This year when you were waiting in line for vaccine shot, taking an Uber to a bar for the first time in a year, or killing time in between watching any of the following:
Joe Biden’s inauguration The Tokyo Olympics Giannis dominate the NBA Tom Brady dominate the NFL (again) The process of freeing Britney (we did it) The fluctuating prices of crypto and NFTs or Squid Game
You were probably listening to something. And it was probably Adele or Olivia Rodrigo. But a lot happened in music this year, including a robust year for indie music, the return of concerts, the first annual Indie Pong Song of Summer Competition, and me finally seeing Everclear live and absolutely losing my mind. You were listening to something, and when you look back and listen to it a few years from now it will always remind you of the year that we got our lives back. Here are my top 75 songs of 2021. Keep in mind that this is objective and definitive, and if you have a different opinion it’s probably wrong.
75. “Be Sweet” – Japanese Breakfast 74. “deja vu” – Olivia Rodrigo 73. “Eastside” – F.A.B.L.E., ‘Kechi, Sage P, Domerie 72. “Great Mass of Color” – Deafheaven 71. “HUH?” – Serena Isioma 70. “I Do This All The Time” – Self Esteem 69. “peacewise silence” – Ackerman 68. “ENTERTAINMENT” – SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE 67. “Txu Txu” – PPJ, Páula, Povoa, Jerge 66. “Never Been More Sure” – Royel Otis 65. “Name” – spill tab 64. “Come To Life” – Kanye West 63. “American tterroristt” – RXKNephew 62. “You Lose!” – Magdalena Bay 61. “Brand New” – TARYN 60. “All Grown Up” – Londo 59. “Take Off” – Prinze George 58. “Crying During Sex” – Carol Ades 57. “Surrender” – Tseba, PRICIE 56. “Heaven is a Pill” – thanks for coming 55. “Head Cheerleader” – Pom Pom Squad 54. “Velcro” – spill tab, Gus Dapperton 53. “telephone wires” – maxime. 52. “Gang Signs” – Freddie Gibbs, ScHoolboy Q 51. “Sister” – TSHA 50. “Give Me Your Love” – Girl Ray 49. “Hidden Qi 隐.气” – Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 and Tim Shiel 48. “Root Mean Square” – Summer Like the Season 47. “These Things Will Come To Be” – DJ Seinfeld 46. “Down On Your Luck” – SACHI 45. “Comerte Entera” – C. Tangana, Toquinho 44. “Basement” – Church Girls 43. “the angel of 8th ave.” – Gang of Youths 42. “La Perla” – Sofia Kourtesis 41. “Silk Chiffon” – MUNA, Phoebe Bridgers 40. “Swing of Things” – MAY-A, Powfu 39. “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” – The War On Drugs, Lucius 38. “Back To Oz” – Sufjan Stevens, Angelo De Augustine 37. “Hard Drive” – Cassandra Jenkins 36. “You Could Be” – Anz, George Riley 35. “Handsome Man” – Wednesday 34. “Mazda5” – MyKey, marinelli 33. “Rich & Famous” – Shelley FKA DRAM 32. “3 AM” – HAIM, Thundercat 31. “Welcome To The People (Baltra Remix)” – Jaded, Baltra 30. “Only for Tonight” – Pearl Charles 29. “spit it out” – Roksana 28. “Strawberry” – Doss 27. “Skyscrapers” – Nina Kraviz 26. “Bouncin” – Tinashe 25. “Enough” – Appleby 24. “Wake” – Big Scary 23. “Good Ones” – Charli XCX 22. “Jail 2” – Kanye West 21. “Little Things” – Big Thief 20. “Louisiana Jukebox” – Mad Gatsby 19. “Cold Blood” – Junior Varsity 18. “Go Outside” – Ratboys 17. “Payday” – Doja Cat, Young Thug 16. “Peaches” – Justin Bieber, Daniel Caesar, Giveon 15. “But She Loves You” – Merk 14. “We’ll Figure It Out” – Black Dresses 13. “ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS*” – BLACKSTARKIDS 12. “Xiu” – Yu Su 11. “The Mission” – Bakar 10. “He Gets Me So High” – beabadoobee 9. “Don’t Need You” – Genesis Owusu 8. “Breathe” – Lawrence Rothman, Caroline Rose 7. “Starstruck (Vegyn Remix)” – Years & Years, Vegyn 6. “THE DOOR IS CLOSING” – SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE 5. “She Likes To Get High” – Cry Baby 4. “object permanence” – Sydney Sprague, Danielle Durack 3. “The Beginning” – Magdalena Bay 2. “Show Up” – Samia 1. “Jackie” – Yves Tumor
Some notes:
68. “ENTERTAINMENT” – SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
You have to listen to the whole song, I admit the beginning is… challenging. But the transition from chaos to catchy and light-hearted perfectly sets up one of the best albums of the year.
67. “Txu Txu” – PPJ, Páula, Povoa, Jerge
Love this track. I specifically wanted to single it out because my ACTUAL favorite track of 2021 was released in November of 2020, and it’s amazing:
26. “Bouncin”- Tinashe
Why does Tinashe never miss, ever?
27. “Skyscrapers” – Nina Kraviz
This one is really interesting to me, because Nina is basically the most badass techno DJ in the game. I never expected a pop song, and I certainly didn’t expect one so aggressively good.
25. “Enough” – Appleby
It was hard to choose only one of Appleby’s songs, there were a lot of contenders. This Chicago native is up next. Mark my words, up next.
16. & 17.”Peaches” and “Payday”
These songs are truly so, so good. Peaches was more or less an anthem of this year along with Kiss Me More, which is also a banger but didn’t quite make the list. Payday did though, well-deserved.
15. “But She Loves You” – Merk
This song is so cool. To me it’s the quintessential song of the year that demonstrates doing more with less. The sounds are so simple, but the way they crescendo together is brilliant. A top 15 spot was a no brainer.
13. “ALL COPS ARE BASTARDS*” – BLACKSTARKIDS
BSK are the best, and continue to steadily rise with groundbreaking sounds and just… energy. All the love.
11. “The Mission” – Bakar
I’m not here to die on the hill of that nepotism is a good thing, but this take on nepotism being an earned thing that we all aim to get for our kids is refreshing.
9. “Don’t Need You” – Genesis Owusu
Easily one of the best albums of the year.
5. “She Likes To Get High” – Cry Baby
How fun is this song? What a just absolute jam. Tickles the ol’ nostalgia bone.
4. “object permanence” – Sydney Sprague
This was my #1 most listened to song of the year on Spotify
One thing I can say for sure about object permanence is that it has lasting power, times a million. I’ve listened to this song almost everyday for a year and it’s never gotten old once. The way a top 5 should be.
