Summer Jam Week 15: Cruel Cruel Summahh

Heh, are you ready for this one?! We've got some new Kendrick, new Kanye, new uhh... Miranda Lambert. With but one week left we really don't have any chance of seeing any of these tracks doing any kind of real Summer Jam Damage. But in what is clearly going to be the last Summer of doing this crap, here is what we're ending with!

"family ties" by Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar

You know, it's getting to be a long while since Damn. and it's about time Kendrick has some new tracks. This is fun and engaging, while also emblematic of his sly and darkly humourous style that's also not that humourous at all. It's a good track, maybe not as explosive as some of his earlier output, but it'll definitely do.

"Jonah" by Kanye

Haha, how does a song feel overproduced and underproduced at the same time? It's this weird blend of maximalism but also holding back. Dondai was big music news this week, I haven't quite yet listened to the whole thing. Modern Kanye isn't as bad as most people think, it's not nearly at late-2000s levels, but what can be?

"Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" by Elle King ft. Miranda Lambert

Elle King is looking more like Rob Schneider's daughter. This is old as hell, but whatever, I heard it this week and it's so rare that I like a country song. Miranda Lambert does it, man. She's got the pipes. This is obviously in no state to be a real Summer Jam, but I like it. Who knows, it's probably been popular for months down south. It's fun as hell.

"Butter" by BTS ft. Megan Thee Stallion

I'm not sure if I've ever heard a more forced collabo that definitely didn't alter the song at all except for throwing in additional vocals. Maybe the "Summertime Sadness" remix that had nothing to do with Lana Del Rey. It works that Megan's bars hit hard, the song isn't great to start with, and I love how it preserves the other BTS rap breakdown. Whatever, it does work in that I like the song a lot more now.

"Leave the Door Open" by Silk Sonic

"Rumors" by Lizzo ft. Cardi B

"Kiss Me More" by Doja Cat

"good 4 u" by Olivia Rodgrio

I was tracking it a bit this week. Olivia killed it again, and is hard pressed to not be SUMMER QUEEN.

Well, we got one week left, folks. We'll see how I do next week. I am in fact getting MARRIED this upcoming weekend, so this might not be high on my priorities. Oh who am I kidding, ALWAYS ROOM FOR A SUMMMMMER JAAAAAAAMMMMM!!!!

NMW's Top Albums of the Two-Thousand Tweens!

We might not even do a 2019 music recap this year, but going back through this decade we have had some fantastic musical moments. As typical, I'd like to break this down into what I consider the only three big genres of music: POP, Hip-Hop, and Rock. Let's list our Top Three in each category (in order!):

POP:

Rainbow (2017) - Ke$ha



This was a revolutionary album by the Pop Queen. Yes - Pop Queen! Ke$ha sheds her greased up glitter persona for something more mature and soulful, but still full of her unique brand of energy. After a hellish few years she turns her tragedy into triumph without a single note of auto-tune to prove she has always had the legitimate vocal chops. She does and this is a bowlful of positive vibes where every track is a glamour bomb.

Bangerz (2013) - Miley Cyrus



2013 was peak Miley and with songs like "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball" at the forefront it seemed like this was just an obnoxious party album. She showed surprising maturity, though with a collection of heartfelt tracks that signaled maybe there's more to this girl than a wild partier. "Oh Darling", "Maybe You're Right", "Adore You" all make this album one I keep going to.

anti (2016) - Rihanna



Your #1 pop album of the decade, I could listen to this every day. Rihanna pours all her relationship angst into this with little care for song length, track listing, or anything to make a conventional pop album. The most bankable song is "Work" which blew up big, but there's a lot of drug-addled pain behind everything else. Drug-addled love, too. There is more of the latter and this album keeps thumping between Caribbean hymns, club beats, and guitar riffs to come together for a complete experience.

Hip-Hop:

To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) - Kendrick Lamar



Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is a fantastic debut but part of it still has that stitched together, mixtape feel. TPAB blasted Kendrick onto the main scene as a tour de force of rap artistry for the current generation. I listened to this over and over again and it's one of the few albums that I have completely saved as a constant YouTube playlist. It's full of radio-friendly beats as well as the more biting politically conscious tracks that Kendrick has jumped ahead on.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) - Kanye



I listen to a lot of Kanye, and although I have typically leaned on Graduation, MBDTF may be his greatest album ever, and for sure this decade. There's a lot here. He spits ironic rhymes and wordplay motivated with both earnest goofiness and racial change. He tries new musical techniques like fusing dozens of voices on "All of the Lights." He expands length with "Runaway." He practically debuts Nicki Minaj with "Monster." It's a majestic achievement, fueled by a lot of his pre-Kardashian pain. It's a triumph.

Run the Jewels 2 (2014) - Run the Jewels



Every single track here is hot as hell. Never a mainstay until they landed "Legend Has It" in front of the Black Panther (2018) trailer, RTJ has been cranking out some of the best hip-hop tracks of the decade. The beats are the best around and Killer Mike's brutal bellow complements LP's acerbic fire like few rap duos out there. Their second album is their most defined, unencumbered by expectation or novelty. It's the best hip-hop album of the decade and maybe my favorite overall.

Rock:

Modern Vampires in the City (2013) - Vampire Weekend



This is weird to say, and correct me if my zeitgeist detector is off-base, but I feel like most of the decade transition sounded like Vampire Weekend. It's that twinkly kind of soft alt-rock that sounds emo except for the subject matter. This is their best album and one I keep going back to when I want to hear something that sounds like the early part of this decade. As is apparent, that statement makes me feel crazy because I don't believe it's a sentiment anyone else feels. What say you?

Pure Comedy (2017) - Father John Misty



Father John Misty launched with his first album, I Love You, Honeybear, which introduced his socially conscious folk rock attitude to the world, but he canonized his long form folk poetry with Pure Comedy. It's a scathing critique of just about everything evil in the world to the tune of humble folk beats. It'll make your head spin and also totally depressed and also totally happy.

Plastic Beach (2010) - Gorillaz



NMW's pick for the overall #1 album of the decade is one that launched nearly ten years ago. I've been a Gorillaz fan since the beginning (they're just about the only band whose every album I own). Plastic Beach traded the haunts of Demon Days for sunshiny island tunes, but stirred it with a corroded chemical bath that gives the entire optimism an maladious subtext. The entire album pumps with this and it's one of the most coherent and thematically consistent I've ever heard or have yet to hear. It's the best.

Summer Jam 2018 Week 8: Independence Week!

As the nation welcomes July with indiscriminate air explosions and holy shit temperatures, we can let the smooth salty fresh jams of eight great tracks to cool our brows and blow our minds. Yeah... This year we have the Fourth of July on a Wednesday, which basically means we are writing off this whole week. How will you stay cool? These jams:

Hot Jam of the Week: "Crush" by Tessa Violet



I actually listened to this song so much this week it feels like I discovered it years ago. The video is a hypnotic millennial exercise with a really sweet and honest exploration of those first crush feelings. SUMMER Crush feelings?! I really dig this - it could be a breakout for Violet who's been around a while but I don't totally see it becoming a dominant jam or anything.

"Hunnybee" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Alright, so I threw this on last week as a lark, and then for some reason kept hearing it over and over this week until I was compelled to add it again. No, this isn't really a mainstream hot track. It's a cool track. A cool track for cool cats. Yeah - no fur licking for us. We stay cool just by listening to "Hunnybee."

"Sit Next to Me" by Foster the People

This jam has popped in intermittently, and as both the only rock song I currently like (is it actually rock? Or pop? Pop rock?), along with a jam that crept into my ear again and again this week, here we are. I haven't yet put that much thought into this jam at all, but it is a cool track. If you haven't guessed, we're all about cool tracks this week.

"Yikes" by Kanye

Here is another song that's kind of weirdly positioned as either a Summer Jam track, or frankly, a commercial track at all. It's all about mental health and getting help and the cultural stigma attached to both. It's fairly open for a Kanye song, except for the fact that despite all the accusations about his ego, Kanye's actually one of the most open artists ever. I suppose that's a little ouroboros, but as the lyrics of this track strike me more and more it's a notable track to drop here.

"Bed" by Nicki Minaj ft. Ariana Grande

So, what do you do when "Chun-Li" doesn't quite hit like you wanted it to? Bring on the most popular artist of the moment and drop "The Light is Coming." Oh wait, I meant, switch who is featured on whose song and drop "Bed" instead. Nicki and Ari have partnered up a lot and their chemistry is always fantastic. This could be primed to be pretty good, although I'm not sure its catchy stickiness is really there. But is chill. This week we're

"I Like It" by Cardi B and lots

I was just reflecting on the fact that Cardi must have filmed like fourteen different video appearances before she got pregnant. In this day an age, she should have just pulled an Ali Wong and went for it, but as you can track my dealing with this song over the past few weeks I think I've finally come around. It's surging on the charts, too, because everyone loves Cardi B for some reason. She somehow sings with way better English than when she speaks.

