I have to admit something…I’m not totally in love with this year’s best-of. It’s not that I don’t like the songs (they wouldn’t have made the consideration cut if that were true), but this year’s version of the list didn’t auto-populate as in the past – I had to dig around, drop some, add some, convince myself of some. Of course, there are a few that stood out as obvious choices and at the end, I am satisfied enough to call it complete and to move on. Ezra and Elia’s taste in music is still something that I am proud of, and their selections for this year’s list remind me a lot of a good animated movie (made for kids, adults will enjoy – a lot sometimes).
Like always, there are three rules that go into qualifying for the list: Rule #0 (because it applies every year): fit on a traditional CD and come to my library in the calendar year (even though the songs may be older than that). Rule #1: Don’t suck. Rule #2 (and most important): Be interesting.
1 – The Album Leaf – The Outer Banks
4 – Run The Jewels – Talk To Me (explicit)
5 – Judah & The Lion – All I Want Is You
6 – Wildermiss – Keep It Simple
9 – Maggie Siff – Lullaby For A Soldier
11 – Pandas & People – Find You
12 – Dirty Projectors – Cool Your Heart
13 – Rag’n’Bone Man – As You Are (Shy FX Remix)
14 – Japandroids – No Known Drink Or Drug
15 – Weezer – Feels Like Summer
16 – Keller Williams – Mama Tooted
17 – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo – Imaginary Friend
- Elia’s Song Choice: Mama Tooted (it’s great)
- Ezra’s Song Choice: Imaginary Friend (also great, the lyrics are pretty stellar)
- My Favorite:
- The One Despite All Efforts I Couldn’t Keep Off: Havana
- Biggest Surprise: Talk To Me (not my normal bag, but I really enjoyed this entire album)
- Really Crank This One…No, Louder Than That: New York
- Band Not Making The List For The First Time In A Few Years: Doesn’t apply this year
- Bands Continuing Their Run: Judah and the Lion, Pandas and People
- Dammit If They Didn’t Show Up Again: See above
- Last Song Dropped From The Playlist: Intro by M83
- Concert We Went To Featuring Three Of The Bands: Broncos Tailgate at Mile High w/ Judah and the Lion, Pandas and People, and Wildermiss
Previous Year’s Best Of Lists:
The Life of a Little Hippie 