2014: the songs (60-51)

Spotify
Rdio
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.







Next: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, 70-61, ... 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

2014: the songs (70-61)

Spotify
Rdio
Previously: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71

70. Fear of Men - Alta/Waterfall

Every album can't be a concept album. As many ideas as there are in the world - probably quite a few! - only so many can be appropriately translated into music. That said, even when a through-and-through concept album isn't a possibility, one of its basic tenets is still applicable in almost every case: mood setting. You want to get an idea of what you're about to listen to, even if you're spinning something new from an artist you've long loved. Fear of Men were new to me when I first heard of their album Descent, and so the need for me to know what to expect was doubled when I first sat down to go through the album. In a way, this is cheating, because "Alta" and "Waterfall" are technically separate tracks; I put them together because they act as a cohesive introduction to the album to come, at once working in harmony and serving as foils for one another. "Alta" is a muted vocal introduction with minimal instrumentation, lasting under a minute, and "Waterfall" serves to immediately speed things up a bit, moving at a tempo that just sounds like the way Jess Weiss sways when playing these songs (good example of what I mean for about 6 seconds here). Descent never goes slower or faster than these two songs, perfectly framing what's to come.

69. Broods - Superstar

Electropop is a genre that lives to bring big moments to your ears. You can go to the extreme in either direction - consider Ed Zealous's "147," which will appear later in this list - but the sweet spot comes when an artist or group finds a way to sound big without getting too caught up in themselves. The chorus here, on the finale to Broods' really solid full-length debut, has a chorus that goes big in that concert sing-along way that's sure to wrap up shows as effectively as it's wrapped up this album. The lyrics tell of separated love: "I've been waiting for the sun to rise where you are / So I can tell you you're a superstar," Georgia Nott calls back to an alter ego within the chorus, a sentiment of pining that anyone who has been apart from loved ones for an extended period can relate to.

68. Tiny Victories - Systems

"Systems" is reminiscent of mid-era Interpol, if Paul Banks and Co. had decided to go outside themselves and into the electronic realm. "Stormy" is a pretty apt descriptor, as the bottom synth line seems to swirl in and out, with deep vocals that build upon themselves and eventually travel around into something that could be called a typhoon by the final trip through the chorus. It pounds and asserts itself, colorfully characterized by the vocals, even as their tone forebodes something much darker.


67. Jessie Ware - Say You Love Me

People who jumped aboard the Jessie Ware train in 2012 after the release of her debut, Devotion, have been mildly miffed at the more commercial-sounding Tough Love. For me, there's no fault to be found in trying to appeal to a wider audience, especially if the material holds up in the process. Sure, if you're expecting something that cloned the pulse-pounding drive of "Wildest Moments," "Say You Love Me" will come off soft. But Ware's singing ability is truly top-notch, rife with feeling and charisma in each line, spicing up even the most saccharine of lyrics. She's a terrific vocal artist who can command attention and transform music from simple words into artistic expression. Music is at its best and most immediate when you can relate or empathize, and Ware basically demands that you hear her out. Once you do, you might find a story of your own that parallels hers.

66. Stars - From the Night

This is probably far from intended and not something the artist is looking to hear, but this is a track that makes me picture disco in the hands of a leather jacket street gang out of an early 1980s Broadway musical. It's melodic, danceable and lyrically accessible, yet with enough of an edge to keep it on the cutting room floor of a modern "West Side Story" reboot. It pulses and deftly disguises its simplicity, choosing to layer complementary sounds instead of overcomplicating them. It's a head-bobber, to be sure.





65. Jeremy Messersmith - Tourniquet

A beautifully constructed pop song that, in another universe, probably became a huge hit, Jeremy Messersmith's metaphorical love oath sounds like it could be a shoo-in for the vast majority of high school crush mix tapes. Mix CDs. "Whatever they're called now," said the tragically old 20-something. The sentiment is pure, the sounds are clean and the chorus is excellent. Hey, get yourself a good chorus hook and chances are you'll find yourself somewhere in this list next year. Something to consider for your list of resolutions.





64. Future Islands - Sun in the Morning

Much like Jessie Ware's vocal charisma adds flavor to just about all of her tracks, so too does Samuel Herring's. The energetic - to put it lightly - Future Islands frontman sings each track with a brand of vim and vigor uniquely his own. Future Islands at their best let Herring take command of the ship, keeping things simple as he does his own thing and dominates. It might not be the most universally accessible style, but damn it, this dude's gonna sing his heart out in full-on damn the torpedoes style.






