. I mean, when you start your first verse – in the first 10 or so seconds of the track – with the most recognisable part of a very recognisable song, I think Ryan Tedder deserves at least some royalties.

#58 – “Astronaut in the Ocean” – Masked Wolf

Produced by Tyron Hapi

Masked Wolf is an Australian singer and this song is actually from June 2019, just gaining enough traction, presumably off of TikTok, to debut on the charts this week. The song got a 2021 reissue and I assume a remix and, well... for God’s sake. The Kid LAROI should not have been an entry point for Australian trap, because outside of a second or two of distortion in the intro, this is far from unique. It has a guitar-based trap instrumental with dark 808s that even Gunna would pass up on, and an Auto-Tuned delivery from Masked Wolf, clearly trying too hard to replicate Drake in the intro and bridge, Kid Cudi in the chorus, G-Eazy in the first verse, Eminem AND Kendrick on the second verse, to the point where he even directly references Kendrick Lamar’s much better music. He suffers from the same problems as all of these artists combined, with lyrics that seem like they’re building up off of something interesting about depression before going into aimless flexing like a mid-tier Kid Cudi track, flows that sound as meandering and checked-out as Drake’s, the failed attempt at some kind of white-boy swagger that G-Eazy hasn’t pulled off successfully since 2016, the substance-less content hidden behind fast flows from Eminem and... oh, my God, this guy’s just like Australian Logic. I don’t like American Logic, why do we need this guy too? Yeah, this is bad, and there’s not much worth nitpicking in this mix or even the lyrics to even point out. I guess the worst bar is when he says he believes in G-O-D but not a T-H-O-T. So he’s a slut-shaming NF now? Jesus Christ, I’d take a full album from The Kid LAROI over this.

So the next two songs are ones I’ll actually need to somewhat lump together, as they are consecutive on the chart and both from the same album, and the same washed-up band.

#53 – “Waiting on a War” – Foo Fighters

Produced by Greg Kurstin

We have two songs from Dave Grohl and friends here from their latest album, Medicine at Midnight, technically three if we count the entire top 100, which means, yes, the UK just had a Foo Fighters album bomb. I’ll focus on the album as a whole with the next song because this is easily the worse track here and the worst track on the album purely out of how misguided it is. Dave Grohl wrote this song because he felt inspired by the current hell-scape of the political climate, reminding him of his own youth when he was surrounded by rising Cold War tensions. His young daughter asked him if there was going to be a war and naturally this song came out of it, reflecting on the fears he and his daughter have and that everyone deserves a future and a lifetime not taken away from them by conflict and fear. This is a good song idea but it absolutely does not work, and that’s partially down to the production. When I first heard this track on the album, I genuinely grimaced at the vocoder-mumble that Grohl takes on against the scratchy acoustic guitars. The whole point of the instrumentation is that it builds tension with rising strings, multi-tracked acoustics and eventually some electric guitars and powerful drums, yet because of how slow-paced the song is, it fails to mirror the rising tension of the prospect of there being a war. Instead, it’s a slog and its pay-off by the end feels unwarranted in the most boring way. Sure, the squeals of the guitars in the back of the mix sound good, but surely a song like this should not end like any of the Foo Fighters’ other pop-rock anthems, especially not as abruptly as it does. Wouldn’t you want a more subdued outro to comfort your daughter’s fears that at least right now, everything’s okay? That would make the most sense to me, but that’s thrown out of the window, with pathetic songwriting, with verses that play word association with the blandest of rhymes, seemingly irrelevant pop-song-generator filer and a chorus that is mind-numbingly repetitive but ultimately fails to build tension because of the content asking us to wait, constantly, even when it gets into its heavier rock tone. We’re supposed to wait for something that is only implied to never come, because there isn’t finality. Sure, that could work as a way of saying that Grohl is just as uncertain and scared as his daughter is about political conflict, but that would imply this song gives off any further emotion than the fact the Foo Fighters felt the need to cut a vaguely political track out of necessity. As a song, and as an album, Dave Grohl is utterly confused, and “Waiting on a War” is way too slow and non-specific to act as a protest song, as well as being way too on-the-nose for it to work as a ballad. Let’s talk about this next single.

#52 – “Making a Fire” – Foo Fighters

Produced by Greg Kurstin

What the hell is Greg Kurstin doing here? This is the first track on the album and is supposed to make some kind of gripping impact but is instead just a snoozefest. The choral female vocals sound bored, but at least it’s not as strained as the struggling Dave Grohl trying and failing to yelp over a stiff groove which has its momentum killed by drumming too slow and mixed too oddly to make this pre-chorus even coherent, not helped by Grohl’s butt-rock delivery and non-descript lyrics. There could be a guitar solo here, to make this track feel memorable, but no, it’s hidden under a pre-chorus with an extended gospel bridge that doesn’t build up effectively to a chorus that just comes crashing in and hence has no effect. Maybe I just can’t listen to arena  rock in a quarantine context, but I can’t even imagine this making much of a fuss in a packed stadium without desperately needing tweaks in the songwriting and especially the production, because this just sounds stunted. It’s telling that Grohl made his best tracks as the Foo Fighters on his own and those first two records, alongside a pretty decent 2014 comeback in the form of Sonic Highways, are still great. I’m not denying that Grohl can write a good song, or that the Food Figures can’t play, because they’re all talented guys. This is just one album in many that leaves me with the feeling that these guys just can’t do much more outside of their comfort zone than fail miserably. These songs won’t stick around, and thank God for that.

#50 – “Believe Me” – Navos

Produced by Tom Demac and Navos

Another week, another... okay, but we already had a generic pop-infused deep house track from a couple EDM randos, do we really need another? Okay, well, this one is even less interesting than Imanbek’s effort as it doesn’t even try for a verse, instead going for a deep house groove I’ve heard countless times before, drowned out by some square synths and, yes, you guessed it, 90s piano loops and an uncredited female vocalist repeating basically the same couple lines over and over. This is made for the clubs, but I feel like even regular club-goers would tire of this vocaloid drop and cloudy production two minutes in. There’s nothing worth discussing here, because this probably took as many minutes to make as it did to listen to. I have no idea why Navos debuts a song so high, but I’ve got to assume TikTok’s to blame. Apparently this guy makes tech house, where’d any of that skill or intrigue go here?

#21 – “Up” – Cardi B

Produced by Sean Island, DJ SwanQo and Yung Dza

Anyone else surprised at how such a big name gets production from people I’ve never heard of before? Not that it matters, it’s just odd. Anyways, this is Cardi’s new single, presumably from that ever-elusive second album, debuting around 20 spots lower than it will in the US, and it’s going for a more gangsta-rap content than the hyper-sexual “WAP”, but does she keep the same energy? Well, yes... in fact, after all the mediocrity, I’m glad to have a genuinely great song debut this week. This is a great, bass-heavy beat that gives a Memphis phonk feel in the dark keys as well as the hard-hitting 808s and spacey percs and sound effects that add some needed distortion, even if there’s going to be some brief clipping along the way. Cardi brings some necessary energy from the brilliant opening lyrics and continues with a fast-paced, chanting flow that accentuates some of her funnier lyrics with her charisma that she always brings to a trap track like this. I’d say that this is maybe too repetitive – with very little of the verses to speak of – or even somewhat derivative of her previous song, “Money”, but there’s a lot better lyrical content in this one, not to mention how well she complements a more straight-forward but still killer beat. Oh, yeah, and Cardi’s stacks are Shaq-height as she dismisses haters with an impressive level of swagger and confidence, that carries the refrain, but that’s not to say the lyrics aren’t really great in the verses. There’s genuinely funny and sexy wordplay here, especially in the second verse, and also some great liners: “hoes speakin’ cap-anese”, accusing her haters of having pink-eye and their breath smelling like “horse sex”. This is a short, probably underdeveloped song, but it’s the type of surreal, high-energy trap I kind of really love and I hope this sticks around further in the UK.

#19 – “Latest Trends” – A1 x J1

Produced by ShoBeatz

A1 x J1 are a British rap duo with no other songs. Yeah, something’s fishy here: this is their only song on Spotify that blew up from a 15-second clip on TikTok, and their Spotify bio is trying to decide whether they’re the next D-Block Europe or the Beatles, as well as really emphasising how the song grew “all organically”, even though they’re already signed to Universal... yeah, there’s nothing subtle here, so I won’t buy this TikTok fame schtick, but does it matter when the song is good? Well, not really, and honestly, I’m kind of into this guitar-based drill-R&B fusion in the beat, but it doesn’t really help the fact that J1’s Stormzy impression is janky and unconvincing, especially if he’s going to try for some shallow wordplay, and that A1’s Auto-Tuned croon is just boring, reminding me a lot of A Boogie wit da Hoodie, but with a less recognisable voice and delivery, even if the first verse contains a funny line about a woman making that ass clap “for the NHS”, although he totally took that from Swarmz anyway. Yeah, I’m not a fan of this fake attempt at an organic pop-drill crossover, but unfortunately, I can very much see this working, though I’d be happy if the British public will see through this dishonesty as soon as possible.

