Morgan Wade

Morgan Wade: Reckless

Though nothing else here has a chorus of comparable caliber to that of “Wilder Days”, which creditably finished mid-pack on my end-of-2021 singles list, Wade’s writing is strong throughout, and save for the odd attempt to get existential, she can put her songs over. Her vocal quality is Sheryl-Crow-with-a-twang, but comparisons could be made to any number of rockers from the marginally earlier, patiently hornier Poppy Bush Interzone (wilder days, eh): “Passionate Kisses”, “Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover”, hell why not “All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You”. What’s different besides improvements in birth control is that she never achieves total freedom, even for a moment. Millennial that she is, there’s always something gnawing at her mind: a red wine stain on her white dress, an awareness that everything could fall apart in a moment that she may or may not get over. Love might help. Sex might too.

Grade: B PLUS (“Wilder Days”, “Last Cigarette”, “Other Side”)

Morgan Wade: Psychopath

On a par with Reckless without the masterpiece “Wilder Days”. Its guitars and cultural references are more 20th century than I’d prefer from a recent 27 Club avoider (a country singer pedaling second-hand nostalgia, who’d’ve thought), and if her closest comp is Sheryl Crow, she has the talent to warrant aiming higher. But short of ’80s Hollywood romances as confessional realism, her desire-filled voice can sell anything, maybe even that a guy who uses “psychopath” as a term of endearment is a relationship goal. And with Julia Michaels and producer Sadler Vaden respectively, she comes up with two half-masterpieces. “Phantom Feelings” is analogous to a phantom limb, perhaps one on which “You finally got another tattoo and I didn’t even know.” “Meet Somebody” is self-explanatory—“Why the hell can’t I meet somebody?/All these people want to do is fuck someone at the party”—and not psychopathic at all.

Grade: B PLUS (“Phantom Feelings”, “Meet Somebody”, “Fall in Love with Me”)

Morgan Wade: “Phantom Feelings”

Okay, “half-masterpiece” was 50% too low. The story recalls the ending of The English Patient (the book; never saw the movie), describing a bond that persists no matter how irrevocably finished the relationship is. Her blondness is a marker of the wisdom of a very particular age—her late twenties—in a way that’s almost Swiftian (if Swift had kept maturing through her late twenties.)

Morgan Wade: Obsessed

While this has nothing epochal like “Wilder Days” or “Phantom Feelings”, she remains a stirring singer despite sometimes being happy, and it shouldn’t be beyond her to write if not epochal big gay love songs, at least ones that look forward; small gay love song “Juliet” is facing the right way, fiction or not (“Walked on Water”, “Juliet”, “2AM in London”)

Morgan Wade: The Party Is Over (Recovered)

A sort of prequel, recounting her wilder, if more closeted, days. No co-writes, so you get full doses of her writing tics and tropes—you can bet there’s at least one change of hair color. Each verse of “Let Us Down” repeats its first line at the end to put it in a different light (a trick you may recall from the magnificent “Phantom Feelings”), so that when you hear “you don’t look too happy but who am I to judge”, you brace yourself for a heavy biographical couplet. The main subject is her alcoholism, which, although it’s killing her, she in the Lou Reed tradition lets you know the thrill of. On “Candy from Strangers”, producer Clint Wells rocks the bar while Wade takes pride in someone else paying for her drinks, and I worry about her, however retrospectively. The ending, a flash-forward to a negative pregnancy test, isn’t an altogether happy one, save that she’s now made four wide-release albums (with four classic album covers) since hitting bottom. Nothing here attempts the maturity of “Wilder Days” and “Phantom Feelings”, yet this might be her most grown-up set.

Grade: A MINUS (“Candy from Strangers”, “Let Us Down”, “Parking Garage”)

Morgan Wallen

Morgan Wallen: Dangerous: The Double Album (2001)

Thanks to a cancellation-lite that turned out to be mutually lucrative for both himself and Universal Music, this is 2021’s most played album, leading Sour by half a billion streams. In preparation for the country biz rehabbing his not quite accidental racism, let’s focus on his musical sins. It’s easy to see the appeal of his gruff low-end and surprisingly supple head voice, yet his default is an indifferent midrange that multitracking only manages to make as ungainly as thirty to fifty pitch-corrected feral hogs. This schtick allows him to rightfully criticize blue staters who think “this accent makes me dumb.” However, those used to the sophisticated wit of a Luke Combs or a Stone Cold Steve Austin will generally find it difficult to identify a smart line, no matter how long they stare at the lyrics of the Isbell cover. There’s one miracle: “7 Summers”, a whiskey-and-coke (not wine, are you a girl) fueled nostalgia-fest that believes in celebrating moments of beauty that start to look like lost opportunities once you gain some distance from them. Certainly I would’ve found it easier to decouple his few good songs from his extra-musical persona 1.75 Presidential terms ago.

