My Favorite Songs of 2020

Oh boy! What a way to kick off a new decade of music. 2020 has come to an end, and with it another year of musical awesomeness has come and gone. 2020 has been an interesting year for music, and as such this list might be a tad eclectic.

In keeping with tradition, however, the only theme to this list is entirely based on subjectivity and my personal taste in music. At the very least, I hope to be able to introduce you to a song or two that perhaps you missed this year, but at the end of the day, this is just a way for me to share some of my favorite music of 2020.

Anyways, here my list (in no particular order) of my favorite songs of 2020:

* * *

pink lightning
by Purity Ring
[listen]

People, I’ve been sad
by Christine and the Queens
[listen]

Slow Dancing
by Aly and AJ
[listen]

I’ve Been Down
by HAIM
[listen]

save up
by Vérité
[listen]

Hollywood
by Foxes
[listen]

Wish You Well
by PVRIS
[listen]

Dance Dance Dance
by Astrid S
[listen]

Monolithic
by Cults
[listen]

Hold On
by Lola Marsh
[listen]

* * *

Also, I made a Spotify playlist this year, so thats fun! Feel free to listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1pMegoAiPYaqMxBati98HS

Happy New Year everyone, and cheers to 2021!

My Favorite Songs of 2018

2018 proved to be quite the year for music, and this was a very challenging list to curate, as I feel there were many worthy offerings by artists and bands this year. However, I persevered and was able to come up with this, a list of 10 songs that I feel represents the very best music of 2018.

I held myself to a limit of one song per artist/band, and in order to be considered a 2018 song, the song had to be on an album/EP that was released in 2018, or a non album single released in 2018. (2017 singles released on 2018 albums count as 2018 songs).

---

Doesn’t Matter

By Christina and the Queens

From the album Chris

[listen/watch]

Wonderland

By Chvrches

From the album Love is Dead

[listen/watch]

Get You

By Geowolf

From the album Great Big Blue

[listen/watch]

Nobody

By Mitski

From the album Be The Cowboy

[listen/watch]

Last Piece

By Lykke Li

From the album So Sad So Sexy

[listen/watch]

Hunger

By Florence + The Machine

From the album High as Hope

[listen/watch]

Blur

By Mø

From the album Forever Neverland

[listen/watch]

Turn

By The Wombats

From the album Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life

[listen/watch]

Seven Rules

By Metric

From the album Art of Doubt

[listen/watch]

Near/Far

By Death Cab for Cutie

From the album Thank You for Today

[listen/watch]

My Favorite Songs of 2017

I know it has been a minute since my last post, but as we enter the new year (2018) I figured I would once again break out the the old typewriter (although not literally, of course!) and re-discover the wonderful world of blogging.

Here are my top 10 songs of 2017
-- In no specific order --

NOTE: I held myself to a limit of one song per artist/band, and in order to be considered a 2017 song, the song had to be on an album that was released in 2017. Some singles that were released late last year but are set to be on 2018 albums will be considered for next year's top 10.


Grudges

by Paramore

from the album 'After Laughter'

[listen/watch]

Perfect Places

by Lorde

from the album 'Melodrama'

[listen/watch]

Saint

by Vérité

from the album 'Somewhere In Between'

[listen/watch]

Good Day

by Yellow Claw (ft. DJ Snake and Elephant)

from the album 'Los Amsterdam'

[listen/watch]

Run for Cover

by The Killers

from the album 'Wonderful Wonderful'

[listen/watch]

Fior de Late

by Phoenix

from the album 'Ti Amo'

[listen/watch]

We Were Here

by Lights

from the album 'Skin & Earth'

[listen/watch]

Static Space Lover

by Foster the People

from the album 'Sacred Hearts Club'

[listen/watch]

The Gold

by Manchester Orchestra

from the album 'A Black Mile to the Surface'

[listen/watch]

Hey K

by Passion Pit

from the album 'Tremendous Sea of Love'

[listen/watch]

And thus rounds out my top 10 songs of 2017. I can say with certainty that I am excited for the 2018 musical rollercoaster that I am sure is just around the corner, and I will be eagerly awaiting more great music from all my favorite artists and bands. Let me know what you thing of this list, and I will talk to you soon.

Best

David

My Favorite Songs of 2015

As with most people, I have heard an enormous amount of songs this year, both new and old. And, as with many, I have compiled a list of my favorite songs of the year 2015. Because of the subjective nature of these type of lists, I will say that this is my opinion, and please feel free to let me know if I missed any gems.

