Let’s be honest, you’ve most likely already decided if you’re interested in this record or not. And that’s fine by me. Hip-hop/rap isn’t for everyone. For those of you that are interested, and for some reason haven’t heard this yet, here’s why Kanye West’s latest output is essential listening.

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It is time. Assemble the armies. I have a list to publish!

Musically speaking, 2015 was pretty good. As in 2013, I had trouble whittling down my list to twenty songs, so here’s ten great tracks that didn’t quite make the cut:

Algiers - “But She Was Not Flying”
I don’t listen to radio much these days, mostly because I don’t need to, what with every song every recorded being well within my digital reach. It’s a shame, because it means I don’t get to experience the thrill of hearing something totally new.
Getting a job that requires long regular drives will fix that.
This song from Algiers exploded off the radio when I heard it, and that was an edit that didn’t include the nightmarish, minute-long build-up on the full track.
Two verses, a bucket-load of atmosphere, and nowhere near long enough (which means it’s just as long as it needs to be).

Florence + The Machine - “What Kind of Man”
Unlike most people, my first encounter with Florence + The Machine was their first single, “Kiss With a Fist”, which I loved, but turned out to be something of an anomaly in their output. I mean, I like their other songs, but none of them have recaptured the stomp of that debut.
And then I heard this song. It’s about as close to “Kiss…” as they’re likely to get these days. They may be quite grand, but they can still deliver a proper bite every now and then.

Future Islands - “The Chase”
It’s safe to say Future Islands had a good 2014, what with the massive success of “Seasons (Waiting On You)” and their appearance on Letterman. They only released one song this year, but it was an absolute blinder, meaning they technically had a great 2015 too!

HEALTH - “Stonefist”
This one was so close to making the final twenty, but I had to deduct points after I nearly crashed my car when it came on shuffle with the bass way too loud.
To be fair, it is the perfect soundtrack for a fiery death, but that’s something I’m looking to avoid right now.
(There’s a great episode of Song Exploder that shows how this song came to be. Listen to it here.)

Kanye West - “All Day”
When it was announced that Ye had enlisted the services of Paul McCartney to work on his next album, I had no idea what to expect. In hindsight, “Only One” made sense, especially after learning that Kanye was specifically inspired by Paul’s experience writing “Let It Be”.
But I doubt anyone, least of all Macca, expected Yeezy to find a use for a riff Paul has been workshopping since 1969.
The song as a whole…isn’t Kanye at his best, admittedly, and it’ll be interesting to see how this fits on SWISH along “Only One” and “Wolves”, but it proves that he hasn’t lost the fire that fuelled Yeezus.

The Maccabees - “Marks to Prove It”
I’m glad the Maccabees are still around. They first appeared in the mid-2000s, a time when every young British lad and his dog had their own indie band. Since then, they’ve plugged away, poppping up every now and then with a great track that’s just a little bit unusual.
A solid spiritual sequel to 2011′s “Pelican”.

Majical Cloudz - “Downtown”
Devon Welsh might look like David Byrne’s evil twin, but luckily he’s almost as good as him when it comes to writing songs that really paint a vivid picture of relationships in flux. This song washes over you like a spell, which is apt when you consider the name of the act.

Miguel - “Coffee”
Again? Goddamnit Miguel, you need to give someone else a chance to record the fuck jam of the year.
Not that I’m complaining, mind. You’re damn good at it.

St. Vincent - “Teenage Talk”
While I liked Annie Clark’s previous album, the critically-acclaimed self-titled one, I missed the subtler songs that made me a fan of her in the first place.
Turns out she’s still making them, this one just didn’t fit in with the rest of album. This is a very personal affair, with Annie reminiscing about her youth, while realising that the past is always less green than you remember.

Drake - “Hotline Bling”
You likely already know this one, so all I’ll say is this:
Yes, this song is a total jam, but yes, it also appears to be written from the point-of-view of a man who has a reprehensible opinion on what a romantic relationship should be.
My theory is this: Maybe that’s the point? I mean, I can dance my ass off to this, but the muted melody and basic production suggest there’s a lot of underlying sadness that is being kept hidden.
I don’t know if it’s entirely fair to assume that Drake is unaware of this. True, he has past form when it comes to making use of the whole ‘good girl’ trope, but I don’t see anybody throwing this much shade at Mick and Keith for “Under My Thumb”.
Maybe I’m just easy on the guy because we have a similar taste in jackets.

