Tag: music

The Hit Songs of the Summer

ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

It occurred to me that I have been derelict on getting my full rankings of the charting single out this summer, which is no good because how else are we supposed to name a song of the summer? Let’s remedy that now that we’re officially into autumn.

June

  1. Roddy Ricch – Late at Night
  2. BTS – Butter
  3. Olivial Rodrigo – brutal
  4. Riton X Nightcrawlers ft. Mufasa & Hypeman
  5. Sofia Carson – Fool’s Gold
  6. Megan Thee Stallion – Thot Shit
  7. Bad Bunny – Yonaguni
  8. Polo G & Lil Wayne – GANG GANG
  9. Jackson Wang – LMLY
  10. DJ Khalid ft. Post Malone, DaBaby, Lil Baby and Megan Thee Stallion
  11. Olivia Rodrigo – hope ur ok
  12. Polo G ft. Lil Durk & The Kid LAROI
  13. Migos – Avalanhe
  14. Anitta – Girl From Rio
  15. Olivia Rodrigo – traitor
  16. Doja Cat – Need To Know
  17. Olivia Rodrigo – favorite crime
  18. Migos ft. Drake – Having Our Way
  19. Olivia Rodrigo – 1 step forward, 3 steps back
  20. Olivia Rodrigo – enough for you
  21. Olivia Rodrigo – jealousy, jealousy
  22. Olivia Rodrigo – happier
  23. Dierk Bentley – Gone
  24. Marshmello and the Jonas Brothers – Leave Before You Love Me
  25. AJ Mitchell – STOP
  26. Chris Young and Kane Brown – Famous Friends
  27. Nessa Barrett ft. jxdn – la di die

July

  1. Dua Lipa – Love Again
  2. Doja Cat & The Weeknd – You Right
  3. Tyler, the Creator ft. Lil Uzi Vert & Pharrell Williams
  4. Tate McRaw and Khalid – working
  5. BTS – Permission to Dance
  6. Rauv Alejandro – Todo de Ti
  7. Tyler, the Creator ft Youngboy Never Broke Again & Ty Dolla Sign – WUSYANAME
  8. Normani ft. Cardi B – Wild Side
  9. Billie Eilish – NDA
  10. Maneskin – Beggin’
  11. Coldplay – Higher Power
  12. Dan + Shay – Glad You Exist
  13. Bella Porarch – Build A Bitch
  14. Jason Aldean – Blame It On You
  15. Doja Cat – Ain’t Shit
  16. Cheat Codes – Lean On Me
  17. BIA ft. Nicki Minaj – WHOLE LOTTA MONEY
  18. DaBaby – Ball if I Want To
  19. The Kid LAROI ft. Justin Bieber – STAY
  20. NF – JUST LIKE YOU
  21. Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits
  22. Cole Swindell – Single Saturday Night
  23. Post Malone – Motley Crew
  24. Walker Hayes – Fancy Like
  25. Chase Rice ft. Florida Georgia Line – Drinkin’ Beer, Talkin’ God, Amen
  26. Aaron Lewis – Am I The Only One
August
  1. Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
  2. The Weeknd – Take My Breath
  3. Silk Sonic – Skate
  4. Lizzo ft. Cardi B – Rumors
  5. Kane Brown ft. Blackbear – Memory
  6. Pop Smoke ft. Dua Lipa – Demeanor
  7. Tones and I – Cloudy Day
  8. Tai Verdes – A-O-K
  9. Lainey Wilson – Things A Man Oughta Know
  10. TOMORROW X TOGETHER – Magic
  11. Aventura ft. Bad Bunny – Volvi
  12. Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood – If I Didn’t Love You
  13. Camilla Cabello – Don’t Go Yet
  14. Farruko – Pepas
  15. Lil Nas X ft. Jack Harlow – INDUSTRY BABY
  16. Luke Bryan – Waves
  17. Bazzi – I Like That
  18. WizKid ft. Justin Bieber and Tems – Essence
  19. Maroon 5 – Lost
And after all of that I am calling the song of the summer, which totally doesn’t line up with my rankings at the time but after hearing it a bunch the song for summer 2021 is…

Silk Sonic – Skate

You cannot deny this feel good jam. It should have risen a lot higher up the charts because this song is just too fun to be relegated to just the second single off the Silk Sonic record.

September 11, 2020

Z.Leave a comment

Marilyn Manson – We Are Chaos (Loma Vista/Marilyn Manson)

As most of 2020 has felt and looked like a sideshow to the Manson circus, it’s no surprise that We Are Chaos is his best work since Antichrist Superstar. On the title track, he bawls in his iconic warble, “We are sick, fucked up, and complicated. We are Chaos, We can’t be cured.” This is a sentiment that ties the tumultuous universe of the last 7 months to the angsty youth paradigm that gave the Dope Show its first staging.