Grade: C PLUS

Lil Durk & Morgan Wallen: “Broadway Girls” (2001)

I take little pleasure in reporting this is good (not morally, duh, though maybe dialectically.) Wallen sings in a tone as anti-bourgeois as Durk’s best fiend Chief Keef’s about the perfidy of the Nashville bachelorette: who knows if one might wake up in the morning and find out she’s gone or liberal. Durk, the smart one, knows said perfidy is irrelevant as long as his money doesn’t run out; he’s so seductive you might find yourself nodding along before you realize this is also kind of terrible. More informative than r/relationships, with better aesthetics.

Morgan Wallen: One Thing at a Time (2003)

Most obviously, at thirty-six tracks it’s too fjucking long. And the majority of the songs are slight, not least sixteen week Billboard number one “Last Night”, which is two verses, two choruses, short outro that recapitulates the same middling wordplay as the choruses. The combination of quantity and low degree of difficulty together, however, appears to be what his young streaming audience wants: stats suggest the majority of listeners are plowing through the whole 1:52 of the record, and a few billion thirds of cents do add up. The sequence of one-things-at-a-time resembles that old country tradition, the variety show—here’s a beer song, here’s Eric Church for three minutes, make sure to visit the Opry gift shop on your way out. Wallen goes out of his way to play nice, toning down Dangerous’s signature coarse high-end to instead find plenty of simulated passion in the safety of mid-range, and you can bet that NashvilleMoth has engineered each setting to glossy flawlessness. Now and then they even let Wallen express himself, within limits. The times he perks up are when he gets a good sports metaphor to work with, and when he cosplays Young Thug on a “Lifestyle” localization, which might make centenarians recall a precedent in another hugely popular/problematic variety show host (and genuine fan of Black music.) Without having to go down on one knee, the Miranda Lambert co-write “Thought You Should Know” and album centerpiece is a classic mama’s-boy song; it was meant to be the sop for country radio, only they too preferred “Last Night”. If he’ll never fill Garth’s hat, it’s not just his head’s, or his mouth’s, fault.

Grade: B PLUS (“Thought You Should Know”, “98 Braves”, “180 (Lifestyle)”)

Post Malone & Morgan Wallen: “I Had Some Help” (2004)

Just when Song of the Summer, Inasmuch As Any One Song Can Be Said To Be “The” Song of the Summer (which hereon I’ll abbreviate as “Song of the Summer”) looked like a straight-up duel between Kendrick and Tommy Richman, here come the former and current biggest male stars in America. That the song is very good (and insanely catchy) isn’t surprising given how mission-critical it is to UniMoth, plus even before his Bey/Taylor duets turned him face, Posty has always been more interesting playing with others. More surprising is how willing Wallen is to play second fiddle: here comes a carpetbagger who immediately reveals himself to be the Daryl Strawberry to your Homer Simpson, and you’re enthusiastically lending him a hand up? If it turns out he’s secretly gathering intel for a dis track, I might have to finally give him his A minus.

Morgan Wallen: I’m the Problem (2005)

As always, you don’t have to listen to this, and you definitely don’t have to listen to it all at once. The most interesting contiguous half runs from pop radio bid “What I Want” to inoffensive streaming juggernaut “Love Somebody”; tack on the “Miami” remix, on which he flies south to find anonymity, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross, who think he’s the guy from The Righteous Gemstones. There are few other risks, but he continues to improve as a singer. If you listen to What Not To by his clone Tucker Wetmore (which you super-duper don’t have to), you can hear in comparison how Wallen’s worked on his upper register to not be so fjucking whiny, not to mention Morgan has heard a rap song in his life. The peak of I’m the Problem starts with “Kick Myself”, as in “kicked the bottle… but I just can’t kick myself”, and before you volunteer a foot, a 8-bit bomb synth descends, which Wallen adeptly dodges. Following that is “20 Cigarettes”, which has an unusual harmonic progression towards a mid-chorus release, and the best quantification of time through vices since “Beers Ago”. Things soon go south, with exurban pride and male ressentiment that you can penalize as many notches as you want for, though note that the HARDY duet “Come Back as a Redneck” urges the successful to check their privilege with as much vehemence as any Tumblr post. Wallen’s closer than ever to a proper good album, and continues to have no incentive to make one.

