Lazuli Posted January 1, 2020 Posted January 1, 2020 rex orange county rina and rosalia need them to come THRU with full length projects in 2020
Ewan Chaos Posted January 3, 2020 Author Posted January 3, 2020 (edited) Happy New Year! Here comes another update (probably the last big update, maybe T will be a decent size as well, but the letters after should be quick for me to knock out), then I'll finally reply to y'all! Letter: S Top Artist: Shura Lesbian queen of being in love! It’s impressive to be able to write and create an album about soft, beautiful love, and I think Shura really encapsulated that with forevher. I can see more people preferring the debut record, but I wasn’t really as drawn to the debut as I am to this album. Mega bop religion (u can lay your hands on me) is definitely my top pick. What a triumph of a chorus, especially when it goes into the last chorus, and I think the production of the track and her vocal production is the best on the album. Check out the video too - another great creation! Underrated track flyin’ would be my next favorite track. It’s such a cute way of interweaving getting over her fear of flying mixed with things that I assume she thinks of on the plane to forget the fact that she’s flying like “why do [religious people] find queer love to be more ridiculous than a virgin giving birth?” I like that it continues the little undertones of religion on the album too. Side effects, the stage, and forever are three great “I love you tracks” as well. BKLNLDN is gorgeous, and control is a total jam. Runner-Up: Shy Girls I decided to go with a more underrated pick for my runner-up! I think Shy Girls is a fantastic album and I’m obsessed with his R&B. I’m a little undecided if I like this album or his 2017 album more (this one as a whole feels more cohesive). Though, the EP from like 2014 is full perfection so I guess that trumps both. Anyway, my top pick on this beautiful album would be Lay and Be Lonely almost solely for that synth line and his voice. I love how he samples his own vocals and makes himself his own background singer, which isn’t a “new” concept or anything, but his voice totally suits it. Additional top picks are Drain because OOO what an absolutely funky jam with some fun additional elements to it. This Is Your World is classic R&B goodness and Hallelujah is a cute ballad. Headf**ked is another great one, as is the very simple but cute Lazy Boy. Check the album out! Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* Artist Loves It She's a Cute Girl It's a No From Me Notes Saint Motel Old Soul Diane Mozart Pretty good EP! Sam Fender Dead Boys Hypersonic Missiles, You're Not the Only One, That Sound Two People An alright release! The "breezier" songs were the best Sam Smith How Do You Sleep? Dancing With a Stranger I kinda hate the type of "album rollouts" that they're doing here but I'm finding their more upbeat music interesting Sara Bareilles Saint Honesty If I Can't Have You, Poetry by Dead Men, Fire, No Such Thing, Wicked Love The John Legend collab was unnecessary & Saint Honesty is a much better closer Actually a great album! Well done Sara! SASAMI Free I Was a Window, At Hollywood Overrated imo, but cute Savoir Adore When the Summer Ends Late to the Party, It's Gonna Be Alright, Body Heat, Slow Motion Didn't like this as much as the 2016 album but still good! SebastiAn Run for Me - Edit Handcuffed to a Parking Meter, Better Now, Doorman Great album! Seeb Free To Go Cute sing Self Esteem Steady I Stand I'm Shy, The Best, Peach You Had to Pick, Girl Crush, Monster REALLY underrated & would have been my #3 pick Sharon Van Etten Comeback Kid Shinichiro Yokota Timeless Tokyo 018, I Know You Like It, Lens (1992) Good album! Sigrid In Vain Strangers, Sucker Punch, Never Mine, Business Dinners Dynamite, Don't Kill My Vibe, Basic As far as the "indie girls" of 2019 go I think she was better than someone like Maggie! In Vain way underrated Sinead Harnett No Pressure This record was aight SiR Fire Mood, Hair Down Cute album but I found myself liking it more on the first listen than any after-listens Sky Ferreira Downhill Lullaby Insert "this never happens" meme here Slayyyter Cha Ching Tattoo, Devil, Mine Just listened to this but isn't she a racist? Ew Sleater-Kinney The Dog/ The Body The Center Won't Hold, Hurry On Home I mean, I never really loved their music even before but the album's okay! Slothrust U.S. Gay Cute! Snoh Aalegra Situationship This was okay Solange Time (is) Almeda, Way to the Show, Sound of Rain I still find this to be a good amount worse than the 2016 album unfortunately Steve Lacy Hate CD Like Me, N Side, Lay Me Down, Basement Jack (cuz the Basement Jaxx ref of course) Really liked this but I haven't listened in a while! Sudan Archives Down on Me I just listened to this super recently! It's good! Sufjan Stevens Love Yourself With My Whole Heart These cute one-off singles. When will he come out and come to my place? Edited January 4, 2020 by Ewan Chaos