63. Torres - New Skin

Written and composed as part of a documentary-style series about the music recording process, singer/songwriter Mackenzie Scott has released her first new material as Torres since 2013's flooring self-titled debut. Scott's style on that album is subtler, heartbreaking in a minimalistic way. Here, she's enlisted the help of War on Drugs members and Sharon Van Etten to construct something a bit more in-your-face, but still filled with that aching emotion that's fast becoming a trademark in her music. The friendship between Scott and Van Etten is a complementary one, with both focused on making music that targets the emotional center of your brain. Scott is more aggressive and up front on this track than nearly anything released to date. It assuages my own personal fears about the music released under Torres would lose some luster if the minimalist approach was stripped away; she's just as successful here with a full-bodied sound. (Note: Not on Spotify)

62. Hamilton Leithauser - Alexandra

As frontman of the now-deceased Walkmen, Hamilton Leithauser's voice was couched in angrily somber rock instrumentals, always lending an air of sadness to whatever the topic of a given song was. Here, the script is flipped and Leithauser has taken a turn for the upbeat. All those years of somber rock don't seem to have dulled his sense for what could also make an alt-rock sound peppy and catchy. Stomp-clap rhythm and a chorus that's as simple as it gets play perfectly alongside a bridge that throws back an homage to some of the more ballad-y Walkmen tunes. It's clear this is Leithauser's own style, but he hasn't forgotten what got him here.

61. Interpol - All the Rage Back Home

Much like Weezer, my faith in Interpol was running low. My excitement for new music from the band in 2014 was tepid in the wake of the band's self-titled effort and Paul Banks's weird rap album thing. I had given up on hearing another Turn On the Bright Lights, an album with a legend enhanced by the period in which it was released. Comparisons were unfair. This track, however, is a throwback to some theoretical point between Antics and Our Love to Admire, a driving track that would feel out of place on TotBL but seems wonderfully suited for something of a reinvention, and that's appropriate for the band in the wake of bassist Carlos D's departure from the band in 2010. The greatness may never be full re-realized, but that could be more a result of a personal bar being set too high. With tracks like this, Interpol can absolutely still be relevant and better.

Next: 100-91, 90-81, 80-71, ... 60-51, 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

2014: the songs (80-71)

Spotify
Rdio
Previously: 100-91, 90-81

80. Reigning Sound - My My

Growing and adapting to the times doesn't have to be mandatory. What was cool once will be cool again, and even if it doesn't appeal to the masses, there will always be a corner of the bar where it's welcomed. So it goes with the '70s rock style of Reigning Sound, flecked with a slight bit of country twang: it's pretty pure throwback material, sounding more like it's a 1973 remaster than a new 2014 release. Sometimes, tracks like this can make you wonder what bands like BTO or Three Dog Night would sound like to today's audiences. If it's got this kind of vibe, they'd probably have a corner of that bar for their own, too.


79. Jaws - Be Slowly

If there's one pattern you can probably pick out from these track blurbs in the past couple years, it's probably that I enjoy talking about songs as feelings or images. What does a certain song make you see? It's like imitation synesthesia, where the images aren't concrete, but the ideas feel real enough. This track feels like a surfer's staple, a hazy summer jingle with enough fuzz to feel blissed out, but enough tempo to avoid putting you to sleep. In cold weather, the mood of the song feels a little bleaker, even given its mostly upbeat lyrics, which just further enforces the power of context. Cure comparisons via the guitar also apt.



78. Stars - No One is Lost

I have to imagine trying to wrap up dance-pop albums is always a tough task. You want to go out on a high note, but at the same time, the track has to feel like a closer. You can't put the most energy and electricity in a closer; sure, a finale can feel like the biggest track on an album, but there has to be a finality you can hear in the notes, a sensation that leaves you satisfied with that being the end. There might not be a more subjective criterion established anywhere on this list, but for the purposes of my own listening habits and rankings, that's how I approach this sort of thing. And so, here we are with Stars, a bad who've released a fun dance-pop album that houses this title track and has deemed it its closer. It has a French spoken-word intro, a build-up, a grand-sounding synth chorus, a double back to a guitar solo bridge, the works. It's dance-y, but you probably won't feel like grooving to it too much. It's got a slight bit of grit to it, plus that intangible feeling of closure, giving it the finality of a closing time track more than a mid-celebration beat bumper.

77. Elizabeth & the Catapult - Shoelaces

Driven by a strong bass line and intriguing vocal hook, "Shoelaces" is the standout track from 2014's Like It Never Happened, a song that tiptoes on the alt-country line. It's well-constructed, with little bits flying in and altering the verses as the song goes, keeping the whole thing feeling fresh even as it really doesn't change very much throughout. The success of this song in your own ears depends on how much you buy into the vocals. I'd buy them for a few dollars, and so here we are.