"Never Be the Same" by Camila Cabello

We're a bit past halfway, but can we call it? It's a low down dirty drag race between Camila and Ariana this summer. We'll see who gets crowned Queen unless something really really big comes along. They do keep negating each other, so we'll see. I am kind of just reaching the crest of the wave where I don't much care about this anymore, but for now it's still being played everywhere, so dip.

"No Tears Left to Cry" by Ariana Grande

Yep. For Independence Week we have women of color in the top four spots and people of color in the Top Five. America! Blatant immigrants, too! Ariana is actually just super Italian, but are Italians white? I don't know. This isn't a productive area of discussion. Productive ariana of discussion. The song is still killing it after I keep doubting it, and it's still Ariana's world - I could have easy thrown "The Light is Coming" on here, too, which may be my fav song of hers at the moment.

Next week...

"IDGAF" was close this week. As was Taylor Swift's "Delicate," which I've kind of ignored so far this summer because it's not all that great. The Carters keep coming out with new stuff, but none of it really does anything for me. Other than that, for some reason we suddenly cared about XXXTencion because of his tragic death, which is hella sad, but I mean...didn't make his songs any better.

Note the harshest NMW comment ever - 07/02/18.

Summer Jam 2018 Week 6: Enter Ye

We've reached the apex of June! It's crazy to think about. There are a whole random slew of tracks this week, from the bright and shiny new to the old and decrepit. We're on the breach of reunion and wedding season, people. Which songs will be the soundtrack to your lives?! Read on and find out!

Hot Jam of the Week: "I'm Upset" by Drake



I've been trying to both cover this Drake / Pusha-T feud and also wanting to stay out of it. This more a song and introspective reconciliation with Drake's past than a direct attack on Pusha, but it's also a solid reminder that, yeah, our most popular current rap artist starred on Degrassi. I really just wanted to talk about this video that features Jay and Silent Bob for some reason (Kevin Smith is a huge self-admitted Degrassi fan). The world is weird.

"Girls Like You" by Maroon 5

This hasn't quite caught on yet, but it trended well on YouTube and got some fairly choice radio plays. It's also such a smooth hip zeitgeist-y girl power song. I rambled about this before, but I wish we could have had a girl group get this many girls together for the girl power song. The vagina power on display here is amazing. It might yet take a few weeks to really be a hit.

"Sit Next to Me" by Foster the People

This has been around for a minute but was played enough this week to earn a drop here. Foster the People hasn't quite hit "Pumped Up Kicks" ubiquity, but hey, any alternative rock that's not Imagine Dragons is worthwhile. It's a kind of uplifting song, but better for a chill night than a true summer rager.

"Yikes" by Kanye

You can say what you want about Kanye's mental health (if you listen to Ye, he says plenty himself) - some of these tracks feel a little inconsequential or at least not as thought out and clever as his earlier work (almost nothing is equal), but despite all that bitching, "Yikes" might be the best of the crop and holy damn this is a song for our moment right now. No real radio play, but do we even need radio play anymore? I mean, we clearly haven't for years. I still do for some reason. I really should just starting basing this list off of Spotify.

"Meant to Be" by Bebe Rexha ft. Florida Georgia Line

Perhaps not as everywhere as last week, "Meant to Be" is still going strong. Now THIS is a summer driving long highway song that's oh so joyous. I'd say it is about cresting, though, almost reaching that point where I don't totally get pumped up to listen to it. Totally done. Past the hotness threshold. NEVER TO RETURN.

"Never Be the Same" by Camila Cabello

Surging this week while Ariana dropped is the first indication that "Never Be the Same" could make the first run at legit Summer Queen status. It's very very early to call anything, having only covered a little over a third of the season, but right now she's in the lead. We'll of course see how things shake out, but I'd be okay with this.

"Nice for What" by Drake

Drake Song #2 of the week and yeah, "Nice for What" jumped up mad high this week. For some reason I heard this track excessively this week and that beat is just good enough to fill the background of whatever you might be doing with your lives at any given moment. That mid-song complete breakdown gets me every time - I always think the 107.9 DJ is stopping the song and calling out some studio jerks. But somehow it works.

"Psycho" by Post Malone

I know, I know. We might as well have "Stegosaurus" this week this song is so old. But it was somehow everywhere this week AND shot back up to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It's a remarkably good song, but I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea how a dirtbag-looking dude like Post Malone rose to the top of 2018. I suppose it's is general down-to-earth demeanor, accessibility, solid raspy sing-songy flow and righteous chill vibes. I also really like that "Lil mama wanna have my babies" line. For some reason he makes it sound like such an adorable love story.

Next week...

The Carters. Listen, this is no "Bonnie & Clyde" by a large motion, and it's certainly also a lesser work than either of them have done together, but it could be pretty popular. We'll see. Not much more substantial new tunes this week. A little Clean Bandit / Demi Lovato. Who cares.

Goodbye 2016: Music - Sing Song All Long!

And then we came to the musical part of the show. Like television, I will freely self-admit to not having listened to every song there is this year. For some reason even though I'm usually well in tune to the audial world, I actually think that music was lacking a bit this year. Nothing really stood out, which made it easy for David Bowie and Radiohead to dominate where they probably wouldn't have any other year. It's also been such a Beyonce year, although I'm not convinced that all her work was the best of the year. I know, the Beygency is coming for me soon. So what was good to hit the ears in 2016? Keep reading, my young ward and find out:

Songs of 2016:

"Sorry" by Justin Bieber
"Same Old Love" by Selena Gomez
"Stressed Out" by twenty one pilots
"Formation" by Beyonce
"Roses" by The Chainsmokers
"My House" by Flo Rida
"Hands to Myself" by Selena Gomez
"Work" by Rihanna ft. Drake
"Me, Myself, & I" by G-Eazy ft. Bebe Rexha
"Cake by the Ocean" by DNCE
"Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
"Dark Necessities" by Red Hot Chili Peppers
"7 Years" by Lukas Graham
"I Took a Pill in Ibiza" by Mike Posner
"Dangerous Woman" by Ariana Grande
"Work from Home" by Fifth Harmony
"Panda" by Desiigner
"Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya
"One Dance" by Drake
"Ophelia" by the Lumineers
"Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake
"Cheap Thrills" by Sia
"Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" by Adele
"Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey
"Heathens" by twenty one pilots
"Gold" by Kiiara
"Broccoli" by D.R.A.M. ft. Lil' Yachty
"I Hate U, I Love U" by Gnash
"24K Magic" by Bruno Mars
"Starboy" by The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk
"Side to Side" by Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj
"Juju on that Beat" by Zay Hilifigerrr
"Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmund
"Bad Things" by Camila Cabello ft. Machine Gun Kelly

Here is a Summer Jam refresher.

Artist of the Year

It's really hard to zero in on one artist since so many had such spectacular years. The Chainsmokers are now the face of horrible EDM, although they produced some legitimate great jams this year. Twenty one pilots is now the face of rock, even if most of their non-"Heathens" tracks are garbage, but that one's the best thing to come out of Suicide Squad (2016). Sia cemented herself atop the pantheon of pop greats, and Fifth Harmony proved that they have more staying power than other terrible girl pop bands of late such as Little Mix. Rihanna produced a slew of hits and an incredible album, but none seemed to have traction. So who are we left with?

Shit - is it Beyonce? Even though her sister, Solange produced a likely equally as great album, Beyonce, if she didn't get the most sales or #1 hits, it sure felt like that. That's the power of the Beyonce brand. She wasn't actually as successful as any of the above artists, but it totally feels that way. 2016 will more often be remembered for the power of Beyonce, even if "Hold Up" was listened to the same amount as "Purple Rain" was this year. And I'm still sticking to my introductory note that Beyonce wasn't the best artist of 2016, but she was probably the greatest.

Song of the Year:

"Cheap Thrills" by Sia



I stuck the Sean Paul version in the Summer Jam Countdown all summer, but let's throw up the Maddie Zeigler version here. This video is probably better, but I think I actually like Sean Paul's mindless treacle cutting in the remix. Anyway, robbed of Summer Queen status, "Cheap Thrills" dominated this year, and somehow I can still get pumped up to listen to it. That's a rare feat these days, especially considering this was the first great song I noticed on This is Acting when it dropped in January. Yep. Listen to this track for a year straight and love it more each time you hear it. That, for me, was 2016 in a nutshell, and no song was better with near equal commercial pedigree.

