sarah bareilles

Top 30 Songs of Summer 2014 (15-1)

Without any preamble, here are my favourite songs of this past summer:

15. Tokyo Police Club – Tunnel Vision

Who who, who who, who/Who who, who who, who/Who who, who who. Rinsed and on repeat. “Tunnel Vision” is Tokyo Police Club throwing down a Thor-like hammer on the Canadian alt-rock scene.

 

14. Cage The Elephant – Take It Or Leave It

I went on a bit of Cage dive this summer, with “Take It Or Leave It” being one of the tracks I played often. I love the changing dynamics/rhythm, a t(r)ick that Cage have come to master. It’s become apparent to me that Cage The Elephant have (deservedly) become quite popular, but, in spite of this success, I think they’re underrated. They’re energetic, from left field — sometimes so out in left field that they’re playing basketball on the diamond. I dig their takes on melody, I dig (lead singer) Matt Shultz, I dig their collective effervescence. It’s clear the band really likes making and performing music. It’s clear that I like Cage The Elephant.

 

13. Perfume Genius – Queen

Don’t you know your Queen? I didn’t. But I think I do know. She’s regal and resplendent in coruscating purple gems. The sound of Her voice is power embodied, emboldened is the sparkle in Her eye. Her grip on a sceptre is unrelenting, convincing the kingdom with the scent of Her Royal Highness. I pledge allegiance to Her. This is my Queen. This is the new Perfume Genius.

 

12. Sarah Bareilles – I Choose You

Nothing less than a super sweet, super earwormy pop song from Sarah Bareilles. It’s not the first time she’s pulled it off , and it won’t be the last, I’m sure, either. The woman knows her way around songcraft like very few others.

 

11. FKA Twigs – Two Weeks

A sultry, engulfing experience, “Two Weeks” gets better with each listen. It’s a slow slithering snake with an electric heart and an icy, steely venom. It seems like an elixir, a pulsating energy that appears to rejuvenate. In reality, it’s a poison that constricts the veins until blood ceases to flow. Death never sounded so good.

 

10. Justin Timberlake – Not Such A Bad Thing

The most straightforward pop song on probably either of JT’s 20/20 albums, and what a great thing to be. Whereas almost all of his recent output leans experimental, in terms of structure and sound, “Not Such A Bad Thing” seeks to be only one thing: catchy. And my, how it is. From an album released in September 2013, “NSABT” has been a slow builder of a hit, but one that reached ubiquity in spite (because?) of this. And you know what? Despite a kajillion plays on every format imaginable, it still sounds great. Not many would have said this when both 20/20 albums had been released, but I do believe there’s a chance “Not Such A Bad Thing” will be the most remembered track from either LP.

 

9. Ed Sheeran – I See Fire (Kygo Remix)

“I See Fire” is Ed Sheeran’s soundtrack contribution to The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. This is Kygo’s remix of that song. The rest is magic. I see fire, I feel warmth, I hear a breath. Of a life that lingers in the surroundings. But unlike the dragon that resides somewhere in the dark and dreaded shadows, this life seeks to guide, aid, and proclaim, that even though a battle is at hand, victory is in the other.

 

8. Jessie Ware – Tough Love (Cyril Hahn remix)

There are already a handful of remixes that have stunned me into excitement, but the Cyril Hahn remix of “Tough Love” might be the leader of the pack. Sourcing an impossibly sexy and slow-tempo’d original, Hahn takes this remix somewhere else entirely. He makes the song scoot in its boots, turns the pensive vibe of the original into a celebration of hard work. He makes tough love seem like a joy. What an accomplishment.

 

7. Broods – Bridges

It took me a while to see “Bridges”‘ appeal. There’s a lot of people renting space in synth-pop sounds at the moment. It takes a really special effort to differentiate and stand out from the crowd. Broods has done that here. The chorus is just sensational. The vocal is pretty yet punishing. The track is a wave of beats and broods of beauty.

 

6. The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers

I don’t know why I was a little late to this party, as “Brill Bruisers” is one the most immediate songs The New Pornographers have ever released. Once it broke for me, it broke hard. Bo ba, bo ba ba, bo for all of the ears. All of the Newmans. All of the Nekos. All of the time.

 

5. G.R.L. – Ugly Heart

“Ugly Heart” made my best of list in April. I’d listened to it a number of times, and obviously liked it enough to scribe my affection for it. But I really listened to it this summer. A lot. More than a lot. And what I heard was hands down one of the best pop songs I’ve heard in recent memory. The verses, the chorus, the vocals, the lyrics. All of it is perfect. Dr. Luke and the GRLs eschewed the EDM-led pop that’s dominating the mainstream for a guitar-led stomper. The move couldn’t have been smarter. Some may categorize this as disposable pop, but they’d be wrong. I think “Ugly Heart” is good enough to find a space on various rotations for years and years to come.

