yesmoremaciej

[yesmoremaciej]

The Top 60 Songs of 2019

#1 might have technically come out in 2018, c’est la vie

60. Antony & Cleopatra - “Why Don’t You Just Call Me” 59. FKA twigs - “Cellophane” 58. GoldLink ft. Maleek Berry & Bibi Bourelly - “Zulu Screams” 57. Polo G ft. Lil Tjay - “Pop Out” 56. MUNA - “Number One Fan” 55. Luke Combs - “Beer Never Broke My Heart” 54. Dua Lipa - “Don’t Start Now” 53. Kitten - “Memphis” 52. De Grandi - “Paris Nord-Est” 51. Jenny Hval - “Ashes to Ashes” 50. Taylor Swift - “Cruel Summer” 49. Dawn Richard - “dreams and converse” 48. Aya Nakamura - “Pookie” 47. TRESOR & Msaki - “Sondela” 46. Sky Ferreira - “Downhill Lullaby” 45. Carly Rae Jepsen - “The Sound” 44. Bomba Estereo & Systema Solar - “Carnavalera” 43. SUNMI - “Noir” 42. Jessie Ware - “Adore You” 41. Rinne Yoshida - “MU” 40. Paloma Mami - “Fingias” 39. Rico Nasty - “Time Flies” 38. Tree & Vic Spencer - “Nothing is Something” 37. KH - “Only Human” 36. Ashley McBryde - “One Night Standards” 35. Jayda G - “Stanley’s Get Down (No Parking on the DF)” 34. Solange - “Almeda” 33. Wiley, Stefflon Don, & Sean Paul ft. Idris Elba - “Boasty” 32. Roisin Murphy - “Incapable” 31. Sean Paul & J Balvin - “Contra La Pared” 30. Aimee-Leigh & Baby Billy - “Misbehavin’ (1989)” 29. The Mountain Goats - “Waylon Jennings Live!” 28. DJ Lag & Okzharp - “Nyusa” 27. Max Kream - “Meet Again” 26. Normani - “Motivation” 25. Poppy - “Concrete” 24. Jamila Woods - “ZORA” 23. Von Spar ft. Laetitia Sadier - “Extend the Song” 22. Genius of Time - “Peace Bird” 21. Jahvillani & Konshens - “Every Gyal Vybe” 20. Rosalía - “Aute Cuture” 19. Trina & Nicki Minaj - “BAPS” 18. The Highwomen - “If She Ever Leaves Me” 17. Sech & Darell - “Otro Trago” 16. 100 gecs - “Money Machine” 15. Ariana Grande - “fake smile” 14. Beyoncé - “Before I Let Go” 13. Georgia - “About Work the Dancefloor (The Black Madonna Remix)” 12. Megan Thee Stallion ft. DaBaby - “Cash Shit” 11. Busy Signal - “Balloon” 10. Hatchie - “Stay With Me” 09. Kindness ft. Robyn - “Cry Everything” 08. DaBaby - “INTRO” 07. HAIM - “Summer Girl” 06. Zed Kenzo - “Type” 05. Octo Octa - “I Need You” 04. Lil Nas X - “Old Town Road” 03. Denzel Curry - “RICKY” 02. Charli XCX ft. Christine and the Queens - “Gone” 01. Koffee - “Toast”

Spotify playlist here

[yesmoremaciej]

even more recent writing

all 4 trade:

- some Mexico City coffee recs - what exactly makes a coffee strong or weak - a guide to coffee grind size - a brief history and explanation of Hot Bloom Cold Brew - a cold brew cocktail recipe: the Jackie Collins - what are coffee varieties? - summer travel coffee packing lists - figuring out how to brew Turkish Coffee at home - North Side Chicago coffee favs - how to brew cowboy coffee

[yesmoremaciej]

more recent writing

All for Trade: - What Does Coffee Processing Actually Mean For Your Coffee? - Coffee City: Warsaw - Ethiopian Coffee Has a Long History and Exciting Future

[yesmoremaciej]

some things I’ve written in the last few months

All for Trade:

- What is Coffee? - In Defense of Decaf Coffee - Is Cold Brew Giving You the Jitters? - Burundi Coffee is On the Rise - For Good Reason - The Truth About Seasonality - A Case For Peruvian Coffee

[yesmoremaciej]

The 113 or 114 Movies I’ve Seen From 2018, Strictly Tiered and Loosely Ranked

CHEESE (the most pizza-perfect moisture, salt, and fat content cheese in the world) - Roma - Beychella (lol?)