After spending the last few years steeping himself in various pop and folk subgenres, covering Johnny Cash, and generally getting away from what he does best, We Are Chaos displays the musical maturity that comes from all that travelling. But DAMN! it’s good to be home. 

“RED, BLACK AND BLUE” is a psycho-glam masterpiece that opens with a creepy monologue, then launches into a full-on angry gothic takeover. “PAINT YOU” starts as a guitar and piano homage to Bowie and McCartney before ascending into noise. Classic Manson. 

Through his career, he has spent a lot of energy and lyrically punches on the falsity of celebrity and the foolishness of hero-worship, and that is just as true here. Some examples: “Just ‘cuz you’re famous doesn’t mean you’re worth anything / In this world or the next one or the one before” (“INFINITE DARKNESS”). “I’m not special, I’m just broken. And I don’t want to be fixed” (“SOLVE COAGULA”). “Am I a man or a show or a moment” (“WE ARE CHAOS”). 

While it’s not as chaotic as the title seems to indicate, it is as Manson as it gets. His self-torment and cultural flagellation are front and center. The album closer, “BROKEN NEEDLE”, sees him playing the part of a turntable stylus, broken by the grooves that mistreat it, scratching up the instigator, putting it away, and promising to “Never ever play you again”. That kind of lyric sticks with you. 

-JR

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September 4, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal (New West Records)

Wow. Musically this is a treat. 

This Nashville quartet is steeped in blues, psychedelia, prog, and stoner metal. While they are a hard rock outfit, they employ classical guitar, gothic tones, and their own blend of everything that came out of the Delta Swamp (Dr. John, Soylent Green, Junior Kimbrough, etc). 

This is their 6th album, if you don’t count live releases, which I don’t. That’s in just 8 years, making them almost as prolific as King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard or Steve Buscemi. Much like the aforementioned genre-bending geniuses, you never quite know what to expect from these cats. Even just on this record, there are significant differences among the tracks.

The album opens with a slow build into a Tool-esque jam in 6/8 (“Saturnine & Iron Jaw”), “Everest” is a Led Zeppelin-meets-Donovan guitar instrumental, which bleeds into a Soundgarden-style downbeat banger (“See You Next Fall”). That gets followed up by a folk/country/blues track (“The Children of Coyote Woman”). The latter of these brings me to my next point, because it is the first song on the album that truly works with this dude’s voice. Up to this point, his voice is sort of like a blemish on an otherwise pristine surface. It’s not bad enough to make you stop listening, may even make it interesting, but causes you to hold back. 

The next 2 songs show a different characteristic to his voice without actually changing what he’s doing. The music just finally suits the nearly monotonous style of the singing. “The Children of Coyote Woman”, “41”, and the album closer, “Rats in Ruin”, almost seem like they came from a different band. 

The album returns you to regularly scheduled programming: brilliant music and subpar-if-interesting vocals. I, personally, still found that the record was a great listen, but I would understand if you don’t agree.

FFO: Deaf Radio, Agents of Oblivion, King Gizzard

-JR

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The Podcast: The Eleventh – August 2020 In Review

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The FKA crew covers their favorite new albums of the month, discuss the best new arrivals in the top 40 and play a new game to help determine the filthiest song of all time.

Zack’s Top 3 Albums of the Month:
1. Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings
2. Mach-Hommy – Mach’s Hard Lemonade
3. Alex the Astronaut – The Theory of Absolutely Nothing

Jeremy’s Top 3 Albums of the Month:
1. Blues Pills – Holy Moley
2. Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings
3. King Buzzo with Trevor Dunn – Gift of Sacrifice

Dan’s Top 3 Hit Singles of the Month:
1. Taylor Swift ft. Bon Iver – exile
2. Taylor Swift – cardigan
3. Miley Cyrus – Midnight Sky

The Podcast: July 2020 in Review

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This week, we take a look at another pretty good month in music. Jeremy and Zack give us their favorite albums of the month, Dan looks at the best and worst top 40 hits and the guys play their first round of the Looks Like game.

Jeremy’s Top 3 Albums of July:
3. Mannequin Online – I Feel It
2. Gaerea – Limbo
1. Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue

Zack’s Top 3 Albums of July:
3. Gucci Mane – Gucci Mane Presents: So Icy Summer
2. Taylor Swift – folklore
1. Juice WRLD – Legends Never Die

Dan’s Top 2 Top 40 Tracks of July:
2. Megan Thee Stallion – Girls in the Hood
1. Lil’ Baby – The Bigger Picture

May 29, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Dive Index – Waving At Airplanes (Neutral Music)

In the past, I have been accused of comparing too many artists to Radiohead, to the point where that comparison loses some meaning. As such, I hesitate to use that as a jumping off point, even when the record is screaming for it. 