#5 – “Bringing it Back” – Digga D and AJ Tracey

Produced by TheElements and AoD

Now for a rap duo that makes more sense to debut this high and are actually, you know, separately successful rappers, therefore they debut in the top five, which is impressive. The whole concept of this song is that Digga D and AJ Tracey are using old flows, those that would be nostalgic to their deeper fan base, to spit bars on a new track called, fittingly “Bringing it Back”. The flow AJ Tracey brings back is from his overlong “Packages” freestyle, a five-minute track from 2016, that works more as a freestyle than it does as a song, where he uses a familiar UK drill flow to go off for a really long time, and, yes, it is pretty impressive but the flow becomes stale too quickly. Digga D uses his flow from his “Next Up?” freestyle from 2017, a similarly badly-mixed UK drill freestyle but with a much more palatable length. Digga D’s flow he uses in that track is arguably slicker but honestly one that I see used a lot in UK drill and by Digga D, so I’m not sure it’s not worth “bringing it back” when you could come up with a new, catchier flow. I’ll admit that “Bringing it Back”, however, is a pretty damn good song, with Digga D’s more technical and fluid flow allowing for a lot more intricate internal rhymes that sound really great over the triumphant, string-heavy drill beat, as he trades bars with AJ Tracey’s slower but more confident, laid-back flow, which allows him to spit some more specific, interesting bars, some of which really hit, like when he says he “locked up the food for the kids like Boris and then I let it go like Rashford”. Hey, I respect it, I haven’t heard a more clever way of intertwining political commentary with cocaine smuggling since Pusha T last released a record. The way AJ Tracey and Digga D play off of each other’s lines is really smooth, and especially how Digga D plays with the beat, as while his lyrics may be less interesting, they mash perfectly with the beat’s frantic fades in and out, especially in his last lines before the first chorus, where he asks for the track to literally be turned off... and it is. So, yeah, I’m pretty damn happy with this debuting so high off the energy alone, even if Digga D is going to pronounce “LOL” like a one-syllable word. I’d say this is actually a really good starting point for people who want to get into more UK drill because it has a lot of the grit and menace of the genre in a more accessible, catchy form, even if it may run a bit too long for my taste.

Conclusion

Wow, what a weird, weird week... and a lot of it was straight garbage. I’m giving Best of the Week to “Up” by Cardi B, with an Honourable Mention to Digga D and AJ Tracey for “Bringing it Back”, though Worst of the Week is pretty much a toss-up. I’ll give it to the Foo Fighters for “Waiting on a War”, with a Dishonourable Mention tied between “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf and “Believe Me” by Navos for just both being worthless. Anyways, here’s our top 10:

The UK Singles Chart is honestly kind of chaotic right now – even more so than usual – and I don’t see that changing. Even if I don’t like all of the songs, it’s at least compelling. Anyways, thank you for reading and you can follow me @cactusinthebank on Twitter if you want. I can’t really make any predictions for next week other than Taylor Swift re-recording her own music and I guess some impact from Rita Ora and Imanbek, or hopefully, slowthai. Regardless of what happens, I’ll see you next week!

[jaceyourself]

End of Year Wrap-Up 24/12/2018

Happy Merry to all you readers!

I’ve had a great year but all us music fans have had an even better one! Streaming services mean that now more than ever we can experience the musical output from all corners of the globe (though overwhelmingly the English-speaking parts of it) to understand different points of view, learn of the goings on in other parts of the world and most importantly indulge ourselves in a bit of a boogie. All the moods, genres and feels you could think of are out there, so over the holiday period perhaps try and listen to something new. Who knows it might break the tension with that younger/older relative round the xmas table when you find they also happen to like k-pop/jazz-funk/grindcore or at the very least you can bicker about the tragedy of the current album charts (Greatest Showman: 21 weeks!). To aid you in your quest for knowledge/excitement/small-talk I have spent almost 30 minutes curating a best-of for both albums and singles in the year of 2018. 

(NB even with my album-a-day policy, there’s no way I can get through everything I want to within the 365, so if your fave appears ignored, let it be known that I probably haven’t heard it yet. The full list of everything I’ve listened to this year is at the bottom)

So in no particular order:

Albums 

Jinx Lennon- Grow A Pair!!!

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

The Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Mount Eerie- Now Only

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Singles

Confidence Man- Out The Window

Cardi B- I Like It

Janelle Monae ft. Grimes- Pynk

Lori McKenna- People Get Old

SOPHIE- Immaterial

Marie Davidson- Work It

Car Seat Headrest- Stop Smoking (We Love You)

BLACKPINK- AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST

The 1975- It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)

https://open.spotify.com/user/jaceyourself/playlist/1kFex3QLVv0l3cCqjVC6dT?si=_GqTJXrOSoSXYaMC9ra_lg

Have a great festive period and I’ll see you in 2019 :D

2018 Albums what I listened to

Floating Points- Reflections – Mojave Desert

James Elkington- Wintres Woma

Miguel- War & Leisure

Ride- Weather Diaries

Sidney Gish- No Dogs Allowed

Emperor X- The Orlando Sentinel, Oversleepers International

Broken Social Scene- Hug of Thunder

MC5- Kick Out The Jams (Live)

Public Service Broadcasting- Every Valley

JJ Doom- Key to the Kuffs

HAIM- Something To Tell You

Camila Cabello- Camila

Sheer Mag- Need To Feel Your Love

Taylor Swift- reputation

Shabazz Palaces- Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines

This Is The Kit- Moonshine Freeze

Japanese Breakfast- Soft Sounds From Another Planet

Tune-Yards- I can feel you creep into my private life

Jupiter & Okwess- Kin Sonic

Various Artists- The Passion Of Charlie Parker

Waxahatchee- Out In The Storm, Great Thunder

Offa Rex- The Queen Of Hearts

Dizzee Rascal- Raskit

Alvvays- Antisocialites

Childhood- Universal High

Marmozets- Knowing What You Know Now

Declan McKenna- What Do You Think About the Car?

Paul Heaton- Crooked Calypso

Lana Del Rey- Lust For Life

Charles Lloyd New Quartet- Passin’ Thru (Live)

Rip Rig & Panic- Circa Rip Rig + Panic

Avey Tare- Eucalyptus

Justin Timberlake- Man Of The Woods

Rio Mira- Marimba del Pacifico

Oddisee- The Iceberg

Aimee Mann- Mental Illness

Katie Von Schleicher- Shitty Hits

Arcade Fire- Everything Now

Girl Ray- Earl Grey

Ezra Furman- Transangelic Exodus

Randy Newman- Dark Matter

Dead Cross- Dead Cross

Chronixx- Chronology

Mondo Cozmo- Plastic Soul

Kesha- Rainbow

Lal & Mike Waterson- Bright Phoebus

Steve Reich- Pulse / Quartet

Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng

Ratboy- SCUM

Prince- Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign ‘O’ The Times

Stanley Cowell- No Illusions

Oneohtrix Point Never- Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Downtown Boys- Cost Of Living

Screaming Females- All At Once

Rob Luft- Riser

Sibusile Xaba- Open Letter To Adoniah

Jen Cloher- Jen Cloher

Everything Everything- Fever Dream

Grizzly Bear- Painted Ruins

Bob’s Burgers- The Bob’s Burgers Music Album

Superorganism- Superorganism

Maren Morris- HERO

Courtney Marie Andrews- Honest Life, May Your Kindness Remain

Stefflon Don- Real Ting Mixtape

Ghostpoet- Dark Days + Canapés

Young Fathers- White Men Are Black Men Too, Cocoa Sugar

Queens Of The Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf

Thurst- Cut to the Chafe

John Moreland- Big Bad Luv

Aruan Ortiz- Cub(an)ism [Piano Solo]

Mount Eerie- Now Only

The War On Drugs- A Deeper Understanding

Various Artists- Pop Makossa

Liane Carroll- The Right to Love

Fickle Friends- You Are Someone Else

Nadine Shah- Holiday Destination

Various Artists- Howsla

George Ezra- Staying at Tamara’s

The Doors- The Doors

Filthy Friends- Invitation

Susanne Sundfør- Music For People In Trouble

LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver, American Dream

Mogwai- Every Country’s Sun

Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour

The National- High Violet, Sleep Well Beast

The Klezmatics- Wonder Wheel

Hercules & Love Affair- Omnion

Mount Kimbie- Love What Survives

The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic

Matthew Bourne- Isotach

Finished- Cum Inside Me Bro

Forced Into Femininity- I’m Making Progress

Heron Oblivion- Heron Oblivion

Hamell On Trial- TACKLE BOX

Confidence Man- Confident Music For Confident People

Swet Shop Boys- Cashmere

Princess Nokia- 1992 Deluxe, A Girl Cried Red

Steely Dan- The Royal Scam, Aja

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard- Nonagon Infinity

Sparks- Hippopotamus

J. Cole- KOD

Fat Tony- Macgregor Park

L’Orange and Jeremiah Jae- The Night Took Us In Like Family

Little Simz- Stillness In Wonderland

Lady Leshurr- Queen’s Speech

RAY BLK- Durt

Brand New- Science Fiction

Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Talk Tight

Fred Thomas- Changer

Myra Davies- Sirens

Laraaji- Sun Gong

The Killers- Wonderful Wonderful

Descendents- Milo Goes To College

Frank Turner- Be More Kind

The Horrors- V

Moses Sumney- Aromanticism

Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People��, AM, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Oxbow- Thin Black Duke

Dee Byrne’s Entropi- Moment Frozen

Mike Stern- Trip

The Vampires- The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke

Gogol Bordello- Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, Super Taranta!, Seekers And Finders

Umphrey’s McGee- Zonkey

Hard Working Americans- We’re All in This Together

Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel

Jllin- Black Origami

Various Artists- Rough Guide to the Music of West Africa

Wolf Alice- Visions Of A Life

The Young’uns- Strangers

Fever Ray- Fever Ray, Plunge

CHVRCHES- Love Is Dead

Oumou Sangaré- Oumou, Mogoya

Charlotte Gainsbourg- Rest

Daniel Avery- Song For Alpha

Daphni- Joli Mai

Kanye West- ye

Cécile McLorin Salvant- Dreams and Daggers

Trio Da Kali, Kronos Quartet- Ladilikan

Kelela- Take Me Apart

Bob Dylan- The Times.., Another.., Bringing.., Highway.., Blond.., John.., Nashville.., New.., Blood..