RONI CUPS - If Beale Street Could Talk - The Rider - Veronica - Shoplifters - Paddington 2 - Eighth Grade - Madeline's Madeline - Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse - Sorry to Bother You   - Cold War 

REGULAR FLAT PEPPERONI - The Favourite - Black Panther - Widows - Shirkers - Upgrade - Mandy - Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Revenge - Free Solo - Hale County, This Morning, This Evening - Aquaman - Cam - Support the Girls - the Death of Stalin - Annihilation   - Unsane - Monsters and Men - Burning - Leave No Trace - Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts - Hereditary 

SAUSAGE - Mission Impossible: Fallout - Minding the Gap - Blockers - Zama   - Unfriended: Dark Web - Blindspotting - The Tale - First Reformed - Errementari - Border - You Were Never Really Here - To All the Boys I've Loved Before   - Private Life - BlackkKlansman - Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again - Have a Nice Day - Apostle - Capernaum - Ralph Wrecks the Internet - Mirai - The Other Side of the Wind - Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? - Of Fathers and Sons 

MUSHROOMS (cooked well enough to get a sufficient amount of water out so they’re not just mushy) - Suspiria - The Night Comes For Us - Crazy Rich Asians - New Year, New You - Destroyer - A Star is Born - The Third Murder - Avengers: Infinity War - Halloween - Isle of Dogs - Lean on Pete - A Wrinkle in Time - Pooka - Hotel Artemis

RICOTTA - The Wife - Solo: A Star Wars Story - The World is Yours - Won't You Be My Neighbor - Ocean's Eight - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - The Wildling - Mom and Dad - Incredibles 2 

ONIONS - The Endless - A Quiet Place - Mary, Queen of Scots - A Simple Favor   - Christopher Robin - Mary Poppins Returns - RBG - Araby - Skyscraper - First Man - Game Night

PINEAPPLE - Outlaw King - Calibre - The Party - Nancy - Tully - Venom - Never Look Away - The Seagull - Creed 2 - The Ritual - Hide the Dark - Searching - How to Talk to Girls at Parties  

GREEN BELL PEPPERS (like just that on its own as a topping) - Bad Times at the El Royale - On Body and Soul - At Eternity's Gate - Three Identical Strangers - Flower - Ready Player One - Vice - The Commuter  

LITERAL DOGSHIT - Green Book - Gotti - Bohemian Rhapsody

[yesmoremaciej]

The 60 Best Songs of 2018

60. TAEYEON - “Something New” 59. Riton, Kah-Lo - “Bad Boy” 58. Julia Holter - “I Shall Love 2” 57. Ambush Buzzworl - “Jumpy - Remix (ft. Skepta & Chip)” 56. Finn - “Dance Music Has Betrayed Us All” 55. Bich Phuong - “Bùa Yêu” 54. Lil Wayne - “Mona Lisa (ft. Kendrick Lamar)” 53. Jean Deaux - “Due to Me” 52. Perfume - “Let Me Know” 51. Chance the Rapper - “Wala Cam (ft. Supa Bwe)” 50. Machel Montano & Super Blue - “Soca Kingdom” 49. Rod Wave - “Valid” 48. George Clanton - “Make it Forever” 47. DJ Koze - “Illumination (ft. Roisin Murphy)” 46. The Go! Team - “If There’s One Thing You Should Know” 45. Ella Mae - “Boo’d Up” 44. Disclosure - “Ultimatum (ft. Fatoumata Diawara)” 43. Cuco - “Amor de Siempre (Mariachi Version)” 42. Polycat - “I Want You” 41. Mr Black El Presidente - “El Matrimonio” 40. Patoranking - “Suh Different” 39. Cam O’bi - “Tenderheaded (ft. Smino)” 38. Jean Grae & Quelle Chris - “Gold Purple Orange” 37. Rae Sremmurd - “Powerglide (ft. Juicy J)” 36. Krystal Klear - “Neutron Dance” 35. 03 Greedo - “In My Feelings” 34. YG - “Big Bank (ft. 2 Chainz, Big Sean, & Nicki Minaj)” 33. cupcakKe - “Duck Duck Goose” 32. Robyn - “Missing U” 31. Tracy Thorn - “Queen” 30. Amara La Negra - “What a Bam Bam” 29. Hayley Kiyoko - “Curious” 28. Simmy - “Umahlalela” 27. Noname - “Self” 26. Banx & Ranx and Ella Eyre - “Answerphone (ft. Yxng Bane)” 25. Boygenius - “Bite the Hand” 24. Sugarboy - “Chop (ft. Ycee)” 23. The Carters - “APESHIT” 22. Nicky Jam - “X (ft. J Balvin)” 21. Amber Mark - “Love Me Right” 20. Hatchie - “Try” 19. Kali Uchis - “After the Storm (ft. Bootsy Collins & Tyler the Creator)” 18. Charli XCX - “Focus (Yaeji Remix)” 17. Kitten - “I Did It” 16. Kelela - “LMK (What’s Really Good Remix ft. Princess Nokia, Junglepussy, cupcakKe, & Ms. Boogie)” 15. Daphne & Celeste - “BB” 14. Jamila Woods - “Giovanni” 13. Kacey Musgraves - “Slow Burn” 12. Empress Of - “When I’m With Him” 11. Scheck Wes - “Mo Bamba” 10. Carly Rae Jepsen - “Party for One” 09. SoLo the Dweeb - “Vultures” 08. Skooly - “Habit (ft. 2 Chainz)” 07. Drake - “Nice For What” 06. Zacari - “Redemption (with Babes Wodumo)” 05. Cardi B - “I Like It (ft. Bad Bunny & J Balvin)” 04. Janelle Monáe - “Make Me Feel” 03. Ozuna - “La Modelo (ft. Cardi B)” 02. Mitski - “Nobody” 01. Ariana Grande - “thank u, next”

