#70 - "I'm Better" by Missy Elliott & Lamb
It is not Christmas without Shaun trying to flog the hell out of an underperforming Missy Elliott comeback that happened some time this year.
For fans of: steampunks pulling off interesting choreography, fashion darling fashion
#69 - "Big For Your Boots" by Stormzy
*Louis Walsh voice* you look like a popstar, you sound like a popstar! The UK really need to pick up their phones and get behind... *checks card* Stormy!
For fans of: poor chicken-shop etiquette and hygiene practices
#68 - "Dream Daddy" by Baths
aka the only tolerable thing that Baths released this year
For fans of: trying to make The Sims as gay as was possible
#67 - "How Can I Tell Him" by Jens Lekman
I was not really ready for Jens Lekman putting into words pretty much EXACTLY how I felt roughly ten years ago but I'm happy he did because this was fun in retrospect. In the "messy, heartbreaking, gross" sort of way.
For fans of: falling for straight friends x
#66 - "Blissing Me" by Björk
I will defend to the death the pretentiousness and difficulty with which one has to 'access' a Björk album, because there have been a LOT of excellent ones... but 2017's Utopia was not one of them
This was a gorgeous intro that is essentially the only effort worth keeping around.
For fans of: Nina Bo'nina Brown finally making a mainstream friend
#65 - "XO Tour Llif3" by Lil Uzi Vert
Whilst the "fuzzy 90s filming style" music video is as tired as LeatherTrumpet in a train carriage full of Sikhs, Mr. Uzi Vert had the good grace to interpolate it with some Japanese horror and gothic influences that made it as unplaceable as the song itself. It's weird and I like it.
For fans of: things that turn up in Dezzy's avatar
#64 - "Falling" by Fever Ray
I remember when I started trying to be a hipster that I didn't really 'get' The Knife, the Swedish electronic pioneers on hiatus that featured Fever Ray. Chuck in the fact it's been nearly 10 years since her first and only other album, and the mystery about her recording process is matched only by the darkness and layered creativity about what she puts out. Here she sounds almost angry falling for another girl - "SHE'S MAKING ME FEEL DIRTY AGAIN" its refrain.
For fans of: suddenly realising you're a lesbian in a steelworks factory.
#63 - "911 / Mr. Lonely" by Tyler, the Creator
A lot of the attention received by Tyler for this year's album centred on him supposedly coming out
years ago but for me the biggest revelation was that he could actually make a contender for album of the year. '911/Mr. Lonely' has all the multi-instrumental funk of Thundercat and all the laid-bare vulnerability of Frank Ocean: Tyler's arguable two greatest peers.
For fans of: not knowing what to do with your newfound riches
#62 - "Third of May / Ōdaigahara" by Fleet Foxes
I know I've just said it was a near-decade wait for a new Fever Ray album but the gap between 2011's Helplessness Blues and this year's Fleet Foxes album was almost unbearable. If you are unfamiliar, think of them as Mumford and Sons for adults. Pure unadulterated joy through means of folk music with gorgeous vocals. It's like they never left
For fans of: stuff that is super-uplifting for a change?
#61 - "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man
I assumed this would be 'that song' that Benjamin would've posted the thread for 5 months before it becomes absolutely HUGE a la Gotye/Foster the People/Nico & Vinz etc. Because it was hovering around the bottom of the charts for a while but never quite had the kick into superstardom. Which is a shame because it's excellent!
For fans of: confusing countries with individual people, I guess?