Also because I know y’all are literally Dying to know, here are my top 5 Taylor Swift songs of 2021:
You All Over Me
Nothing New
Mr. Perfectly Fine
cowboy like me
I Bet You Think About Me
Big Thief - Change
Origami Angel - Noah Fence
Ogbert the Nerd - Really, It’s Fine
Alien Boy - The Way I Feel
Indigo De Souza - Kill Me
Katy Kirby - Cool Dry Place
Magdalena Bay - You Lose!
Home is Where - Assisted Harikiri
Japanese Breakfast - Tactics
Parannoul - I Can Feel My Heart Touching You
We can agree to disagree about the 10 minute “All Too Well” (especially when so many of the other RED and Fearless b-sides were SO much better) but I forgive y’all after seeing “camera roll” so high. Easily my favorite song on star-crossed and probably a top 5 Kacey song once it all shakes out.
Also, thanks for all the pop words over the years Chris. It’s been fun. Especially all the times when I could read about you listening to the new Ed Sheeran records so I don’t have to.
I’m trying, I really am, but I can’t. Kevin still has a great rock voice, and if he feels like the long wait for Charles to finish the Wrens album deprived him of his chance to properly use it, that’s a shame. But it’s also a shame that the new Wrens album got scuttled for, what’s essentially a (tragically defunct) legacy act’s side project.
These songs are good, and if it was a “look at what Kevin’s been doing while we are all still waiting for goofy ol Chaz” situation, I might be singing a completely different tune. But it is what it is. And I can’t help missing the ethereal sounds and harmonies that elevated The Meadowlands above your average mid-life crisis indie rock. I can’t help but read some bitterness into the lyrics that makes me cringe a little bit. It’s all wrong. It’s tragic.
Sadness - april sunset
Panopticon - ... and Again into the Light
Fluisteraars- Gegrepen Door de…
Mare Cognitum - Solar Paroxysm
Kaatayra - Inpariquipê
Portrayal of Guilt - CHRISTFUCKER
RYE - Eternal
Violet Cold - Empire of Love
Anti God Hand - Wretch
Dödsrit - Mortal Coil
HMs: Noctule, Esoctrilhium, Liminal Dream
Also, fwiw, I’m counting Trisagion for next year, but if I wasn’t I might have stuck it in between Fluisteraars and Mare Cognitum. What an album
It was hard for me to pick just one, but I voted for Magdalena Bay since I think that was one of the more unfortunate (but understandable) omissions from the Gum list. A bunch of y’all should too.
Also realizing that “Change” by Big Thief will not get nearly as many votes as “Little Things” but fuck it. “Change” is simply the best song I’ve heard all year (which is saying something!).
Crank the volume. It’s mixed so low that it can wash by with barely a murmur at “normal” volume, but the louder it gets you get layers and layers of psychedelic folk pop. And her writing really leveled up on this too, “Reaper” is my fave but there isn’t a weak track on the whole thing.
Pop music was so boring this year, IMO. The only major release to make me feel something, and have any staying power in my rotation was Kacey (and Clairo if she counts, goddamn Sling is incredible). A few others (LNX, Halsey, Olivia Rodrigo, Adele) were fine, but rarely captured my attention for longer than a week? Idk. Maybe it’s because I spent less time out in the world (e.g: bars) where I would hear it out loud? Maybe it’s because I spent the time I used to spend perusing the pop chart, perusing the bandcamp metal charts instead. Maybe I’m getting old. Who knows?
And fwiw, I’m still listening to some of those Taylor b-sides. “You All Over Me” slaps especially hard.
Apparently Illuminati Hotties’ “Tenderpunk” agenda was not enough to stem the rising tide of “Bubblegrunge” this year. Pour one out for a fallen comrade.
Comments