2018 Real Shit Spotify playlist

[yesmoremaciej]

The 83 2017 NYC Film Releases I’ve Seen, Roughly Ranked and Very Strictly Tiered

GRAPEFRUIT JARRITOS Get Out I Am Not Your Negro Your Name Lady Bird BPM

CHERRY COKE (w/ popcorn) The Villainess Raw Personal Shopper Okja Star Wars: the Last Jedi Phantom Thread Princess Cyd Lady Macbeth Colossal Mudbound The Work The Lure Strong Island

SCHWEPPES GINGER ALE mother! Girls Trip Faces Places Ingrid Goes West The Florida Project War For the Planet of the Apes A Fantastic Woman The Shape of Water Good Time Blade of the Immortal Graduation Last Men in Aleppo

DR. PEPPER Kékszakállú Logan Call Me By Your Name Thor: Ragnarok Coco A Quiet Passion The Killing of a Sacred Deer The Red Turtle Spider Man: Homecoming The Square Logan Lucky Nocturama Loveless The B-Side Creep 2 Dunkirk

ORANGE CRUSH The Beguiled The Blackcoat’s Daughter Atomic Blonde A Ghost Story Blade Runner 2049 The Post Split Wonder Woman Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press The Big Sick Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets It Roman J Israel, Esq Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 Cult of Chucky Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

SIERRA MIST Wonderstruck I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore It Comes at Night Free Fire I, Tonya The Disaster Artist Beatriz at Dinner XX The Unknown Girl

WHATEVER THE BLUE MOUNTAIN DEW IS CALLED Happy Death Day Brawl on Cell Block 99 Alien: Covenant Icarus The Lost City of Z Baby Driver Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri My Cousin Rachel The Bad Batch

COLA-FLAVORED LACROIX The Darkest Hour Molly’s Game Murder on the Orient Express

[yesmoremaciej]

