some great white heat pop:
42. Over You (Aaron Frazer): funky basslines and choppy Nile Rodgers-esque bursts of guitar are hardly typical features of a break-up song. Yet, on the second single from his debut album, Aaron Frazer marries disco and despair with a nonchalant swagger. His sultry, timeless falsetto is perfect for the task, conjuring a cathartic and catchy chorus, but also betrays a modicum of pain that naturally comes with the territory. (THE LINE OF BEST FIT)
43. Anhedonia (Chelsea Wolfe & Emma Ruth Rundle): with Wolfe it’s always the contrast between her sweet and hard contextual lyrics and this duet with Rundle is no different.
44. Hardline (Julien Baker): grips the listener, and doesn’t let go for the duration of it’s just-under-four-minute run-time. The build is slow and tense, the music coiling up behind Baker as she sings, and comes to a head with the instrumentals stretched taut behind her before exploding out as Baker wails a refrain of “oh, all the time.” Indeed, it belongs to that upper echelon of car-songs – the kind of tracks you blare, screaming along, thrashing around at red-lights. It’s the kind of track that will one day find Julien Baker in an arena of thousands of fans in a crowd screaming her own lyrics back at her as the instrumentation swells and crashes into them. And what a dream that will be – the next great concert where we all scream as one at the artist onstage who wrote a song that hits us so hard we can’t help but exhort ourselves. (UNRATTLE).
45. Rainforest (Noname): having grown closer to her radical politics as an anti-capitalist socialist, Noname has moved away from ambiguous sonic messaging. "Rainforest," her first single since "Song 33," finds the Chicago rapper light and playful despite contemplating the intimacy of love and connection in the face of global violence committed in pursuit of financial gain — specifically, colonization and mass rainforest destruction. An unrestrained consideration of the gap between her multifaceted radical spirit and imperial forces trying to bury it, Noname recreates revolution's irresistibility by infusing "Rainforest" with delicate warmth and a jazzed-up Samba-influenced instrumental. (NPR)
46. Sovereignty Blues (The Lickerish Quartet): a straight up pop rock groove masterpiece.
47. Get Sun (Hiatus Kaiyote): Nai’s vocals continue to soar and impress with that kind of natural talent found rarely. Drummer Perrin Moss can quite literally bring a smile to anyone with his performative ability to hold such a genre-defying track together , bring elements of trip hop, soul and funk to a highly masterful string and horn arrangement brought by Grammy winning arranger ‘ Arthur Verocai’. Simon Mavin ( keys) is literally shifting in panning effect from the verse to chorus laying down chords that give the song it’s anchor. The loop samples, Kimbra-esque vocals and synth outro truly give this band a heightened maturity, whilst maintaining their truly youthful energy. (BACKSEATMAFIA)
48. Massa (Tyler, the Creator): on “Massa,” Tyler complains about his taxes (“Eight figures in taxes, takin’ that shit is stupid / A flower gets its petal, they pluck it but never use it”), and pairs it with a reasonable critique of the government wrapped in a sly boast about being rich enough to utilize tax havens (“It’s still potholes in the schools, where does it go? / It’s still loopholes that I use, nobody knows”). (ROLLING STONE)
49. Long Story Short (Taylor Swift): a hefty take on Swift and several interconnecting relationships that led, happily, to her current one.
50. Phoenix (Big Red Machine feat. Fleet Foxes & Anais Mitchell): sounding at once like an amalgamation of all those involved (Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, Anaïs Mitchell, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, The National’s Aaron Dessner, The Westerlies) and yet something wholly its own, this country conversation is filled with the warmth of music as community. Its sum mirrors the greatness of its parts for a magical moment of rumination. (COS)
51. Earthy (Lia Ices): Like many of Ices’ signature songs, however, “Earthy” takes a slight left turn half way through, encroaching peculiar Joanna Newsom territory, dynamically shifting to a psychedelic aria with a swirl of warpy guitars and brushed percussion. It’s this intriguing interplay between soft and loud that maintains that while this is a slightly marked departure from her earlier material, it hasn’t strayed too far from her essence. Her muse is still intact. (AMERICAN SONGWRITER)
52. The First Day (Villagers): feels like a fuzzy, feverish look at pop.
53. Big Boss Rabbit (Freddie Gibbs): whether it’s a rap song or a showtune, Gibbs wants to prove he’s the best every time his name is listed. “Big Boss Rabbit” accomplishes that with that unmistakable Mike Tyson lisp and braggadocio at the beginning and Gibbs’ effortless ability to switch flows and build rhyme patterns inside of rhyme patterns. Freddie Kane hits his usual topics — drugs, women, wealth, tough talk against other rappers — with the normal clever wordplay. For proof, peep his entendre referencing Cash Money Records, the Hot Boyz, and Birdman and Lil’ Wayne’s relationship, all while asserting his own position in the hip-hop hierarchy. (COS)
54. Light Of Love (Kacy & Clayton And Marlon Williams): it’s a simple country ballad but the layers Kacy treats us to it lovely.
55. Whatchutalkingbout (Jon Batiste): now that those 11 Grammy nominations got everyone’s attention, Batiste runs the gamut on some high-wire and excellent jazzy funk.
56. Up (Cardi B): leave it to Cardi B to turn a brutal takedown of haters and rivals into a good time. Rhyming "uh-gu-ly" with "f*** on me," she turns misperceptions of her into jokes, and fires back with 10 times the ammo. At two and a half minutes, "Up" is a quick hit of dopamine, with a repetitive hook that gives booties no choice but to bounce (no wonder it blew up via TikTok dance). The song is all super ego, and its lyrical audaciousness makes you want to double back and listen again. (NPR)
57. The Magician (TH1RT3EN): an experimental rap number that holds spectacularly firm.
58. BDE (Shygirl feat Slowthai): no need to guess what the song’s abbreviation stands for and the pairing’s sexual prowess is not for the faint-hearted.
59. Got Me (Laura Mvula): has a slick synth groove that recalls Bad-era Michael Jackson, “The Way You Make Me Feel” in particular. On the song, Mvula alternates between Madonna-style murmuring and full-on belting, and her lyrics are all about being helplessly into somebody. (STEREOGUM)
60. Obsessed (With My Shadow) (Clarence Clarity): messy underground pop at its finest.
