101 favourite songs from 2019
Hello, and welcome to a list of my favourite songs from 2019.
For the purpose of this list I have tried to restrict myself to one song per artist, however the eagle-eyed reader will notice I have not fully adhered to this policy.
Featured commentary has been sourced from a variety of reputable critics, including Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, my mum, Youtube comments sections etc. There are also guest lists from Calum Edser and Krishan Neelendra.
Without further ado:
101
Hey, Ma
Bon Iver
100
Monsta
BENEE
but instead of eating me, he offers me an Uber Eats
99
You Had Your Soul With You
The National
“thought my earbuds were broken at the beginning”, Youtube commenter, 2019
98
Me and Bonnie
Freedom Fry
“This is totally a fun ditty!”, Youtube commenter, 2019
97
Starry Night
Peggy Gou
96
For Love
Jacques Greene
95
Toyota Man
Neon Indian
I’m gonna need you to wash all these here Toyotas
94
Cut Price Pat
Star Slinger & SCALLY
this song has only 30 views on Youtube as of writing. Edgy af, check it out.
93
Gold Teeth
Blood Orange (feat. Project Pat, Gangsta Boo & Tinashe)
92
Fake Names
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
“Tupac, Don Cheadle & DeAndre Jordan all at once”, Youtube commenter, 2019
91
Stay With Me
Hatchie
This track delivers the same emotive dancefloor gravitas as 90s club anthem “Born Slippy”, with a dash of shoegaze power balladry to boot. It’s a tour de force of nostalgic energy that sounds simultaneously rooted in the past but still very much in vogue.
90
Fee Fi Fo Fum
Wiki
“Fee Fi Fo Fum” finds Wiki rapping over a psychedelic trap beat by Tony Seltzer that feels like a community of backwards samples living inside a computer”, Chris DeVille, Stereogum
89
Ashes to Ashes
Jenny Hval
88
Lava
Still Woozy
87
Bmbmbm
black midi
oh what a magnificent purpose
“This drummer could literally disassemble his kit and put it back together and still be in time”, Youtube commenter, 2019
86
Almeda
Solange
85
Fire is Coming
Flying Lotus (feat. David Lynch)
This is exactly what one would expect of a collaboration between this odd couple. Surreal, glitchy, horrifying.
84
Hatin
Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats
83
Rosie
DJ Shadow
“Rosie” boasts two distinct parts, starting with a propulsive beat based around smashing drums, a chopped up vocal sample and the occasional flash of some strange synth. Halfway through, however, the song deftly slips into a hypnotic groove, where the drums still snap, but the synths swirl into a headier space.” Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone
82
Saturdays (Again)
Avey Tare
81
Smile 2
Slauson Malone (feat. Maxo)
80
Truth
Mark Ronson (feat. Alicia Keys & The Last Artful, Dodgr)
79
Do You Love Her Now
Jai Paul
78
Burberry Socks
Jimothy Lacoste
Rocking Burberry socks, now I’m feeling hella English
77
How Do You Sleep?
Sam Smith
76
i need to be alone.
girl in red
75
Final Form
Sampa the Great
“True gold takes time and final form is about moving past negativity that doesn’t understand the growth process. I now recognise my in-between stage; sometimes it drops and sometimes it rises. I love that I get to level up each second. I might even final form tomorrow.” Sampa
74
Future Doesn’t Know
Guerilla Toss
73
Hope
(Sandy) Alex G
72
Best Life
Danny Brown
There ain’t no next life, so now I’m trying to live my best life
71
Gravitate
Oscar Jerome
70
Brilliant N***a
Channel Tres
69
Sleepwalkin’
Better Oblivion Community Center
68
Lace
Dijon
When asked by Complex which film his EP Sci-Fi (from which Lace is taken) would score, Dijon answered with Terrence Malik’s Badlands, which is a great film available for free on Youtube (at least for now).
67
Jokin’ Me
Stealing Sheep
66
Nice Things
Tanks and the Bangas
65
Superbike
Jay Som
“Jay Som’s voice intertwines with glassy Britpop guitars as she dreams about hopping on a motorcycle and leaving her erstwhile lover in the dust.” Noah Yoo, Pitchfork
64
Tokyo Drifting
Glass Animals & Denzel Curry
63
Tongue Kissing
Little Dragon
62
Dos City
Dos Monos
61
Bottom Bitch
Doja Cat
60
In My Room
Frank Ocean
59
M5
Sports Team
My girlfriend says, “this type of music should’ve stayed in the 00s. Sounds like Hard-Fi.”
