On the one hand, December is a mean month: The days shrink into pitiful windows of sunshine, the holidays are harried and the bite of cold gets downright rude. On the other hand, December brings a beloved, annual game: winnowing down my list of favorite songs of the year – and comparing it with lists of critics and friends.
With fantastic releases this year from ODESZA to Future Islands to Sturgill Simpson and Wet, it was no easy task. In the end, I went with what moved me. Here’s my list:
10. “Take U There,” Jack Ü. I have three words for this hot Diplo/Skrillex/Kiesza collabo: Can’t. Stop. Dancing.
9. “Family and Genus,” Shakey Graves. In my mind, Shakey Graves has the musical Midas touch – he produced a lot of gold in 2014. This ethereal, hazy track about ancestral ties gets into my bones.
8. “Just One of the Guys,” Jenny Lewis. Lewis flexes her clever muscle in this tuneful truth-bomb about early-mid-life realizations, lacing the song with observations about relationships, vulnerabilities and the tick of the biological clock so astute that they sting.
7. “Blue Moon,” Beck. This track off of “Morning Phase” is a lush piece of loneliness swirled together with a splash of golden Cali-rock.
6. “Drunk in Love,” Beyoncé. Sexiest song ever? Likely. Queen Bey captures giddy sensuality with lyrics about knocking paintings off the wall, waking up on the kitchen floor and her unforgettable euphemism about a surfboard. And that beat? Undeniable.
5. “Every Time the Sun Comes Up,” Sharon Van Etten. A bit of beautiful bleary-eyed sadness for anyone with a hankering to swim around in their own melancholy for four and a half minutes.
4. “Just Ask,” Lake Street Dive. A gorgeous slow-burner by the fantastic East Coast break-out band. After I witnessed stunner frontwoman Rachel Price hit – and absolutely own – the long plaintive note in the middle of this track in the Sheridan Opera House in August, the chills stayed with me for days.
3. “Every Other Freckle,” alt-J. If I could cram alt-J’s entire sophomore album, “This is All Yours,” on this list, I would. As it is, I’m going to pick my favorite: this creepy, catchy and deliciously melodic song about love and obsession. “Oh, devour me” indeed.
2. “The Body Electric,” Hurray for the Riff Raff. File this song under the PMA category: It’s Pretty Much Amazing. Singer-songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra turns the old “he-shot-her-down” trope of violence against women on its head in this feminist ballad, which is equal parts political statement and lovely folk tapestry.
1. “Good Mistake,” Mr Little Jeans. A song so dynamic and complex that it continues to grow on me even now, a few hundred listens in. Change-ups, layered vocals, a dark synth groove and Monica Birkenes’ delivery of the line “Your secret’s safe with me” combine for a track that makes my lifetime list.
kklingsporn@durangoherald.com
