It’s Thanksgiving, and that means it’s time for the end of the year lists to start. I’m not doing a bunch of separate lists for albums and covers and whatnot this year. I’m just listing my favorite musical things of the year, roughly in order from least best to best best.
Let’s get started.
MY FAVORITE 100 REASONS TO
LISTEN TO MUSIC THIS YEAR: #100-90
100. MISTER KANISH-Happy (Pharell cover)
Plucky! The perfect way to launch a retrospective of 2015, which was a really good year for music.
99. SCAVENGER HUNT-Kiss Me Clean
A new electro group making all kinds of waves…
98. DONMONIQUE-Thirst Trap (EP)
A girl rap group from Brooklyn that pays tribute to the Borough’s greatest, Biggie, and has a strong voice. Trap from Brooklyn? Yes. Check it out.
97. CHROMATICS-Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
I don’t like this one as much as a lot of this band’s other stuff, but I still like it. Chromatics have a clear and distinct sound, and it’s always welcome in my earhole.
96. DAVID GILMOUR-Rattle That Lock
Pink Floyd were probably the most influential band on me when I was in High School. Other than maybe Fat Boys. So I was thrilled we had some new material by Mr. G himself.
95. DANA FUCHS-Ain’t No Love In The Heart of the City
A song that’s gotten covered quite a bit since Jay-Z used it as a bed for a song on The Blueprint, which was probably his best album, Fuchs doesn’t do a lot by way of “reviving” or renovation. Instead, she stays true to the song’s core passion and power, and in the process shows why it is one of the greatest songs of all time. (And it will make my GOAT list, if you’re not already following that feature, check it out http://wp.me/pmvXQ-8YA.)
95. STRANGERS CANDY-Francis, Follow Me Home
A very strange band name, a very good single previewing their album that will come in 2016.
94. OYINDA-What Still Remains
From the Berklee School of Music by way of Nigeria, she has a tremendous voice. Watch closely. She’ll be huge next year.
93. KYLE AND KEHLANI-Just a Picture
“I wanna love you but you’d rather Tweet, I wanna love you but you love that screen.” Yeah, it’s silly. But it’s fun!
92. BULLY
Bully is a girl. Actually, it’s a band, but Alicia Bognanno is the writer, producer, singer and lead guitarist. If you ever wondered what it sound like if Melissa Etheridge was the frontperson for Elastica, this might be the answer.
91. ISRAEL NASH-Fearless (Pink Floyd)
Speaking of Pink Floyd, Nash’s tribute to one of their lesser-known and earlier hits is damn fine.
90. RATIONALE
It’s almost like 1980s soul, but without the corn. As far as I know this London-based artist did not release any albums yet–just a few very nice singles.
Come back for more tomorrow!
