“Short Court Style,” from Prass’ sophomore LP The Future and the Past, itself is equally joyous: Prass offers figurative revolutions to match the video’s literal ones, singing, “Oh you spin me round / Round and round / Had ups and downs / No but I can’t be without / My love that I have found.” The song’s irresistible groove makes for a slick and spirited showcase of Prass’ exquisite vocals, emphasizing her R&B leanings in irresistible fashion. —Lizzie Manno, There’s no chorus to speak of in this little gem from Haley Heynderickx’s brilliant debut album, nor any answers to the questions that this singer/songwriter is posing within it. In an effort to condense all that influence into one track, Travis Scott knew he had to give fans three songs in one. It’s a little absurd, but it works, and it’s tied together by Trippie’s knack for melody. You can listen to the songs here, check out the 50 best albums of the year or hear All Songs Considered's podcast discussion of the year in music. The song has garnered 300M views on YouTube and been RIAA Gold certified. By the time its optimistic, melancholy story abruptly ends, you can imagine what it's doing afterwards. It’s the sonic equivalent of that level of caffeine when you can’t close your eyes, and I mean that sincerely in a good way. —@Aenex, “Baby I’m Bleeding” is a chaotic, hard-hitting glitch-hop thrillride. Whether it was a self-love bop from one of rap’s rising female stars or a #MeToo anthem by a rightfully enraged rock band, a dizzying love song or a quiet muse on the bleak state of affairs, or maybe even a blissful pop song, this year’s tunes often provided us with just what we needed to get by in the moment, and we’re sure to be playing these jams for years to come. Beitragsdatum 7. She lays back at the start, her voice taut with emotion held barely in check. You have to enjoy that there's no conclusion. of voices. —Lauren Onkey, Third Coast Percussion was brave in opening its record Paddle to the Sea with "Madeira River," a cover from Philip Glass' 1993 work Águas da Amazônia. —Saquib Sayed, King Princess quickly found success with her debut single, “1950.” The self-written and produced track was inspired by Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, and draws parallels between King Princess’ own unrequited love and the way that queer love historically had to be concealed. Here are the songs that moved us in 2018. On standout “Jeannie Becomes A Mom,” Rose tackles aggressive suburban ideals, but “Bikini” freaks out on the insane expectations facing women in the spotlight (and women in general). —Lizzie Manno, Endless Scroll, the remarkable debut record from Brooklyn-based band Bodega, exists in a very specific time and place. It has fueled the popularity of each successive genre: the blues, bebop, rock, soul, funk, rap. It’s these larger-than-life sketches that echo all throughout the song as well. The second single from beerbongs & bentleys features a soothing atmospheric sound that somehow fits into both the party and “chill vibes” playlists. We tried to think piece our way through it, hoping the right interpretation might unlock the shackles that bind. —Lizzie Manno, Read Paste’s review of Amen Dunes’ Freedom, Probably one of the most talked-about #MeToo anthems this year, Courtney Barnett’s “Nameless, Faceless” vocalizes so well every woman’s fear: “I wanna walk through the park in the dark,” she sings, then citing a tactic many of us have, unfortunately, utilized before: “I hold my keys / Between my fingers.” She also quotes The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood in her three-minute diss track of both a nasty internet troll and the patriarchy: “Men are scared that women will laugh at them / Women are scared that men will kill them.” —Ellen Johnson, Watch Courtney Barnett play for Paste at South by Southwest circa 2015, “Prior Things” is the closer on Hop Along’s Bark Your Head Off, Dog, and it features a spontaneous, slightly off-kilter wash of violins (think Alex G’s “Poison Root”) as Frances Quinlan’s exquisite lead vocals sing of escaping the memories of past relationships (“You were on vacation / Vacation means leave / Means obliterate all prior things”). A perfect blend of smart, sensual lyrics and physicality that can't do anything but make you feel... good. —Ellen Johnson, Read Paste’s 2018 interview with Amanda Shires, “Love It If We Made It,” the second single from The 1975’s