Before we progress, a bit about the methodology I employed when creating my list of top songs. First and most importantly - the song must have been released on an album or EP/LP in the calendar year of 2015. That is, if the single came out in 2014 but the album was released in 2015, that song belongs to the 2015 list. Also, I have decided to limit the list to 1 song per album, so as to prevent my entire list simply being a track list for Chvrches' album Every Open Eye.

I will say that I have heard some truly amazing songs this year, far too many to include on a Best Of list such as this, so please do not hate me for omitting some truly great songs from amazing artists and bands. I have worked hard to make this list as diverse and objective as I can, however the final decision and ordering did end up being directly aligned with my own personal taste in music and, of course, I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to listen to every single song released in 2015, so if I did not hear it, I did not include it on this list (obviously!)

Alright folks, lets go! Fifteen to One, here are my top 15 songs of 2015. Enjoy!

15.
Tropic of Cancer
by Panda Bear
from the album Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper

14.
Fire n Gold
by Bea Miller
from the album Not an Apology









13.
Thunderstruck
by Owl City
from the album Mobile Orchestra









12.
Empire
by Of Monsters and Men
from the album Beneath the Skin










11.
Happy
by Marina and the Diamonds
from the album Froot










10.
New Americana
by Halsey
from the album Badlands











09.
Pay No Mind
by Madeon
from the album Adventure









08.
Mason Jar
by Smallpools
from the album Lovetap!









07.
Majorette
by Beach House
from the album Thank Your Lucky Stars









06.
All That
by Carley Rae Jepson
from the album Emotion









05.
The Shade
by Metric
from the album Pagans in Vegas









04.
All I Need
by Passion Pit
from the album Kindred









03.
Repetition
by Purity Ring
from the album Another Eternity









02.
Realiti
by Grimes
from the album Art Angels









01.
Playing Dead
by Chvrches
from the album Every Open Eye









And that, ladies and gentleman, is my top 15 songs of 2015. Please share your own lists and let me know where you agree with me, and where you think I went wrong! I would also love to learn about new artists, so if you think I missed a great song, let me know!

Thank you so much for reading, happy 2016, and I look forward to more great music to keep me going through the new year!

New Song from Owl City - Verge

Although I miss the days of when Owl City's songs were almost entirely metaphor, I must say that I continue to fall in love with music by the wonderfully talented Adam Young. Today is, as we have come to expect, no different. With the release of his new song "Verge" featuring Aloe Blacc, I once again am made aware of exactly why Owl City is - and likely will be for a while - one my favorite musical projects.

Of course a full album review of the new Owl City album will be here on the blog as soon as possible, for now, check out the new lyric video for "Verge" by Owl City.

The Shade (New Metric Song)

More or less, I have just one week left until my BA is finally a thing. Granted, there is a lot of work that I need to do before then, however, as one of the staples of this blog is music, I wanted to take a moment to mention the new single from Metric, called "The Shade."

This new song from one of my favorite bands has been on repeat for about 3 days now, and I literally can't get enough of it. If this song is representative of what their new EP or album will sound like, well let me just say that we are in for a treat.

Chvrches

It is almost shameful that I have not written about this band before, as they are currently one of my favorite bands and well worth a post here on my blog. Chvrches, and yes, that is spelled correctly, is a Scottish electronic band that I have fallen in love with over the past few months. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, and Martin Doherty and currently have 1 studio album, The Bones of What You Believe which was released in 2013.

For some reason, Chvrches is a band that manages to check off just about every item on my list of what makes a great band. Their music is great, they are good live (according to my extensive YouTube research) and they seem to just be really cool people, (again, YouTube research!)

So why them over so many others? Because they are different. I honestly don't think there is another band with quite such a unique sound. Sure, artists like Owl City and Lights have an electronic slanted pop sound, and artists like M83, David Guetta and Madeon lean heavily towards an electronic sound. However, there is not, to my knowledge, another artist or band that really blends the two (vocal/pop and electronic) quite so seamlessly and in such a beautiful way.

The other reason that I like the band is because they seem very down to earth, recording their music in a basement studio in Glasgow, as well as being active on social media and proactively interacting with fans.

Also, did I mention that their music is really good!?!?

Enough chatter, here is some of their music for you to enjoy!

 



Thanks so much for reading, and I will talk to you soon.

- Dave

Beach House

It's probably not what you think. Beach House is not referring to a relaxing home quaintly located somewhere in a coastal region. Although the result is similar; a beautiful respite from the day to day troubles and worldly issues that plague our lives. And yet, also, a reminder of them.

Beach House is a band from Maryland, formed in 2004 and consisting of Victoria Legrand & Alex Scally. The band has a unique sound that Wikipedia classifies as "Dream Pop" and as we all know, if it is on Wikipedia, it must be true!

The duo creates the type of music that one might listen to at first and think, "alright, this is good," but by the end of the song, the thought process is more like "wow, that was [insert feeling/emotion/other thing that songs evoke in human peoples here.]"

It is hard to explain the feeling that accompanies bands like this. I think the best thing I can do is embed some of their songs, and let you be the judge.





Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
- David

Music & Emotion

There is a moment while you are listening to a song that you can understand exactly what the singer / songwriter was feeling when they wrote it. All that emotion and energy and feeling is almost palpable. Which asks the question, do songs need to be positive? I think not, but I also wonder what the effects of negative songs might have on society.

Let me explain. A song that I recently heard for the first time is one of these such songs. Negative, depressing and all too catchy. When I first heard the song, the context of what the song meant and the overall feel of the video was different, and I was left thinking, “wow, that is a catchy song, let me look it up,” which I promptly did.

Yes, the song is catchy, but after watching the video, and the remix video, I was left feeling sad and depressed, a strange feeling after listening to the song which, musically, is rather upbeat (especially the remix.)

So what, I asked myself, keeps me clicking replay. Admittedly, the video is well made, and the song is catchy, but why would I want to repeatedly listen to a song about drinking away the pain of a breakup? I honestly don’t know. You might say that it is because the song is so catchy. True in part, but there are plenty of catchy songs in existence with much more positive lyrics, and any number of these is available for me to listen to. So I ask again, why?

I think, for me, it has to do with emotion. When an artist writes songs like these, they do so because they feel something. That emotion and feeling translates itself to the music, which becomes relatable to a listener because of shared experience, or simply because of the human ability to empathize with the artist.

I think that, while negative and depressing songs like this can make a listener feel down, they are important because they allow artists to express their emotions and feelings freely and without inhibition. Do I feel depressed after listening to this song? Yes. But, I also feel a connection to the song and artist on a more human level, and that, I think, is one of the great powers of music in our society. We are able to connect with artists and each other through music.

So, stay high on music my friends, and break the habits that lead to the emotions that end up as songs like this. Without further ado, here is the music video for Habits by Tove Lo as well as the remix video, entitled Stay High.

\

Let me know what you think, as well as your thoughts on music and society.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you on Monday.
- Digit

Live Music

I know that in this world of perfection, we can often lose our appreciation for really good live music. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, as I myself have looked at different show tickets for some of my favorite artists and thought, "But that is so expensive, I can just listen to their album." But what is lost, you might ask, by listening to music solely on a digital disk or the internet?

This is a question that I have been asking myself recently. When listening to music on the web or in a polished, well produced medium, we hear exactly what the artist and production team want for us to hear, right? Well, yes, but we also lose the chance to see AND hear that song. Sometimes I wonder if the real experience IS to see that song preformed live. There is no false sense of perfection, and there is no disconnect between the artist and the listener. So, maybe the real experience is the live performance, and not the finished track.

I know that shows are expensive and that they require far more effort on your part to actually drive to a venue, find a parking space, actually get tickets, and all the rest that goes with a live show. But even that is part of the experience. That, I think, is the real difference. When listening to a song on a CD or YouTube, you get just that, a song, not an experience.

That is my thought process, anyways. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Quick Update and a Song

I am typing with no idea what to type about. So, lets begin, shall we? Ok. Welcome to Wednesday! I know this is being posted late, but I have had a rather hectic day. I currently work as a camp counselor, and as such I work with kids. Almost all the time, they are great, but with each week comes a new group of kids, and lets just say that every now and then, you get a few, well, difficult ones.

This week is no exception, and sadly, there is more than one. Because of this, I am extremely stressed and tired and exasperated at the end of every day, an therefor cannot really think straight. This blog is actually helpful, as I am able to combobulate my thoughts and get them out to the world. So for those of you reading this who would rather just jam out to some music or, in other words, forget about this somewhat downer of a blog post, here is a video you can check out. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

Lyrics and Melody

I realize this may get a bit personal, as in my opinion, music says a lot about people, especially when the lyrics really hit home. For me, music is mostly about melody and sound, and the lyrics and meaning come secondary. But lets all be honest, the really great songs do both really well. But therein lies the issue, because not everyone will have the same musical taste, and not everyone will have the life experiences required to relate to any given set of lyrics.

This is an issue that I run across often, because I listen to so much music. I often listen to a song that really speaks to me, but musically is just not quite there. The opposite is also true, and there are some great songs out there that have a really great beat, but the lyrics are not relatable. So, I am always excited and impressed when I hear a song that meets both requirements.



Florrie is a British singer who has a fairly small discography, and as such, it is rather unlikely that I would stumble across her music. But I did, and, well, wow. Her first single is a song called "Little White Lies," and here is where it gets a bit personal, because the lyrics speak to me on an almost personal level. No idea how she is able to capture all of that in a song, but she has. At any rate, if your personality is anything like mine, you will easily relate to the lyrics.