3. “The Beginning” – Magdalena Bay
This was album of the year for me, not close. I don’t know how they did it- Magdalena Bay somehow made an album that sounds like Rumours but done by Britney Spears. Every song sounds different, the melodies are amazing, it’s just a home run.
2. “Show Up” – Samia
According to Spotify Wrapped I’m a a Samia superfan so I guess you have to take it with a grain of salt but
SAMIA IS THE GREATEST ARTRISAT DISFJNSKDNFLKJSDF
Sorry I blacked out for a second, Samia has some chill tunes.
Also Big Wheel doesn’t make me cry nothing makes me cry:
1. “Jackie” – Yves Tumor
The thing with the best song of the year is that you just know. This song blows my mind every single time. Yves has also been making bangers for years. Keep being the coolest human being on the planet Yves, you’ve earned it.
2021 is taking us through the Summer with pulsing music. Here is a playlist with some of the best songs of the year so far, as we ask ourselves, “Are we there yet?” The musical highlights from 2021 (so far) include Genesis Owusu, Cassandra Jenkins, and Squid.
Genesis Owusu’s groundbreaking debut album, Smiling With No Teeth is the hip-hop, techno, video game music you need to dance to. The standout songs include, “The Other Black Dog,” “Don’t Need You,” and “Smiling with No Teeth.” He relates the concept of the ‘black dog’ as a euphemism for depression to his experience with being subjected to racism. The lyrics are both liberating and contemplative. He was heavily influenced by the video game, Jet Set Radio Future and will be touring in the US for the first time in 2022.
Cassandra Jenkins’ poetic, impressionistic album, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature is a reflection on life, that ebbs and flows with the magical sounds of the saxophone. It only becomes more fulfilling on repeat listens. She took a lot of voice memos from strangers and recorded everything as inspiration to make sense of the change around her. The album title was taken from something a security guard told her at an art exhibit at the Met Breuer in New York. She explains in an interview with Stereogum, “There’s a lot of humor in that for me- the idea of offering some objective truth, when we’re really sharing something about our completely subjective point of view.” Cassandra Jenkins was recruited by David Berman to play as the guitarist with his album for Purple Mountains. Berman tragically died by suicide, just days before the tour would begin. Though she only knew him a short while, her memory and grief around this loss are articulated in the songs, “New Bikini” and “Ambiguous Norway.”
Bright Green Field is Squid’s debut rock album and it sounds both urgent and scary. The five musicians (Ollie Judge, Anton Pearson, Louis Borlase, Arthur Leadbetter, and Laurie Nankivell) write all of their music together and jam it out in a collaborative way. The song, “Narrator” was in part influenced from Bi Gan’s dystopian film, A LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. The song gives us an unreliable narrator to question and meditate on. The whole album is experimental in the right way and denotes the feeling of a medieval, dystopian environment. The anxiety riddled throughout this music is a cathartic escape, strange enough to leave you coming back for more and more.
“The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it” quote part of the speech by Greta Thunberg recorded as the lead single for this year The 1975 album Notes On A Conditional Form.
The whole 100 tracks are here in this Playlist
Remember that you can always find me here Jpgchief
Stream, Support, Share and enjoy it!!!
P.S. In case you want to take a look at the previous post of this thread
We’re almost at the end of the road. This is going to be a year that no one is going to forget. And music is always a great companion that helps us not to avoid but to face the adversity through our lives and I’m sure you feel more or less the same way as I do.
Before we start with this I want to thank all of you for reading and following our work, everyone in Indiepong is very happy after our first year with you, love your feedback and we’ll keep working to bring you the best of the music we can find, sharing the bands we love the most and bring it to you, always fresh always new.
Next batch for my countdown Playlist Top 100 Songs 2020, time for these 9 artists with the track that I enjoy the most and already locked a place here 72 songs…
Thanksgiving is over which means it’s time for the most magical time of year… LIST SEASON (I’m not a nerd tho I’m cool I swear). It’s a daunting task to go through all of the music of the year, so here are some resources:
The Indie Pong Archive
This is a comprehensive list of every song that was on the Indie Pong playlist this year. They are arranged in order, but like a contestant on the early rounds of Master Chef I shant tell you how to digest your meal. It says it started in May but that’s just when I started archiving, it most certainly started in January.
The Indie Pong Official Playlist
You’ve probably never heard of this since I hardly ever talk about it, but this is the official playlist for the blog that I curate every week (ish*). I keep about 50-80 songs on here at a time and right now it dates back to August, so there’s some meat on the bones here.
The Indie Pong 50 Best Tracks of the Year So Far
This is a ranked list I made of the best songs of the first half of the year, so I basically did all the work for you (?), if you want to Venmo me let me know I’ll hit you with my handle in the DMs.
Any of JPG’s Playlists
JPG is notorious in the online music community for being the very best in finding indie gems from all over the world, and he curates like 20 playlists daily (no asterisk, they’re literally all daily curated) and they’re all filled with gold. The way me and JPG met was I sought him out at the blog’s inception and basically begged him to write with us because he has the best eye I’ve ever seen. I’m not joking, these are the actual original DMs that started our now flourishing relationship:
This mf didn’t even know my name frfr back Indie Pong was small change
That’s Oliver empty bowl in hand begging for more soup if I’ve ever seen it.
Anyways here we are and JPG has pretty much the best playlists ever to exist, these are my favorites (but again there’s like 20 of them):
One of the things that sealed the deal for me and JPG was the fact that we both really cared about shining a light on smaller artists. I think his exact words were “Soccer Mommy and Tame Impala are doing just fine without our help”- facts.
It’s been a fun ride so far, much love to JPG even though he only marginally knows how Zoom works.
Album of the Year
This is easily my favorite resource and anyone who knows me knows it. This is my number one place of finding gems. It’s all community based, and I think it’s frankly the most lovely website in music besides from Bandcamp.
George’s little kid brother who’s basically a child music genius for his age once told me that every once in a while you’ve got to check Metacritic and just see what’s over 80. He’s the smartest kid you’ll ever meet, like Stewie from Family Guy but instead of world domination in his heart he just patrols PMC (RIP) and the online music world plugging Stone Roses, Belle and Sebastian, and Oasis whenever tolerable, brazenly stating his case and cementing his place in the online music universe. Adorable little guy.
November 30, 2020, Next batch for this sick Playlist #100undergroundtracks2020, time for these 9 bands with the track that I enjoy the most and already locked a place here (72 already) #showlove
64.- Home CountiesRedevelpment
65.- Heavy SaladHigh Priestess
66.- The Two TensGotta Find Something
67.- Okay, ByeBubble
68.- S.M. Wolf AreYou Happy?
69.- Mild Headache17
70.- Dissonance & Dissent As The World Goes Up In Flames
November 11, 2020, Fifth batch for my countdown Playlist Top 100 Songs 2020, time for these 9 artists with the track that I enjoy the most and already locked a place here 45…
I would normally list them from 50-1 for suspense… but meh whatever I’m putting it in order to go with the playlist (*non-precedential basis).
