Sun Ra and His Astro Infinity Arkestra “Somebody Else’s World”

“Somebody Else’s World” is a message of hope and defiance written and recorded in 1969, a time as chaotic and scary as the one we’re living in right now. The lyrics, penned by Sun Ra and sung by June Tyson, are a refusal to believe in either a pessimistic outlook on the future or a vision of reality created by oppressive forces.

“Somebody else’s idea of somebody else’s world is not my idea of things as they are / somebody else’s idea of things to come need not be the only way to vision the future”

This song has been on my mind for over a year now, since after the election. The message of the song is incredibly resonant for me, and I believe this idea is important to hold on to when so many people on either side of the political divide seem incredibly invested in a bleak narrative that assumes the worst of the future. And of course, it’s easier to believe that the future’s been canceled, and we’re all powerless. It’s easier to buy into a story of doom when you have no imagination to see the potential for something else. It takes courage to tell other people that their vision of the future is not a fait accompli, and that we have better things in mind.

The music of “Somebody Else’s World” feels shaky and unstable, as though it could collapse at any moment. But despite that, June Tyson sings the words with great focus and conviction. She doesn’t sound angry. It’s more like someone standing their ground and stating a truth. It’s a correction, and a challenge. It’s a song of strength and dignity, and something I think we all need today.

Buy it from Amazon.

I’ve been making year-end survey mixes since the beginning of this decade, and this is the first intended to be a document of what happened in music in the year as opposed to being about my subjective experience. This came out of two things – most obviously, the fact that I’ve spent the past year trying to do the 90s surveys as a sort of historical document, and the realization that the only way to make sense of music in 2017 is to zoom waaaay out.

Music culture has been atomizing for years, but that is rather extreme now. Algorithms and varying platforms have created a strange new world in which there are many large cultural bubbles that barely interact. Things can be massively popular and yet unknown to most people. Entire ecosystems of new artists are all but restricted to specific platforms – Soundcloud, Bandcamp, YouTube. What remains of music media is increasingly squeezed into focusing on news items and covering well-known artists who drive some pittance of traffic, and year-end coverage is mostly a way of asserting brand identity. So this mix, which clocks in at over 27 hours of music, is an attempt to represent what has been going on across all major genres and provide some sort of map for anyone who understandably feels overwhelmed and lost. I don’t think this approach has ever been more necessary, and I hope you find a lot of new things to enjoy that you might not have come across otherwise.

The survey is available as a set of downloads below, and as playlists on Apple Music and Spotify. Both playlists are missing a handful of songs not available in streaming.

DOWNLOAD PART 1

Casey Dienel “High Times” / Poppy “My Style” / Selena Gomez “Bad Liar” / FKJ “Joy” / Fever Ray “To the Moon and Back” / Lil Uzi Vert “XO Tour Llif3” / Kendrick Lamar “Love” / Drake “Passionfruit” / Future feat. Kendrick Lamar “Mask Off (Remix)” / 2 Chainz feat. Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz & Jhené Aiko “It’s A Vibe” / Gorillaz feat. De La Soul “Momentz” / Red Velvet “빨간 맛 (Red Flavor)” / St. Vincent “Masseduction” / The New Pornographers “Darling Shade” / Rainer Maria “Lower Worlds” / Wolf Alice “Yuk Foo” / Spoon “Do I Have To Talk You Into It?” / Lorde “Green Light” / Seventeen “Change Up” / Jessie Ware “Midnight” / King Krule “Czech One” / Taylor Swift “New Year’s Day” / Stella Donnelly “Mean to Me” / Hercules and Love Affair feat. Sharon Van Etten “Omnion” / Jay-Z “The Story of OJ” / Yo Gotti feat. Nicki Minaj “Rake It Up” / SZA “Drew Barrymore” / Kelela “Waitin'” / Kodak Black “Tunnel Vision” / Lana Del Rey “Love” / Harry Styles “Sign of the Times” / Father John Misty “Pure Comedy” / Matthew Dear “Modafinil Blues” / Jay Som “1 Billion Dogs” / No Joy “Hellhole” / The Heliocentrics “The Silverback” / 21 Savage “Bank Account” / Cardi B “Bodak Yellow” / Rae Sremmurd “Perplexing Pegasus” / Shawn Wasabi feat. Hollis “Otter Pop” / Salami Rose Joe Louis “Cyanotype of Blue” / Karriem Riggins “Bahia Dreamin'” / Matt Martians “Alotta Women/Useless” / Everything Is Recorded feat. Sampha “Close But Not Quite” / Frank Ocean “Chanel” / Maggie Rogers “On + Off” / Mount Kimbie feat. King Krule “Blue Train Lines”