The tune is also stellar, and that is a potent combination in a song. Lets just say that I currently have the song on repeat as I type this very blog!

So enjoy, dear readers, and also get a small insight into my own psyche. Thank you so much for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

Christina Novelli

Oh, YouTube, you have a persistent need to introduce me to new and interesting artists. I am not faulting YouTube in any way, far from it, in fact. I am one who, lets be honest, tends to listen to music more than is really ever required, and my musical taste is really quite boundless. Yes, there are tracks by certain artists that I am less than fond of, but by and large, I love almost every kind of music.

Therefor, it should come as no surprise that when YouTube and other sites offer me suggested music or music videos to listen to or watch respectively, I jump at the opportunity to potentially discover a new favorite artists, or at least, to hear a song that I think, wow, that was worth it.

This time, however, I did not just listen and think, wow, that was worth it. I listened to several songs, several times, and am doing so as I write this post. Have all those songs and all those listens been a worthwhile use of my time? In a word, yes.

Christina Novelli is a relatively unknown singer from Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. As of now, she has quite a list of collaborations with others, and although she does not have an album, I am quite hopeful that she will come out with one in the future.

Novelli's voice is both powerful and clear, and mixed with the dance and techno tracks by collaborative artists like Gareth Emery and Craig Connelly, the result is something that for a music lover such as myself, is pretty near bliss.

The very first song that I heard was the collaboration with Gareth Emery on the track Concrete Angels, which is an amazing song in and of itself, but also has a creative music video, and yes, I pay attention to such things! Here is the video:


Another great song and video come from her collaboration with Craig Connelly on the track Black Hole, which again incorporates great visuals into the video, which helps tell the story of the song. Here is that video.


And because I really just want you to get the full sample, I shall now include one more video, which is not a video, but simply an image with music. Still, I recommend you give it a listen.


Well worth a listen, I cannot think of a better way to spend a few minutes of you time. Fair warning, however, a few minutes may look a little longer when you finally realize that you have been listening to songs for the better part of an hour. Still, the answer is yes. It's worth it.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.
- Digit

Fire N Gold

Why do I listen to music so incessantly, day in and day out? No idea. That being said, I do tend to stumble across a neat video or a cool song from time to time. However, the place is usually YouTube or Pandora. This one is different. I was sitting in Starbucks, and this song played. In the back of my mind, I though that I had heard the song before. So, I did and one does on such occasion, and whipped out the amazing SoundHound app, which allowed me to search the song based on the melody, and, well to be honest I think there might be a little witchcraft involved, seriously, I have no idea how the app searches the music.

At any rate, I searched the song, and discovered that I had never in my life heard of the artist, Bea Miller, or the song, Fire N Gold. So, as dictated by the musical YouTube gods, I listened to the song about 5000 times, (not really, but you get the point,) and as such felt compelled to share it with all of you here on the Daily Digit. Let me know what you think!




Thanks for reading,

- Digit

Foxes

I have recently been obsessed with the new album by Foxes. Why? I do not know. However I do know that this is an artist that, in my opinion, will go very far. For one, her style, while keeping with the somewhat traditional indie pop sound, tends to add a unique style that sets her music apart from the rest.

My first exposure to her music, much like most of America, was with her collaboration with Zedd on the track Clarity. A fan of the song, it did not get me all that excited about Foxes, and I spent about 2 months not giving her a second thought.

Then, I somehow stumbled across the music video for her single, Youth, and I was hooked. I love the way that her music is able to conjure up images of the things she is singing about. While watching the music video, I really was transported into the world that she had created, both with the song and the video.

After watching this video, I, as one does, watched all of the videos on the official Foxes VEVO channel, as well as way too many lyric and cover videos that I was able to scrounge up on the deep dark sections of the YouTube.

As I continued to explore her music, I realized that her combination of a unique style and a seemingly great personality (I also watched some interviews and such) I was a fan.

So I am writing this post to say that if you have not already, check out her music. You may just discover a new artist that is making some pretty great music.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

Icon For Hire

It almost seems rare in this day and age to stumble across something new, something that you had not heard of before. And completely by chance! While watching a YouTube video recently, one of the recommended videos caught my eye. "Get Well" was the song, and Icon For Hire was the band. As I enjoy just about every genera of music, I thought, "Why not, it might be good." Well, turns out that it was good. Quite good!

I am writing this blog post roughly eight hours later, having listened to one of their albums twice, and this song more times than I care to admit. So I thought that I would share the video with you, and who knows, you might like it.

Thanks for reading, and click here to see the video.