Lily Allen- Alright(,) Still, It’s Not Me(,) It’s You, Sheezus, No Shame

Fanfare Ciocarlia- 20

Wolf Parade- Cry Cry Cry

SOPHIE- OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

Zara McFarlane- Arise

St. Vincent- MASSEDUCTION

Margo Price- All American Made

Bebe Rexha- Expectations

Motörhead- Under Cöver

Orchestre Les Mangelepa- Last Band Standing

Drake- Scorpion

Various Artists- Gentle Giants: The Songs Of Don Williams

Noga Erez- Off The Radar

Baxter Dury- Prince of Tears

John Maus- Screen Memories

Lankum- Between the Earth and Sky

Shamir- Revelations

Years & Years- Palo Santo

Converge- The Dusk In Us

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino- Canzoniere

Fred Hersch- Open Book

A. Savage- Thawing Dawn

Big Thief- Capacity

Kelly Clarkson- Meaning Of Life

Dirty Projectors- Lamp Lit Prose

Robt Sarazin Blake- Recitative

Shed Seven- Instant Pleasures

Spinning Coin- Permo

Call Super- Arpo

Laura Perrudin- Poisons & antidotes

Ellen Andrea Wang- Blank Out

Lori McKenna- The Tree

Wu-Tang Clan- Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Lee Ronaldo- Electric Trim

Deer Tick- Vol. 2

The Paranoid Style- Underworld U.S.A.

Youssou N’Dour- Set, Joko- From Village To Town, Nothing’s In Vain, Seeni Valeurs

Gaika- BASIC VOLUME

Kasai Allstars- Around Felicite

Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds- Who Built The Moon?

Anna Ternheim- All the Way to Rio

U2- Songs of Experience

Mônica Vasconcelos- The São Paulo Tapes

Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD

Nabihah Iqbal- Weighing of the Heart

Van Morrison- Versatile

Jim James- Tribute to 2

Criolo- Espiral de Ilusão

Maciej Obara Quartet- Unloved

N.E.R.D- NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES

The Beths- Future Me Hates Me

Maryam Saleh- Lekhfa

Naomi Bedford- Songs My Ruiner Gave to Me

Jens Lekman- Night Over Kortedala

The Spirit of the Beehive- pleasure suck

Tom Rogerson- Finding Shore

Paul Jacobs- Pictures(,) Movies and Apartments

Ariana Grande- sweetener

Rina Sawayama- RINA

Marcel Khalife- Andalusia of Love

Gunter Hampel- Bounce (Live at Theater Gütersloh)

BAYNK- Someone’s EP

Omar Souleyman- To Syria(,) With Love

Blood Orange- Negro Swan

Open Mike Eagle- Brick Body Kids Still Daydream

First Aid Kit- Ruins

Shame- Songs of Praise

Homeboy Sandman- Veins

Playboi Carti- Playboi Carti

Eminem- Kamikaze

Troye Sivan- Blue Neighbourhood, BLOOM

Joey Bada$$- ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$

Priests- Nothing Feels Natural

Rhiannon Giddens- Freedom Highway

King Krule- The OOZ

Django Django- Marble Skies

Bon Iver- For Emma(,) Forever Ago

Calexico- The Thread That Keeps Us

Mary Gauthier- Rifles & Rosary Beads

Hookworms- Microshift

Aphex Twin- Collapse EP

Rae Morris- Someone Out There

Field Music- Open Here

Rhye- Blood

Shopping- The Official Body

MGMT- Little Dark Age

Christine and the Queens- Chris

Alela Diane- Cusp

Sonic Youth- Sister

Brigid Mae Power- The Two Worlds

Deafheaven- Sunbather

Various Artists- American Epic: The Collection Disc 1, 2, 3

Rich Krueger- Life Ain’t That Long

Lil Wayne- Tha Carter V

Modern Mal- The Misanthrope Family Album

Rejjie Snow- Dear Annie

U.S. Girls- In a Poem Unlimited

The Orielles- Silver Dollar Moment

Tal National- Tantabara

Marie Davidson- Working Class Woman

Superchunk- What a Time to Be Alive

Brandi Carlile- By The Way(,) I Forgive You

Car Seat Headrest- Twin Fantasy

Loma- Loma

Quavo- QUAVO HUNCHO

Marlon Williams- Make Way For Love

Nipsey Hussle- Victory Lap

Insecure Men- Insecure Men

Kendrick Lamar- Black Panther

Rapsody- Lalia’s Wisdom

Khalid- Suncity

Tracey Thorn- Record

Anna von Hausswolff- Dead Magic

Jinx Lennon- Grow a Pair!!!

Gwenno- Le Kov

Judas Priest- Stained Class, FIREPOWER

Robyn- Robyn, Body Talk, Honey

The Magic Gang- The Magic Gang

Essaie Pas- New Path

Bob Dylan and The Band- The Basement Tapes

The Decemberists- I’ll Be Your Girl

Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel

BCUC- Emakhosini (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness)

Jack White- Boarding House Reach

Yo La Tengo- There’s A Riot Going On

Sidi Touré- Toubalbero

Lil Peep- Come Over When You’re Sober(,) Pt. 2

The Breeders- All Nerve

The Vaccines- Combat Sports

CZARFACE- Czarface Meets Metal Face

Laurence Pike- Distant Early Warning

Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band- Bone Reader

Leo Kalyan- The Edge

Hayley Kyoko- Expectations

Tristen- Sneaker Waves

Thelonious Monk- Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana- Mehliana: Taming The Dragon

Amy Rigby- Til The Wheels Fall Off, Little Fugitive, The Old Guys

BLACKPINK- BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA

Rose Cousins- Natural Conclusion

Nora Jane Struthers- Champion

Lilly Hiatt- Trinity Lane

The Rolling Stones- The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones No. 2, Out of Our Heads, Aftermath

MAST- Thelonious Sphere Monk

The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships

Jhene Aiko- Trip

Don Bryant- Don’t Give up on Love

EMA- Exile in the Outer Ring

Small Believer- Anna Tivel

Vera Sola- Shades

Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy

Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky

Sarah Shook & the Disarmers- Years

Goat Girl- Goat Girl

Vic Mensa- HOOLIGANS

Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Sex & Food

Alasdair Roberts, Amble Scuse & David McGuiness- What News

Kali Uchis- Isolation

Wye Oak- The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

Migos- Culture II

Hinds- I Don’t Run

DRINKS- Hippo Lite

Alexis Taylor- Beautiful Thing

Jenny Wilson- EXORCISM

[yourmusicmypleasure]

XLISTEN TO - YMMP : BEST OF 20XVIII

Did your favorites make my list?

*HEAVY ROTATION*

The 1975, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships

Above & Beyond, Common Ground

Adrianne Lenker, abysskiss

Alison Wonderland, Awake

Alt-J, Reduxer

Amber Mark, Conexão

Amen Dunes, Freedom

*Anderson .Paak, Oxnard*

Andrew Bird, Echolocations: River

Arctic Monkeys, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Ariana Grande, Sweetner

Armin van Buuren, A State of Trance 2018

AURORA, Infections of a Different Kind (Step I)

Bad Bunny, X 100PRE

The Ballroom Thieves, Paper Crown

Beach House, 7

Birdtalker, One

*The Blaze, DANCEHALL*

Blood Orange, Negro Swan

*Bob Moses, Battle Lines*

*BØRNS, Blue Madonna*

The Boxer Rebellion, Ghost Alive

Brandi Carlile, By The Way, I Forgive You

*Brazilian Girls, Let’s Make Love*

Buzzy Lee, Facepaint

*Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy*

Cat Power, Wanderer

Chloe x Halle, The Kids are Alright

*Christine and the Queens, Chris*

Chrome Sparks, Chrome Sparks

*CHVRCHES, Hansa Session*

Circa Survive, The Amulet

Claptone, Fantast

cupcakKe, Ephorize

*Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You for Today*

*Diplo, California*

Dirty South, darko

DJ Koze, Knock Knock

*Drake, Scorpion*

Dutchkid, Empires

Earl Sweatshirt, Some Rap Songs

*Elohim, Elohim*

Erika Wennerstrom, Sweet Unknown

*Father John Misty, God’s Favorite Customer*

Felix Cartal, Next Season

*First Aid Kit, Ruins*

Florence + The Machine, High as Hope

Frankie Cosmos, Vessel

George FitzGerald, All That Must Be

Geowulf, Great Big Blue

Gorgon City, Escape

Gorillaz, The Now Now

Great Lake Swimmers, The Waves, The Wake

Greta Van Fleet, Anthem of the Peaceful Army

Gundelach, Baltus

Hayley Kiyoko, Expectations

Henry Green, Shift

How to Dress Well, The Anteroom

The Internet, Hive Mind

*J Balvin, Vibras*

*J. Cole, KOD*

MihTy, MIH-TY

Jim James, Uniform Distortion

Joey Purp, QUARTERTHING

Joji, BALLADS I

Jon Hopkins, Singularity

Jorja Smith, Lost & Found

JPEGMAFIA, Veteran

Julia Holter, Aviary

Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, boygenius

*Jungle, For Ever*

Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods

*Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour*

Kali Uchis, Isolation

Kamasi Washington, Heaven and Earth

Kanye West, ye

Khalid, Suncity

*Lane 8, Little by Little*

Leah James, While She Sleeps

*Leon Bridges, Good Thing*

Lera Lynn, Plays Well with Others

Let’s Eat Grandma, I’m All Ears

Lil Wayne, The Carter V

Lo Moon, Lo Moon

Low, Double Negative

Lucy Ducas, Historian

Lupe Fiasco, DROGAS WAVE

Lykke Li, so sad, so sexy

Mac Ayres, Something to Feel

*Mac Miller, Swimming*

Maluma, F.A.M.E.

