Another year done already? Craziness!
As per usual, I’ve been taking in all the music I can reasonably get and adding songs to this year’s playlist (now sitting at exactly 100 songs from this year) as well as my ever-growing, various playlists for myriad purposes.
Want to chill and read? Got a playlist for that.
On my way to work? Got a playlist for that.
Showering? Got a playlist for that (basically the Work Commute playlist, but minus a lot of songs that have swearing in them, since this is played aloud and once upon a time the kiddo didn’t know about such language.)
Songs go drum to? Playlist.
I can (kinda partially) play along with on guitar? Playlist.
Christmas songs? Playlist.
Halloween? Playlist.
Aggressive, hard tunes? Playlist.
Songs to help relax the dog? Playlist.
Upbeat for walking to at speed? Playlist.
Songs I can actually sing? Playlist.
… which isn’t to be confused with musicals, which I also sing to. Playlist.
On and on it goes.
The granularity it gets to is certainly more than most people bother with, and yet I’ve recently been thinking I need to break it down even further. My Work Commute playlist, which doubles as my default catch-all for any songs I hear that I like, is now 887 songs long. That’s over 57 hours of music. And of course, of every kind of music. Putting the playlist on shuffle, as I usually do, it’s not unheard of to get something like the brain-splitting aggression of Slipknot followed immediately by a melodic piano tune by Alexis Ffrench. There are times it feels like I could use a decompression chamber between songs. So maybe even more nuanced playlists are in order.
Anyway… in no particular order, here are the top ten songs I first heard this year.
bella – Ekkstacy
So upbeat and catchy! Hard to ignore when it comes up on a playlist or radio (for any readers under 30: Think free music played over the airwaves, that you have no control over, and with commercials and sometimes irritating personalities talking in between tracks).
Too Old – Bird’s View
“At some point, you’re to old to die young.”
Ugh.
I feel that some days.
But that downer of a message aside, it’s a great song.
Warriors – Too Many Zooz
Catchy and such tight playing. So, so good.
Ferrari Red – Violet Night
“So paint my coffin Ferrari Red.
At the funeral, I want to be turnin’ heads.”
I mean, come on. Great line.
I hadn’t seen the video until now, but extra points for the blatant admission off the top that they couldn’t afford a Ferrari even just for the video shoot, so used a red ’94 Firebird instead.
Love On The Brain – Rihanna
I first heard a snippet of this song while watching the (excellent) first season of Nobody Wants This on Netflix, and was hooked immediately. It’s been tainted a bit for me for… er… reasons. But it’s such a good song I couldn’t not include it on this list.
Number 9 – Moon Hooch
You’d be forgiven for thinking this was Too Many Zooz. I certainly did.
But no!
It’s a different New York-based sax-focused funky band, albeit with more emphasis on drums (not a bad thing, in this writer’s opinion).
Since adding this to a few of my playlists this year I have, on more than one occasion, shimmied out of the shower stall and dried myself off to its contagious rhythm. Which is definitely recommended, if you hadn’t tried it before.
Michigan – The Milk Carton Kids
Gorgeous, simple arrangement and harmonies. It’s the only song I could find of theirs that I like — that happens a disappointing amount with bands I haven’t heard before — but I really like it.
The Emptiness Machine – Linkin Park
This was the big single from the new Linkin Park album, which I explained in more detail here. There are other good songs on the album, but this is definitely my favourite.
Give Me Something – Scars on 45
Another one of those new (to me) bands where I love one song and not much of anything else that they do. But this one, I could just keep listening to.
Beautiful Chaos – Sick Puppies
Such a great tune. A bit of Stabbing Westward, a bit of Likin Park, a dusting of Nine Inch Nails, thrown into a blender and made into something of their own.
… and there it is. The cream of an abundant crop of songs this year. Keep an eye out for another top 10 songs for next year.