Grade: B PLUS (“20 Cigarettes”, “Kick Myself”, “Number 3 and Number 7”)

2016 songs

1. Beyonce: "Formation"
2. Four Tet: "Morning Side"
3. Baroness: "Shock Me"
4. Zane Campbell: "Layaway Plan"
5. Oliver Heldens: "Melody"
6. Erykah Badu, Andre 3000: "Hello"
7. Beauty Pill: "For Pretend"
8. Saam Lamjarred: "Lm3allem"
9. Kevin Gates: "2 Phones"
10. Carrie Underwood: "Smoke Break"
11. Pusha T, Ab Live: "Got Em Covered"
12. Imani: "Fire Meh"
13. Lionel Loueke: "Wacko Loco"
14. Lionel Loueke: "Procession"
15. Ghost Train Orchestra: "Hot Town"
16. Mamamoo: "Taller Than You"
17. Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Moe Dee, Eric Nally: "Downtown"
18. Taraf de Haidouks: "Cold Snowball"
19. Young Moose: "True Bill"
20. Stormzy: "Shut Up"
21. Brandy Clark: "Girl Next Door"
22. Jeremih: "Oui"
23. Cam: "Half Broke Heart"
24. Axel Krygier: "Mosquito"
25. Bomba Estereo: "Soy Yo"
26. DJ Metatron: "State of Me"
27. El DeBarge: "Heaven"
28. DJ Clent, Majik Mike: "Low Lyfe"
29. Sarah Kirkland Snider: "Unremembered: No. 8, The Witch"
30. Protomartyr: "I Forgive You"
31. Dua Lipa: "Be the One"
32. Yogi, Skrillex, Pusha T, Moody Good, Trollphace: "Burial"
33. Young Greatness: "Moolah"
34. Katy Tiz: "Whistle (While You Work It)"
35. Ellie Goulding: "Lost and Found"
36. Ay, Diamond Platnumz: "Zigo" (remix)
37. Erykah Badu: "Phone Down"
38. Gesu No Kiwami Otome: "Ryoseibai De Ii Ja Nai"
39. Olamide: "Bobo"
40. Esperanza Spalding: "Good Lava"
41. Maddie & Tae: "Sierra"
42. Sunkanmi: "Singale"
43. William Parker, Raining on the Moon: "Feet Music"
44. BTS: "Run"
45. Morgan Heritage: "Perform and Done"
46. Lionel Loueke: "Aziza Dance"
47. Nena: "Ja das wars"
48. T.I.: "Broadcast Live"
49. Steve Coleman & the Council of Balance: "Acupuncture Openings"
50. Elle King: "Ex's & Oh's"
51. El DeBarge: "Sad Songs"
52. Ballake Sissoko, Vincent Segal: "Niandou"
53. Michael Gibbs, NDR Big Band, Bill Frisell: "Freddy's Step"
54. Baroness: "The Iron Bell"
55. Kodak Black: "Ran Up a Check"
56. Maddie & Tae: "No Place Like You"
57. Axel Krygier: "Changarin"
58. E-Sens: "Writer's Block"
59. Eche Palante: "A Discussion Between Saxes"
60. Beauty Pill: "Afrikaner Barista"
61. Bob Marley, The Wailers: "Them Belly Full" (live)
62. Homeboy Sandman: "Holiday" (Kosi & Fink's edit)
63. GOT7: "Just Right"
64. Ibeyi: "River"
65. Aubrie Sellers: "Sit Here and Cry"
66. Young Thug: "Flaws"
67. Michael Gibbs, NDR Big Band, Bill Frisell: "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"
68. Ghost Train Orchestra: "Skag-a-Lag"
69. Trixter: "Every Second Counts"
70. Guerilla Toss: "Realistic Rabbit"
71. Seventeen, Ailee: "Q&A"
72. Ghost Train Orchestra: "You Can't Go Wrong"
73. Tal National: "Saraounia"
74. DJ Spinn, DJ Rashad, Danny Brown: "Dubby"
75. Stormzy: "Know Me From"
76. Childbirth: "Siri, Open Tinder"
77. Marcy Chin: "Baddest Little Filly"
78. Banda de los Muertos: "El Toro Viejo"
79. Mozzy: "Tryna Win"
80. Zane Campbell: "Post Mortem Bar"
81. Nate Wooley Quintet: "Hesitation"
82. Soichi Terada: "Love Tension"
83. Nena: "Berufsjugendlich"
84. Ulises Hadjis, Gepe: "Moviniento"
85. J Hus: "Lean & Bop"
86. Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra: "Afro Blue"
87. All Saints: "One Strike"
88. Fit Siegel: "Carmine"
89. Taraf de Haidouks: "The Fields Are Blooming"
90. Satan: "The Fall of Persephone"
91. Austin Mahone: "Dirty Work"
92. Eszter Balint: "Let's Tonight It"
93. Lissie: "Don't You Give Up on Me"
94. Terry Riley, Kronos Quartet: "Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector"
95. Shopping: "Why Wait"
96. Bob Marley, The Wailers: "I Shot the Sheriff" (live)
97. Jasmine Lovell-Smith's Towering Poppies: "Confidence (One)"
98. Bomba Estereo: "Mar (Lo Que Siento)"
99. The Prettiots: "Stabler"
100. Clouddead: "Dead Dogs Two" (Boards of Canada remix)

