For some reason, as much as I enjoy my Top 10 Albums lists, I feel as though my Top 20 Song lists every year have become my favorite lists to do. Maybe it's because I allow myself 20 songs instead of just 10, or maybe it's because the album is a longer format, and how much I like one is a little ambiguous -- even my favorite albums have slow spots, and often, my favorite songs of the year are the high spots on otherwise weak or mediocre album. I don't know.
I'm not going to do honorable mentions this year, although there were certainly some other songs that I considered strongly. But over the course of the year, these were the guys that really stuck with me, so I'm sticking with them.
As is usual for me, I'm going to give my list over the course of two posts. In this one, Part 1, I'll give you numbers 20 through 11. Then tomorrow (or maybe Sunday, as tomorrow is looking pretty busy), I'll give you numbers 10 through 1.
One thing to note is song links. This year, I've given you links to YouTube playlists for my two Albums lists. I can't do that here, because it would be incomplete -- this year, annoyingly enough, there is one song on my that isn't posted on YouTube (or anywhere else that I can find, for that matter. I bought the CD for the album.) I actually tried to convert it and post it in a private section of YouTube myself so I could link you to it here. But that's probably not all that legal, so it's maybe just as well that I'm enough of a techno-clunk that I couldn't figure out how to do it. (Grrr!)
I have to say, I'm really pleased with this year's list. There are a lot of different styles of music here, and I feel that overall, it represents my 2019 in music pretty well.
Anyway, here's Part 1 of my Top 20 list, in reverse order:
20. Kaiser Chiefs - "Wait" Kaiser Chiefs - Wait
I've been a big fan of this band from Leeds, England for the last 15 years, and this song is a good example of why. Although the lyrics aren't explicitly funny, the music itself is playful and a little bit frisky. I thought the Duck album from which this track was drawn was just an average effort for them, but something about the song itself just made me keep coming back to it. Might be the wispy synth between verses, or the frenzied pace of the chorus, or just the contradiction of energy of the track juxtaposed against the imperative of the title - "Wait!" In any event, why analyze when you can just enjoy.
19. Cassadee Pope - "Take You Home" Cassadee Pope - Take You Home
Now I admit, that there's not a lot of country music that tends to make my lists (although certainly more than jazz or hip-hop), but I do at least listen to a few country artists every year. Cassadee Pope has a special in with me, because while most people know her mostly from the godawful TV show The Voice, I always give her a listen because I loved her a decade or so ago when she was the lead singer of the alternative rock band Hey Monday. (And back then, I thought she was the number one up-and-coming alt rock songstress behind Paramore's Hayley Williams). And Pope's 2019 album Stages is first rate. This track (the first on the LP) in particular grabbed me, although there were quite a few others I liked as well. It finds her baring her soul to a guy she's just met (but feels a connection to), and fantasizing about bringing him home to meet her parents. I especially like the part about the little church "that helped me when I got lost".
18. The Gloaming - "Athas (Joy)" The Gloaming - Athas (Joy)
This track is from an Irish band that consists of both Irish and American musicians. It's sung in Gaelic, and is well named, in that the music is particularly joyful. I especially love the piano here, but that's not to discount any of the other elements. The style of the song is a mixture of traditional Celtic music, new age and classical, with maybe even the lightest sprinkling of jazz. It's an exceptionally beautiful song.
17. Jon Anderson - "Makes Me Happy" Jon Anderson - Makes Me Happy
Regular readers of this blog certainly know this guy. Jon Anderson of Yes fame released an excellent solo album this year that was decades in the works, 1000 Hands: Chapter One. (Kind of makes me crazy that he left the comma out of "1,000", but OK, I'm coping with it.) As you'd expect, it's a very upbeat, poppy album, and this song in particular is just a happy little ditty. God bless this guy! He's been a priceless musical jewel over the years.
16. New Years Day - "My Monsters" New Year Day - My Monsters
New Years Day is a California-based female-fronted alternative hard rock band whose music also has a light goth vibe to it. I've liked them for years, but they can be a little inconsistent. They nailed it on this track, though, which finds singer Ash Costello battling the monsters she's created for herself, psychological and otherwise.
15. Seahawks - "Emergence" Seahawks - Emergence
This track is by the British new age duo Seahawks, from their latest LP Eyes of the Moon. Their music has been characterized as "Psychedelic yacht rock", "deck shoegaze", "hazy beach pop" and "marina drone", all good descriptions. The song is light, bouncy synth with a slurred, almost subliminal voice speaking in the background. It's kind of like a gentle dream that's just carrying you along to pleasant places.
14. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - "Black Star Dancing" Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Black Star Dancing
Noel Gallagher, the saner of the two brothers from Oasis, formed this unit in 2011. Since then, they've put together a pretty solid body of work, including three full-length LPs and a host of extended plays. This track comes from an EP he put out this last summer. It's a jaunty, dancy little number that makes you want to move. Gallagher himself says there's a Bowie influence to the track, which I can certainly hear, and I'm sure the whole "Black Star" thing is a reference to Bowie's last album.
13. Tiny Ruins - "Holograms" Tiny Ruins - Holograms
Tiny Ruins are a musical ensemble from Auckland, New Zealand, put together by singer-songwriter Hollie Fullbrook. This is a slow, kind of dreamy track, that finds Fullbrook describing to her partner how the two of them will live on after their lives are over as dancing beams of light. Nice.
12. Soen - "Martyrs" Soen - Martyrs
Soen is a Swedish progressive metal supergroup whose latest album, Lotus, is first-rate. This track is a great example of melodic metal, with a memorable vocal by Joel Ekelof. The song goes hard, then soft, then hard again. The video is pretty striking, too -- it features all of the band members in various forms of drag, but with beards, five o'clock shadow, etc. It's a striking track from one of the best metal LPs I heard all year (along with Batushka's Hospodi).
11. Kakkmaddafakka - "Sin" Kakkmaddafakka - Sin
Alright, I'm just gonna start by admitting that this is the stupidest band name ever. Don't hold that against them, though. This is a Norwegian indie rock band whose music combines eighties new wave with sixties funk and r&b. This particular track reminds me of an updated version of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up". The rest of the band's latest album, Diplomacy, is pretty good, too.
So that's Part 1 of my Top 20 Songs of 2019 list. How are you liking it so far? (I know, you can't answer -- I've got the comments turned off again after the tidal waves my Wonderous Stories review caused a few weeks back, heh heh.) But as good as this has been, it just gets better and better. Come back in a few days, and we'll move on to my Top Ten songs of the year.
