In addition to the songs mentioned in my August post, here are a few other songs I keep going back to as the year comes to a close. In no particular order.
FIDLAR - By Myself
The most fun song of the year, an ode to being alone and sorta not giving a rat's ass. Sort of like if Beck had discovered his Midnight Vultures-era boogie back when he was writing Loser. Now I'm off to go crack one open while I finish my post, by myself.
Ian Noe - Letter to Madeline
The influences are pretty obvious, and the style isn't the most original, but this is a pretty song by this fresh Kentucky artist.
Jake Xerxes Fussell - The River St. Johns
Sticking with the rootsy theme, another pretty song by an artist that's been around a bit but I hadn't heard before this year.
Danny Brown - Dirty Laundry
Moving all the way over to the hip-hop side of my brain, Danny Brown's Q-Tip (and others)-produced uknowhatimsayin¿ is one of my late-year heavy rotation LPs. Solid stuff from a veteran.
John Batiste - Blacck (Live)
This is from Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard, which I've had on repeat lately. When I'm prepping dinner, for some reason, this is a go-to.
Rozi Plain - Swing Shut
This is pretty unique-sounding, although I can probably offer up a few influences. Lovely guitar.
Stef Chura - Scream
My top songs list this year is full of women, which I admit isn't typical for me. Stef Chura's whole album Midnight is catchy. It sometimes screams "90s!" like here, when she dons the cheerleader uniform and invites obvious nods to Nirvana, but I don't mind the shift in indie over the last few years from 80s-obsessed to 90s-obsessed.
Mannequin Pussy - Drunk II
Seems like a lot of young women these days are rocking like it's 1995. Here's a good one, with nice swirling guitars a la Smashing Pumpkins or something.
(Sandy) Alex G - Gretel
Another LP I've been spinning a lot is Alex G's House of Sugar. He's carved out space of his own built on classic ingredients like melody, hooks, production, words, etc. Gretel is a stand-out, but the LP is good all the way through.