A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, opens with a quietly pulsing keyboard before Matt Healy comes in swinging with the drums and the brusque line, “Fucking in a car, shooting heroin.” That opening piano bit is at the backbone of the song, and the brighter, twinkling synth that comes in adds a shiny quality to the song’s atmosphere. Here are our picks for the best songs of the year. It’s time to add another to that esteemed list, the smooth, sleazy, and heartfelt “The Ultracheese,” a track that sees Turner turn in perhaps the best vocal take of his career. “Me not icey? If you're looking to start a party then this is the music you need in your life right now. —Zach Schonfeld, Listen to Wye Oak’s 2012 Daytrotter session, Something strange happened in early November: Ariana Grande released a song about her four ex-boyfriends, and both critics and fans loved it. "I Like It" succeeds because it honors the Bronx roots of the "boom" while pulling together three of the biggest players in American — it is American — music, a trap-boogaloo hit good enough for your parents on Noche Buena that, while not exempt from a spicy-mami-fication from Cardi, is unapologetically of la raza on the charts where "Despacito" demurred. Kerrin Sheldon and Elaine McMillion Sheldon, the directors of Recovery Boys, created a music video that tugged on a hanging thread in the song, the repeated "come on home" of the chorus. to times when I was broke” .Paak celebrates in his distinctively gritty and soulful voice—and “Bubblin” makes us overjoyed to celebrate alongside him. —Austin Rotter, An elusive experimental act whose name is as hard to identify as his genre, Yves Tumor gained more attention than ever before this year with his Warp Records debut Safe In The Hands Of Love. Despite the tabloid-like interest garnered by the lyrics, what makes the song stand out is how it highlights Grande’s self-love and growth. Mitski builds to a melodramatic, Sinatra-like tone, and as she modulates and modulates, you begin to reflect on the value of indulging your feelings — and then moving on. The long game of cyclical Latin "booms" belies the same truth Rodriguez recognized; that Latin culture has always been other, and has always shocked in its project of elevating the voices that have always done the heavy lifting in America. But in an interview with The New York Times, Robyn insisted that payoff wasn't what she was after at all. No pop star is negotiating celebrity more deftly than Grande right now; few are making songs as relatable as this one, either. The king of Latin trap shows his versatility by diving into a completely different sound. Childish Gambino wrote the new national anthem in blood this year and it left a permanent stain. But the band’s attraction lies in their veracity. It’s an unflinchingly powerful introduction to this new Noname, one who is ready, able and fully willing to become the next big thing. —@BigBabyGoat_HGA, “When I die, I’m goin' out as a underdog who never lost hope,” raps Joyner Lucas on Eminem’s “Lucky You,” over a hard-hitting beat produced by IllaDaProducer, Boi-1da, and Jahaan Sweet. Like all ubiquitous Apple commercials, a perfect song is cemented alongside an idea, where the song always prevails in mainstream thought in the long run over whatever the ad was selling. The song title roughly translates to “fuck love,” as Bad Bunny rejects romantic relationships due to the pain caused by his past lovers. —Stephen Thompson. The symbolism smacked us in the face. —@Aenex, Eminem teased “Killshot” for nearly a week before finally delivering the scorching response to Machine Gun Kelly’s “RAP DEVIL.” Nimbly rapping over a spooky piano loop, the Detroit legend extinguished their beef by outright denying MGK’s allegations of blackballing his career, and memorably took digs at the Cleveland native with lines like, “But I’m 45 and I’m still outselling you/By 29, I had three albums that had blew.” Thanks to the anticipation, “Killshot” only took eight hours to blow past 1 million Genius pageviews, and set a new YouTube record for most views of a hip-hop video in 24 hours. But then there's a wailing guitar solo, brief and controlled, followed by this line: "Shave your head to see how it feels / Emotionally it's not that different / but to the hand it's beautiful." This is an anthemic cry of both love and righteous anger. The song is also just as powerful sonically, as highlighted