A previous version had Youtube embeds for every individual song but that was causing performance issues so here's a Spotify playlist with every song.
Action Bronson - "Zambezi" (ft. Roc Marciano)
I haven't really checked in with Action Bronson since 2015 because his shtick got a little old, but I heard enough good things about Cocodrillo Turbo that it piqued my curiosity. "Zambezi" turns back the clock to 2012, with Bronson and Roc Marciano doing what they do best, dropping smooth bars over an eclectic beat.
Akasaekari - "koi no yukue"
This is what it has come to: I'm posting anime songs on this list. My Dress-Up Darling was one of my favorite anime of the year and it took the title for best end credits song, with the incredibly bubbly "koi no yukue." It's even better if you listen to it along with the cute visuals of the show's ED.
Alex G - "End Song"
I don't really get the obsession that people 3-10 years younger than me have with Alex G, and I didn't even bother listening to his album that came out this year. Instead, I'm giving spotlight to a song he did for the soundtrack to the film We're All Going to the World's Fair. Maybe it's because it played after a film that left me stunned, but I find this song is so sad and haunting.
Anais Mitchell - "On Your Way (Felix Song)"
Back when Hadestown was a little-known album and not an award-winning Broadway musical, Anais Mitchell was hyped up in some circles as an ambitious songwriter in the vein of Joanna Newsom, and I always wanted to take a deeper dive. The songs on her most recent album aren't necessarily ambitious, but I'm not complaining, because sometimes lovely, unassuming folk music is what you need.
Anxious - "You When You're Gone"
Little Green House, the debut from emo band Anxious, is full of hard-charging songs, which is why the switch-up they pull at the end of the album is so effective. A 5 minute journey that incorporates soft female vocals, "You When You're Gone" is terrific, one of my favorite album closers of the year.
Arctic Monkeys - "Perfect Sense"
I'll be honest and admit that I'd prefer for Arctic Monkeys to go back to making guitar-based rock music, but I can't deny that Alex Turner has a hell of a croon, which he uses to great effect on the swooning knockout "Perfect Sense." It sounds exactly like the song an old school lounge singer would perform right as the patrons are being ushered out for the night.
Armani Ceasar - "Hunnit Dolla Hiccup" (ft. Benny the Butcher & Stove God Cooks)
At 31 years old, I'm very much an oldhead now, so it's only fitting that I include as much Griselda music as I can on this list. This song goes hard -- I'm not the first person to say that Armani Ceasar sounds like Lil Kim but she does, and that's pleasing to an oldhead like me. Benny the Butcher does his Benny the Butcher thing, which is also pleasing to an oldhead like me. Stove God Cooks? We'll talk about him a few songs below.
Band of Horses - "Warning Signs"
I have not been checking for Band of Horses albums since 2010, but I heard that Things Are Great was a return to form, so I gave some of it a sample and you know what? It's pretty good! This specific brand of earnest, wide-open indie rock has fallen out of fashion, but it turns out it still hits hard when done well.
Bartees Strange - "Heavy Heart"
Bartees Strange didn't level up as much as everyone was expecting him to this year, but "Heavy Heart" shows that he still is fantastic at writing soaring, big tent songs.
beabadoobee - "Talk"
It appears that beabadoobee is destined to merely be a singles artist for me. She can't hold my attention for a whole album, but there are always a handful of massive tunes that I think completely work. "Talk" is the one on Beatopia, a bubblegrunge earworm that suits her way better than her forays into more twee sounds.
Beach Bunny - "Entropy"
It remains funny to me that Beach Bunny of all the bands of their ilk were the ones to become massively popular thanks to TikTok (I think?). I like what they do, but if you've heard one song you've pretty much heard them all, and it was a busy year, so I just picked the one song from their latest album that sounded the best and listened to that one repeatedly. "Entropy" is one of the best examples of that Beach Bunny formula -- it's hard not to get that "somebody's gonna figure me out" hook stuck in your head.
Ben Quad - "Blood for the Blood God"
Ben Quad is a band from Oklahoma that I heard about from emo guru Ian Cohen, and I quite like what I've sampled. "Blood for the Blood God" contains everything you'd expect from midwest emo music: the noodling guitars, the gang vocals, the involved drum patterns -- they're all there and they're executed very well.