DOWNLOAD PART 2

Japandroids “Arc of Bar” / Goldfrapp “Systemagic” / LCD Soundsystem “Tonite” / Actress “X22RME” / Run the Jewels “Call Ticketron” / Zack Villere “Cool” / Tyler, the Creator “Foreword” / Vince Staples feat. Kendrick Lamar “Yeah Right” / Destroyer “In the Morning” / Sudan Archives “Come Meh Way” / Charli XCX “Boys” / DJ Khaled feat. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, and Lil Wayne “I’m the One” / Tay-K “The Race” / Playboi Carti “Magnolia” / Demi Lovato “Daddy Issues” / Calvin Harris feat. Frank Ocean and Migos “Slide” / Nosaj Thing “U G” / Fleet Foxes “Mearcstapa” / Real Estate “After the Moon” / Faye Webster “She Won’t Go Away” / Anna Wise “Coconuts” / Cassandra Jenkins “Candy Crane” / Soccer Mommy “Benadryl Dreams” / Omni “Equestrian” / Magic Potion “Rest Yr Skull” / Miss World “Click and Yr Mine” / Quelle Chris “Buddies” / Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire feat. Meyhem Lauren “Bebop and Rocksteady” / A$AP Mob feat. Joey Bada$$, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Meechy Darko & Zombie Juice “What Happens” / Blackpink “As If It’s Your Last” / EXO “Ko Ko Bop” / Werewolf Diskdrive “Hamburgers & Hot Dogs” / Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin Bieber “Despacito” / Little Big Town “Better Man” / The Weather Station “Thirty” / Jason Isbell “If We Were Vampires” / Portugal. The Man “Feel It Still” / Beck “I’m So Free” / Migos feat. Nicki Minaj and Cardi B “Motor Sport” / Creek Boyz “With My Team” / Keshi “Goes to Waste” / Uffe “Love Is Everywhere” / Vijay Iyer Sextet “Nope” / Sophie “It’s Okay to Cry” / Julien Baker “Turn Out the Lights” / Ratboys “Cry About the Planets” / Hamilton Leithauser & Angel Olsen “Heartstruck (Wild Hunger)”

DOWNLOAD PART 3

Four Tet “Planet” / Lady Gaga “The Cure” / Twice “Likey” / Paramore “Hard Times” / Cosmo Pyke “Chronic Sunshine” / Charlie Puth “Attention” / Ed Sheeran “Shape of You” / Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug “Havana” / J. Balvin feat. Willy William “Mi Gente” / Jlin “Enigma” / Yaeji “Raingurl” / Nolanberollin feat. Warhol.Ss “Crystal” / SahBabii “Only Knew 1 Way” / Lil Peep “Better Off (Dying)” / Logic feat. Alessia Cara and Khalid “1-800-273-8255” / Godspeed You Black Emperor “Bosses Hang, Pt. II” / Code Orange “Bleeding in the Blur” / Thomas Rhett feat. Maren Morris “Craving You” / Lanco “Greatest Love Story” / The Clientele “The Neighbor” / Boy Pablo “Everytime” / Mac DeMarco “On the Level” / Future Islands “Ran” / Amber Mark “Lose My Cool” / JMSN “Drinkin'” / Chicano Batman “Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm)” / Jonathan Bree feat. Clara Viñals “Say You Love Me Too” / Ibeyi feat. Kamasi Washington “Deathless” / Brockhampton “Junky” / Kehlani “Undercover” / Chief Keef “Ticket” / Cupcakke “Cartoons” / Fifth Harmony “He Like That” / Pink feat. Eminem “Revenge” / GOT7 “Never Ever” / Smokepurpp “To the Moon” / Sampha “Timmy’s Prayer” / Syd “Shake Em Off” / Cigarettes After Sex “Apocalypse” / The xx “Say Something Loving” / The Steoples “From the Other Side” / Nick Hakim “Bet She Looks Like You” / Patience “White Of An Eye” / Phoenix “J-Boy” / Why Don’t We “These Girls” / BTS “Not Today” / Post Malone feat. 21 Savage “Rockstar” / Sleigh Bells “And Saints” / IU feat. G-Dragon “팔레트 Palette”

DOWNLOAD PART 4

DJDS feat. Amber Mark and Marco McKinnis “Trees On Fire” / Car Seat Headrest “War Is Coming (If You Want It)” / Living “Glory” / The Shins “Name for You” / Delicate Steve “Nightlife” / Vixx “Shangri-La” / XXXTENTACION feat. Trippie Redd “Fuck Love” / Halsey “Bad At Love” / Khalid feat. Rae Sremmurd and Lil Yachty “Young Dumb & Broke (Remix)” / J.I.D feat. Mereba “All Bad” / Lil Yachty feat. Evander Griim “X Men” / Big Sean & Metro Boomin feat. 21 Savage “Pull Up N Wreck” / Julia Michaels “Issues” / Alvvays “Dreams Tonite” / Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble “Love Captive” / The National “Turtleneck” / Marika Hackman “Boyfriend” / Kesha “Let ‘Em Talk” / Niall Horan “Slow Hands” / Keith Urban “Blue Ain’t Your Color” / Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso feat. Florida Georgia Line and Watt “Let Me Go” / Kygo feat. Selena Gomez “It Ain’t Me” / Odesza feat. Wynne and Mansionair “Line of Sight” / Oxbow “Cold and Well-Lit Place” / The Mynabirds “Golden Age” / Roger Waters “Deja-Vu” / Sam Smith “Too Good at Goodbyes” / Lake Ruth “Empty Morning” / Steve Lacy “Dark Red” / Moses Sumney “Doomed” / GoldLink feat. Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy “Crew” / Octo Octa “No More Pain (Promises To A Younger Self)” / Band Practice “I Want You” / Sales “Talk A Lot” / The Orielles “I Only Bought It For the Bottle” / This Is the Kit “Moonshine Freeze” / Zedd feat. Alessia Cara “Stay” / Wiki “Pretty Bull” / Bbymutha “Rules” / Wanna One “에너제틱 (Energetic)” / Thundercat feat. Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins “Show You the Way” / Kamasi Washington “Integrity” / TOKiMONSTA feat. Selah Sue “I Wish I Could” / Yves Tumor “Limerence” / Circle “Sick Child” / Royal Thunder “April Showers” / Converge “I Can Tell You About Pain” / Boat Show “Cis White Boy” / Liars “Cred Woes” / Nine Inch Nails “The Background World”

