So, the last two years of music listening were pretty heavily influenced by the trauma and recovery of some major life events. It would be an understatement and a cliche to call it an emotional rollercoaster but,
. But that's what music is for, right? The soundtrack of the times both good and bad. This year, things were much more stable. Not that there weren't big changes or hard times but if my music listening is any indication, it was comparatively "balanced." With that in mind, here are the tunes that did me right in 2018.
Milosh's quiet croon is always good for exploring love's uncertain in-betweens.
Interesting tidbit: One reason I absolutely love this slow-motion burner is because it follows the exact chord progression of a song my dad wrote when I was kid. I can still hear his as I listen to this.
19\\Filthy\\by Justin Timberlake
"Baby, don't you mind if I do \\ exactly what you like, times two \\ Got me singin' Oooh-hooh"
Man of the Woods wasn't quite what I'd hoped from JT, but this song was. Mmm, dat bass.
"I grieve in stereo \\ The stereo sounds strange \\ I know that if you hide \\ it doesn't go away"
This synthy doozer convinced me to once again pay attention to a band I'd nearly written off. I think it rivals the best of anything they've done. Welcome back, boys.
"Loud whispers in my back \\ as if I couldn't hear \\ Thought I left ghosts behind \\ but they're just coming near"
An introspective and addictive dance ballad. Check out this breakdown in her
Sound Exploder episode. Powerful stuff.
"I am my own institution \\ I go when I want \\ and make up my own time"
The only song that truly feels as big as a project between Daniel Johns (
Silverchair) and Luke Steele (
Empire of the Sun) should. Guess they knew that as well, being the title track and all.
"I don't wanna be a puppet that \\ the ghost of my young self still controls \\ Jackets are the eyes to the soul"
A very Strokes-y song ("
Under Control" anyone?) that sounds an awful lot like THE Stroke maybe not wanting to be A Stroke anymore...? More generally, it sounds like wanting to break free from the expectations one sets for themselves as a youth, which perhaps we can all relate to. "Jackets are the eyes to the soul," he sings, blessing us with one of my favorite lines of the year. Coming from a man who quite literally
shaped modern fashion with many a jacket in the early 00's, it packs an unusual amount of poetic punch. Which Julian has always been good at, when he's at his best. And this year, he has been.
"It's all about the mind how we gettin' it \\ and all about the time how we givin' it \\ You know you be divine when you feelin' it"
I can't remember how I stumbled upon this piece of jazz-soaked gold, but it's pure dinner. The rest of the album didn't do a ton for me, but I'll be bumpin' this one for a long time. Maybe I should give the album another shot...
"This evil spirit, man, it's bringin' me down \\ It tells me not to do the things that I should"
Knowing Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are Mormon (or whatever the "proper" term is now) added some extra umph to the lyrics on this one. There's a connection there, like "
Aha. I feel ya." One of the more straight forward tunes of the impeccable
Double Negative, and as the grand finale
it wraps things up in a deceptively "upbeat" manner.
I'm not sure what "place" is being referred to in the title to this choral highlight of
All Melody. Maybe it doesn't matter, hence the ambiguity. But if you ask me, the place is underwater. Just like in dreams, where you are able to breathe just fine and "fly" beneath the waves in slow motion, admiring the fractal light and exotic serenades of merfolk. Yep. That's the place.
"The rest you can write in books \\ And we'll build a home on the overlook \\ And we came back a circle \\ And let the black night point us north"
Sort of hard to choose a favorite from this album. I went back and forth with it. Every song has a similarly melancholy but hopeful intimacy, like they were written next to a winter campfire on the spot. "True North" takes the cake for feeling like a song I might have written myself, if I had any sort of ability to do so.
TOP 10
This is a very visual instrumental tune for me. When I hear it I see the
bumpers between vibrant cartoons, the bustle of busy
Tokyo streets, cool summer drives, stargazing on a trampoline after purple sunsets, and the electric glow of
Sega Genesis. I see myself sitting in a theater with my Breet, or sitting by myself and listening to great tunes. It's a simple song that doesn't go anywhere big, but it lives up to the title and that exclamation mark.
