2017 Favorite Songs (Numbers 40-21)

My countdown continues:

40. Drake - "Passionfruit"

Drake at his most relaxed. Pure pop perfection. You can listen to the track here.

39. Phoenix - "Ti Amo"



Driving beats, chugging guitars, and a roaringly good chorus make this one of the best alt-dance tracks of the year.

38. Flume ft. Kučka - "Hyperreal"



Experimental techno masquerading as an EDM-pop hit.

37. Slum Sociable - "Don't Come Back Another 100 Times"



Dense, lush production work highlight this down-tempo track from the Melbourne duo.

36. Vessels ft. Lowly - "I Believe It Now"



Euphoric synthpop. Makes me want to roll down the car windows and blare it from my speakers.

35. Bearcubs - "Underwaterfall"



Clearly drawing from James Blake, Bearcubs puts his own spin on it, creating a palpable, liquid world.

34. Robert Robert ft. Anna Majidson - "Misunderstood"



Intoxicating club track that builds up into a fury of swirling synths.

33. Cloud - "Foliage"



Hauntingly atmospheric electronica from Cloud. Her unique vocal phrasing gives this track a ghostly hue.

32. Blue Hawaii - "Versus Game"



Bright and sunny Balearic-tinged dance track that makes you want to watch the sun rise at a beach rave.

31. Cherry Glazerr - "Lucid Dreams"



I was captivated by this song, which is like the perfect marriage between Blonde Redhead's damaged art-rock and Lush's dream pop.

30. Fever Ray - "To the Moon and Back"



Always captivating, always weird, and always well ahead of the curve, Fever Ray came back to life with this infectious track.

29. Julien Baker - "Turn Out the Lights"



Powerful song that starts out feeling defeatist but turns the tables to become an anthem for trusting yourself.

28. Wild Beasts - "Punk Drunk & Trembling"



Sad to say this is the last song from Wild Beasts, as they recently broke up. But thankfully they left on a high note with this beautiful, synth driven track, and one of Hayden Thorpe's most impassioned vocals.

27. Jax Jones ft. Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don - "Instruction"



This is just a fun track that always makes me smile.

26. Slowdive - "Sugar for the Pill"



A sea of heavenly guitars and lush synths engulfs you in this melancholy ballad.

25. The Killers - "Some Kind of Love"



A subtle sample of Brian Eno's ambient work "An Ending (Ascent)" endears one to this beautifully done song.

24. HEALTH - "Euphoria"



Pretty much the title says it all.

23. Lorde - "Supercut"



Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. Who hasn't looked back at a former relationship and wondered if you had the chance would you have done things differently?

22. Kelela - "Frontline'

Commanding track from one of this year's R&B female powerhouses. You can listen to it here.

21. Fischerspooner ft. Caroline Polachek - "Togetherness"



The most sensual pop song of the year; it will definitely make your temperature rise.

2017 Favorite Songs (Numbers 60-41)

Continuing my countdown of my favorite songs from 2017, here are Numbers 60 to 41:

60. Kllo - "Last Yearn"



Meditative piano chords over muted, skittering percussion highlights this aching ballad from the Aussie duo Kllo.

59. Sylvan Esso - "Just Dancing"



This is a great song to dance to with abandon.

58. Exhibitionist - "Hands"



Dreamy synthpop track from Exhibitionist that effortlessly adds more and more elements into a gorgeous sonic tapestry.

57. Lana Del Rey ft. A$ASP Rocky and Playboi Carti - "Summer Bummer"



Over languid beats, piano, and strings, Lana Del Rey delivers another one of her trademark vocals, haunted and filled with longing.

56. Tricky ft. Martina Topley Bird - "When We Die"



This track could easily have fit on Tricky's masterpiece album Maxinquaye. While his new album comes nowhere near his earlier powers, this song clearly shows Tricky has it in him to make another masterpiece.

55. Sampha - "(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano"



This track is simple, gorgeous, and completely emotionally honest.

54. Kelela - "LMK"



From her brilliant debut album Take Me Apart, Kelela throws down this slinky, sexy R&B track.

53. RKCB - "Naive"



Gorgeously sad song about ending a relationship when you still want it to go on, but you know it's over for your lover.

52. Phantoms ft. Grace Mitchell - "Someone to Talk About"



Sleek, sexy deep house with an ace vocal from Grace Mitchell.

51. Grizzly Bear - "Three Rings"



"Three Rings" is quintessential Grizzly Bear: dense, challenging, emotional, and euphoric.

50. HEALTH x NOLIFE - "Hard To Be A God"



HEALTH team up with producer NOLIFE for this track that is equally gorgeous as it is sinister.

49. P!nk - "What About Us"



P!nk gives one of her strongest vocal performances with this slow building song, that erupts at the end with heart felt emotion.