DOWNLOAD PART 5

Ted Leo “Moon Out of Phase” / Melkbelly “Kid Kreative” / Oh Sees “Jettison” / Nilüfer Yanya “Baby Luv” / Big Thief “Haley” / William Patrick Corgan “Processional” / Laura Marling “Nothing Not Nearly” / Bedouine “One of These Days” / Julie Byrne “Natural Blue” / Knife in the Water “Sex Change” / Margo Price “Paper Cowboy” / Chris Young feat. Vince Gill “Sober Saturday Night” / Dustin Lynch “Small Town Boy” / Haim “Little of Your Love” / Annie Hart “Hard to Be Still” / Hanni El Khatib “Gonna Die Alone” / Francis and the Lights feat. Chance the Rapper “May I Have This Dance (Remix)” / Monsta X “Dramarama” / Kamaiyah “Build You Up” / Gus Dapperton “I’m Just Snacking” / Childish Gambino “Redbone” / Bruno Mars “That’s What I Like” Sam Hunt “Body Like A Back Road” / Buddy & Kaytranada “Find Me” / Smino feat. T-Pain “Anita” / Young Thug & Carnage “Liger” / The Black Madonna “He Is the Voice I Hear” / Rhye “Please” / Monster Rally & Rumtum “Raindrops” / Chloe feat. Ben Shemie “Recall” / The Chainsmokers feat. Coldplay “Something Just Like This” / Marshmello feat. Khalid “Silence” / Becky G feat. Bad Bunny “Mayores” / Rico Nasty “Block List” / Girls Generation “All Night” / Carly Rae Jepsen “Cut to the Feeling” / Lil Pump “Gucci Gang” / A$AP Ferg “Plain Jane” / Cornelius “If You’re Here” / Fog Lake “Medicine Road” / Chavez “Blank in the Blaze” / Priests “JJ” / Chastity Belt “Caught In A Lie” / Filthy Friends “Invitation” / Perfume Genius “Just Like Love” / The Magnetic Fields “’66: Wonder Where I’m From” / Thanks for Coming “Zoning Out” / Sam Gendel “Less But Better” / Arca “Desafio” / Jorja Smith & Preditah “On My Mind” / Molly Brazy “Trust None” / A Boogie wit da Hoodie feat. Kodak Black “Drowning”

DOWNLOAD PART 6

Game Theory “An Overview of Item Response Theory” / Rostam “Bike Dream” / Yumi Zouma “December” / Men I Trust “Tailwhip” / Dua Lipa “New Rules” / CNCO “Reggaeton Lento (Bailemos)” / NCT 127 “無限的我 (무한적아; Limitless)” / Bad Bunny “Soy Peor” / Amber Coffman “No Coffee” / Curtis Harding “On & On” / Belle & Sebastian “Sweet Dew Lee” / Grizzly Bear “Neighbors” / Joey Bada$$ “Land of the Free” / Eminem feat. Beyoncé “Walk On Water” / Bobo Swae feat. Rae Sremmurd “Rowdy” / French Montana feat. Swae Lee “Unforgettable” / Fall Out Boy “Young and Menace” / Weezer “Happy Hour” / Honey Dijon feat. Shaun J. Wright and Alinka “808 State of Mind” / Lapalux “Data Demon” / Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah feat. Sarah Elizabeth Charles “Phases” / Zayn feat. Sia “Dusk Till Dawn” / Liam Gallagher “Wall of Glass” / Noel Gallagher “She Taught Me How to Fly” / U2 “American Soul” / Imagine Dragons “Thunder” / Bryson Tiller “Run Me Dry” / Winner “Really Really” / Sylvan Esso “Die Young” / Suzi Wu “Teenage Witch” / Downtown Boys “A Wall” / Brand New “Can’t Get It Out” / Mastodon “Show Yourself” / Electric Six “Sex with Somebody” / Alexander F “Soft Coffins” / Spiral Stairs “Emoshuns” / The Academic “Bear Claw” / Jitwam “Alone” / Maliibu Miitch “4AM” / Tricky feat. Martina Topley-Bird “When We Die” / Gucci Mane feat. Migos “I Get the Bag” / Lil Wop feat. Gucci Mane “Paid In Full” / Vic Mensa feat. Pusha-T “OMG” / Oneohtrix Point Never feat. Iggy Pop “The Pure and the Damned” / Mount Eerie “Real Death” / Babaganouj “Hoping That It’s You” / PWR BTTM “Now Now” / Morrissey “I Wish You Lonely” / Slowdive “Sugar for the Pill”

