St. Vincent - Digital Witness

Another favorite song of 2014... I listened to this one SO MANY TIMES. 

St. Vincent has been rocking our socks and shoes off for years, but she’s never sounded sharper than now. Jagged horns puncture the air and a distorted bass starts an earthquake of sound while Annie Clark helplessly cries out for us to step away from technology and consumerism before we become so vacuous that we can’t even see what we’re watching. The menacing tone feels more urgent, thanks to the cacophony of sound that she elegantly builds by the end of the song.

Real Estate - Primitive

Another favorite song of 2014: 

“Primitive” is a wonderful gooey-guitared example of the power of harmonies coupled with a great melody. Pure sap, the lyrics scoop listeners into an ideal romance. “Don’t know where I want to be/But I’m glad that you’re with me/And all I know is it’d be easy to me.”

Real Estate always knows the right amount of reverb and guitar noodling to put you in a place of pure bliss; one that requires no thinking, just feeling. By the time you reach the last minute of the song, a minute and a half of instrumentals that twist and twirl in warm circles, it’s impossible to feel anything but at peace.

Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me

I didn't do any top lists this year because I got overwhelmed with how many incredible things came out in 2015, and honestly didn't take the time to sort through it all. It's been more of a year for podcasts, weirdly, because I'm indulging in my love for good storytelling.

But I do want to share a few of my favorite songs in the next couple days.

Here's #1 of 2014:




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It took less than a minute into my first listen before I recognized perfection. It doesn’t need any frills or fanciness to suck you in. And the spell these fuzzy riffs cast lasts much longer than its brief three-minute life. Let’s put it this way. The melody on “Archie, Marry Me” is so addictive you feel like a chocoholic with an IV dripping fondue straight into your system.  

The lyrics may be simple, but they feel like the shortest and best summary of a relationship where one person is doing all the heavy lifting, and the other is floating along. You’ll be belting along with the chorus immediately – because we’ve all had an Archie in our life, even if our names aren’t Betty and Veronica. Archie may not be ready for marriage, but this is the kind of song that we can all commit to our music libraries for life.