The 75 Best Songs of 2017

75. Fay-Ann Lyons - “Raise Your Glass” 74. Gabrielle - “Nye Joggesko” 73. Catcall - “One Time” 72. Jens Lekman - “What’s That Perfume That You Wear?” 71. Lorde - “Green Light” 70. SEOHYUN - Don’t Say No” 69. Waxahatchee - “Silver” 68. Becky G - “Mayores (ft. Bad Bunny)” 67. Charli XCX - “Boys” 66. SahBabii - “Pull Up Wit Ah Stick (ft. Loso Loaded)” 65. The Courtneys - “Tour” 64. Meek Mill - “We Ball (ft. Young Thug)” 63. Fatima Yamaha - “Araya” 62. Mhysa - “Strobe” 61. Miley Cyrus - “Malibu” 60. OMB Peezy - “When I Was Down” 59. Davido - “If” 58. Lil Durk & Lil Reese - “Distance” 57. Sheer Mag - “Need to Feel Your Love” 56. Warm Brew - “Small Victories” 55. French Montana - “Unforgettable (ft. Swae Lee)” 54. Mozzy & Gunplay - “That Eazy” 53. Carly Pearce - “Hide the Wine” 52. Donae’o, JME, and Dizzee Rascal - “Black” 51. J Hus - “Did You See” 50. The Mountain Goats - “We Do It Different on the West Coast” 49. Ravyn Lenae - “Sticky” 48. Dawn Richard - “Baptize” 47. Jorja Smith & Preditah - “On My Mind” 46. Migos - “T-Shirt” 45. IU - “Jam Jam” 44. Fever Ray - “To the Moon and Back” 43. Shy Glizzy - “Errywhere” 42. Betty Who - “You Can Cry Tomorrow” 41. Michael Mayer & Joe Goddard - “For You (DJ Koze Mbira Remix)” 40. Calvin Harris - “Slide (ft. Frank Ocean & Migos)” 39. Shakira - “Me Enamoré” 38. Yaeji - “Drink I’m Sippin On” 37. Bully - “Kills to Be Resistant” 36. Camille - “Fontaine de lait” 35. Tune-Yards - “Look at Your Hands” 34. Kehlani - “Undercover” 33. Playboi Carti “wokeuplikethis (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)” 32. Smino - “Glass Flows (ft. Raven Lenae)” 31. Kamari Washington - “Truth” 30. Haim - “Want You Back” 29. X0809 - “Ho” 28. Selena Gomez - “Bad Liar” 27. Lil Uzi Vert - “XO TOUR Llif3” 26. Red Velvet - “Peek-A-Boo” 25. Princess Nokia - “Brujas” 24. Pardison Fontaine - “Food Stamps” 23. Serge Beynaud - “Akrakabo” 22. Aly & AJ - “Take Me” 21. Kah-Lo - “Fasta” 20. Seyi Shay - “Yolo Yolo” 19. Luis Fonsi - “Despacito (ft. Daddy Yankee)” 18. 2 Chainz - “Good Drank 2.0 (ft. Gucci Mane, Quavo, & the Trap Orchestra)” 17. The Black Madonna - “He is the Voice I Hear” 16. Syd - “Body” 15. Quelle Chris - “Buddies” 14. GoldLink - “Crew (ft. Brent Faiyaz & Shy Glizzy)” 13. Ibibio Sound Machine - “Give Me a Reason” 12. Icona Pop - “Girls Girls” 11. Danny Ocean - “Me Rehuso” 10. Jennifer Lopez - “Ni Tú Ni Yo (ft. Gente de Zona)” 09. Rico Nasty - “Block List” 08. Paramore - “Hard Times” 07. Charly Bliss - “Percolator” 06. Future - “Draco” 05. J Balvin & Willy William - “Mi Gente (ft. Beyoncé)” 04. Kendrick Lamar - “FEEL” 03. Sun-El Musician - “Akanamali (ft. Samthing Soweto)” 02. Kelela - “LMK” 01. Cardi B - “Bodak Yellow”

2017 Real Shit Spotify Playlist

[yesmoremaciej]

Some matches from:

4/16/17; AJPW, Champions Carnival - Day 1; Korauken Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Kento Miyahara vs. Jake Lee

Tournaments are a fun way to catch up with the roster of an organization you haven’t been following too closely, so I decided to watch some Champions Carnival today, and I had a lot of fun with Jake Lee here. Miyahara I more or less know what I’m getting into with; he’s quite good, but I wish he was a little more creative in getting into the knees and suplexes that you know you’re getting in every finishing stretch of his. But it was fun getting to see a big time singles match out of Lee. He seems to have a real nice skill of stumbling into high impact moves, and selling on offense is a thing I love. He gets thrown into the guard rail early on and just stumbles back while hitting a big shoulder block (ok he miiiiight have just tripped there) and then, later, he hits some big knees that look like it’s taking him every last ounce of energy to propel his body forward. I can’t wait to see more from him.

Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Joe Doering

Gosh, Joe Doering is a large man. This is a nice little spring, as Sekimoto gets an early advantage and decides he’s going to go for all his strength spots, which look super impressive. After a while, Doering regains the advantage, and it makes sense that after expending all his energy trying to lift a monster Sekimoto then goes down quickly.

