I didn’t get up to 100 songs this year. I tried and there just wasn’t enough material for 100 that I felt warranted listing. There’s a ton of stuff I haven’t heard, as there is every year, but these are the best of the music of which I had a chance to listen.
The order isn’t that important, though I’m designating Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and “Me And Your Mama” as numbers 1 and 1a, respectively. Other than that feel free to shuffle the Spotify playlist or mess around with the rankings on your own. I think there’s something here for pretty much everyone, including some great Chicago talent.
70. Sons Of An Illustrious Father-Post Future
69. Noname-Diddy Bop
68. Jenny Gillespie-Last Mystery Train
67. PJ Harvey-Ministry Of Defence
66. The Jayhawks-Pretty Roses In Your Hair
65. Kitten-Knife
64. Regina Spektor-Black And White
63. Cross Record-Something Unseen Touches A Flower To My Forehead
62. Summer Cannibals-Full Of It
61. Ravyn Lenae-Moon Shoes
60. Cousin Dud-Eloise’s Revenge
59. Maids-These Days
58. The Wind And The Wave-Skin And Bones
57. The Romantic Comedy-The Thirst
56. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds-Rings Of Saturn
55. Golden Bloom-Great Unknown
54. Kendrick Lamar-Untitled 08
53. Rihanna-Needed Me
52. Shakey Graves-Tomorrow
51. Run The Jewels-Legend Has It
50. Islands-Pumpkin
49. Donnie Biggins-When You Return
48. M.I.A.-Visa
47. J. Cole-Neighbors
46. Ezra Furman-The Refugee
45. Johnny Gallagher-Dangerous Strangers
44. AJJ-No More Shame, No More Fear, No More Dread
43. Nice As Fuck-Cookie Lips
42. St. Lenox-Thurgood Marshall
41. Twin Peaks-Holding Roses
40. Jarryd James-1000x
39. Warpaint-New Song
38. The All About-If This City
37. Angel Olsen-Heart Shaped Face
36. Justin Timberlake-Can’t Stop The Feeling
35. Schoolboy Q-THat Part
34. Night School-Teen Feelings
33. Solange-Mad
32. Nas-Wrote My Way Out
31. The Felice Brothers-Life In The Dark
30. Philip-Michael Scales-Stay
29. Lucinda Williams-Place In My Heart
28. ZAYN-BeFoUr
27. Tindersticks-Were We Once Lovers?
26. HÆLOS-Dust
25. Phantogram-You Don’t Get Me High Anymore
24. Wilco-Cry All Day
23. Glen Hansard-Way Back In The Way Back When
22. Arkells-Drake’s Dad
21. Deap Vally-Smile More
20. Christopher The Conquered-I’m Giving Up On Rock & Roll
19. Shovels & Rope-Botched Execution
18. Frank Ocean-Self Control
17. Fort Frances-Take The Wheel
16. Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam-1000 Times
15. Bruno Mars-24K Magic
14. Hinds-Castigadas En El Granero
13. The Thermals-Thinking Of You
12. Jason Collett-Forever Young Is Getting Old
11. Brian Fallon-Smoke
10. Conor Oberst-A Little Uncanny
9. Slothrust-Like A Child Hiding Behind Your Tombstone
8. Beck-Wow
7. The Strumbellas-Young And Wild
6. Chance The Rapper-Summer Friends
5. Leonard Cohen-Treaty
4. Wet-I Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl
3. Chairlift-Polymorphing
1a. Childish Gambino-Me And Your Mama
1. Childish Gambino-Redbone