Ewan Chaos Posted January 3, 2020 Author Posted January 3, 2020 Spoiler On 12/24/2019 at 12:14 PM, K$Ellie said: skdjksjd the stockholm syndrome with Marina the singles were okay? didn't inspire me to check out the album but Orange Trees was kinda cute I only use her for Froot tho the MUNA album was v nice, Number One Fan, Pink Light and Stayaway were some of my faves too Maggie is a biT overrated I'd say, she's the ~alt~ girl that pop fans like but she ask some cute songs, Alaska being her best imo Motivation has been kinda stuck in my head but I won't give in cause I dragged it when it came out and it's really basic this album was dreadful so you didn't miss out on much just Loona will suffice, I think some indies like them since they worked with Grimes maybe try the Max & Match EP if you're interested and some of their solo songs like new, Love Cherry Motion, Eclipse, Heart Attack, Sonatine NOT STOCKHOLM SYNDROME NNNNNNN. Stan FROOT though! Great! I'll add that all to my listing to check out. Before you know it I will be a KPOP stan too On 12/24/2019 at 2:48 PM, Eeveelution said: ff I got the kaya pm too. Her new singles are good but her peak remains Damn, Gravity! Let me add that to my list! On 12/24/2019 at 3:18 PM, Remmy said: Of Monsters and Men Yeah I just liked their album but didn't love it. Wasn't mad about them going into a slightly poppier sound. Sleepwalker was one of my faves Yeah I mean I appreciate when a musician/band tries something new but I just wasn't super captivated. On 12/25/2019 at 4:46 AM, Lazuli said: not into the Os sorry! Queen! On 12/26/2019 at 7:33 AM, Pink Matter said: O: Yass Omar and Orville! Can't wait to see what they both have in store. P: Yes Peggy, yes talent Also had no idea PG dropped a new single so let me take a gander at that. Q: I am SO ready for more Omar, Orville, Peggy, and Perfume Genius in 2020 (not sure if there's more Orville in 2020 but I'll just keep listening to Pony, kii) On 12/26/2019 at 9:42 AM, TheWayWeWere said: P!nk serving her laziest and boring work this year is beyond me Happy is my favorite from it tho nnnnn I wouldn't have even listened if I hadn't seen her live tbh. On 12/27/2019 at 4:46 PM, Remmy said: Well I'm glad there's more than 3 people on here that have heard the Red Hearse project But they deserve better! Violence was a grower for me, Blessin Me is probably my least favorite so I'm fine with your opinion on it. YMIE + EWY I think the title track and Half Love are slightly better than both though. I think I was a little harsh on my initial listing, I don't think I really HATED the songs I disliked. But I should have also included the title track and Half Love in songs that I liked. On 12/27/2019 at 8:43 PM, TRF. said: Róisín Murphy TALENT yes!!!! A QUEEN NOW AND FOREVER! On 12/28/2019 at 12:53 PM, jose168 said: ra Ra Riot Glad someone else bumped their album! On 12/28/2019 at 8:03 PM, potent said: Oh Bad to Worse was cute, but I kinda forgot about it by the end of the year. I should look further, I liked some of their songs in the past like Beta Love and Water. Yeah I'd check it out! I think the tracks that I highlighted you'd like if you enjoyed Beta Love & Water from previous releases. On 12/29/2019 at 3:23 PM, World Eater said: my dad Orville for once I started stanning someone before they blew up not twinkpeaks's intrusive Okay Kaya payola actually working gjnjjnfdfd but well, all of the singles from this year (including the Cher-approved cover of Believe) slap hard so I hope Perfume Genius is releasing The Sun Still Burns Here as soon as he's done performing it because I'm also hoping for an actual album next year if the singles Róisín released are leading into something bigger then one of her finest albums is on the way A COVER OF BELIEVE?! Let me LISTEN. Ooh a PG song I don't know, lemme wait and hope it's on an upcoming album before listening. I reallllllly would love if these two singles came to an album too, but for some reason I think they're just standalones again. Maybe 2020 will be a new album year for the good sis though! On 1/1/2020 at 6:25 AM, Lazuli said: rex orange county rina and rosalia need them to come THRU with full length projects in 2020 Yeah I wasn't happy including him but I couldn't help my enjoyment of those two songs!