Suwama vs. Shuji Ishikawa

Perfect execution can be beautiful, but unless that perfection is actively impressive I’ll take wrestlers struggling for things every day of the week. Suwama just barely lifting Shuji up for a Last Ride powerbomb towards the end of this is good struggle.

[yesmoremaciej]

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Negro Navarro; 4/28/17, Lucha Memes/MDA, Chairo 10; Arena Naucalpan, Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico

I got back into watching a significant amount of independent wrestling not super long before the WWE Cruiserweight Classic last year and didn’t like him very much there, but I think I like him quite a bit now just as lotsa corners of the internet I really enjoy seem to be souring. And I think he’s best against either other good grapplers or people who work completely different styles that he can play off of (ie giants). Anyways, Sabre vs someone who is even better than him at weird grappling and has completely different ways of escaping and putting him in even funkier and more painful looking holds was a joy (as was Navarro vs. a different kind of mat wrestler). Navarro is 59 and maybe not lightning fast, but he sets things up and reacts to Sabre’s moves with such intelligence and strength it doesn’t matter. Zack’s slight but increasing petulance throughout was also a great character touch. This made me quite happy.

[yesmoremaciej]

The 51 2016 US Theatrical Releases I've Seen, Tiered and Roughly Ranked

MASTERPIECES - Moonlight - Toni Erdmann - 20th Century Women

GODDAMN, YES, MOVIES ALL THE TIME - Cameraperson - Cemetery of Splendor - Green Room - The Lobster - The Wailing - Arrival - Under the Shadow - Fire at Sea - Zootopia - Love and Friendship - Things to Come - Always Shine - Sing Street - Ixcanul - The Handmaiden - Elle - The Fits - 13th - 10 Cloverfield Lane

MOVIES ARE GOOD, I LIKE MOVIES A LOT - Edge of Seventeen - Manchester by the Sea - Jackie - Hidden Figures - Captain Fantastic - Hail, Caesar! - Fences - Ghostbusters - Rogue One - The Conjuring 2 - The Shallows - Tickled - Kubo and the Two Strings - The Invitation - Weiner - The New Guys - Finding Dory - Midnight Special - Krisha   - Lion

SOMETIMES, SADLY, MOVIES ARE BAD - Life, Animated - La La Land - Hell or High Water - X-Men: Apocalypse - The Witch - Carnage Park - Evolution

FUCK MOVIES - Hacksaw Ridge - Nocturnal Animals

[yesmoremaciej]

The Scientifically Determined Best Songs of the Year 2016

Every year is a good year for pop music.

