100 Songs I Liked In 2023

 

As always, my official end of the year lists will start on December 29th with my 20 favorite albums of 2023.  But there's so much great music out there that my album post could never cover all of the things I enjoyed over the past 12 months.  So this list is an additional rundown, one that highlights songs from albums that won't be appearing on the top 20 in a few days.  I'm including songs from my five honorable mention albums, so if you see something on here from an album you love, who knows, maybe that album is ranked somewhere between 21 and 25 for me.  And this year I'm running so late that I actually haven't finalized my top 20, so there could be a song from an album that sneaks into that list at the last minute.  I've been going with 100 songs for this list for that past few years, but this time I really had to stretch and find some tracks to stretch to those last few slots.  Hopefully you enjoy these picks and find some new music to get into!

50 Songs I Liked in 2019

On December 29th, I'll be starting off my end of the year lists with my 20 favorite albums of 2019.  But there's so much great music out there that my album post will only cover a very tiny portion of the stuff that's worth listening to.  So this list is an additional rundown, one that highlights songs from albums that won't be appearing on the top 20 in a few days.  I'm including songs from my five honorable mention albums, so if you see something on here from an album you love, who knows, maybe that album is ranked somewhere between 21 and 25 for me!  Even this doesn't fully cover the quality that the year had to offer, but it's a good representation of what I generally liked this year.

My 20 Favorite Albums of 2017

Peak TV has been a frequent term thrown around for the past few years to explain the overwhelming amount of content there is out there for consumers.  Maybe we should start talking about Peak Music as well.  The sheer amount of music available has been stressful for longer than it has been for TV, but this year in particular felt even more like there was just too much music from favorite acts and acclaimed newcomers to keep up with.  There are albums that I would have certainly gotten to in previous years, but I just couldn't this year.  Such are the concessions we must make as culture lovers in the year 2017.

If there was one narrative that dominated music -- or at least one that music critics tried to push the hardest -- it was the return of mid-2000s indie rock.  Bands like Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Dirty Projectors, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, The National, and Wolf Parade all made albums in 2017, some after a long absence, and all with varying levels of success.  It seemed like many of these bands were even trying to reckon with their place in the current conversation.  The zeitgeist may have partially moved past this brand of indie rock, but as somebody who grew up on the stuff, it was a mostly pleasant return.

And in the mainstream, rap had another major year.  To the dismay of many purists, rap is the new pop, with the branch of "mumble rap" experiencing unprecedented radio play and streaming numbers.  Songs like Post Malone's "Rockstar" and Lil Uzi Vert's "XO Tour Llif3" hit #1 on the Billboard charts, and it seemed like every month there was a new rap sensation of a similar vein that was capturing the ears of the wider public.  Regardless of how you feel about those songs (I'm not particularly crazy about either of the aforementioned tracks), it's nice to have rap of any classification get this kind of recognition.

So no matter which corner of the music world you chose to focus on, there was alot to chew on this year.  Let's celebrate all it had to offer.

The rules: Things are a little interesting this year.  Going by my usual criteria, the window of eligibility would be anything released between January 1, 2017 and now.  However, one of the biggest albums of this year was actually digitally released early at the very end of 2016.  So in order to still be able to recognize this record, I'm making the distinction of including things physically released in 2017.  Otherwise, everything is the same as usual.  This list can include albums, mixtapes, EPs, and anything in between.

Favorites: September 2017

Favorites is a monthly feature that offers up quick thoughts on media, both new and old, that I've recently enjoyed.

Movies

Raw

I don't think Raw came to theaters in my area -- and if it did, it was only here for a week -- so I was finally able to catch this horror-meets-coming-of-age film on Blu-Ray this month.  Garance Miller is terrific as Justine, a girl who starts experiencing cannibalistic urges during her first year at a high-pressure veterinary school.  And while I don't necessarily think we needed another film where a monstrous transformation serves as a metaphor for coming of age, some assured direction from Julia Ducournau (making her debut) is more than enough to make it worthwhile.  Just don't watch it on a full stomach.

Music

The National - Sleep Well Beast 

2017 has been branded as the return of mid-2000s indie rock, given that we've gotten new albums from stalwarts like Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Dirty Projectors, and The New Pornographers.  The National added to the deluge in September with the release of their seventh album, Sleep Well Beast, another set of perfectly cut jewels of songs.  Their previous album was a little more sedate, so I was worried that they would continue down that road, but Sleep Well is the most they've sounded like a rock band in while.  The guitars have been pushed to the front of the mix, the drums sound more propulsive than before, and they incorporate some electronic splashes to beef up their sound.  The result is their best album since Boxer came out 10 years ago.

