Best Songs of 2018

Hello wonderful internet,

It's December 31, 2018, and that once again means I come back to this blog and give out my top songs of the year. This annual posting is much inspired much by my pal Jake who does a similar list every year, as well as all the wonderful people who share music with me throughout the year. And now, to the list!


11. The Decemberists - Once in My Life




Admittedly, I fell off the Decemberists bandwagon a bit after their release of the so-so double album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World and thus largely ignored their 2018 release I'll Be Your Girl. While the latest album isn't a return to form, it does have several anathematic tracks, including this, the first cut. In this simple yet beautiful song, Colin Meloy asks a question posed by both emo kids and dead-eyed adults alike: "For once in my life, could just something go right?" Backed by the beautiful voice of Jenny Conlee, the song doesn't aim for the complex, but nails the universal.

10.  Father John Misty - Mr. Tillman




Allegedly, Father John Misty (real name: Josh Tillman) holed himself up in a New York Hotel room for 2 months while he wrote the material for God's Favorite Customer. "Mr. Tillman" is written from the perspective of his frazzled hotel concierge, as we the listeners get some perspective on what exactly Josh Tillman has been doing in said hotel room. From leaving his passport in the mini fridge to sleeping on the balcony to mistaking hotel guests for extras in a movie, it seems Tillman has gone slightly off the deep end. How much of the song is auto-biographical is up for debate, but what makes the track so interesting is three fold: the narrative, the instrumentation and the chord progression. Adding bells and a choral-like drone adds to the mood of the song, which  rolls from major to minor to major to minor key - constantly flipping moods, not unlike Mr. Tillman himself.

9. 5 Light Years - Mae



Taken from Mae's newest full-length since 2008's Singularity, "5 Light Years" is a sonic rocker that never stays quite in one lane. Just when you think you're listening to a straightforward jam, the track veers off into near-dubstep territory in the chorus. Driven by some fantastic guitar work from Zach Gehring, the track is both pleasantly familiar yet experimental - and refreshingly cohesive. It's a shame Mae couldn't replicate this formula on the album it came from.

8. The Paper Kites - Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain



Australia's The Paper Kites released two albums in 2018. The first, an acoustic, meandering album entitled On the Train Ride Home, the second, a proper follow up to their last album titled On the Corner Where You Live. Songwriter Sam Bentley stated in concert that the albums were inspired by people watching in New York City. "Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain" is a lush, warm, lovely song that evokes the feeling of a tight embrace on a cold night. Every instrument drips with reverberated dreaminess, and Bently's voice melts over the whole track.


7. Charlie Puth - Boy




Nothing makes an 80's baby feel old like this line: "You won't wake up beside me / 'cause I was born in the 90s". In Boy, Puth questions how his lover can treat him like a kid when he's treated them so well. The track is pure pop magic, with sexy synth lines, an irresistible hook, and yes, even an electric piano solo. Last but not least is Puth's buttery voice, which does ironically sound quite young here. In a refreshing move, Puth both co-wrote and plays most of the instruments on the track.


6. Hold On (I Was Wrong) - Video Age




This funky little number from Louisiana's own Video Age sounds like a lost relic from the 80s. A Prince-like guitar permeates the track, while a funky synth line bounces to and fro. Completing the essence of the decade are well placed bass slaps and a 3-note synth bell sound. Some might say we should bury all this new 80s nostalgia, but as long as fresh songs like "Hold On (I Was Wrong)" keep coming out, I say bring it on.

5. Backstreet Boys - Don't Go Breaking My Heart




Here's a band I definitely didn't see going on any "year's best" lists, but here we are. This infectious tune has everything you could want in a pop song - great harmony, powerful drum lines, and a simple tune that gets stuck in your head. There's something about that synth arpeggio in the chorus that wraps the entire song up in a neat little package. It's the boy's first album since 2013, and a welcome return to the airwaves. Backstreet's back, all right.