76. Spoon - New York Kiss

Sometimes, when a band has a discography bigger than three albums and has established a certain sound, latter day releases can be described simply as "yeah, that's a Band X album." I'm still not sure if most people mean it as a pejorative; personally, I see nothing wrong with staying in a pre-blazed trail as long as the music stays enjoyable. They Want My Soul caught lots of "it sure is a Spoon album" quips, and for good reason: these tracks probably could've been released on Gimme Fiction or Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga or Transference, but they weren't, and they're independently enjoyable. That's a lot of prefacing to say that "New York Kiss" is, indeed, "a Spoon song." If you've listened to Spoon, you've heard something like this before. But that's just the thing: what Spoon do is good, and "New York Kiss" is just another successful notch in that belt. That's not to sell it as underwhelming, because the comfort in familiarity can sometimes be underrated.

75. Kishi Bashi - Carry On Phenomenon

Kaoru Ishibashi is a guy with ideas. His music is progressive and, at times, challenging. He lingers more on the accessible side of "progressive" than, say, Darkside, but his tracks often showcase bits of experimentation in melody and structure that often impress. What often helps is a strong voice, even though his vocal range isn't exactly shown off (comparatively) within this track. His violin playing is this track's greatest strength, laying a slightly somber melodic bed behind the verses and powering an instrumental bridge later on. A lot of Kishi Bashi's tracks involve looping, which doesn't often translate easily to live performance, but with careful composition and construction in a studio, it can often produce neat curiosities like this track.

74. Owen Pallett - On a Path

Speaking of violins, this multi-instrumentalist known for his work both solo and with acts like Arcade Fire and The Mountain Goats flexes his stringed muscle here, a choice track from the very strong opening act to this year's In Conflict. Pallett's voice is often soft and smooth at the edges here, especially as he goes falsetto for part of the song's chorus, gaining power as it's looped on top of itself during the bridge as as his violins continue to swirl. To characterize the whole song as "soft" because of Pallett's agreeable voice would be a misstatement; it's pretty, but assertive, and a promising glimpse into his future as a solo act.

73. Frankie Cosmos - Buses Splash With Rain

Much like Radiator Hospital earlier in this list, Frankie Cosmos operates in fun size chunks. She's got ideas, she turns them into bursts of song, and that's that. Sometimes, the story of the lyrics is more important than the way a track sounds - sometimes the message simply takes priority - but here, both sound and substance combine to form a highlight track from this collection of sample-size tunes. At a robust 2:10 - the second-longest track of the album - "Buses Splash With Rain" feels like one of the most fully-formed tracks on Zentropy. It's a relatable sad-teen song - "I'm the kind of girl / Buses splash with rain?" We've all felt like we've been there, sister - disguised by cheery, arpeggiated guitar and uptempo hi-hats on the drums during the "chorus" and second verse. It's a little self-contradictory, a little confused...but who among us wasn't when we were 19-20?

72. Broods - Bridges

This was the way Broods, a brother/sister duo from New Zealand, burst on the scene in early 2014: an out-of-nowhere lead single that sounded confident and fully-formed, anchored by a soaring chorus that just begged to be turned up. Leaving things behind, burying the hatchet, moving on, all different names for the same thing, a thing we all have to learn to handle and accomplish during our lives. This isn't to say we'll ever be any good at doing that, but such is the inevitability of human relationships. They are all dissolved in the end, and the forfeiture of regret is as important a thing to closure as anything else.




71. How to Dress Well - What You Wanted

Tom Krell's electro R&B stylings feel at once very heartfelt and postmodern, yet classical. It's got all the soul of present-day R&B infused with music more mechanical than I'm used to hearing behind such vocals. It strikes me as an innovative approach to emotional conveyance, like Autre Ne Veut with the intensity dialed down a notch or two. Krell's vocals are well-suited to R&B, and the somber electropop stylings he's chosen for this track act as a perfect complement. A solid addition to any slow jam playlist.





Next: 100-91, 90-81, ... 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

2014: the songs (90-81)

Spotify
Rdio
Previously: 100-91

90. Wye Oak - Glory

Civilian, the 2011 album that first put Jenn Wasner and Wye Oak on my radar, is a bit of an understated classic in my music library. It's a mix of deftly crafted songs that band together to form this collection of tunes that sound like they're all being played under the same cloud. The band's music just has that little edge, that bit of darkness that lends a bit of quiet ferocity to their music. That carryover into this track from this year's Shriek is what makes it a standout for me. The abandonment of guitar feels a little less noticeable on this track than on others - this was by design from the band for the album, to completely eliminate guitar play outside of bass - thanks in no small part to a strong drum pattern and assertive bass lick. Wasner's vocals are always captivating, but she has plenty of help here, too.