Benny the Butcher - "Back 2x" (ft. Stove God Cooks)
Benny the Butcher, Westside Gunn, and Conway the Machine are the figureheads of Griselda, but their affiliates are the ones who are really exciting these days. We all know that Boldy James is the best and most consistent rapper working right now, but I'm here to spread the gospel of Stove God Cooks. Every time he hops on a track, it's like a holiday. Just listen to his verse on "Back 2x." Listen to it! The way he builds and paces the verse, the stacking of basketball references culminating in that bonkers Charles Barkley line, the playful humor. It's Stove God's world and we're mere guests. I can't wait for him to drop his album.
Big Thief - "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You"
Because of the intense love that Big Thief gets from the critical community, there's also a sizeable corner of the internet that has a visceral distrust of them. And though I'm a fan, sometimes I do wonder "Why is it that this is the band that seems to be the exception to the 'Indie Rock Is No Longer Cool' edict that a publication like Pitchfork has seemed to adopt in recent years?" Then I listen to a song like "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You," and I remember what makes them special. To listen to this track is to hear magic being conjured right before you. I can't even fully describe its power, there's something alchemical and wonderous that exists at the core of it and between the notes. Big Thief aren't necessarily "the only band that matters," but damn they make some incredible songs.
BlocBoy JB - "Smoke" (ft. EST Gee)
Remember BlocBoy JB? He's still doing his thing and having a lot of fun with "Smoke," a song where he and EST Gee trade rhymes with a ton of chemistry.
Boldy James - "0 Tre Nine" (ft. Gue Wop)
It appears that Boldy James never sleeps, as he just put out his fourth record of 2022 a week and a half ago. That level of output would be annoying if he wasn't on such a hot streak. I haven't even gotten to two of this year's releases and of the two I have heard, I vastly prefer his Futurewave collaboration Mr. Ten08, but for this list I chose "0 Tre Nine" from Fair Exchange No Robbery. There's nothing I love more than hearing two rappers trade off bars, and there's a section in the middle where Boldy and Gue Wop's eyes roll back and they're in perfect sync, passing incredible mini-verses to one another like a hot potato.
Broken Bells - "Invisible Exit"
James Mercer needs to be making a new Shins album, but "Invisible Exit" sounds enough like a Chutes Too Narrow ballad that I'll take it.
James Mercer needs to be making a new Shins album, but "Invisible Exit" sounds enough like a Chutes Too Narrow ballad that I'll take it.
Built to Spill - "Spiderweb"
When the Wind Forgets Your Name is comforting in the way that good-not-great albums from aging legends usually are. And like the best of those kind of albums, it always uncorks one song that stands with some of the band's best work. "Spiderweb" finds that impossible middle ground that Built to Spill seem to often land on, where it's expansive but immediate at the same time.
Camp Trash - "Riley"
I follow Keegan Bradford, the lead guitarist of Camp Trash, on Twitter and I've been following since he was just a music critic and Camp Trash were only a meme that hadn't officially released any music. So it's pretty surreal to see that they're not only real, but beloved now. Anyway, the point is that if you've followed Keegan long enough, you know how much he loves The Weakerthans, and the band makes good on that love on multiple songs, but especially "Riley."
Career Day - "No Problem"
I know nothing about Career Day, but I heard this on The Alternative's great weekly playlist and it sounds like something that would be on the soundtrack to an EA Sports video game. That's just about the highest compliment I can give a song.
Carly Cosgrove - "The Great Doheny"
You can tell Carly Cosgrove are a fun band because their name is a combination of Miranda Cosgrove and the character she played on iCarly. Many of their song titles are iCarly references too. The music rocks too, exhibited by "The Great Doheny," which evokes what I imagine most people's 20s were like.
Carly Rae Jepsen - "Go Find Yourself or Whatever"
It's insane to me that Carly Rae Jepsen hasn't made a whole album with Rostam Batmanglij yet. The three songs she's done with him are, if not the best songs she's ever done, then they're certainly the most interesting sounding ones in her catalog. "Go Find Yourself or Whatever" arrives towards the end of The Loneliest Time and it's a total knockout. It's spacious and vulnerable and it just tears me up inside whenever I hear it. Maybe the appeal of the Rostam joints is that they're somber curveballs in the midst of high octane bangers, but I just want to see what kind of crack they could cook up together over the length of a whole record.