Other Singles of the Year:

For whatever reason this year was extremely rap-heavy. There's just a lot of great samples going on right now, with artists following Fetty Wap's deconstruction and casualization of the genre, which actually makes the whole enterprise more listenable and lovable, while preserving common tropes. There were some good rock songs that snuck their way in, but here we go:

"No Problem" by Chance the Rapper ft. Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz the hook is a dream and it's impressive to see Lil Wayne finally on a song that doesn't suck. This isn't the best song from Coloring Book, but certainly the catchiest
"We the People..." by A Tribe Called Quest says everything we want to in a Trump's America in a 90s package that never flinches from the statement they try to make. Also that beat will cut you up.
"Black Beatles" by Rae Sremmund ft. Gucci Mane may have become popular during mannequin challenges, but this floaty song embodies everything about modern rap. It's a party anthem, chill anthem, think piece anthem - everything at once. I called out Rae Sremmund for SremmLife last year, and he may yet prove to be legit.
"Kiss it Better" by Rihanna it was tough to pick one of Rihanna's singles, but this already one of the tracks from ANTI that stood out to me when I listened to it twelve times this summer. This is the showiest non-"Work" track on the album that offers a more abstract look at the complicated emotions of love and regret than anything else this year
"On the Way" by TWENTY88 I feel like no one cared about the best collabo of the year - Jhene Aiko and Big Sean's Twenty88, but this is the sexiest song of the year. No eating the booty like groceries, but I couldn't get enough of this.
"Fade" by Kanye West is my favourite single off The Life of Pablo, and that's not just because I get to watch Teyana Taylor every time it pops up. That growing thumping "Mysteries of Love" bass line (exaggerated to where it should be here) is exquisite and it vocally disguises the fact that it's even a Kanye song, even if the sampling gives it away.
"Way Down We Go" by Keleo listen, I did dig a few rock songs this year. Keleo's probably the best new rock group to emerge this year, badass enough to play inside Volcanos. Fuck yeah.
"Sound of Silence" by Disturbed cover of the year.
"Million Reasons" by Lady GaGa, whose album also seemed to be passed over this year, but was full of great genre-crossing country twinged tracks like this one. There's a lot more passion and emotion in this than any other pop or rock track this year, and it walks that beautiful line between up tempo thrillmaker and downtrodden tearmaker. GaGa always finds a way on to this re-cap, and even though it feels like she's past the point in her career where she cares about making big pop anthems,

Best Albums of the Year:

POP

I generally enjoy splitting up this category between the three mega-genres of Pop, Rock, and Hip-Hop, which I suppose is weird. We don't split films up between Action, Comedy, and Drama. Although perhaps we should...anyway, the popular pick here is Lemonade, which I'll say again, didn't really do anything for me. The runner-up is Sia's This is Acting, but I totally dug Rihanna's ANTI non-stop this year, which is also my general pick for ALBUM OF THE YEAR.

Everything about this is knocked out of the park. It's truly an album that seeks to buck the trend of a lot of pop stars, and even Rihanna's own career. Songs start and stop without much care or pretension of dropping singles ("Work" is the only custom-made hit, which is unarguably awesome), no one cares about hooks or marketability, but the melodies are still catchy and engrossing as hell. It's about the splinters of love and the craziness of falling in and out of relationships more consistently than Lemonade without the added baggage of Jay-Z or Blue Ivy Carter getting in the way. Even the album cover forgoes containing either the album's or Rihanna's name. It was the first double-platinum album of 2016, and another block in the impossible fact that Rihanna DESTROYS every other contemporary pop artist.

Best Tracks: "Kiss It Better," "Same Old Mistakes", "Love on the Brain"

ROCK

I alluded to this earlier, but it seemed like a real down year for Rock and Roll. David Bowie's Blackstar which dropped last January immediately prior to his death served as an elegant swan song to one of the greatest legends of rock, but doesn't really compare to Pin Ups or Diamond Dogs. That's perhaps unfair, but it's kind of crazy that the most universally acclaimed 2016 Rock Album isn't even that artist's greatest Rock Album. Then again, who am I to judge, I'm here saying it's the top for me, too. Bowie milks the age of his voice rather than tries to do anything he's done before, which is also a very Ziggy thing to do. It pounds away and gives glimpses of a man accepting and cradling death, which we enjoyed ironically for two days, then in an entirely new light from January 10th on. Out of everyone lost in 2016, that one still hurts pretty bad.

Best Tracks: "Lazarus", "Girl Loves Me", "Dollar Days"

HIP-HOP

Jeez, Hip-Hop, how did you drop so many great albums this year? I dig The Life of Pablo the more I listen to it, but it feels too much like the kind of 2016 Kanye West had - frazzled, rushed, insane, and exotic. I cited "Fade" earlier, and do want to mention the strength of "Ultralight Beam" - but this is the stuff he mastered in "All of the Lights" off of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that kind of falls apart here.

We already mentioned the strength of Coloring Book, but that album just doesn't stand out enough to me. That's a collection of really good tracks with one or two great ones that never pushes itself over the edge. I was also close to awarding this to Frank Ocean's Blonde which I love for "Nikes" that starts to explore this quantum state of cultural dissonance that's probaly the most beautiful album thematically of the year, but the beats just aren't there. And this is Hip-Hop. You need beats.

Hence The Impossible Kid. Aesop Rock's masterpiece, realized in a 48-minute long tribute to The Shining (1980), it stands out as an epic strain of thought by one of our greatest underrated rappers. The beats combine a lot of modern funk with Aesop's brutal flow to create a musical trip full of ups and downs but with awesome a plenty. The lyrics and rhymes crush it more than anything else this year, which seems like a lost art in modern hip-hop. This is what the game is all about.

Best Tracks: "Rings", "Dorks", "Supercell", "Shrunk"

Top Videos of the Year:



OK, it's Lemonade. Just...all of Lemonade. Go find it on Tidal. Or HBO. There's no one else revolutionizing the video format, or hell, even the release format that Queen Bey is doing right now. There's so much wrapped up in this. Obviously, there's a weird renegade cheating thing, but without much other context or commentary we're left to postulate where exactly lies the intersection between art and reality. There's a lot to unpack here, perhaps no place better than in "Formation" where Beyonce proudly reminds every that she's black, proud of it, and owns a culture she would have appeared to left behind. Bey in that black hat may also be the best music image of the year.

There were some other good bits this year, although none quite spectacular. I really dig DJ Shadows ft. Run the Jewels "Nobody Speak," which riffs on the "old white people rapping" trope better than it's ever been done, where words and action are so inexorably linked, with passionate focus and demonstrated motivation from these anonymous diplomats. Not only is it suddenly an apt parable for our current political system, but an epic sync of an old gimmick.

Finally, it feels like we made it another year with another gimmick-y but astutely difficult OK GO video that I totally tried to resist listing here, but when those anti-grav paint balloons pop it's still a cool moment. Fine. Here you go.

In the end I suppose I paid more attention to music in 2016 than I thought. That was a lot to go through. What did you listen to, and what will you always remember from the Year 2016?

Summer Jam 2016 Week 16: Britney Owns the Penultimate Weekend

Can you believe it's almost time for Summer to draw to a close? It's been an amazing, wild ride. Well, it certainly happened, that's for sure. We have a few more tracks to get through as we tally up this week and then see what Labour Day has to throw at us. In the interest of getting a lot of late-breaking jams some air time we've totally ignored all songs gaining momentum and instead went with a whole ton of new Fall hotness! Here we go!

Hot Jam of the Week: "Get Right" by Jimmy Eat World



Okay, so I really just wanted to talk about this because it's the kind of song you listen to and think "That was alright. Kind of sucked." And then you hear it was Jimmy Eat World and you go "WHAAA?" How come that is so much worse than "The Middle"? I assume Jimmy Eat World has other songs, too. Probably. I have no idea what they're going for here but it's a whiff. Hot Jams! Comin' through.

Jovial: "I Got You" by Shaggy ft. Jovi Rockwell

I guess I was just in a mood for terrible new songs from big one-hit wonders from the early 2000s this week. Sure, maybe Shaggy has "Mr. Bombastic" and "Angel" to his name, too. Three-hit wonder? But listen to this song. How does Shaggy have a career? He's the kind of patois mumbling. Somehow he turned this into a living. Well, sort of. I mean, when was the last time Shaggy was relevant? Spoiler, he still won't be after this week.

Amazing Amy: "Cool Girl" by Tove Lo

The latest by Tone Loc, or Tove Lo or whatever is somewhat less pop-y than her other Summer Jams, but this is still an engrossing track. I wonder if this could have done some damage had it been released a few months ago and shat all over a decently shatty summer, but I'm glad to get it now. It feels almost a bit more mature, although the beat is kind of blippier than her other work. It's not totally blown up, but I'm curious about its Fall potential.

Two Versions: "Nikes" by Frank Ocean

Channel Orange is still one of my favourite albums ever, and Frank Ocean's underhyped follow-up, Blonde (or is it Blond) exists in a simultaneous state of uncertainty, which is actually an astounding feat. I say underhyped, although it was still actually the third-highest release of 2016, although it seems like people aren't talking about it enough or at least in more niche areas. This is an astounding track and video, though, and although its commercial appeal seems limited (or maybe not, he just sold a shitload of albums, what do I know) and the album seems more experimental than Orange. That's probably not a bad thing, but it hasn't hooked me like his earlier work yet.