4. Leaning on You - PREP




By all accounts, PREP should be one of the dorkiest bands in existence. They're mainly composed of skinny, nerdy looking white guys from London. Yet, here we have one of the funkiest, dance-inducing songs in recent memory. "Leaning on You" starts out with an odd-sounding synth run which then quickly comes in-time with a drum fill straight out of Phil Collin's catalouge. (This was even more dramatic when I saw the band in concert as I had never heard the song before). PREP's most excellent talent is perhaps their singer, Tom Havelock, and he's at his absolute best in this song, especially in the dramatic, uplifting chorus. Truly a pick-me up song.

3. The Band Camino - Daphne Blue



I've seen The Band Camino twice - once in a tiny venue called The Cobra Lounge, and then again at Subterranean. Their latest show was moved from Schuba's to Lincoln Hall and already sold out before I could get a ticket. Why bother mentioning this? The Band Camino is exploding in popularity, and anyone could see why. Their songs are catchy, emotionally driven, well-composed pop-rock - there's something here for everyone. "Daphne Blue" stars out with a killer guitar hook, explodes into a pre-verse, and then in comes in the unique voice of Jeffery Jordan, heart laid bare. Almost all of the band's songs are about some of heartbreak, but if they keep pumping out songs like this, bring on the drama.

2. Tiny Moving Parts - Caution



I have to thank Jake for this one, as he's been a Tiny Moving Parts fan for a long, long time. For some reason I decided to give them a listen randomly and I've been hooked on their album Swell ever since. "Caution" is the finest track from that album, a powerful emo/math rock song that shows off the band's talents. The fact that Dylan Mattheisen both plays the guitar and sings in this band is nothing short of mind blowing, as he taps and strums his way through the track while screaming emo sentiments such as "THIS IS LOVE!". I've air guitared to this song more times than I'm willing to admit -  "Caution" is one of the most powerful tracks I've heard in some time.

1. Oso Oso - Reindeer Games


I'm not 100 percent sure why I love this song. Perhaps its the earnestness of Jade Lilitri's voice, who is the main singer/songwriter for the project. Perhaps its because the song reminds me of early 2000s bands like Anberlin, Motion City Soundtrack, and Copeland, and by proxy, simpler times. Perhaps because sometimes, I want things to stay exactly how they are, so I sing along with the chorus with all my heart: "If you want, we can just stay here / wrap me in your claws, I can be your reindeer". Whatever it is, I've been listening to this song on repeat since I found it and I'm not sick of it yet.

Top Songs of 2017

It's that time again, time to write my yearly blog post about my 10 favourite songs of the year off the coattails of Jake. Thanks to Spotify, it was easy to track the songs I've listened to the most this year, so most of these songs are taken from that list, with some shuffling around in order of my current preference. There were a couple songs I loved even more than the 10 found below, but since I'm limiting songs that came out in 2017, I couldn't include those in the list (and actually had to re-write it several times because of this). Anyways...


10. dvsn - "Think about Me"



A dvsn song took the number ten spot in last year's list, and while last year's song was about fucking, this year's number 10 is still just as sexy with a bit darker subject matter. "Who's gonna make love like I do? Yeah, nobody," says Daniel Daley. Sounds like last year's relationship may have gone south. "Think about Me" pounds with some of the deepest bass I've ever heard over a fat synth lead. Keeping time through the song is an amplified, electronic water droplet - evoking a scene of reminiscing about a lover in the bath.

9. Minus the Bear - "Last Kiss"




Minus the Bear has mostly been a reliable band for me, with 2007's Planet of Ice being not just my favourite album of theirs, but also one of my favourites of all time. That's why it was so disappointing to me when afterwards they dropped a couple of ho-hum releases. With VOIDS, that pattern isn't completely rectified, and even though "Last Kiss" isn't on quite the same level as their best songs, it's still a reminder of why they're one of the best math rock bands in the game. What makes "Last Kiss" particularly interesting is that it's a downer song. Minus the Bear loves to talk about sex, but "Last Kiss" laments the end of those times. Starting out with screeching guitar riff that bleeds into a complex yet danceable drum beat, "Last Kiss" maintains a dark mood throughout yet never loses the groove.

8. Bantug - "Just Like a Dream"




There isn't much information available on the internet about Bantug - just that she (or the group) hails from Nashville. I randomly stumbled across this track on Spotify, and what I immediately noticed was the slick production of the drums. "Just Like a Dream" is an interesting combination of shoegaze meets math rock with airy synth sounds and intimate singing. "Some things aren't supposed to last," bemoans the vocalist - albeit more aggressively as the song ends.

7. Sylvan Esso - "Die Young"



Hailing from North Carolina, Sylvan Esso is not the name of a person, but the moniker of an electronic duo. "Die Young" begins with a haunting faux-synth voice and rippling bassline before singer Amelia Meath fades into view, singing how she had planned to die, but now has to wait for her lover to die before she can. This disturbing yet beautiful sentiment hums over the deep bass of the track. I first heard this track in a bar in Sydney and listened to it on repeat as I wandered the streets at night.

6. Rubblebucket - "Not Cut out for This"



I checked out Rubblebucket after seeing a Facebook post from someone who's musical tastes I admire, and I was not disappointed. Although they're described on Wikipedia as a "funk and jam band", Rubblebucket reminds me less of Phish and more of Arcade Fire. Starting out with a horn solo (honestly I can't tell if it's a trumpet or trombone), the song takes a turn into electronic territory with the introduction of an arpeggiated synth. The singer's voice reverbs through the track, warning the listener "I got no heart, I got no soul". The blend of upbeat drum grooves and dancy synths combined with the vocalist's warning - "I'm not cut out for love" creates a dichotomous, wonderful tune.

5. Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, James McAlister - "Mercury"



While Planetarium doesn't quite hold up as an album (it's far too long and diverse to be considered cohesive), "Mercury" is a standout track and a welcome return from Sufjan Stevens, who is responsible for my favourite album of 2015. Mercury is a melodious, beautiful and unique song that benefits from Sufjan's voice echoing throughout as if he's singing into a cavern. Stevens and company strip back the production and let the piano and guitar compliment the wonderful, longing, desperate voice until about halfway through. Then, guitar delay that The Edge would be proud of intertwines with soft strings and the gentle tap of piano keys. Deeply intimate yet strangely intangible, "Mercury" never tries to be too much - it simply is.

4. HAIM - "Right Now"



I'm not sure who pissed off the Haim sisters, but whoever they are. they're absolutely skewered in "Right Now" - one of the most ultimate "fuck off" songs written in recent memory. (In fact, HAIM has been known to throw some added "fucks" into the song during live performances). "Right Now" starts out with a keyboard and drum machine as Danielle Haim sneers and spits in the face of the dude who wronged her and now wants her back. The song eventually builds into a gated drum whiplash that Phil Collins himself would be proud of. The pattern heavily resembles "I Don't Care Anymore"- fitting, as this is one of Collin's most aggressive songs.

3. Great Good Fine OK - "Holding You"



Taken from what might be my favourite album of the year, "Holding You" starts out with an instrument I didn't know existed until I saw GGFO back in January - a synth marimba. The distinct sound bleeds into the entire soundscape of the track; a synth-laden ode to a lost love. “Holding You” – much like every song from Great Good Fine OK’s III – is sharply produced, evoking visions of glitter and strobe lights. Although the track’s lyrical content is gloomy – or at the very least, evocative – the song never loses its overall upbeat feeling.

2. Superbody - "Patricia"



Anyone who knows me at all knows I love any 80's throwback song, and "Patricia" encapsulates that experience perfectly. From the jangly guitars to the synth solo to the pulsing, electronic drums, "Patricia" exploits the best part of synthpop to it's benefit. I've tried to pinpoint who exactly vocalist Robert Gregg McCurry is channeling in this song, but I can't place it. Somehow, he makes his voice sound vintage without actually being a rip-off. "Patricia" chronicles the singer's obsession with the titular character and the struggle between the heart and the brain.

1. The Band CAMINO - "My Thoughts on You"



The success of "My Thoughts on You" lies in its simplicity and its sincerity. Built off two intrinsically interesting piano chords, the song swells with strings into vocalist Jeffery Jordan's honest, raw voice. Backed with a simple drum track and gated fills, "My Thoughts on You" is an intimate examination about how and why people stay together even after they've hurt each other. "Between the fights," Jordan sings, "I still need you". The fact that Jordan barely nails the high notes in the song never comes off as annoying, rather adds to the genuineness of the song. This earnest, emotional song is my favourite of 2017.

Top 10 Songs of 2016

Once again, I've decided to ride the coattails of Jake and compile a top 10 list. This year I opened up to a lot of different styles and genres and got some really great recommendations from some people with amazing music tastes. Below are 10 songs I couldn't stop listening to, ranked in order of how much I liked them.

10. dvsn - "With Me"


"With Me" doesn't really beat around the bush. The opening line is simply "Fuck with me now", so you clearly know what kind of song you're getting here. That lack of subtlety combined with the incredibly deep bass that runs throughout the entire song and the funky synth lines that pepper throughout the chorus, and you have yourself one incredibly down to earth song. There is no pretense here. dvsn wrote this song simply because they/he wants to fuck someone, and who can't appreciate that?

9. Melano - "Traveller"


 Melano is a music producer from Norway, but that's really the only thing I know about him. My brother turned me on to this song, and what we have here is an electronic track full of some very nice emotion. In a world of Skrillex-like insanity, "Traveller" makes subtle yet powerful use of piano and violin, especially in the verses. The chorus is catchy as well, making the perfect use of "whoo!" And for all you kids who like the bass to drop, this one has that tried and true snare buildup as well.


8. Frightened Rabbit - "Get Out"


This excellent tune from Scottish rockers Frightened Rabbit does a great job with mixing subtlety and straight up rocking out. I'm talking about volume my dear. The beginning of the song makes a great use of synth and a guitar distortion as the singer describes his lover's thumb and forefinger as the "arch of the church" (this isn't the first time church has been used as a metaphor for love you cannot escape). Our narrator cannot escape this person, leading us to the blasting chorus. Wordplay abounds here as "get out my heart" is the first line we hear, although that line is followed up with "she won't". Later on in the second verse, the last line before the chorus, he sings "I don't want you to..." leading directly into "get out my heart". A great lyrical study in love you simply cannot outrun or refuse.
(Random thought - this guy has an amazing accent).


7. The 1975 - "The Sound"


This uptempo dance number by the retroesque The 1975 may not make a lot of sense lyrically, but damn if it doesn't get my feet tapping and my voice singing. Oddly enough as a drummer, I appreciate the restrain on the drums in this song. What really gets me is the use of the piano and synths, especially the evolution of the repeating chord pattern throughout the song that comes to a head in the chorus. The ending guitar solo is worth clicking "play" alone. I dare you not to air guitar it. I dare you.


6. Michael Penn - "Anchors Aweigh"


 For those who don't know, Michael Penn has been working in music for quite some time, releasing a Billboard top 100 song entitled "No Myth" in 1989. Penn shifted to television and movie scores and began working as a composer for HBO's "Girls" in 2012. I've never watched "Girls", so I have no reference for this song in the context of that show. What stuck out to me when I first heard this song is the beautiful acoustic guitar intro and Penn's voice, which is some sort of amazing combination of grit and clarity. There's something oddly magical about this song, the way the chorus dances into a hard, distorted guitar solo, into a minor-key bridge, and back to that lovely verse again. The lyrics evoke dreamy images as well: In her wake the spirits dance / Like starling murmurations / Though the light they pray they might behave /Spinning through an open sky / And out into creation.

5. Honne - "The Night"


HONNE is an electronic R&B duo from London, who's full length album would probably hovering around #1 in my 2016 list. "The Night" is my favourite offering from that album, a slow tune about convincing a lover to stay the night. What I love most about this song is the play between the underlying guitar work which recalls some of the best staccato R&B riffs from the 70s and the long, low analoug synth chords. That push and pull throughout the entire song - along with the driving beat - make this track stand out. Perhaps the most underrated thing about HONNE is their singing - the slightly rough yet soulful voice creates a powerful soundscape.

