Let's finish this bitch.

And now my final year end music tradition, reacting to songs I saw on other people's lists because I don't really listen to popular music anymore, and expanding on a few songs I already mentioned. Might add to this. 

 I'm just gonna go through Todd's worst list song by song cause oh lordy. 

 10. Lonely - Justin Bieber 

I think I mentioned all of Bieber's other songs on my worst list, but not this one. Because it's great? No, because I hadn't heard it. He yodels about being lonely. He is literally the lonely goatherd. 

 9. Blackpink and Selena Gomez - Ice Cream 

I don't care about k-pop or Selena Gomez, but even I can tell this is obnoxiously bad for both of them. 

8. One Margarita - Luke Bryan 

It's still a Luke Bryan song. 

7. Falling - Trevor Daniel 

Boring, whiny, pretentious dreck. Like when Post Malone was bad and nobody liked him but without even what made him interesting.

6. Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani 

Yup, sounds just like what two people who used to make interesting music and are now on a singing show would make. 

5. Popstar - Drake 

Meh. Toosie Slide annoys me more. 

4. Two dudes whose names I'll never remember - Mood 

Some people don't like this and like "Roxanne." Some people like this and not "Roxanne." I am left baffled because they sound like the exact same song to me. 

3. Party Girl - lil trap rapper of the week 

The epitome of LTRotW. There was a time when "music" meant a pleasing sound. 

2. Savage Love - Jason Derulo 

Bad, but just kind of wallpaper to me. Sounds like the music they'd play at a minor league soccer game when someone scores a goal and a few people half-heartedly stand up and clap. 

HMs - Ok I take it back, Lil Baby is the epitome of LTRotW. Really need these mumbling mushmouths to be over. 

The bleating ginger sheep also needs to be over. I remember when singers had to be able to... sing. Or at least write good songs. 

Yup, Intentions is real bad. 

 I Love My Country - a song by a band that does nothing but hate crimes against country, with backhanded patriotism in one of the worst years in US history. 335,000 deaths and counting. Yeehaw, let's jump in the truck and fire up the ol barbecue and support our troops and booze and huntin' hounds and muddin and bler de blerp derp AS GOD INTENDED! My least favourite song of the year. 

Lovin on You - Luke Combs - Ok this sounds fine to me, not getting the hate. 

Someone called Russ? No idea. 

I try not to judge people by their appearance, but I just can't look at Russell Dickerson and want to listen to him. Sounds boring as shit anyway. 

I don't hate Maroon5. 

Stuck with You - I repeat: Eat, and I cannot stress this enough, the rich. 

1. obviously it's Yummy. 

 Okay, what else. Oh a country list had someone called Niko Moon on it and I was like ok, at least his name isn't Chase or Brock or Rock or Edge or one of those soap opera things, maybe it's at least something diff... oh God. Oh no. I think he's trying to do an Old Town Road type thing but Old Town Road worked because it wasn't made by yet another white frat douche. This is more like Sam Hunt. barf. 

 In case this comes off as the "I hate hip hop" blog, I mean I'm sorry, I don't like mumble rap or sex offenders. But I listened to everything on the year end hot 100 so I could be fair and I liked these songs! 

 "Come and Go" and "Wishing Well," Juice Wrld - Once an emo, always an emo I guess. RIP. 

 "Ballin," Mustard and Roddy Rich- this is just really catchy with a good beat 

"Laugh Now Cry Later," Drake - horns good 

Also that "Lemonade" song is pretty smooth and refreshing. No idea why it's a thing in the middle of winter. 

I still can't believe "Moneybagg Yo" is a real rapper. Surprise, he's bad! And not Michael Jackson bad.

Electronic music isn't my thing either but I weirdly like "Roses?" I think it's that moment when the beat drops out then comes back in, that just HITS. On the bad side, "ILY" by... Surf Mesa? Surf table? Sounds like a non-functional Ikea product, and the song in fact sounds like a half-assembled Ikea table. Pretty sure songs are supposed to come fully put together guys! 

 I want to say a little more about "If the World Was Ending," a song I think a lot of people don't really "get?" I mean, I think it's more symbolic than literal - if the world was ending, if none of the "wordly" crap mattered anymore, if all the baggage and reasons why a relationship might not work in practice even if, in theory, you still have feelings for each other went away - you'd be together, right? I take it as a plea for emotion over practicality, which I'm down with tbh. Unfortunately, while I like the concept it's sung by two of the least passionate, most uncharismatic singers I've ever heard so it falls completely flat. A 2.5 earthquake of a song. 