58
Dive In
Billy Lemos (feat. Myquale & Setec)
57
Old Town Road (Remix)
Lil Nas X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus)
56
Drown U
Iglooghost, Kai Whiston & BABii
55
Big Ole Freak
Megan Thee Stallion
54
Far From Born Again
Alex Cameron
“Not to be confused with sex trafficking or forced prostitution, independent sex workers set their own rates, and choose their clients. The song was a moment for me to clearly express my stance on the job and the people that do it. I support sex workers, I know many of them, I believe that educating the pubic on its very existence is extremely important.” Alex
53
Playground
Steve Lacy
52
The Cleaner
Squid
They make me do it all and so I clean that shop
I’m the cleaner who gets home whose body drops down
On the floor as you find it there with a brush and mop
I dance with DVDs and books
Dancing to rocket pop
51
You Seemed So Happy
The Japanese House
50
Introspective
Oliver Tree
49
UFOF
Big Thief
48
I Wish
Hayley Kiyoko
47
Taqkal Tarha
Tinariwen (feat. Micah Nelson)
45
Bags
Clairo
44
Titanium 2 Step
Battles (feat. Sal Principato)
43
dead yet (with phem)
gabriel black
42
Mi Sombrerito
Pixvae
This is a genre-blending doozy of a jam.
41
Aute Cuture
Rosalia
Everything Rosalia does is fucking money man!
40
So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings
Caroline Polachek
My girlfriend says, “this is like a more 80s HAIM”
39
Best Spot in the House
Injury Reserve
38
Dawn Chorus
Thom Yorke
“Dawn Chorus” heaves with regret, the hope for time travel, the futility of life, and the possibility of grace.” Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic
37
F**k Ice 2
WETBACKMANNY
Fuck ICE, bitch, I don’t even put that shit on my water
Shout out to my mom serving beans and tortillas
And we got yo bitch throwing ass like Shakira
Bitch, I was born for this shit
Came out the womb with a Glock and a dick
You get the gist.
36
Shallow Grave
Wilma Vritra
35
I Don’t Love You Anymore
Tyler, The Creator
34
Cowboy ALLSTAR
Vegyn
33
You Ain’t The Problem
Michael Kiwanuka
32
1999 She
Deaton Chris Anthony
31
Gone
Charli XCX & Christine and the Queens
30
Confessions
Sudan Archives
My mum says, “I liked the video for this. It was warm and loving. Fact that she played the violin (for real? for show?) impressed me too. (Is that being a bit shallow? 😏)”
29
Fishing for Fishies
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
28
I’ll Come Too
James Blake
27
bad guy
Billie Eilish
26
The Crying Pill
Matmos
My girlfriend says, “This is horrible. This is just horror film noises. Noone is listening to this for enjoyment. Please turn it off. David, I actually mean it. This isn’t about the quote, this is horrible. This is like there is a maggot in my brain.”
25
The Whole of the Moon
Kirin J Callinan
24
How to Build a Relationship
Flume (feat. JPEGMAFIA)
23
Nothing Else
Chong the Nomad (feat. Jax Anderson)
If I could recommend just one artist on this list to check out it would be Chong the Nomad, who makes gorgeous, playful, diverse electronica and could have had several tracks featured in my top 101.
22
Harry Takes Drugs On The Weekend
Nick Murphy
21
Seventeen
Sharon Van Etten
20
Selfish
Little Simz (feat. Cleo Sol)
[From the album GREY Area I think I actually prefer 101 FM, but as it was first released in 2018 I have gone with the also-brilliant Selfish instead]
19
Blood of the Past
The Comet is Coming (feat. Kate Tempest)
18
Bergamot Feels
Edwin Raphael (feat. Madson.)
17
Atlantic Oscillations
Quantic
16
II Beautiful Losers
Kai Whiston (feat. Joe Petersen)
My dad says, “this track went wired and the guy in the video could not do cartwheels!”
15
NASA
Ariana Grande
14
Fading
Toro y Moi
13
Peach
Kevin Abstract
My girlfriend says “chill vibes with a zed”
12
Ricky
Denzel Curry
11
Song 31
Noname (feat. Phoelix)
10
No Halo
Brockhampton
9
Old Man
Stella Donnelly
8
Racecar
Deaton Chris Anthony (feat. Clairo, Coco, & Clair Clair)
7
Wild Minks
Quelle Chris
John the Baptist wore wild minks, and so will I. Why not?
6
Sanctuary
Joji
Joji’s Sanctuary is the single biggest surprise to me on this list. The guy who basically triggered the biggest meme of the decade turned in a beautiful space age love song that succeeds on sheer atmospheric force. The accompanying music video is brilliantly charming and odd.
5
Money Machine
100 gecs
My girlfriend says, “this is like a pop track just got processed wrong and it was all a horrible accident 😐”
Pitchfork says, “this is like getting blasted in the face with a million Swarovski crystals and leaky glowsticks.”
Rolling Stone calls it, “experimental — in a “what would happen if we poured gravel in the washing machine?” sense”
4
Juice
Lizzo
3
3 Nights
Dominic Fike
2
Jesus Is The One (I Got Depression)
Zack Fox & Kenny Beats
My sister says, “it says Jesus a lot. Not my fav.”
1
Jesus Forgive Me, I Am a Thot
JPEGMAFIA
My mum says, “Right. This definitely would not feature in my top 100. This type of music (rap?) is not something I enjoy and I did not have the faintest idea what he was signing about as I could not work out his words. It was not Barry Manilow, Donny Osmond, Frank Sinatra or Frankie Valli in terms of clarity! 😉”
Disappointed.
