Songs 2010-2014

My list won’t have much in common with Soto’s, and figuring out what’s a single is the kind of research I only have time to undertake during Pazz & Jop season, but his list inspired me to throw together my own. These songs are all on my iPod and I’ve reflexively dialed them up many times while out walking, so play count (imagined, not verified) was a major factor in hasty ranking. I choose 20 songs every year for my Macromix but I always seem to mess it up, underestimating what I actually enjoy most, so here’s a sort of corrective.


1. Himanshu – “You Have To Ride The Wave” – Still not sure what this is about except three rappers interpreting an Arundhati Roy quote as “make every syllable count.”
2. PJ Harvey – “The Last Living Rose”
3. Danny Brown – “25 Bucks”
4. Patrick Wolf – “Together”
5. Beach House – “Myth” – For that one very high note, never sure exactly which one, the guitar reaches at the end.
6. Deerhunter – “Memory Boy”
7. Frankie Rose – “Daylight Sky”
8. Perfume Genius – “Take Me Home”
9. Ken Stringfellow – “Pray”
10. Kendrick Lamar – “Money Trees” – Looking back, this sounds best. Aaron called it.
11. Dum Dum Girls – “Wasted Away” – To be honest “Caught In One” was always more my jam, but this one has the line “I’d rather waste away than see you only in dreams.” Love you, Mom.
12. D’Angelo & The Vanguard – “Another Life”
13. Lykke Li – “Sadness Is A Blessing”
14. Veronica Falls – “Stephen”
15. Janelle Monáe – “Oh, Maker”
16. Joanna Newsom – “On A Good Day”
17. Laura Veirs – “That Alice” – As great as “Alex Chilton.”
18. Marnie Stern – “Year Of The Glad”
19. Twin Shadow – “Beg For The Night” – Eternally misunderstood.
20. John Grant – “GMF”