(I am the one on the left)

Anyway, those are the runners-up. Tomorrow, I’ll get into the winners.
Lists from previous years can be found at: dontlookdown.tumblr.com/tagged/best-of- (type year here)

Ahh, yeah, it’s that time again! The last couple of the weeks out of the year when I actually post stuff on a regular basis! It’s time for my favourite music of the year list.
I joke about it, but curating and commenting on these lists is something I really enjoy, and if the small amount of people who read them get introduced to some great music, my work here is done!

Once again, this year saw WAY too much great music to be easily distilled into twenty tracks, so I’ve written this secondary list of tracks and albums that I won’t write about in detail, but still deserve some attention:

A$AP Rocky – “Fuckin’ Problems”
As I get older and wiser (hopefully), it’s becoming more difficult for me to enjoy and recommend songs that don’t really go beyond “fucking bitches” (and that goes for classic rock as much as it does for hip-hop).
But dang it, the beat on this track is dope and Rocky, Drake and Kendrick all perfectly demonstrate why they’re the current kings of the rap game, even if the lyrics make it the musical equivalent of an episode of Entourage (which I watched every episode of, and greatly regret).

Biffy Clyro - “Different People”
When making this list, I noticed a running theme of songs that raise themselves up and almost seem to take flight and soar. Biffy have been specialising in that sort of song for a while now, and this track shows just how adept they’ve become at making them.

David Bowie - “Love Is Lost” (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA)
I still haven’t gotten around to listening to all of The Next Day, but if the mastermind behind one of my all-time favourite bands is going to remix a track by one of my all-time favourite people, you can bet your ass I’ll be the first in line to hear it. All ten minutes of it!

Everything Everything - “Cough Cough”
It turns out that I didn’t really give EE much of a chance to win me over. I heard one song off their first album, and decided they all sounded that manic and clumsy. More fool me. Most of their output has actually been fairly restrained, making “Cough Cough” one of the few songs where they really let themselves go (but remain focused on the beat). And damned if “Yeah, so, um, waitasecond” isn’t the best album-opening line I’ve heard in a while.

Kings of Leon - “Supersoaker”
Like Biffy Clyro, Kings of Leon are a band with a lot of older fans that feel disconnected with the music they make these days (speaking from personal experience as someone who knows every lyric from Youth and Young Manhood). So it was nice for them to seemingly acknowledge that and make “Supersoaker”, a song which perfectly us why we fell in love the band in the first place. It’s a pity that didn’t stay in that mode for the rest of Mechanical Bull, but hey! One song from the old-style KoL is a heck of a lot better than none.

The National - “Don’t Swallow the Cap”
The Dessners, Matt Berninger and the Devendorfs continued to impress everyone on their sixth album Trouble Will Find Me, and they continue to write couplets that cut right to my emotional center. “I have only two emotions, careful fear and dead devotion” stopped me in my tracks when I first heard it.

The Preatures - “Is This How You Feel?”
Given all the Fleetwood Mac reissues and reunions that have been happening over the last couple of years, it makes sense that we’re starting to hear from new acts that have been heavily influenced by the band’s sound. Haim are one and, on the basis of this great song, Australia’s The Preatures could well be another.

Savages - “Shut Up”
Specifically, the video version of “Shut Up” (click above), which features a spoken intro that was printed on the album cover (you know, the one with the typography that bothered Sufjan Stevens). This intro isn’t present on any other version of the track, which is a shame, because it really hammers home the message that Savages have been attempting to put across in almost everything they do: silence yourself (and your phone).

Thundercat - “Oh Sheit It’s X”
In a year overstuffed with smooth pop tunes, this was one of the smoothest, and one of the best songs to be discovered in GTA V’s soundtrack.

Wavves - “Demon to Lean On”
Thanks to the internet, my teenage years were soundtracked by a mix of alternative rock from the 80s and 90s. I’m pleased to say that this song could have easily slipped into the mix.

Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
Chance appears to be picking up the ‘school spirit’ rap reigns where fellow Chicagoan Kanye West left them, especially when you consider “Good Ass Intro” borrows its name from the original title to Ye’s fifth album. Acid Rap is a mixtape, and therefore available to download for free, so get up on that.

