Hal Hates Music

[Sweat]

The title clearly ain't true.

Consider this my current thread that will just be the central hub for any write-ups I have about music, whether it's new or old, I love it or hate it, whatever. There's no real central theme here, so expect projects to come and go. If you like my opinions or wanna trash on 'em, here you go.

To start off this thread that I hope gets updated every once in a while, I decided to do some write-ups on some fantastic songs that I highly recommend from the first half of the year... in alphabetical order because ranking things is occasionally just stupid. Pretend I didn't have a ranked list in my signature for a while.

Halibut's 10 Favorite Songs of 2019... So Far

Some time in the latter half of 2018, I finally had the sense to follow music trends as they're happening. When I started getting really snobby about music, it led to this spiral where following current trends was not a priority for me in any way. I wasn't watching the charts. I wasn't checking out the hip and critically acclaimed releases. I just felt no need to. This changed in a big way some time last year when I realized that fetishizing the established classics from before my time and solely sticking to that was never gonna get me anywhere if I wanted to continue pursuing a passion for exploring music rather than solely just listening to old favorites. I am not perfect yet in keeping up with the times, but I have gotten much better at it, which is why I even have the ability to concoct a list like this. With this in mind, here we go...

Spoiler

Carly Rae Jepsen - I'll Be Your Girl

Should I feel ashamed that I still haven't listened to E•MO•TION yet? Hell, I had that requested of me a while back - an obligation I still haven't fulfilled. Yeah, maybe I should be a little ashamed. I passively listened to CRJ's newest album and did not get much out of it. A part of it is undoubtedly that I didn't pay much attention, but when it comes to pop, I'm just a not a huge fan of that sound. I won't pretend that her music isn't spectacularly written, though. Most of the album hasn't stuck with me yet, but I grew super fond of this one near right away. That bassline is such a great way for the song to hook you in immediately, but for some reason, I think what gets me about this song is that it isn't all that bombastic? I love "Run Away With Me" as much as the next person, but I am not always in the mood for it. It's a very maximalist, sugar-high song, and while it's amazing when you're completely ecstatic, it doesn't vibe with me when I'm feeling more content and chill. This song, in contrast, feels a lot more restrained (although it still has its sugary energy), and it makes for something closer to a slow burner. Slow burners have been a thing for me recently, as you will see as the list goes on.

Spoiler

Denzel Curry - RICKY

As far as I'm concerned, Denzel Curry is unstoppable. Every since I first listened to him in depth when he released TA13OO last year, I could not stop. I obviously knew his music briefly beforehand thanks to my entire age group (including) having a primal urge to flip bottles for months on end. "Ultimate" is such an explosive song, and may actually remain as my favorite song of his, but he gave me a whole lot of new material to love with this year's ZUU, an album that seemingly serves to dish out banger after banger until all my energy is depleted. I love the majority of the album (even if some snobs didn't appreciate that he just decided to make a half-hour's worth of simple party rap), but its first single remained my favorite every since it got released. Denzel has a talent for insane hooks, and this song is no different. It's a super fun song (with pretty serious subject matter that I don't really care about because I'm not a lyrics guy) and the video is a great complement to it.

Spoiler

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib - Flat Tummy Tea

 

It doesn't take a genius to know that Madlib is a legend. I don't really listen to much early 2000's weirdo hip hop, but I've listened to enough to know how good of a producer he is. Meanwhile, I know next to nothing about Freddie Gibbs. I've always wanted to listen to their first collaboration, Pinata, but I just never got around to it. "Flat Tummy Tea" was the first ever Freddie Gibbs song I've listened to it, but right away, it blew my mind. It makes me REALLY want to listen to their first collaboration, but my attention span is trash. It was hard to choose between this and "Crime Pays" for the 2019 singles of theirs to feature here, but I eventually chose this one. This one left a special impression on me. It's an impossibly cool performance from Freddie Gibbs, and Madlib's production is a face-melter. The intense guitar noise that sets off the song, the beat switch, and all the tiny little snippets of random shit that sprinkles the song - it all works. Makes me wanna listen to Madvillainy again.

Spoiler

Halsey - Nightmare

When I first heard this song, I was blown to pieces. It's just an absolutely perfect storm of so many things I love in music as well as just pure catharsis on what a LOT of people are feeling. I've always loved when jagged rock music is fused into a pop song. I saw one dude compare it to t.A.T.u sound-wise, and I can 100% see it. I loved "Dangerous Woman" by Ariana for that reason, and it works just as well in this song, just in different ways. "Dangerous Woman" tries to come off as seductive. This is all-caps ANGRY. It has been my go-to song when I've just been furious at the world for being shitty and unfair. Halsey absolutely sells this performance. You can tell she has been tried one too many times. You can tell even with the lyrics. This is one of the few songs on the list where lyrics have resonated with me... even if the song isn't necessarily for me. Complete rejection of complacency is a mood I wish more people felt, including me. I'm upset this hasn't done super well on the Hot 100, but hopefully if I listen to it more, it'll stay on for a little longer.

Spoiler

Kevin Abstract - Peach

Feelings were mixed on the solo stuff that Kevin Abstract of popular boy band BROCKHAMPTON released this year, but I have to say that I liked it a lot. There's something about the way a lot of dudes in the modern alternative hip hop and R&B sphere sing about love that resonates with me in a way that so few others can. "I'll be your baby doll and your body guard if you tell me to" might just be my #1 favorite line of ANY song this year, and it's in what may be my #1 of the year so far. More importantly than the subject matter, there's just the sound. This is very much a summer evening song. As you listen, try and not to think about a late evening campfire in late July. That's basically my favorite time ever, and this song is just as much as that as anything else. For possibly my favorite of this list, forgive the relative briefness of the write-up. This song feels "perfect," and that shit is hard to write about. Kevin is ridiculously talented, and I will eat up just about anything he gives me.

