best of mokis best of 2020 | FINAL update - AOTY/SOTY revealed !

[Ewan Chaos]

Shore, Light of Love, Alone Again

 

I'm gonna enjoy listening to Shore again next autumn. I've chucked basically every song into my autumn playlist nnn

[ikiru]

GFRIEND probably one of the few girl groups that actually released good music this year

[Lazuli]

shore  it's a lot more accessible than their previous album so i understand where you're coming from

light of love such a pretty song 

[Wicked]

Alone Again & Shores are my favorites here. I still have yet to listen to any Mac Miller album.

[mokitsu]

Spoiler

 

23 hours ago, TheWayWeWere said:

High as Hope growns on me so much lately, Light of Love is great  

Alone Again is nice, I love some other tracks from AH better  

HAH is so underrated. its my 2nd favorite from them, behind Lungs.

 

22 hours ago, bestfiction said:

Disappointments:

 

Cape God was just ok... Guess I agree with what you've sad, it just doesn't grab you as hard.

a gag but I felt that poisitions (the sing) sounded like Yummy  it just feels so underwhelming as an album, she should've pulled a Drake and called it a mixtape or a project

Smile is just so safe.. I wanted to root for Katy but the songs were so safe. Agree on Witness though, she lowkey should've went deeper into this electronic sound and maybe she'd have solidified herslef as the American Bjork

Fiona tho  I get how the home production could not appeal to everyone but I loved the album. maybe it's also cause I wasn't familiar with her music before

 

HM are cute for most part

 

the Irene lashings  but Monster was pretty boring to me, it went nowhere x

[12:00]  Voice and Universe are their best songs in a while

 

IWTLM is so good, the Yoko Ono-esque shrieks towards the end whew 

Sour Candy is super disjointed tbh, Gaga sounds like an odd one out on her own song.. it's fun tho x

KLK a banger 

Irene deserves to be lashed for ruining the best gg ever

 

 

22 hours ago, Supervillain said:

Poppy & GFriend way too low

 

 

22 hours ago, Staryu said:

I'm here for any Florence love  Light of Love was pretty 

we needed that positive energy this year

 

 

21 hours ago, jpow said:

Legendnce and the Talentchines  

but where is the album

 

 

21 hours ago, Psycho said:

GFRIEND 

21 hours ago, Blue Rose said:

Mac Miller’s Circles  

I ended up not liking Shore. I wasn’t feeling it at all

a mess. shore is right up my alley tbh.

 

20 hours ago, Macchi said:

JoJo getting only #43 for Comeback (taste for being on the list though)... Perched to see what rates higher!

miss jojo will be placing high i fear

 

 

19 hours ago, K$Ellie said:

Alone Again feels so underrated, it's easily one of the best on the album MAGO is soty ofc

Walpurgis a biT low, I thought it was super cute  I Disagree one of my AOTYs for sure, too bad the deluxe sucked

Fall Again is super cute, not my fave but it's such a lovely song  Bikini **** and Ungodly Hour amazing  jojo sucks x

didnt even listen to the deluxe kii. i use the tatu cover though.

 

19 hours ago, 1998tweety said:

Mago is such a good song, one of my absolute favs of the year. Surprised to see her so low but I guess a low placement is better than no placement. Def agree that Walpurgis Night has been their best project so far, hyped for what they put out next.

they're making a comeback i fear

 

 

18 hours ago, Enigmanotta said:

Walpurgis Night

taste

 

 

17 hours ago, Madame X said:

am here for the poppy stanning.  i always liked her since her first stupid bubblegum pop album (haaaaaaaaaated her first ep) but i feel like she finally found her true self with this album.  by far her greatest work and its not even close.

 

the songs list serving idk her, except mago.  which is of course a great song.  

i liked some songs here and there from poppy but it was mostly cringey to me nn. but yeah, even in interviews i think she dropped that whole shtick, so good for her.