89. Tennis - Never Work For Free

At the start, your immediate feeling is one of summer, riding along a coastline with the top down. It almost feels like a cover of a song originally written by mid-era Strokes, turned into something nearing an electropop toe-tapper instead of something resembling more of a rock ballad. That's not to say this feels forced or derivative; there's enough of a unique touch in the vocal styling and layering to make this track recognizable, even from within your next summer playlist.






88. Ages and Ages - Light Goes Out

I'd never heard of Ages and Ages prior to their appearance supporting Lake Street Dive in Philadelphia this past April. Their musicianship and strong live sound caught my attention from the drop, and this was the first song they played that night. A nice bit of group vocal play in the intro melds call-and-response with harmony, and the sudden tempo shift into a completely different song would be off-putting if the two styles of song didn't somehow seem to mesh well. The second act is softly sung to start, but slowly builds and adds parts until it transforms into something of a choral celebration. It just sounds like fun.

87. Jeremy Messersmith - It's Only Dancing

Bar none one of the most lyrically sweet and endearing songs you'll hear this year, Jeremy Messersmith's tale of love undercover is a real hit, a song I might end up regretting ranking this far back come next year. It's important that it's so clearly sung, because the lyrics are the backbone of this song and vital to its proper reception. They're not opaque and won't require any kind of footnotes a la a Decemberists yarn, but that doesn't detract. The instrumental interludes with what sounds like timpani and piano and strings and bells are also highlights.





86. Radiator Hospital - Cut Your Bangs

I'm always impressed by bands that release albums in consecutive years these days, as the average feels like it's somewhere in the three-plus-year range. I'm aging, here, I need your music ASAP, folks. Maybe it's easier when your songs come in bite size form ("Cut Your Bangs" is 2:07 and seven other songs on Torch Song are shorter), as these sorts of tracks feel easy to digest and never overstay their welcome. There's a more relaxed and accessible sound here than on 2013's track pick "Our Song," but I think that's just versatility in action.




85. Lily & Madeleine - Rabbit

Speaking of bands releasing albums in consecutive years, here we have a track from sisterly duo Lily & Madeleine's second of three planned annual releases. Something of an answer to First Aid Kit, L&M lean heavily on the interplay of their voices, always looking for new ways to harmonize their excellently matched voices. This track is one of their more uptempo efforts, and it suits them well. You turn to this group for the harmonies, and this song delivers them.






84. Calvin Harris - Pray to God (f. Haim)

I like to think I listen to a lot of music, and I've tried to expand my library to different genres as I've gone on, but EDM is still a relative frontier to me. I don't have a great feel for the grand scheme of the genre and what could be more widely considered "good" from within that subset. So, I'm just rolling with this one because, well, I think it's good! Truthfully, I doubt I'd have given a listen if Haim weren't involved, but wouldn't you know it: their voices sound good over dancefloor bass pounds and get-you-on-your-feet synths, too. I don't even know how to talk about EDM, in case you hadn't noticed, but that this song appeals to me despite my neophyte nature should probably make it worth a listen for you, if we share a boat.

83. Weezer - III. Return to Ithaka

It's probably unfair to Weezer that their best album in an age will only have one track represented by me on this list, and that it's an instrumental. Objectively, the arguments for actual lyrical songs like "Go Away and "Foolish Father" and maybe even "Back to the Shack" in preference hold plenty of water. They're actually pretty good (and not in that "I'm compensating for the last decade of Weezer" way)! But this two minutes or so of pure guitar solo that wraps up a three-song suite and concludes the album is my favorite. I like it both for its energy and its anonymity: "wait, that's Weezer?! That...actually kinda rocks!"

82. Royal Tongues - The Balance

An absolute, no-questions-asked summer feel-good song that gets released at the end of September is just an anachronism. Release this in June and you've got yourself a one-song summer soundtrack. Timing aside, a heretofore unknown group has released a track that absolutely nails the good time vibe, with a chorus that can hold its own with just about any other on this list. It's the main attraction, and it delivers hard enough to make this track you probably stick on repeat for a few listens.





81. Jessie Ware - Kind of...Sometimes...Maybe

There's a basic musical postulate that states that anything Miguel touches immediately becomes one of the sexiest things going. Here, he does little more than mumble almost unintelligbly in the breaks between Jessie Ware's phrases, so it's not a duet, but his complement is just the spice needed to elevate a song like this from "good" to "noticeably good." It's a song about mind games, stubbornness, relenting to an idea and feeling; truth be told, Jessie Ware often gets this intonement down pat about as well as anyone else in the game right now. Like most of the rest of the tracks on this year's Tough Love, Ware is vocally assertive, even as her lyrics detail emotional uncertainty. It's a great listen, if only for that self-foil. Luckily, there's plenty more in store to enjoy than just that.

Next: 100-91, ... 80-71, 70-61, 60-51, 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1

2014: the songs (100-91)

Spotify
Rdio

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