Remmy Posted January 3, 2020 Posted January 3, 2020 Sam: Yeah their switch from ballads to upbeat music is interesting and cool so far. HDYS? is a discography highlight already. || Sara: Can't really disagree w/ the No section, but why does everyone underrate the best song, Orpheus??? || Sigrid: Love her but against Maggie... it's not much of a competition In Vain had to grow on me, it's nice. Oop at the two 2017 tracks getting panned! || Shura: She's a great choice to win S forevher is really solid, definitely better than Nothing's Real. I love every track you mentioned except flyin'.
Ewan Chaos Posted January 4, 2020 Author Posted January 4, 2020 SURPRISE! Here comes another, and I'm hoping to push out the remainder maaaaaybe by the end of Sunday! Letter: T Top Artist: Tove Lo You know… this is my least favorite Tove album. But I’ve really been into the songs that I’ve been into, so it just gave her enough of the edge to take the top spot for the T letter. I’ll probably change my mind on this decision but whatever! Stream Blue Lips lmao! My top pick would be Really Don’t Like U because that collab with Kylie is ****ing flawless and also somewhat unexpected (at least I never imagined it even being a collab let alone a great one). In terms of Sunshine Kitty production with that somewhat minimalist “trap” beats, Really Don’t Like U feels like the best of them all. Similarly, Bad as the Boys is a somewhat close #2 because, again, it’s pretty flawless as a collab with Alma. They sound more alike than Tove & Kylie but we already kinda knew they worked together well on a track before so it has a little less impact. Loving the bisexual representation with this one as well. And then Are U Gonna Tell Her is my #3 pick because **** you listen to the album and are wishing for more sexy bops like her previous album, then this comes in, and you are FLOORED. Its shortness really lends to its strength too. Other assorted favorites would be Mateo, Shifted, and Sweettalk My Heart, IN THAT ORDER. Something like Glad He’s Gone is clearly her worst lead and I hated it a lot, but it grew on me a fair amount. Jacques is underrated, but obviously better as a Jax Jones track than a Tove track. Equally Lost is also kinda underrated! Ready to see this chick LIVE again and maybe even try to meet her again. Runner-Up: Tuxedo Y’all gotta fux with the tux, okay?!?!?!? Fell in love with this band (not realizing it was Mayer Hawthorne and another cool producer) back in 2016 and was very happy to keep following along since they released a fun third album this year. I checked them out live this year too and it was a very fun concert. I also love that Gavin Turek is sprinkled on all of their songs (even if she didn’t go with them live). You & Me would be pick numero uno for me. I adore the sleek funk on this track and the sliding bass, especially through the chorus. Speaking of Gavin and choruses, my favorite part of the track is when she whispers into the track, mimicking Mayer by saying “high society” in a SULTRY WAY. Extra Texture is hot as hell too and obviously any track with Dam-Funk absolutely ****s. I think that the first 30 seconds in and then before Dam-Funk’s part is my favorite. Mayer goes innnnn on the first verse with the “baby, I’ve got something more” callout. If U Want It and On a Good One are classic back-to-backs for Tuxedo, even if the latter is a copy/paste of Mayer’s Love Like That. The singles are perfect of course and gotta give Gavin a shoutout for the closing track Close. Queen! Second Runner-Up: Tei Shi What a lovely lass. I definitely like this album more than her debut, even if the singles from her debut are more “immediate” to fall in love with. I think the songs suit her voice a lot more… if that makes sense. Top pick would still have to be A