THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
Time to finally close out the first half of the year with the best and worst songs of June (in my opinion). Not gonna lie, I didn't really focus on listening to music much this month. I spent most of it alternating between work, writing short plays, and spending time with my girlfriend. Believe it or not, I do have a life. But nonetheless, I still managed to listen to a healthy amount of songs. There are some great songs, there are some not so great songs, yada yada yada. By this point, you should know all of this. I will say that this particular month is special. There is one song that is so bizarre, so weird, so bat-shit insane, that I cannot put it in either the top OR bottom 3. It is listed as the only song in the "special mentions" list, because it is special. Click here to read the last one. Let's get this over with.
THE TOP 3
Genre: Alternative
City and Colour is one of my favorite bands/artists of all time. Dallas Green makes amazing, beautiful music when he's away from Alexisonfire (yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm not a huge fan of them). The way he mixes rock, alternative, folk, country, and acoustic music, all while making a gorgeous, sometimes spacey atmosphere, is mesmerizing. This new song "Strangers" exemplifies his knack of making atmospheric melodies, with these fantastic, echoing synths (or are they gospel vocals?) dispersed throughout the chorus. The melody is so simple, yet it's incredibly soulful, filling up the room in pure ambiance. Green sounds as great as always, and his lyrics about the world's distress has some interesting poetry to them. This song reminds me why City and Colour makes some of the best and most overlooked alternative music you can find. Listen to this, then listen to his other stuff, particularly the first three City and Colour albums! Some of my favorites are "Day Old Hate," "Hello, I'm in Delaware," "Waiting," "Sleeping Sickness," "Fragile Bird," and "Weightless."
Genre: Alternative Rock
This song is absolutely enchanting in every way. The acoustic guitar strumming is so simple yet it builds a creepy, intense vibe, and it sounds beautiful. Chelsea's voice glides over the guitar very well, sounding both soothing and eerie at the same time. The first two verses and choruses are pretty constant in their vibe, only subtly building on itself. It does a great job of creating a somber, dramatic atmosphere that goes all out at the bridge. The final leg of the track is outstanding, with an amazing orchestral section. It sounds so epic yet so sad. This is a gorgeous, intense, enchanting song that captivated me from the first listen. From what little I've heard from Chelsea's music, this is a lot different. Her other stuff is a lot creepier and more rock and metal influenced. This is definitely a lot more cinematic, grand, and orchestral. The final verse sounds like it could be a movie score. This is an amazing song that I think more people should pay attention to.
Genre: Art Punk
Every once in a while, you hear a song that feels less like a song and more like an experience. It's a song that is so entrancing in the way it tells a story through its music that merely calling it a song sounds like an injustice. This 6 minute song by Tropical Fuck Storm gives me a feeling like that; more so than any other song I've heard all year. The guitar playing is odd, as it sounds like it's deliberately out of tune. A lot of half steps are played, as well as random noodling being dispersed throughout the track. It starts off quiet, but it explodes once the chorus hits. And Gareth Lilliard sounds absolutely deranged on vocals. His dry, raspy, yelpy voice gives off such a feeling of urgency. He fits so well with the music. And the lyrics he sings, as well as the way he sings them, are downright psychotic. Everything about this song is so weird, so uncomfortable, and fantastically captivating. The final verse onward is probably the greatest piece of musicianship and songwriting you'll find all year. I'm not going to lie and say that this is for everybody. This isn't even a genre of music that I like all that much. With that being said, I love this song. It's beautiful, noisy, chaotic, deranged, and spectacular. It took me about four listens to truly fall in love with this one, as it definitely tests your patience (not in a bad way), and I am so glad I gave it the time to sink in with me. As of right now, this is my favorite song of the year. This is the greatest example of treating music as art that 2019 has to offer.
Honorable Mentions:
Genre: Alternative
Genre: Pop
Genre: Country
THE BOTTOM 3
Genre: Pop
Honestly, this song isn't all that bad. The beat is kind of nice and both Ellie Goulding and Juice WRLD do their parts well enough. This is one of those situations where most of the songs I heard this month were not that awful. I mean, yeah, this is a dull, boring, dumb pop song about bad relationships, which we have certainly NEVER heard of before, but I've heard worse in that vain. What ends up putting this song on the bottom 3 instead of the songs in the dishonorable mentions is the chorus. It sounds so whiny and petty, with the vocal melody sounding like an immature "nah nah nah nah" thing. You know how little kids are being snotty brats and make noises at other kids as a way to mock them? It sounds like that. I'm pretty sure it's the point, but it's annoying. Plus neither Ellie nor Juice have any emotion in their voices at the choruses. All of that hurts what is otherwise a passable, yet completely derivative and forgettable, pop song.
Genre: Pop Rap
I have never liked Nicki Minaj. From what I've heard, almost everything she's released is insufferably annoying. This song I can comfortably fit in that category. The chorus is one of the most grating I've heard all year, with awful autotune and the completely unnecessary "brat da da da" thing that she does. Every time it comes on, it makes me roll my eyes. The lyrics are typical Nicki topics, talking about alcohol, sex, how sexy she is, etc. It's nothing new or interesting. However, the absolute worse part about this song is that horrendous guitar riff that plays over and over and over. It's very repetitive and completely tone-deaf. It sounds so out of place to the beat itself and I hate it. I can appreciate that she didn't just resort to generic sub-bass, but I would prefer that over what we have here. This song is just stupid and annoying. In other words, it's a Nicki Minaj song. Next.
Genre: Trap
Get it? It's like the Super Bowl, but instead of footballs... it's strippers. Hilarious, right? I think what's sadder than the premise of this song is how amateur it sounds. You listen to the first five seconds of this second and tell me what happens before the actual intro sounds fitting. I swear to God, the first five seconds of this song sounds like an outtake that they just slapped on the beginning of the track before the actual intro. It sounds so out of place and sudden. It should have been cut out. But other than that, the beat is weak, the guys's flows are generic trap, and the lyrics are stupid. What more do you expect from a lame, generic trap song? You know what, nevermind. The premise of this song is the saddest aspect. IT'S LIKE THE SUPER BOWL BUT IT'S WITH STRIPPERS HAHAHA GET IT? I hate trap.
Dishonorable Mentions
Genre: Pop
Genre: Indie Pop
Genre: Trap
Special Mention:
Genre: Electronic
Sometimes, you hear a song that, no matter how many times you listen to it, you manage to be utterly confused. That's how I am for the lead single of the Eric Andre lead musical project Blarf. This song, aptly titled "Badass Bullshit Benjamin Buttons Butthole Assassin," is one of weirdest songs of the year. It is full of so many musical passages and samples, and it all sounds like a jarbled mess. There are some parts that sound really cool. There are some parts that sound like unlisteneable, incomprehensible garbage. It's all very strange, surreal, and hard to wrap my mind around. In other words, this is definitely the kind of music only Eric Andre can create. It's so good it's bad, it's so bad it's good, it's so good it's good, and it's so bad it's bad. I still have no idea what to think of this monstrosity of a masterpiece, this beauty of an atrocity. So just... listen to it for yourself. It is absolutely insane, in all the best and worst ways possible. Check it out. Just make sure you're listening to it on headphones... and maybe with the video minimized on your desktop. I mean, you can watch the video, just... be careful, okay? I care about you.
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