4. PREP - "Who's Got You Singing Again"


This funky tune from London's PREP sounds like a Doobie Brother's song took a hard left at Herbie Hancock-ville. In other words, it's brilliant, and an amazing feel-good song  The wah-wah synth bass creates an amazing canvas for PREP's singer to create a stunningly-smooth vocal performance. "Who's Got you Singing Again" also contains one of the best uses of a flute in recent music history - sparingly in the chorus, then a little more in the bridge, and then a straight up "What a Fool Believes"- type outro.

3. Francis and the Lights - "May I Have this Dance"


Francis of Francis and the Lights sounds a bit like a Phil Collins/Peter Gabriel hybrid, already earning about 500 stars in my book. "May I Have this Dance" follows our narrator in a heartfelt apology, asking who he's wronged to give him one more chance to make it up by dancing. The raw passion in "May I Have this Dance" is amplified by the synth here, which has almost no attack, creating a bit of a wah-effect. The desperation in Francis' voice is both chilling and admiring, as he pleads to "have this dance". It's a powerful visual picture as you can almost see him in the dirt down on both knees.

2. Skott - "Wolf"


"Wolf" is a song about desire and longing for something you desperately want, and that desire and tension is mirrored in the music. The simple piano note in the melody gives way to a flurry of harp and violins, but the star here is Skott herself, The chorus here is jaw-dropping and mind blowing, as Skott soars higher and higher, singing I'm a wolf / howling / on your doorstep / calling out . Synth arpeggios roll over her voice, and the second chorus gives way to a horn part that mimics the melody. It's a deeply intense, emotional song that should be reserved for late nights.

1. Jadu Heat - "Late Night"


What keeps bringing me back to "Late Night" is the fact that I've never heard a song quite like it before. The chord progression itself is enough to give pause and say "damn", and that's before the guitar riff (you'll know it when you hear it) becomes an ear-worm. Then when you think the song can't get any better, the funkiest bass guitar slaps this side of the Chili Pepper's version of Higher Ground come for you. Jadu Heart also features both a male and female singer, who are featured separately on verse but come together for a dreamy collaboration on the choruses. Between the bass, the obscure chords, the excellent guitar run, the random synth stabs and the singing, this is one of the most original songs I've heard and my favourite of 2016.

Top 5 Albums of the Year

I'm only posting a year in review of music because Jake did it first. Here it goes!

5. And So I Watch You From Afar, Heirs

I came across And So I Watch You From Afar on a random website which listed their 2009 self-titled release as the best album of that year. After listening to it myself, I was extremely hooked. Here was an instrumental band with energy, passion, and better yet, they were Irish and still relatively undiscovered in the States. After being somewhat underwhelmed by their 2013 release All Hail Bright Futures, I was hesitatingly anticipating Heirs. However, the album comes as a return-to-form for the band, eliminating the wacky reggae rhythms from their previous release in favor of hard-hitting, energetic jams. From the lightning guitar work of Animal Ghosts to the tribal drums and chants of Wasps, this is a raw, passionate album with little filler (A Beacon, A Compass, An Anchor is the albums low-light, a nifty tune that tends to drag too long for its 6:17 run time). The band is even more energetic live, which only adds to the brilliance of the album after seeing it in person.

4. The Velvet Teen, All is Illusory

I assumed the Velvet Teen may have been as good as dead after the release of 2010's EP No Star. After waiting patiently for 5 years, fans were finally satiated with All is Illusory, and the album didn't disappoint. A few missteps (Taken Over is about 9 minutes too long, All is Illusory is too boring) don't drag the album down for me. Pecos is a brilliant piece of work that highlights the band's unsung hero; bassist Josh Staples, GTRA is a retro-sounding throwback to arena rock, and the opening song Sonreo features a crazy-harpsichord sounding loop effect, benefiting from madman drummer Casey Dietz's slick, awe-inspiring fills. Dietz actually seems to be holding back on the album, which, after clearly being the star of 2006's Cum Laude! is probably a good thing for the band, as the entire lineup is showcased a lot better on All is Illusory than ever before.