"la la la la I'm a lonely bitch" is a good lyric for 2020.

I hate "Hard to Forget" because yes, I hate Sam Hunt on principle but I'm <i>not</i> opposed to using classic country songs in modern ones. See Little Big Town's interpolation of the "Fishin' Hole" song in "Boondocks."It sounds great. Sam Hunt's chopped up garbage sounds like a crime.

 That's it for now, might pop in with more later! But in case I don't, I wanna say again how great "Blinding Lights" and "Midnight Sky" are and how they deserved a funner year to be hits in. At least they helped make a shit year funner.

Ok, I guess I have one more thing to add about WAP

It's the line "certified freak, 7 days a week." Yes, that's the issue I have with this song called "wet ass pussy." Not how "ass pussy" sounds like a mad science experiment gone horribly wrong (do mad science experiments ever go right?), but that one line. As a woman and not a conservative old man with his monocle falling on the floor, that's what sounds wrong to me. Cause look, no matter how freaky I am I still need a damn day OFF. Do my nails, check twitter, maybe practice some light witchcraft - you know, me time! So you can just wait and get your Mack truck serviced tomorrow, I need to run some errands (probably towel shopping).

I guess I should make a 2020 music post.

What can I say about this year? We all just want it to be over. I don't know about music-wise, but I think 2021 will be an absolute banger. Vaccines are coming, the orange shit demon is leaving and it'll probably be REAL undignified and we can point and laugh, and OMG, people are gonna be here to enjoy things like never before. So much fun will be had! It sucks that it had to happen this way, but I think having a renewed appreciation for life - like, just the simple aspects of it - will at least be a good thing. 

And, forgive me a non-music aside, but for all the ghouls saying the regime change in the US isn't really change at all and wake up sheeple!🙄, are you fucking kidding me??? Yeah, I get the democrats kinda suck. They suck because they refuse to go the extra mile, or even a foot. They'd rather politely sniff farts. The two party system super sucks. It's like the difference between a clean toilet and a dirty toilet. The clean toilet is at least functional and won't give you a disease, but it's still a toilet. I GET IT. I'm still happy that A LITERAL CARTOONISH 80S MOVIE VILLAIN has been vanquished, even if it's by mediocrity. At least I won't have to install a "Biden blocker" on my computer. At least I won't have to do gymnastics to avoid the daily antics of an idiot who FOR SOME REASON even cool people I follow see fit to shit all over my timeline, like "look how bad he is!" I fucking know, you know you didn't have to follow him for the last 4 years, right??? Anywayyy... let people have some hope, we've earned it.

 Okay, music time! 

 THE GOOD: 

 All my faves in one handy list: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0lkx04M8JYPc0VMpxrMEfI 

 Top 11 fave NON-HIT songs: 

1. Napalm Girls - Creeper 

2. War - Waxahatchee 

3. My Own Soul's Warning - The Killers 

4. Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus - The Strokes 

5. End of the World - Worriers 

6. Poisoned Heart - Creeper 

7. Graceland Too - Phoebe Bridgers 

8. Falling Thunder - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

 9. Neon Cross - Jaime Wyatt 

10. Death By Rock and Roll - The Pretty Reckless

11. Out of Sight - The Beths 

 In a nice world, those would be hits instead of Lil Trap Rapper of the Week and that awful bleating ginger sheep. But, there were some good hits and here they are! 

1. Blinding Lights - The Weeknd 

2. Midnight Sky - Miley Cyrus 

3. Everything I Wanted - Billie Eilish 

4. Starting Over - Chris Stapleton 

5. One Night Standards - Ashley McBryde

 6. Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish 

7. Bluebird - Miranda Lambert 

8. I Hope You're Happy Now - Carly Pearce and Lee Brice 

9. Break My Heart - Dua Lipa 

10. No Time to Die - Billie Eilish 

Now, listen to "Blinding Lights," "Midnight Sky," and "My Own Soul's Warning" all in a row. The first two were hits, the third was shamefully ignored even though it has the retro 80s synth thing and is by a well-known, mainstream band. The anti-rock bias is RIDICULOUS. This needs to change. Let's rock in 2021! 🤘

EDIT: I should add, I also liked Maddie and Tae's "Die From a Broken Heart" and Ingrid Andress' "More Hearts than Mine" - yay for country women! - I just didn't return to them as much as the songs I listed, which is the metric I typically use.