DOWNLOAD PART 7

Björk “Arisen My Senses” / Youngboy Never Broke Again “No Smoke” / Warhol.SS “Same Shit” / Asian Doll “Real Bitch Anthem” / J Hus “Did You See” / Freddie Gibbs “Crushed Glass” / Young Nudy feat. Lil Yachty “No Clue” / Jaden Smith feat. A$AP Rocky “Breakfast” / Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be” / Brett Young “In Case You Didn’t Know” / Blake Shelton “I’ll Name the Dogs” / Hiss Golden Messenger “Domino (Time Will Tell)” / Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile “Let It Go” / Jon Pardi “Dirt on My Boots” / Kane Brown “What Ifs” / The War On Drugs “Holding On” / Squeeze “Rough Ride” / Sabrina Claudio “Runnin’ Through Lovers” / Liam Payne feat. Quavo “Strip That Down” / DeJ Loaf “Changes” / G Herbo “Red Snow” / Ayo & Two “Rolex” / Bhad Bhabie “Hi Bich” / Big Shaq “Man’s Not Hot” / Bonnie McKee “Thorns” / A.G. Cook “Money On A Gold Plate” / Escape-Ism “Lonely At the Top” / Guided by Voices “The Birthday Democrats” / Stephen Malkmus “Midnight Cruisers” / Girlpool “It Gets More Blue” / Fazerdaze “Lucky Girl” / Arcade Fire “Everything Now” / Ariel Pink “Another Weekend” / Feist “I Wish I Didn’t Miss You” / Joan of Arc “This Must Be the Placenta” / Showtime Goma “Chug” / 21 Savage, Offset, and Metro Boomin “Still Serving” / Swet Shop Boys “Birding” / Raekwon “Nothing” / Remy Ma “Shether” / Mike “Pigeonfeet” / Hurray for the Riff Raff “Pa’lante” / Miley Cyrus “Thinkin'” / Luke Combs “When It Rains It Pours” / Shania Twain “Life’s About to Get Good” / Luxury Death “Diluted” / Queens of the Stone Age “The Evil Has Landed” / Pallbearer “Thorns”

DOWNLOAD PART 8

Aimee Mann “Goose Snow Cone” / The Mountain Goats “Andrew Eldritch Is Moving Back to Leeds” / A Giant Dog “Fake Plastic Trees” / Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings “Matter of Time” / Washed Out “Hard to Say Goodbye” / Clean Bandit feat. Sean Paul and Anne-Marie “Rockabye” / Tove Lo “Disco Tits” / Municipality “Miles Away” / Annie Hardy “Want” / Visible Cloaks “Wheel” / Kelly Lee Owens feat. Jenny Hval “Anxi” / Laurel Halo “Sun to Solar” / Forest Swords “Arms Out” / Eric Church “Round Here Buzz” / Theory of a Deadman “Rx” / Broken Social Scene “Hug of Thunder” / Alice Merton “No Roots” / Shawn Mendes “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” / (Sandy) Alex G “Proud” / Wolf Parade “You’re Dreaming” / Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith “An Intention” / Brian Eno with Kevin Shields “Only Once Away My Son” / Daphni “Carry On” / Baba Stiltz “Can’t Help It” / DRAM feat. Trippie Redd “Ill Nana” / Dirty Projectors “Up In Hudson” / Kimbra “Top of the World” / Open Mike Eagle (How Could Anybody) Feel At Home” / Liyv “Weeknight” / Lil B feat. Ilovemakonnen “Global” / Maroon 5 feat. Future “Cold” / Kyle feat. Lil Yachty “I Spy” / Florida Georgia Line feat. Backstreet Boys “God, Your Mama, and Me” / Foo Fighters “The Line” / Elder “Sanctuary” / Marilyn Manson “Kill4Me” / Stormzy “Big For Your Boots” / Ryuichi Sakamoto “Zure” / Your Old Droog “You Can Do It! (Give Up)” / Taylor Bennett feat. Chance the Rapper and Jeremih “Grown Up Fairy Tales” / Vagabon “The Embers” / El Ten Eleven feat. Emile Mosseri “I’m Right Here”