 

4. The Tea Party – Water’s On Fire

The Tea Party are one of Canada’s finest bands of all time. Jeff Martin’s voice, his guitars, Jeff Burrows’ drumming, Stuart Chatwood’s jack-of-all-trades-ness, their way with melody — I’d missed all of it. I’m so glad they’re back. That they came back with such a wonderful lead single made me even happier.

 

3. La Roux – Sexotheque

Before the summer, La Roux’s rocket landed back on earth with three incredible pop songs, “Let Me Down Gently”, “Uptight Downtown”, and “Tropical Chancer”. All of them are amazing pop songs, all mega-hits (in this realm or another). Some logicians might say that with three lead songs so strong, the rest of the album may pale in comparison. That would be wrong. “Sexotheque” is another brilliantly catchy ditty. La Roux’s latest album, Tropical Chancer, is one of the best albums of the year, and “Sexotheque” is a big reason why.

I’m also strangely taken by the fan-made video that I’ve linked below. In a way, it doesn’t relate to the song at all — it’s clearly a music video for another, probably Caribbean or Latin track. But something about the whole thing works. Sun and tunes have a way of making life’s incongruities irrelevant. Oh summer songs.

 

2. Paper Kites – Leopold Street

Yes, “Leopold Street” is a song from 2012, and I just did a list of my favourite songs of the summer that are not from 2014. So why didn’t I include this song there? I’m not completely sure, other than to say I first heard this two-year-old track a couple months ago and fell so deeply in love with it that it’s now inextricably linked to this past summer.

The music is lovely, an acoustic guitar led pop song with melodies above, on, and below ground level, a song stacked with sounds that make ears perk up and feet tap along. Juxtaposed with such sunny, sweet sounds are lyrics that speak of pain. A pain about family, about love, about loss.

The companionship of one side with the other, light and dark, the hope of summer’s beginning and sadness at its unavoidable end is what made “Leopold Street” one of my favourite songs of the summer.

 

1. alt-J – Left Hand Free

Ain’t shady baby, I’m hot, like the pa-rodigal son. Pick a petal, eeny meeny miny mo, and flower, you’re the chosen one…

The most straightforward song on alt-J’s phenomenal sophomore album, it’s also the most sing-a-long worthy. And my, how I exercised that right this summer.

I think alt-J could be the best band on the planet (Future Islands are right there). Their way with instrumentation, vocals, lyrics, melody, and breadth of sound is unmatched by any other band around. Only two albums in, they have several songs that could be classified as monumental, in how they touch the spirit, caress the ears, sing to, about, and from the heart.

“Left Hand Free” is not like that. In fact, it’s unlike any alt-J song to date. It’s got one thing on its mind: fun.

Isn’t fun what summer’s all about? Girls just wanna have it. So do guys. Until daddy takes the T-Bird away.

“Left Hand Free” is the epitome of fun, a soliloquy from the sun.

Thank you summer. Thank you music.

My Top Songs of Summer 2013 (30-16)

The Song Of The Summer has become kind of a big thing the past couple years, hasn’t it? I hear people talking about the premise, blogs posting about it, and MTV doling out awards for it. So it must be a thing, right?

So, what is a “song of the summer” then? To the masses, the song of the summer captures the pop culture Zeitgeist, or more practically, it’s the song that gets asses shaking and dance floors quaking. That’s nice and all, but I’m not nearly so limiting.

For me, The Song of The Summer has one criterion: it must be a sick, wicked, unbelievable, awesome tune. Nothing else. It doesn’t have to be Hi-NRG, doesn’t have to inspire you to twerk, doesn’t have to have a webpage dedicated to what rhymes with its most memorable line. All that shit is extraneous. A song of the summer is a great song, no matter the style.

If this list reflected what was the song of the summer for the most amount of people, then without a doubt, it was Robin Thicke’s (read: Pharrell’s) “Blurred Lines”. But (hipster pissing contest moment alert #1) I was on “Blurred Lines” a while back, so for me, that tune was disqualified from the jump. If we continue to look at what captured the attention of the masses, the only other song in the same ballpark as “Blurred Lines” in terms of scale and reach was Icona Pop’s “I Love It”, but (hipster pissing contest moment alert #2), I was not caring and loving that song way back in 2012, so again, the judges say it must be disqualified.

Thankfully, the list that I’ve made doesn’t give two shits about what the song of the summer was for most people. It lists what the songs of the summer were for me. I sound like a bored, rich and percoceted up dance mom when I say that, but it’s true. No one else is going to publish my favourite songs of the summer, so I thought I might as well give ‘er a go.