It's not the song we wanted................... it is the one we needed. ピース✌
"I don't believe it \\ Don't overthink it \\ I won't believe it \\ I want out of this world"
This song already stood out from the fascinating chaos of
Virtue. It's low-key and effortlessly cool in a smokey, hangover sort of way, and Julian maintains an impressive falsetto camouflage throughout most of the track. You almost forget he's the man behind the mic until about 3/4 through. Since it's hard to fully understand him and they never released "official" lyrics, it's hard to tell exactly what it's about. It feels like falling for someone (something?) that is obviously no good. The line "Don't over think it" actually appears a couple times throughout the album, which is interesting. A lot of meaning could be packed in there, which makes it a fascinatingly cryptic tune. Anyway...point is it's pretty fantastic on its own. But, when I saw them in Brooklyn, and they opened with this sucker.... sheeeeeeeeyit. It was one of my favorite concert moments in one of the best years of concert going of my life. You still got it, Jules. STRAIGHT FIRE.
Speaking of fire...
"Resurrection is within our clutch \\ But our imagination keeps leading us \\ into the fire"
It took me a bit to catch what this one was laying down. Initially, I was just obsessed with the Fleetwood Mac of it all. Made me wish Haim would've put something half this good on their most recent album. A fantastic pop song about an manipulative, destructive lover. Then I saw the video. And then I looked up a couple interviews. And suddenly it hit me that this isn't a song about an manipulative and destructive lover. It's about our manipulative and destructive government. Natalie Prass wrote the letter of a woman scorned and desperate to the President. And, while her rage is certainly aimed at a specific one, her message seems directed at the office of President in general. "Elation, sadness, we mend then destroy." Our relationship to those that lead us likened unto an abusive one we can't seem to fix until the fire goes out, or it burns us alive. Whichever comes first, I guess.
"Forgive \\ Forget \\ Live and let \\ Even when you won't"
I can't think of a song who's title better described its sonic content this year. With almost completely unintelligible lyrics (I'm guessing at those above), we're left with the visceral desolation of a sonic storm. The abrasive winds start up early, as singer Alan Sparhawk's distorted vocals cling to anything they can. The first chorus leads to a moment of respite, Mimi Parker's distant call signaling the brief and unsettling beauty within the eye. But it's not long before the winds pick back up, and another chorus braces for destruction. The vocals are all but drowned out by the sound of the angry squall and suddenly, there is nothing left to hold on to. I'd suggest following this track with it's companion, "
Always Up" and decide for yourself whether or not our heroes actually survived the tempest.
"See this state I'm in \\ Is crawling in my skin \\ Fevers took me back \\ and turned me inside out"
When this single dropped, a friend of mine shared his first experience with it. Apparently, he was a bit "under the influence" of a certain plant that may or may not have had my fellow
Utahns in a tizzy this most recent voting season. I asked him what he thought of the track, and he admitted that he wasn't able to finish it yet. He had tried, mind you. But it simply
freaked him the hell out. Now, I've never been high, but this made complete sense to me. As humorous as it was to imagine my friend curled up in the fetal position trying his best to replace it with "
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," I was impressed that "Lemon Glow" put him there. Because, even though I first listened to it in complete control of my faculties, I was also somewhat surprised by how sinister it sounded. Beach House had been dark before, but this was the sound of a mischievous devourer. It freaked me the hell out, too. But in a very good way.
"I could leave in the middle of the night \\ But I'd miss it \\ Don't miss it \\ like I did"
It's almost become a cliche to say that James Blake makes music to cry to. His emotive minimalism always goes for the jugular and squeezes life out of even the coldest of auto-tuned machines. Like an android overwhelmed with emotion it can't quite understand. Even the video projects the lyrics as a lonely note on a phone, complete with a laundry list of avoidance that leads to "missing it." I'm still unsure if "missing" equates to a "failure to witness" or a "longing" for something. I think it could be either. In fact, I sort of suspect it means both. Don't miss out on life while wasting time missing the painful past. "Don't miss it" ends up being some great advice, and wouldn't be that sad at all, if it wasn't for that mournful "like I did" that follows. Easier said than done, I suppose. Wonder if this gem will be on his upcoming album.
"This is a waltz \\ thinking about our bodies \\ What they mean \\ for our salvation"
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suspirium: a deep and prolonged audible inspiration or respiration of air, as when fatigued, frustrated, or grieved;
the act of sighing.