DOWNLOAD PART 9

Holiday Ghosts “Walk for Hours” / Sorority Noise “A Portrait Of” / Cloud Nothings “Modern Act” / Japanese Breakfast “Body Is A Blade” / Jessica Lea Mayfield “Sorry Is Gone” / Phoebe Bridgers “Motion Sickness” / Jen Cloher “Regional Echo” / Jason Aldean “Any Ol’ Barstool” / James Arthur “Say You Won’t Let Go” / Bob Dylan “Once Upon A Time” / Charlotte Gainsbourg “Rest” / Fascinations Grand Chorus “When You’re Mine” / Superorganism “It’s All Good” / Charly Bliss “Percolator” / AWOLNATION “Passion” / CCFX “The One to Wait” / 30 Seconds to Mars “Walk On Water” / Waxahatchee “Never Been Wrong” / Grouplove “Good Morning” / Justin Bieber & BLoodPop “Friends” / Katy Perry feat. Nicki Minaj “Swish Swish” / Little Mix “Touch” / Kelly Clarkson “Love So Soft” / Luke Bryan “Light It Up” / Dave East feat. Wiz Khalifa “Phone Jumpin'” / Shabazz Palaces feat. Thaddilac “Shine A Light” / G-Eazy feat. A$AP Rocky and Cardi B “No Limit” / Joseph Shabason “Aytche” / Lee Ranaldo “Moroccan Mountains” / Grouper “Children” / Little Simz feat. Bibi Bourelly “Customz” / Meek Mill feat. Young Thug “We Ball” / Kodie Shane feat. Lil Uzi Vert and Lil Yachty “Hold Up (Dough Up)” / Princess Nokia “G.O.A.T.” / Miguel “Pineapple Skies” / Mhysa “BB” / Mura Masa feat. Desiigner “All Around the World” / Ozuna “Se Preparo” / Rick Ross “Santorini Greece” / Mavis Staples “If All I Was Was Black” / Art Feynman “Monday Give Me Monday” / Nai Palm “Crossfire/So Into You” / Sheer Mag “Pure Desire” / Snail Mail “Thinning” / Pinegrove “Intrepid” / Roscoe Mitchell “Cascade” / Saba “There You Go” / Trippie Redd “Love Scars” / Allday feat. Japanese Wallpaper “In Motion” / Vance Joy “Lay It On Me” / Louis Tomlinson “Miss You” / SquidNice “Trap By My Lonely” / Young Dolph “100 Shots” / Zola Jesus “Siphon” / Obituary “It Lives” / Linkin Park “One More Light”

Belle & Sebastian “Sweet Dew Lee”

It’s kinda remarkable how well Belle & Sebastian have integrated late ’70s disco moves into their repertoire through perseverance and dedication over the past 20 years. It’s there from the beginning of their career on “Electronic Renaissance,” but they cracked the code on “Your Cover’s Blown” back in the early ’00s. “Sweet Dew Lee” is like a sequel of sorts to that song – it’s drawing on the same analog synth aesthetics and has a similarly rambling and unusual structure. But whereas “Your Cover’s Blown” shifted between moody disco and agitated punk sections, “Sweet Dew Lee” stays in a sunny, groovy “everybody-wearing-liesure-suits-and-really-committing-to-the-vibe” lane. I prefer the tension of the earlier song, but greatly appreciate the generous cheesiness of this new tune, and the way the song contrasts a sweet, starry-eyed Stevie Jackson with a more bitter and pessimistic vocal by Stuart Murdoch.

Buy it from Amazon.

Everything Is Recorded featuring Sampha “Close But Not Quite”

Richard Russell has explained that the origin of this song came from hearing Sampha’s record and hearing some of Curtis Mayfield in his voice, and I suppose, wanting to put both men on the same track as a sort of posthumous duet. The contrast is subtle – they have similar timbres and both sing with a great deal of vulnerability – but Sampha’s voice has a fragility and touch of insecurity that accentuates Mayfield’s serene confidence. The shift into the sample of Mayfield’s “The Makings of You” is a beautiful moment in the track, with the delicate uncertainty of Russell’s arrangement and Sampha’s vocal giving way to a kind of gentle strength and emotional focus. Mayfield is the one singing about not having the words to express some powerful feeling, but on this track, nearly 50 years after he recorded “The Makings of You,” someone else has found their words through him.

Buy it from Amazon.

Bob Dylan “Soon After Midnight”

I saw Bob Dylan live for the first time on the night before Thanksgiving. It was just one of those things where I knew I had to see him at least once, and the opportunity came up. I’m glad I did, it was as good as a show can be while also not quite being the thing I’d ideally want it to be. I did my research and knew exactly what I was getting into, so I couldn’t be disappointed that he no longer plays guitar, his voice is shot, and while he’ll play “Tangled Up In Blue,” it won’t really sound like “Tangled Up In Blue.” I don’t mean to damn with faint praise here: It’s a show that finds its own unique path to being good and fulfilling that doesn’t have a lot to do with familiarity.

I got to know the newer songs in Dylan’s set in advance of the show, and in doing that, fell in love with “Soon After Midnight” from his 2012 record Tempest. It’s a gentle ballad with touches of doo-wop and country music, and sounds like a scene lit with Hollywood moonlight. It starts off rather romantic – “I’m searching for phrases to sing your praises / I need to tell someone” – but as the song moves along, his words become increasingly sinister. I didn’t notice this at first. It’s so easy to get caught up in the enchanting effect of this song that even a phrase like “they’re lying there dying in their blood” seems lovely in context. The irony is intentional, of course: Dylan’s selling the earnest sentimentality and soft side of a brutal man. So even if it’s preceded by a cruel and dismissive line, the concluding phrase “it’s soon after midnight and I don’t want nobody but you” still comes off as a moment of genuine tenderness.

