I live my life 20 songs at a time. Well, not really. But I have a track record of trying to force 20 songs at a time upon others in the form of mixes. In a dream world, I would distribute tapes, hand-decorated to the hilt. Given, however, that my goal is to prevent the discarding of said musical compilation straight to the trash, I tend to go with compact discs. Additionally, and perhaps not surprisingly, my tendency is towards hand-written track lists and (half) witty titles.
So, when I sat down with a pen and paper (yes, really) and began to make a list of my favorite songs of the year, a dividing line was required. Numbers do just fine, but 10 didn't seem like enough. Instead, I went with a tried and true method of mine: 20 tracks, 80 minutes. Anything more would be by far much too much... or at least that's what I told myself.
These are my favorite songs of the year arranged how I would have ordered them should I have made you a mix myself. I have assembled them in more technologically advanced forms so that, when possible, you may listen with as few hurdles as possible. And, if you ask nicely, I will be glad to present unto you, the below in all its physical format glory. I do so not only out of the goodness of my heart, but also with a sense of self-promotion, as I think it's got a nice little flow to it. Hope you agree and enjoy. If you don't, there's nothing to throw away.
For the sake of convenience, or lack thereof (I'm not sure) the mix can be found in playlist, with the exception of one song, on Spotify.
And don't forget, if you happen to enjoy any of these songs, do the right and throw some of your hard-earned cash the musician's way.
Track 1: Japandroids - "The Nights of Wine and Roses"
Track 2: Yellow Ostrich - "Marathon Runner"
Track 3: Calvin Harris (ft. Florence Welch) - "Sweet Nothing"
Track 4: Haim - "Forever"
Track 5: Franz Nicolay - "The Hearts of Boston"
Track 6: Jake Bugg - "Trouble Town"
Track 7: Perfume Genius - "Take Me Home"
Track 8: Bruce Springsteen - "We Take Care Of Our Own"
Track 9: Ke$ha - "C'Mon"
Track 10: FIDLAR - "Cheap Beer"
Track 11: Le1f - "Wut"
Track 12: Foxygen - "Make It Known"
Track 13: Bat For Lashes - "Laura"
Track 14: Palma Violets - "Best Of Friends"
Track 15: John K. Samson - "When I Write My Master's Thesis"
Track 16: David Byrne & St. Vincent - "The Forest Awakes"
Track 17: Laura Mvula - "She"
Track 18: Daughter - Smother
Track 19: Alt-J - "Breezeblocks"
Track 20: Houndmouth - "Penitentiary"