Carolesdaughter - "Target Practice"
Inside of me there is a teenage girl desperate to get out, and she gets to express herself through my love of songs like "Target Practice," which is a perfect piece of brattiness, complete with a humungous hook. Music writers seem hellbent on assigning a pop-punk revival to artists like Olivia Rodrigo, who had maybe two songs on her album that sounded like being at Hot Topic in 2005, but somebody like Carolesdaughter is doing it for real.
caroline - "Dark blue"
I wish I got more out of this caroline record that alot of people like, which is part post-rock, part emo, and part indie-folk. It's especially a shame because the opening song "Dark blue" is a hell of a mission statement, building patiently one element at a time over the course of six and a half minutes. It's gorgeous and breathtaking music, and if they only make one song per album with that kind of power, maybe that's enough.
Cece Coakley - "Monday Morning"
VH1 Top 20 Countdown music. Rachel Perry-core. If you know, you know.
Charli XCX - "Yuck"
"Yuck" seems to be a divisive song amongst Charli XCX fans, and by that I mean most people think it's one of the best songs on Crash while one person I follow on Twitter hates it. Count me in the former camp -- it's my favorite on an album that ultimately isn't high on my Charli rankings. I tend to like her more left field, PC Music stuff, but songs like "Yuck" are a reminder that she's very good at writing down-the-middle pop songs.
Cheekface - "Pledge Drive"
Cheekface make the kind of talky, clever music that could be very annoying if done poorly, but they narrowly avoid that with bouncy instrumentation that buoys the lyrics on "Pledge Drive." That repeated, neurotic "nobody's mad at me" self-talk over the chorus goes hard.
Cloakroom - "Lost Meaning"
I'll admit I'm getting sick of the shoegaze wave, which I was never all that onboard with anyway. But "Lost Meaning" is heavy and when I hear what Cloakroom's doing, I start to think that perhaps shoegaze isn't so boring after all.
Conway the Machine - "Drumwork" (ft. Lxvethegenius & Jae Skeese)
Apologies to my brother, a Denver Broncos fan, for picking a song where Conway brags by rapping "I'm Russell Wilson how I wiggle through duress, nigga / Picture me stressed, my nigga." Clearly this song was made before the football season started, because Russell Wilson has really been stinking it up this season, huh? That whole Conway verse rules though, and so does the part where Jae Skeese says "She threw me bomb pussy so I had to Laviska Shenault it." Rap is a wonderful genre.
Dazy & Militarie Gun - "Pressure Cooker"
"Pressure Cooker" really took off with a certain type of guy this year who loves DIY and punk-adjacent music, and it's easy to see why. There's something appealing and left field about Militarie Gun (a loud hardcore band) and Dazy (a fuzzy power pop band) combining their powers to make a song that sounds like 10 seconds of it would get played during a commercial for a 90s alt rock compilation album.
Death Cab For Cutie - "Foxglove Through the Clearcut"
Here comes another song from a band I checked out on, but who put out an album that people were saying was a return to form. I think those people are mostly right, though some of the songs I've heard from Death Cab For Cutie's 10th album sound a little too produced for me. However, I have nothing bad to say about "Foxglove Through the Clearcut," a song that has Ben Gibbard talking his verses over twilit guitars and a soft drum patter before exploding into a big chorus. It kind of reminds me of a Weakerthans song, which is never a bad thing.
Destroyer - "It's in Your Heart Now"
Dan Bejar kicks off LABYRINTHITIS with a sprawling seven-minute beauty to prove why he's one of our best and most enigmatic songwriters. That chugging New Order guitar line that carries most of the song is a corker.
Disq - "The Curtain"
Disq have been around for a couple of years, but I only became aware of them when their second album got a little bit of buzz this year. This is one of those records I wish I could've explored more if there were infinite hours in the day, because "The Curtain," with its wiry acoustic guitar-led groove, has a kitchen sink sound that reminds me of the kind of indie rock alot of bands were making in the mid-2000s.
Doechii - "Bitch I'm Nice"
"Bitch I'm Nice" is only a minute and 27 seconds long, but that's all it needs to make an impression. Doechii comes in all swagger and purpose, and is gone before you even have time to get your bearings.
Duke Deuce - "JUST SAY THAT" (ft. GloRilla)
With songs like "Crunk Ain't Dead" and now an album titled Crunkstar, Memphis rapper Duke Deuce has my attention and my sword, and he lives up to the promise of making songs to lose your mind to on "Just Say That," a song that's so fun and full of energy. I remain a little unconvinced of the GloRilla phenomenon -- she's solid, but just strikes me as a less good Megan Thee Stallion -- but she provides hard hitting vibes that match the song's temperature.