1. ‘Flight319’ – 070 Shake
Yeah I mean, just listen to it. Low key, it’s one of my pet peeves when people over-describe sounds on blogs. Love to all bloggers, but we can hear how buttery smooth these vocals/this production is for ourselves, so pls don’t overexplain. Then again, I can be guilty from time to time.
Anyways song of the year, not even that hard of a decision. Give number 2 some time (and possibly some free range roaming time AKA end of quarantine) and we’ll see.
2. ‘Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys)’ – Rina Sawayama
Dude I wish I could link to the straight up obesssion blog I wrote about Rina Sawayama, but I got lazy and wrote half of it and never posted it. If I had a strict boss I would probably have posted it right when the album came out, but alas. Rina is a fellow J-woman (I’m not a woman but she’s a fellow J-person) and her album was so unbelievably good that I texted a friend who’s a diehard member of the Charli army Rina>Charli and he went tf off at me. Pretty wild, mildly racist (as I’m something of a J-man myself actually) but that’s how passionate I am about this straight up-don’t need verification- best pop album of the year. And I’m a huge Charli fan.
3. ‘Fog’ – Termination Dust
Let’s goooooo. Come on. If I could will one song to just blow tf up right now it would be this one. Come tf on. This is a voice. It mixes familiar sounds into a new blend that exudes an unfamiliar and totally original voice. This is gold and it deserves applause.
4. ‘Gaudí’ – Capicua
My goodness gracious, that wool bodysuit. Give me a break! So cool. Here’s a frame:
NSFW for… “YARN NUDITY?!?!?!?!?!” HAHAHAHAHA- just kidding, I already wrote this in an older article here. I also said the poignant words “This track by the Portugese rapper Capicua is an awesomely honest look at the feeling of getting bored with the repetition or everyday life, and how that uneasy feeling can be subsided with a little art and creativty. Lyrics here.“
Basically the chorus is “paste some little sticks together and make a Gaudi”. Love this one to death.
5. ‘No Interruptions’ – Betty Mae
This is just too smooth. I had the pleasure of speaking with Betty who shared with me the scope of the things to come, and trust me, there are big things coming. Watch out for the EP coming out soon- Bitch I’ve Grown.
I quite frankly don’t understand how this is not the number one song in the country- this is a get up and jump up and down kind of song. This one is a ClassyCassie special, she’s just such an absolute force (both Caroline and ClassyCassie).
8. ‘Live Like We’re Dancing’ – Mura Masa, Georgia
Alright, I’m a guilty boy. I chose not to include this on the Indie Pong Weekly Playlist at the beginning of the year and it haunts me everyday. My initial critique was that it didn’t have an impactful enough drop at the chorus which has reverberated in my head all year as I’ve listened to this song on repeat for it’s absolutely gorgeous construction and timeless lyrics. Mura Masa really is a master and Georgia really is the next big thing.
9. ‘KCAI’ – BLACKSTARKIDS
These guys (and girl) are on their way to the moon. When Surf first came out the songs were for the most part <1000 listens, and they are growing FAST in listens. I truly bluely believe that these guys are the next big thing. I was fortunate enough to speak with them about their journey and the burgeoning pop/hip hop scene in Kansas City, and it was an absolute blast speaking with them. This song is perfect example of something they were telling me is a recurring motif for them, which is modern versions of songs you’d hear in 90s high school movies, this one as well.
Needless to say, we’re all in on BLACKSTARKIDS.
10. ‘Post-Dick Circle F*ck’ – Pet Shimmers
I think this is what my mom was talking about when she said that she likes a lot of the songs on the Indie Pong playlist until she sees what they’re called and/or the album art. Sorry mom, I’m a post-dick circle f*ck kind of guy I guess. This song has been a regular for me all year, a unique voice, unique sound, and unique bright spot by way of brooding wallow rock that has done it’s circle dick-est to stand out this year.
11. ‘Garden’ – GLEAN
My biggest question is whether or not someone from this band is from Evanston (where I’m from) because they have a song on their EP called Evanston. Regarding this song itself, I have no questions. It slays, I love it, I put it hard, life goes hard. Simple.
12. ‘Drifted Apart’ – Nafeesisboujee, Becca
This Nafeesisboujee track has that light and airy vibe that makes you feel like you’re flying, gliding, driving a boat at 200 mph, etc. Straight up vibes on this bedroom pop jam from the 16 (maybe 17 now) year old from South Africa.
13. ‘People, I’ve Been Sad’ – Christine and the Queens
I don’t usually do this because I love to respect the integrity of and admire the final cut of a track, but Christine so absolutely nails this live version that I thought I’d just go ahead and indulge myself. Really unbelievable track.
14. ‘The Sun Is Up Forever’ – Joesef
Yeah, this song is just about perfect. Big promise in this UK act, don’t be surprised to see a big jump sometime soon.
15. ‘Good News’ – Mac Miller
Man…
I think my brother said it best that Mac cares so much about every little detail on his albums. When you listen to Swimming you can really tell that every note is where it is for a meticulous reason and that the soul-smiling orchestra of a result is no accident. R.I.P. Mac.
16. ‘I Go Out At Night’ – Ratboys
Anyone who knows me knows I’m an absolute night person, so this one has some special relevance to me teehee. Also earning a soft spot from me for being Chicago natives, Ratboys are a perennial favorite of mine. It seems like every year they come back with another hitter without losing a step. My other two favorites are You’ve Changed and Elvis In The Freezer which is a top song of the decade for me.
17. ‘Colder & Closer’ – TOPS
The four piece band from Montreal released this absolute BANGER. TOPS stands for their names… (?)? I don’t know. But damn this song hits.
^Sorry I’m like the worst journalist ever. The song construction and production are absolutely stellar, don’t feel like there’s too much I need to see here when it hits it hits! And you know what they say, behind ever great journalist is a great… song… (?)?… nevermind.
18. ‘Cry’ – San Mei
Australian artist San Mei presents dream pop at its best here on Cry, easily the best dream pop song of the year so far. But San Mei isn’t just a dream pop artist, she brings a fresh voice to the table and makes tracks that absolutely slap.
19. ‘forces’ – D. Femi
This dude is from Grand Rapids (I think? It’s impossible to find anything on this guy, even for a Chet Gecko music blog detective like myself) and released this heater reminiscent of the rap days of our childhood, those easy going but hard hitting mixtape days where having a mixtape on the internet made you famous. Excited to see where this dude’s career goes, love this track.,
20. ‘Unavailable’ – Joey LaBeija
I haven’t been doing this but I’m going to throw the album cover up on here, because it’s so fire:
Haunting, just love it. This song is amazing. I think it’s an a testament to this song’s slapitude that it’s got a straight music nerd like me singing that “I love men, that are unavailable” on the daily. And damn just listen to that production, this is one of those special tracks for sure.