Danny Brown - Old
On the other end of the spectrum, you have Danny Brown, a guy who, up to this point, had been displaying a pretty crazy and hedonistic image. There’s still some of that on his second album, on tracks like “Kush Coma”. But the surprising thing about Old is how much range he’s showing off, with more Wu-Tang influence on “The Return” and “Gremlins”, and even some real smooth stuff like “Lonely” and “Float On”.
It’s a great second impression from one of the most unique rappers around right now. And I want that cover art hanging on wall at some point!

The Flaming Lips - The Terror
Despite their fun-loving sound and barnstorming festival appearances, The Flaming Lips have always carried an ounce of existential dread within their music. Normally, they’ve turned it into a positive force (that’s the official state song of Oklahoma, right there).
As its title might suggest, there’s nothing really positive about The Terror. Even the sun rising is a harbinger of doom. For this one album, they gave into the fuzzy feedback, heavy sighing and bleak outlook that’s always been present in their sound, and the result was glorious. This is an album that’s best experienced as a whole. Wait for a sunny day, and take a long walk. Trust me.

Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience (Part One)
Whether you include Part Two (which I haven’t heard) in the equation or not, 20/20 is an extraordinary work when compared to most charting pop albums. More than half of the tracks exceed the six minute mark, including what must the longest Number One single the UK charts have had for a while. The modern stuff works well, and the soul throwbacks work better. It’s everything we wanted from a JT comeback album.

The Lonely Island - The Wack Album
It’s never a likely prospect that a comedy song will make the grade for one of these lists (even ones as ramshackle and rambling as mine), but Lonely Island’s latest came close. I’ve always found their albums a little hit-and-miss (like sketch comedy in general), but they’ve slowly improved over time, and The Wack Album is easily their best effort yet. There’s still the odd obnoxious one-joke song like “Diaper Money” and “Spring Break Anthem”, but they more than make up for it with great tracks like “Semicolon” and even manage to make T-Pain funny again on “I Fucked My Aunt”.

My Bloody Valentine - m b v
Never before has the announcement of an album’s release left me equally excited and worried. Excited because m b v was the first album from MBV in 22 years. Worried because their previous release, Loveless, is one of those truly unique albums. Universally beloved, incomparable and, until this year, impossible to follow. The fact that m b v was released at all was a miracle. The fact that it was a worthy third album was divine intervention.

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Speaking of great third albums!… Modern Vampires is, quite possibly, VW’s best album to date. The tracks flow together seamlessly, the band is taking more chances musically, and the results are clear to everyone. But I just couldn’t find a song that stood up as a solo piece (despite “Diane Young” being my top-played track of the last year. Weird, I know).
EDIT: “Hannah Hunt”, tho!

…and we’re off. I’ll be back tomorrow with the start of the list proper! My twenty favourite songs of the year, in no particular order, one a day leading up to the 31st. I can’t wait!

[Links for 2012 and 2011]

Nick’s Favourite Music of 2023

It’s that time of year again (three weeks into January because to hell with arbitrary deadlines) where I look back at the music I enjoyed from the previous year. Once again, I’m sticking with the single post, capsule review format I used last year, because it turns out working full-time leaves you with less time to spend on other stuff (seems pretty fucked up if you ask me).

It never feels like my listening habits are changing year on year, but it’s interesting to note the differences in hindsight. For instance, this will be the first time I don’t crown an “album of the year”. Ultimately, there wasn’t a full-length release that broke through my admittedly ridiculously high standards. That said, 17 of the songs on this list come from albums I really enjoyed listening to, and the other 3 are standalone singles, so it’s fair to say the overall quality of 2023’s music was pretty good. I had to put in the time and listen and re-listen to a lot of different artists to come to that conclusion, but it feels like I’ve gone on a similar journey for the last four years in a row now. And, because I always end up discovering plenty of new acts and settling on 20 songs that I truly love that I’m excited to share, I never feel like that time and energy has been wasted!

Below, you’ll find the list of my 20 favourite songs of 2023 (YouTube links in the headings, Spotify embed at the bottom), along with a few words about why I love each particular one. Let’s go!

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