Big Red Machine
Big Red Machine
"it's a very hard thing to have grief"
Hopefully the debut from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner (The National) is not a one off, but something the pair return to when taking a break from their day jobs (similar to James Mercer w/ Broken Bells).
"it's a very hard thing to have grief"
Hopefully the debut from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Aaron Dessner (The National) is not a one off, but something the pair return to when taking a break from their day jobs (similar to James Mercer w/ Broken Bells).
MorMor
"I'm just a poor boy / waiting for answers"
Mitski
Be the Cowboy
"at least in this lifetime / we're sticking together"
We at ATHoM love final tracks. In an album filled with relationship uncertainty, "Me and My Husband" begins with a deep exhale and what follows is a jaunty and a mildly hopeful (still cynical) acceptance of what works in life, at the end of life. It is a perfect album coda. And it is track 7 of 14 for some reason.
"at least in this lifetime / we're sticking together"
We at ATHoM love final tracks. In an album filled with relationship uncertainty, "Me and My Husband" begins with a deep exhale and what follows is a jaunty and a mildly hopeful (still cynical) acceptance of what works in life, at the end of life. It is a perfect album coda. And it is track 7 of 14 for some reason.
Flatbush Zombies feat. Portugal. The Man.
"but excuse my aggression / 'cause my tribe called for questions / if I'm made in god's image / tell me why am I blemished?"
Young Fathers
Cocoa Sugar
"climbing on a ladder to redeem my fortress / poor with money but I know what love is"
"climbing on a ladder to redeem my fortress / poor with money but I know what love is"
Lori McKenna
The Tree
"babies grow up / and houses get sold / and that's how it goes"
Mileage may vary here based on your age and desire for subtlety. It is very on the nose, down to the explicit title. It's like if "Cats in the Cradle" was called "I'm a Bad Father" and had a matching chorus. Still ... shit... maybe the only thing harder than getting old yourself is seeing it happen to the people around you and McKenna nails it.
Mileage may vary here based on your age and desire for subtlety. It is very on the nose, down to the explicit title. It's like if "Cats in the Cradle" was called "I'm a Bad Father" and had a matching chorus. Still ... shit... maybe the only thing harder than getting old yourself is seeing it happen to the people around you and McKenna nails it.
The Fratellis
In Your Own Sweet Time
"you look like salvation / but you taste like a refugee"
Christine and the Queens
Chris
Chris
Chris is a double album with French and English versions of each song. Maybe the French versions seem better to us because it is her native language. But more likely it is because dumb/simplistic lyrics are often a liability and here the vocals are merely another instrument (one year of high school French does very little).
Childish Gambino
"get your money"
Donald Glover entered the year with one sure thing (Solo) and two riskier bets (Season 2 of the incredibly ambitious Atlanta and a single/video that attempts to satirically address race in 2018 America). That's why they play the games.
Donald Glover entered the year with one sure thing (Solo) and two riskier bets (Season 2 of the incredibly ambitious Atlanta and a single/video that attempts to satirically address race in 2018 America). That's why they play the games.
The Growlers
Casual Acquaintances
"vices squeeze us 'til we're blue / me and you / that's of no concern to me / that doesn't cause me misery".
Casual Acquaintances
"vices squeeze us 'til we're blue / me and you / that's of no concern to me / that doesn't cause me misery".
Young Thug feat. Elton John
On The Run EP
The second "hiiiiiiiiiiiiigh" in each chorus (the Young Thug version) is probably our favorite use of autotune.
Superorganism
Superorganism
"everybody wants and nobody's ashamed"
Superorganism was odd in places, but wasn't quite the carnival freakshow that the early singles suggested. We would have enjoyed a greater embrace of the weird in places, but here the (relative) restraint is a benefit.
Albert Hammond Jr
Francis Trouble
"I was still hoping / that you were the victory / to what felt like love"
Even with Hammond's high ranking here and several Julian appearances over the years, Fabrizio Moretti still holds the ATHoM title for best non-Strokes effort by any member of the band (Little Joy's "Next Time Around").
Rostam
"we got dreams / we keep together / we got time to spend / oh hell yeah"
We obviously like the song enough to rank it here, but can still appreciate this random person on the internet: "I wish the lyrics for his song with the mandolin didn't sound so much like lyrics from a song with a mandolin"
Hop Along
Bark Your Head Off, Dog
"of course I am for peace / one that suits me"
Frances Quinlan has maybe our favorite singing voice in rock today.
Pusha T
DAYTONA
"when we all clicking like Golden State / and you and your team are the motorcade"
Kurt Vile
Bottle It In
"'some are weird as hell / but we love 'em / some are one trick ponies / but we embrace 'em"
This is basically Pretty Pimpin' 2.0, but maybe the song title is a subtle nod to that. Plus, we've always had a soft spot for repetition.
Tom Petty
An American Treasure
Mark Maron said the only thing Americans can agree on these days are burritos and Tom Petty. An unearthed song from 1982 shouldn't be here, but no "new" new song made us happier this year.
Kanye West feat. John Legend, Kid Cudi and 070 Shake
ye
"some day the drama'll be gone / and they'll play this on and on"
In an underwhelming year for music, is the placement of a non-inner-circle Kanye track at #1 (Kanye has never placed higher than #2 at ATHoM) a statement? A backlash to the backlash? Not consciously, and we certainly lost further respect for Kanye the person this year. But weren't we already in "bitch, you knew i was a snake" territory? For their part, music critics have certainly tried to pretend that ye didn't exist, instead only allowing themselves to sprinkle occasional praise to his G.O.O.D. production efforts like Pusha (at #4 above).
Let's put the music first for a second. This is a 5-part song (with only one part repeated) in which every segment works and is worth looking forward to: 1) a killer sample from Shirley Ann Lee that morphs into 2) the best vocals from John Legend since he worked at BCG (especially the mumbled "now I'm livin' high and doing what i wanna") into 3) Scott Mescudi's slurred and repeated mantra that could be Kanye's epitaph to 4) Kanye's most self-aware verse since "Runaway" (quite a feat given how bad his lyrics have been post-MBDTF) and finally 5) 070 Shake's haunting coda. In the Ringer's exit survey for the album, someone called this track a ripoff of fun.'s "Some Nights", presumably because of the "we're still the kids we used to be" line. That's simply stupid. This isn't reactionary, this is the #1 song of the year. Kanye is a trainwreck, but he remains our favorite unstable genius.
Full top 100 (counting up, 101 tracks due to the tie at 28):
Apple Music
Spotify