16 hours ago, Hug said:

I really wish i paid more mind to MAGO because it is very much up my alley with its darker approach to the disco trend. Walpurgis Night, however, I think Apple and MAGO were the obvious standouts and is another case of K-pop acts pushing their very obvious strongest efforts out as the titles.

theyre the standouts but for example GRWM is a banger as well and i love the midtempo songs

 

 

15 hours ago, BlackoutZone said:

Surprised you included Light of Love, I thought it was fine, but it did feel like an outtake

Alone Again highlight on AH

Spilled on GFraud, couldn't care less about their pre-2020 music, but their stepped up

their outtakes are better than most girls output i guess

 

13 hours ago, hjelp said:

MAGO MAGO MAGO!!!!!!!! I love gFriend

 

13 hours ago, dangerousalex said:

haven't used circles or i disagree since early this year but they're both good 

 

13 hours ago, Sunderland 4ever said:

l liked Shore more than Crack-Up. Can I Believe You is so catchy!

yes! they really stepped up imo

 

12 hours ago, luckystrike said:

great gowns... beautiful gowns... don’t really use any of those other than maybe Alone Again which is not even in my AH top 5

 

 

9 hours ago, Legend E said:

hmm idc about these that much

alone again is cute

 

8 hours ago, Tom Vercetti said:

Albums list:

I get why Circles is Mac's most well-received album but it's not for me unfortunately. 

 

Songs list:

Alone Again is interesting! 2nd Favorite opener after Wicked Games. 

i still prefer swimming, but circles is cute. a bit of a heavy listen though.

7 hours ago, Ewan Chaos said:

Shore, Light of Love, Alone Again

 

I'm gonna enjoy listening to Shore again next autumn. I've chucked basically every song into my autumn playlist nnn

its def very autumny its very calming and warm.

3 hours ago, ikiru said:

GFRIEND probably one of the few girl groups that actually released good music this year

well.... out of the ones that released albums twice and izone sucked so

11 minutes ago, Lazuli said:

shore  it's a lot more accessible than their previous album so i understand where you're coming from

light of love such a pretty song 

maybe i should revisit it soon. i only touched it like once

6 minutes ago, Wicked said:

Alone Again & Shores are my favorites here. I still have yet to listen to any Mac Miller album.

i like him when hes not being a rapper lol. both this and swimming were great to me because they were more dreamy and personal.

 

 

thanks everyone

[mokitsu]

 SONGS

 

 

one thing about miley cyrus: she's gonna be a sagittarius. since "can't be tamed", the first time she caused waves and shocked the public, she's made it clear that she loves her freedom and can't be held down. it's a recurrent motif in her discography and in her best songs ("mother's daughter", anyone?) and with "midnight sky", she does it again. everyone has heard it and knows it, but while the stevie nicks/fleetwood mac resemblances and epic new wave production shine here, the real winner for me is the truly liberating feel miley creates with the lyrics and delivery. you best believe she's better alone.

 

 

 

 

 

red velvet's only appearance this year as a five member group (after the main vocalist, wendy, suffered an accident and couldn't promote their song "psycho") was this cover of BoA's 2003 hit "milky way". whereas the original is very much of its time, a soaring, upbeat pop anthem that could've been recorded by britney spears at the time, red velvet take a jazzy approach to the song, highlighting their unique, gorgeous vocals and mesmerizing harmonies. it still has the triumphant feel of the original, but i can't help but love this warm and uplifting version more - and of course, as a fan of them, having them reunited is just amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

"weird fishes" is one of my favorite radiohead songs, and i already knew and loved lianne's live covers of the song so i was immediately excited when i saw it on the tracklist for her album. and she delivered. like all excellent covers, she turns "weird fishes" into her own song, with her distinct style, while remaining faithful and respectful to the original. her delivery, harmonization and execution is just flawless throughout the song, adapting and changing through the different sections and soaring into legendary, chill inducing heights during the climax - giving the song a new dimension that thom yorke just couldn't.