The songs that I liked most during the summer of 2013 were and are incredible. It was difficult to narrow it down to 30 songs, but I figured I’d give it the old University of Maryland College University (actual name of an actual school) try. All 30 songs are legitimately fantastic, but I had to devise an ordered list because ranking things gets me through the day like being a rancid ratchet does for Miley Cyrus, like protecting his family does for Walter White, like mobile poker gaming does for John McCain, and like misreading public perception does for the Tories.

Figuring out the order to place the songs was the hard part. If I wrote this list on a different day/week/month, the order might be different. That said, I think I put the best of the best at the top where they belong.

Since 30 songs (with videos/links to audio) is kind of a lot, I’ve divided the list in two. Here’s the first part, My Top Songs of Summer 2013 (30-16).

(One last note: not all of these songs were released this summer, but all of them made a massive impact on me over the last 8-10 weeks.)

30. (Tie — the only tie on the list.)

Young Fathers – Ebony Sky

Hard-hitting, riveting. I am aghast that this has less than 500 views on Youtube.

 

ASAP Rocky vs. Britney Spears (Ryan Hemsworth edit) – Thuggin’ Noise

That sample. It’s perfect. The contrast between ASAP Rocky’s bravado-peppered flow and the music-box beauty of Britney Spears’ “Everytime” sample is magical. Ryan Hemsworth nailed this one big time.

 

29. Divine Fits – Ain’t That The Way

That riff is so clean, so mean.

 

28. Louise Burns – Emeralds Shatter

This song deserves waaaay more attention. Dark, menacing, yet powerfully inviting, Louise Burns, the ex-Lillix member has crafted an amazing song with “Emeralds Shatter”.

 

27. HAIM – The Wire

Their best song — by far — to date.

 

26. The 1975 – Sex

Sure, the original “Sex” was released last year, but there’s a newer version/video that was released this summer. The differences between the two are subtle, and I may prefer the original, but the newer version (song and video) is also slick and compelling. (NB: video, NSFW.)

 

25. Sarah Bareilles – Brave

I love Sarah Bareilles’ voice, I think she’s a fantastic melodicist/lyricist/composer, and “Brave” is such a joy of a song. Other than that, nothing to hear here.

 

24.  Chvrches – Gun

Ho hum, just another ridiculously good pop song from the break-out stars of the year. The way Chvrches bridge hooks together continues to astound/impress me.

 

23 Justin Timberlake – Tunnel Vision

I kind of wish he had sung a bit of this one in his bloated, 3.5 hour set at the MTV VMAs. Either way, I slept on “Tunnel Vision”. It took me time and repeated listens to hear how cool, intricate, and pristine Timbaland’s production is and how strong JT’s vocal is. (NB: video is easy on the eyes, but NSFW.)

 

22. The Joy Formidable  – Silent Treatment (William Orbit remix)

I hadn’t heard from William Orbit for a few minutes. I’m glad he called back. This subtle reworking of The Joy Formidable’s already gorgeous “Silent Treatment” brings me back to his heyday in the 90’s and makes me feel like he never left. I continue to be awestruck by the undeniable charisma of front-woman Ritzy Bryan.

 

21. The National – Hard To Find/This Is The Last Time

I like both of “Hard To Find” and “This Is The Last Time” equally. They’re both stunning tracks. The riff of the latter is pure sadness. The National are amazingly consistent in their ability to knock you off your feet.

 

20 Ace Hood – Bugatti f. Future, Rick Ross

That chorus is hella fun to belt out, especially at a wedding.

 

19. Daft Punk – Doin’ It Right f. Panda Bear/Lose Yourself To Dance f. Pharrell, Nile Rodgers

Who knew that a Daft Punk and Panda Bear (of Animal Collective) collabo would be sensational? I know, anyone who would give it 2.6 seconds of thought, or anyone who chooses to give “Doin’ It Right” a listen. “Lose Yourself To Dance”, the second official single from Daft Punk’s massive comeback record, is right there with “Get Lucky” in terms of quality. Hell, it might even be better. The Daft have released a shiny teaser of the full-length video for LYTD, but for me, nothing will come close to topping what one fan did: syncing the song to a clip from a Stevie Wonder performance on Soul Train (featured below). It’s one of the best fan-made videos for a song I’ve ever seen. I can’t imagine a random visual suiting its aural source more perfectly. Well done neonwiretv.

 

18. Florida Georgia Line – Cruise

Just one of those incessant earworms that you can’t shake. I can’t recall how many times I sang that chorus over the summer. I like the newer version featuring Nelly as well, but have chosen to include the video for the original tune below.

 

17. Selena Gomez – Slow Down

Wildly catchy. This girl is in the pop game to conquer the world. I’m down with her ambition.

 

16. Shad – Stylin

Shad’s flow is incontrovertible and his lyrics are considered, funny, and deep. The man is a menace on the mic. “Stylin” oozes cool through the screen and speakers, with Saukrates on the hook, concise down to the nanometre.