E L U C I D - "Nostrand" (ft. Billy Woods)
Out of the two Armand Hammer rappers, Billy Woods is my clear favorite over Elucid, so it's only natural that I gravitated towards the three songs on the latter's solo album that featured Woods. He gets off a bunch of striking lines as usual: "The world different from the back of a police car," "The serpent coiled in his den / Spoiled meat on the wind / Boiled beef intestine, tomorrow lookin’ grim / We ate facing away, our light dimmed," "Every day I walk past people begging to live."
Earl Sweatshirt - "2010"
Earl Sweatshirt stopped that boring, woozy half-rapping he's been doing since Some Rap Songs. Thank god.
EST Gee - "Come Home"
I skipped out on EST Gee when he was first popping off a couple of years ago because I assumed he was another one of those melodic, Lil Baby type of rappers that just bounce off of me, but even though he traffics in those circles, he's much more of a truth-telling bruiser type. I dig "Come Home" for that reason, and I should definitely become more of an EST Gee guy.
Father John Misty - "Chloe"
Father John Misty has seemingly fallen completely out of fashion. He was once the topic of endless discourse when he'd drop an album, but Chloe and the Next 20th Century barely made a dent this year. Well, regardless of all of that, I love the partial title track that starts the album: this old school, big band showman song with Classic Hollywood soundtrack strings. Mr. Misty has always been at his best when he's writing wry character studies that have a little bit of derision for their subjects, so naturally he's in his bag here on "Chloe."
Felicita - "Cluck" (ft. Kero Kero Bonito)
I learned about this song because I'm a Kero Kero Bonito fan and I follow them on Spotify. I don't even know how to describe it, but it's weird and catchy and I love it. When the first chicken clucking sound happens, I laugh every time.
Finesse2Tymes - "Get Even"
I'd like to take this entry to lament the loss of Tom Breihan's weekly Stereogum rap column, Status Ain't Hood, where I got alot of my rap recommendations. They have a new monthly rap column from a different writer now, but it's not quite the same, and I've felt lost at sea with rap music for the last three months of the year. Anyway, I learned about this song from Tom's column. It's just good, no-frills rap music.
fka twigs - "oh my love"
Maybe this makes me a square, but I prefer when Twigs goes more conventional pop/R&B like this.
Foyer Red - "Flipper"
I mentioned this on last year's list when I had a Foyer Red song on it, but they're doing that 2009 quirky Brooklyn band thing so well. "Flipper" is cool as hell -- constantly shifting, jittery, and strangely beautiful. At this point, I'm anxiously awaiting a full-length album from them.
Frankie Cosmos - "Empty Head"
Is this the first Frankie Cosmos song that's five minutes long? The master of the bite-sized banger stretches out on "Empty Head" and the results are gorgeous, keeping that same plainspoken poetry but applying it to something more exploratory. Maybe keeping things to two minutes was limiting Greta Kline.
Fresh - "Why Do I"
Raise Hell is a charming little album full of great songs that I enjoyed discovering this year. Album closer "Why Do I" is my favorite, a punky little self-conscious tune that's reminiscent of Los Campesinos.
Glacier Veins - "Autonomy"
I can't say I know much about Glacier Veins, but "Autonomy" is a wonderfully catchy, straightforward song, and I love the lead singer's voice.
Goon - "Fruiting Body"
Something about "Fruiting Body" feels like returning back to nature. That easygoing, rootsy sound and the cooing lead vocals lull you into a relaxed state.
Greet Death - "Panic Song"
What I'd heard of Greet Death before this year was indie rock of the more slowcore variety, so I was pretty surprised by them putting out a big, clean sounding song like this. But hey, it's terrific.
The Greeting Committee - "Sort of Stranger" (ft. Briston Maroney)
Folky indie songs with boy-girl vocals have gone out of style, and probably with good reason, because we were reaching an oversaturation point about 10 years ago. But it's nice to be reminded the power a good version of it holds.
Harry Styles - "Late Night Talking"
Let's get one thing clear: Harry Styles is the most boring pop star we have right now. I do not understand why everyone talks about him like he's the new David Bowie. Sure, wearing dresses is cool (although Young Thug did it first) and it's nice that he helps fans come out at his concerts and whatever other nicecore things that get PopBuzz articles written about him, but all of the praise for those things elides one inalienable truth: his music just isn't very good. Every time somebody acts like Harry Styles is someone whose art we should be paying attention to, every time some skeptic is converted and says "no this one is good," I listen and am unimpressed. But "Late Night Talking"? "Late Night Talking" is the one. It's catchy, it's breezy, it's...dare I say...cool? The rest that I've heard of Harry's House is either a snooze or embarrassing fake Prince louche-pop, but we'll always have "Late Night Talking."