 

 

 

 

 

i've been casually checking for niki since her first ep/album/mixtape "zephyr", and i liked her for her ariana grande'd bops, but "switchblade" took me by surprise. this track feels beautiful, ethereal and epic from the jump. the structure and pacing in this perfect, and combined with the video it does a great job at building a mysterious, supernatural world (that apparently is a metaphor that represents her coming to america). sadly, the album didn't wow me like this track, but it's still one of my essential songs for the year.

 

 

 

 

 

"leaning on you" is a quiet moment in "women in music". much like their pre-release single "hallelujah", it's a simple guitar ballad that resembles fleetwood mac and the beatles. the sisters all sing and harmonize throughout this song, and lyrically it expands upon the main themes of the album - coping with depression and mental health - but it feels like a more hopeful and positive take on it: they might be ****ed up and pretending to be strong, but at the end of the day there's always someone there (a loved one, a friend, family) to keep them sane and grounded. this track is quite underappreciated i feel, but i love it and it's easily the one i can relate to the most.

Edited December 8, 2020 by mokitsu

[mokitsu]

 ALBUMS

 

 

 

this one is a bit of a personal favorite due to its cultural meaning. fado is the top music genre in portugal and, much like our sister country's flamenco, it's characterized by its storytelling and melancholic lyrics, accompanied by guitars and larger than life, emotive (usually female) voices. amália rodrigues is the most popular fado singer and she's deeply ingrained in my country's cultural history. she died in 1999, and since then there's been countless tributes and cover albums by popular singers, but none have really managed to capture the beauty and essence of her music. until now! "lina_raul refree" is a covers album, but all of the reimagined into spacey, atmospheric tracks that verge on ambient. you might know raul refree from rosalía's first album "los ángeles", which he produced and played guitar on, but his work here is completely different and more modern. the dark and minimalist approach allows lina's gorgeous, powerful and emotive vocals to shine and captivate the listener. even if you don't understand the devastating and poetic lyrics, the experimental approach can make for a great listen and introduction to the genre, so try it out.

favorite tracks: medo, maldição, a mulher que já foi tua

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

i loved soccer mommy's debut album "clean" - and still maintain it's the top debut album of the second half of the 2010s - so naturally, my expectations for her follow-up album were high, even if i knew she couldn't possibly surpass the former. "color theory" feels more polished and mature than "clean" - which isn't necessarily a great thing - but the collection of tracks here don't feel as impactful and the menacing after-school-teen vibe that her debut established is lost. although the album goes into first time performing at the local café territory sometimes, the highs make up to the lows. the mixture of indie rock and dream pop with the naturally confessional and personal lyrics in tracks like "bloodstream" and "circle the drain" is incredibly rewarding, and the 7 minute slightly psychedelic track "yellow is the color of her eyes" is a major highlight in her discography.

favorite songs: circle the drain, bloodstream, yellow is the color of her eyes

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLO MILLI SHIIIIIIIIIT! it's hard to find an album with as much confidence as "ho, ..." i'm older than her and i know she'd bully me and leave me crying if we ever met. queen! despite the kind of repetitive lyrical content, flo milli makes it work throughout this mixtape, with hilarious one liners and adlibs and diverse production. a consistently great and entertaining tape and one of the most promising breakout stars of the year.

favorite songs: may i, weak, beef flomix

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

listen, i can definitely see where people who came into "rare" expecting something and left disappointed are coming from. it's a far cry from the mature, self assured r&b-tinged minimalist pop that gave her musical career a second wind in 2015's "revival" - instead, we got a quirky and playful album that mostly captures the nature of her 2017 single "bad liar". even the more dancey bops have a slightly dark and left field tone, as she talks about cheating, her lupus complications and mental health problems. the real stars of the album are the r&b moments, like "souvenir" and "crowded room" - as much as i appreciate this album, i want more of those please! listen, i'm not going to pretend "rare" is an underrated masterpiece. i can totally see why pop fans don't care for it, but even if i was disappointed at first, the album grew on me and something about its charming homey weirdness draws me in.

favorite songs: boyfriend, souvenir, crowded room

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

after paramore's leading lady, hayley williams, announced her solo debut expectations were high and, without any hint at the album's sound, everyone was perched to hear what genre she was going to tackle. is it gonna be rock? is she attempting a main pop girl moment? turns out she drew a page from radiohead and st vincent's book and delivered an art pop album that, despite having its dancey moments, is mostly mellow and introspective, existing as a meditation into hayley's trauma and depression, as well as her divorce in 2017. while she wears her influences on her sleeve and that can be a turn off to some, her honest lyrics and dynamic production make this debut album a win for me.

favorite songs: why we ever, crystal clear, leave it alone

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by mokitsu

[dreamofyou]

midnight sky and rare yup, also i love your graphics (Cant remember if i said that before)

[luckystrike]

Petals for armor too low I fear 

[Navyofbadgals]

Petals for armor too high I fear

[nasa]

midnight sky, I know that's right 

[ikiru]

midnight sky too low

switchblade is such a beautiful song, what a shame her album was terrible!

rare was a disappointment

[Psycho]

Midnight Sky classic

Milky Way cute 

Leaning On You cute Fleetwood Mac moment 

 

Rare and Petals for Armor cute enough

[Alex]

midnight sky too low i fear 

love ho, why is you here?

[khalyan]

Midnight Sky though

[mokitsu]

1 hour ago, dangerousalex said:

ho, why is you here?

i found myself asking that a lot this past week.

 

[Alex]

certain user trying to get replies i fear

 

[Blue Rose]

Midnight Sky

Weird Fishes, I love the original too much (top3 fave Radiohead song) so the cover just doesn’t hit me at all. But I love Lianne (saw her open for Coldplay back in 2016)
stan Hayley  

[1998tweety]

Midnight Sky is excellence, def one of my fav songs from the year. In the past I haven't really been impressed with Miley but this new album was quite good. As for Rare...I agree tbh. I see people constantly drag it but it's a cute lil album with only 2 or so duds, a lot less than some of these other pop girlies can say...

[Enigmanotta]

Midnight Sky is way too low, PFA being right above Rare... This injustice.

 

 

 

[madonnas]

im gonna be honest and say i didnt like anything rv put out this year....   psycho left a bad taste in my mouth.

im glad you enjoyed weird fishes as much as me.  picking the cover as your fave from an artist always comes off bad, but her cover is SO good.  also weird that kelly lee owens released an album around the same time with a radiohead cover too.

 

i thought i hadn't heard anything from niki but i have def heard her before upon watching this video.  its a little to low energy for me but i get the appeal.

 

this album update is very good too, with flo milli, and hayley  ii love that flo milli basically sounds like a schoolyard bully. 

[BlackoutZone]

I enjoyed their Milky Way cover for sure, as you've said the original is dated now so they took the right spin on it

Midnight Sky and Switchblade excellent

I don't hate on Rare, but it really did end up being disappointing after serves like Bad Liar and Fetish, at least we got Vulnerable and Boyfriend

Petals for Armor as an album was definitely just there, but the stand outs great

[Post Malone]

Rare and Midnight Sky whew

 

 

Deserved higher tho

 

[mokitsu]

36 minutes ago, Madame X said:

im gonna be honest and say i didnt like anything rv put out this year....   psycho left a bad taste in my mouth.

im glad you enjoyed weird fishes as much as me.  picking the cover as your fave from an artist always comes off bad, but her cover is SO good.  also weird that kelly lee owens released an album around the same time with a radiohead cover too.

 

i thought i hadn't heard anything from niki but i have def heard her before upon watching this video.  its a little to low energy for me but i get the appeal.

 

this album update is very good too, with flo milli, and hayley  ii love that flo milli basically sounds like a schoolyard bully. 

you didn't like psycho?

i love bittersweet as well from lianne's album as well and thought about including it but besides the vocal acrobatics i feel like weird fishes is more interesting and has more to dissect... it's a great album though, ofc.

[TheWayWeWere]

Midnight Sky is such a classic already  I hate US for making it wrong

Leaning on You among my favorites from WIM

I DID expect something better from Rare, but at least she gave us few bops from it