3. You Blew It, Pioneer of Nothing

It seems stupid to put a 3-Song EP this high on my list, but when checking out my Last.FM charts for this year, I saw that the opening track on this EP, Lanai, was actually my highest played song of the year, and the second track, Bedside Manner, was my second most played.  Lanai is actually my most played song ever, a testament to how much I enjoyed this EP. I entered into You Blew It! fandom relatively late in the game, having thought emo/pop-punk was a dead genre to me. I have Jake to thank for my love of You Blew It!, and the three songs on this album are a solid testament that emo doesn't have to be whiny or simple. The songs here are complex, evocative and lovely. I haven't yet heard the band play any of the three live, but I did get to see them play a secret show in a garage in Chicago, which is a highlight in itself.

2. Chon, Grow

I'm not sure what it says about me that two of my five favorite albums of the year are instrumental - or that I'm in an instrumental band myself - but anyways, Chon created not just one of the best albums of the year, but probably of the best 10 years with Grow. The guitar tone particularly shines with an amazing clarity over some of the most complex and fascinating arrangements in modern rock to date. Grow is a music lover's dream, an album where you simply shake your head the entire way through, thinking, "How did they write this?" Musical complexity aside, Chon have created a wonderful, introspective album that never loses an overarching sense of joy.





1. Sufjan Stevens, Carrie and Lowell

I fell of the Sufjan bandwagon after Come on, Feel the Illinois! I love that album to death, and I appreciate 2010's The Age of Adz for what is is - an experimental electronic bit of work - but 2015's Carrie and Lowell is a near perfect album and has set me firmly in place back on the Sufjan train. In it, Sufjan bears his soul, opening up about his abandonment by and death of his mother, which was hinted at on other albums but never explored in depth until now. His mother's presence haunts the music here, which is low-key and deeply, agonizingly personal. Here is a man who's entire life has been shaped and molded by these events, and continues to struggle with them later in life (I imagine Freud would have a field day with this album).  Doubts and fears permeate the tracks, which touch on the human experience in all its forms; birth, love, anguish, illumination, self-doubt, kindness, tragedy, and death. This isn't an album you put on at a party, but its an important one nonetheless, as it deals with the human condition in a way that hasn't really been done before. In modern music.
Carrie and Lowell is poetic and prophetic, elaborate and spiritual, haunting and breathtaking.

[pete]

Music Snobbery

I'll be the first to admit I'm kind of a music snob. I have a disdain for anything remotely popular. In fact, once a band I like has gotten TOO popular, I tend to shy away from that band. Obviously I love a lot of classic rock, and that statement doesn't nessisar

Glorious New Stereo

After months of being annoyed to the point of severe frustration with my old car stereo, I opted to purchase a new one with my mass amounts of cash (haha). So I picked up a DUAL brand stereo. Not knowing much about car electronics, I had taken out my old stereo to see how it was connected, and I figured putting a new one in couldn't be that hard. And for once, I was right. I figured I'd just connect the back to the old plug, but that didn't work, so after a little online browsing I figured I would just start snipping wires, and if that didn't work, I'd bring it to someone who knew what was going on. Luckily I didn't have that problem.


My new stereo fixes literally every problem that my old stereo had. It's got a nice AUX imput so I can plug my Zen into it (that's a Creative MP3 player for all you ipod owners) and, get this, a freakin' USB port so I can plug a flashdrive into it and it will play the songs off of that. I recently got some podcasts and stuck them on my flashdrive so I can listen to them on the way to work (and not fall asleep).
All in all I'd say I'm really happy with the purchase. For once!

I'll be gone from Wednesday until Saturday afternoon, we have a four day shoot at Willow, and I've convinced them I need a hotel room. If I had to drive that much at night with little sleep in between, well, I don't know what I'd do.

[pete]

But wait the babies haven't been born!