Dive Index is an L.A. based collaborative electronic project led by producer and composer, Will Thomas. Waving At Airplanes is the fifth full-length album under this name, and collaborators for this effort are vocalists Natalie Walker and Merz. In a convenient arrangement of songs, the tracks alternate back and forth between the two of them. 

Stylistically, this is shoegaze electronica at the top of the class. Most of the music is static pulses, electric blips and ethereal, atmospheric chord progressions. Every sound on the album is made using a modular synthesizer, with the exception of the construction sounds that happened to breach the studio soundproofing. 

Natalie’s vocals are beautiful and intoxicating, singing about deeply emotional moments of self-discovery, ignorance in relationships, and being absorbed by the things around us. “She’s Exploding”, “Wish I Had A Pulse” and the eponymous track stand out as jewels in this particular display case. Merz’s tracks, on the other hand, are a pretentious word salad that only occasionally stumble across a message. The most egregious example is “Pristine Wilderness”, which makes as much sense as a stroke victim with Tourette’s.     His tracks SOUND good, though, and ultimately, that’s what is most important. 

This record is definitely not for everyone, but it certainly struck a chord with me. 

FFO: Amnesiac-era Radiohead (Sorry. Had to.), Roger Eno, Ian Masters

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The Podcast: May 2020 In Review

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It’s time again to get the best new releases of the month, as Jeremy and Zack have their five best albums of the month while Dan has his rankings of the month’s new top 40 hits.

Zack’s Best of May:
5. Johanna Warren – Chaotic Good
4. Hayley Williams – Petals for Armor
3. Christian Lee Hutson – Beginners
2. Carly Ray Jepsen – Dedicated Side B
1. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Reunions

Jeremy’s Best of May:
5. Asking Alexandra – Like A House On Fire
4. Boston Manor – Glue
3. The 1975 – Notes On A Conditional Form
2. Deau Eyes – Let It Leave
1. Shiner – Schadenfreude

Dan’s Top Hit Singles of May:
3. Ali Gatie – What If I Told You That I Love You
2. Sam Smith & Demi Lovato – I’m Ready
1. Megan Thee Stallion – Savage

The Podcast: Our Favorite Jams For A Backyard BBQ

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We’re coming up on the unofficial start of summer and the FA guys have you covered with their favorite tracks to jam to during your next backyard barbecue. Before you ask, of course all three of us had DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince on our lists. C’mon, that is the ultimate summer jam.

In fact if you’re feeling froggy and want to get a head start on your playlisting, start with our lists all here in a link to a convenient Spotify playlist.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Dssa9LHszmeJPU1hl80xC?si=LqkP43F_T_Wzpd_6fGROAg

ANNOUNCEMENT TIME: Fairly Kickass can now be heard worldwide on the free iHeartRadio app. You can now take us wherever you go on the world’s largest podcast platform. Of course you can still find us on Spotify, Spreaker, Google Podcasts, Deezer, Podcast Addict and Podchaser. So if you’ve got podcasts, you can get Fairly Kickass directly into your earballs.

April 17th, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Nils – Caught In The Groove (Baja/TSR)

Let’s face it: these are trying times.  We’re all stuck inside, oftentimes without much to do.  Some of us are locked down with significant others, boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wifes, etc.  After that 5th or 6th ep of your rewatch binge of The Office, you glance at one another, and it’s time.  Clothes go off, deodorant goes on – don’t pretend that you smell good right now – and from there it’s into or onto the bed, the couch, or even the washing machine.

You know what’s missing in this scene?  The music, of course.  But not just any music; it has to be right.  The two of you (or more, I don’t judge) deserve it to be right.  And that’s where Caught In The Groove comes in.

I can’t claim to know much about German jazz musician Nils Jiptner, or what exactly he was thinking as he conceptualized this album.  Maybe it was an audio illustration of the rolling German countryside, or an ode to the neo-gothic architecture still on prominent display in Munich.  Perhaps it was more of a call-to-action, to encourage all who listen to unite and make the world a better place.  But regardless of any of that, this is very clearly a sex album for doing sex with other sex-doers.

From the uptempo “Good Times are Better” and “I Like The Way You Do It”, to the slower “My Mornings With You” and “All Roads Lead To You”… oh.  I guess Nils knew that he was making a sex album all along then.  As smooth as a fine whiskey, and as layered as a fine dip, Caught In The Groove delivers as a complete listening experience.  Good luck getting through the whole 12 track ride with your pants on.

FFO: Sex

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