One Last (Probably) Time: "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake

I was still getting traces of this song, including one double-play on two radio stations at the same time. I would almost guarantee this is more a product of my backwards country radio joints being far behind the pop times, but that's still a good picture of most of the country still jamming to this. It's almost a virtual lock for Summer Jam King, although "Cheap Thrills" might pull the upset.

Speaking of Which: "Cheap Thrills" by Sia

What more can I say? It's faded quite a bit from its apex, but it's still so good at sticking in my brain, seven plus months after I first started shooting up This is Acting like a sick junkie. Even though I gave a lot to JT this summer, that 495 million YouTube views should probably count for something. Could my ironclad method of randomly ranking songs I heard on the radio the most each week be flawed? I'll figure this out next week.

Come a Little: "Closer" by The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey

Halsey has a lot of talent and potential among the young people, so for that she gets the nod here. This is like, the ultimate pop song without much else going for it, but that's why it works so well. I do like the hook even if the rest of it is pretty much garbage. But it's the #1 jam right now. Also that kazoo or recorder breakdown or whatever is sublime, actually.

Can You Believe It? "Make Me..." by Britney Spears ft. G-Eazy

Britney has suddenly had a decent week. There's a bit of upsurge with her lately, maybe tied into our sudden love of 90s culture (which I still think will bleed into Early 2000s culture pretty soon, and Early 2000s was when Britney was EVERYTHING). She had this highly touted VMA performance (even though Rihanna sand like, her entire Anti album across three performances). She was also...servicable in her Carpool Karaoke with the gayest straight man on earth, James Corden. I mean, she just never seems into it. Britney's gotten to the point that since she's such an immortal it's tough to get her to do weird human shit. She doesn't loosen up like Adele. But for this week, she's at the top.

Next week...

We won't really stoop to covering the VMAs because they haven't really been interesting since MTV stopped being interesting in general, but for Kanye to make the numbskull move of actually getting on stage and explaining "Famous" for six minutes is totally insane. And to be sure, I've written this piece on his genius. Actually that was like six years ago, that's also probably outdated. Anyway, we got one more week, folks, stay tuned to see who makes the final push!

The Way We Were: 2013 in Music

Welcome again to another installment of The Way We Were - a critical examination and look back at the year 2013. It's essentially an arbitrary designation of time to look back on, but it's nice to benchmark where we are at this point in musical history. Here we'll talk about both the biggest songs of the year, the best albums, and the most enjoyable singles. Let's start with some of the most zeitgeist-y singles, in rough chronological order. Now, some of these are spillovers from 2012, but whatever - they made up 2013's soundtrack.

Singles - The Chronological Year in Review:

The Weeknd - "Wicked Games"
"Suit & Tie" by Justin Timberlake ft Jay-Z
"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz
"C'mon Let Me Ride" by Skylar Grey ft. Eminem
"Hang Me Out to Dry"by Cold War Kids
"Harlem Shake" by Baauer
"Fuckin' Problems" by ASAP Rocky ft 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake
"I Love It" by Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX
"Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton
"R.I.P." by Young Jeey ft. 2 Chainz
"Alive" by Krewella
"Cups" by Anna Kendrick
"Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato
"Stay" by Rihanna
"Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke ft. Pharrell and T.I.
"Cruise" by Florida Goergia Line ft. Nelly
"Treasure" by Bruno Mars
"We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus
"Ways to Go" by Grouplove
"Same Love" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert
"Clarity" by Zedd ft. Foxes
"Royals" by Lorde
"Roar" by Katy Perry
"Berzerk" by Eminem
"What Does the Fox Say" by Ylvis
"Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus
"Holy Grail" by Jay-Z ft Justin Timberlake
"Wake Me Up" by Avicii
"Safe and Sound" by Capitol Cities
"Fitzpleasure" by Alt-J
"Brave" by Sarah Barellilis
"Hell and Back" by Airborne Toxic Event
"Applause" by Lady GaGa
"Bound 2" by Kanye West
"Closer" by Tegan and Sara
"Timbre" by Pitbull ft. Keha
"Stay the Night" by Zedd ft. Hayley Williams
 "Monster" by Eminem ft. Rihanna

Cream of the Crop:

There were a lot of big hits this year that overshadowed smaller great songs by the same artist. Both "Royals" and "Team" by Lorde are basically about the same thing - a revolt against contemporary materialistic pop culture through general apathy, but that repeated refrain in "Team," "I'm kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air" sums up a generation. Likewise, the melodic thumping of "Do What U Want" ought to beat out GaGa's "Applause" any day. Even Nelly's "Hey Porsche" is way better than "Cruise." In no major particular order, here are the rest of our favorite singles of the year:

"Poetic Justice" by Kendrick Lamar
"Diane Young" by Vampire Weekend
"Do What U Want" by Lady GaGa ft. R. Kelly
"Team" by Lorde
"Mother We Share" by Chvrches
"White Walls" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft Schoolboy Q and Hollis
"Q.U.E.E.N." by Janelle Monae ft. Erykah Badu
"Gangsta" by Kat Dahlia
"Collared Greens" by Schoolboy Q ft Kendrick Lamar
"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk

Best Albums:

There were a lot of tremendous albums this year. Beginning with hip-hop, while Drake and J. Cole put out some surprisingly strong efforts considering their talent, the rap game really comes down to Yeezus vs.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2. It was a year for all these aging rap gods to find something else to sing about when their greatest critical acclaim happened when they were young and hungry. Jay-Z joined in, too, but certainly came up short. Yeezus completely defies expectation and breaks angry industrial ground for Kanye, but Eminem hasn't been able to balance his weird dueling intense and irreverent personas this well, well, ever.

Yeezus Best Tracks: "Black Skinhead," "Blood on the Leaves," "Bound 2"
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 Best Tracks: "Rap God," "Love Game," "Headlights"

In the realm of pop, even with a big year with releases from Katy, GaGa, and Britney, everyone was outdone by a pair of kids. Lorde's Pure Heroine may not be that pop-y, but it's a stunning debut for the 16-year old Kiwi that spawned the breakout hit of the Fall in "Royals." Still, this was the year we saw Miley Cyrus jump from innocuous Disney starlet to full-blown slut. Beneath her ridiculousness though, lies a secret, mature, and instantly listenable album in Bangerz, the best pop album of the year.

Pure Heroine Best Tracks: "Tennis Court," "Team," "Glory and Gore"
Bangerz Best Tracks: "#GETITRIGHT," "Maybe You're Right," "Someone Else"

As far as rock goes, it's also down to two groups - Chvrches and Vampire Weekend. Chvrches' The Bones Of What You Believe exhibits an intriguing blend of electronica, alternative, and the ethereal coos of lead singer Lauren Mayberry. Vampire Weekend knocks it out of the park, though, with Modern Vampires of the City, by far their most advanced album. It's got Weekend's trademark spritely chill sound with nice doses of classy beats, mysterious sounds, and Ezra Koening has never sounded more comfortable.

The Bones Of What You Believe Best Tracks: "Gun," "Lies," "You Caught the Light"
Modern Vampires of the City Best Tracks: "Diane Young," "Everlasting Arms," "Hudson"

Finally, we have the notable Daft Punk entry, Random Access Memories. Is this techno? Funk? Disco revival? I don't know, but it's a damn good album, diverse enough for just about any occasion, easily listenable and re-listenable, and simultaneously relaxing and funky as hell.

Best Tracks: "Instant Crush," "Beyond," " Doin' It Right"

Best Music Videos:

There wasn't really one singular spectacular, jaw-dropping video to behold this year. The most significant may be the three sexiest (or misogynistic), Miley Cyrus' nude opus "Wrecking Ball," Kanye's Kim Boob show-off, "Bound 2," and Robin Thicke's monster summer smash, "Blurred Lines." None of these are particular great videos, though, although Seth Rogen and James Franco's "Bound 3" may be.

The top three videos of the year were all pretty epic. First, let's talk about Miley's "We Can't Stop" - an excess of surreal and sometimes disturbing imagery set to thumping teddy bears and general apathetic youth nonsense. Every generation needs a vid like this so that they can claim to be different and special than every other generation to rebel before them. Next is Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Can't Stop Us," which features some of the most captivating bizarro video moments of the year such as pirate ship parties, camel rides, and the suavest beach haircut ever.

Still, the top this year is for a song released decades ago. Even though Arcade Fire also released an interactive music video with "Reflektor," Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," which had somehow never before had a video gets an exceptionally cool interactive vid. It's about time artists started using the pull medium of the Internet to their advantage to gain followers and viewers instead of losing them. Here you go.

Artist of the Year:

There are many contenders, such as Lorde, Miley Cyrus, Kanye, Daft Punk, Robin Thicke, or Arcade Fire, but Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rule over them all. They literally had a hit for every season this year, starting with the bubble gum novelty track "Thrift Shop" before moving deeper and deeper with "Can't Hold Us" then "Same Love." It may be their most lyrically shallow single of the year, but my favorite jam of theirs is actually "White Walls," whose sharp flow gets me every time.