Buy it from Amazon.

Ratboys “Crying About the Planets” (AudioTree Session)

I’d meant to write about a song from the new Ratboys record months ago – the album came out in late June – but it fell off my radar for a while. But it makes sense to come back around to “Crying About the Planets” now, since it’s such a winter song. The first four minutes of the song are slow and quiet, evoking the near stillness of a landscape just after snowfall. There’s a cautiousness to its swaying rhythm, and the guitar tone is slight and brittle. Julia Steiner’s lyrics sketch out a story of a man falling beneath the ice of a frozen lake, and admit to that inspiring a suicidal fantasy. The key bit, though, is that she immediately clarifies that she does not actually want to die. But even with her insisting that she “can’t quit this,” the tone of the song is incredibly bleak. She sounds trapped and alone, and though the heavy climax of the song is a bit cathartic, it hardly sounds like a resolution to the feeling.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

U2 “American Soul”

The biggest problem with U2 records in the previous decade is that Bono seemed only partly engaged in half the material, a result of the band becoming a secondary concern to him while he was more invested in his philanthropic and political work. This was particularly evident on No Line on the Horizon, their worst album, and the band has admitted that the process of that record amounted to The Edge and the rhythm section building up tracks that Bono would add vocals and lyrics to when he had the opportunity to swing by the studio. They are competent enough to pull it together in the end, but the lack of total commitment is glaringly apparent in the music of a band whose best material connects because they’re so intensely passionate and earnest.

Songs of Experience is interesting to me in that it has flipped this dynamic. Bono sounds incredibly fired up on this record, and has a lot on his mind. They’ve been saying he’s had a recent “brush with mortality,” and that shows in his lyrics here – half the songs are written as though he’s trying to make sure certain sentiments get on record before it’s too late, and other half is essentially him begging people around the world not to give in to right wing extremism and fear-mongering. His messaging can get a bit wobbly, but the urgency and sincerity is both welcome and compelling.

The Edge, on the other hand, seems a bit lost. He’s become very fixated on making sure U2’s new material is “part of a current conversation that’s going in music culture,” which is essentially code for “we want to still get played on rock radio alongside Imagine Dragons and Portugal the Man and whatever other random major label rock band has squeezed into way into playlists.” And look, I get it! I totally understand where they’re coming from with this on a few levels. But the result of this anxiety is that The Edge has backed away from so much of what makes him a brilliant and unique musician that a lot of the songs on this new record only really sound like U2 because Bono is singing. And for what? Contrary to what he’s thinking, no amount of blunt power chord riffing is going to make anyone mistake U2 for a fresh young act. The musical comb-over is not going to work. Reducing the weird bits and pushing towards blandness is not going to score them a big hit single in 2017. U2, by virtue of the magnitude of their fame and popularity, will always command a certain amount of attention when they release a new record, and get some airplay out of respect and obligation. So why not embrace this, and try to stand out rather than blend in? If you want to be part of the conversation, then lead it for a change. Where is the dignity in showing up just to say “me too” when you’re a legit living legend?

“American Soul” is the most exciting song on Experience. The verses will be familiar to anyone who has heard Kendrick Lamar’s “XXX” – it’s the same refrain thing Bono sings in that song, but now it’s paired with an Edge riff that has a hyper-compressed tone similar to what he was doing on “Discotheque” two decades ago. On a lyrical level, “American Soul” is the culmination of about 30 years of Bono’s thinking about the idea of the United States, the roots of rock music, and the hard work of social progress. If you know Bono, you are very familiar with these themes – he’s in love with the concept of America and is heavily invested in the notion of the “melting pot,” and acknowledges rock and soul as American inventions. The core of this song is a reaction to Trumpism, and a rejection of that vision of America. But the admirable thing here, and on other tracks on the record, is that Bono isn’t dwelling on the past. He’s got his eye on the future, and thinking about how to move on from a dark time to something better. “There’s a promise in the heart of every good dream,” he sings. “It’s a call to action, not a fantasy.” As Bono calls for community, unity, and compassion, it’s as inspiring as he’s been in ages. You just have to forgive the goofy “Refu-Jesus” line at the end, that’s all.

Buy it from Amazon.

Art Feynman “Monday Give Me Monday”

The first half of “Monday Give Me Monday” is very good, with its appealingly jerky groove and a vocal melody performed in a tone so high and airy I can barely make out the words, but it’s all just preamble. The major feature of this track is the guitar solo which takes up about two minutes on the back half of it. Feynman’s tone is somewhere between the thin, pinched notes I associate with a lot of Afrobeat stuff from the ’70s, and the more sleek and sci-fi feeling of Robert Fripp. I love the way the solo pops off the busy rhythm, and how emotive it gets – definitely much more so than the vocal, which comes off as rather neutral.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Jitwam “Alone”

“Alone” falls into a zone halfway between totally alien and instantly recognizable, with familiar tones, grooves, and melodic bits pulled from rock and funk music from around the world adding up to a sort of musical deja vu. Jitwam’s production style has a worn, somewhat lo-fi quality that gives the track a vaguely weathered patina. I would bet that this was recorded in layered overdubs on a computer, but the sound expresses a sense of space and place, like you’ve entered a room cluttered with objects and textures going back decades. And when you’re inside, there’s just a guy muttering “I just want to be alone.”

