75. "Gardenia" - Iggy Pop
74. "I Can't Give Everything Away" - David Bowie
73. "A 1000 Times" - Hamilton Leithauser + Rotsam
72. "Shut Up Kiss Me" - Angel Olsen
71. "Hands of Time" - Margo Price
70. "Prayers / Triangles" - Deftones
69. "Lake by the Ocean" - Maxwell
68. "Human Performance" - Parquet Courts
67. "Black America Again" - Common
66. "Joanne" - Lady Gaga
65. "Summer Friends" - Chance the Rapper f. Francis and The Lights & Jeremih
64. "Female Vampire" - Jenny Hval
63. "Atomic Number" - case/lang/veirs
62. "Dis Generation" - A Tribe Called Quest
61. "Fill in the Blank" - Car Seat Headrest
60. "California Kids" - Weezer
59. "Starboy" - The Weeknd f. Daft Punk
58. "I Have Been to the Mountain" - Kevin Morby
57. "The Ship" - Brian Eno
56. "Pain" - LVL UP
55. "The Sound" - The 1975
54. "Sunday Love" - Bat For Lashes
53. "Healthy Moon" - DIIV
52. "1990x" - Maxwell
51. "Untitled 02/06.23.2014" - Kendrick Lamar
50. "Sister" - Angel Olsen
49. "If I Ever Was a Child" - Wilco
48. "Sandcastles" - Beyonce
47. "Troubled Calls" - SubRosa
46. "4th of July 2015 (Sandy)" - Cymbals Eat Guitars
45. "FDT" - YG f. Nipsey Hussle
44. "Hot Tramps" - Beach Slang
43. "I Need You" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
42. "VRY BLK" - Jamila Woods f. Noname
41. "Untitled 07/2014 - 2016" - Kendrick Lamar
40. "No More Parties in L.A." - Kanye West f. Kendrick Lamar
39. "Drone Bomb Me" - ANOHNI
38. "No Problem" - Chance the Rapper f. 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne
37. "Lite Spots" - Kaytranada
36. "Best To You" - Blood Orange f. Empress Of
35. "Glowed Up" - Kaytranada f. Anderson.Paak
34. "Come Down" - Anderson.Paak
33. "Sorry" - Beyonce
32. "Beast Whip" - Cobalt
31. "Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales" - Car Seat Headrest
30. "High Castle Rock" - Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band
29. "Can't Stop the Feeling" - Justin Timberlake
28. "Keep It Between the Lines" - Sturgill Simpson
27. "Elevator Operator" - Courtney Barnett
26. "Somebody Else" - The 1975
25. "Work" - Rihanna f. Drake
24. "Yesterday" - Noname
23. "Really Doe" - Danny Brown f. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Earl Sweatshirt
22. "Black Beatles" - Rae Sremmurd f. Gucci Mane
21. "We The People" - A Tribe Called Quest
20. "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1" - Kanye West f. Kid Cudi & Kelly Price
19. "Million Reasons" - Lady Gaga
18. "Don't Touch My Hair" - Solange
17. "Adore" - Savages
16. "Vice" - Miranda Lambert
15. "Beneath Fields" - Heron Oblivion
14. "E.V.P." - Blood Orange
13. "Ever South" - Drive-By Truckers
12. "Highway Anxiety" - William Tyler
11. "Hold Up" - Beyonce
10. "80s Mercedes" - Maren Morris
Yeah, I was not expecting to love this as much as I do, nor did I expect to really be pleased by Maren Morris in general. On paper it should be something I wouldn't really be drawn to - a young, contemporary country artist (one that is beloved by the modern industry, no less) using 80's touchstones to sing a decidedly pop tune. But, damn, that hook is undeniable
9. "Redbone" - Childish Gambino
Speaking of unexpected... I was not at all prepared for Donald Glover's turn from meme-nerd rapper (I mean, this last album was actually called Because The Internet) to surprisingly believable funk merchant. As high as my doubts were, and believe me they were really high, he really pulls it off. "Redbone", deservedly, managed to hit a relatively high level of mainstream appeal, it's really difficult to deny the soulfully warm embrace of the slinky minimalism and Glover's falsetto (apparently not at all pitch-shifted).