Kiss Goodbye because I have been obsessed with this sexy, bossa-nova track since it came out back in June, or whenever it came out. I was all about the sexy songs this year! My favorite bit is the last chorus that starts off with minimal production and then has one last burst before it ends. Divine. When He’s Done is another fantastic pick, ranging on the side of country twang both lyrically and with the production. WHAT a chorus! I also really like Alone in the Universe, particularly the pre-chorus and chorus (what the ****… are we doin?), Addict because it’s a strong opener, and the better song that Blood Orange worked on, Thief. The only track I kinda dislike is Twilight since it’s a bit boring. Even If It Hurts had to grow on me, but it’s good now! Both the Spanish tracks are great, but my favorite of the two would be No Juegues since it’s a bit more interesting and changes a bit more. Side note… did she remove Red Light from Spotify? It doesn’t show up in the album when I look for it. Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* Artist Loves It She's a Cute Girl It's a No From Me Notes Tame Impala Borderline Patience (I wonder why they not include it), It Might Be Time I've been trying not to listen to much before the album comes out! Tank and the Bangas Hot Air Balloons Ants, Dope Girl Magic, Nice Things, Forgetfulness Literally just gave this a listen and I adore it. Shoutout to Alex Isley being on this track! Tanya Tucker Bring My Flowers Now I still need to listen to the full album LOL! Taylor Swift False God Lover, Cruel Summer, I Think He Knows, Paper Rings, Soon You'll Get Better I Forgot That You Existed, London Boy An okay album for sure. Tegan and Sara Hold My Breath Until I Die Don't Believe the Things They Say, Hey I'm Just Like You Kinda meh Ten Fe Coasting Echo Park This was alright! Their previous album was better Teyana Taylor How You Want It? Morning That Dog Old LP Your Machine, Alone Again, When We Were Young I liked this! This song especially is fantastic The Tallest Man On Earth What I've Been Kicking Around Hotel Bar, Waiting for My Ghost, I'm a Stranger Now Good folk record! Toro y Moi Ordinary Pleasure Freelance (a fave last year too), Who I Am, Laws of the Universe, Monte Carlo I liked this album a lot more than the one that came out in 2017 TR/ST Gone (album 1), Destroyer (album 2) Didn't really listen to either much again after first listens! If you liked, recommend me songs to listen to more! Tycho Japan Never listened to this person before, this was okay Tyler, The Creator A BOY IS A GUN* Earfquake, Gone Gone/Thank You, Are We Still Friends I think this was a great album! Just didn't listen to it enough last year to make it in my top 3
Pink Matter Posted January 5, 2020 Posted January 5, 2020 S: Downloaded the Shura album since the reception is it's a fair bit better than her previous album which I liked (didn't really go back to it) Haven't checked out Shy Girls since like 2016 either lol. Might check their album out too. Been loving Sam's singles (HDYS>DWAS for me) and I hope he delves back into their electronic sound more. That's where Sam's at their best! Glad I'm not the only that was unimpressed by WIGH. I'll give it another listen soon but ASATT>>>>>> Steve Lacy Really enjoyed his album! T: Can't say I'm much of a fan of Tove Lo. Her singles are generally great but I don't like her albums much Decided to forego this new one altogether. I had no idea Patience wasn't on their newest album. And their keeping Borderline instead? Love Toro but I did not like Outer Peace much besides Freelance and Miss Me (Boo Boo>>>>). He dropped a dope EP last year though! Everyone seems to be loving Tyler's latest effort. I liked it but admittedly never want back to it much. Might need to give that more spins too.