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Noel Gallagher “She Taught Me How To Fly”

Noel Gallagher’s new album is a pleasant surprise. Whereas his first two solo records seemed as though he was deliberately aiming for bland professionalism because that’s just what most people do when they go solo, Who Built the Moon? has him trying on some new styles and making music that may not have worked in Oasis. “She Taught Me How to Fly” strays quite a bit from the Oasis template with its very New Order-ish guitar part, sparkly keyboards, and Gallagher singing in his softest, most feminine tone on the verses. But still, this is very much the guy who wrote Definitely Maybe – the joyful rush of the song isn’t far off from “Rock N’ Roll Star,” and the baggy and shoegaze influences that were apparent on that record in subtle ways have been shoved into the foreground.

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The Weather Station “Thirty”

“Thirty” is written is the past tense, with Tarama Linderman reflecting on the state of her life at that age, but the urgency of the music and the vivid details of her lyrics make it feel as though she’s singing from those moments. This is particularly true in the lines in which she’s noticing her reaction to small but pivotal moments of physical affection – surprised, delighted, relieved, safe. The details clutter up as the tempo increases: stuff going on in other people’s lives, mundane pleasures, old issues, new places, liminal non-events. She sounds serene singing it, but also a bit weary, like she’s just glad to have lived the good bits and happy to have her life and not someone else’s.

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Fascinations Grand Chorus “When You’re Mine”

Fascinations Grand Chorus are proudly retro, and write and record as though music history – and the technology associated with it – cut off around the early 1970s. “When You’re Mine” is expertly crafted early ’60s girl group pastiche, and unlike a lot of music that aims for this aesthetic there’s no irony or wink to it. It’s remarkably earnest, and the primary thing separating this from actual period music is that the production veers a bit too garage rock, though in a very good way. The most interesting thing in the track is the particular tone of the synthesizer, especially when it starts to flutter a bit near the end of the track.

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Ibeyi featuring Kamasi Washington “Deathless”

One of the weird things about 2017 is that the overwhelming majority of the music that’s been coming out was actually made in the year before, and so we’re only starting to hear songs written in the wake of last year’s election. Ibeyi’s new record is one of the records made in the immediate aftermath of that, and “Deathless” is a song they made with the intention of giving people strength. It’s not entirely about that – the verses reflect on an encounter with a racist cop in France – but that story just gives personal weight and resonance to the defiance of the chorus. The music is tense but groovy, with Kasami Washington’s emotive sax responding to the intense feeling of the vocal and allowing a bit of free movement in a track otherwise dominated by a heavy, rigid rhythm.

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Squeeze “Rough Ride”

“Rough Ride” is one of Squeeze’s most ambitious songs, a sleek disco number that tosses in some sax, a choir, and an opera singer for a bit of extra flavor. The music evokes both opulence and community, which mirrors the sentiment of Chris Difford’s lyrics, which lament the steady removal of the working class from the hyper-gentrified contemporary London. Glenn Tilbrook, whose voice typically sounds affable and charming, takes on a sour tone in plainly uttering the subtext of every interaction in the city: “There’s nothing for you here / why don’t you move away?” And then a bit later at the end of the chorus, his voice shifts to a subtle blend of guilt, empathy, and weariness: “They can’t imagine the life that I’ve had / either you’re rich or it’s tough.”

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A$AP Mob featuring Joey Bada$$, Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution, Meechy Darko & Zombie Juice “What Happens”

My favorite type of rap song is the posse cut, no question. I just love the thrill of hearing as many rappers on a track as possible, and the contrast of voices and approach to lyrics and flow. I’m a Wu-Tang guy, and they are unquestionably the gold standard for this sort of thing. A lot of that comes down to RZA’s production – not just the aesthetics of it, but also his remarkable instinct for sequencing and structuring rap verses for maximum musical impact. He wasn’t just hearing the Wu guys as rappers, but as approximations of instruments in an arrangement – Ghostface is a trumpet, Method Man is a sax, U-God is a tuba. (Thinking of U-God in this way will make you like him a lot more, I promise. That and appreciating how much of his style is lifted from reggae toasting.)

Anyway, here we are in 2017 and RZA is revisiting his greatest strength, but with a totally different lineup of rappers. “What Happens” is an impressive congregation of nine young NYC rappers, representing three different crews – A$AP Mob, Pro Era, and Flatbush Zombies. It’s sorta like a present day equivalent of the “Buddy” remix, where De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, and Queen Latifah all converged to capture the spirit of that moment in New York rap. The tone is very different, of course. The track approximates the tension and grit of classic Wu-Tang while having the digital gloss of latter day RZA material. I love the way the beat stutters, and how it puts this jagged frame around each rapper. The mic gets tossed around a lot through the cut, so key voices like Rocky, Ferg, and Joey keep popping up through the entire song. This is a smart approach, as there’s not as much variation of timbre and cadence in their voices so you can’t rely on major tonal or stylistic shifts to signal movement, but there’s more than enough energy just in hearing these guys bounce off each other.

