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The Forging of the Sampo by Gallen Kallela

The Forging of the Sampo by Gallen Kallela

TOP 40 2017, a playlist by Jordan Erickson on Spotify

Here’s the whole shebang, including a writeup of the top 25!
Rules: only one song from each artist, had to be released in 2017

In Undertow - Alvvays: This song just floored me. Their previous album is also excellent but this song, in both lyrics and general vibe, is fantastic.

tonite - LCD Soundsystem: So glad these guys are back. It was tough to pick just one song but this one wins for the lyric “You hate the idea that you’re wasting your youth/That you stood in the background oh until you got older/But that’s all lies” just because I relate to it so much. LCD is the ultimate dad band.

Undercover - Kehlani: Holy crap, WHERE did this song come from? It’s so catchy, I could listen to it all day.

Fantasy Folly - Dreamspook: My friend Gabriel is unbelievably talented as a songwriter. When I hear a Dreamspook song I think, “Oh duh. This is how a song should sound.” I really had trouble picking one from this album too but the synth solo on this is so sick I couldn’t pass it up.

The Evil Has Landed - Queens of the Stone Age: This album wasn’t gold all the way through but I like the new sound/direction regardless. Certainly as catchy as QOTSA has been in years.

Rose-Colored Boy - Paramore: If you told me 10 years ago that I would be listening to a Paramore album on the regular I wouldn’t have believed you but here we are. I fully approve of Paramore’s shift into pop.

Hairstyle - Wuh Oh: Don’t know where I stumbled on this song but this is a pretty accurate take on the kind of music I listen to when I want to focus on drawing or reading. It’s like all of my favorite Soundcloud artists mashed into one.

Broken Clocks - SZA: Generally not the type of song I would get into but hot dang just listen to it. This one is straight silk.

Die Young - Sylvan Esso: A perfect example of the best of Sylvan Esso, and gets bonus points for being a crazy lyrical premise that somehow comes off as more sweet than morbid.

Tired As Fuck - The Staves: Saw these three live for the first time and they really blew the roof off the building. This song just builds in a great way and really shows off their vocal talent.

Los Ageless - St. Vincent: Annie Clark can do no wrong.

The Apprentice - Gorillaz: This is a bonus track from the deluxe edition and it’s better than the entirety of the album. There were a couple of bangers on Humanz but if the whole album was as good as this song it would have been in constant rotation. Still have high hopes for the next album coming out in 2018.

High Ticket Attractions - The New Pornographers: I’ve always liked the idea of these guys but I think this is the first song to really make me love them.

If You Need To, Keep Time On Me - Fleet Foxes: I wasn’t patient enough to unpack this album but this was a nice breather in between 10 minute mega-songs so I latched on immediately.

Touched Fuzzy, Got Dizzy - OKOKKO: Another Soundcloud artist that caught my attention this year; this album had some real gems on it. Sampling Yoshi sound effects is really inspired.

Ran - Future Islands: Some day I’ll get really into these albums but until then I’ll just love whatever the first single is. This one’s just really pleasant.

Real Stuff - Leif Erikson: This one’s a little corny but it really grooves.

Lemon - N.E.R.D.: whaaaaaaaaaat who was expecting another album from these guys? This really gets great once Rihanna hops in.

Chained To The Rhythm - Katy Perry: Katy can really hire some people to write a pop song.

J-Boy - Phoenix: Really want to get into this whole album, didn’t even realize how much I missed Phoenix. These guys just exude pure joy with every song.

Truth Hurts - Lizzo: Lizzo is brilliant because she can write a catchy song and also make it incredibly funny.

Tonya Harding (in Eb Major) - Sufjan Stevens: Sufjan is truly incredible at showing sympathy for the subjects of his songs, and this one’s no different.

Rain in Soho - The Mountain Goats: People really seem to worship John Darnielle but this is maybe like the 4th song of his that I’ve really liked enough to listen to on repeat.

HUMBLE - Kendrick Lamar: Don’t need to say anything about this, just Kendrick at his best per usual.

Pleasure - Feist: Feist can keep doing her thing forever and I’ll keep liking it.

The other 15: They’re also great!

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