21. ‘Visions’ – Charli XCX
Daaaaaaaaamn Charli! I’m going to do a separate post about this album (because it’s amazing and the pop AOTY and very likely AOTY in general) so I’ll keep this brief, but I listened to this whole album and then when the hardstyle part hit at the very end (this is the last track on the album) it shaped the whole thing for me, and I proceeded to listen to it 5 more times that day (the whole album). In love with this one.
22. ‘Transcendental Access Point’ – Eris Drew
This song basically describes an entire feeling that comes over me from time to time, that good time groovy elated feeling you get on vacation. Love this track, love dancing to it even more.
23. ‘Alive’ – Hanni El Khatib
This song is sick, love the vid too. Killer track from the California native.
I get some real reinvigorated best of 2000s indie from Milo Gore, and I love it.
26. ‘Gospel For A New Century’ – Yves Tumor
This song is like turning into a werewolf and walking through a busy town square in colonial age Massachusetts and being scrutinized by the uppity townspeople.
Also, sweet ass video.
27. ‘NOBODY’ – COUCOU CHLOE
This song’s that feel after a long night out when you’re struttin’ around the empty streets of downtown walking to Subway (the restaurant) and feelin’ yourself and some dude walks by you and you’re ready to kick his ass if he so much as coughs.
28. ‘Bad Friend’ – Rina Sawayama
I’m a great friend so I can’t relate to this song, ask anyone I’m such a great friend. Damn it slaps, I just wish I could relate to it more because I’m such a great friend everyone always says it.
29. ‘Direction’ – Cody Currie, Joel Holmes
Fire house track, Toy Tonics is so hot right now. Also, best logo in the electronic music scene?
30. ‘B Cool Janet’ – Cheap Synths
Cheap Synths blowing up! Pretty sure they just did an Apple ad. This song is easily one of the biggest bangers of the year, total standout. In fact the whole album is full of straight bops.
They also make great videos, be sure to look out for some “special guests” in this one ;).
31. ‘Dance For Me’ – Superjava
Daaaaaaaaaaannncccceeee for meeeeeeeeeee. Straight up dance banger. I will dance for Superjava.
32. ’24 Hours’ – Georgia
Yeah Georgia’s the new queen, get ready to bow down she’s going straight to the top- I’m talking Sia level. You heard it here fi- probably not first she’s already blowing up but yeah you heard it here fam.
33. ‘Maura’ – Wednesday
This is pretty much the best album of the year in my opinion. I wrote about it AT LENGTH already so you can read about it here. But this straight killer track, which Wednesday crushed in their live Instagram show (after me and a few other people requested it over and over again teehee), is only one piece of an unparalleled fresh new indie album with decade long lasting power.
34. ‘Don’t Sleep’ – Alice Ivy, BOI, imbi the girl
This song goes hard af, a great example of the meme ClassyCassie posted:
This is sort of an Australia pong dream collab (link Australia pong article) between Alice Ivy (link) and imbi the girl (link), in addition to BOI who kills it, and it does not disappoint.
Also, the dance in this video is tight af, Jen, Cassie, and I might have to learn this on the next video podcast.
35. ‘Best Interest’ – Tyler The Creator
Damn I’m realizing now that got released in YouTube in 2019, but the official release was in 2020 so leave me alone haters.
You guys should check out my Grammys article where I talk about Tyler’s win and how it was the highlight of the night, also because it took me like twenty minutes to make this gif for it:
Are people using this gif? Is that how the internet works, you just make a gif and people start using it? Hopefully it’s doing some good out there in the world, my little gif.
When this bass drops it’s just crazy. I’m a sucker for these relationship/breakup duets, but this one especially ascends.
38. ‘First Grade’ – Max Leon
Yeah just sit back and enjoy this one. What a cathartic pop listen, just let your problems get lost in that smooth smooth voice.
In First Grade my teacher used to play guitar for the class, THAT’S how you build an audience. I’m sitting there wanting to listen to Kraftwerk and Ryuichi Sakamoto and Ms. Hiller made me listen to her cover “The Magic Schoolbus” or whatever tf was going on- what was I going to walk out? And lose stickers? Forced engagement.
39. ‘lay low’ – LHĒON
I love this song. This song makes me feel like I’m in the first half of the third act of a commercially attractive drama where the character is doing all of the things she/he used to do with significant other alone now, and its not the same, and presumably realizes that maybe the flaws weren’t that bad, and that he/she has flaws as well. Hope it works out for them in this hypothetical situation (spoiler: it does).
40. ‘anthem for a washed up 90s sitcom actor (or someone with the flu)’ – thanks for coming
I covered this album in depth here (one of my favorites of the year), but this song could easily be retitled ‘anthem for Mates sitting at home during the quarantine and wondering why he isn’t getting more creative endeavors done since he finally has the free time he finally asked for also why aren’t you having more fun Mates also is playing MVP 05 on Gamecube really a good use of your time also do you really need another bagel?
41. ‘Bye Bye Summer’ – Aseul
These synths get me every time, this is not only a buttery smooth dreamy pop ballad, it’s also just a driving force on an awesome all around album that I highly recommend. Korea’s Aseul has really delivered so far this year, and we’re excited to see what she does next.
44. ‘For Old Times Sake’ – Vaughan Supple, Jenny J
This EP is incredible. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Vaughan so there will be a more detailed rundown of this EP, but the plain and simple is that it’s 50s inspired (as you can hear) and that it’s a bold and articulate statement on growing up and conformity. Take a listen for yourself, it’s great.
45. ‘DAMAGE SUPPRESSOR’ – Black Dresses
This should come as no surprise, as everyone who knows me knows that Black Dresses are pretty much my favorite band of the past two years. I bought a shirt, which you can see me rocking in our new video podcast/quarantine drinking game which hasn’t even been BLOGGED about yet, just uploaded it an hour ago.
Anyways, Love And Affection For Stupid Little Bitches is one of the best albums of last year easy, and Black Dresses always pushes the envelope with a completely unique blend of brash and emotionally soul-bearing noise that hits your heart from all sides every time you listen.
46. ‘Garden Party’ – Roman Flügel
When my friend Christian first introduced me to Roman Flugel, I never thought I’d get something this just straight up juicy. All of Roman’s stuff is awesome, ranging from more on the housey side to more on the intellectual dance music side. This one is a straight up party starter, love every second of it.
47. ‘I Just Want To Look At You’ – Eilish Gilligan
I love Eilish and The Pull is one of the most gorgeous songs I’ve ever heard, so I was stoked to hear this one. Seriously think she can do no wrong.