The Heist will one day become one of those legendary albums, spewing forth a crazy amount of hits. The pair gets bonus points of their independent production, viral success, and instant ability to draw the critical and commercial acclaim of just about the entire world. They got there from an expansive, liberal, and inclusive brand, as well as some damn tight flows for a white boy and great production values.

This was also a noted year for novelty songs in addition to "Thrift Shop," no doubt due to the Internet. How else can we explain "Harlem Shake" and "What Does the Fox Say" blowing up? It's exciting - we were really lacking extremely stupid mainstream tracks.

Well, there you go - uh huh honey, everything you need to reminisce about the music of 2013. What will 2014 bring? Keep listening, folks.

Summer Jam Week 3: All New Hotness Edition

Well folks, it's the start of another Summer Week and we're back to looking over the greatest and best Hot Jams the season has to offer. This week we're taking a bit of a detour, though, and checking out ONLY the hottest, freshest tracks that lay in wait to become the ultimate in Summer Royalty. Let's plug away:

The Blonde Jam: "I Need Your Love" by Calvin Harris ft. Ellie Goulding

The track is simple, sweet, catchy, with a beat apt enough to get a nice Summer Make Out Session on. Ellie Goulding is flickering just on the edge of superstardom and all she needs is one big hit to lurch over. Calvin Harris isn't really a household name yet by far, but as a follow-up to "Feels So Close" and "Sweet Nothing" if this breaks he may be.

All That Power: "Black Skinhead" by Kanye

Kanye has really seemed to dip into the Black Power persona he flirted with in songs like "Gorgeous" on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I do call that a persona, because I have a tough time really buying this kind of music from the same dude who hooks up with Kim Kardashian and loves lambos and Louis V's. Still, it's a new dark, scary, and politically energized direction for Yeezy. If the song was a bit catchier, less intense, and less racially charged it'd be a prime hit. Of course, that song would in no way resemble what he's done here. And isn't that the point? It's worthwhile to bring these kinds of issues to mainstream media attention - whether that media still listens to him after this is, unfortunately, a whole other post. As for me, I'm still with these guys.

I Like it Too: "I Like It" by Sevyn Streeter

Sevyn coos and caresses this track, doing her best Kelly Rowland, but there's something nice there. Especially after Kanye's bold antics, it's a nice way to mellow out during the summer months. It's much more vapid for sure, and essentially devoid of interesting lyrical content, but for a newbie, this is a fine Summer Track to cascade over your eardrums.

Mac Grande: "The Way" by Ariana Grande ft Mac Miller

I never joined on the Mac Miller hatewagon, but after his show exposed who he is a bit more...yeah I'm on that wagon now. I tend to really like this track when Ariana hits it, then I change the song when I realise it's that one with Mac on it. Maybe it's because I've never listened to this all the way through that it keeps getting me like that. It's got a lot of potential, but Mac isn't really the kind of Summer Jam Headliner you want on your most mainstream track, and Ariana hasn't really gotten the exposure she needs to break out. Still, I'm jammin.

Country Grammar: "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line ft Nelly

It seems as if every few years Nelly drops some new track to remind us that he exists and may be one of the more talented sing-rappers out there. He also seems to have a fondness for country crossover hits, and I'd call this a really strange move if not for the success of "Over and Over" a few years back. This is a nice lazy jam and could certainly gain some steam. The last time anyone cared about Nelly was during the tail end of Summer 2010 when "Just A Dream" briefly dominated our airwaves. With a little better timing this could be a hit - it's just always weird getting the country lovers to kowtow to R&B and the hip-hop lovers to slow it down for a little country. When it works, though, country crossovers are the biggest hits ever.

Give Your Heart a Break Attack: "Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato 

I always thought that Demi could sing. She's an X-Factor judge, after all. With this song, though, I'm not so sure. I don't know what happened to her voice in the past year, but she needs to get it back. And yes, this is a different song than her last hit, "Give Your Heart a Break" although it seems to deal with the exact same cardiopulmonary dangers. It's a strange video, too, perhaps because of its use of infrequent cuts rather than a steady stream of whirlwind half-second shots that make up most vids these days. She's really into that ink and stuff too. Someone needs to get these people a book on how to execute a metaphor without being completely oblique.

I'm In: "I'm Out" by Ciara ft. Nicki Minaj

It seems like Ciara is always on the outside looking in to true pop stardom, despite her being one the hottest artists around, along with an incredible singing and dancing talent. None of her recent stuff seems to really take off. That said, she's got a new aggressive album, Ciara coming out in July, and you've got to think she wants a slice of Summer Jam pie. With songs like "Super Turnt Up" by Ciara ft. Ciara off the album, Ciara, it ought to be a fun time. "I'm Out" isn't that great of a track, but it may do to lead into something a bit better.

For Reals: "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton



Alright - our true Jam Champion for the week once again is Macklemore, crew in tow. It's the trend of 2013 so far that just when a Macklemore song seems to be fading we suddenly start hearing it nonstop. This is also the kind of epic video you can make when your first breakthrough song is the unquestioned champion of the year. The Mack deserves a lot of credit for his relentless sober energy, as does Lewis for his invigorating beats, and as long as we have chorus masters such as Ray Dalton and Wanz tying songs together, there's no limit to this thing. It'll be an uphill climb for anyone to dethrone the crew in 2013.

Next week...

We'll see if anyone can dethrone the Macklemore crew. Any of the artists named here could get a little surge, but I'm also looking again at Pink, Kat Dahlia, Imagine Dragons, and other rising stars like French Montana and Cruise (another Nelly vehicle). And with a solid new album, is anyone going to give Daft Punk a chance? Stay tuned, loyal readers.

2012: Music in the Final Year of Our Existence

Welcome everyone, to the Season of Top-Ten Year Ending Lists - that special time of year where we all reminisce about the greatest moments in pop culture from the preceding year. What will follow over the next few weeks are a series of Time Capsule-style posts more than anything. We here at NMW are not as interested in assigning bits of media to arbitrary, opinion-driven lists as we are in initiating a discussion of the year as a mechanism to assess where we stand culturally, as well as to highlight some great moments you may have missed this year. We're also interested in things like Nicki Minaj's big fat ass, though, so you know, there's a bit of balance to attain here.

Artists of the Year:

This is a tough call. Last year was clearly the Year of Adele, but it's a bit more muddled in 2012. We can give it to new artists like Gotye and Carly Rae Jepsen who had massive sudden singles fueled by music videos gone viral, but just one big hit isn't really enough to call someone the Artist of the Year (looking at you, too, Psy). There were a lot of other really great works put out by fresh new voices like Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar, Alabama Shakes, and the Lumineers, and they'll get their due but none of these were also overpowering enough to earn this fabled title. We could consider fun., who just ruled the charts and zeitgeist this year, but their poor grammar and the imposing line they strut between drunken irreverence and youthful self-importance is far too infuriating. All of these brand spanking new artists, though, ought to be significant.

We'll give Artist of the Year, however, (yes, in 2012) to Bruce Springsteen. The Boss came back in a big way this year, dropping an excellent album in Wrecking Ball, and performing more shows than most people half his age. He was a total pro this year, with a ridiculous output of music and a crushing schedule. He really picked it up this past fall where he campaigned for Obama, who used some of his tracks for his campaign, and then performed many charity concerts for Hurricane Sandy Relief that decimated his home state of Jersey, including Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together on November 2nd and 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief in December. The man served as not only a musician but a rallying point for some of the biggest events of 2012 and in the process showed what music can really do to a nation, or at least to a region when he never gave up his blue collar Jersey roots.

Albums of the Year:

There are really only five albums that matter this year, all in different genres. We'll talk a bit about all of them to appease a wide variety of people - after all, it's tough to definitively list one over the other (for us personally, it's Frank Ocean). For an update in classic rock we had the pleasure of listening to the aforementioned Wrecking Ball by Bruce, a revitalization of his classicism set against a new age. Sticking with rock, we also received Jack White's Blunderbuss, where he really showed what ditching your drummer sister can do for a career - suddenly becoming one of the more relevant names in rock for the year.

For pop starlets we need only look to Taylor Swift's Red. In a single sweep she moved on from country-pop to pop-country and gained even more likeability and mainstream appeal. In her maturity she really became one of the biggest stars in the year. Neither her predictable her lyrical content or the enraging of her diehard country fans could stop it.

Hip-hop boils down to B.o.B's Strange Clouds and Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE. B.o.B really slipped under the radar this spring but swaggers between big rap beats and smoother emotional high points along with some killer and surprising collabos. But really, this is Frank's year, as his album redefined what hip-hop could be and do through falsetto, sweeping synth beats, and a new distinctive voice and style punctuated by juxtaposition of characters, sound effects, and a rambling, driving train of thought set to a beat. It also helped that he had one of the best SNL performances of the year (when you're trumped only by Mick Jagger, that's not a bad thing)


Videos of the Year:

This was really only ever between two, but I'll throw in the mesmerizing effect of Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen)" which assaults both the eye and year with an ethereal series of bright overlaid images to match the floaty beat and silky smooth vocals both rising to an overjoyous frenzy towards its conclusion.

