hooves on the turf

Where I indulge in the overrated phenomenon of a year-end list and discover my bias for sullen songs over happy ones; 20 most-loved songs of the year, with a self-imposed rule of one song per artist so as to not make it entirely pointless.

20 “Run to Your Grave” by The Mae-Shi

A song to play really loud and jump to, whenever one feels the need to be an ecstatic, aimless punk, which one should feel often, I guess. Taken from Hlllyh.

19. “Oceanic” by Imaad Wasif

When Imaad Wasif played with his band at Cake Shop, the loud treatment of his songs made his delicate voice gasp for air under the weight of all that noise. Then there was a rare moment when everything was quiet and he slowly pulled his voice away from the microphone, and those few seconds had the ache of a dagger through the heart. “Oceanic” is a song where you can hear some of that; a voice that must hurl itself towards everything that will ruin it so that it can resurface all alive and resilient.

18. “Klara” by Ólöf Arnalds

The only non-English song in the list, and this one’s in Icelandic. It reminds me of clothes hung to dry, blowing through the wind, and clouds chasing in over a blue hill. Blue! Whispers of accordion from somewhere not too far.

17. “I Can’t Tell in His Eyes” by Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Mariam Wallentin prefers a highly stylized approach to singing, one that makes her sound primal and aggressive. Sometimes it sounds overworked, but most times it just sounds pretty damn impressive. This song, however, is an unusual slip where she just sings, without a cloak or a mask of any sort. Filled with scenic evocations of the everyday, it’s pretty colorful for a break-up song. Then there’s this killer: “She is the country / That deeply betrayed him / So now he’s moving to Spain / Now he’s packing his things / All of his belongings / And I can’t tell in his eyes / If he’s gonna cry or if he’s gonna fight”. Taken from Heartcore.

16. “Fools” by The Dodos

Rhythm drives The Dodos. The boyish melodies serve to hold the the drums from running too far; the words are a vessel for rhymes; and the consonants are the necessary evil to vowels. “Fools” is a good mix of these things.

15. “Bleed Blood” by City Center

What it feels like to swim under water and let yourself go. City Center’s Fred is a river that runs through Brooklyn.

14. “Dance Dance Dance” by Lykke Li

A song of sweetness, and hips; it reminds me of Vanessa Paradis. Taken from Youth Novel.

13. “The Waves” by Princeton

“The Waves” is an elaborate work of production by Princeton. It’s somewhat silly, with all its tropical inclinations; somewhat dorky, with all its literary references; but all the while endearing; and there’re quite a few places to visit here in 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Taken from their four-song EP, Bloomsbury.

12. “The Nights Pt. 1” by The Builders and the Butchers

I was lucky I got to this band at a tiny dive bar in Connecticut filled with crazed fans who knew all of the songs. Two drummers packed into the corner and faces red and wet with sweat. This is the first song off their self-titled album, a world where you must grow beards, wear big black hats, carry shovels everywhere you go, and sing loudly over beer all the freaking time. Even if you’re a woman. Plus, what an awesome band name, and so filled with character.

11. “Rapture (Sweet Rapture)” by AA Bondy

Here’s how it begins: “I don’t wanna talk about Jesus / I just wanna see his face / The trees are swinging like hanging men /And I just wanna see his face”. Then it gets better; it’s as if the shadows give over to the sun, still water begins to run, and the day breaks as the chorus hits in a swooping lift: “Rapture, sweet rapture / Won’t you lay your hands on me”. But wait, it gets better still: “Mary take that silver dagger / Put it through my throat”. Sung in that amazing voice of AA Bondy’s and taken from that amazing album, American Hearts.

10. “One Cotton Shot Short” by Matt Jones

These verses smell like waffles and they melt in your mouth. It’s taken from The Black Path, which I don’t think is out yet. I stole it from Jesse Elliott’s Mixmas.

9. “More Than Right” by Callers

I’ve been hanging on to this song ever since I heard it back in the summer, though I know little about this Brooklyn band… what a great voice, what a drunkenly staggering pace, and what a night these lovers must have whisked through. They’re playing at Union Pool tonight, the 19th.

8. “The Butcher” by Final Fantasy

Owen Pallett writes a song that sounds like rainbows and butterflies, waterfalls and waves, despite a title that suggests otherwise. Taken from Spectrum, 14th Century, one of the two EPs he released this year.

7. “Trouble No More” by Dark Dark Dark

“I’ll take these rosy cheeks of mine / And be headed south”

6. “Mister Jung Stuffed” by Man Man

A song that captures everything Man Man. Incredible musicians, enthusiastic and consistent theatrics; goofballs, hooligans, drunkards. It opens this year’s Rabbit Habits.

5. “Horn Song” by Suckers

This tune here? A soundtrack for your trip to the gate where angels drink wine, play cards and call each other whores; and you’ll be the most beautiful person when you get there.

4. “Original Bones” by Cotton Jones

“The last time I tried to be so original / I broke all my original bones”

3. “Drops in the River” by Fleet Foxes

“White Winter Hymnal” was the first song I heard and loved from these here Fleet Foxes (like everyone else), but “Drops in the River” was the one I really clung to; it’s got all the goodness of White Winter, but it travels further. I think of them as the same person at different ages, I don’t know which one’s older. This one’s the younger, probably.

There was an unbelievable overabundance of overrated crap this year (Cut Copy – what?), as was there a lot of great music that not everyone discovered and loved as deserved. Then they’re all these year-end lists that are themselves the most overrated act of every freaking year. But, I love Fleet Foxes, and the amount of love and hate that’s been directed towards them, or perhaps the obscene extent of fame they seem to have found (but fame is a ridiculously nonsensical by nature), has ultimately nothing at all to do with my own enjoyment of their songs. They use the language of music with care, compassion and devotion, they seem to understand it really well, and this language, which unleashes its power over your heart than it does your brain, is a funny thing. Right? While it’s great to be articulate about how you feel about music (despite everything, the writers at Pitchfork are really good), it’s terrible to be unable to enjoy music with your heart. I don’t understand why it matters so much that the guy from Fleet Foxes sounds a little like the guy from My Morning Jacket… I really believe in Robin Pecknold. I think he’s good for us. Us humans.

2. “The Gardener” by The Tallest Man on Earth

Heart breaker of a song, everything about it will stab you.

1. “A Day to Float the Bahnar Boat” by These United States

When I first heard this song, my blood level dropped to an all-time low. About 30 seconds in I was having an existential awakening, thinking, “What am I going to do with my life?“, and after I’d recovered, “What were they thinking?” When I made other people listen to it they didn’t quite freak out like I had, which kind of reaffirms my belief that taste is all physics. Everything to do with heart rate and blood levels and how the molecules of the songs fit into the molecules of you. For me, this is one of the most perfect songs ever: in its few words and the compassionate melodies that accompany them, it contains not one but several, unending life cycles, and there’s nothing quite as thrilling as a life. Nothing quite so filled with an exploding spectrum of emotions like hope, triumph, loss, disappointment, sadness, happiness, and so on, all of which I felt when I listened to it the first time.

It was recorded as a free track for Peppermill’s 52 weeks project, for the Spring set in particular. From what I understand, Jesse Elliott took parts from this article in the Washington Post–which was published in the week the band had been assigned by Peppermill–and rearranged them into lyrics. They’ve credited the article’s author Joshua Zumbrun for the lyrics, but that is a lie, essentially. The words and phrases may have been lifted, but the effect they have in the song owes entirely to what parts were picked, and how they were edited and rearranged. Then there’s Tom Hnatow with his haunting glockenspiel and piano…