60. Jacques Greene - “You Can’t Deny” 59. Little Big Town - “Better Man” 58. Lizzo - “Good as Hell” 57. Esperanza Spalding - “Earth to Heaven” 56. Mikey Dollaz - “Forever Be Dat Guy (ft. King Louie)” 55. J Hus - “Friendly” 54. BLACKPINK - “Whistle” 53. Ariana Grande - “Into You” 52. Enrique Iglesias - “Duele El Corazon (ft. Wisin)” 51. Shy Glizzy - “You Know What” 50. Jenny Hval - “Female Vampire” 49. Gucci Mane - “Bling Blaww Burr (ft. Young Dolph)” 48. Playa Gótica - “Fuego” 47. Lapsley - “Operator (DJ Koze Extended Disco Version)” 46. Fat Joe and Remy Ma - “All the Way Up (ft. French Montana)” 45. Tobi Lou - “Hopefully” 44. Tiwa Savage - “If I Start to Talk (ft. Dr. Sid)” 43. Dreezy - “Body (ft. Jeremih)” 42. Floorplan - “Tell You No Lie” 41. King - “The Greatest” 40. Konono Nº1 - “Kinsumba” 39. Young Thug and Travis Scott - “Pick Up the Phone (ft. Quavo)” 38. Kink - “Chorus” 37. John Pardi - “Head Over Boots” 36. A Pass - “Memories (ft. Lilian Mbabazi)” 35. YG - “FDT (ft. Nipsey Hussle)” 34. Raelynn - “Love Triangle” 33. Nidia Minaj - “Olha Agora” 32. Maren Morris - “Rich” 31. All Saints - “One Strike” 30. Audri Nix - “Más” 29. Maxwell - “Lake By the Ocean” 28. Sheer Mag - “Can’t Stop Fighting” 27. 2 Chainz - “Felt Like Cappin” 26. Tegan and Sara - “100x” 25. Reniss - “La Sauce” 24. Nadia Rose - “Skwod” 23. Mitski - “I Bet on Losing Dogs” 22. Alex Andwater - “Siempre es Viernes en Mi Corazon” 21. Skepta - “Man” 20. Pet Shop Boys - “The Pop Kids” 19. Kamaiyah - “How Does It Feel” 18. Classixx - “Whatever I Want (ft. T-Pain) (Young John Da Wicked Producer Remix)” 17. Abdu Ali and Mighty Mark - “Did Dat” 16. Timaya - “Bang Bang” 15. Jamilia Woods - “Blk Girl Soldier” 14. Royksopp - “Never Ever (ft. Susanne Sundfør)” 13. Miranda Lambert - “Vice” 12. Chance the Rapper - “No Problem (ft. 2 Chainz and Lil’ Wayne)” 11. Young Ma - “OOOUUU” 10. D.R.A.M. - “Broccoli (ft. Lil’ Yachty)” 9. 5 Star Akil - “Different Me” 8. Sugarboy - “Hola Hola” 7. Vybz Kartel - “One Phone Call” 6. Rae Sremmurd - “Black Beatles (ft. Gucci Mane)” 5. French Montana - “Lockjaw (ft. Kodak Black)” 4. Solange - “Cranes in the Sky” 3. Rihanna - “Work (ft. Drake)” 2. Kanye West - “Ultralight Beam (ft. The-Dream, Kelly Price, Chance the Rapper, and Kirk Franklin)” 1. Beyonce - “Formation”

Spotify link with these and more.

[yesmoremaciej]

Current 25 Favorite Beyoncé songs as of her 35th birthday

1. Get Me Bodied - Extended Version 2. ***Flawless 3. Formation 4. Crazy in Love 5. Upgrade U 6. Freakum Dress 7. 1+1 8. Ring the Alarm 9. Jealous 10. Love Drought 11. Grown Woman 12. Resentment 13. Countdown 14. Irreplaceable 15. Sorry 16. Schoolin Life 17. Blow 18. Love on Top 19. Sweet Dreams 20. Partition 21. 7/11 22. Single Ladies 23. End of Time 24. Why Don’t You Love Me 25. Rocket

[yesmoremaciej]

“Sorry” and the 59 other best songs of 2015

The night I first saw the “Sorry” video I watched it something like six times. I looked up the dance crew, I started evangelizing to friends (lots of “trust me, you have to see it, he’s not even in the video”), I kept finding new things to love in it. I wondered at some point if I would be able to enjoy the song without the video, but a good long while passed before I even tried.

By the time I heard it without the video, one of my best friends had texted me and started a thread in which we decided which of our friends were which dancers in the video. Another one of my best friends got so obsessed with it that she insisted we watch it on her phone while drunkenly walking down the street one night. And “Sorry” had turned from my favorite thing in the world into a favorite thing I shared with my friends. That’s always special and, for various reasons, more rare these days than it was, say, in college.

By the time I heard “Sorry” without watching the video there was no question it was far and away the #1 song of my 2015. I’ve listened to it like a billion times and the lyrics are goony and silly and I couldn’t care less. Happy end of the year.

Here’s a Spotify playlist with this stuff and more 2015 real shit. Here’s a YouTube playlist of everything on that Spotify that has a music video.

