Submissions are presented in the order they were received. Click here to see last year’s songs.
Two possible futures and a lullaby.
Matana Roberts – a(way) is not an option
Alvin Curran – Fiori Chiari, Fiori Oscuri
Joyce – Barracumbarra
Arca – No Queda Nada
SASAMI – Turned Out I Was Everyone
Yaeji – For Granted
Susumu Yokota – Song of the sleeping forest
Loren Connors & Darin Gray – Part One
This (newly acquired CD) was the first thing I put on when I got home from New York. It was evening, the new dark of autumn careening into winter. Everyone preparing for hibernation. A little night music. I had the great pleasure of corresponding with Loren over email before the trip, and then finally meeting him and Suzanne Langille in person at a Madison Greenstone concert. Loren is one of the gentlest souls I have ever known.
Digable Planets – Where I’m From
The lyrics are so fat you might gain weight
The Wallners – In My Mind
The O’Jays – Love Train
Because I think about this scene…
…every time I’m on the New York Subway.
Yazoo – Only You
Love! Synthesizers! A really great album cover!
Róisín Murphy – You Know Me Better
Weddings, friends, summer. Thinking about, ‘what songs would I choose to galvanize folks to the dance floor?’ This one.
Problem Patterns – Pity Bra
Belfast punk pals, Problem Patterns released their debut album ‘Blouse Club’ this year and it’s exquisite. This wee sweetie of a track is the story of a gig and a moment.
The Magnetic Fields – I Think I Need a New Heart
Road tripping, drives across Islands and nostalgia in the air. Listen, rinse, repeat.
billy woods & Kenny Segal (Feat. Danny Brown) – Year Zero
Knower – Do Hot Girls Like Chords?
Stop the Schizo – Come Existential Dread
Glen Campbell – Guess I’m Dumb
Jean Sibelius conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen with the Swedish Symphony Orchestra – Symphony No. 5 III. Finale
Janet Jackson – Empty
Greg Mendez – Best Behavior
You got the radio playing / and all I can think is to change it to some shit I hate / it’s better than something that you like
Davido – IN THE GARDEN (feat. Morravey)
I’ll change your status <3
Wounds of Recollection – Vacancy
I know some things were never meant to be / I know some friends I will see again only when I sleep
Maria BC – Haruspex
bar italia – changer
Nil Nadal – cotxe
Jim O’Rourke – Fast Car
Arthur Russell – Soon-To-Be Innocent Fun/Let’s See
Pharoah Sanders – The Creator Has a Master Plan
I almost died this year. Several times. These songs helped put oxygen back into my lungs.
NIKI – Oceans & Engines (Live at The Wiltern)
Ethel Cain – American Teenager (with a brief intro of Sunbeached Flies)
Holly Humberstone – Deep End
Andrzej Korzyński – Landscape
Film compositions from Andrzej Korzyński (behind Possession and much more!) as featured in a recently reissued compilation.
Haco – A Door in the Dune
One from the back catalog of the marvelous Haco, who is behind one of the greatest albums, After Dinner’s Paradise of Replica.
Hiroyuki Onogawa – August in the Water
“August in the Water” is one of my ultimate favorite film scores, so it’s fantastic that this composer’s work has received this retrospective compilation album.
Bob Dylan – Love MInus Zero / No Limit (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall)
Lou Reed – Crazy Feeling
John Zacherle – Dinner with Drac, Pt. 1
I fell into a familiar pattern: a narrative song from the ‘70s, a lyrical piece from a yet-to-be-forgotten era, and a fairly new discovery due to a film (this time it was ‘Fremont’, by Iranian director Babak Jalali)
Silver Apples – I Have Known Love
Felix Mendelssohn – Songs Without Words, Book VI Opus 67: No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor (Interpretation: Bertrand Chamayou)
Eendo and Mahmood Schricker – Sarmasti
Nice all three