Skip to main content

Greatest of All Time

It's probably been a good half year since I've posted anything here. With work and all, I feel like I barely have enough time to listen to music, let alone indulge in amateurish music criticism. Still, a song just got released that I can't help but write something about:

Sia - Chandelier

Sia's made a name for herself in the past few years writing slightly odd pop songs for other people (ex. Flo Rida's Wild Ones, David Guetta's Titanium, and Rihanna's Diamonds). Always interesting, sometimes good. None of that's even came close to preparing me how astoundingly good Chandelier is. I'll admit, overall, the song's not perfect, but that chorus could be the greatest 50 seconds of music ever recorded. It is head and shoulders above everything else I've heard in a long time. It's not even close. It's like comparing Chipotle to every other fast casual tex mex chain out there. People can tell you Chipotle's not the best. That's all right. It's a free nation. They're allowed to be wrong, but they're still wrong.

In just 10 days, I've listened to Chandelier 120 times, which beats out all but about 20 songs in my music library. It'll probably be in the top 10 by the end of the month. I haven't felt strongly about a song since Bad Boy came out over 2 years ago. Songs like this are the reason I listen to music.

Oh, also, as an added bonus, the music video is similarly phenomenal. Best I can remember seeing since Tyler, the Creator put out Yonkers.

In other news, here's some comparatively unremarkable songs I've found in the past few months that would nevertheless make my top 200 of all time list, in order from best to least-best:
  1. Younha - Strawberry Days: The sort of pure pop westerners never have the guts to make.
  2. Eric Church - Like Jesus Does: One of the greatest country song of all time sung by a guy who really, really knows how to sing it.
  3. Chvrches - The Mother We Share: OK, this is cheating a bit considering I've known about this song for over a year, but I still keep coming back to that chorus. Also, damn they're good live. Not Eric Church good, but still damn good.
  4. Veronica Falls - Teenage: 90's indie pop mixed with a bit of Saturdays=Youth. The verse melody is perfect.
  5. Waxahatchee - Swan Dive: More ramshackle 90's indie pop-rock perfection.
  6. Dum Dum Girls - Trouble Is My Name: A humble, personal song with arena rock sounds. I'm a sucker for this sort of thing.
  7. Eric Church - Hungover & Hard Up: More country done right.
  8. Eric Church - A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young: A stunning, tender ballad from the only country artist that matters today.
  9. Margot & The Nuclear So and So's - Broadripple Is Burning: Skinny Love, but not boring. This demo version's the only one worth listening to.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lists 4 Bitches

Now, for some actual music.  First, my last.fm account if you want a quick snapshot of what I like.  (Yes, I know, the name is stupid, go ahead and laugh, I don't care...)  Also, I made you bitches a list...bitches love lists... Top 10 Songs of 2011 (so far): The Weeknd - Wicked Games :   This song is perfect.  The best track off of the most interesting album to come out this year (It's also free, you should download it and give it a listen if you haven't already: Link ).  The overblown drums and grimy guitars give the song a lot of momentum and a great ambiance, but really, the song is all about Abel Tesfaye.  His voice is hauntingly perfect (or perfectly haunting, either one works) and his songwriting is on point all the way through.  I tried to pick the best part of this song, but I just can't.  It's that good. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers : Should have won Video of the Year.  At least he won Best New Artist. Kid deserved it. His mom looked so proud. Anywa
1 comment
Read more

Songs That Should Have Been Hits

When releasing pop songs, major labels have been surprisingly good.  Sure, they often go with the obvious choices: the songs produced by famous producers and the songs featuring other big name acts.  However, after some bumbling around, they usually do end up releasing all the good songs as singles.  Every once in a while, though, they mess up big time.  Top 10 singles that could make millions of dollars and sometimes change the course of an artist's career are left to languish as album cuts because people are too stupid to comprehend their greatness.  Here's a list of songs that would conquer the world, if only someone would bother releasing them, and their likely peak chart position in the U.S.  There's links to YouTube videos of the songs imbedded below (obviously, there are some quality issues), and here's a Spotify Playlist with all available songs. Katy Perry - Hummingbird Heartbeat : #1 Jennifer Lopez - Hypnotico : #1 (Note: The YouTube video is sped up.)
1 comment
Read more

Best Musical Snippets of 2013

It's always great when you get a song that's consistently great from beginning to end, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.  Sometimes you get songs where a certain section clearly stands out from the rest. Here's a few from this year: The Chorus of Kanye West's Bound 2 : The soul sample that occupies the rest of the song is soul only in name.  It approximates College Dropout-era Kanye with none of the warmth and, well, soul that made those tracks great.  The chorus is the exact opposite.  It uses the electronic music technique of putting a soulful male voice over a bass-heavy beat to create something emotive and genuinely soulful. The 3rd Minute of Youth Lagoon's Mute : Most of the song is nothing but warm, hazy fuzz, but, for about a minute, Trevor Powers cuts through that fuzz with a soaring, uplifting melody that Bono would be jealous of. The Pre-Chorus of Vampire Weekend's Unbelievers : One of two things this year that absolutely blew me away
Post a Comment
Read more