The penultimate batch:
21. Piano Trap (Lil Wayne):
with the news yesterday of him really in need of a Presidential pardon explaining much, Wayne has problems. Maybe that's why he sounds so urgent, so hungry on this brilliant track!
22. Self-Effacing (Sparks):
you know when a ditty is successful when you catch yourself humming merrily along, not even the real words, long after the song has stopped playing.
23. Psychic (Serpentwithfeet):
I've likened him to Trent D'arby before but here you'd swear they were humming together.
24. 53.49 (Childish Gambino):
the only track on Gambino's weird new album that fleshes out its funk groove with real lyrics and ideas. No surprise it stands out like a sore thumb.
25. Agreeable (Cautious Clay):
the sound of a soul brother just getting warmed up.
26. Other Side (Shamir):
Shamir's foray into country soul is the standard that others should take note of.
27. Black Parade (Beyonce):
Intertwining ‘Black Parade’ and its Juneteenth release with the Black Lives Matter protests, Beyoncé highlights the on-going racism prevalent within society world-wide. Singing “being black, maybe that’s the reason why / they always mad”, she clarifies what some people still refuse to accept – the colour of a persons skin immediately gives them privilege or puts them at a disadvantage. George Floyd was not knelt on for over 8 minutes simply over a cheque, he was brutally murdered due to the fact that he was black. To continue referring Floyd and the protests, Beyoncé mentions “rubber bullets boucin’ off me” to highlight the ‘nonlethal’ weapons that are being used with intent to cause harm. In the following line, she sings “made a picket sign off your picket fence”, juxtaposing the white American dream associated with suburban living, and the on-going protests that are aiming to dismantle this hierarchical way of life. (THE EDGES)
28. Negus Poem 1&2 (Keiyaa):
not sacrificing soul for message, Keiyaa connects all the dots superbly.
29. Funeral (Miguel):
Miguel is on such a roll now that even in a year where he was mostly AWOL he can just casually prep this stunning, silky track for an upcoming EP and still strike gold.
30. Graveyard (Dalton Harris):
no doubt a frustrating year for the X Factor winner but personal turmoil aside, his work here makes it clear that the title was no fluke.
31. Cyclical (Sheep, Dog & Wolf):
it always amazes me how my year-end lists always manage to have McBride in close proximity to Bon Iver, the artist whose music seems the most akin to the New Zealander. After tracking his career for nine years now, I know what a McBride track will sound like but that doesn't mean that I'm not wowed every time.
32. If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) (The 1975):
Matty Healy is hung up on the “girl of your dreams,” who he can only connect with via FaceTime. “I need to get back, I’ve gotta see the girl on the screen,” he announces. But time and time again, his efforts to rendezvous with his digital paramour are interrupted by real-life obstacles, from locked hotel rooms to the awkwardness of online intimacy. “If You’re Too Shy” doesn’t find any resolution to these problems, but rarely does disconnect sound so good. (PITCHFORK)
33. Yankee And The Brave (Ep. 4) (Run The Jewels):
Killer Mike really did have the block hotter than sauna all summer; he did not, in fact, have to put that on his motherfuckin’ momma, because the fact of the matter is you believe every word he spits at you. This anthem sets the tone for the ferocious fourth installment in the hip-hop duo’s catalog, needing only to turn on the news for inspiration, which is why this song resonated so soundly when they dropped it, right in the middle of a summer of protest, anger and frustration. Mike and El-P are not just mumbling ego fueled fantasy at you, but delivering what Mike himself once dubbed, “the opposite of bullshit.” (TREBLE)
34. La Vita Nuova (Christine and the Queens):
the switch from French to English is effortless now.
35. Troubled Water (Blu feat. Gappy Ranks):
Blu wisely leaves the dancehall to Ranks and instead perforates the beat with his usual steady hand.
36. Ad Ventures (Shabazz Palaces):
nine years after the band's rise to prominence and they're still finding newer, innovative ways to interpret hip/hop.
37. Violence (Grimes):
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War inaugurates the music video for “Violence” and sets Boucher’s intent. The set of “Violence” is also pure aesthetic anachronism, designed to invoke a generically ancient era: finger guns alongside neoclassical marble staircases, tattoos and surgical masks alongside swords and 13th-century military strategy, and what looks like Tekno the Robotic Puppy. If there’s anything to be gleaned from the images outside of swimming in their dynamism, it’s an idea Grimes posted about Miss_Anthropocene before anyone even knew the title of the song. (ATWOOD MAGAZINE)
38. Quiet Air/ Giola (Fleet Foxes):
standard Fleet Foxes but that doesn't mean anyone does it better.
39. Even Though It Hurts (Devon Gilfillian):
it's an old-school soul jam but sometimes--as is the case here--they're the best.
40. Describe (Perfume Genius):
Hadreas stumbles through a depressive sludge, choked by thrashing, polluted guitars. There is goodness on the other side, but he can’t make out its shape. “Can you just wait here with me?” he pleads with his partner. It’s a moving portrait of love amid torment; the tenderness Hadreas receives is “like ribbons,” slivers of loveliness to press up against his cheek. Eventually, he emerges from the wreckage into a clearing, holding still in the soft glow of the final minutes. The most pristine love, he suggests, is found as a whisper back in the dead of the night. (PITCHFORK)