Marian Hill, Unusual

Meshell Ndegeocello, Ventriloquism

*Metric, Art of Doubt*

Middle Friends, Lost Friends

Mipso, Edges Run

Mitski, Be the Cowboy

MNEK, Language

*MØ, Forever Neverland*

Moby, Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt

MorMor, Heaven’s Only Wishful

Mount Eerie, Now Only

Mumford & Sons, Delta

Neneh Cherry, Broken Politics

Nicki Minaj, Queen

Nipsey Hussle, Victory Lap

Noname, Room 25

Okay Kaya, Both

Phoebe Bridgers, Stranger in the Alps

Playboi Carti, Die Lit

Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys

Pusha T, DAYTONA

Rhye, Blood and Blood Remixed

Rico Nasty, Nasty

*Rita Ora, Phoenix*

*Robyn, Honey*

ROSALÍA, El Mar Querer

*RÜFÜS DU SOL, SOLACE*

Santigold, I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions

Sheck Wes, MUDBOY

Snail Mail, Lush

Soccer Mommy, Clean

*Sofi Tucker, Treehouse*

SOPHIE, Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides

St. Lucia, Hyperion

Steffany Gretzinger, Blackout

Steve Angello, HUMAN

Sudan Archives, Sink

SYML, In My Body

Thom Yorke, Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film)

Tom Misch, Geography

Travis Scott, ASTROWORLD

Tune-Yards, I can feel you creep into my private life

U.S. Girls, In a Poem Unlimited

Vacationer, Mindset

VHS Collection, Retrofuturism

The Voidz, Virtue

Wild Nothing, Indigo

Wye Oak, The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

Yo La Tengo, There’s a Riot Going On

Yotto, Hyperfall

Young Fathers, Cocoa Sugar

Yuno, Moodie

Zhu, RINGOS DESERT

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PEACE,

DANI GEE

[nerdmars]

Bruno Mars’ many Grammy wins for 24K Magic was more than just a victory for the musician. It’s a victory for R&B music as a whole. The Grammy for R&B Album of the Year has often been completely segregated from the major awards. (Frequent nominees and winners include people like John Legend, Mary J. Blige, Boyz II Men and Alicia Keys.)

Winning the R&B Album of the Year Grammy rarely leads to walking up to the stage at the end of the night for the big prize — or even being nominated for it. Lauryn Hill pulled it off for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill back in 1999. And it hasn’t happened since — until Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic brought home both awards among several others.

Does this mean the Academy now respects Black music and is recognizing its’ worth? That remains to be seen. It can be seen as a start.

Bruno Mars is doing his part to bring light to the musicians that have been an influence on pop music for decades. While collecting his Album of The Year Grammy, he gave a heart-warming speech, dedicating his award to Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Teddy Riley. He put it plain: “This album wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for these guys.”

With a monstrous record like this, there’s plenty you probably don’t know. Here are 24 things you didn’t know about 24K Magic.

To get started, here’s a good one: winning Record, Song and Album of the Year in one night gives a musician entry into a very small group of musicians like Simon and Garfunkel, Norah Jones and Adele. (Even Michael Jackson doesn’t belong!) 24K Magic achieved this incredible feat and Bruno is the 10th artist to hold the big three.

Here’s more…

(1) 24k Magic was born in a top-secret and, well, magical spot. Unlike most albums, 24K Magic was recorded entirely in one studio. The Glenwood Recording Studio in Burbank, California, has hosted everyone from the Black Eyed Peas to Britney Spears. But don’t look for information anywhere. Even the website has only a phone number.

(2) Yet, 24K Magic was almost not born at all. After the success of "Uptown Funk" and Bruno’s not one but two Super Bowl appearances, the singer spoke about having writer's block and not being satisfied with a lot of the early songs he recorded.

(3) Shampoo Press & Curl is part of the formula for the worldwide success of 24K Magic. The production group, originally known as The Smeezingtons, initially wrote and recorded for other artists while Bruno was still developing as a solo artist. They are credited on just about every track.

(4) 24K Magic won the big three at The 2018 Grammys but the album also scooped one of the obscure awards. In the non-televised ceremony held earlier in the afternoon, the album won for Best Engineered Album, non Classical. Tom Coyne, the master engineer on the project, passed away last year, so Bruno made sure his wife was on stage to collect the award on his behalf.

(5) Many of the songs on 24K Magic were recorded live. Not in front of an audience but performed live with instruments in the studio. The standard these days is recording in parts and then using Pro Tools. That’s if instruments are used at all. Most artists who use live music save it for the tour.

(6) The entire album is pretty short as music goes. 24K Magic clocks in at just a bit over 33 minutes. A piece of music must be at least 30 minutes in order to be considered an album and not an EP.

(7) The artwork for the album comes courtesy of Greg Gigendad Burke. Known for his innovative work with artists like Jay-Z, T.I. and Wiz Khalifa, Burke often does both artwork and design for album covers. For this album, Bruno did the art direction himself.

(8) Bruno is clearly loyal. The Stereotypes, a Los Angeles-based production team, has been in the game for over a decade. After years of hits and misses, they reconnected with Bruno. 24K Magic was already done but Mars still invited them into the studio and ended up creating “Finesse.” That late addition made the album — and became history.

(9) Outside of the remix of "Finesse" with Cardi B, there are no features on the album. It’s a rarity in this era to skip the tradition of plumping up an album with guest rappers or vocal duets for a varied audience and sound. Bruno decided to keep it simple — even though he’s known to pump up music for other artists.

(10) Bruno’s got nothing against remixes though! Official remixes for "That’s What I Like" include tracks with Gucci Mane and Party Next Door.

(11) Last year Beyoncé appeared at a Bruno Mars show with gold hoops spelling out CHUNKY, a song from Bruno’s album. The whispers started immediately. Would there be a collaboration perhaps? And then, eagle-eared listeners began insisting that Beyoncé is singing backgrounds on the song. Does it sound like it could be her? Maybe. Is that likely? No. However, there are no background vocalists credited on the song…

(12) Bruno Mars fully credits New Jack Swing pioneers like Teddy Riley and Babyface for his new work. Just in case you don’t know what New Jack Swing means: in the late '80s and '90s, a particular form of pop music borrowing heavily from hip-hop and R&B was born with acts like Bobby Brown and Guy. The name comes from early ‘80s hip-hop slang for a newcomer.

(13) The opening lines from "24K Magic"? That’s Mr. Talk Box, a musician known for his work in gospel music. And because his portion of "24K Magic" was sampled on Kendrick Lamar’s "Loyalty," the musician contributed to more than one 2017 megahit.

(14) Bruno’s album helped Cardi B. achieve yet another chart success. With “Finesse,” she becomes only the third person in history — and the first woman — to have five singles on the Top 10 at the same time.

(15) The funk that led to "Chunky" comes courtesy of Charlie Wilson and The Gap Band. One of Bruno Mars’ producing partners told him about a party he went to where everyone played the wall and stayed on their cellphones — until the DJ played "Outstanding" by The Gap Band. Bruno says hearing that inspired him to write "Chunky."

(16) There’s a wink-and-nod lyrical homage to R. Kelly’s "Seems Like You’re Ready." If you don’t know the 1993 song, you might miss it. But he literally croons out the line on his ballad "Versace on the Floor."

(17) A quick run-down on all of the hair-related terminology Bruno spits on “Perm���: He tells a woman to relax (which is another word for perm). He mentions sheen (usually used in aerosol form). There’s a tribute to pat-pat-patting your weave. And he urges us to “activate” the sexy, as in activator used for '80s-era curly hairstyles.

(18) If you’re one of the few people on earth who haven’t heard the album in its entirety, here’s a random factoid: Yes, that’s Halle Berry in a voicemail recording in the middle of the song “Calling All My Lovelies.”

(19) While working with Babyface, a song Bruno never finished began to play. Babyface said he needed to finish it that day. The song became the tearjerker “Too Good To Say Goodbye.”

(20) Music lovers began hyperventilating when photos surfaced of Missy Elliott and Bruno Mars in the studio together. Alas, they were “just hanging out.” Maybe next time.

(21) Bruno is known for keeping things old school when he’s recording. When it was time for him to allow journalists to listen to the album before release, the album was loaded on one iPod stored in a safe at his record label offices.

(22) While Bruno admits that he was nervous when he started recording, he personally put himself against his own biggest work. The title track for 24K Magic was recorded while "Uptown Funk" was still No. 1 on the charts.

(23) Ever the perfectionist, Bruno will tweak a song until he’s 100 percent happy with it. Case in point: his latest single "Finesse" had over 20 different versions.

(24) And speaking of perfectionism, the power ballad "Versace on the Floor" was completely done. Then Bruno listened and felt like he didn’t get it right vocally. He actually ended up writing the song over completely.

(25) Did you stream this album? It’s all good. But Bruno kind of wishes you had it on CD. He designed and wrote all of the inserts for the physical project and then realized that the idea of holding and reading liner notes may soon be a distant memory. He worked really hard on designing the fonts for the song titles. (No, really.)

Written by Alisa S. King

[morningrainmusic]

Top 25 Albums of 2018

These are the top twenty-five albums (and one EP) of the year. See you in 2019. Best, MorningRainMusic.tumblr.com

25. MGMT – Little Dark Age Little Dark Age is the album in which MGMT wised up to the fact that they can experiment with their sound while not completely alienating their fans. I expect the evolution of this band will continue to be fascinating. Complaints/criticisms should be taken up with goth Andre Van Wyngarden.

24. Jeff Rosenstock – POST- Good old-fashioned American punk rock in another frustration-filled year in the U.S. of A. Few people can make righteous anger sound as fun as Rosenstock. We’re gonna need more in 2019, Jeff.

23. Jon Hopkins – Singularity Likely Hopkins’ best work yet, Singularity is a monster of an electronic album without the monstrously tired trappings of EDM. Of course, this is the arena Hopkins has been working in most of his career, building sonic worlds of mesmerizing beauty.

22. Amanda Shires – To the Sunset The opening track to Amanda Shires’ eighth album is a statement. Shires is a classically trained violinist who plays with Jason Isbell (to whom she is married) and is still firmly rooted in the Americana/folk scene. To the Sunset is a sea change for Shires and “Parking Lot Pirouette” is the coming out party. While it’s not exactly a pop record, it’s damn close. “Leave it Alone” could soundtrack a 90s rom-com starring Meg Ryan. The country undertones linger here and there, but they are typically buried beneath Shires’ stunning voice and Dave Cobb’s slick production. There’s an unexpected and brutal final line of album closer, “Wasn’t I Paying Attention” that fits into the country-western tradition, but otherwise by the end you might forget she’s a country/folk artist at all.

21. Pusha T – Daytona / Kanye West – ye Yes, this is a cheat. But at seven tracks each and just under forty-five minutes combined, it seemed appropriate to lump Daytona and ye together. The marriage of Kanye and Pusha T in 2018 proved a very successful one. Daytona showcases Pusha T’s impressive rhyming ability and penchant for controversy (see the album cover depicting Whitney Houston’s drug paraphernalia-litterd bathroom, which Kanye paid $85,000 to license). Ye was not particularly well-received by critics, and it certainly has its flaws. But its highs are high, reminding us why it’s hard to hate Kanye, even at a time when most everything else he does makes us want to.   

20. Kurt Vile – Bottle It In As he states plainly on “One Trick Ponies,” Kurt Vile has always had a soft spot for repetition. He’s made long albums before, but at an hour and eighteen minutes, Bottle It In is his longest album yet. It meanders A LOT, but this is prime Kurt. From the everyday, small town highs of “Loading Zones” to the amphetamine-taking rocker-on-the-road swagger of “Check Baby,” this record delivers the goods. Of course there’s also the ultra-chill side of KV here, like the almost ten minute long day-in-the-life tune, “Backasswards” and the title track which employs harpist Mary Lattimore as well as some saxophone, slightly calling to mind “Under the Pressure” by Kurt’s old band. If he continues making records this good, Mr. Vile can repeat himself as much as his heart desires.  

19. Lucy Dacus – Historian Lucy Dacus is only 23 years old and she’s already proven herself one of the best lyricists alive. The biting, shame-offensive “Strange Torpedo” from her 2016 debut contains witty lyrics and begs to be sung along with. Dacus’ Matador-released follow up, Historian, is more explicitly personal, epic, and all around exciting. And while this record is full of stick-in-your-head lyrics, they are complimented by Dacus’ genuinely impressive guitar-shredding and beautiful voice. She could sing the phone book and it would likely make for a half a decent song.

18. Wooden Shjips – V. While Sleep was receiving heaps of critical praise for their doom metal, weed-worshipping comeback record, The Sciences, the best stoner album of the year was a much more lowkey, hazily psychedelic affair. Wooden Shjips’ V. is a warm, echo-laden, bliss-trip with plenty of jammy excursions and thick, Nuggets-era guitar riffs. It’s one of those rare albums that is equally suited for active and passive listening—one can get as much from it by really digging in with a pair of good headphones as playing two thirds in the car whilst the mind wanders back and forth from daydreaming to attentively consuming the music. Most self-respecting musicians would understandably take issue with that comment—did I just describe wallpaper muzak? Not at all. This is a pivotal function of many great psychedelic rock records: the ability to pull the listener in, then facilitate his slow drift away, only to bring him back a few minutes later. It is an ebb and flow Wooden Shjips achieve masterfully. In his review of the album, Stereogum’s Tom Breihan mentions his wife walking in on him listening to “Golden Flower” and describing what she heard as sounding like “Phish covering Third Eye Blind.” This fairly accurate description of the song will send some running for the hills. I’m not much of a Phish phan, but the thought of hearing Trey & co’s take on a late-90s pop-rock masterpiece sounds pretty damn great to me. In a numbingly turbulent year, V. was possibly the perfect soundtrack to turn on, tune in, and drop out to.

17. Pinegrove – Skylight As is the case with so much art (more and more in the past few years), it is impossible to remove the latest Pinegrove record from the context of its primary creator’s personal life, which is…complicated, to put it mildly. A couple years ago when Pinegrove put out their phenomenal (and overlooked by this blog) sophomore album, Cardinal, they were probably the last band anyone thought would garner controversy of any kind. An alt-country/emo band from Montclair, New Jersey, they quickly built up a fervent fan base that calls themselves Pinenuts (yes, actually). Then all this happened. Though it was almost completely finished before that all went down, whatever it was….some of the lyrics on Skylight seem to reference it—take a close listen to “Rings.” In any case, this is a powerful, introspective, and really just classic Pinegrove album. I hope everyone is okay, and I’m glad the band lives on. 

16. Miya Folick – Premonitions Like a handful of artists on this list, Miya Folick came out of nowhere for me. This is part of what makes this list so exciting—the musicians who put out stellar debut albums and those that have been around a little while, but I just recently became aware of them. Cardi B and Miya Folick are the only artists here with debut LP’s. They are radically different stylistically, but they are similarly electric, get-up-and-move albums. Premonitions probably doesn’t qualify as a “party record” in the traditional sense but songs like “Cost Your Love” demand body movement. Pair this pop sensibility with Folick’s wide-ranging, Fiona Apple-eqsue vocals and you’ve got a star in the making.

15. Camp Cope – How To Socialise & Make Friends “The Opener,” which is fittingly the opening track of Australian indie rock outfit Camp Cope’s second album, is quite possibly the most powerful and effective protest song of 2018. Through sarcasm and a scorching vocal performance, front-woman Georgia Maq eviscerates the toxic men who work in music and make life for women like the members of Camp Cope that much more difficult. “Tell me again how there just aren’t that many girls in the music scene” Maq shouts, addressing frustrations and injustices that are largely unique to women and reach far beyond music/entertainment. It is a vital statement of a song and perhaps more important to get its message across, it rocks. The album pivots, offering more balladic personal narratives—“The Face Of God” addresses a sexual assault, “The Omen” is an ode to a lifelong love, and “I’ve Got You” is a heartbreaking acoustic number about a parent dying of cancer. It’s a heavy, cathartic record that establishes Camp Cope as an indie force.

14. Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer What’s left to say about Josh Tillman? The man who captured our hearts by dropping out of Fleet Foxes, showing off his moves on Letterman, and putting out a pair of weird, wonderful albums was due for a course correction in 2018. Yes, many consider Pure Comedy a triumph, but really it was a highly uneven, bloated, self-absorbed mess. Tillman, someone who used to poke fun at the type of self-serious people who are so preoccupied by “man’s role in the universe,” had gone and made an album about just that. God’s Favorite Customer is a return to form. Sort of sad, but it apparently took a serious shakeup in his marriage for this sarcastic goofball to get back to doing what he does best: crafting beautiful melodies and singing nutso, often darkly funny lines with conviction and the voice of an angel. (Example: “Last night I wrote a poem / Man, I must have been in the poem zone”).

13. John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness Want to attain enlightenment? Don’t bother meditating or balancing your chakras. Instead, try living seventy-odd years with a fraction of the honesty, humility, and warm resignation that the old master shows on this record. When you come up with a single joke as hilarious and subtle as the beginning of “Boundless Love” you will have achieved your goal, probably. -Alex Seraphin, blog contributor

12. Lala Lala – The Lamb Lillie West aka Lala Lala is a London-born, Chicago-based musician making slightly dark, reverb-laden songs that would leave you feeling as cold as she looks on the cover, if it weren’t for how catchy and propulsive they are. Painful, celebratory, aggressive, and raw, The Lamb is like a classic punk album that isn’t actually punk. It’s like if Youth Lagoon and Bikini Kill had a lovechild, only way better than that sounds.

11. Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog Philadelphia mainstays, Hop Along dabble in grunge, folk-rock, emo (yes, a little), punk, and power pop in their boldest and most consistent album yet. I don’t have much else to say except this is a great band more people should be paying attention to.

10. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus – boygenius This list is traditionally strictly for full-length albums, but an exception had to be made for boygenius, a six song EP by three of the best songwriters working today. Forget all the hubbub about this being the “egoless supergroup of your indie rock dreams” and the album art’s similarity to Crosby, Stills & Nash’s 1969 debut. What matters is the music, and the music here is untouchable. Each song showcases Baker, Bridgers, and Dacus’ individual strengths and when put together they are far greater than the sum of their parts.

9. Remember Sports – Up From Below Anybody remember Sports from Gambier, Ohio? They are now Remember Sports (thanks a lot, lesser Sports) but they are still making scrappy, lovelorn, pop punk. Lots of earworms here, Up From Below is upbeat, fun, sad, angry, and awesome. Do not forget Remember Sports.

8. Parquet Courts – Wide Awake! “We are conductors of sound, heat, and energy And I bet that you thought you had us figured out from the start”

Thus begins “Total Football” and Parquet Courts sixth album, Wide Awake! Indeed, Parquet Courts is a band impossible to pin down—anybody who claims to have them figured out is either a liar or a fool. In twenty-five years when we look back at rock music of the 2010s, Parquet Courts will likely stand out as the most adventurous, philosophical, and downright compelling of the pack. And fuck Tom Brady.

7. Cardi B – Invasion of Privacy Shortly after the release of Invasion of Privacy, Top Dawg Entertainment president Punch tweeted “Cardi B is 2pac,” prompting an impassioned debate on social media. In most ways, it’s a boneheaded comparison that undercuts 2Pac’s body of work, socially conscientious lyrics, and overall contribution to the evolution of rap. However, I can’t help agreeing with the connection in other respects—Cardi has a contagious charisma, charm, rawness, and unpredictability similar to 2Pac. Her meteoric ascent in 2018 was impossible to ignore and she has already cemented herself as a powerful voice in hip-hop. But what made Invasion of Privacy an unavoidable smash hit this year is not Cardi B’s similarity to past rap legends, affiliation with other rap stars, or her stripper-turned-reality-start-turned-rapper Cinderalla story. It’s Cardi B herself. She’s not the next Pac, Lil Kim, Missy Elliott, take your pick. She’s the first Cardi B.      

6. Courtney Barnett – Tell Me How You Really Feel Get the fuck out of the way—Courtney Barnett has arrived. Gone is the promising Australian upstart/indie darling with witty one-liners. The woman who replaced her is a full-fledged rock star, ready to shred her way to the top. She’ll locate your inner most lecherous and rip it out carefully.

5. Joey Purp – QUARTERTHING I’m told that the amount of great rap coming out of Chicago is mind-blowing. A quick glance at this list should give you sense of how rap is not one of my favorite genres, so I won’t pretend it is. However, I still listen to some rap, and QUARTERTHING rose above the Playboy Cartis, Travis Scotts, and Kids Seeing Ghosts of 2018. Purp’s talent is undeniable and no other rapper can go toe to toe with contemporaries like Chance The Rapper (“24k Gold/Sanctified”), Brockhampton (“Elastic”), and Sheck Wes (“Paint Thinner”). Joey Purp is rap’s next big thing.

4. Mitski – Be The Cowboy “Be the cowboy you want to see in the world” is an expression of Mitski Miyawaki’s that embodies confidence, unapologetic individualism, and freedom. In some ways, it’s a nice companion piece to the next album on this list. Mitski has given us a collection of infectious pop songs that embrace the joy, pain, ecstasy, and sorrow of being alive. Be The Cowboy is a whirlwind of fourteen songs, only two over three minutes long, that leaves you feeling high and low, but ready to grab the bull by the horns in your ten-gallon hat and make them remember your name.

3. Amen Dunes – Freedom I didn’t know Amen Dunes from Adam before Freedom. Before hearing a single note, a friend described Damon McMahon’s vocal delivery as similar to Van Morrison’s, stutter-scatting his way through sonic slipstreams and lush synthesizers. Perhaps there’s a spiritual connection to be found between Van and McMahon, but for the most part Freedom is something entirely fresh. “This is your time, their time is done” a child proclaims on the intro track, and these words ring true on every song that follows. Of his influences for the album, McMahon said: “I realized that for me to do my job well, I need to put myself out there. I was listening to a lot of good mainstream music too. I wasn’t listening to mainstream like Miley Cyrus, but the Michelangelos of pop. So, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Marvin Gaye, and so on. They have the best melodies, the best rhythms and the best songs.” Freedom is the sound of a man finding peace and allowing himself to make the most accessible record he’s capable of making. This is an ambitious pop album—but not the showy, staggeringly ambitious type, rather it is quietly stunning. It will floor you in its transcendent subtlety.   

2. Nap Eyes – I’m Bad Now I’m Bad Now is a tongue-in-cheek album title for a band comprised of four soft-spoken dudes from Nova Scotia who love Yo La Tengo and The Velvet Underground. More likely a reference to children’s schoolyard pronunciation of switching sides from good to bad, I’m Bad Now contains very little in the way of meanness or cruelty, save for the kiss-off chorus on “I’m Bad” that concludes “which is amazing because you’re so dumb.” Rather, what Nap Eyes have made here is a smart, funny, strange existential odyssey that mines everything from the monotony of “the nine to fives and five to nines” (“Judgment”) to spiritual blindness and religious questioning (“White Disciple”), a song that would make George Harrison proud. “Your life is pointless unless it sets you free” sings Nigel Chapman sounding like a guru Lou Reed. It’s heady stuff accented by filthy guitar solos and brilliant songwriting. Do not sleep on the Nap Eyes.    

1. Bonny Doon – Longwave For a short while Longwave felt like the wrong pick for best album of the year. It’s a record I came upon via the ardent recommendation of Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) and while it is incredibly pleasant, warm, and enjoyable, it is nothing groundbreaking or seemingly capital “i” important. No matter. Longwave, recorded in northern Michigan by four unassuming guys from Detroit, is a collection of songs that soothe the soul. It gently reminds us of the failings of our hearts and minds (“I should be happy/but I’m not”) and it reassures us that things haven’t worked out quite as badly as we sometimes think (“you are who you’re supposed to be”). This album did not shake up the landscape of music in 2018 or top other lists on the web or even rack up more than a few hundred thousand streams on Spotify (to put that in perspective Cardi B’s “I Like It” is sitting pretty at 6.5 million). But this record already feels timeless. Every single song on Longwave is damn near perfect. Honorable mentions: Khraungbin – Con Todo El Mundo Against All Logic (A.A.L.) – 2012-2017 Foxing – Nearer My God Retirement Party – Somewhat Literate Superchunk – What a Time To Be Alive 

[dolphinshark]

[SPOTIFY PLAYLIST LINK]

25. J Hus feat. Burna Boy - “Good Time”

I started writing something about how well this song encapsulates J Hus’s London upbringing, his Ghanaian heritage, and the current dancehall boom through it’s canny blending of Afrobeats, bashment riddims, and a just a sprinkle of grime…but then I realized that that is what’s interesting about the song, not why I love it. The reason it’s stuck in my mind is really simple: it’s a suave, unassuming earworm of the highest caliber.

24. Alice Glass - “Without Love”

I really can’t express how heartbroken I was to learn about the abusive relationship that existed during Alice Glass’s time in Crystal Castles, who were my entry point into the entire world of electronic music. But that sadness pales in comparison to how glad I am that Alice is now out of that situation, making art on her own terms, and dropping alternately eerie and whiplash-inducing Fuck You’s like “Without Love.”

23. Stormzy - “Big For You Boots”

The song that took Stormzy from the guy who was making charming videos with  his mum on a shoestring budget and getting tagged as “grime’s next big thing” to making arresting, big budget video epics and getting dubbed “the biggest thing in grime.” What a leap. And he did it while rapping about how “You’re never too big for Adele.” 

(Oh and if I had made a Top 5 Pronunciations of 2017 list, his pronunciation of “boots” as “boooouuuus” would definitely be #1.)

22. The xx - “I Dare You”

Here’s where Taylor writes a really hacky paragraph by saying you should listen to this song and then ending it with, “I dare you.”

…

Or it’s where he just says that this song may be the perfect xx song, an ideal swirl of a silvery, romantic duet.

21. Drake - “Gyalchester”

There is only one way to improve this song.

20. St. Vincent - “New York”

A few weeks ago, my aunt (who mostly attends Fleetwood Mac and Marshall Tucker Band concerts) and my sisters (who mostly attends Miranda Lambert and Kelsea Ballerini) somehow wound up going to a St. Vincent show together. They liked parts of it, but didn’t like others. (The fact that her “opening act” was the middling horror short she directed for the anthology film XX, for instance, was not well received.) And although they couldn’t remember the names of any of the songs they liked, I’m sure they liked “New York,” because I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to dislike “New York.”

19. Boy Harsher - “Motion”

You know that feeling you get when the blacklights sweep over skin as you’re on slinking your way through a German industrial dance club, on a mission to assassinate a double agent who crossed your secret government organization for the last time? Well, I guess I technically haven’t either. But I’ve listened to Boy Harsher’s song “Motion” so I basically have.

18. Chief Keef - “Can You Be My Friend”

2011 Taylor looks though the Future Sight Machine.

2011 Taylor: Chief Keef and Young Chop made one of the best songs of 2017? Nice! I’ll bet that’s one helluva headpunch of a drill track, right?

