Spotify
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Previously:
100-91,
90-81,
80-71,
70-61
60. Hooray For Earth - Keys
This is what Hooray For Earth sound like at their best: BIG. A BIG synth sound, a BIG (but simple) bass line, BIG power chord guitars in the chorus. It's one of those songs that pushes you to keep turning the volume up both because of its stadium rock sound and because you just want to hear what other little layers might be buried down in its depths. The highs of this track go mostly unmatched on the rest of the album, which helps this one stand out even more. 2011's
True Loves felt like an appetizer for the moment when the band made music like this, and hopefully it serves as a blueprint for more BIG on whatever comes next.
59. Terror Pigeon! - Girl!
One of my favorite things about making this list every year is getting a chance to pump up a band/artist/song that came from a place absolutely nowhere near my radar to slap me sideways the first time I heard it. Their name is fun: exclamation point included! The song is fun: it's a really cool Matt & Kim homage! Moreover, it's a song that's just about being completely over the moon about someone. It checks all the feel-good boxes. It's even a bit spastic, sounding like a rough draft for three or four different takes on the same song somehow coalesced into one single track. Did I mention it's fun?
58. Merchandise - Enemy
People who caught on with Merchandise earlier in their career - a group I'm not part of - seem to lament the sound and style of a track like this. To me, there's nothing wrong with coming off like an Echo & the Bunnymen reboot. It could be the switch from more obscure labels to indie giant 4AD that prompted the change in sound, but the relaxed groove of this track resonated positively with me. The main guitar lick is a definite earworm, an enjoyable listen through every early spin.
57. Odesza - Say My Name (f. Zyra)
One of the pitfalls of dance music - if you care to pay that much attention and, chances are, if you're heavily into that scene, you don't care - is the tendency to sound too much like the next guy or girl. Novel beats are more difficult to produce, I think, because there are only so many combinations of danceable BPM. One solution to that, as we saw with Disclosure last year, is to bust out the guest vocals. Zyra, a relatively heretofore unknown name, lends a pretty strong voice to this track, audible English accent playing to the song's strengths and adding to its novelty and recognizability. Lyrics obviously won't break any mold, but sometimes the point of dance music is just to sound good. Who's paying that close attention to lyrics while on the dance floor, anyway?
56. Slow Club - The Pieces
A swing club slow jam with a disco beat? Yeah, sure, where do I sign up? I've long thought that horn sections featuring prominently in power pop songs is an underrated element, but this is one such track where horns are in throughout and play the part of support and main event equally well. A solid song to sway back and forth to, the drums' patient, steady beat serving as an anchor for all the synth and brass above it.
55. Seoul - White Morning
I'll admit that this song's inclusion is due in small part to my omission of 2013's excellent "Stay With Us" from last year's list, but that alone wouldn't get this track this high. A breathy piece of ambient pop, Seoul have reverse-engineered chill and synthesized it in song form. A song meant for listening in foul weather, nestled under sheets and blankets with eyes closed and all other senses dulled. The song's environment is a lazy river, existing to gently carry you on a gentle journey through its three-and-a-half minutes.
(Note: Not on Spotify)
54. St. Vincent - Psychopath
Annie Clark's a little out there. I think that's pretty well-established by this point. Her experimental rock style has transformed her from cult hit to burgeoning superstar, but that hasn't stopped her from testing the boundaries of what sounds good. She isn't afraid to be a little weird, but it's a weird that works for this track. This one has left me a little short on words, mainly because I can't find an easy way to classify it. It's not
that complex, but somehow would feel cheapened by reductive description. I'll stop myself from talking in circles and just suggest you listen.
53. SOHN - The Wheel
Initially released on an introductory EP two years ago, "The Wheel" was left unchanged for inclusion on the debut LP for the Austrian-by-way-of-London artist Christopher Taylor as SOHN. Sometimes, songs released at the outset of an artist's foray into the mainstream find their vocal tracks re-recorded, certain instrumental sections remastered or otherwise tinkered with for repurposing on "proper" introductions via LPs. Not so here, as the original melancholy remains intact. Featuring his own chopped vocals as the main melodic force, SOHN creates an uneasy atmosphere that's actually quite pretty in its sobriety.
52. Ought - Today, More Than Any Other Day
One of this year's ultimate slow burns, this nouveau-Violent Femmes outfit take 1:50 to say a word, but quickly ramp things up shortly after the 2:30 mark. The words are gruffly shouted more than they're sung, but the sentiment of up-and-at-'em comes across better for it. The slow build up will likely lose more impatient listeners and leave them disinclined to enjoy what comes after, but emerging on the other side and into the light of the frantic pace that dominates the song's second half stands a great chance of being enlightening.
51. La Roux - Sexotheque
About as groovy a song you can come up with that centers around stepping out. Infidelity isn't cool, and the emotional complications that arise from it suck, but somehow La Roux has crafted some riveting and catchy tune to make it seem...not so bad? If nothing else, the offset of sad sack lyrics against the peppy melody and beat make for a truly interesting listen.
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100-91,
90-81,
80-71,
70-61, ...
50-41,
40-31,
30-21,
20-11,
10-1