Ewan Chaos Posted January 6, 2020 Author Posted January 6, 2020 Trying now to just push through the rest, this letter will be the fastest update lmao. Letter: U Top Artist: UMI Pretty quiet in the U section, but I really enjoyed this single for most of the year so I’m cool giving this girl a shout-out! Ordinary is a cute love song. Fantastic groove on the track and the “treat me right” refrain is awesome. So apparently she had other releases this year including an EP… oopsies, looks like I have a bit of catching up to do. Runner-Up: N/A Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* N/A
Ewan Chaos Posted January 6, 2020 Author Posted January 6, 2020 Letter: V Top Artist: Vampire Weekend I found this to be an interesting release from them! I don’t think they’ll ever top Modern Vampires of the City and so going into listening to this record I didn’t get disappointed or anything, thankfully. So I’m happy to have them as my top pick here. This Life is my favorite track and weirdly my favorite contribution from Danielle in the backing vocals and guitar lmao. I love the lyrical content and it’s such a great, breezy, summery track that fits well with VW’s other great tracks. I also wanna highlight Stranger as my second favorite track because it’s so underrated. The funny thing about it is that it totally reminds me of What is the Time by the Dirty Projectors from last year, which I also love. Other favorite picks would be Hold You Now, Harmony Hall, Flower Moon, Sympathy, and Unbearably White. Married in a Gold Rush is the only track I don’t like, just so y’all KNOW. Runner-Up: Verité I’m not too happy to place her up as the runner-up to be honest because I thought most of this album is crap, but you know when there’s no other “V” musicians that I’ve listened to last year then ya gotta do what you gotta do. Gone is my top pick from her and, literally as I think about it, it’s kind of a copy-paste of Lover, Where Do You Live by Highasakite. Whatever, it’s a good track, END OF. I don’t have time so I won’t even really bother going over the disliked songs lmao. Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* N/A
Ewan Chaos Posted January 6, 2020 Author Posted January 6, 2020 Letter: W Top Artist: Whitney Forever Turned Around is still a massively underrated record. I can see where people think that Whitney fell off a bit with the album because it’s kinda similar to the debut album, but gosh this album is just so good! The reason I know that Valleys (My Love) is my favorite from the album is because I audibly gasped and said “oh my gosh” at work accidentally. This ticks all the classic Whitney track boxes with a somewhat anthemic part of the song (the chorus), great use of live instrumentation plus the LOVELY trumpet at the end, sad lyrics that still somehow make you feel hopeful with the production… yeah I love this song so much. Friend of Mine is my favorite of the somewhat-upbeat tracks on the album. The slide guitar at the end of the chorus is great. The title track is a great closer. Giving Up was a perfect first song and also first single. Used to be Lonely makes me want to cry so of course I will also give it a shout-out. I’m also so happy they made an instrumental-only track with a killer trumpet section with Rhododendron. Runner-Up: Walk the Moon I’m a bit annoyed at musician’s loving this whole “here’s a bunch of one-off singles” release strategy but you know what, whatever! It gave us some good Walk the Moon tracks in 2019 so I won’t complain. I like most of the What If Nothing more than these singles, but that album is still so ****ing good so it’s fair. My top pick of them was Timebomb, which I’m assuming is because it came out so early in the year and I had the chance to play it so much. An awesome chorus with a great production. Eat Your Heart Out is also a good one, I think I wanna give the single a call out too for the Rainbow Road vibes (and gay vibes, Nicholas I KNOW you’re some sort of gay after All I Want). I should play this song more while playing Mario Kart. Lose You Again I very rarely checked out, but I absolutely love BRAVES (check out A Toast if you don’t know them) so I’m happy they collaborated. Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* Artist Loves It She's a Cute Girl It's a No From Me Notes The Weeknd Blinding Lights The other one I don't care too much for either, but Blinding Lights is okay Whethan Summer Luv (feat. Crystal Fighters) A summer bop! Winnetka Bowling League Kombucha Sixteen Interesting EP! Not bad though
Pink Matter Posted January 6, 2020 Posted January 6, 2020 Didn't really care for Vampire Weekend much this time around which sucks cuz I loved MVOTC. Not really familiar with Whitney Yes Blinding Lights, yes bop
Remmy Posted January 6, 2020 Posted January 6, 2020 T: Tove Yeah, SK is definitely her weakest album but she can't really make a *bad* song or anything. Taylor But where are career highlights Cornelia Street & Daylight? Got into Outer Peace early in the year out of nowhere, Freelance & Who I Am go off the most Ten Fe are on my list of artists to check out. V: Yup, most of New Skin was weak for sure, and Gone is an easy standout. Wish I appreciated it more when she dropped it as the lead. W: Blinding Lights bops & Heartless flops, yup! WALK THE MOON Timebomb > EYHO > Lose You Again
Jorge Posted January 8, 2020 Posted January 8, 2020 Walk The Moon Please don't forget to comment on my Top 100 Countdown!!!