Horsegirl - "Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)"
I love everything about Horsegirl's story. A bunch of Chicago teenagers meet at a youth program and bond over their love of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine and decide to make music inspired by their heroes -- it's enough to bring a tear to an aging indie rock fan's eye. I think that as a whole, their debut album still has some rough edges to work out, but the highs indicate they could become an incredible band in due time. "Dirtbag Transformation (Still Dirty)" is one of those winners, a rough and tumble, noisy nugget that sounds like their influences in an authentic, non-pandering way.
IDK - "Taco"
Are you a lapsed Kanye West fan who feels like they can't listen to his music anymore because he's a huge, hateful loser? Maybe IDK will help fill the void. The Kanye comparisons are actually superficial -- his voice sounds alot like early Kanye, but that's about where the similarities stop -- which is fine because his music has merits of its own. He put out an EP with Kaytranada earlier this year that has choice cuts like "Taco," a song where he floats over a lively beat led by house-influenced piano keys.
Jobber - "Entrance Theme"
Despite having a name like Jobber and giving all of their songs titles like "Hell in a Cell" and "Heel Turn," their music doesn't have anything to do with wrestling. But it still recalls the fun of wrestling and its ability to entertain while not taking itself too seriously. "Entrance Theme" has blaring new wave keyboards and sticky hooks that announce it as big, crunchy, no-holds-barred rock music.
John Legend - "Dope" (ft. JID)
John Legend has become such an avatar for middlebrow corniness that we've forgotten that he's capable of making good music. His first two albums are genuinely great adult contemporary R&B, and even though he's moved more towards making the kind of music that gets played during the end credits of a civil rights film, his voice has never stopped being awesome. All he needed to do was team up with JID on "Dope" to get his mojo back. This is legitimately one of my favorite songs on this list -- it's so smooth and energetic. Sure, it probably gets played in dentist waiting rooms, but you'll think "Damn, this dentist music is hitting."
Julia Jacklin - "I Was Neon"
I'm only a casual Julia Jacklin fan, but I appreciate the expansion of her sound on PRE PLEASURE, while still keeping the core of her appeal intact. I love the specificity of storytelling in "Lydia Wears a Cross" but my weakness for a catchy hook made me go with "I Was Neon." That insistent, increasingly desperate repetition of "Am I gonna lose myself again?" really burrows itself into your brain.
Kendrick Lamar - "We Cry Together" & "Mr. Morale"
I think my ultimate stance on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is "I guess it's good," but that's mostly because I have low standards. It's pretty clearly a step down from his previous work, and I've had little desire to return to it after the first week of its release, with the exception of these two songs. I had to choose both because they represent the two sides of Kendrick Lamar. "Mr. Morale," with its incredible Pharrell beat and blunt force spitting from Kendrick, represents the side of him that can make bangers like "Backseat Freestyle" and "Alright." "We Cry Together"? Well, that represents the Kendrick Lamar people often forget about: the wacky guy who makes ill-advised decisions. Everybody talks about the Pulitzer Prize winning lyricist, but he's also the man who made a song where an unhoused man turned out to be Jesus Christ. The man who did more voices on To Pimp a Butterfly than a Robin Williams standup special. The man who always feels a few wrong steps away from being a Nas-level hotep. "We Cry Together" is hilarious. It's stupid. I love it. People say it's a skip, but for someone who grew up listening to Eminem's "Kim," I just love it when a rapper records a song that must've made everyone in the studio go "...what the hell did I just watch?"
Kiwi Jr. - "Unspeakable Things"
Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary has some of my favorite synth sounds ever put to record. Dan Boeckner of that band produced this Kiwi Jr. song, and you can tell from the fantastic synth line it has.
Kura - "Waves"
I don't know how this goofy looking white kid got his hands on a Pi'erre Bourne beat, but this is a banger.
Lakeyah - "Mind Yo Business" (ft. Latto)
Sampling has gotten exponentially lazier in the past few years, but it's hard to even be mad about this song, which makes no effort of chopping up "Get Fucked Up" by Iconz (or "Get Crunked Up" for those of us who grew up on the clean version). That's a great song, and I love to be reminded that it exists!
Let's Eat Grandma - "Strange Conversations"
There might not be another album from this year that moves me as much as Let's Eat Grandma's sophomore record Two Ribbons does. Art about friendship hits me really hard, and the story of these two childhood friends growing apart as they entered their 20s and got more successful, only to figure things out and make an album about it makes me emotional every time I think about it. It helps that the songs are superb. The pensive, slowly building penultimate track "Strange Conversations" is my favorite, but there are so many gems on this album. It may not have gotten as much press as their debut, but I think it might be better.
