Fat Joe and Remy Ma featuring Jay Z, French Montana and Infared “All the Way Up (remix)” (RNG/Empire) New York rap comeback, senior division.ġ5. Randy Houser “Song Number 7” (Stoney Creek) This country burner is a love song about a love song.ġ4. French Montana featuring Kodak Black “Lockjaw” (Coke Boys/Bad Boy/Epic) Two of rap’s premier word swallowers go toe to toe.ġ3. Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane “Black Beatles” (EarDrummers/Interscope) An arena-size ambient rap masterpiece.ġ2. Pearson Sound “XLB” (Hessle Audio) David Kennedy, who records as Pearson Sound, pushes minimal dance music toward brilliant disorientation by setting up drum-machine patterns and melting them down in stereo.ġ1. Sylvan Esso “Radio” (Partisan) Very meta: a perky synth-pop single about the 21st-century single, from optimum length to marketing requirements: “Faking the truth in a new pop song/Don’t you want to sing along?”Ģ5.
Olsen cranks them up to the point of obsession, from her distorted guitar to the rising frenzy in her voice.Ģ4. Angel Olsen “Shut Up Kiss Me” (Jagjaguwar) Some fundamental things apply - a chord progression out of doo-wop, a plea to get back together - but Ms. Emeli Sandé “Hurts” (Capitol) In some ways the song is as blunt as its title and chorus - “Loving you the way I do, it hurts” - but its fierce handclapping beat, tempestuous orchestral buildups and rush of accusations mean that Ms. GoGo Penguin “Unspeakable World” (Blue Note) The piano-bass-drums trio GoGo Penguin bridges jazz, Minimalism and (even with acoustic instruments) the strategies of dance music, stacking up elaborate ostinatos and seeing how, with a little guidance, they can evolve.Ģ2. Lori McKenna “Wreck You” (CN) The longtime country songwriter Lori McKenna analyzes a breakup in progress, with homely details and an aching melody.Ģ1. Weaves “One More” (Kanine) “Watch out!” Jasmyn Burke warns, and no wonder: “One More” is a burst of zigzagging, guitar-crazed indie-rock with a wild slapstick momentum.Ģ0. Spalding brings as songwriter, singer and bassist, but it’s not all acrobatics there’s a merry spirit behind the music.ġ9. Esperanza Spalding “Unconditional Love” (Concord) Meter shifts and melodic twists reflect the prodigious technique Ms. Lynn’s deep twang reach back to classic honky-tonk, in a new song pulled from her old notebooks.ġ8. Loretta Lynn featuring Elvis Costello “Everything It Takes” (Sony Legacy) The wordplay, the sighing pedal-steel guitar and Ms. Jones sings about in “Flipside” while she worked with jazz musicians and delves into some abstruse chords, she didn’t leave her pop instincts behind.ġ7. Norah Jones “Flipside” (Blue Note) An insistent four-note riff underlines the newfound self-assertion Ms. Dacus wants to change hers - maybe cute or smart - and while her voice keeps its lush croon, her guitar gets pushy.ġ6. Lucy Dacus “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore” (Matador) Roles are confining Ms.
Iggy Pop “Gardenia” (Loma Vista) Iggy Pop’s collaboration with Josh Homme yielded this absurd character study - or is it a love song? - full of odd-angled melodies.ġ5.