48. ‘Cortex’ – Aunty Social
This song just feels new. Totally innovative and different. And when she hits that one part, clear my schedule.
49. ‘Morceaux de toi’ – Malory, Yseult
I recently went for a long drive along the water, and I literally couldn’t listen to anything but this. Possibly the best driving song of all time, definitely of the year.
50. ‘Eyes Of My Mind’ – Axel Boman
Well, let’s just disregard for a second that Axel and Kornell Kovacs throw the best party on earth. And let’s just disregard that Axel’s ABBA 002 (or whatever the official title is) is very possibly my favorite house track of all time. Let’s just focus on this song, and what a beauty it is.
Thanks for joining us, it’s been a great year so far and can’t wait to hear what’s to come! Don’t forget to follow us on social media for weekly updates of the best new tunes!
We’re almost a quarter of the way through the year (WTF are you serious), and we are already off to a HOT start. Like a good steak pairs with a nice cab, this blog pairs great with the January edition which I wrote last month.
Here all of these songs and more here, and don’t forget to follow for weekly updates:
“B Cool Janet” – Cheap Synths
It’s the #Yearofthecheap ala Cheap Synths’ Instagram- and I agree. On occasion over here we exercise the #WeekOfBeansAndRice so I get it. An underrated jammer you need to know. This one goes out to every Janet you ever met that sucked, this goes out to you, Janet.
“No Interruptions” – Betty Mae
This one basically broke my computer, repeat button is stuck. What’s cool about this is it’s the promise of something greater, a shining career to come. Watch out for the EP in May- “Bitch I’ve Grown”.
And bitch, I have grown. But sometimes still I need to be tucked into bed by a smooth song that plays directly to my soul. Be sure to catch Betty on my esteemed colleague JPGChief’s epic playlists Less Than 1000 Followers and Fresh Singles, which he updates daily.
“Doubt” – Josh Dominguez, T.R.3.
Josh has always been prevalent in the LA underground music scene, but as of lately he is coming out hot. He’s got an album dropping soon, and mark my words, it’s going to be a game changer for him. The underground scene in LA (where I’m based) has been circulating advanced copies and demos for weeks, including some very fun and unexpected live performances. Watch out for the album in May, and the next single “Air It Out” on April 10th.
“Garden Party” – Roman Flügel
This is one of the most fire house songs I’ve heard in a while.
It gives me major Terje vibes. And I don’t think I need to say anymore about Terje vibes:
Oof. Major vibes. I have a question and I suppose I don’t need an answer, but what movie does this make you want to watch? I actually am kind of curious, I was bumping this on repeat and my first thoughts that came to my head were Diary of a Mad Black Woman (just based on that twinkly inspirational piano alone) and something inspitaional like Jerry Maguire (I ended up watching Almost Famous, amazing film but didn’t quite hit the spot. Anways, this is a new fave and dead lock for top 50 at the end of the year.
“Sweetness” – Sink Ya Teeth
This song takes me back. It’s brand new but it reminds me of those days when I would bump some Kelly Lee Owens Self-Titled album and some Marie Davidson on repeat. Absolute heater.
“Shimmy” – Amine
That first line- let’s go. I’m gonna let Daw handle this one. Also shout out to the Simpsons both above and in Daw’s article- best friends?
Also if you hated Daw’s article, because he can be a lot sometimes, I think this reaction video says pretty much everything that needs to be said:
I reacted the same way to that first line
“You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around” – Grimes
So anyone who knows me knows that I stan Art Angels and easily put it in my top five albums of the decade. Now, I’ve been a hater on the new singles. For sure. In fact I would even go as far as to say that I only liked We Appreciate Power and Pretty (Demo). But all of the pent up doubt and naysay’n I had was proven to be faithless and foolish when the album dropped- it’s excellent. It’s a masterfully poignant and groundbreaking attempt at a Neil Armstrong first small step for mankind into the forthcoming intersection between humanity and technology. This feels like something old but in reality we’re barely halfway there. It’s only a matter of time before robots envelop most of the human workforce across the planet, and AI deep learns faster and faster to the point where it surpasses mankind in capability. It’s adventurous of Grimes to tackle this topic, even if it’s in the form of unpopular claims about AI music overtaking human music someday soon. Count this as a win for Grimes, a big bold step forward for an already top tier progressive artist, further cementing her place in history as a pop and overall music icon.
I bet that last one alarmed you, right? That’s why Yves is so cool. There is a ton of shock value pop culture out there, but very few back it up with quality art like Yves does. Yves is seriously so cool. Let’s take a quick dive.
“I Never Cried So Much in My Whole Life” – Oh Boy, Cub Sport, Cult Shøtta, A.GIRL, Isaac Puerile
So Cub Sport released this as basically an instrumental with a hook a while ago and my first thought was “this is awesome but it needs rap verses or something” and lo and behold here we are. It’s like this track went from:
To:
You feel me?
“A Little Longer” – Leila Sunier
I absolutely love this one. Leila hails from the suburbs of New York and released this stunner in which she crescendos her effortless, trickling vocals into a powerful and climactic chorus that sticks with you.
“Maura” – Wednesday
If you couldn’t tell from my subtle article about it this is my favorite album of the year so far. It was tough to pick a song because the whole thing is so perfect, but this was my favorite.
“Lifetime” – Caveboy
This is so Indie Pong vibes- you already know. Watch out for this Montreal band and check out their new album “Night in the Park, Kiss in the Dark” for more pop excellence.
“I Just Want To Look At You” – Eilish Gilligan
I was a big fan of The Pull last year and was looking forward to what Eilish would do next- and was not disappointed. The Melbourne based Eilish Gilligan has one of the purest voices around right now, and we’re huge fans.
“Pictionary” – Shmu
This is some lo-fi excellence right here. The kind of song you just get lost in and then have to play again when it ends. Austin-based Sam Chown by way of Toronto feels uncommercial in an endearing way in his self-explained “Futuristic Melty Dream Pop meets hazy Psychedelic Yacht-Vaporwave”. Don’t think I could put it better myself.
While I was writing this I realized this song is actually from 2015 but I already wrote it so… meh. Enjoy. Also be sure to check out Shmu’s new album “Pure Bliss” which came out last month.
EDIT: I have been asked to take this down by my boss because it’s old. Sike- I am the boss fool!
“A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” – Kat Edmonson
This cover is just absolutely lovely. It’s a great conversation piece for when your grandparents ask about what you’re listening to these days (literally has never happened to me but you never know) and you don’t feel like explaining the nuances of Shmu or why Josh Dominguez sounds so angry on Doubt- throw this badboy on and you’ll be making memories of dancing around the kitchen till dinner. You’re welcome.