Lupe Fiasco - "DRILL MUSIC IN ZION"
Earlier this year Lupe Fiasco did an interview with The Ringer where he talked about how he thinks that rappers get better as they age. His argument was that their minds keep sharpening, and it's just that they lose touch with what sound is hot, so they're perceived as falling off. I hear "DRILL MUSIC IN ZION," which features him at age 40 delivering some of his most impressively tangled rhyming ever, and I think that maybe he's onto something.
Mach-Hommy - "Gastronomie" (ft. Tha God Fahim)
I've lost track of Mach-Hommy post Pray for Haiti, but his verse on this makes me not mind having to sit through a God Fahim verse to get to it.
Mike Dimes - "HOME (Remix)" (ft. JID)
If you're hoping that JID rips this track apart, I've got good news for you...
Miranda Lambert - "Tourist"
One of these days I'm going to get really into Miranda Lambert. I like everything I've sampled, and "Tourist" is no different. This breezy, low-stakes song is a great listen that doesn't have that mainstream country effect of making me feel like I'm five seconds away from getting lynched.
MJ Lenderman - "You Are Every Girl to Me"
I never really fully dove into Boat Songs, but I did gravitate towards the songs that had more of a pulse on first listen: "Hangover Game," "SUV," "You Are Every Girl to Me," and "Taste Just Like It Costs." "You Are Every Girl to Me" is a perfect distillation of the Wednesday guitarist's appeal, as it stacks fuzz-addled, country-fried guitars on top of each other. You could play spot-the-reference and hear the resemblances to Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill, and Crazy Horse if you want to -- it's all there. But you can also sit back and let those riffs and the song's secret sentimental streak wash over you.
MUNA - "Handle Me"
When "Silk Chiffon," MUNA's hit song with Phoebe Bridgers, was all the rage on the internet last year, I did not understand it at all. I still think that song sounds corny as hell, but I'm a huge fan of "Handle Me," which is perfect "lose your virginity on a WB show" music.
NLE Choppa - "Shotta Flow 6"
I don't think I've ever listened to Shottas Flow 1 through 5, but somehow I was still able to follow the plot on this one.
Open Mike Eagle - "Burner Account" (ft. Armand Hammer)
Usually if you invite Billy Woods to give a feature verse, you do it with the knowledge that you're probably going to get killed on your own track, but Open Mike Eagle manages to get my favorite verse off on this song. I usually don't take to his staring-at-my-shoes delivery, but there's a confidence here that works well on him. Woods comes close with this though: "In the studio, talkin' crazy for a check / Stephen A. Smith, brother said he gotta get it while it's there to get."
Oso Oso - "Father Tracy"
Sore thumb didn't work for me as well as Basking in the Glow or The Yunahon Mixtape did, but it grows on me with every listen. Oddly enough, my favorite track is the sort of oddball "Father Tracy," which has this tropical vibe that almost makes it sound like a Jimmy Buffet song. But despite that, it's just too hard to deny how great it is when the song explodes into a classic Oso Oso chorus.
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - "Everyday"
I was never much of an Animal Collective guy back in their heyday, but I loved the warped, loop-heavy interpretation of 60s pop on this Panda Bear & Sonic Boom album. It was the soundtrack to lots of work from home days this fall.
Pet Fox - "Checked Out"
I had a Pet Fox song on last year's list that was sick and now this year I have a Pet Fox song that's sick. I think they just make sick songs. The way the lead singer hits that "Checked out" in a sharp way on the hook is one of those small choices that makes a huge difference.
Phoenix - "Tonight" (ft. Ezra Koenig)
Somebody on a podcast I listen to recently said that Phoenix has more great songs than The Strokes do. That's just insane. It also has nothing to do with this song, but I just needed to voice my disgust with that opinion. Phoenix have many great songs (not more than The Strokes, mind you) and this one that features Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend is another great one. I'm past the point of listening to full Phoenix albums -- although I hear Alpha Zulu is their best in a while -- but I can always count on them to deliver a home run single.
Plains - "Problem With It"
Longtime readers of this blog know well by now that Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee is one of my favorite artists working today, so of course I enjoyed her low-stakes side project she dropped this year with Jess Williamson under the name Plains. "Problem With It" is a wonderful slice of 90s country pop that's the most immediate song on the record, and it's a terrific display of Crutchfield's unmistakable voice and melodies.