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In the last couple decades of popular music, few souls have captured the delicate melancholy of a piano quite as perfectly as Mr. Yorke. And few of his songs have represented that ability quite as perfectly as "Suspirium." As a soundtrack piece to the surreal horror experience that is Luca Guadagnino's
Suspiria remake, it's simultaneously beautiful and deceptively unsettling, even for Thom. The film, about a German dance troupe in the 70's run by a coven of witches, adds a few layers of ominous foreshadowing to the seemingly innocent track. "All is well, as long as we keep spinning," he sings, portraying a sense of dangerous naivete in its subject. Thankfully, Thom handles the song in a manner that gives it life beyond the movie it was made for. Regardless, it should be cataloged among his very best and deserves some Oscar attention. Even if there's no way it'll win...sigh...
"Throw on your darker shades and smile for the camera \\ I want you to know \\ that it gets better with time"
A silky smooth R&B jam that gets right to the point. The last few years I've held close to the mantra that time heals all wounds. It may not heal completely, but it's one of the only things that heals consistently. With this one, The Internet connect us to that mantra in three parts: Syd's tough but loyal love ("Quit cryin', ease your pain/Gon' be here either way/Nowhere to place the blame"), some spoken word wisdom from the lone album guest, Big Rube ("The easy path rarely leads to what our heart truly desires/In this life we must face many a worthy challenge for the outcome to satisfy us"), and a personal outro rap by bassist Patrick Paige II ("My ground is solid and no earthquake could not shake it/Ain't waiting on nothing, not even no reparations"). Did I mention it was silky smoooove? There's really not a ton more I can say about it other than I couldn't get enough of this song in 2018. The name says it all.
"Pierce in the side \\ Keepin' the note \\ Throwing me off \\ Dancing and blood "
Just after you pass the halfway point of "Dancing and Blood," something very simple but startling happens. As it reaches an inevitable crescendo, suddenly every musical element gives way to about two minutes of hypnotic
OM chanting. "
Om" or "
Aum" is the sacred sound and symbol of existence in the ancient religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism
. When I first listened to this track, I was immediately sucked into this seemingly insignificant moment. I even drifted in and out of sleep, waking up as the tracks shifted, wondering just how long that moment had been. It's about as minimalist as minimalism gets in its retreat to the sacred sounds that many consider the basis for sound in general. The more I thought about the song's end, the more powerful the entire thing became. Bolstered by a muffled rhythm that literally sounds like the slowed
ultrasound heartbeat of a baby in the womb, woven together by the sparse vocal threads of married couple Alan and Mimi (hard to tell who's singing where, which I think is the point), and dressed with haunting lyrical phrases, appropriately distorted and cryptically abstract. Like the rest of the songs on
Double Negative, it's meant to be digested with the whole in mind, further evidenced by the
mesmerizing video triptych Low produced of the opening three movements. "Dancing and Blood" serves as the spiritual connector of the trio; a spellbinding piece, void of color, featuring an old man defying his age that leads somberly into another documenting the fragility of age. Ultimately, I think it's a song of balance. Fear and contentment, birth and destruction. Dancing and blood. It's damn existential, is what it is.
1\\Girlfriend\\by Christine and the Queens (feat. Dâm-Funk)
"Those who used to pass by me \\ think they are baffling a liar \\ F-fuck is you? You don't even taste much better!"
And at the end of the year, sometimes it's a perfectly executed bubblegum jam that ends up sticking to your soul. One that fuses the best parts of prime
MJ,
Janet, and
Madonna (in song and in the gloriously old school dance video). One that kicks gender stereotypes with style and wit, without being obnoxious about it. And one who's opening word happens to be my own name. That never hurts, right? French songstress Héloïse Letissier bounces about playfully as "Chris," her androgynous alter ego, calling out both men and women and the games they play. "Girlfriend?" she ponders, "Don't feel like a 'girlfriend.' But 'lover?' Damn, I'd be your lover!" Despite English being her second language, she has a quirky charisma to her control of it (not unlike madame
Björk), grafting the words to the rhythm in place. It might come across as clunky to some, and if that's the case you're welcome to the equally entrancing
French original (but you'll miss out on some creatively placed F-bombs). There's nothing else particularly life altering about this tune. I just simply couldn't get enough of it. I would go to bed humming it, I would wake up dancing to it. I would catch myself in public singing "F-fuck is you" way too loudly. I can't think of another song that got my white ass so completely TURNT in 2018.
Touché, Chris. Touché.
