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Tag Archives: Best Songs
Rankstravaganza: My 30 Favorite Songs of 2018
“Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything is awful!!!”
That, my friends, was 2018, in all its mortifying, capricious, senseless absurdity. I can think of no better soundtrack. Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Anderson .Paak, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2018, Chvrches, David Byrne, Dessa, Father John Misty, Field Report, Forth Wanderers, Hurry, James Bay, Janelle Monae, Kali Uchis, Laura Viers, Leon Bridges, Linda Gail Lewis, Mapache, MGMT, Mitski, Natalie Prass, Natheniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Nefesh Mountain, Parquet Courts, Post Animal, Rankstravaganza, Ravyn Lenae, Robbie Fulks, Soccer Mommy, The Coup, The Decemberists, The Hold Steady, They Might Be Giants, Ty Segall, Wye Oak
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Rankstravaganza 2017: My Top 30 Songs of the Year
Even the shittiest of years can produce moments of musical transcendence. The tumult of 1968 gave us Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Sweetheart of the Rodeo and Bookends, for starters. Stephen Foster probably wrote some pretty melody or other in … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Aimee Mann, Allison Moorer, Arcade Fire, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2017, Carly Rae Jepsen, Charly Bliss, Chris Stapleton, Death From Above, Deb Talan, Everyone is Dirty, Father John Misty, Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Goldfrapp, Grandaddy, Haim, Jason Isbell, JR JR, Killer Whale, Nelly Furtado, Nicole Atkins, Randy Newman, Rankstravaganza, Seth Cohen, Shelby Lynne, Spoon, The Mavericks, The Mountain Goats, The New Pornographers, Timothy Monger, Ty Segall, Waxahatchee, Whitney Rose
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Rankstravaganza 2016: My Top 30 Favorite Songs of the Year
The past year was nothing if not a “low-flying panic attack” … . Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged A Tribe Called Quest, Against Me!, Ages and Ages, Amanda Shires, Anderson .Paak, Astronoid, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2016, Car Seat Headrest, Chance The Rapper, Cool Ghouls, Diarrhea Planet, Drive-By Truckers, Frankie Cosmos, Garbage, Into It. Over It., Lydia Loveless, M. Ward, Margo Price, Maria Usbeck, Modern Baseball, Nice As Fuck, Parquet Courts, Pinegrove, Radiohead, Rankstravaganza, Robbie Fulks, Sean Watkins, The Avalanches, The Monkees, The Thermals, Wilco, Wye Oak
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Rankstravaganza 2015: My 25 favorite songs of the year
Ha! You thought this blog was done for. Surprise! I’m back. (Fair warning, though: There might not be another post until New Year’s Eve 2016. I am, however, staying somewhat active with posting both music- and planning-related stuff on this … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Beck, Ben Folds, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2015, Boxed In, Christopher Owens, Chvrches, Electric Light Orchestra, Jacco Gardner, Jeff Lynne's ELO, Josh Ritter, JR JR, Low, Murder By Death, Natalie Prass, Nate Ruess, Patty Griffin, Rankstravaganza, Ratatat, Sleater-Kinney, Strange Names, The Lone Below, The Mountain Goats, Veruca Salt, Watkins Family Hour, Waxahatchee, White Reaper, Wilco, Will Butler, yMusic Ensemble
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Rankstravaganza 2014: My 30 favorite songs of the year
I basically haven’t posted anything new to this blog since my 2013 year-end roundup. It’s been a busy year full of new challenges and responsibilities, but I’ve continued to listen to new music and compulsively keep track of what got … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Local Bands, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Against Me!, Ages and Ages, Andrew Bird, Beck, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2014, Black Prairie, Bleachers, Bob Mould, Bruce Springsteen, Conor Oberst, Death From Above, Jack White, Jungle, Lydia Loveless, Mimicking Birds, Nickel Creek, OK Go, Pixies, Rankstravaganza, Robyn, Röyksopp, Sharon Van Etten, Sims, Spoon, Sturgill Simpson, The Black Keys, The Family Crest, The Hold Steady, The New Pornographers, The War on Drugs, Ty Segall, Weezer, Wye Oak