48. Lomelda - "Thx"



Simply heartbreaking.

47. The Horrors - "Something to Remember Me By"



The Horrors hit full Cinemascope epicness on single "Something to Remember Me By."

46. Yaeji - "Drink I'm Sippin On"



Laid back track from South Korean-American producer Yaeji is the height of coolness.

45. Everything Everything - "A Fever Dream"



Starting as a stark, piano-led ballad, the title track from Everything Everything's latest album morphs into a swirling mass of synths and driving drums, showing how versatile this band is.

44. Coldplay - "ALIENS"



Coldplay's best single since "Clocks."

43. Run the Jewels - "Legend Has It"



This track always gets my attention. Forceful work from the amazing rap duo.

42. SZA - "Prom"



SZA's vocals on this track are so heartfelt and beautiful.

41. London Grammar - "Leave the War With Me"



I tend to like London Grammar's songs that really notch things up and go for broke. "Leave the War With Me" finds the band matching Hannah Reid's strong pipes with an enveloping background that pushes her to new heights.

2017 Favorite Songs (Numbers 100-81)

It's that time of year for my best of lists. This week I will count down my favorite songs of 2017, with my Top 20 revealed on Friday (on Friday I will post a link to Spotify with a full playlist of these songs). I made a slight change this year, and allowed for multiple songs from the same artist. Without further ado, below are Numbers 100-81.

100. Major Lazer ft. Travis Scott, Camila Cabello & Quavo - "Know No Better"



The one song this year that always guaranteed a smile on my face, and made me shake my rump, regardless of location.

99. Marian Hill - "Down"



Ubiquitous, due to its use in an Apple commercial, "Down" is one of those tracks that immediately hits you. Simple piano chords, skittering drum programming, and chopped up vocal samples propel this song to instant ear worm status.

98. Mount Kimbie ft. King Krule - "Blue Train Lines"



Mount Kimbie move as far away from their post-dubstep roots with this killer post-punk track. Over a propulsive drum track, singer King Krule spits the lyrics out like venom.

97. Jacob Bellens - "Untouchable"



Jacob Bellon's booming voice commands this haunting, evocative ballad.

96. The War on Drugs - "Strangest Thing"



I was never a big fan of The War On Drugs until this latest record, and this perfect, stadium-ready single. It builds slowly and surely, with skyscraping synth washes over crystalline guitars.

95. Hundred Waters - "Fingers"



Although Hundred Waters appears to be moving into a more pop-friendly sound, this song still retains that atmospheric elegance that characterizes their best work.

94. Little Dragon - "Strobe Light"



Seductive dance track from Little Dragon. I was always pulled in by the sexy bass line and swirling synths.

93. Olivia O'Brien - "No Love"



While this is the usual LA is fake and it's difficult to find love song, Olivia's impassioned vocals and the haunting piano line elevate it something special.

92. Gorillaz ft. DRAM - "Andromeda"



Irresistible and ebullient ode to an Colchester club in the 80s that played soul music. In these crazy times, songs like this remind me of how important dance clubs are as places of community and fellowship, where you can forget your troubles and get sweaty to some killer beats.

91. Quicksand - "Cosmonauts"



Post-hardcore legends Quicksand came back this year after a 22-year hiatus. New album Interiors might not quite roar out of the gates like its predecessors, however, with songs like "Cosmonauts" the focus on atmosphere and mood more than make up for it.

90. Rat & Co. - "Soldiers"



Trip-hop leaning anti-war track that makes you think while its sinister grooves wrap around you.

89. The Drums - "Shoot the Sun Down"



When The Drums are firing on all cylinders they are truly magical. This track is no exception, riding its glorious surfer rock wave to pop perfection.

88. Matthew Dear - "Modafinil Blues"



Matthew Dear puts his own David Bowie-esque vocal touch on this dark, mid-tempo ballad.

87. Burial - "Rodent"



Probably the most subversive aspect of this track is how unsubversive it is. And it has a killer beat you can dance to.

86. Smerz - "No Harm"



Dark, off-kilter beats anchor this slithering, electronic R&B leaning track from the Norwegian duo.

85. Sampha - "Under"

Sampha effortlessly moves between traditional R&B and electronica. This song squarely falls in the latter camp, with its dense production always threatening to go haywire, but staying firmly on task. You can listen to the track here.

84. Elohim - "Skinny Legs"



I love this song because it is just weird. And when I play it for people, they always want to know who it is.

83. Porcelain Raft - "Rising"



This song is simply sublime beauty.

82. Bleachers - "Don't Take the Money"



When Jack Antonoff gets it right, he gets it right. Perfect pop song here.

81. Charli XCX - "Roll With Me"



I love the buzzy maximalism of this track from Charli XCX.