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Cupcakke “Cartoons”

The chime sound looped through “Cartoons” lends an off-kilter psychedelic vibe to a rap track that is otherwise very aggressive and focused. Cupcakke’s voice has a punchy quality, so maybe it’s meant to feel like your head is spinning from getting pounded in the face with her words. As forceful as she is, she’s mostly being silly here – the entire chorus is funny wordplay on classic cartoons, and the verses are mostly clowning on lame guys and people who’ve had the nerve to doubt her. There’s a thing in rap where artists early in their career will brag as a way of willing their vision of themselves into reality, but that’s not quite what I hear on this song. She sounds confident but relieved, like she’s glad to just be the person rather than talk her way into it.

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Seventeen “Change Up”

One thing I find fascinating about K-Pop as an ultra-casual dilettante is the way English words are scattered through songs that are otherwise performed in Korean. This song by Seventeen is a rather bold example, as the entire hook is in English – “change up, change up, change up” – so if you’re not paying much attention to the verses, it kinda loosely scans as something that’d fit right in with American pop. It’s very easy to imagine a “Despacito” scenario in which Bieber or Drake hopped on the track and smuggled it into the US mainstream, as this is a supremely catchy and well-crafted bit of vaguely hip-hop pop music. My favorite element is the synthesized horn sound on the hook, but the core appeal of this track is the way it flows so effortlessly between a series of strong melodies. There’s a density to the construction of this song, but you never ever feel it.

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Taylor Swift “New Year’s Day”

The first music critic I read consistently was the New York Post’s Dan Aquilante, mainly because the Post was always around my house because my dad loved the sports section. Aquilante had an idea that would pop up in his writing now and again, and it’s stuck with me over the years: the final song on a record was usually an indication of where the artist would go on their next record. I don’t really agree with that; in fact it can be tricky outside of certain patches of The Beatles discography to find solid examples of this. But I actually hope it’s true of Taylor Swift’s Reputation, a record full of uninspired “pop” production and weak drum programming that ends with “New Year’s Day,” a song that both calls back to the craft of her earlier work while showing a deeper, more adult point of view.

“New Year’s Day” strips away the most grating elements of Reputation – the production choices that signal a need to fit in with radio trends rather than dictate them, the obsession with her own media narrative, the coldness and defensiveness and petty spite. I don’t dismiss those choices; I think they’re probably a very accurate summary of where this artist’s head has been out for a while. Artists have to get things out of their system, and you don’t always have to like it, even if you like them overall. But the song isn’t good because it’s not like the other songs, but rather because the simplicity of its arrangement and the sentiment of the lyrics seem like an epiphany for her. It’s all in the details – the slightly muted tone of the acoustic piano, the way the live-in-room tone of her main vocal contrasts with her overdubbed harmonies, the sparing use of acoustic guitar. The lyrics follow the form of the music, with her reflecting on small, specific moments that add up to something bigger, but also kinda fragile. The Taylor Swift we’ve known over the past few years, the version of her that maybe comes to the end of an arc on this record, was all about larger than life drama. The woman singing on “New Year’s Day” sounds like she’s over that, and has moved on to a more life-size version of romanticism.

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Red Velvet “빨간 맛 (Red Flavor)”

I don’t understand a word of Korean but it was pretty obvious what these girls were singing about just by hearing this music: “Red Flavor” is a big, goofy crush song. The melody and super-charged bounce of the beat capture a very young sort of crush feeling, amped up on hormones and undiluted by age and cynicism. I read a translation of the lyrics, and this all checks out – they’re basically comparing this feeling of joy to sweet candy flavors, ice cream, and fruity cocktails. It’s fun to know that, but it’s unnecessary as the ecstatic feeling of the music is so overwhelming that it makes Carly Rae Jepsen seem aloof and unenthusiastic about new love.

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Sleigh Bells “Favorite Transgressions”

The initial thrill of Sleigh Bells came out of the way Derek Miller’s incredibly loud and forceful tracks blasted out nuance in favor of delivering hooks with the maximum degree of urgency and physicality. As the band have progressed he’s found ways to hold on to that energy and impact while allowing for more shade and color in the arrangements, as well as room for Alexis Krauss to grow as a singer. Krauss’ approach to vocals shifted dramatically over the course of the past few records, and at this point her brash, belting voice is just as powerful as Miller’s beats and guitars. Their new EP Kid Kruschev places a lot of emphasis on her voice, and on a few tracks, completely cuts out the noise to focus on her melodies and phrasing. It’s interesting to hear the softer side of Sleigh Bells, but I’m even more intrigued by a song like “Favorite Transgressions” that contrasts that newfound delicacy with their signature moves. I love that they’ve been evolving towards what is essentially a modern take on the R&B-meets-pop-metal sound of Janet Jackson’s “Black Cat” and En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind.” It’s an incredible aesthetic that never went anywhere beyond a few hits, and it’s nice to see someone dig into it all these years later.

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