 FAVE ALBUMS: 

1. Creeper - Sex, Death and the Infinite Void 

2. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud 

3. The Killers - Imploding the Mirage

 4. The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers 

5. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 

6. Beach Bunny - Honeymoon 

7. Probably would have been Van Weezer, but at least that's something to look forward to next year!

 THE BAD:

Okay I haven't heard all the "hits" obviously, I don't listen to Lil Trap Rapper of the Week. I don't know my "NLE Choppa" from my "Moneybagg Yo." Wait, is "Moneybagg Yo" a real rapper? Cause it sounds like a fake rapper from a bad sketch show. Anyway here's what I heard that I thought was utter shit, enjoy! 

1. Yummy - Justin Bieber 

Yup, this is a real song. 

2. Hard to Forget - Sam Hunt 

I'd like to report a crime. 

3. I Love My Country - FGL

 Gosh, I can't imagine why a back-handed patriotic song didn't go over well this year! Also this works on no level at all because FGL isn't country. 

4. Hot Girl Bummer - Blackbear 

"a emo chick that's broken" 

5. Toosie Slide - Drake 

The song 2020 deserved, but we didn't. 

6. Bang - AJR 

This band is like the word "adulting" gained sentience. Bleccch. 

7. Stuck With U - Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande 

Eat, and I cannot stress this enough, the rich. 

8. I Hope - Gabby Barrett 

Song fine, production ear-bleedy 

9. Before You Go - Lewis Capaldi 

Speaking of ear-bleedy, we let the bleating ginger sheep have another hit. WHY??? 

10. Intentions - Justin Bieber 

"heart full of equity, you're an asset" Oh yeah baby, do my taxes! I love when you talk financial to me! 

11. Holy - Justin Bieber 

OMG, wasn't this schtick cringy and blasphemous enough when FGL did it?? Go away Bieber, you suck. 

12. Russell Dickerson, the person 

I've never heard any of his songs, I just hate the shape of his head and his dumb cartoon hair 

13. Dan + Shay, all 

It's all the same song and it's all boring as shit, like being trapped in an endless wedding toast

14. If the World Was Ending - some guy and that awful "Issues" chick 

Well it's not, go home. 

15. One of Them Girls - Lee Brice 

"you're one of them girls who ain't trying to meet nobody" Then go away and leave her alone?? Maybe Meghan Trainer's "No" wasn't so bad after all.

16. One Margarita - Luke Bryan 

It's a Luke Bryan song. 

 Not mentioned: WAP. I am a White Ass Person and I don't really have a take on this song. It's not for me, but do your thing girls? Well, I guess I have one take: why are songs glorifying misogyny, some by actual abusers and sex offenders, given a pass like "yup this seems normal" while a song about women enjoying sex brings ALL the controversy? I guess I'm glad it exists just to show the hypocrisy. It's not like I have to listen to it. 

 Finally, the "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" award, which was inauguarated last year with "Baby" by Lil Baby and DaBaby, goes to...

Please know that whenever you are reading this, I am still sitting here blinking at my screen trying to make sense of that. 

BYE 2020! I'm glad there was at least some great music I'm gonna carry into 2021 like a fireman saving it from a burning building. I WON'T LEAVE YOU BEHIND, WAXAHATCHEE! *flames whoomf up in background* *heroic dive into snow* I've got you, Creeper. It's all gonna be ok.

Favourite Music of 2019!

Here's the playlist of my top 25 favourite songs of the year: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yk50Dqv70OlWG7P5Yz3db

If I had to pick a top favourite it would probably be "Forest Lawn" by Better Oblivion Community Center, or at least that's the one I listened to most. But it could easily be "Crowbar" or "Everyday" or "Elephants" or "Born Cold." Also Patty Griffin's "Ruby's Arms" is one of my favourite covers ever. Weezer's rockin' "End of the Game" has me actually excited for their next album, and Creeper just announced they're dropping theirs on MY FREAKIN' BIRTHDAY! What a time to be alive.