Fave albums 2015

As of 10/31/15:

1. Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly
2. Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: Epicenter
3. Karantamba: Ndigal (1984/2012)
4. Mindtroll: EP #4 (2014)
5. James McMurtry: Complicated Game
6. Parkay Quarts: Content Nausea (2014)
7. Terakaft: Tenere (Alone)
8. Jazmine Sullivan: Reality Show
9. Duduvudu: The Gospel According to Dudu Pukwana (2014)
10. Rudresh Mahathappa: Bird Calls
11. Heems: Eat Pray Thug
12. Susanne Sundfor: Ten Love Songs
13. Velkro: Don't Wait for the Revolution (2014)
14. D'Angelo & the Vanguard: Black Messiah (2014)
15. Tami Neilson: Dynamite! (2014)
16. Pharoah & the Underground: Spiral Mercury (2014)
17. Tami Neilson: The Kitchen Table Sessions II (2011)
18. Red Velvet: Ice Cream Cake mini-album
19. DJ N*gga Fox: Noite e Dia EP
20. Courtney Barnett: Sometimea I Sit and Think...
21. John Wizards (2013)
22. Ata Kak: Obaa Sima
23. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee
24. Lydia Loveless: Boy Crazy EP (2013)
25. Morlot/Seattle Symphony: John Luther Adams: Become Ocean (2014)
26. Earl Sweatshirt: I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside
27. Miles Davis: At Newport 1973
28. Waclaw Zimpel To Tu Orchestra: Nature Moves (2014)
29. Sleater-Kinney: No Cities to Love
30. Allo Darlin': We Come from the Same Place (2014)
31. Vince Staples: Summertime 06
32. Christian Gerhaher/Gerold Huber: Nachtviolen: Schubert Lieder (2014)
33. Vince Staples: Shyne Coldchain II (2014)
34. Dawn Richard: Blackheart
35. Miguel: Wildheart
36. Rae Sremmurd: Sremmlife
37. Ufomammut: Ecate
38. Nicki Minaj: The Pinkprint (2014)

Bubbling under:

Marilyn Crispell & Gerry Hemingway: Table of Changes
Desaparecidos: Payola
Elder: Lore
Joe Fiedler Trio: I'm In
Gain: Hawwah mini-album
Matt Jaffe & the Distractions: Blast Off EP
Oliver Lake & William Parker: To Roy
Mbongwana Star: From Kinshasa
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness (2014)
Ashley Monroe: The Blade
Mr. Mitch: Don't Leave EP (2014)
Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard: Django and Jimmie
Willie Nelson & Sister Bobbie: December Days (2014)
Paris: Pistol Politics
Protoje: Ancient Future
Rainbow: Innocent EP
Frank Turner: Positive Songs for Negative People
Lena Willikins: RA.421 (2014)
Robert Wyatt: Different Every Time (2014)
Years & Years: Communion
Yo La Tengo: Stuff Like That There
Young Thug: Slime Season