But really, this year is between Gotye's smash "Somebody that I Used to Know" and Delta Rae's "Bottom of the River." Gotye became a YouTube star with this heavily symbolic video that was unique and new, which is all it took for 360 million people to perk up and watch on the video-sharing website. Gotye paints a tortured relationship story through his lyrics then abstracts the feelings and commitment of both himself and his GF (played here by the singer who joins him, Kimbra) through literally painting confusion onto their bodies and then retreating the paint on Kimbra as she frees herself from the overwhelming density of their relationshit. It's brilliant. It's also everyone's dream of seeing Sting and Katy Perry sing together naked.

BUT we like "Bottom of the River" much better. Take a gander:



In about two minutes the ensemble band devises a short witch-hunt story. It's incredible due the simplicity with which it tells its tale as well as the switch from victim to aggressor by singer, Brittany Hölljes (almost imperceptible, I'm pegging it somewhere around the 1:15 mark). Note the subtle foreshadowing of her image in the mirror at the beginning and then the impressive single-take shot through the simple farm set that nevertheless expresses the misgivings, power, and conflict between the two parties of apparently humans and witches / demons. It's a very cool video, supported by the vocals (Brittany's belts at 1:47 still give me chills as her crazy eyes open wide). It's sexy, scary, and the best vid of the year.

Singles of the Year:

Finally, here's a nice big list in chronological order of our favourite and biggest singles of the year for you all to enjoy 2012 the right way:

"What Doesn't Kill You" by Kelly Clarkson
"Somebody That I used to Know" by Gotye
"Turn Me On" by Nicki Minaj
"Some Nights" by fun.
"Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men
"Tonight is the Night" by Outasight
"Starships" by Nicki Minaj
"Wild Ones" by Flo Rida
"Simple Song" by the Shins
"Brokenhearted" by Karmin
"Comeback Kid" by Sleigh Bells
"Bangarang" by Skrillex
"In My Trunk" by Dev
"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen
"Tongue Tied" by Grouplove
"Till I Die" by Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown, and Big Sean
"Run" by Flo Rida and Red Foo
"Wide Awake" by Katy Perry
"Payphone" by Maroon 5
"Hold On" by Alabama Shakes
"Ray Bands" by B.o.B
"Want You Back" by Cher Lloyd
"Ho Hey" by the Lumineers
"Settle Down" by No Doubt
"Madness" by Muse
"Gangnam Style" by Psy
"Mercy" by Kanye
"Too Close" by Alex Clare
"Thinking of You" by Frank Ocean
"Your Body" by Christina Aguilera - really just for her plus-size boobs
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift
"We Take Care of Our Own" by Bruce Springsteen
"Girl on Fire" by Alicia Keys
"Bottom of the River" by Delta Rae
"Die Young" by Ke$ha
"Locked out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars
"All Night Longer" by Sammy Adams
"Va Va Voom" by Nicki Minaj
"Anything Can Happen" by Ellie Goulding
"Home" by Phillip Phillips
"Diamonds" by Rihanna
"Cut Me Some Slack" by Paul McCartney + the Surviving Members of Nirvana
"Clique" by Kanye
"Scream and Shout" by will.i.am and Britney Spears

Ultimately, this was a pretty wacky year. Then again, it always is in the world of music. There were a lot of nice comebacks, some great new artists, many more terrible new artists, and a chubby little Korean who won all our hearts. Bring it on, 2013!! We'll leave you with a little Earworm:

Best of 2011: Music

Hello once again folks to this week's lookback at the best, biggest, and brightest bulbs of 2011. Today we're reminiscing about the Modal Nodes of the past year, the songs, the albums, the trends, music videos and everything else we can think of. This really was a big year for a handful of artists and it's difficult to talk in depth about all of them, so let's tear this apart piece by piece:

Song of the Year: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele



Unfortunately I am so completely numb to this track because of its incessant overplaying, but it had both the critical success, longevity, and popularity to heartily secure a top spot for the year, even if LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" beat it for Summer Jam. Now, there were certainly a ton of songs emblematic of 2011 but let's go through just a handful:

Runners Up:
"I Just Had Sex" by The Lonely Island
"Firework," "E.T." and "Last Friday Night" by Katy Perry
"Black and Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa
"Buzzin'" by Mann ft. 50 Cent
"Moment for Life" by Nicki Minaj ft. Drake
"Born this Way" by Lady GaGa
"Just Can't Get Enough" and "The Time" by The Black Eyed Peas
"Look at Me Now" by Chris Brown
"Down on Me" by Jeremih ft. 50 Cent
"Grenade," "The Lazy Song" and "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars
"How to Love" by Lil Wayne
"Give Me Everything" by Pitbull
"Till The World Ends" by Britney Spears
 "Tonight I'm Lovin' You" by Enrique Iglesias
"On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez
"Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO
"Moves like Jagger" by Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera
"Superbass" by Nicki Minaj
"S&M" and "We Found Love" by Rihanna
"Someone Like You" by Rihanna

Now for The Best Singles of 2011:
"Fuck You" by Cee Lo Green
"Changing" by The Airborne Toxic Event
"The Dog Days are Over" by Florence + The Machine
"6 foot, 7 foot" by Lil Wayne
"The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco
"Make Some Noise" by The Beastie Boys
"Pumped up Kicks" by Foster the People
"Paradise" by Coldplay
"Walk" by The Foo Fighters
"Yonkers" by Tyler the Creator
"Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys

Album of the Year: 21 by Adele

Adele gets the Number 1 Album of the year but there were certainly some other bright spots. The Red Hot Chili Peppers launched a very complete set of songs with I'm With You and the Beastie Boys set new white rapping heights and some incredible beats with Hot Sauce Committee, Part Two. Adding to an assault on the rap world was Kanye and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne collaboration, which would seem to defy almost every common way to release and promote an album, a truly charitable and humble gesture if not for the incessant lyrics about how awesome and rich they are. Lastly we have GaGa's Born this Way, which I believe is an album that will last longer than it appears, although upon first listen it doesn't appear to be anything worthy of its own hype. The songs are very wide-ranging in blending genres while also catered more and more to a very specific audience. Time will tell. Finally, to finish off the year Coldplay gave us Mylo Xyloto, possibly their last album and more than likely their greatest.

Artist of the Year: Adele

With the Top Track and Album of the year, Adele owns 2011. Katy Perry put up an extremely strong fight but essentially Adele was able to nab the title because her songs aren't terrible. There were plenty of other chick competitors from Dev and Nicki Minaj to GaGa who seems to be putting out a greater amount of niche hits rather than strong mainstream work like Katy Perry. There were also strong revivals for Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Jennifer Lopez. Yep, it was pretty wacky. Throw in a few decent hits by Kelly Clarkson and we might as well be traveling ten years backwards in musical pop culture. Towards the end of the year, Beyoncé and Rihanna also surged to push the Pop Queen Title of 2011 into blurry distances, but by that point "Someone Like You" simultaneously secured Adele as the Queen Bee.

Three of the hugest old-but-not-that-old rock groups in the world also all had great years. The Foo Fighters may have enjoyed the most success early on although Coldplay ended the year fantastically, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers delivered one of the most listenable albums of the year along with the mild hit "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie." It's pretty notable that all three of these groups delivered some tunes as good as they've ever done. All of these guys are dwarfed commercially, tho certainly not critically, by Maroon 5 who had a banner year, halfway due to Adam Levine's presence on NBC's only hit that isn't Sunday Night Football, The Voice. Cake also put forth a new album, which has some great tracks but didn't make all that big of a splash.

New as a solo artist but certainly not the industry, Cee Lo Green had a tremendous year that he has mostly turned into a couple TV Gigs. We can also mention Cali Swag District coming through for Hip Hop as well as Flo Rida whose "Good Feeling" got huge at the end of the year, incredibly giving Rida a Winter Jam-worthy track. Lil Wayne and Drake seem to always be present, as are Kanye and Jay-Z who collaborated on one of the better albums of the year, Watch the Throne. Blink and you'd miss Dr. Dre this year.

There were some other artists who had had only small hits before 2011 but really landed on everyone's radar, including Cobra Starship, The Black Keys, Gym Class Heroes, and Cage the Elephant.

New Artist of the Year: Adele

Adele is sweeping everything, clearly. There were tons of these kinds of pop/rock chicks that seemed to rise out of no where like Christina Perry, Skylar Grey, Demi Lovato, and The Band Perry all vying for those Sara Bareilles-type music. Alongside Adele with quality far superior to any of these chicks though is Florence + The Machine, which seem to come straight out of Stevie Nicks' linen closet. We were also treated to Dragonette's fantastic voice on Martin Solveig's "Hello." With Solveig and David Guetta it seems as if we've somehow arrived in the DJ age, which is...terrible.