Spoiler

Lizzo - Like a Girl

Both online and in real life, all I have seen in regards to Lizzo is people collectively pissing themselves over her. No shame though, as I am 100% part of that. I love her to death, and it's more than just that she reps for Minnesota. She's just insanely fun to listen to, and every song of hers is hook after hook. Tracks like "Truth Hurts" and "Juice" are fantastic too, and I'm beyond happy the former is making its mark on the Billboard Hot 100, but the song of hers this year that completely floored me is "Like a Girl." In a way, this is almost an antithesis to "Nightmare" despite having similar-ish messages, with this song being triumphant and ecstatic rather bitter and jaded. This is catharsis in a different way. The chorus of this song is easily her best, a level of positive energy so off-the-charts that even the most hypermasculine freak might give in and just shout along. The musical elements, along with verses that include some awesome one-liners that are on brand for Lizzo, makes for the other possible numero uno for this year so far besides Kevin. I hope Lizzo just keeps getting bigger as time goes on.

Spoiler

Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen

Sometimes, it feels like dumbass Pitchfork-reading music snobs are overly obsessed with rejecting mainstream musical traditions of decades past. This has been changing, of course, but you'll still see a fair amount of people that have an irrational allergic reaction to shit mid mid-70's pop rock. It's so embarrassing, and I deeply wish fewer people cared about constant progression, but the world of indie pop seems like one of the few spheres that has zero shame of recycling old pop tropes while adding something new and special, because they know that shit works. I don't know much about Sharon Van Etten, but I have to listen to her more, because songs like this are something special. She has vocally cited artists like Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith as major influences, and this song makes it very obvious. You can totally see either of those two writing a song like this in 1976 and having it hailed as a masterpiece. This song, for whatever reason, feels distinctly American because of that, and it's an amazing sound. Heck, it's not even just Americana-influenced heartland rockers like Springsteen and Smith that you can hear in this, but also Fleetwood Mac. If she sounded like Stevie Nicks, I would absolutely believe anyone who told me it was a Fleetwood Mac deep cut. If you like both old school artsy pop rock and modern indie pop, please listen to her. She will not disappoint you.

Spoiler

Tyler, the Creator - Earfquake

Come on, if you didn't expect Tyler on this, you're dumb. Hell, I wasn't even a big fan of Igor! Like, it was good, but nowhere near as special to me as Flower Boy is. This song, though, is among the very best songs from either of those albums. Hell, this song doesn't feel that far off from my favorite Flower Boy song, "See You Again." The latter is my favorite song Tyler has ever done, but "Earfquake" is a close 2nd. They are very intense love songs that make me feel as if I'm floating in my own love juice (interpret that as you will) as I listen to it. Now, this song does have very minor setbacks that keep it from being better than "See You Again." It's more bittersweet, which is great, but not on the same league as the pure joy of the other song. More importantly, though, is that there's no Kali Uchis. Either way, I am very much nitpicking, and this track is still a tenner. Tyler truly, honestly, sounds like he means every word he sings. I wish the rest of Igor was on the same level.

Spoiler

Weyes Blood - Everyday

Thank god I brought up how indie music needs more 70's pop rock worship earlier on in the list, because "Everyday" takes that idea and pumps it up on roids. In an alternate universe, this song topped the Hot 100 in 1971 and was revered as one of the greatest songs of all time by publications such as Rolling Stone, NME, et cetera. I do want to give Weyes Blood credit, though. One, Titanic Rising, the album this came off of, was great. It wasn't perfect, but the best tracks on it were virtually untouchable. "Andromeda" and this song were in a deathmatch for this list. What made the best stuff on it work, though, and what makes this song the sheer masterpiece it is, is the fact that it takes these intense catchy hooks pulled straight from early pop rock and just drowns them in that signature 2010s-style dreamy art pop production. The album art conveys how this song sounds more than anything else can: classic pop that's drenched underwater and has a subtle glow to it. Also, check out that music video, Goddamn.

Spoiler

ZelooperZ - JayJay-Z

To end off the list, here's something more lowkey, yet something super interesting. This isn't some kind of emotional, meticulously crafted masterpiece like a lot of this list. No, this shit is trippy. Huge shout-out to BMC for exposing this dude, ZelooperZ, to me. He's by no means an average rapper, if his association and collaboration with artists like Danny Brown and Earl Sweatshirt is any indication. When I first listened to this, I swear to God I thought it was multiple people rapping. There's no way ZelooperZ was the stage name for one dude. Just listen to the song to see what I mean. It's as if he's switching between cartoon personas every stanza in the song, and it makes for one of the most entertaining rap songs I've heard this year. It helps that his rapping is laid over such a hazy, and more important, THICK beat. The shit sounds like molasses, and it takes an already strange yet super interesting rapper and puts it on a different level, making for a song that you begin laughing at and then you keep playing it over and over again until your brain is leaking out of your ears. Just listen to the damn song, and equally importantly, listen to his most recent album, Dyn-o-mite, for more of this sound.

 

[WhoBibbles]

Damnit i fell for clickbait!