Rolling 2015 songs of the year

updated 6/30/15

1. K. Michelle: "Build a Man"
2. Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness: "High Dive"
3. Bigbang: "Loser"
4. Willie Nelson, Sister Bobbie: "Laws of Nature"
5. Sam Hunt: "Take Your Time"
6. Kendrick Lamar: "The Blacker the Berry"
7. Alice Smith, Sam Dew, Dave Sitek: "Shell Shock"
8. Mindtroll: "Boss Cat"
9. Rudresh Mahanthappa: "Chillin'"
10. Tami Neilson: "Cry Over You"
11. Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: "Down East"
12. Floating Points: "King Bromeliad"
13. The Mountain Goats: "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero"
14. SHINee: "Woof Woof"
15. James McMurtry: "Long Island Sound"
16. Karantamba: "Na Dinding Fatty"
17. Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth: "All Tomorrow's Parties"
18. Meek Mill, Big Sean, ASAP Ferg: "B Boy"
19. Miguel, Wale: "Coffee"
20. Grandma Sparrow: "Nap Time: Twelve-Tone Lullaby"

Kendrick Lamar: "Momma"
Ishwana: "Restraining Order"
Future Brown, Tink: "Wanna Party" (remix)
Gesu No Kiwami Otome: "Watashi Igai Watashi Ja Nai No"
Matt Jaffe & the Distractions: "Put Your Finger in the Socket"
Victor Manuelle: "Que Suenen los Tambores"
Ata Kak: "Daa Nyinaa"
Speedy Ortiz: "The Graduates"
One Direction: "Night Changes"
Duduvudu: "Kweleentonga"
Robyn: "Tell You (Today)"
Lydia Loveless: "Lover's Spat"
Lil Mama: "Sausage"
Allo Darlin': "Half Heart Necklace"
Jazmine Sullivan: "Mascara"
Lil Herb, Lil Reese: "On My Soul"
Killer Mike: "Ric Flair"
Courtney Barnett: "Pedestrian at Best"
Amber, Taeyeon: "Shake That Brass"
BTS: "Converse High"
Dawn Richard: "Swim Free"
MC Bin Laden, MC 2K: "Passinho do Farao"
Kink: "Existence"
Ciara: "I Bet"
Velkro: "Pastime"
Dead Sara: "Mona Lisa"
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley: "Blakk Man Dey Suffer"
Julion Alvarez y Su Norteno Banda: "El Amor De Su Vida"
Dead Sara: "Radio One Two"
Feedtime: "Flatiron"

Favorite songs of 2014; or, they're all singles to me

Bleak songs for a (politically not personally) bleak year. #1 is #1 because it's the only thing that makes me feel better after listening to #2.

