Macromix 12

“The best song wasn’t the single!” (sometimes)

A 76-minute mix CD of my favorite songs of the year. It flows (per its guiding principle). Check out the eloquent Blip Plimpton for brief commentary on each track.

Track/ Rank
1/ 20 Tennis, “It All Feels The Same”
2/ 19 Trailer Trash Tracys, “Los Angered”
3/ 18 Killer Mike, “Untitled”
4/ 17 Sharon Van Etten, “Leonard”
5/ 16 Ken Stringfellow, “Pray”
6/ 15 Laura Gibson, “Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed”
7/ 14 Twin Shadow, “Beg For The Night”
8/ 13 Le1f, “Wut”
9/ 12 Beach House, “Wishes”
10/ 11 Frank Ocean, “Thinkin Bout You”
11/ 10 Chromatics, “Into The Black”
12/ 9 Lower Dens, “Brains”
13/ 8 Fiona Apple, “Anything We Want”
14/ 7 The Shins, “Simple Song”
15/ 6 The Men, “Candy”
16/ 5 Best Coast, “The Only Place”
17/ 4 Orbital, “Never”
18/ 3 Lotus Plaza, “Eveningness”
19/ 2 Perfume Genius, “Take Me Home”
20/ 1 Frankie Rose, “Gospel/Grace”

But the list doesn’t end there. First: A special salute to Wild Nothing, who created three really great (and no bad) songs this year, “Nowhere,” “Through The Grass,” and “Counting Days,” none of which quite made the cut.

Also: Patti Smith’s “This Is The Girl” (perfect gauze of poetry on a celebrity life, tender but not morbid, specific but not obvious), Rufus Wainwright’s “Montauk,” Bat For Lashes’ “Laura,” Angel Haze’s “Cleaning Out My Closet,” Ice Choir’s “Bounding,” Sinead O’Connor’s “Queen Of Denmark,” Ceremony’s “Repeating The Circle,” Cate Le Bon’s “Ploughing Out” (both parts), and El Perro Del Mar’s “Hold Off The Dawn.”

And: Songs called “Daylight Sky” and “Floating Spit” would occupy my top two spots if their respective artists didn’t already.

My still unwritten reflection on the year’s albums arrives next week. Five-tenths of its selections (as I currently have them arranged) are represented on the Macromix. The other five-tenths contains a wealth of great moments, but I’d be lying if I said I left those moments off the Macromix because I didn’t know what the very best ones were. Not to spoil a future post (well, to spoil, yes, to), but they’re called “In The Same Room,” “Gas Station,” “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe,” “NYC Cops,” and “Oblivion.” Those songs should’ve made the cut. To explain the vague reasons why they didn’t would collapse an already flimsy, meager project to organize the world’s crazy creative wealth.