8. "Lazarus" - David Bowie
Given the timing of it's release, Bowie's subsequent death and Tony Visconti's comments about it being a sort of self-epitaph, it's going to be impossible to ever separate this from the end of a legend, but I think it works as one of Bowie's greatest latter day singles even when we attempt to set all that aside. The entire track is a looming shadow, a funeral dirge that somehow also manages to locate the serenity within, note the lyric, "I'll be free / just like that bluebird".
7. "Burn the Witch" - Radiohead
Not that Radiohead has been anything close to a singles band since the 1990s, but this was them most I've loved a pre-release single by the band in a long, long time. When the Claymation Wicker Man style video was released, I must have watched it about five times in a row - mesmerized by the clipped strings just as much as I was by the visuals. A seeming screed against slogan spouting authoritarians, it made for timely commentary, sure, but it also gave us one of Yorke's more engaging vocals turns in some time.
6. "Cranes in the Sky" - Solange
A lot of attention is, understandably, spent on the fact that Solange is Beyonce's (previously) less successful little sister. Not only is that reductive, it isn't helpful to continually put the two of them on the same page, as Solange's path is drastically different from that of her sister. Solange's is one of moments - the quiet, the intimate, the individual - best exemplified by this moving ode to self-care through those crippling bouts of loneliness. Like many great songs, it's a simple concept rendered with thoughtfulness and color.
5. "Ultralight Beam" - Kanye West f. Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price & Kirk Franklin
Despite multiple appearances on my list of favorite tracks of the year, I found West's Life of Pablo to be an exceptionally flawed album and the first major disappointment of his career. However, "Ultralight Beam" will stand up as one of his best singles, joining an already impressive list. Other than his work as a curator and producer, though, West himself ends up being one of the lesser stars on the track. MVP honors go to Chance's giddy verse, but this is a team effort to give Kanye the heavenly gospel track he's always been aiming for.
4. "Blackstar" - David Bowie
While it was technically released as a standalone single ahead of Bowie's final album, I feel like "Lazarus" did that job better. The sort-of title track would have worked better to be one of those album tracks that blows you away and cements your love for the whole thing. Bowie's longest song since "Station to Station", it's a ten minute avant-garde art rock song that somehow manages to cohesively roll in jazz, electronica, torch ballads, and drum and bass, among many others I'm probably missing. The lyrics feature Bowie at his inscrutable best, filled with possible nods to everything from Elvis Presley to astrophysics. The comparisons to "Station to Station" go beyond length, as Bowie hasn't felt this exploratory since the late '70s.
3. "True Love Waits" - Radiohead
This one wasn't that much of a surprise, since it's been performed by the band since 1995, recorded multiple times before being ditched for various albums and even had a live performance included in a live EP. Still, finally having an official studio recording after 21 years was appreciated, even if the ultimate piano-led arrangement was different from what we may have heard before. It's one of the "prettiest" Radiohead songs ever, though that descriptor rarely applies to this band. I'm tempted to believe that Yorke had to wait for himself to age into this song to do it justice.
2. "You Want It Darker" - Leonard Cohen
No, Leonard, we don't want it any darker. 2016 was dark enough, filled with death, unease, fear, anger and an a steady, unsettling dread. Your death didn't help, but at least you saw fit to grant us one last gift. On its face, the song seems to find you staring death down and accepting your mortality, but as usual, you just couldn't leave it that simple. Your tongue remained firmly in cheek yet ready to bit, not content to drown in sorrow and kicking against the pricks to the very end.
1. "Formation" - Beyonce
Beyond the video's striking imagery, beyond the surprise roll-out, beyond the Red Lobster shout-out, beyond the thousand thinkpieces inspired by it, "Formation" stands as possibly the song we all most needed in our lives in 2016. Though never explicitly political in the lyrics themselves, the entire thing felt like one huge middle finger to the establishment. Which establishment? All of 'em. Backed by a powerful Mike Will beat, Beyonce has, despite her one time alter ego, never sounded this fierce and defiant. I like to think that every play, spin, view and listen helped us all release a little of the pressure that continued to build throughout the year. Which is exactly the kind of music we needed in 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment