Counting Down My Top 99 Songs of 2017 According to Spotify

99. Timeless - A Boogie Wit A Hoodie (produced by DJ Spinking)



This song is okay. I listened to it a bunch in early/middle 2017 when I got back into rap for 20 year olds. There's a playlist on Spotify called "Most Necessary" that recaps this genre. I liked the beat because it was doing something different than you typically hear in the kids mumble rap these days. The repetitive, mesmeric hook is cool. The fact that Boogie's vocals/lyrics are crystal clear was also novel given that he appeals to the kids. I'm not that into the rapping, but I do like when he yells "HUH". Boogie is clearly competent, but everything I hear of his is pretty boring. This song is pretty boring now too!

98. From Black to Blue - Yo La Tengo



This is a super banger! A great song on one of the GOAT albums. I spent a lot of time with some of the choicest deep cuts on And Then Nothing... in the middle of 2017. It's one of my favorite albums to put on for a long drive. It's one of my favorite albums to put on when someone else is in the car. It's one of my favorite albums.

Nothing boring about this slow and deliberate sweet treat. This is a fine example of why YLT is one of the greats: they execute this kind of song so flawlessly. They churn out subtle songs like this with such regularity.

Lots of classics in the first half of the album obviously, but the second half takes things home with aplomb. There's another song from this album WAY WAY up the list. Can you guess what it is?

And is it, “Let’s save Tony Orlando’s house?”

Ned Braden wrote:And is it, “Let’s save Tony Orlando’s house?”

NOPE! Tony Orlando is one of the great songs, but didn't make this list of frequently played gems.

97. Stars of the Lid - The Lonely People Are Getting Lonelier



This is the most accessible track on what I consider to be the masterwork from SOTL, The Tired Sounds Of.... It's a complete mood in ten minutes. It builds, it broods, and it buries. The tones on this track are so warm, the synths so human. The sounds reverberate throughout your whole being. Like all the songs on The Tired Sounds Of... there's also a creeping sense of menace, as if the monster under the bed is only one false move away from clawing your eyes out. Upon repeated lessons, however, this tension becomes a comfort. Armed with the knowledge that in the end, it'll be alright, the song exudes calmness. In that way it mirrors life. The mysterious, frightening places of the world are feared for their uncertainty. Once you see what's inside, you can enjoy their creepy imperfections. "The Lonely People Are Getting Lonelier" is that broken down, hollowed out building near the train tracks that a young boy will go and hide on his own to get away from it all, unfazed by the dank darkness.

96. Nightmares on Wax - You Wish



The first track that is a reflection of the fact that I shared my Spotify account with my sister. At least it's not jam band folk shit (that's coming later)! Nightmares on Wax flipped "Players Club" by Rappin 4Tay like so many other have. This is boring.

95. Mandolin Orange - Hey Stranger



My sister really likes Mandolin Orange. Fuck this bullshit.

how did you obtain this list? I would like to do this as well. A Thread for Each of Us!

Man, I love that Nightmares on Wax album. Strange choice to have listened to repeatedly, I suppose. I can still click my fingers to it tho

C-poots wrote:how did you obtain this list? I would like to do this as well. A Thread for Each of Us!

Spotify auto-generates a playlist called "Your Top Songs of 2017". It's a fascinating time capsule.

94. She - Tyler the Creator ft. Frank Ocean



I love this song!! This was peak Tyler for me: dark, menacing, irreverent, beautiful, melodic, impactful. Frank did his thing here. Last year that song was six years old and it still hit me like it was fresh every time I put it on. That's why I had a couple phases of listening to it on repeat throughout the year.

As with many Odd Future songs, it viscerally captures the stupid emotions of youth. "She" in particular touches on the disconnect between how young men talk about women ('slutty bitches who I want to fuck') and how they feel about them ('they're so pretty and they make me cry').

Musically, the rat tat tat drum pattern and woozy synth hook are what make Tyler great. This is one of the most musically accessible things he's ever done. THIS. IS. POP!!

I could listen to this song 1000 times and you should too.

93. Frank Ocean - Solo



This song is incredible. People went absolutely apeshit when Blonde came out, but like all Frank projects before it, there are really only 2-3 songs you need to be listening to. They're just that much better than everything that surrounds them. "Solo" is one of those songs. It's a rare pop song where the lyrics are so good you can read them on a page. I used to walk around at night singing this chorus:

It's hell on Earth and the city's on fire
Inhale, in hell there's heaven
There's a bull and a matador dueling in the sky
Inhale, in hell there's heaven

It's an image that will stick with me for a while. The entirety of the lyrics are worth reading.

"Solo" is a song that excels in it's contradictions. It's so densely hooky, yet totally minimal. It has a straightforward poppiness that is undercut by the lack of beat. Frank is mostly rapping, but it doesn't feel like rap at all (Frank is the master of that, like R. Kelly before him).

It's beyond music. This is poetry. This is spirituality in motion. It's the kind of pop deserving of that hyperbole.

92. Kodak Black - U Ain't Never



One of the fine tracks from convicted shithead and rapper Kodak Black's Painting Pictures release. There will be a few other tracks from there on this list. It came out right after I was exploring that "Most Necessary" playlist and became familiar with these newer rappers. I started out with "Tunnel Vision" and then moved into these album cuts.

I love this production. I love anything minimal with a melodic piano/synth hook, if you didn't already know. This is a really good example of that style. Flow wise, it's nothing special from Kodak. The laconic style works will for this production. There are a few cool lines that catch your attention. Mostly this is a fun song to bang your head to or turn up real loud in the car. SNIPER GANG!