1. Justin Bieber - “Sorry” 2. Carly Rae Jepsen - “When I Needed You” 3. Speedy Ortiz - “Raising the Skate” 4. Young Thug - “Pacifier” 5. Vince Staples - “Norf Norf” 6. Chance the Rapper - “Angels (ft. Saba)” 7. Lim Kim - “Awoo” 8. Kendrick Lamar - “Alright” 9. Eleanor Friedberger - “He Didn’t Mention His Mother” 10. Sheer Mag - “Fan the Flames” 11. Rihanna - “Bitch Better Have My Money” 12. Charli XCX - “Doing It (ft. Rita Ora)” 13. Maya Vik - “YMD (Young Michael Douglas)” 14. Sleater-Kinney - “A New Wave” 15. Future - “Fuck Up Some Commas” 16. Bjarki - “I Wanna Go Bang” 17. Bully - “Trying” 18. Kehlani - “Alive (ft. Coucheron)” 19. Silvana Imam - “Zon” 20. Susanne Sundfør - “Accelerate” 21. The Mountain Goats - “Heel Turn 2” 22. Skepta - “Shut Down” 23. Miguel - “Coffee” 24. Madi Diaz - “Control” 25. Demi Lovato - “Cool For the Summer” 26. Tekno - “Duro” 27. Janet Jackson - “No Sleep” 28. Daphne & Celeste - “You and I Alone” 29. Busy Signal - “What If” 30. Lo-Fi-Fnk - “U Don’t Feel the Same” 31. Iyanya - “Gift (ft. Don Jazzy)” 32. Rich Homie Quan - “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)” 33. Honey Cocaine - “Sundae” 34. Jonghyun - “Neon” 35. Waxahatchee - “<“ 36. Tori Kelly - “Nobody Love” 37. Bad Rabbits - “Way With Words” 38. Martin Solveig & GTA - “Intoxicated (Radio Edit)” 39. Koreless - “TT” 40. Screaming Females - “Triumph” 41. Waconzy - “Ekpoh” 42. Bjork - “Stonemilker” 43. Nieah - “Tell Me Why” 44. Kink - “Pocket Piano” 45. Fetty Wap - “670 (ft. Remy Boyz)” 46. Grace Mitchell - “Jitter” 47. Chris Janson - “Buy Me a Boat” 48. Jack J - “Thirstin’” 49. Alessia Cara - “Here” 50. Jenny Hval - “Why This?” 51. Dilly Dally - “Desire” 52. Iris - “I’ll Wait For You” 53. Joanna Newsom - “Leaving the City” 54. Maddie & Tae - “Shut Up and Fish” 55. Courtney Barnett - “Pedestrian at Best” 56. Boogie - “Oh My” 57. Ashley Monroe - “On to Something Good” 58. Meek Mill - “Monster” 59. IU - “Twenty-three” 60. Snootie Wild - “Fashion”

[yesmoremaciej]

25 Releases I Really Enjoyed This Year

I don’t really listen to albums like I used to (I think I’ve been saying this for a few years now). Still, lists are fun (for me to distract myself with, not necessarily for you to read, obvi). Here are 25 things I liked a bunch from 2015 roughly ordered within tiers:

Carly Rae Jepsen - E•MO•TION

Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer

Vince Staples - Summertime ’06 Sheer Mag - II 7” Bully - Feels Like Kink - Cloud Generator EP The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ Joanna Newsom - Divers Future - DS2 Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly Young Thug - Slime Season 2 Maya Vik - Beyond the Basics

Honey Cocaine - The Gift Rap EP Bjork - Vulnicura Miguel - Wildheart Floating Points - Elaenia Rae Sremmurd - SremmLife

Petite Noir - La Vie Est Belle/Life is Beautiful Waxahatchee - Ivy Tripp Dawn Richard - Blackheart Girlpool - Before the World Was Big Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit

[yesmoremaciej]

Great Moments in Pop Music in 2015 pt. 1

- the sarcastic “together forever” as the turning point in the chorus of Carly’s “When I Needed You”; it’s the pivot of a chorus that takes us on a longer emotional journey from point a to b than many novels

- Three seconds into Screaming Females’ “Triumph” when the right channel guitar riff joins the left channel guitar riff and it is on.

- the 3:20 mark of Grace Mitchell’s “Jitter” as the lasers come and lift everything up and evaporate any misgivings I have about the mostly also very good first three minutes.

- Around 51 seconds: the first appearance of an “awoo” in Lim Kim’s thoroughly delightful “Awoo”.

- “I so wanted something to happen that day/and then what I wanted, it happen/and that just don’t happen that way/to me, oh no” in Eleanor Friedberger’s “He Didn’t Mention His Mother” (at 2:41 in the music video).

- Demi’s phrasing of “body taaaahaaaahYPE” in the chorus of “Cool For the Summer”

- So many of the sounds in the background of Miguel’s “Coffee”, but let’s say the combination of “woo”s, guitar, and space sounds during the first “wordplay turns into gunplay” section (1:09 in the video).

- The way John Darnielle sings the last word in “you’ve found my breaking point, congratulations” 1:19 into “Heel Turn 2″ -  sarcasm that belies exasperation, fear, and a threat at the same damn time.