through a vibrant psych-rock sample provided by none other than Kanye West. —Sidney Madden, A colorful jumbo swirl lollipop made in Willy Wonka's factory, this weird, whimsical song goes straight to the vein with its sugary sweet pop hooks, but some pretty sobering topics lay just beneath the surface. The first two lines of the chorus reinforce his anti-commitment sentiment, while still managing to feel incandescent: “Give me reasons we should be complete/You should be with him, I can’t compete.” If you ever get bored of the album version and its equally chilling music video, the acoustic rendition continues to breathe more life into every utterance. A dance-y boasting of sexuality, “Boys” is a flirty summer jam. The myth of "Honey" could have overwhelmed the song itself. Fins – How Will Our Hero Get out of This One? Coming from her, the admission is almost unthinkable. “My blood brother’s Freddie Mercury / A Nigerian mother of three.” That’s right, your favorite “classic-rock” band was fronted by an immigrant from Zanzibar. “Bike Lane” is a high point on one of Malkmus’ strongest albums, which puts it in rare company indeed. Yet so much remains unexplained: The police shootings. 1 hits on Hot 100. The guest verse by British grime MC Skepta, interpolating the flow from DMX’s 2001 hit “Who We Be”, adds to the smoothness and catchiness of the song. Künstler*innen und Soloselbständige müssen sich seit Anbeginn der Coronapandemie und den Maßnahmen zur Eindämmung auf ein noch prekäreres Leben als zuvor einstellen. That’s the question at stake on the wonderfully raunchy “Boys,” which finds Lizzo grasping and declaring her sexuality via a series of delicious male typecasts. Viewers were quick to pinpoint hidden meanings and apocalyptic imagery, with explanation videos appearing all over YouTube. Es ist soweit: das Jahr neigt sich dem Ende. Saba’s pain at the loss of his friend culminates in a vocal sample from Walt himself, who sings “I just hope I make it ‘til tomorrow,“ eerily predicting his own death. "Nobody" is a song about what happens when you're self-aware enough to know no one can save you, empowered enough to know that being alone is perfectly alright, but still... so lonely. However, at the chorus things start falling apart in the relationship. —Aaron Williams, The politically-driven “SIRENS | Z1RENZ” appears on the second act of Denzel Curry’s TA13OO. Dezember ist unser letztes Heft 2018 erhältlich und wir haben es uns natürlich wie immer nicht nehmen lassen, für Euch das Beste vom Besten zusammenzustellen. Here's how it goes: In the eight years since Body Talk, the recordings that cemented Robyn's position as the den mother of the dance floor, she disappeared; she committed to years of intensive psychotherapy; she taught herself to produce her own songs; she worked on a new album. If played at that right moment, this song can turn any party into an all-out rager. Produced by frequent collaborator Turbo, the song is a showcase for the Atlanta duo’s unique cadence as they rap about life on the road as rising stars who meet women and make money. It’s pretty clear how Nielson feels about the U.S.’s harboring of right-wing ideals, including the “America First” policy, in 2018: In the “Land of the expensive,” “Even the Nazis are crying.” —Ellen Johnson, Read Paste’s 2015 interview with Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Elvis Costello has always had a talent for writing songs that you feel with your whole body, and “Under Lime” might be his most orgasmic yet. While an upbeat track (“you should see me in a crown”) earned the singer her first Billboard Hot 100 single, she dives back into singing about her deepest feelings and emotions on “when the party’s over.” The production, curated by Eilish’s older brother and usual collaborator Finneas, consists solely of a few mellow piano strings and “hundreds of layered vocals,” making the track a delicate ode to introspection. Barnett's recommendation is the simplest form of self-care: Know your limits, and step away when it gets to be too much. But even when they’re goofing around, they’re still delivering on the hype; Jay Rock’s verse is memorable as ever and Kendrick’s verbosity is on full display, making “King’s Dead” the most enduring song from the Black Panther soundtrack. Saba recalls vivid memories of their friendship and his verse ends with the moment he found out about Walt’s tragic death. But for all its