Concerning Hip-Hop DJ Khaled, Tinie Tempah, and New Boyz all had pretty big years, but I don't see any of these cats lasting all that long. Rather Wiz Khalifa seems to be this year's B.o.B., with enough talent to rap alongside the big boys. Big Sean is in about the same boat, and if these rappers need to do anything it's to try to differientiate themselves. Much less mainstream but Tyler the Creator is probably the best artist to come out of 2011, tho his variety of emotionally intense and verbally abusive metal-hop isn't likely to catch radios on fire.

This was actually also a great year for rock bands. The only success story better than Adele may be Foster the People, whose "Pumped up Kicks" should propel them into rock relevancy. Other quality rock artists include Young the Giant, The Joy Formidable, Hollywood Undead, and The Naked And Famous. There is a certain airiness to some of these cats and it's tough to say if any of them will be relevant in 10 years' time. Superheavy, a new band full of...very old people, is one of the funkier sounds to come out of the year, but I'm not going crazy over anything they've done. My favourite new band of 2011 by far is The Sheepdogs, if only because I also want to grow a thick beard, listen to nothing but Allman Brothers and live in Saskatchewan.

Music Video of the Year: "Make Some Noise" by the Beastie Boys

For any further proof you need, check this out. Some of the other great vids of the year are all very different, but equally awesome. "Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys is a bizarre single-take dance trip, far better than the similar-themed "Lotus Flower" by Radiohead. Tyler the Creator's "Yonkers" is one of those videos that really hits you the first time you see it and is a tremendous exclamation of this dude's arrival on the rap scene. The last really great vid this year is Beyoncé's "Countdown," which is crazy in every sort of good Beyoncé-type way.


We also got Rebecca Black this year. Irreplaceable.

Modal Nodes: The Best Cover Songs

I'm not sure why I've been thinking about this lately. I think it's from hearing The Sundays' version of "Wild Horses" on the radio.It takes a lot to make a great cover song. An artist needs to truly bring something new and different to an established song that ultimately becomes as iconic as the original. It simultaneously needs to make the listener interpret the original a little different and stand on its own potential. There's a few easy ways to do this: 1) Rock band plays rap song, 2) Chick sings guy song or 3) Do Bob Dylan. There's only a handful of these that I'm going to talk about today.

"Free Fallin'" by John Mayer (Cover of Tom Petty)



Somehow I really like this version much more than Tom Petty's original. That's a tough accomplishment, especially because I like no other John Mayer songs. It's also strange because he almost gets into a little Dave Mathews voice and I despise DMB. Nevertheless he works the classic track over as a gentle ballad with a mourning, soothing quality that really dives into lonely nature of the song. It's uplifting though, there's this freeing quality of the way he sings the classic phrases a bit differently, but not terribly.

"Heartless" by The Fray (Cover of Kanye West)



I don't really get sick of alternative artists covering hip-hop (See also Hugo's "99 Problems" and Framing Hanley's "Lollipop") but this is probably the best. The Fray takes a largely AutoTuned song by the GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME but it doesn't lose any of its emotional qualities (it improves on them in some ways) and it really doesn't force white rapping like some other tracks will. It's a truly transformative genre switching that's ultimately worth listening to on its own, which is the ultimate sign of any good cover.

"Smooth Criminal" by Alien Ant Farm (Cover of Michael Jackson)



As a friend of mine once said as he walked into a room where the original was playing, "What shitty version is this?" Alien Ant Farm has never really had another hit, except for that movie song, but they work it here. They're definitely part of that weird suburban middle-class punk movement whose motivations for being angry are always strange to me. It's half-punk, half-pop shit. So why is this better than Michael? I think it's as simple as replacing synth beats with some distortion guitar.

"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" by The Animals (Cover of Bob Dylan)



There are plenty of covers of this track by many artists but The Animals' version is the greatest. It flows and oozes through the rhythm while Eric Burden's voice gives the track more authority than Dylan ever could. Still, the one-man Dylan effort is a classic track. The backing of The Animals gives it a tremendously greater amount of musical depth. And a voice that's tolerable to listen to.

"All Along the Watchtower" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Cover of Bob Dylan)



Naturally this is the greatest cover song of all time as well as the second Dylan on this list. Jimi took Dylan's words and molded them into an epic rock experience with blistering new solos, incredible instrumental depth and a hell of a lot of soul. This should be the template for every cover song to follow. It takes an original great track and improves on it in every way. It's a brilliant piece of music.

Notable Runners-Up:

Some bands such as Guns N' Roses and Limp Bizkit have made careers covering other songs (see "Live and Let Die" and "Faith"). There are also some great contemporary rock covers such as Lenny's "American Woman" or Eddie's "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." I also thought about including The Gourds version of "Gin and Juice" but that's just a little too far out there. Entertaining though. While there are plenty of rock covers of rap tracks there doesn't seem to be that many that go the other way. Rap tracks are much more likely to sample a song (see um...see every rap song ever) but there are some notables such as Lil' Wayne's "Poker Face." Needless to say this list is incomplete - add your own favourites below!

Tops: Kanye West's 12 Best Songs

October has been a nutty month, folks, not a whole lot of time to devote to the regular inane chatter I usually spill out onto the Internet. Needless to say though, on the one-year anniversary of the debut of the insane "Runaway" video, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about THE GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME Kanye West. A while ago I talked about this dude and how he's really not wrong for being so egotistical - his songs rule. Here today then are in fact, the Top 12 Greatest Tracks Yeezy has Touched Ever.

#12: "Homecoming" off Graduation (2007)

Kanye picks some strange collaborators but usually pulls it off. This song works equally for Chris Martin as it does Ye's styles and works as the meeting place for two of the most popular artists of the past decade.

#11: "Street Lights" off 808s & Heartbreak (2008)

I don't knock 808s & Heartbreak because it was a highly experimental album. I knock it because it was a highly awful album. It does have this track, though, which has a delicately rising instrumental, a restrained level of AutoTune (for this album) and a strong emotional core.

#10: "Roses" off Late Registration (2005)

Kanye does a nice job telling stories in a handful of songs and his winding prose through the echoing beats, drops and accompanying singers and hooks is masterful.

#9: "Spaceship" off The College Dropout (2004)

One of Kanye's trademarks is sampling a capella noises, sometimes even words or phrases that he integrates into his beats and raps over. This track exhibits this concept very smoothly and is clearly an early effort rap-wise but has an excellent flowing beat.

#8: "All of the Lights" off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Crusading against epileptics everywhere!

Included here is the Track 4 Interlude along with the Track 5 Album-version, which I think is superior to the radio single. That Fergie verse just adds a needed dose of swag. This is how Yeezy should experiment - layering voices on top of each other, producing really freaky effects. The song is one of both trumpeting triumph and choking failure. Everything about it is epic, but the lyrics are regretfully so.

#7: "Murder to Excellence" off Watch the Throne (2011)

For all its hype there isn't a whole ton of exceptional tracks off Watch the Throne. This is an exception though, probably the album's best song with a guitar-fueled beat, rapid lyrical delivery and the trademark a cappella underlying it all.

#6: "Addiction" off Late Registration (2005)

I think it's the hypnotic and mysterious beat here that catches me. It's also a guilty-pleasure inducing song about temptation, power and the normal rap tropes (weed, cars, guns & ho's). Ye bounces and flows through his rhymes here better than anyone else can.

#5: "Hell of a Life" off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

The beat is intense, the lyrics unrelenting and there's some Black Sabbath sampling for good measure. It's got just the right amount of Tune in it and works well within the climactic dark ending of the album.

#4: "Through the Wire" off The College Dropout (2004)

This is certainly a Yeezy classic by now. At the moment it's simultaneously a song of triumph and accomplishment after a tragic accident that also transcends normal racial and hip-hop tropes. That said, if the accident and subsequent track happened in 2009, there's no way it would turn out as inspirational.

#3: "Last Call" off The College Dropout (2004)

The College Dropout was largely about the world's introduction to this young kid who had been behind the scenes in hip-hop for years and when he exclaims that he's underrated he's actually telling the truth here.

#2: "Late" off Late Registration (2005)

A bonus track off Late Registration, the track is extremely chilled out and also displays some of Ye's best flows, ups and downs and still has a focus on the collegiate, educated persona that he strove to develop before he instead went the route of huge narcissistic asshole.

#1: "I Wonder" off Graduation (2007)

Graduation is probably Kanye's best album and this is one of his better tracks. The beat is ethereal and his emotional vocals contrast with the smooth dreaminess of it all.

This should be a pretty contentious list to make complete I'd love to include the following:

The College Dropout:
"All Falls Down"
"Family Business"

Late Registration:
"Touch the Sky"
"Diamonds from Sierra Leone"

Graduation:
"Drunk and Hot Girls"
"The Good Life"
"Can't Tell Me Nothing"
"Flashing Lights"

808s & Heartbreak:
"Welcome to Hearbreak"
"Bad News"

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy:
"Dark Fantasy"
"Power"
"Monster"
"Lost in the World"

Watch the Throne:
"Niggas in Paris"
"Otis"

Summer Jam 2011: THE FINAL CROWN!