Powers Pleasant - "Overseas" (ft. Maxo Kream, Kenny Mason, Erick the Architect & Bas)
I do love a good posse cut.
Pusha T - "Dreamin of the Past"
It's Almost Dry is the first time I found myself becoming a little tired of Pusha T's whole deal, and the Kanye West of it all certainly didn't help. But Kanye's beat on this is so killer it doesn't matter that it's some of the most horribly mixed mainstream music I've ever heard, and Pusha T doesn't miss his shot when given this fastball.
Ravyn Lenae - "Satellites"
There's already another song on the Ravyn Lenae album called "Lullabye," but that would've been a great title for the gorgeous reverie that is "Satellites." I don't even know how you make a song this beautiful and soothing.
Rina Sawayama - "This Hell"
The latest Rina Sawayama album seems to have flopped compared to the positive reception her previous one got, but I found some enjoyment in the songs I checked out. Sawayama's voice and willingness to go big and weird is reminiscent of Lady Gaga, and following that analogue, "This Hell" sounds like her "Bad Romance."
Roc Marciano - "Quantum Leap"
The godfather of the current dust rap movement came through with an album that showed everyone he's still better than the many rappers he fathered. I thought about quoting the most memorable lines on "Quantum Leap," but I was just grabbing the whole song.
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "Blue Eye Lake"
What makes Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever stand out is their three-guitar jangle rock assault, but their best work often comes from when they let their foot of the gas a little bit, like they do on "Blue Eye Lake." The song rests just above midtempo, giving those guitars a little more space to stretch out, and the results are sublime. That little "you can ride the back of a star and go anywhere" bit in the pre-chorus gets me revved up every listen.
Rome Streetz - "Soulja Boy" (ft. Conway the Machine)
Rome Streetz is another great Griselda affiliate doing the whole 90s tough talk revival thing. He sounds alot like Big L. I was going to choose "Serving," as my pick because him and Boldy James both drop complex and vivid verses over a trilling piano loop, but the thorough dressing down that Conway gives of an imaginary enemy in his verse on "Soulja Boy" is a marvel. "I can look at you and tell you never sold a brick in your life" is only the beginning.
Sada Baby - "Saynomo"
My Sada Baby love faded ever so slightly this year. He just puts out so much music that he feels a little burnt out creatively and has lost some of that ferocious unpredictability that made him so exciting when he first arrived. Despite all of that, Bartier Bounty 3 is still a pretty good record and when I returned back to it after some time away, I remembered how much I liked it.
Scorcher - "Ops" (ft. Tion Wayne)
I used to have such a huge aversion to any British rap, immediately scrunching my nose up as soon as I heard somebody with that accent trying to sound hard. I don't know what changed in the last few years, but I love all the grime and British drill that bubbles up over here. The kooky slang, the "bruv"s, the skeletal club beats; it's endlessly amusing to me. Listen to this song, whose hook is basically "All these enemies, all these ops" over and over, and tell me it's not a total delight.
Short Fictions - "Crushed Cigarettes (A Herculean Effort for Naught)"
Short Fictions' sophomore album was a step up from their already promising debut, and it's on the back of songs like "Crushed Cigarettes," a gigantic tune that hits like a tsunami once that chorus riff starts cranking up.
Silverbacks - "Nothing to Write Home About"
When a band gets described as post-punk nowadays, it usually means that they're really boring and cerebral, but Silverbacks are one of the few bands that are post-punk in the indie sleaze, Franz Ferdinand type of way. Their sophomore album Archive Material is another record full of great guitar jams, the best of those being "Nothing to Write Home About," the Talking Heads-esque galvanizing number that arrives right near the end of the tracklist.
Sonnyjim - "Barz Simpson" (ft. MF Doom & Jay Electronica)
I was not familiar with Sonnyjim and only checked this song out because it contained a new MF Doom verse. The Doom verse is good and I miss him, but I was surprised to be more taken by Sonnyjim himself, whose inward, slyly funny style is really absorbing. And shout out to Jay Electronica for not mentioning Louis Farrakhan for once in his verse.
Stella Donnelly - "How Was Your Day?"
Stella Donnelly's Flood really snuck up on me after a few weeks. At first I thought it was quite the letdown, since I loved Beware of the Dogs so much. But while I don't think it's as good as that album, it's full of charmers like "How Was Your Day?" that are sweet, conversational, and have a simple wisdom to them.