Ewan Chaos Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 I typed everything up so I'm finishing this now! I promise to check out y'alls Best Ofs too (when I'm not working on a presentation too) and reply to stuff here! Letter: X Top Artist: X Ambassadors This will ALSO be quick because I just added them to this section so that I had someone under this letter. Boom was cute, but kinda stupid in the beginning. AND THAT’S IT! Runner-Up: N/A Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* N/A
Ewan Chaos Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Letter: Y Top Artist: Yuna I recall liking this a good amount when the album first came out but I don’t really ever go back to it. Giving it a quick listen again, I’m still digging it! Chapters is definitely still better, but I like the album and thought that the collabs were an interesting but successful choice. Castaway is my favorite and a great opener. It’s light funk in the track without overtaking the whole track away from its “sitting by the beach” vibes is awesome. Tyler’s verse is cute too! Slightly obvious pick, but Forevermore is my favorite solo track. And then other songs I enjoy are Pink Youth, Amy, and (Not) The Love of My Life. Runner-Up: Young & Sick I don’t even remember how I got into this EP but I really like it! I think Neon Gold kept spamming it or something and I just decided to check it out. Particularly, this EP works well when you’re partying or some sort of pre-gaming. The first track Bitter End is my top pick, posssssibly because it was the first track I heard, BUT. I’m obsessed with the beat drop in the 40-second mark. It does that kinda faux trop-house modern Spotify crap in a great way. It feels very The Knocks in their best tracks. OOH and the “bitter EEEEEEEND” bit towards the end is swag. Queen of the Valley is another good one - more lowkey with a bit of a build up. And then my number 3 is Ohh My Ghosts. Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* Artist Loves It She's a Cute Girl It's a No From Me Notes Yeasayer People I Loved Crack a Smile, Blue Skies Dandilions They broke up! Yola It Ain't Easier Ride Out in the Country, Still Gone, Walk Through Fire Literally just listened to this. It's good & I'm bummed I was late to it! Your Smith Man of Weakness You Could've Told Me, Wild Wild Woman Underrated queen. Tempted to see her live this month
Ewan Chaos Posted January 9, 2020 Author Posted January 9, 2020 Letter: Z Top Artist: Zedd I’m very MEH on both of these Z picks, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do. I like that Good Thing kinda serves a bit of a proper mix between both Zedd’s recent EDM stylings and a touch of Kehlani’s R&B. It’s not as good as the fantastic The Middle from 2018, but I think the chorus is great. And that was the only song that Zedd released in 2019, so we’re moving on! Runner-Up: Zacari Not sure if I should specify this as like an EP… a mini album… an album… idk. Ten Out of Ten is my favorite of this lil hip hop record. I think it’s kinda cute. Don’t Trip I find to be pretty good too. Not too much else on the album though! Additional Musicians Under this Letter: *bolded artists/songs are my recommendations* N/A
Pink Matter Posted January 10, 2020 Posted January 10, 2020 Only artist I'm familiar with is Yuna here. Really liked that one track with Usher and I remember enjoying her 2016 album too. For a "Y" artist, you should definitely check out Yellow Days (been trying to payola him to little success lol)
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