“Hallelujah” – Oh Wonder
I’m low key obsessed with Oh Wonder, such overwhelmingly happy pop vibes. I’m here for it. This is a great song if you’re a cartoon protagonist who has just reached his/her low point at the end of the second act and need a good “making amends” montage to make everything right with the ancillary characters you wronged before going to the big third act ticking clock event for the big climactic moment where you realize that you’ve had it all wrong the whole time, and that actually it doesn’t matter if the other dads in the community think you’re cool or not- anyways I digress. Love this one- don’t miss the new album “No One Else Can Wear Your Crown” that just came out last month.
This year felt like I scratched my ass two times and it was over. Donald Trump got impeached, the Nationals won the world series (wtf), South Park became good again, Terminator 6 came out, Avengers: Endgame became the highest grossing movie worldwide of all time, I finally got house slippers, Kanye West decided he would never tour his old music again and only do gospel music from now on, Popeyes released a premium quality chicken sandwich in the greatest marketing campaign of all time and then retracted it and re-released it with worse ingredients but we couldn’t complain because it was only $4, Burger King and Del Taco started selling vegetarian meat-substitute options, Tiger Woods won his first major since 2008, the Amazon burned down while Amazon became stronger than ever especially this Christmas when only the Amazon gifts arrived on time, and most importantly Indie Pong was officially launched.
It was a truly amazing year for music, and making this list is nearly impossible. You’ll of course see my affinity for female vocalists, and for upbeat music. If you absolutely hate my choices and they make you sad, you might enjoy UndercoverSadGirl’s best tracks list for a good cathartic cry. Here’s a link to the playlist if you want to follow along as you read:
Anyways without further ado:
50. ‘Old Town Road – Remix’ – Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus
The story I heard about this song is that the haters at the billboard charts told Lil Nas X he couldn’t have the top country song on the charts because he wasn’t a country artist, so Billy Ray Cyrus stepped up and threw his name on the song. Billboard still didn’t include it as a country song, but Lil Nas and Billy Ray prevailed by becoming number one on the all genres Billboard Charts for NINETEEN STRAIGHT WEEKS, an all time record. The song samples Nine Inch Nails’ 34 and according to this dog, is the only song worth singing to:
49. ‘Sunday’ – Jessica Mauboy
Rising Australian pop star and former Australia Idol contestant Jessica Mauboy is poised to take over the pop scene internationally after releasing one of the most interesting and fun pop albums of 2019. Just listen for yourself.
48. ‘Flash’ – La Neve
La Neve came in hot with one of our favorite albums of the year, her ‘The Vital Cord’ which sounds like it could have been from the 80s if it wasn’t too cool and contemporary to be from the 80s. Songs like this are a pleasure to cover and include because I truly feel like they move the medium forward, and help us move towards a more vibrant and interesting future of DIY lo-fi arthouse music.
Mad Gatsby was one of my more pleasant surprises of the year, the duo out of LA came out of nowhere and released a beautifully written and expertly produced EP that has us looking forward to more of this rabbit hole inspired dreamy alternative sound that successfully blends traditional songwriting with adventurous modern production.
46. ‘Blinded’ – Mint Julep
Great track. This song is the auditory equivalent of eating a creme brulee, some crisp on the outside but that smooth creamy texture on the inside.
45. ‘YFPHNT’ – Giant Swan
If you like Techno music than this explanation isn’t for you. But if Techno isn’t your thing, let me explain why this is basically the best techno track of the year. When I look at a genre I look for innovation within the genre, and this track is just an absolute original. Find me one other track that sounds like this from this year- exactly. We here at Indie Pong applaud innovation even if it ruins your road trip for 5 minutes, and hope you take a look at this one with an open mind and get into the zone with us.
Yeah so anyone who knows me on a music nerd level knows that I have been all about Black Dresses this year, I literally bought a shirt lol. I find this inspirational for all of us artists out there, Black Dresses released two full albums and an EP this year. These girls are producing content that is getting increasingly better with EACH RELEASE. This album, Love and Affection for Stupid Little Bitches was easily one of my favorite albums of the year, and found a departure from the more scream-heavy lo-fi angst electro pop to a more poised and refined composition that to me is the best exhibition of their work yet. Another one of my favorite things about BD is how vocal-forward their music is, and it always has been. This one’s my only one that isn’t on Spotify FYI.
43. ‘Backyard’ – Kota The Friend
Yeah, not much to say about this one. One of the most promising young rappers in the game, supremely talented and not one dimensional, can’t be categorized into any one sub-sect of rap, real talented dude with the world in front of him.
42. ‘Morbid Stuff’ – PUP
This one had 11 year old me flipping over trays in the cafeteria, standing on a table, and rallying the troops to go TP Ms. Johnson’s house while I was working on my math boxes, but in 2019. I had to choose between this, Bare Hands, Closure, and Scorpion Hill because this was (bare) hands down one of my favorite albums of the year.
41. ’84 Palms’ – Ackerman
A light-hearted, airy look back at adolescence that’s innate nostalgia brought us back to high school no matter when you may have been born.
40. ‘Your Light’ – The Big Moon
This song is amazing. What… do I have to have a hot take or personal memory for every single song? I can’t just like one out of the FiFtY songs that I’m highlighting here? I’m not being defensive, you’re being defensive. But yeah this is just a straight forward amazing song.
39. ‘Power To The People’ – Octo Octa
This album exudes just straight POWER. From this to Can You See Me?, this album is chock full of emotion between get you out of your seat grooves. I’m a big fan, and the album did not disappoint.
38. ‘Strong God’ – Kirk Franklin
Ooooof. I absolutely love this Gospel instant classic from Gospel legend Kirk Franklin. If you don’t know, Kirk is sort of the modern standard of Gospel music and is even featured on Kanye’s Ultralight Beam. And as big of a Kanye fan as I am, Mr. West did not have the Gospel album of the year, because that honor in fact belonged to Kirk Franklin who released a monolith of a Gospel album with the reach of a modern Hip Hop or R&B album but without sacrificing the altruistic message of his content that he’s maintained throughout his career.
37. ‘Delivery’ – Chela
That old school feeling you hope never dies. An amazing pop song from Australia Pong’s Chela. If you haven’t tuned in to the original Australia Pong article, we seem to LOVE Australian Pop Music from 2019, and we just can’t help it, it’s running laps around pop music from the rest of the world. Chela’s Delivery is no exception, an instant classic bound to be picked up for an empowering scene in a show sometime soon.
36. ‘Leave If You Wanna’ – Overcoats
Overcoats were a truck speeding downhill of an original voice in 2019, and we’re here for it. The New York band by way of Wesleyan University is about five songs away from absolutely owning the radio and we can’t wait. Also, would definitely recommend their NPR Tiny Desk, very special.
35. ‘Honeybird’ – Andras
Straight up, this is just a song you can vibe to. I’m not gonna get too into it, you’ll pretty much know in the first ten seconds if this one is for you or not. All I know is since the day this song came out I have consistently been vibing and I just really want more.