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Rankstravaganza 2013: My 30 Favorite Songs of the Year
Once again, I’m turning this in a few days past deadline. No matter! It’s still not too late to celebrate 2013, which in my musical estimation was a year of songwriters singing about specific places, of longer-than-long-awaited follow-ups, of gorgeous … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Amanda Shires, Arcade Fire, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2013, Best Tracks of 2013, Cloud Cult, David Bowie, Dessa, Foals, Free Energy, Janelle Monae, Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter, King Khan and the Shrines, Low, Maurice Tani, My Bloody Valentine, Of Montreal, Okkervil River, Patty Griffin, Phoenix, Queens of the Stone Age, Rankstravaganza, Robbie Fulks, Shannon and the Clams, Son Volt, Steve Earle, Stornoway, Superchunk, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Thee Oh Sees, They Might Be Giants, Wavves, Waxahatchee
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Halftime Report: My 15 favorite songs of 2013 thus far
Weird, right? The year’s already half over. I say this every July, but this year really and truly has been zipping by even faster than the normal zippiness. So far in 2013, I’ve only made a couple of new discoveries … Continue reading
Posted in Halftime Report, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Best Songs, Best Songs of 2013, Cloud Cult, Daft Punk, David Bowie, Foals, Free Energy, Halftime Report, Josh Ritter, Low, My Bloody Valentine, Patty Griffin, Phoenix, Pulp, Son Volt, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, The Thermals, They Might Be Giants
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Rankstravaganza: My 30 Favorite Tracks of 2012
Here is this year’s obligatory list-making, by the numbers: 3 Bay Area acts 6 solo female artists 2 re-united ’90s bands A ton of vaguely folky indie rock—no surprise Just 2 hip-hop tracks—I apologize 1 song that actually got some … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Adele, Amy Winehouse, Andrew Bird, Antibalas, Ben Folds Five, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2012, Best Tracks of 2012, Bowerbirds, Bruce Springsteen, Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons, Divine Fits, Fiona Apple, Garbage, Ghost & The City, Grizzly Bear, Jack White, Kate Kilbane & The Cellar Doors, Kelly Hogan, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Lord Huron, Matt Jones & The Reconstruction, Nas, Of Montreal, Paul Weller, Punch Brothers, Rankstravaganza, Regina Spektor, Rufus Wainwright, Sharon Van Etten, Shearwater, St. Lucia, The Coup, The Gaslight Anthem, The Soundtrack of Our Lives
4 Comments
Halftime Report: My 15 favorite songs of 2012 thus far
Wow, I am late getting this up. Everybody knows “best of the year so far” posts are supposed to by up by July 1, no exceptions! I have an excuse, though: My right hand was wrapped up in a splint … Continue reading
Posted in Halftime Report, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Andrew Bird, AU, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2012, Best Tracks of 2012, Bowerbirds, Bruce Springsteen, Ghost & The City, Halftime Report, Jack White, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Matt Jones & The Reconstruction, Of Montreal, Punch Brothers, Rufus Wainwright, Sharon Van Etten, Shearwater, Snow Patrol, St. Lucia, Trampled By Turtles
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Rankstravaganza: My 10 favorite tracks of 2011 by Bay Area acts
I’ve only had a year and some change to really immerse myself in the Bay Area music scene, and I’m still feeling my way around and discovering new things daily. So I would never dare to say the following tracks … Continue reading
Posted in Bay Area Music, End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Art Elliot, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2011, Best Tracks of 2011, Blame Sally, Deerhoof, Fake Your Own Death, Foreign Legion, Foxtails Brigade, John Vanderslice, Kapowski, local bands, local local local, Rankstravaganza, Shannon and the Clams, Wax Idols
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