1. Elizabeth Morris: “Optimism” (2013)
2. Lydia Loveless: “Everything’s Gone”
3. Meek Mill: “Lil N*gga Snupe” (2013)
4. Beatrice Eli: “Girls”
5. SISTAR: “Touch My Body”
6. Taylor Swift: “Blank Space”
7. John Grant: “GMF” (2013)
8. The Bombay Royale: “(Bring Me Back) My Bunty Bunty”
9. Courtney Barnett: “Avant Gardener” (2013)
10. Laura Cantrell: “All the Girls Are Complicated”
11. Kira Isabella: “Quarterback”
12. Jenny Lewis: “Love U Forever”
13. Paramore: “Ain’t It Fun” (2013)
14. John Fullbright: “Happy”
15. Old 97’s: “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive”
16. Dierks Bentley: “I Hold On” (2013)
17. Amel Larrieux: “A Million Sapphires” (2013)
18. Calle 13 ft. Julian Assange, Kamilya Jordan, & Tom Morello: “Multi_Viral”
19. Bonnie McKee: “American Girl” (2013)
20. QT: “Hey QT”
21. Luke James: “I Want You” (2012)
22. Jenny Scheinman: “The Littlest Prisoner”
23. Katy B: “Crying for No Reason”
24. Ace Wilder: “Busy Doin’ Nothin’”
25. Wayne J: “Chikungunya”
26. Gucci Mane & Young Thug: “Siblings”
27. Jon Lundbom & Big Five Chord: “North Star”
28. Noura Mint Seymali: “El Madi”
29. T.I. ft. Young Thug: “About the Money”
30. Miranda Lambert: “Platinum”
31. Withered Hand: “Horseshoe”
32. Davido: “Skelewu” (2013)
33. Duke Dumont: “Won’t Look Back”
34. YG ft. Jeezy & Rich Homie Quan: “My N*gga” (2013)
35. Juanes: “La Luz”
36. Sofi de la Torre: “Vermillion”
37. Luke James: “Exit Wounds”
38. Corb Lund & Hayes Carll: “Bible on the Dash” (2013)
39. Matana Roberts: “Was the Sacred Day” (2013)
40. Marsha Ambrosius: “Shoes”
41. Orlando Julius with the Heliocentrics: “Buje Buje”
42. 2NE1: “Come Back Home”
43. Junglepussy: “Fuck Texting”
44. Rustie ft. Danny Brown: “Attak”
45. Mary Halvorson Septet: “Nairam” (2013)
46. Michael Jackson: “Do You Know Where Your Children Are”
47. Rosanne Cash: “When the Master Calls the Roll”
48. Jeremih ft. YG: “Don’t Tell ’Em”
49. Mlimani Park Orchestra: “Mtoto Akililia Wembe” (198x)
50. Childish Gambino: “Telegraph Ave. (Oakland by Lloyd)” (2013)
51. DJ Clent: “Clent’s Dog Catcher”
52. Migos ft. Cassius Jay: “Young Rich N*ggas”
53. TaeYang: “Eyes, Nose, Lips”
54. Kiesza: “Hideaway”
55. Miranda Lambert: “Bathroom Sink”
56. Golem: “Miskayt”
57. Angles 9: “Ubabba”
58. Holly Williams: “Waiting on June” (2013)
59. Big Freedia: “Explode”
60. Bob Dylan: “Pretty Saro” (2013)
61. BFlecha ft. Arufe: “Mundo Bizarro” (2013)
62. Crystal Kay: “Dum Ditty Dumb”
63. Childbirth: “I Only Fucked You As a Joke”
64. Hilary Hahn & Cory Smythe: Silvestrov: “Two Pieces” (2013)
65. Built to Spill: “Jokerman”
66. Wussy: “Halloween”
67. Taylor Swift: “Style”
68. Azealia Banks: “Nude Beach a Go-Go”
69. Atmosphere: “Flicker”
70. Charli XCX: “Boom Clap”
71. Migos: “Handsome and Wealthy”
72. BTS: “So 4 More”
73. Indiana: “Solo Dancing”
74. Beyonce: “XO” (2013)
75. Dej Loaf: “Try Me”
76. Selena Gomez: “The Heart Wants What It Wants”
77. Moreno & L’Orch First Moja-One: “Sisili”
78. Tune-Yards: “Water Fountain”
79. Charles Lloyd/Jason Moran: “God Only Knows” (2013)
80. Talib Kweli ft. Rubix & Bajah: “High Life” (2013)
81. Ameriie: “What I Want”
82. Lee Ann Womack: “Same Kind of Different”
83. Miranda Lambert: “Little Red Wagon”
84. Kasai Allstars ft. Congotronics vs Rockers: “The Ploughman”
85. Shakira: “Empire”
86. Ariana Grande & Mika: “Popular Song” (2013)
87. Dada Life: “Born to Rage” (USA version, 2013)
88. Revolutionary Ensemble: “My Birds” (2013)
89. Young Thug: “#TwitterSong” (2011)
90. Dagens Ungdom: “Aldri vite”
91. Aphex Twin: “180db_[130]”
92. Inaya Day Allstars: “Good Feeling (A Director’s Cut Master)” (2013)
93. Tove Styrke: “Even If I’m Loud It Doesn’t Mean I’m Talking to You”
94. DJ Snake & Lil Jon: “Turn Down for What”
95. Polly Scattergood: “Subsequently Lost”
96. 4Minute: “Wait a Minute”
97. Young Thug/ASAP Ferg/Freddie Gibbs: “Old English”
98. Jacob Latimore ft. T-Pain: “Heartbreak Heard Around the World”
99. DJ Rashad ft. Gant-Man: “Somethin ’Bout the Things You Do”
100. Dal Shabet: “B.B.B. (Big Baby Baby)”
101. Paul Shapiro: “Halil”
102. FKA Twigs: “Two Weeks”
103. The Saturdays: “What Are You Waiting For?”
104. Lupe Fiasco ft. Ty Dolla Sign: “Next to It”
105. Rae Sremmurd: “No Flex Zone”
106. Taylor Swift: “New Romantics”
107. Simone Kermes: Monteverdi: “Si dolce e il tormento” (2013)
108. Joker: “Midnight”
109. Lydia Loveless: “The Only Man” (2010)
110. Wadada Leo Smith: “Gneiss”
111. Tori Amos: “Unrepentant Geraldines”
112. Against Me!: “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” (2010)
113. Rae Sremmurd: “No Type”
114. Paramore: “(One of Those) Crazy Girls” (2013)
115. Lil Durk: “Dis Ain’t What U Want” (2013)
116. Popcaan: “Number One Freak”
117. How to Dress Well: “Repeat Pleasure” (A.G. Cook remix)
118. Allie X: “Catch”
119. Lil Wayne & Drake: “Believe Me”
120. John Fullbright: “Never Cry Again”
121. Nicki Minaj: “Lookin Ass”
122. Toni Braxton: “I Wish”
123. Pallbearer: “Foundations”
124. Paul Shapiro: “Get Me to the Shul on Time”
125. Jenny Lewis: “Late Bloomer”
126. Kira Isabella: “Late Bloomer”
127. Akdong Musician: “200%”
128. Migos ft. Young Thug: “YRN”
129. Tessela: “Hackney Parrot” (2013)
130. Jerry Lee Lewis: “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”
131. Ernest Ranglin: “Bless Up”
132. Common ft. Lil Herb & Cocaine 80s: “The Neighborhood”
133. Toppdogg: “Arario”
134. Porter Robinson: “Flicker”
135. Royksopp & Robyn: “Do It Again”
136. Paramore: “Anklebiters” (2013)
137. Juicy J/Nicki Minaj/Lil Bibby/Young Thug: “Low”
138. Chumped: “Old and Tired”
139. Lady Antebellum: “Bartender”
140. Calibre 50: “El Inmigrante”
141. Bas ft. J Cole: “My N*gga Just Made Bail”
142. Dizzy Sunfist: “Sulley”
143. Maria Keohane: Handel: “Tu del ciel ministro eletto” (2013)
144. Tamar Braxton: “All the Way Home” (2013)
145. Tokyo Police Club: “Argentina (Parts I, II, III)”
146. Sevyn Streeter: “nEXt”
147. Vic Mensa: “Lovely Day” (2013)
148. Wilkinson & Detour City: “Too Close”
149. Free Nelson Mandoomjazz: “The Mask of the Red Death”
150. MyBaby: “Sida” (Boima & Giku remix) (2013)
151. Khaira Arby: “La Liberte” (2013)
152. Tune-Yards: “Real Thing”
153. Claire Chase: “Vermont Counterpoint” (2013)
154. Stitches: “Brick in Yo Face”
155. Herbert: “It’s Only” (DJ Koze remix, 2012)
156. Old Crow Medicine Show: “Marching Through Georgia” (2013)
157. Angel Haze: “Black Synagogue” (2013)
158. Daniela Spalla: “Pequeno Ladron”
159. Tiwa Savage ft. Don Jazzy: “Eminado” (2013)
160. Holy Ghost: “I Will Come Back” (Classixx remix, 2013)
161. Leonard Cohen: “Almost Like the Blues”
162. Young Thug ft. Nicki Minaj: “Danny Glover” (remix)
163. Tinashe ft. Schoolboy Q: “2 On”
164. James Brandon Lewis: “No Wooden Nickels”
165. Marina and the Diamonds: “Froot”
166. Lil B: “No Black Person Is Ugly”
167. Toby Keith: “Drunk Americans”
168. Noura Mint Seymali: “Tzenni”
169. Golem: “Tanz”
170. Albert “Tootie” Heath: “The Charleston” (2013)
171. Dominique Young Unique: “Show My Ass” (2010)
172. Lobi Traore: “Dunuya” (2013)
173. Rich Gang: “Lifestyle”
174. Escort: “Actor Out of Work”
175. Old 97’s: “The Disconnect”
176. Objekt: “Strays”
177. Tweens: “Bored in the City”
178. Classixx ft. Nancy Whang: “All You’re Waiting For”
179. Parquet Courts: “Black and White”
180. Ingrid Michaelson: “Girls Chase Boys”
181. Leikeli47: “Fuck the Summer Up”
182. Run the Jewels: “Lie, Cheat, Steal”
183. Kiran Ahluwalia: “Mustt Mustt” (2013)
184. Luke James: “Trouble”
185. Lee Ann Womack: “Tomorrow Night in Baltimore”
186. Sonny Rollins: “Biji”
187. J. Cole ft. TLC: “Crooked Smile” (2013)
188. Grenier & Archie Pelago: “The Cartographer’s Wife”
189. Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott: “D.I.Y”
190. Angaleena Presley: “Pain Pills”
191. After School: “Shh”
192. Drive-By Truckers: “The Part of Him”
193. Tori Amos: “Trouble’s Lament”
194. The Wonder Years: “Dismantling Summer” (2013)
195. Tensnake ft. Nile Rodgers & Fiora: “Love Sublime”
196. Les Ambassadeurs ft. Ousmane Dia: “Fatema” (197x)
197. EMA: “Satellites”
198. Klingande: “Jubel” (2013)
199. Suiyoubi no Campanella: “Momotaro”
200. Sun Kil Moon: “War on Drugs: Suck My Cock”

Obligatory Sp-t-fy thing (lots missing)

Fave albums 2014

updated 11/2/14

1. Alisa Weilerstein/Daniel Barenboim: Elgar & Carter Cello Concertos (2012)
2. +William Parker: Wood Flute Songs (2013)
3. Wussy: Attica!
4. The Rough Guide to the Music of Mali
5. Grenier Meets Archie Pelago
6. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile (2013)
7. +John Grant: Pale Green Ghosts (2013)
8. Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott: What Have We Become?
9. Withered Hand: New Gods
10. Mary Halvorson Septet: Illusionary Sea (2013)
11. Jenny Lewis: The Voyager
12. Golem: Tanz
13. Jenny Scheinman: The Littlest Prisoner
14. Quraishi: Mountain Melodies
15. Old 97’s: Most Messed Up
16. +Miranda Lambert: Platinum
17. Young Thug & Bloody Jay: Black Portland
18. Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds
19. Live from Festival au Desert Timbuktu (2013)
20. Starlito: Funerals and Court Dates (2012)
21. Paramore (2013)
22. Tal National: Kaani (2013)
23. Vasily Petrenko/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 (2013)
24. +Noura Mint Seymali: Tzenni
25. +Tune-Yards: Nikki Nack
26. Leonard Cohen: Popular Problems
27. Ariana Grande: Yours Truly (2013)
28. The Bombay Royale: The Island of Dr Electrico
29. Toni Braxton & Babyface: Love, Marriage & Divorce
30. Angola Soundtrack 2 (2013)
31. BFlecha: βeta (2013)
32. Moreno: Vol. 2: More Pili
33. Dagens Ungdom
34. Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith

+: might go higher

Bubbling under:

Paul Shapiro: Shofarot Voices
Wadada Leo Smith: Red Hill

Moskus: Mestertyven

Aphex Twin: Syro
BTS: Dark & Wild
Against Me!: Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Neneh Cherry: Blank Project

Angel Haze: Dirty Gold (2013)

Revolutionary Ensemble: Counterparts (2013)

Omar Souleyman: Haflat Gharbia (2011)
Group Doueh: Zayna Jumma (2011)

B1A4: Who Am I

The Rough Guide to the Music of the Sahara
Sonny Rollins: Road Shows Vol. 3
Young Thug: 1017 Thug (2013)
Lee Konitz: Live at Birdland (2011)

Elizabeth Morris: Optimism EP (2013)

FKA Twigs: LP1

The Roots: And Then You Shoot Your Cousin

Jason Derulo: Talk Dirty