anger, "Your Dog" doesn't deny the reality that most women, of any age, often wish we had stood up for ourselves just a bit sooner; it's only after being pushed aside a few too many times, after all, that Allison's bitterness ferments into the perfectly-coiled guitar riff that ripens and unspools across the song. Her therapeutic self-talk could come across as insipid, but producers Tommy Brown and Social House surround Grande's vocal lines with synth glitter trails that enrapture the mind like the mellowest afternoon high, and the singer shows why she's the true heir to her role model Mariah Carey: not her big notes, which find no place here, but the way she dances like a butterfly through even the densest lyrical lines. — Scott Russell, Read Paste’s 2018 interview with Snail Mail, “Night Shift,” the opening track on Paste’s album of the year, is Lucy Dacus’ first and only break-up song, and a modern classic of the form at that. The standout cut from Eminem’s 2018 album Kamikaze, it peaked at No. It's hard to exactly calculate the cultural debt that hip-hop owes Houston. —Eric R. Danton, Read Paste’s 2018 interview with Stephen Malkmus, The title track from Andrews’ latest shows the full scope of her ability as a writer and a jaw-dropping vocalist. —Saaanto, The only single from Trippie Redd’s A Love Letter To You 3 mixtape, “Topanga” utilizes Trippie’s greatest feature: his singing. “Love It If We Made It” is the politically critical anthem from The 1975’s A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. Pair this with arguably the best rap verse of Jeremih’s career, as well as a smooth chorus from the R&B star, and this becomes one of the most enjoyable songs of 2018. The song is produced by Frank Dukes who provides an eerie vibe throughout the track using samples from Abel’s previous work, but it’s the meteoric chorus that set this song apart as one of the Weeknd’s best. Im Laufe des Jahres änderte sich diese Zusammenstellung immer wieder, denn einige Songs konnten mich auf Dauer nicht überzeugen und wurden von neuen verdrängt. "Nice for What" is the song you know you will dance to, every one of the thousand times it's played each night, and you will have a cheesy smile plastered on your face the whole time. —Zach Schonfeld, Arctic Monkeys sure know how to end an album. No one is safe from Noname’s polemic—not the artists that blow up and move to the yuppie Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago, not those mammy-stereotype “Power of Pine-Sol” commercials, not even Noname herself for indulging in noted anti-LGBT restaurant Chick-Fil-A. These are the songs that helped us understand 2018 and survive in 2018. —Cindy Howes (Folk Alley & WYEP), The title song from Hozier's first release since his 2014 debut celebrates his musical heroes, in particular those who made a difference in the fight for civil rights. On her previous songs, observation was her stock in trade; even "Depreston," this song's closest cousin in her discography, built meaning from an accumulation of details that would be easy for anyone else to overlook. This song isn’t just meant to be heard, it’s meant to be experienced with a large group of people losing their minds. Wie kommen sie resilient durch die Krise? This song forces you to dance, it forces you to yell “WIDE AWAKE” whenever the band does, and it works well both within its record and on its own. It’s bracing, as Malkmus offers sarcastic sympathy for the cops, and also irresistibly catchy, with a propulsive beat, squiggles of keyboards and an off-kilter guitar workout. RBCF’s songwriting tricks you into thinking it’s effortless, which is something we all needed this year. It sounds like a thrilling industrial-funk cacophony. The final verse sees the duo trading bars, showcasing the full potential of two talented artists and making this song hard to forget. Streaming has been reshaping the music industry for the past few years, and in 2018 you could feel it more than ever. It wasn't subtle. —Josiah Botting, After years of subliminal back-and-forths, the beef between Pusha-T and Drake exploded this year. —Austin Rotter, Donald Glover and director Hiro Murai weave a fever dream of violent visuals and striking surrealism with the music video for the Ludwig Göransson-produced “This Is America.” Released on the day of Glover’s SNL appearance, the surprise single managed to transcend genres and cultures, spawning an array of parodies.