34. ‘Strangest Places’ – Approachable Members Of Your Local Community
This is a nice one, also great band name which we highlighted in more detail here. I for one appreciate a great brand like these fine gentlemen and gentlewomen from Australia. They genuinely look very approachable in the above thumbnail in their athletic clothes/overalls, and I for one appreciate it and can’t wait to ask them for eggs one time and then start gradually and increasingly lean on them for groceries.
33. ‘Moral of the Story’ – Ashe
It was my birthday party, and my friend Almog pulled me out of a conversation with a single tear drop rolling down his cheek and asked me like he had just heard music for the first time after a lifetime of being deaf- “what is this…” It’s that kind of song. It builds as well if not better than the best of the best.
32. ‘Identity’ – Moe Shop, Seij
Pretty sure this is like Weebo MBDTF (or maybe Graduation), seriously one of my favorite songs of the year.
31. ‘Use This Gospel’ – Kanye West, Clipse, Kenny G
The haters are gonna hate. But Kayne debuted a Gospel album to #1 on the Billboard charts, and that’s cool. If you ask me what it would mean if the biggest and most interesting artist in the world both artistically and commercially made a Gospel album and decided not to play any of his older and more salacious songs anymore, I would tell you it’s an extreme positive. Whether or not it lasts forever is anyone’s guess, but all I know is that if there’s a song like this on every Kanye Gospel album then sign me the front door up.
30. ‘Ruins’ – Gabriella Cilmi
It’s easy to forget that beneath the bells and whistles of every great song is a skeleton, lyrics that can be sung over a single instrument that before embellishing must stand out. Singer/Songwriter Gabriella Cilmi achieves that here in this simple but satisfying assembly of organic sounds that take us back to the simple times of writing songs on your guitar in your formative years.
29. ‘Bloom’ – Great Grandpa
This jam from Seattle Grunge-Pop band Great Grandpa’s got me back in the 90s wearing a puffy ass jacket and sprinting home from 7-11 to make it back by my curfew because I was pretty sure I had enough time to make the stop but now I’m cutting it close. This falsetto gets me going.
28. ‘Dead Battery’ – L’Orange, Jeremiah Jae
Hell yeah, I’m so happy I found this album. Channel your inner Doom/1999 by Joey Bada$$ and get on this instant classic hip hop behemoth that is the war themed concept album Violence by these dudes. This one actually holds a special place in my heart, because it the album review was my first post on Indie Pong.
27. ‘A Mí Me Juzgan Por Ser Mujer’ – Pelada
Pelada’s politically charged album Movimiento Para Cambio was one of the coolest thing to happen this year. I feel like we’re lucky to even have this on Spotify, because Pelada has very little online presence, including not having any social media accounts. This track, translated to “I Am Judged Because I’m A Woman” addresses gender bias with a raw tenacity that I don’t know if I’ve ever seen before, the kind you can instantly feel in your core. If you’re ever in Montreal (where they’re based) check out a show, I hear they’re nuts.
Here are some translated lyrics so you can get an idea of the tone here:
I see the eye of the devil/ bad men/ the street/ I’m still like that, I don’t care because I was born berraquita/ the force runs in my blood/ the blood of my ancestors/ it’s the wrestling women who have struggled to survive
26. ‘Down By The Tree’ – Pearl City
This March release has stuck with us all year as one of the year’s best. Next level production and mixing here from Manchester’s Pearl City.
25. ‘If The World Was Ending’ – JP Saxe, Julia Michaels
Ahhh this song is so absolutely gorgeous. A beautiful narrative that is refreshingly digestible because of how vocal-forward the production is.
24. ‘DNA’ – K. Flay
If you know me you know I love Indie Pop, so I was already in on this song for the production value, but damn is this a beautifully written song about unintentionally starting to become the people your parents were.
23. ‘East’ – Wednesday Campanella
This song blew me away from the very first time I heard it, what a just absolutely original piece of art. Wednesday Campanella is a successful pop star from Japan who this year has begun her journey into the US with some collaboration tracks, namely one with Ryan Hemsworth that was pretty cool.
My favorite story surrounding this song is an Uber driver basically insisted I play my own music so I threw this on, and he immediately decided that I would love the Cirque Du Solei music he listens to and turned my song off to show me his playlist. I didn’t mind of course, I spend a lot of my free time sharing music with people so who am I to judge, right?
Playlist was trash tho, but appreciate effort on his part, one love.
22. ‘Raise Up’ – Kindness
If you couldn’t tell by the two gospel songs in my top 50 tracks of the year, I am partial to these soulful choir choruses. Love this track and the whole Kindness album.
21. ‘Stayaway’ – MUNA
MUNA’s I Know A Place was my biggest snub of 2016, and everyone was all up in arms about it. I’m talking angry mobs outside of my house, my car rigged with explosives and I had to jump out of it just in time when I heard the click, anthrax in the mail, etc. Thank goodness they released this HEATER this year and I finally got the chance to redeem myself.
20. ‘Centuries’ – Queen of Jeans
This stunning sentimental effervescence of an album gave us an outlet to cleanse whatever we were going through emotionally this year and most importantly, just feel. This was our favorite track on on one of our favorite albums of the year.
19. ‘Milionària’ – Rosalia
I was blind. Like a bat flying through the night, with my sonar radar just taking me from one banger to the next. Blind to Rosalia. And then this song came out and it was like a miracle and all of the sudden I realized Rosalia is awesome and I immediately woke up from the three year music coma I had been in and went back and enjoyed as much Rosalia as I could. As Myra said in the Princess Diaries, miracles DO happen. This is the kind of song that can turn the biggest hater into a believer.
18. ‘Geology’ – Barrie
My favorite memory this year with this one is throwing it on at an outdoor birthday party at Echo Park Lake and just straight chilling. It’s that kind of song, great to throw on and just sit and be.
17. ‘Up’ – Earthgang
Shit man, this sounds like some modern day Outkast, they’re from Atlanta too. Now, as a blogger you try to be as articulate as you can and eliminate some less thoughtful words from your vocabulary, but in this case THIS SONG F*CKING SLAPS.
16. ‘Burning Accident’ – Kate Davis
This is how you crescendo a singer-songwriter song. You want it to feel like you’re rollerblading down a huge hill for the first two thirds of the song and then right when you reach the bottom you go off a big ass ramp and fly into the sky, a climax. Sorry, for the structural notes, I’m a screenwriter at heart :). This is a perfectly structured and beautifully written song on another of my favorite albums of the year. Also Kate started in classical music and made the departure to this which I think is pretty cool.
15. ‘My Love’ – Anna of the North
An amazing year for Anna of the North. This dreamy pop groove speaks for itself, can’t wait for the upcoming US tour.
