The first ballot I’ve submitted in several years, in fact.
Top 10 Singles (videos below)
1. A.Chal, “Love and Hennessy”
2. Angus & Julia Stone, “Snow”
3. Blaenavon, Soko, “No One Else in Mind”
4. Kygo w/Selena Gomez, “It Ain’t Me”
5. Lana Del Rey, “Love”
6. LCD Soundsystem, “Call the Police”
7. New Pornographers, “Play Money”
8. Sevyn Streeter, “Before I Do”
9. Smokepurpp, “To the Moon”
10. Weekend w/Daft Punk, “I Feel it Coming”
We all know this is nothing
Ordered alphabetically, internet style (my actual #1 would be #3 or #5 or #9), and featuring: two songs experienced as radio singles (Selena Gomez and the Weekend/Daft Punk); two or three songs mined from other year-end lists; a bunch more discovered throughout the year via Spotify’s much-heralded algorithms (“Al Gore rhythms” as my friend Gary calls ’em); at least four songs (more on my runners-up list) about getting fucked up (Angus Stone says he “can get fucked up on absolutely anything” like it’s a great come-on line, which, here, it is); some girls; some boys; two or three songs I suspect won’t outlive February 2018, but who cares, they sound great now; hard and fast beats; sad, wimpy ones; Achtung Babyisms disguised as Berlin-era Bowieisms; pop music as an ageless conundrum (“look you kids with your vintage music” swoons 32-year-old grizzled veteran Lana Del Rey); fatalism if not utter defeatism about the future of making, if not experiencing, music itself (Neko Case: “I only play for money, honey”), the prognosis of which is apparently as comforting as the prognosis for everything else; fidget spinners.