On to albums! Somehow, my fave this year happens to be a critical darling and I'm not sure how to handle that?? I'm not a Pitchfork-reading hipster, I just like what I like. And this year, I loved the lush, gorgeous 70s singer-songwriter style album by Weyes Blood, Titanic Rising! Last year my fave was a mainstream country album, a few years ago it was a Letters to Cleo EP. You just never know! (And more on LTC later...) Yeah, this album hit the exact vibe that I, and I guess many others, were craving this year. It's like a time machine that's also a UFO. I love it so much. Fave songs - Everyday, Andromeda, Picture Me Better, Something to Believe

My second-fave is of course, the new New Pornographers In the Morse Code of Brake Lights. A band that has never made a bad album, and this is almost up with Brill Bruisers for me. Another collection of perfect, catchy power pop songs. I don't know how they keep doing it! Fave songs - Leather on the Seat, Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile, Colossus of Rhodes

And the rest of the albums I enjoyed, in no particular order: (This is so much less stressful than when I made ranked lists and wrote freakin' paragraphs about each album!)

Diva Sweetly, In the Living Room - Sure, let's start with a pretty obscure one I just lucked into by chance! If you were a 120 Minutes devotee in the 90s like I was, you might dig this. Quirky, 90sesque alt rock. Fave Songs - Detox Island, The Floor Caved In, Comfort Food

Better Oblivion Community Center - A chill, low-key catchy folk-pop album I played all year. Fave songs - Forest Lawn, Little Trouble, Chesapeake

Bleached, Don't You Think You've Had Enough? - And my theme of the year, "retro girly rock." Fave songs - Hard to Kill, Somebody Dial 911, Daydream

Ex Hex, It's Real - More retro girly rock! Fave songs - Cosmic Cave, Radiate, Another Dimension

The Regrettes, How Do You Love? - MORE retro girly rock? You're spoiling me, 2019! Fave songs - I Dare You, Fog, California Friends

Randy Houser, Magnolia - And my traditional-leaning mainstream country album of the year! Randy is back in form, big time. Hope he keeps this up. Fave songs - What Whiskey Does, No Stone Unturned, Evangeline

Karly Driftwood, Too Mean to Die - A fun, super catchy and even kinda horror-themed country debut! I love when it feels like an album was made just for me! Fave songs - Dodged a Bullet, Bake You a Cake, Too Mean to Die

Alice Wallace, Into the Blue - California canyon country that feels both 70sesque and fresh! Fave songs - Elephants, Top of the World, The Lonely Talking

Jenny Lewis, On the Line - More on the pop side, but some of that California country feel at times. Jenny Lewis has been with me my whole life, first as a child in that iconic Toys r Us jingle I used to sing constantly and annoy my parents, then with Rilo Kiley, a band that got me through some rough times, and now with this beautiful album. She kinda feels like my sister I never met at this point. Fave songs - Wasted Youth, Red Bull and Hennessey, Hollywood Lawn

Jetty Bones, - (yes, the album is called "-") This is only 6 songs so I guess it's technically an EP, but it feels like a complete album to me. Paramore fans, check this out! Fave songs - "better," The Rest of Them., To Know You...

Women Sing Waits - Some beautiful voices sing some of my favourite Tom Waits songs! Fave songs - Ruby's Arms, Downtown Train, Time

Sturgill Simpson, Sound and Fury - This one took a little getting used to. I dug the songs, but wasn't sure I could vibe with the vocal production. Then I realized it was supposed to sound like a cowboy transmitting from space. Then I realized that's AWESOME. Fave songs - Mercury in Retrograde, Make Art Not Friends, Remember to Breathe

EPs:

Sunflower Bean, King of the Dudes - Oh, MORE retro girly rock you say? Fave songs - King of the Dudes, Fear City, Come for Me
Ghost, Seven Inches of Satanic Panic - This is only two songs, but they both rock.
Charlie Marie - Wow, super promising country vocalist from... Rhode Island? Yeehaw! Fave songs - Rodeo, Rhinestones, Countryside
Letters to Cleo, OK Christmas - What better way to end the year than with a Christmas album I actually like! Leave it to LTC, of course. My fave band at the end of the 90s, still my fave at the end of the 2010s.

It was a really good year! I listened to a lot of music between the 450+ movies I watched, and while some of it was disappointing (*cough Black Album cough*), a lot of it will be with me for a long, long time. Let's see what my first fave of the new decade will be! Creeper in May, or something before then? I'm excited for the journey!

I'll also make a favourite albums of the decade post... sometime this decade. ;)