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100. Lana Del Rey - Brooklyn Baby
There's a lot to be said for personal stigma when listening to music. A bad run of singles or records, often providers of bad-taste-in-mouth, can lend itself to an equally damaging trend: a tendency to give up on future releases. That's not to decry everyone who's given up on Muse or U2 or the like; rather, it's to illustrate how I nearly ignored Lana del Rey's album
Ultraviolence, an altogether not-legendary album but one containing a couple of surprising individual tracks. This is the only one to crack this year's list, but it's worth the attention. Had someone unknown recorded this, maybe it might have had a bit more pull among music listeners at large. Instead, it's immediately shipped off to the corner of the music universe where LdR listeners reside, left to forever be admired by a loyal contingent. They'll give it its due love and then some, I just think it might be worth a listen for you, too.
99. Colony House - Silhouettes
The most recent addition to my library among the songs on this list, the song's inclusion at this spot probably has the greatest margin of error of any other. On my first listen, I immediately recognized a strong, sweet pop-rock hook slathered over lyrics vague enough to not necessarily be Christian rock. It works, even if the lyrical message is sometimes a bit obscure. Who's to say if this ranking will hold up months down the line? Who's to say it won't improve? It's a song that feels of the moment to me, and this feel's like that particular moment's spot.
98. Hiss Golden Messenger - Saturday's Song
There are a lot of good things that happen on Saturdays. It's the first full day of the weekend; college football in the fall; weddings, parties, get-togethers. "Saturday's Song" is a tune for the laid-back Saturdays we all enjoy now and then. It's got enough drum to make you tap your toe and a balanced acoustic/electric guitar blend that brings to mind somebody casually playing this song on their front porch. It's easygoing, like the Saturday you just had or might be about to have.
97. Honeyblood - Killer Bangs
For a two-and-a-half minute song, "Killer Bangs" sure manages to fit a lot in. Makes sense, as a pop-punk song whose central lyrical message is moving on. Why waste time? The group even manages to make a slow-down/build-up avoid feeling rushed, even in the context of this compact song. The message is received, loud and clear.
96. Coeur de Pirate - Heartbeats Accelerating
I don't often find myself placing covers on these lists, mostly because I usually find myself partial to the originals. If I know a song and am familiar with it, it's difficult to find a comfort zone where a variation in style and execution sits just as well or more comfortably with me. One of those rare instances is here, a track written by Kate and Anna McGarrigle, made famous by Linda Ronstadt and redone by French-Canadian musician Beatrice Martin as part of the soundtrack for the most recent season of the Canadian serial "Trauma." "When you steal into my room / What earthly body will you assume?" Martin coos the song's prettiest lyrical run atop a bass drum beat that, in opposition to the song's title, never once accelerates. Martin's piano is also absent from this track, a wise choice given the choice to instead to feature acoustic guitars as the melodic centerpieces and incorporate harmonics into the song's second act. Martin's style is an interesting departure from the style of the
original, which is VERY 80s, and gives off something of a woodland vibe, musically.
95. Kalle Mattson - Sound & Fury (Dream Within a Dream)
Maybe it's just that I have a soft spot for songs that start on a synthesizer fade-in. Maybe it's the way the song just sort of turns into this happy wall of sound, harmonica wailing and drums pounding. Mattson is just 24 but already has a fair-sized discography to his name, and a confidence in writing music that feels both mature and able to feel a little excitement. Kind of like a businessman leaving work in his shirtsleeves during the summer and promptly taking a trip down the neighbors' slip-and-slide.
94. Death From Above 1975 - Always On
Hey! MORE Canada! DFA1979 released their highly-anticipated sophomore effort in 2014, years after a breakup and subsequent reunion. Ten years after their debut - with time off in the interim - apparently didn't dull their propensity for drawing
big sounds from a drumkit and bass, without a lot of supplement. The song begins with a clap and immediately rolls into its arpeggiated bass line hook, drawing in the churning drum pattern shortly after and roughing through a rather pummeling two-and-a-half-minutes. This is a song guaranteed to slay live, but translates about as well to record, and is likely to give your neck a decent workout at its highest points.
93. The Antlers - Hotel
Few bands do music of the somber variety better than Peter Silberman, Darby Cicci and Michael Lerner, a trio that captivated the imaginations of a few thousand achy hearts on their 2009 conceptual tour de force,
Hospice. "Hotel" finds the band employing their usual friends: horns, piano, smoke-filled-room guitar. Silberman's voice touches his falsetto comfortably, lilting dreamily across the song's five minutes. It's an evolved Antlers song, slightly less dreamy than predecessors, but still containing every, uh, "familiar" element that those already in the know have come to appreciate.
92. Mø - Don't Wanna Dance
It's pronounced "mew." You know, like the sound a small cat might make. In stark contrast to that is this song's actual sound, with is anything but meek, small or quiet. Danish singer Karen Marie
Ørsted does her own modernized Nancy Sinatra-style turn here, at least to start. Things kick up a notch pretty fast, though, and soon we've got a dance floor beat on our hands and the band indulge in the sassier side of things. I just picture big hairdos swaying side-to-side during the chorus, bobbing from shoulder to shoulder as everything comes together. It's a lot of fun to follow such smoky verses, and it all works so well in concert.
91. Haerts - Giving Up
Last year saw Haerts release the
Hemiplegia EP, a strong and promising collection of songs that seemed to bode well for whenever their first full-length would drop. As it turns out, there wasn't a terribly long wait involved, and the self-titled debut LP arrived this fall. "Giving Up," which was not part of the
Hemiplegia collection, is the album's most pleasant surprise to all unfamiliar with last year's EP. Trotted out as the album's lead single, "Giving Up" showcases the band at their peak, thanks in no small part to the co-producing ear of Andy Baldwin and St. Lucia's Jean-Philip Grobler, I'm sure. Nini Fabi's singing is strong, clear and relatable lyrics built-up over the course of the song's four minutes and change. Falsetto interlude, chant-style rebuild atop finger snaps leading into the most soaring trip through the song's chorus as the song heads to outro. It's not overwhelmingly forceful or hokey; in fact, it all feels measured, even in its grandest moments.
Next:
90-81,
80-71,
70-61,
60-51,
50-41,
40-31,
30-21,
20-11,
10-1