Superchunk - "Wild Loneliness"
Writing a riff like that and playing it on the acoustic guitar? That's why Superchunk are one of the best to ever do it. Bonus shout out to the equally terrific "This Night," which features Tracyanne Campbell of my favorite band Camera Obscura.
Sweet Pill - "Blood"
Sweet Pill are one of the bands currently keeping the spirit of old school Paramore alive (the other band you may hear more about in the next few days...). I couldn't be more jazzed about this. "Blood" has a groove that's heavier than anything Paramore did, but that ability to get a little raw while keeping a sense of delicacy has Paramore written all over it.
SZA - "Good Days"
"Good Days" has technically been out since the end of 2020, and there are lots of wonderful songs from SOS that I could highlight instead: "Gone Girl," "Ghost in the Machine," "F2F," "Far," "Special," you name it. But it's not my fault that SZA took so long to put this album out that one of the singles is two years old. "Good Days" is incredible, and it'd be a shame if I let a little thing like time keep me from putting it on this list.
Talker - "My Meds"
I honestly can't stand this trend of pop singers talking about going to therapy, taking meds, and learning to love themselves. I'm glad you're bettering yourself, but save it for the diary! However, I contain multitudes and love the melody and simplicity of this song.
Taylor Swift - "Would've, Could've, Should've"
I've Stockholm Syndrome'd myself into thinking Midnights is borderline great, and that opinion is helped by the fact that the 3AM Edition is full of total winners. It's actually a bit baffling that she left most of these songs off the standard edition. I have more to say about "Would've, Could've, Should've" for a special project I'll be working on in 2023, so I'll save that for then, but for now I'll just say that I love it when Taylor Swift goes scorched earth.
They Are Gutting a Body of Water - "kmart amen break"
Band names are getting out of control, but forget about that for a minute. If somebody played you the first few seconds of this song and then the last few seconds of it, you'd be amazed that they came from the same track and that those two chunks connect somehow. I applaud that kind of insanity.
Tone Tone - "Amazzon" (ft. E40 & Sada Baby)
E40 heard another rapper with a funny voice and said "I have to get a feature."
Trapland Pat - "Put That Shit On"
As much I hate to say it, South Florida doesn't have a very impressive rap scene. Even somebody like Denzel Curry, who should be right in my wheelhouse, has never moved the needle for me. So it was nice to learn about Trapland Pat earlier this year. "Put That Shit On" and many of the other best tracks on his album recall T.I. or Cash Money more than anything that popping off today.
Wet Leg - "Supermarket"
Wet Leg and I have been on a journey and a half together. I hated their mini-viral hit "Chaise Lounge," and what I hated even more was their fans' insistence that they're so fun and anyone who doesn't like them is just a grump. But I like fun music! Two women making irreverent indie rock is basically Antonio catnip. The problem is that I just didn't think the songs were all that good. Well, I did always like "Supermarket," which has a wistful air amidst its playfulness. Then about a week ago, I decided to give the whole album another shot after seeing it on so many end of the year lists, and all of a sudden I liked it. I still think "Chaise Lounge" and a few others are a little half baked, but count me in the pro-Wet Leg camp now.
Widowspeak - "While You Wait"
It feels like Widowspeak have been around forever, perennially under the radar and producing solid music whenever I check them out. "While You Wait" has a deadly combination of hypnotizing vocals, lovely New Age keyboards bubbling under the surface, and that crisp guitar chiming in. It's so dreamy.
Why Bonnie - "90 in November"
90 in November is a record I would have gotten to if there were a few more weeks in the year, because I was so impressed with the bits of it I checked out. The album's title track in particularly is a total knockout, so warm and inviting. It has a strange power and earthy draw that reminds me of early Big Thief.
Wild Pink - "See You Better Now" (ft. Julia Steiner)
Not a big Wild Pink guy despite all indications that I should be -- I just wish the guy would actually sing instead of doing that breathy whisper -- but they have my respect for having lots of songs where Ratboys vocalist Julia Steiner sings backup.
Yeat - "Poppin"
I have no idea what Yeat is saying on any of his songs, and it's possible I lose brain cells any time I listen to one of them, but this fake Pi'erre Bourne beat goes hard.
Young RJ - "Hands Up" (ft. Boldy James)
I see a Boldy James feature, I listen.
Yung Kayo - "down (one kount)"
I still haven't been able to fully wrap my head around what Young Thug disciple Yung Kayo is doing here, but it sounds very cool to me.
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