#7
2009 - This Ending - Machinery
Album: Dead Harvest
It's interesting to think that back in 2009 I only had so many different ways to experience music. Generally it was from the radio and from whatever I was listening to at work, with a little bit of internet downloads sprinkled in. These days there's Pandora and Spotify and all sorts of internet radio, plus the regular radio, plus any number of other ways to access new music. I can remember back when I would eagerly check out the new metal releases every week on RockBox back in 2009, which was where I found This Ending. This album was one of the best finds from there, with hits like "Trace of Sin", "Parasites", "Tools of Demise", and more. "Machinery" was the song that got the most play as I was aggresively headbanging while biking and working out this year. It's a shame that the band went on hiatus in 2013 and didn't return with another full length record until 2016. I'm hoping there's more where that came from, although the dudes in this group are getting up there.
2010 - Iyaz - Replay
Album: Replay
Where Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" was a late addition, "Replay" was a year-round driving and dancing jam. It also spawned one of my favorite misheard lyric quotes of all time - "it's like my eyeballs stuck on a plate". Ha! In spite of the amount of autotune he uses, I kind of like Iyaz's voice, although his lyrics are pretty flat. Of course, "Replay" was one of those "hey I'm falling in love with my future wife" songs, so there's that as well. I don't really have much else on the guy - at the time there were so many people like him, Sean Kingston and Akon that they all started blending together in my head. It's not really my style, but this is still a fairly fun jam.
2011 - The Airborne Toxic Event - All I Ever Wanted
Album: All At Once
The Airborne Toxic Event: A Story. First record? Couldn't stand them. First single off of their second record? Annoyed the hell out of me. Second single off of that record... holy cow. I went out and got the record, and all of a sudden I had a new favorite band. The downside of TATE is that Mikel Jolett is a smart liberal musician from California, which means he's overly pompous and arrogant and gets his kicks more from being a social media personality than a musician. The band has put out two records in the past 3 years and they've been downright horrendous. They essentially transitioned into a synth-heavy band, ditching the strings and the catchy lyrics as well. To each their own. All At Once is a great record - "Welcome to Your Wedding" and "Changing" did end up getting a buttload of play for me in 2011, but it was the beautiful strings and lyrics of "All I Ever Wanted" that ended up taking the cake. 2011 was so top-heavy that in other years this song might have been much further down the list, but it is still a great and worthwhile love song.
2012 - One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful
Album: Up All Night
Oh... speaking of love songs, and pop, and bands that are garbage... yikes. Okay, garbage is a little harsh. Of all the "boy bands" to come around in recent years, One Direction is probably the least offensive and only lasted for a couple of years before going their own solo ways. At this time in my life, I had decided that I did want to marry my then-girlfriend and was pushed on by songs like this that just made me happy through and through. It's catchy, it's cute... it's pop music. At least it's not totally idiotic.
2013 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - If You Didn't See Me (Then You Weren't On The Dancefloor)
Album: The Speed Of Things
Far and away still the champion of the longest song title in J1 history. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. has since changed their name to simply Jr. Jr. for the sake of avoiding confusion, but are still making whimsical silly synth-pop music. "If You Didn't See Me..." is full of fun sounds and catchy buzzes, and is again another great dance-and-drive hit. The entire band is built around not taking itself too seriously, which is what the song is about. I really thought that this was a band that I would enjoy when I initially checked out the EP that this song was on, but the rest of the record came off as unimpressive and they haven't splashed back since.
2014 - Impending Doom - Hellhole
Album: Death Will Reign
Impending Doom are brutal, plain and simple. They are what deathcore music should sound like. Brook Reeves is the perfect deathcore frontman. The opening of this song just throttles you, and the riffs scream all the way along with Reeves from top to bottom. I've been anxiously awaiting a follow-up for this record, and just over a month ago they finally dropped The Sin And Doom, Vol II. We'll see if it doesn't make its way near the top of the 2018 Countdown. Metal has kind of fallen off in the past two years, but a good release from a band I really enjoy could be just what I need to kick things back into gear.
2015 - Matty Mullins - More Of You
Album: Matty Mullins
I made the mistake of thinking that Matty Mullins' solo record would be something more along the lines of a Memphis May Fire album, when in fact it was much softer, more piano based and much more personal than most of his other writings. It wasn't an awful record, but it did disappoint me slightly because of my initial expectations. "More Of You" was definitely the standout track for me. I've somewhat burnt myself out of metalcore these days, but the new MMF sounds pretty good and I'm looking forward to a new record from them next year. Matty put out another disc last year that did not make it, but I think he's re-focused on his main act right now.
2016 - Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop The Feeling!
Album: Trolls OST
Gosh, #7 is definitely a pop spot huh? There's no shame in loving the hurricane force of Justin Timberlake, though. This song was absolutely unavoidable in 2016, and even though I never saw the Trolls movie (come on, man) I was reminded of it on an almost daily basis, whether it be at work, in the car, watching TV or anywhere else in between. It's just a flat-out fantastic song that will outlast a lot of its other pop contemporaries released in 2016. I mean, unless you think people will still be talking about "I Took A Pill in Ibiza" or "Broccoli" in 10 years?
2017 - Cold War Kids - Can We Hang On ?
Album: LA Divine
It took them long enough, but Cold War Kids finally cracked the Top 20 in a major way last year. They're one of those bands that gets a lot of deserved hype, but only ever has 1 or maybe 2 songs off of every record that I enjoy. That goes back many years and I respect the hell out of them for remaining relevant without really selling themselves dry in the process. I guess in a couple of years we'll be hearing from them again? As always, stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment