2016 is halfway done...and the time is at hand for a roundup of the best songs of the year...so far!
Here are my picks for the Top Ten.
Here is to summer, beers, family...and good music!
#10 Rosemary - Brian Fallon
#9 Can't Stop the Feeling - Justin Timberlake
The feel good song of the year. JT has been on a roll lately and this is a great, fun, happy, perfect summer song that is also a bit of a throwback. Love it.
#8 Boyfriend - Tegan and Sara
Top notch pop.
#7 Go Now - Adam Levine
Not a fan of Adam Levine or Maroon 5...but this is a great song off a great soundtrack....
#6 In A World Possessed By The Human Mind - The Tragically Hip
Almost a perfect Hip song..as if from their heyday. Complex and challenging,
#5 Drive It Like You Stole It
A spot on tribute to the 1980's off a nearly perfect soundtrack...this is just a great song.
#4 Love is Blind - Lapsley
Lapsley just gets better and better.
#3 Valley Clouds - Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop
Wonderfully bright and bittersweet.
#2 Stadium Pow Wow - A Tribe Called Red
This gives me goosebumps. Makes we want to stand up and applaud every time I hear it. An absolutely stunning piece of music that is both exhilarating and powerful.
#1 Formation - Beyonce
Is there really any doubt?
This song is a masterpiece on basically every level. A stunning, confrontational, angry, reverential, historic, amazing piece of art.
Perfect in every regard it has led to both praise and criticism and sometimes both had equal merit.
But this, whatever its supposed flaws, is as good as it gets.
Mesmerizing, beautiful, magnificent.... All Hail Beyonce.
"You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation"
2015 is drawing to a close...and the time is at hand for a holiday and New Year roundup of the best songs of the year.
Here are my picks for the Top Twenty.
Here is to holidays, beers, champagne, family...and good music!
#20 Kamikaze - MO
Infectious awesomeness!
#19 Chinatown - Girlpool
Wistful...charming...oddly sad. A great tune.
#18 Greg Holden - Boys in the Street
An truly moving song about homophobia, family and redemption.
#17 Coffee - Miguel
An intense, wild, amazing song.
#16 All Your Favorite Bands - Dawes.
"May all your favorite bands stay together." Indeed.
#15 Love Like Mine - Miami Horror
Take a moment from your day to watch what is easily one of the best videos (and songs) of the year!
Just fantastic. Crazy, weird, bizarre, fixed POV awesomeness!
#14 - Mr. Misunderstood - Eric Church
Not generally a big fan of this guy TBH...but this song owes a lot, in a very good way, to artists like Bob Seger, and has both a terrific message and a great, great old-style country-rock sound.
And..."She turned me on to back porch pick-ups, Jackson Pollock and gin" has to be one of the best rock/country lines in recent memory!
#13 bros - Wolf Alice
Wistful, nostalgic and awesome.
#12 SOB - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
As good a drinking song...or song about drinking...as I have heard for a very long time!
#11 The Eye - Brandi Carlile
Her latest album is just fantastic...and this may not be her only appearance on this year's list!
#10 - Make Up Your Mind Tonight - Hawksley Workman
For a song that goes on about "this is the way that we relax"...THIS IS THE LEAST RELAXING SONG EVER! Love it...Canadian rock artist Workman is back.
#9 Just Like We Never Said Goodbye - Sophie
Ethereal and haunting.
#8 Pedestrian At Best - Courtney Barnett
This song is like an anxiety attack that just keeps getting worse. A stream of consciousness nightmare of brilliance!
#7 Here - Alessia Cara
This claustrophobic and disturbing song has only grown in my estimation.
And she is an emerging superstar.
#6 Brownlow - Lapsley
A reflection in part, apparently, on rave culture, it is also an intense piece of song writing and of almost existential self-criticism. "I set the deal straight".
#5 Infamous - Basia Bulat
This is a terrific song from a great Toronto artist. Her music just keeps getting better...and this should be one of 2016's better albums.
#4 - The Things I Regret - Brandi Carlile
Such a great song from the best overall album of 2015. And so full of the angst of regret...that very worst of feelings.
#3 Gimme All Your Love - Alabama Shakes
This song gives me goosebumps. Incredible vocals, a simmering and explosive tone, that incredible part where they switch it up...just amazing.
Turn it up to eleven and disturb the neighbours! Put it on repeat.
Fantastic.
#2 Her Mercy - Glen Hansard
WHAT A GREAT SONG THIS IS!!! Shows the influence of Van Morrison and folks like Jackson Browne...inspiring and stirring.
By one of the great singer-songwriters alive today.
#1 Sunday Candy - Chance the Rapper, "Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment"
This song is such a joyous, wonderful, uplifting and amazing ode. Everything about it makes you want to sing and dance (if I could do either I would!!!).
A love song about his grandma...and a love song generally. Hearing it makes me want to open the front door and yell "I love you all" to the world!
The video, which was done as a single live take...is something to be enjoyed and savoured.
There is not one ounce of anger, cynicism or ugliness here.
We are halfway through 2015...and the time is at hand for a holiday (if you are Canadian) roundup of the best songs so far this year.
Here are my picks for the Top Ten. Look for a Top 20 Roundup in December.
Here is to holidays, beers, BBQ...and good music!
#10 Still Want You - Brandon Flowers
I love this guy. He could sing the phonebook and brighten up my day!
#9 Chinatown - Girlpool
Wistful...charming...oddly sad. A great tune.
#8 FourFiveSeconds - Rihanna And Kanye West And Paul McCartney
All three of these artists have ample numbers of haters...which is good enough for me! Earnest, catchy, great vocals...good stuff!
#7 Here - Alessia Cara
Great, great song. Kind of disturbing...really powerful.
#6 Love Like This - Miami Horror
Take a moment from your holiday to watch what is THE BEST VIDEO OF THE YEAR!!!!
Just fantastic. Crazy, weird, bizarre, fixed POV awesomeness!
#5 Pedestrian At Best - Courtney Barnett
This song is like an anxiety attack that just keeps getting worse. A stream of consciousness nightmare of brilliance!
#4 Make Up Your Mind Tonight - Hawksley Workman
For a song that goes on about "this is the way that we relax"...THIS IS THE LEAST RELAXING SONG EVER! Love it...Canadian rock artist Workman is back.
#3 The Eye - Brandi Carlile
This is a lovely song. Brandi Carlile is awesome.
#2 Brownlow - Lapsley
The top two are basically a tie for me. I find this one hypnotic and amazing...absolutely love it.
A reflection in part, apparently, on rave culture, it is also an intense piece of song writing and of almost existential self-criticism. "I set the deal straight".
#1 Gimme All Your Love - Alabama Shakes
This song gives me goosebumps. Incredible vocals, a simmering and explosive tone, that incredible part where they switch it up...just amazing.
Turn it up to eleven and disturb the neighbours! Put it on repeat.