Television

The Good Wife

I finally finished my yearlong journey through all 156 episodes of The Good Wife, CBS' recently completed legal drama.  At its best (which I consider to be the show's fifth season), The Good Wife was just as thrilling as its prestige competitors on cable, offering surprisingly complex arcs and a deep world from which any corner could be pulled for conflict.  And though the creators' boasting about the high bar of difficulty they were required to clear at 22 episodes per season, the length of each season did allow for some risk-taking and experimentation that a shorter model wouldn't allow for.  Great network dramas are becoming rarer by the day, so it felt nice watch this show and remember what the format is capable of.  Don't let preconceived notions stop you from giving this a spin.

Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later

I loved First Day of Camp, the prequel to cult classic Wet Hot American Summer, when it came out a couple of years ago.  The gang came together again for a sequel this time with 10 Years Later, another season of gentle, goofy comedy antics and I couldn't be happier.  While not as top-to-bottom excellent as First Day of Camp, 10 Years Later has some big laughs in it that make the whole endeavor worth it.  I wouldn't mind little expansions on this world every few years until the end of time.

Miscellaneous

I Hate Everyone But You (Novel)

I've written before about my love of Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin's hilarious YouTube channel, so I would've supported their debut YA novel regardless.  But I Hate Everyone But You benefits from being genuinely enjoyable as well.  Told in epistolary form, the novel follows Ava and Gen, two best friends who go to two different colleges and must deal with the trials and tribulations of long-distance friendship.  It's a funny and emotional tale about the work it takes to maintain any meaningful relationship, which is a valuable lesson for a culture that prioritizes romantic pairings over everything else.  I managed to read it in only two sittings, that's how good it is.

"Trouble Will Find Me" Continues The National's Winning Streak

Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers was released in 2003 and since then, The National have been on a roll, putting out fantastic album after fantastic album.  Consistency is a hard thing when you're a band.  As time goes on, it's difficult to find new ideas, the group's rhythm can change -- any number of variables could alter slightly and completely mess up the formula.  With all of this to consider, bands are lucky to have two great albums back to back, let alone a handful.  What's even more remarkable about The National's output is that each of their albums have a slightly different voice while still maintaining their signature sound.  Trouble Will Find Me is no different, somehow finding a new shade to their sonics without overly tweaking the dynamic.

Once again, lead singer Matt Berninger is one of the main draws on this album, delivering his deep croon that's as sonorous and probing as ever.  Lyrically, he's always taken on the role of the glassy-eyed observer -- numb, but desperate to feel something again.  Here, he brings a little bit of everything.  There's the bizarre lyrics that recall the days of Alligator, like "I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park."  Then songs like "Humiliation" return to that middle aged ennui from Boxer that Berninger knows so well.  Elsewhere, High Violet can be seen in the damaged soul pondering that appears in the many references to heaven and demons on songs like "Graceless," "Heavenfaced," and "Demons."  In fact, Trouble Will Find Me is an apt name given how much the entire album is filled with this sense of cosmic unluckiness.  Loss is the pervasive feeling on the album, with many of the songs concerning themselves with losing your job, your youth, and the one you love.  On "Demons," Berninger sings about losing the battle with depression, trying so hard to be positive but being unable to get past what's plaguing you.  There's a world-weariness that slumps on to every National song, but it clouds Trouble Will Find Me even more, as if the band is just getting too old for the city they live in.

As wide-ranging and all-encompassing as the lyrical style and themes are, the band has decided to streamline the actual music this time around.  Usually, they swaddle the naked emotion of their lyrics in beautifully ornate arrangements, but Trouble Will Find Me strips things down to the essentials.  This bare-bones approach just makes the stakes higher and the drama all the more direct.  The production feels stormy, but like those approaching minutes where the sky is a gray smudge and the downpour is momentarily just a threat and not reality.  There are moments when it does thunder though, as seen at the end of "Sea of Love" and "Humiliation."  Drummer Bryan Devendorf is the group's not-so-secret weapon, and he's forced to restrain himself far too often, but the cathartic moments where he gets to let loose are the highlights of the album.  There's just an excellent accumulation of feelings and ideas on this record -- I always start it skeptical and by the end of the 55 minutes of slow emotional erosion, I've come around to finding it a satisfying experience.

Is "satisfying" enough when it comes The National, one of the best bands of the last decade?  Trouble Will Find Me never reaches the heights of Boxer, the band's best, and it always feels like you're waiting for the songs to hit another gear, but they never do.  Usually, The National are like alcohol -- you have to take a few sips and wait a little while before the intoxication sets in.  With this one, the songs don't reveal much more nuance on repeat listens.  Even if it's their least accomplished album in the last 10 years, Trouble Will Find Me is pretty great nonetheless, and a sign that The National are still one of the most consistent bands in rock music.