2017 Taylor: Actually, it’s a playful, romantic dancehall jam.

2011 Taylor’s monocle pops out.

17. Perfume Genius - “Slip Away”

You know how some songs can go from “I like this. This is good. This a good song,” to, “HOLY SHIT I LOVE THIS OH GOD WHAT YES THIS IS A MOTHERFUCKING SONG MOTHERFUCKERS,” in single pivot point? Well, “Slip Away” has the best pivot point of any song this year. If you’ve heard it you know exactly what I mean; if you haven’t, you will as soon as you do.

16. Amber Coffman - “No Coffee”

Even though I ranked other songs above it on this arbitrary and poorly defined list, I don’t think there’s been a song that’s made me happier this year than “No Coffee.” Though Amber made her name with vocal fireworks, her voice is still every bit the wonder in subtler, smoother settings like this. And when it’s paired with a chorus as utterly inescapable as this one, the result is pure contentment.

15. DJDS feat. Amber Mark and Marco McKinnis - “Trees On Fire”

After their album Stand Up And Speak left me cold, I was worried about DJDS’s transition from working with vocal samples to actually collaborating with singers. But after hearing the Jenga tower of R&B hooks and house shuffles that is “Trees On Fire” (and that Charlie Wilson collab from last year) consider any fears I had to be wholly dispelled.

14. Dirty Projectors - “Little Bubble”

There was no more aptly named song this year than “Little Bubble” a perfect, self-contained miniature nestled in the center of Dirty Projectors’ deeply petty and fitfully brilliant self-titled album. While most of that record revels in deeply specific personal detail, “Little Bubble” touches on something more abstract, the ultimate impermanence of all things, no matter if it’s a shadow, a relationship, or (as the video suggests) man’s place on earth. It’s all just a little bubble, for a while.

13. MUNA - “I Know A Place”

Dancing to pop music at a club is often used in films and television as visual shorthand for carefree joy, the sort of thing that people to celebrate happiness and success. But in the real world, it’s just as often something that people do to escape the troubles and fears that burden them. MUNA’s “I Know A Place” is expressed about that experience, dancing yourself free from whatever inescapably looms in the daylight. The result is uncanny: a joyful pop song that’s also a shoulder to cry on.

12. Lydia Ainsworth - “The Road”

Sometimes when I write these things, I hope that I can come up with some sort of perfect three-or-four-word summation of a song or album. But sometimes I encounter a description so perfect that there’s no need for me to even try. So, mad props to Lydia Ainsworth’s friend who described this song as “a marriage of Enya and The Weeknd.” As soon as I read that, I threw in the towel.

11. Cardi B - “Bodak Yellow”

If this list were based solely on which song I rapped along with the most during my commute, we all know what song would be #1. If this list were based solely on how dramatically a song increases the hype of any party that it’s played at, we all know what song would be #1. If this list were based solely on how likely a song was to come up in any given conversation I had this year, we all know what song would be #1.

…wait…

Did I just completely invalidate this list?

10. The National - “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness”

Six notes. That’s all it took to announce that this was new kind of The National song. Sure, all of their hallmarks were there (Matt Berninger’s rich baritone, swelling strings, their brooding rhythm section) but there were also those six notes, a quick electric guitar riff, like an engine desperately trying to turn over. And when it finally does and Aaron Dessner rips into a massive solo midway through, the mold is shattered forever. “We’re in a different kind of thing now,” indeed.

9. Miya Folick - “Give It To Me”

On this list last year, I said that Mitski’s “Your Best American Girl” was the best soft-loud rock song ever written, so be aware of the import that the next sentence holds: Miya Folick’s “Give It To Me” should be the lead in to “Your Best American Girl” on your next mixtape.

8. Posse - “Horse Blanket”

The title track from Posse’s final album is a glorious contradiction: a slacker rock epic. A towering, laconic achievement for people who hate achievement, with ringing guitars that echo to infinity and dead pan vocals drifting through a duet. Then as the whole thing ambles aimlessly up the mountain, the guitar solo starts. And then the other guitar solo starts. And the whole thing tumbles toward nirvana.

7. Lorde - “Green Light”

A few years ago, I once jokingly handed out The Lorde Memorial Award For Most Infuriating Reaction™, to artists that I thought were fine, but that everyone else needed to just chill out about. While I still stand by that evaluation of the award winners (Are you still hyped about Raury?) I have come here to officially announce that I’ve changed my tune about the award’s namesake. Oh and also to say that “Green Light” is a delightful romp of a song.

PS: Clicking that Raury link will also let you travel back to a time when I had to explain who the Chainsmokers were before I railed at length about how much they sucked. Simpler times.

6. Haim - “Want You Back”

“Want You Back” aka the exact moment that Haim’s blend of 1970s soft rock and 1990s R&B finally (FINALLY) hooked TWG and he finally chilled out and finally got on the same page that like 99.9% of cool humans on the planet have been on for, like, y-e-a-r-s at this point.

5. The War On Drugs - “Strangest Thing”

Adam Granduciel’s m.o. as The War On Drugs has always been to take the classic rock of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty and smear it across the cosmos.

“Strangest Thing” is when the whole thing goes supernova.

4. Migos feat. 2 Chainz - “Deadz”

Man, remember when Migos made fun, disposable, chintzy music that evaporated from your brain the minute it ended? Who would have ever thought that they’d eventually wind up making rap music that’s approximately a billion times more grandiose, baroque, and bombastic than their early recordings? Or that it would somehow also be about a million times more fun than anything they’d ever made before? It’s enough to make everything they made before this year seem like juvenalia.

3. Carly Rae Jepsen - “Cut To The Feeling”

How great is it that we’re just going to spend the next decade getting cast offs from the best pure pop album of the century, and then people are going to ask why they weren’t included on the album, and CRJ’s just gonna keep giving explanations that all kinda sound like “because it was too good…?” See you guys next year when some other terrible French animated movie snags a piece of undiluted pop gold for its soundtrack!

2. Creek Boyz - “With My Team”

A while ago, I had a conversation with a fellow student at my grad school about how his pick for the best movie ever is Forrest Gump. His rationale was that that film makes you feel every emotion at one time or another. Although I remain unpersuaded that Forrest Gump is the greatest film ever made, I do think he has a pretty good definition for great art. And “With My Team” does it one better. It doesn’t just make you feel the entire spectrum of emotions one by one; it gives you every single one at the same time. The joy of friendship. The sting of loss. Anger and resignation and resiliency. But the real secret of the song is this: those emotions hit so hard by the fact that the song is about sharing them. Humans are inherently social creatures and the only way that we can survive is by sharing them with our friends, with our family, with our team.

1.  Charli XCX - “Boys”

Why didn’t a get around to listening to a bunch of major albums?

I was busy thinkin’ ‘bout “Boys.”

Why did I forget to pay my gas bill in December?

I was busy thinkin’ ‘bout “Boys.”

Why isn’t my master’s thesis in better shape?

I was busy thinkin’ ‘bout “Boys.” 

What was I doing at any given point this year?

I was busy thinkin’ ‘bout “Boys.”

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 31st March 2019

Yeah, this is quite a bit frickin’ late but I’ve been busy tonight and you got the Beauty of “Doin’ Your Mom” this week anyway so I hope it’s fine that this is pretty late. Anyway, I don’t care, let’s get to the top 10, and this episode might barely get to the minimum word limit; we’ll see.

Top 10

Lewis Capaldi is at the top spot for what I believe is his fifth week with “Someone You Loved” at number-one.

At number-two we still have “Giant” by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man as the runner-up.

Tom Walker is up a spot to number-three with “Just You and I”, at a new peak.

I’m surprised that Jonas Brothers have been able to survive increased longevity, as their single “Sucker” moves up a single spot from last week to number-four.

Somehow, Ariana Grande’s “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” is still moving up spaces, one this week to number-five.

Dave’s “Location” featuring Burna Boy is up two spots to number-six.

We also have a new arrival in the top 10, with “Fashion Week” by Steel Banglez, AJ Tracey and MoStack. It’s producer Steel Banglez’s second top 40 hit and first ever Top 10 hit as a lead artist, AJ Tracey’s fourth top 40 hit and first ever Top 10 hit, as well as MoStack’s fourth top 40 hit and first ever Top 10 hit. Congratulations, guys, but we’ll talk about the song itself later.

LAUV’s “i’m so tired...” with Troye Sivan is up a space to number-eight.

At number nine, we have “Walk Me Home” by P!nk up three spaces to number-nine thanks to the video.

Finally, NSG’s “Options” featuring Tion Wayne is up a single spot to #10.

Climbers

We have three notable climbers this week, all of which are top 20 entries, with “Boasty” by Wiley featuring Idris Elba, Sean Paul and Stefflon Don moving up 11 spaces to #11 and “Here with Me” by Marshmello and CHVRCHES making its way up nine positions to #14. We also have Ava Max with “So Am I”, up 12 spaces from last week’s debut to #18.

Fallers

We have seven fallers and they can be set into three pretty distinct categories. First, we have the songs from Dave’s PSYCHODRAMA gradually making their way out, with “Disaster” featuring J Hus down five positions to #15 and “Streatham” falling eight positions to #22. Then, we have the songs affected by UK chart rules and the streaming cuts that songs with legs typically experience, with “Don’t Call Me Up” by Mabel collapsing down 13 spaces to #16 just as it makes its breakthrough in the US and “7 rings” by Ariana Grande thankfully being completely demolished as it moves down a whopping 22 spaces to #29. Finally, we have the expected yet somewhat premature songs clearing the way for a soon exit, like “Please Me” by Cardi B and Bruno Mars down eight to #25, “Nights Like This” by Kehlani featuring Ty Dolla $ign down five to #33 and “How it Is” by Roddy Ricch, Chip and Yxng Bane featuring the Plug down six to #40 (The faster the better).