- “give no fucks, yeah, we don’t give no fucks yeah” in “Fuck Up Some Commas”. Let’s say at 3:15 where it makes it’s third appearance, a chant that might have seemed like a one off line in the first verse integrated into the chorus officially. There was no lyric this year that I made appear in my head as a mantra to help me through more often. Especially when I was drunk.

- the first 20 seconds of Kehlani’s “Alive”, all those textural elements coming together and correctly predicting the soul-massage that song goes on to contain.

- All of “I Wanna Go Bang”? What’s the point, I know, but if there’s any track this year that feels like one long moment it’s that one. And it changes, it does, but I can’t separate it, I can’t.

- 2:42 in “YMD (Young Michael Douglas)” where Maya Vik for the first time takes a break between “something” and “bursts” to giggle and give us quick break to really get all our strength into the upcoming jump into space

[yesmoremaciej]

MOVIE LOG 2015

4. Scream 4 (dir. Wes Craven, 2011) 1/3, Netflix Dunno why, after a weekend of downloading horror trailers for my birthday party, I settled on Scream 4; maybe just for the intro? But I soldiered through, and it’s still a totally fun #4. 5. Abduction (dir. John Singleton, 2011) 1/4, TV This was on the ABC Family when I got up the morning after my birthday party and it is nowhere near as good as Jack Reacher in terms of movies with snipers in downtown Pittsburgh. The most entertaining part of this, by far, was realizing that it was written by the dude who made the terrible Oscar-winning short “Curfew” a few years ago (and subsequently got to make a full-length version of that short), and then realizing that dude used to be in Stellastarr*. 6. Selma (dir. Ava Duvernay, 2014) 1/5, AMC Empire 25 ’ One of the many things that I loved about Selma was its insistence on showing - and focusing on - the faces of so many different people involved in the struggle for voting rights equality. MLK (and yes, Oyelewo is awesome) is at the center of this movie, but it’s a film that strongly portrays the movement as a collective action, not just the will of one leader. 7. Inherent Vice (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) 1/5, screener Caught the second half of this as Matty was watching the screener after having seen the whole thing in theaters. I focused a lot on the Brolin character this time out; that characters spiral out from the center is quite an achievement by PTA and Brolin (and Pynchon, probably?), I think. 8. Whiplash (dir. Damien Chazelle, 2014) 1/6, Landmark Sunshine Whiplash’s plot goes completely off the rails somewhere towards the final third, and I think that made me like it more. It’s odd to see a movie that focuses on becoming a great artist as a physical endeavor more than a creative one. I think Whiplash takes that to an extreme but so few music movies focus on that physical aspect that I kinda dig it. 9. The Imitation Game (dir. Morten Tyldum, 2014) 1/8, screener This could have potentially been a fun movie about technology, or a cold war thriller, or a movie about Alan Turing and Joan Clarke’s friendship, or a movie that actually cared about homosexuality, or maybe a number of other things. Instead it shows glimpses of these things, but mashes them into a hot, boring mess. Keira Knightley’s acting in an altogether different (and probably more fun) movie. Sherlock is fine. 10. Only Lovers Left Alive (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 2014) 1/13, Blu-ray So much luxurious reclining. Tilda’s neck does more work in this than most actors’ faces do. Jarmusch has fun trying to figure out what incredibly old people would think of art. Turns out it’s not that different from what normal old people think of art, just a little more so? This is recommended, though. 11. Two Days, One Night (dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 2014) 1/16, IFC Center The Dardennes are one of my blind spots as a dude who watches a good amount of new movies, but I’ll get to their older stuff eventually. I loved Cotillard as much as everyone else does. The role requires kind of a ridiculous amount of quick emotional shifts and it probably coulda been a disaster with someone less awesome. 12. The Boxtrolls (dir. Anthony Stacchi and Grahan Annable, 2014) 1/17, internet The politics of the Boxtrolls are kind of interesting, in that its portrayal of the upper class as cheese-obsessed idiots acknowledges the effect they have on the lower class (completely fucked) and the middle class (aspiring towards something that’s basically impossible and the upper class doesn’t want them to achieve) but maybe makes lets them off the hook a little? I enjoyed this, though: it great terrific, the Elle Fanning-voiced Winnie has some great violent glee in her, and there are some truly grotesque scenes of lactose intolerance.