Top 25 Albums of 2017

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I wish I could spend hours on this writeup as I use to, so I apologize for providing little substance to such substantial albums. I think my top 5 albums are the ones you really need to hear.

I've been raving about SZA's album all year, it's a must listen. Ctrl has so many rhythms and productions and flows that have no peer. This album sounds like no other.

Kendrick's DAMN is an exclamation point to a run of albums that already puts him up at the top of best rappers ever. His quality control and varied sounds has been such a joy to listen to, he's clearly the best rapper of his generation, and we'll see about ever once his career ends.

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Top 25 Albums of 2016

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We tend to underestimate albums because of music's over abundance. We tend to discount years as the twirl of time spins faster each year turning into decades. I only get 50 (if I'm lucky) more #1 albums of the year in my lifetime. In the grand scheme of things, that's not whole a lot of albums. My eyes will gray and so will Frank Ocean's. But his voice will always remain on Blonde, my #1 Album of 2016, and his lyrics will always be on the page. These are the best albums of my life.

Just like I wrote in my Top 25 Albums of 2012 when Frank Ocean's debut album Channel Orange was my #1 Album, Ocean's music has a beauty that feels fragile and naked but completely confident. His songwriting - both lyrically and musically - drastically expanded on this album. Thematically, Ocean covers similar topics to Channel Orange, including longing and heartbreak, loneliness, cars, Hurricane Katrina and trinkets from New Orleans life, drugs, and love. He was great lyrically on Channel Orange and continues to be here. None better exemplifies this than my favorite lyrics from "Solo,"

It's hell on Earth and the city's on fire
Inhale, inhale there's heaven.

In "Ivy," a track about longing after an ugly breakup, Ocean's whispers,

All the things I didn't mean to say
I didn't mean to do
There were things you didn't need to say
Did you mean to? Me too
I've been dreaming of you

Blonde took me time to fully appreciate. I remember sending a text to someone after listening to it for a day that "it's no Channel Orange," but now having listened to this album hours and hours on end, I think it's better. It's exploratory and unique, and the songs sound so different yet they all work together.

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Top 100 Songs of 2016

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I saw The 1975 at Coachella two years ago enveloped in the desert of Indio as the sun was setting over the tops of palm trees, and the lead singer was draped in a deep V tank top, weighing in at a cool 95 pounds, constantly stroking his sheen of hasn't-been-showered-in-months hair, looking more like the newest member of One Direction than someone I'd ever think would be capable of writing my favorite song of the year. WELL PEOPLE, life is full of surprises, and The 1975' "Somebody Else" was my favorite track this year, eclipsing all sorts of other phenomenal songs.

"Somebody Else" reminds me of what 80s music could have been: a sultry and subdued synth driven jam that cruises to a bass line and the sweet falsetto of said One Direction-like vocalist, Matthew Healy. It was released in early 2016, and I've NEVER gotten tired of it, listening to it an ungodly amount of times.

As it goes for the other 99 songs, there are some usual suspects showing up on the list: Frank Ocean (four songs), Drake (three songs), Radiohead (two songs), and Kendrick (one of his own and featured on two tracks), but there's also two new artists that I have become mildly obsessed with - Night Moves (three songs) and Isaiah Rashad (three songs).

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Top 25 Albums of 2014

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“As I’m getting older, chip up on my shoulder, rolling through life to roll over and die.”

Mac Demarco’s first line on the title track (and my #2 Top Song of 2014) of his album Salad Days perpetuates the strange dichotomy between Demarco’s public persona and his writing as a singer/songwriter. 

One one side, there's his public persona - goofy, humorous, playful, idiotic, likable, and crude (instead of a band prayer/pep talk, I envision Demarco and his buddies playing the “Penis” game prior to stepping on stage). There's his ridiculously and I presume intentionally stupid documentary, Pepperoni Playboy, that has amassed over 500,000 views. His music videos are beyond comprehensible.  His live shows are messy and completely enjoyable. I saw Demarco at The Great American Music Hall in SF, and Demarco broke his strings on three separate occasions, once asking his bassist to do a cover of Coldplay while he restrung his guitar. “Let Her Go” was played completely out of time, and Demarco laughingly stated so after they got through it. Demarco and Co. were in the middle of one song, and a fan jumped on stage, put his arms around the bassist and took a selfie. The bassist smiled happily for the camera. The show was more like a circus act, and I loved it. Demarco’s crazy persona was in full force. 

Then there’s the other side...

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Top 100 Songs of 2014

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After listening to music on Spotify for 101,976 minutes this year (I will forever remember that number!), I was able to whittle down my list of top tracks of the year from roughly 240 to 100. It was a tough process. A lot of great songs got left off, but what I love about making these lists is that all 100 songs I truly enjoyed and listened to many, many times. In fact, “last place” at #100 was Theophilus London’s “Do Girls,” a song that I played constantly over a two week span. 

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Top 100 Songs of 2013

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After listening to 157 albums and over 2,000 songs in 2013, I've whittled it down to my favorite 100 songs! There are a number of songs from my Top 25 Albums of 2013, but also a ton of other tracks from other bands - there's hip-hop, indie, rap, electro-pop, and others like James Blake and Darkside.   

There are a few that I wanted to point out for their lyrics or unique sound:

  • The Fall: Rhye - His - yes, his - voice is angelic. Most beautiful song of the year.
  • Chum: Earl Sweatshirt - Great storyteller who references the effects of this story by Complex Magazine. And lyrically the song is heartwrenching: "It's probably been twelve years since my father left/left me fatherless/And I used to say I hate him in dishonest jest/When honestly I missed the n**** like when I was six/And every time I got the chance to say it I would swallow it/Sixteen I'm hollow with Tyler and skipped shots/Just throw him that whole bottle, I'll show you a role model."
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Top 25 Albums of 2013

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2013 was both a testament to the staying power and creativity of established artists and bands (Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Kanye, Arcade Fire) and an explosion of new artists (Haim, Chvrches, Jagwar Ma, Lorde, A$AP Rocky, Jake Bugg, and St. Lucia, to name some) who, despite the trending emphasis on singles, created phenomenal albums of substance, pace, and ingenuity.

First, lets start with the veterans since two of them took the #1 and #2 spots. I wrote at length about my love of Arctic Monkey’s as well as their amazing album, AM. But what impresses me the most - and why I ultimately chose them ahead of Vampire Weekend - is that they could make an album like this on their FIFTH album.  

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