I hate to say it folks, but the Long Summer has finally come to an end. With that we need to award a Victory to a certain song, proclaiming that in Forever Time it will be known as the Champion of the Summer of 2011. That one Singular Summer Smash Hit, the huge Jam that got your feet moving, your lips smiling, maybe even that one track that wouldn't stop playing as you drove home from an ex-lover's mansion crying and sobbing knowing that you will never get that Mansion Money. Thus through tragedy, insanity and the General Fun Times, this one song was with you for it all. Let's start tabulating some shit:

I ended up tracking 29 total songs this Summer. I really wish I had anything better to do, but it's all for you people. Let's start with some tracks who came and went on the Winner's List, usually not lasting more than a week and not climbing higher than the 7th or 6th spot at most. Here are the Bonus Winners, alongside the Week they made it on the list:

#29: "Don't Wanna Go Home" by Jason Derulo - 06/13
#28: "Judas" by Lady GaGa - 05/23
#27: "Where Them Girls At" by David Guetta ft. Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj - 07/04
#26: "Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyoncé - 08/01
#25: "Tonight Tonight" by Hot Chelle Rae - 07/25
#24: "Cheers (Drink To That)" by Rihanna - 09/05
#23: "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People - 08/29
#22: "Stereo Hearts" by Gym Class Heroes ft. Adam Levine - 08/15 & 08/29
#21: "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers - 08/08
#20: "S&M" by Rihanna - 05/16
#19: "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah ft. Eric Turner - 05/16 & 05/23
#18: "Yoü and I" by Lady GaGa - 09/05

Alrighty then. After these mild hits there were a bunch of songs that hung around the middle of the pack for a few more weeks longer but they were definitely still not the biggest hits of the Season. They were all decent songs though and we might be remembering and humming them for a while. In addition to the weeks here, we'll list their Peak Position:

#17: "Down on Me" by Jeremih ft. 50 Cent - 05/16 to 05/30
Peak: #5 on 05/23
#16: "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull - 05/15 & 05/30
Peak: #3 on 05/30
#15: "I Wanna Go" by Britney Spears - 07/18, 08/15 to 08/29
Peak: #4 on 08/29
#14: "The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco - 05/23 to 06/13, 06/27
Peak: #4 on 05/23 & 06/13
#13: "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera - 08/22 to 09/05
Peak: #2 on 09/05
#12: "How To Love" by Lil Wayne - 07/18 to 08/15
Peak: #4 on 07/18
#11: "Just Can't Get Enough" by The Black Eyed Peas - 05/23 to 06/27
Peak: #3 on 06/13
#10: "Till the World Ends" by Britney Spears - 05/16 to 06/06
Peak: #3 on 05/16 to 05/23, 06/06
#9: "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars - 05/16, 05/30 to  06/27, 07/11, 07/25
Peak: #5 on 05/16

So now here we are: The Official Top 8 Winners for the Summer. Let's go through these one by one:


#8: "Lighters" by Bad Meets Evil ft. Bruno Mars

Weeks on Winners List: 5 (08/08 to 09/05)
Peak: #1 on 09/05

After an impressive late-Summer Run "Lighters" cracks the Top 8. It wasn't as big of a hit as either Bruno Mars or Eminem had last year but it's really just getting warmed up. It should have a nice fall and really earned its spot here through the first part of its time on the Pop Charts instead of its whole life like some of the other tracks here.

#7: "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj

Weeks on Winners List: 12 (06/13 to 08/08, 08/22 to 09/05)
Peak: #3 on 07/11, 07/25 to 08/08

Nicki spent forever on the Weekly List but she never exactly dominated it. Around the End of July / Start of August she was doing very well but there was always a Jam that was a little bit more ubiquitous and beat her. Still, this was a great Summer to get this girl's name out there as a legitimate Pop Star and Contender who can trade blows with Britney and Katy. It is actually still doing well but it isn't a dominating smash just yet. Nicki is set up pretty well as a fun Summer Artist that may come back next year.

#6: "E.T." by Katy Perry ft. Kanye West

Weeks on Winners List: 8 (05/16 to 06/20, 07/04 to 07/11)
Peak: #1 on 05/23 to 05/30

This song really was a holdover from the Spring that still was very popular a ways into Summer. If the timing had been a bit better Katy may have had another Summer Crown but instead her singles tended to split the Summer rather than own it like "California Gurls" did last year. Still, this thing didn't die easy. After battling Adele for a while, then falling out of the race it surged back in mid-July for a few weeks. It is still a cool song although it's made my irritatingly overplayed list, which is regretful.

#5: "The Edge of Glory" by Lady GaGa

Weeks on Winners List: 11 (06/06. 06/20 to 08/22)
Peak: #3 on 08/15

This was a lot like "Super Bass," it was never massively popular but certainly one of the most consistent tracks on the countdown whose lifetime was right in the Heart of Summer. A Crown yet eludes GaGa, who has really almost become the Susan Lucci of Summer Jams at this point after both "Disco Stick" and "Alejandro" have come close but unable to seal to the deal in recent years. I think "Yoü and I" is set up to be really big, which "The Edge of Glory" may have helped, but a Summer Title isn't hers right now. That said, its a fun song although in the long run I'm thinking that considering her discography it won't be as remembered as well as either her more controversial tracks or her much more popular tracks will be. When Ancient GaGa plays the Grammys in twenty years she'll be doing "Poker Face" or "Bad Romance," not "The Edge of Glory."

#4: "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" by Katy Perry

Weeks on Winners List: 10 (07/04 to 09/05)
Peak: #1 on 08/01, 08/15 to 08/29

Almost as soon as "E.T." faded Katy clearly tried even harder for another Summer Jam Crown with her Ode to Fridays. After a very inconsistent July though, she dominated August, fighting with "Party Rock Anthem" for the #1 spot all month just as she had done with Adele earlier in the Season. This song was a lot more radio and Pop friendly than "E.T." I've never seen someone trying for more blatant mass appeal. It worked, she spent her time at #1 again, although she seems to be falling very fast now. In fact it's possible that next week she falls out of the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 for the first time in over a year. It's really just because the song is terrible.

#3: "Give Me Everything" by Pitbull ft. Nayer, AfroJack & Ne-Yo

Weeks on Winners List: 11 (06/20 to 08/22, 09/05)
Peak: #1 on 06/27 to 07/04

Pitbull debuted at #2 and didn't fall worse than that position for its first Six Weeks. It still had a tough time dying, very consistent in Prime Summer Months, including winning the Independence Day Weekend. Still, this track was terrible as well, although it's certainly a good Summer Jam. It's very light, fluffy and danceable, even if it puts a bad taste in your mouth to Jam to someone as douchey as Pitbull. Man he's terrible. As a consistent High Ranking track though, it earns its spot here.

#2: "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele

Weeks on Winners List: 11 (05/16 to 07/18, 08/01)
Peak: #1 on 05/16, 06/06 to 06/20

I'm not sure I will ever be able to listen to this song again, despite how great it is. It was just overplayed far too much this Summer, it was ridiculous. That was after it was overplayed all Spring. Adele has landed though, as a very humble, talented Pop Starlet and her new track may be even better. She has a charm and integrity that is really lacking in just about everyone else here. It's very difficult to hate Adele. Still it nabbed Four Weeks at #1, which was matched only by two other songs all Summer.

#1: "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock

Weeks on Winners List: 14 (06/06 to 09/05)
Peak: #1 on 07/11 to 07/25, 08/08

This track had a nasty Summer. Fourteen Consecutive weeks on the Winners List, half of which were #2 or better. 189 Million Youtube views. And of course, a brand new Kia Soul Commercial. It's also very Summer Jam Worthy, moreso than "Rolling in the Deep" was. In mid-June this was just a very smooth, funky track that may have had a shot to break out. Since then it hasn't looked back and has started to cave only recently although it's never fallen that dramatically. It may have also made that new Shuffle Dance that those Hamsters do for some reason. It's so wholly infused into the Zeitgeist, the bend towards the Techno Rhythm, the growing DJ presence, the Hipster Sensibility, it's truly a Song for the Moment. I personally don't think LMFAO will ever have another hit or be a band worth listening to, but they can enjoy this one. I don't really think that we'll fondly look back on the Anthem to Party Rocking, either. Despite its success it's not actually a very innovative song at all, which has to do with the fact that it's so entrenched in the Pop Culture right now I think it's easy to lose it.

So that's it, people. Go back to your lives, the Kings of Summer, LMFAO have been chosen. For anyone interested in a week-by-week breakdown you need only to click this Link for the Google Document I used all Summer. Looking back on some of my predictions, there was some correctness there, but ultimately LMFAO blindsided all of us. Good for them. So what's in store for us next year? Who knows.