Dropouts

We just have four of these this week, with “Juice” by Lizzo sadly making its exit from #38 off the debut, “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” by Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus finally leaving from #36, and two songs that never really took off, “Bally” by Swarmz and Tion Wayne from #40 and “wish you were gay” by Billie Eilish from #39, although the latter will probably rebound thanks to the album impacting next week. There are no returning entries so let’s get straight to the new arrivals—

FEATURED SINGLE

“Free Uzi” – Lil Uzi Vert

Produced by DJ L Beats

It’s weird to put Lil Uzi Vert in this section in particular, but I don’t think this song will ever chart considering Lil Uzi Vert’s main audience is probably using Spotify, and this track is only available through a YouTube video, SoundCloud and I think TIDAL because of course, why not? Anyways, Lil Uzi Vert signed a contract when he was young and offered money by DJ Drama, Don Cannon and their label Generation Now, a subsidiary of Atlantic. To cut it short, and to disregard all the drama (No pun intended) like the leaks, Uzi saying he’s going to retire music and “Wake up back in 2013”, him being cut off of NAV’s album due to label shenanigans, Lil Uzi Vert cannot release music when he wants to and has been revealing this info via depressing Instagram Live streams and to see him so defeated is kind of painful, so when I saw that Uzi released a song called “Free Uzi” I figured it wouldn’t be introspective and would be more of an anthem for young aspiring artists who are being shelved by their label... I now understand that 1.) That’s an incredibly niche market, and 2.) No, the song’s about having sex and shooting people. Using a beat ripped from a G Herbo track from 2012 to express his anger towards the label in the oddest way, using a pitched-up version of his voice (To the point where he kind of sounds like Playboi Carti). This song screams raw Uzi, and is a middle finger to his label by being relatively inaccessible in comparison with what the label would want Uzi to make for a comeback single. It’s got an entirely uncleared sample, an almost complete lack of ad-libs which are otherwise incredibly prominent in Uzi’s discography, a monotonous flow that instead of droning as it’s used for the entire song, becomes a mantra, the lo-fi video by some unknown director which is just Uzi smoking and performing really wacky, cute dances with his friends (And NAV) in a corner store, the very abrupt ending and some of Lil Uzi Vert’s more explicit sexual and violent lyrics, including an outrageous line about Colin Kaepernick – search it up, it’s pretty hilarious. It’s such a vengeance song against his label, and I never expect Uzi to be this furiously stubborn and willing to jankily put together a half-unfinished song just for the sake of making DJ Drama even more panicked. It’s an absolute joy to watch and listen to, and I hope it makes it onto Eternal Atake if that ever comes out. Oh, and:

I still watch Big Bang Theory, that’s the nerd in me

Yeah, no, that line’s inexcusable.

NEW ARRIVALS

#38 – “Pretty Shining People” – George Ezra

Produced by Cam Blackwood – Peaked at #12 in Scotland

So this is the fifth single from George Ezra’s second album Staying at Tamara’s because he can’t stop milking his most mediocre effort yet, and also Ezra’s sixth Top 40 hit overall. The record has been winning awards left and right so I don’t blame him for pushing this single – although it was already pushed a year back with a music video as a promotional single – and at least this song is generally pretty inoffensive, although Ezra’s voice sounds odder here than ever, and has a country twang to it that matches the production but does not fit in the slightest, although immediately it is not nearly as noticeable after just the first verse. Overall, this is actually just kind of a pathetic, plastic folk-pop song with some nice guitar licks in there, sure, and an electric guitar riff that is way too distant in the mix, with the hook being an overwhelming pile of absolute cheese that I haven’t heard since R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People”. I do appreciate how it is mostly live instrumentation, and I do love the steady drum beat here, but otherwise I wasn’t impressed the first time and it’s worse now that I know his hit song formula and that this “New” track follows it to an absolute T. It’s not awful, but I’d skip it. Next.

#32 – “Piece of Your Heart” – MEDUZA and Goodboys

Produced by MEDUZA

So, I feel this one needs some backstory. MEDUZA is an up-and-coming DJ collective or EDM producer band from what I can gather, and by up-and-coming I mean they literally have two songs available on their Spotify page, and one of them is a remix, so yes, this is technically the debut single from the Italian dance music band, and Goodboys? Well, it’s their debut single too, I’m pretty sure, as they have nothing except a picture up on their Spotify page. Looking at Genius, I now know that they are a London-based pop trio consisting of three producers and I’m assuming vocalists. Hm, two artists, both with no single released yet, collaborate for their debut single, so the only idea I have to base my expectations off is “EDM”, and yes, I suppose it is, and I actually quite like it, to be completely honest, more of a guilty pleasure – if you think those exist, of course. In reality, this is generic deep house that isn’t really much of a novelty or anything special, at least on the surface. The vocalists from Goodboys have very distinct British accents that make their repetitious hook sound hilarious, and I like the glitchy synths harmonising with the synths before the “Drop”, which, by the way, is one of the dudes from Goodboys vocalising the drop as if he was on that Radio 1 show where DJs have to guess their own drop, and it’s pretty cute if anything. Not only does it replicate the drop, which is nice in itself, but it really gives it a homegrown feel because it sounds like someone trying to sing along to it at home. Oh, and the melodies in the post-chorus are pretty gorgeous, and I love how the drop kicks in the second time with the stray snare before everything. Is it generic? Yes. Is it janky? Yes. Do I still like it? Hell yes. If you like this Loud Luxury brand of house-pop, this might just be for you.

#19 – “Keisha & Becky” – Russ and Tion Wayne

Produced by Gotcha Bxtch

So, when I say Russ, I mean Russ splash, a UK rapper known for his top 10 hit “Gun Lean”, which he lazily interpolates in his second Top 40 hit (and Tion Wayne’s third). I don’t mean the American rapper who everyone hates, and I made this distinction last time. Whilst it’s annoying, it’s separated on both Spotify and Genius as Russ splash so it’s not like it’s going to be confusing to a casual listener. Anyway, this is a song by two UK grime rappers known for faux-dancehall and trap bangers in which they talk about killing people, so how can they pull off trying to make some sort of love song? Well, they don’t. I don’t think I’ve heard a less sexy “Very sexy” in my life. In fact, there’s not really a synth melody to carry this song, just an ambient stock sound in the background with just heavy bass and trap percussion to give it much of a beat and honestly the stark minimalism really works. If you ignore the hook’s existence, Tion Wayne sounds as enthusiastic as ever and I’m starting to really love this dude’s charisma. He has an insane ad-lib that is just a really long screech on here as well, which I think is an explanation in itself to why I like this dude. The first half of the hook is exciting until, well, “Very sexy” (It isn’t), and when Wayne and Russ start trading bars it gets pretty fun, in fact Russ sounds pretty great on the song. His rapid flow and nasal delivery is a perfect fit, but honestly I can’t get over how it’s decidedly unsexy for a song about how Keisha and Becky are “Very sexy”, and makes no effort to be because it’s just a trap song about gang violence and attractive women like they all are, but there’s not really much storytelling to explain who Keisha and Becky are or anything, it’s just that one line that irritates the hell out of me, “Keisha, Becky, very sexy”. Like the rest of the song, it’s so bare minimum that it nearly works, but it still misses the mark for me. Sorry, Wayne, I’m excited to hear your next song, but Russ? He can go away, he’s kind of worthless, but I see some improvement.

#7 – “Fashion Week” – Steel Banglez, AJ Tracey, MoStack

Produced by Steel Banglez and TheElements

What Steel Banglez does is make these who’s-who collaborations between British rappers almost like he’s DJ Khaled, although in this case you can tell Steel Banglez actually co-produced the beat because he does have a signature style, which is trap with a sprinkling of dancehall... so, yeah, he’s a producer who just makes generic beats that everyone else makes, right? Why is he so big? Well, he’s kind of a pioneer, because he was one of the first to combine UK rap, dancehall and pop hooks as well as keeping that ruthlessness and bloodthirsty attitude of British trap, to great success. So, is he any good? Usually, no, he kind of sucks and his style does nothing for me. This one definitely has a Caribbean rhythm that I like but there’s not enough bass to make the beat really hit, and MoStack is an absolutely pathetic rapper who gives one of the worst performances I think I’ve ever heard in UK rap as he mumbles in his offbeat falsetto without a care, with the mix barely even caring enough to keep his vocals audible. Compare it to AJ Tracey, with a strong delivery, odd and urine-related yet actually witty wordplay, multisyllabic rhymes, and he’s on the same song and does the hook. If MoStack wasn’t on this and the beat had some more bass than it does, maybe this could have been serviceable, but especially with the awkward instrumental section, despite me personally liking the strings and AJ Tracey’s verse, I can’t like this as much as I want to.

Conclusion

Wow, not a great week, huh? Well, MEDUZA and Goodboys take away Best of the Week for “Piece of Your Heart”, even though I wouldn’t say it’s exactly great or even all that good. Worst of the Week obviously goes to Steel Banglez, AJ Tracey and MoStack for “Fashion Week”, but nothing else is even notable enough for Honourable or Dishonourable Mention. See ya next week, and free Uzi.