20:

Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know. (521 Plays, New Entry.)

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool! I don’t know if that was the inspiration for this song. It probably wasn’t, but, Jesus if I don’t sing it as the song starts EVERY FUCKING TIME. This song was a grower for me. I didn’t take to it straight away. Maybe it was the Baa Baa Black Sheep thing. What I love about it is that it escapes the bitterness that it could have easily slipped into by not being a back and forth. He sings, then she sings (Exceptionally well, Kimbra!), then a final chorus. It’s not him, her, him, her, him. It’s not an argument. It’s very cleverly constructed in that regard and a mistake that a few songs make like that. Gotye didn’t have many other ‘hits’ but if you like this, check out “Hearts A Mess”, and “Eyes Wide Open”.

19:

Broken Bells – Leave It Alone. (530 Plays, New Entry.)

A LOT of the songs in this top 40 this year are from one of my Spotify playlists, which I played to death. This is another one of those such songs! The criminally underrated Broken Bells are made up of James “The Shins” Mercer and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton. They don’t seem like the ideal match but FUCK ME SIDEWAYS they are. Whenever you feel like you need a new band to listen to, reach for these guys. Sensational. Leave It Alone is my go to whenever I want to hear them as I think it’s so perfectly set up for Mercer to knock it out of the park. It’s also very Shins-esque.

18:

Sam And The Womp – Bom Bom. (548 Plays, New Entry.)

So… Forza Horizon 4 came out this year, and if you’ve not played it, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU! As you all know, I’m sure, I loves me some Forza, and when I play it, I like specific songs. THIS is one of those songs. It’s perfect gameplaying/driving music. The exact beat I want, the fun factor is high, it’s got excellent vocal hooks and it’s. just. fucking. perfect.

17:

Snoh Aalegra – Worse. (556 Plays, New Entry.)

Back to my “THAT Mood” playlist for the excellent Snoh Aalegra. I’d heard some of her album earlier in the year and then she was catapulted back into my consciousness when they used her “Nothing Burns Like The Cold” for the Apple iPhone XXLSRXRXSRSX adverts. I didn’t put the official video below because the official video is like some sort of art-house cinema project. Go look it up and watch it if you want. It’s one of them there videos that messes with the song, and since we’re all about the music for this post, I didn’t want to include it. If I was in music video mode, we’d take a look, but not right now.

16:

Mike Posner – Cooler Than Me. (575 Plays, New Entry.)

Belgium! << When I set these posts up, I first write all the songs in with the play numbers and the video embedding code, and then, I go back and write about the songs. Sometimes I put in little bits of text into this bit as I'm doing the first stage so I remember things I want to mention. Apparently I felt strongly enough about Belgium to leave it as a reminder for me. *scratches head*. I *think* that I was going to mention that the only country that apparently likes this song as much as I do is Belgium. It was the only country in which it was a number 1! I don't know why it never did better. It's a wonderful slice of electro pop! In my head the beat is very similar to a Gene Serene song that I love. Gene Serene have 4 monthly listeners on Spotify. I think we know why it's only me that seems to love it. Ha.

15:

Years & Years – Sanctify. (604 Plays, New Entry.)

DON’T RAPE! That’s what I thought Olly said at first at the start of the chorus. Ha. Again, below, you’ll notice we have gone for just an audio version, instead of the main music video. We’ve discussed the video for this before, so we won’t go over it again, suffice to say there is a least 2 minutes of non-song in the proper video and like I mentioned above, we’re all about the songs! This is so early JT it’s crazy. Probably why I love it so much! Hmm… need to spend some time with Justified soon. I miss it. I don’t think we’ve heard the best of Years & Years yet. Palo Santo was a good album, but a backward step from Communion. They’re destined for something bigger.

14:

Phil Collins – I Don’t Care Anymore. (647 Plays)

I mean… come on. It’s Phil.

13:

Nicole Shitslinger – Wet. (651 Plays, New Entry.)

I’ve never decided with Shitslinger, wether she throws poop, or if the poops she’s gone done… hang around for ages… hmm. Perfect pop song! I will fight anyone who says otherwise. It’s impressive how she manages to churn out utter garbage and then all of a sudden produce a banger. I hope she manages another one day, cos this one is ace!

12:

Daughter – Youth (685 Plays, New Entry.)

I got into this song big time earlier in the year. I believe it was a related video when I was listening to a song that is coming up soon on YouTube. When you hear the other, you’ll realise why this one was in the related section. This is a belting song, and one that I didn’t really bang on about, which is odd for me. Usually when I love something as much as I loved this, I talk about it relentlessly (I’m sorry). This has perfect structure for me, and it’s something I love about any song that falls into this setup. That soft gentle start of appregiated chords (Appregiated I just made up so I could use a verb. The noun is Appregio, which is to break down a chord into a series of notes… YOU’RE LEARNING!), that builds into something stronger through very rhythmic drumming, all overlaid with gorgeous clear vocals from Elena Tonra. (If Kate Nash would reign her fucking ‘Mockney’ in a little bit, this is how good she’d sound).

11:

OK Go – Skyscrapers (711 Plays, New Entry.)

Confession, I did leave this on repeat! Not on purpose, just one day when I was at work. It certainly didn’t account for all the plays and I think it would have made the top 40 anyway, just lower down. A couple of days I’ve had where I’ve listened to this alone. This is a crazily good song. There’s one particular part of it that I really love, but I can’t be bothered trying to describe it as it won’t make sense to you lol. Arguably OK Go’s finest moment and their best music video, which is impressive given their long list of good music videos. I take issue with their video lineup sometimes though. If someone wants to debate me on why they’re simultaneously brilliant and awful, you know where to find me. This video, however, is perfection. It’s how you make a music video that actually means something and that can break your heart.