14. ‘Flat Tummy Tea’ – Freddie Gibbs, Madlib
Just kidding:
This is everything I love about Hip Hop in a song. Cultural commentary with attitude, swag, flow, truth, it’s got it all. One of my favorite stories that I heard this year was that Madlib (who is one of the most prolific producers in Rap) made the beat for No More Parties in LA and gave it to Freddie who turned it into Cocaine Parties in LA, and then right before they were about to release it Kanye released Pablo with No More Parties in LA on it. Madlib had sent the beat to Kanye and never heard back and assumed it was available, but what you gonna do.
Our girl Jessica again, just continuing being poised to completely take over pop music with this pure hitter.
12. ‘I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus’ – Beabadoobee
Ah man, I love this song so much. I already gave a quick gush about this song in my 13 Can’t Miss Artists at SXSW article but basically in summary this year I spent two hours every day between (breakfast and lunch) straight crying to this song. And I wish I could say it was because of the accessible pop culture references to Stephen Malkmus and Pavement, or the killer arrangement, or how zeitgeist this video is, but the truth is it’s just a pure emotional song and is the kind of art that is relatable at a core level, which is why I am happy to put this as my #11 song of the year.
11. ‘My Angel Goes Before Me’ – Lonelyspeck
This song is full of feeling and has some of the coolest production of the year. The Australian Lonelyspeck is destined for great things and I can’t wait for his many great achievements to come.
10. ‘Summon The Fire’ – The Comet Is Coming
This song sounds like the beginning of a Brett Easton-Ellis rat pack night on the town where some Wall Street bros hit the slopes and drink Hendricks Gin and Tonics and tighten their suspenders and bowties in montage fashion on their way out to the hottest club in Manhattan. Or if you’re me this is the song you play to get amped up when you clean your kitchen. Regardless of what you use it for this is a one of a kind special turn up song that I can’t get enough of.
9. ‘Death/Bad Girl’ – Black Dresses
Toronto’s Black Dresses, who also had the #44 song of the year above and are one of our favorite bands of the year, put their definitive stamp on the year with this Electro/Chaos/Rock headbanger that is easily one of my top ten of the year and also the most fire shirt I bought this year in case you were wondering.
8. ‘Turning Teeth’ – Jesus and the Brides of Dracula
Alright buckle up, this is an interesting one. This song was written for the film Under The Silver Lake by David Robert Mitchell and in the movie is performed by the fictional band Jesus and the Brides of Dracula:
Which to reiterate is not a real band. The actual mind behind this song is the artist Disasterpeace AKA Rich Vreeland. In a very Under The Silver Lake fashion, there are several aliases to uncover here. Anyways this song sort of drives the movie, but the movie aside, it’s hands down one of the best songs of the year.
Now, this movie hit the festival circuit in 2018, so techincally the song was in the ether then. It had a long festival run and I believe was even re-edited prior to its initial release on April 19th of 2019, the soundtrack was subsequently released. So to all of the HaTeRs out there I don’t have time for the shade. #8 song of 2019.
7. ‘Square 1’ – Mahalia
It’s a tough thumbnail, just got to give you some Mahalia really quick:
That’s better. Now, Mahalia. I don’t like to play favorites because I love all of my children the same but Mahalia… Mahalia is my favorite artist of the year. Her album was an instant classic, perfectly blending R&B, Pop, and Soul in a masterclass of songwriting. I also had Regular People and Good Company in my top 75, but it was a tough year. Also it’s worth noting that I’ve got Wish I Missed My Ex in my top 100 of the decade (coming soon!).
Storytime. It was so hard to get tickets to the Mahalia show in LA. It was so hard (tickets went from face to $75+ almost immediately) that I resorted the the Facebook page and contacted some dude named Jack Spencer from New York. Very normal looking white dude. Lots of friends, lots of comments on the photos I could see. I was concerned that he lived in New York so I struck up a conversation to ensure that he was a real person. He had bad English but judging by the photo he was kind of a jock so I let it slide. He even went as far as to laugh along with me about the idea of him being a scammer, talking about how ridiculous it was. Anyways, a few minutes later after I sent the money to his email I got hit with this:
So of course I was like ‘Jack, I didn’t know you spoke Chinese dude, that’s tight… No response. Tried sending again and got hit with the ‘This account no longer exists’. Damn.
So anyways this show is walking distance from my house so I am 100% trying to go. I go on Songkick and check or resale tickets and I come across a small miracle. There are two tickets being sold for face value ($25 or something) so I obviously buy them immediately. I get the tickets (!) and check back and the tickets are now back at $75. Somehow the universe provided me with a golden opportunity, and I must say I’m very grateful. Anyways show was unbelievable:
6. ‘Confessions’ – Sudan Archives
These strings are fierce.
5. ‘Charlie’ – Mallrat
What a beauty of a song. I would like to point out at this point that I would be more than happy to put any of my past fifteen songs as my number one song of the year, especially this one. It’s been an unbelievable year. Anyways I’ve always been a huge Mallrat fan and this song shows an epic growth as a songwriter from last year’s tunes (Better was my favorite). Charlie is an epic dog-friendly love song that hits on all literary levels and positions Mallrat for great success in the future.
4. ‘Juice’ – Lizzo
Yeah I mean Lizzo has her own post so obviously I’m a fan. I heard this song and instantly knew it was a top 5 of the year, no matter what was to come out. When I was doing this order which by the way was hard, I asked myself, WWLD?
3. ‘cellophane’ – FKA Twigs
Just wow. One of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. Also an unbelievable range, both vocal and emotional. This is literally a perfect song. I’m going to have the haters coming for my head for not putting this number one but at least than can be at ease that it will be included on the BEST OF THE DECADE list which is coming soon. But seriously just to re-emphasize, this is a perfect song.
2. ‘Hit the Back’ – King Princess
I feel like this song was made directly for me. If you follow Indie Pong you know that this is basically a song for me made in a simulator based on my taste, absolutely perfect.
1. ‘People’s Faces’ – Kate Tempest
This one isn’t even close. It was one of the best years of the decade in my opinion, and it wasn’t close. Kate Tempest is a revelation. The Book Of Traps And Lessons was hands down my favorite album of the year. The other song off of it that I really connected with this year was Hold Your Own. So this song comes as the conclusion to a surreally poignant Spoken Word-esque album where Kate reminds us that our material possessions are ultimately worthless and that despite all of the problems our government neglects to address (the British government, but it still rings frighteningly true to Americans) we must ‘Hold Our Own’ and be better than these restraints that pidgeonhole us into having preset notions of what happiness is to us. Through Kate’s delicately spoken but militantly delivered words we come to understand that although things may look bleak, we can feel things changing. And although times may seem tough, there is so much peace to be found, in people’s faces.
Indie Pong 