"Fancy" by Amaarae

Song: "Fancy"
Artist: Amaarae
Album: The Angel You Don't Know (2020)
Commentary: Catchy pop music! This album will be on my year-end list for sure.
🎶I like it when you call me Zaddy🎶
Watching this makes me think of how fun it must be to make music videos: dressing as rad as you can imagine and just rocking out to your own music.

Version:

"Judgement (I Demand)" by Andre Antunes

Song: song title is unclear, haha
Artist: Andre Antunes, featuring Kenneth Copeland
Commentary: This one's a little different than my usual, but it is catchy. And to be clear, I am absolutely down with mocking Kenneth Copeland, a White Evangelical charlatan making millions with his perverse religious fraud. Andre Antunes seems to be a pretty talented guitar player.
Song itself starts around 43 sec.

Version:

"Jame Jam" by Carl Stone

Song: Jame Jam
Artist: Carl Stone
Album: Himalaya (2019)
Also try:  Dan Deacon, Steve Reich
Commentary: I think minimalism is pretty interesting, but especially artists that draw on pop & folk musics. Yay.

Version:

"Knuckles" by The Hold Steady

Song: Knuckles
Artist: The Hold Steady
Album: Almost Killed Me (2004)
Commentary: The Hold Steady is catchy music. This is another high school throwback for me, but definitely an earworm that still pops into my brain on occasion: "we got taxmen coming round in their kevlar vests..."

Version:

"Big Beast" by Killer Mike

Song: Big Beast
Artist: Killer Mike with Bun B, TI, & Trouble
Album: R.A.P. Music (2012)
Commentary: I really appreciated this album when it came out. I'm posting it here though because the TI verse... *phew*. So good. I've kept an eye on TI since, without seeing him approximate it (although this year's LIBRA album is not bad). Also seems relevant to note that Killer Mike has been a disappointing public figure since I've known who he is.

Version:

"January 1979" by mewithoutYou

Song: January 1979
Artist: mewithoutYou
Album: Catch For Us The Foxes (2004)
Also try:  La Dispute, other post-emo/post-hardcore stuff?
Commentary: This video seemed gloriously weird when I was a freshman in high school in 2004. Also, I still appreciate them musically. I was also smitten by their tour bus powered by used vegetable oil. haha.

Version:

"Bye Bye Baby" by noname

Song: Bye Bye Baby
Artist: noname
Album: Telefone (2016)
Also try: 
Commentary: There was a time when I was spinning a lot of noname ... I guess I was also not updating my blog at the time. Now that noname is tweeting out that abolition wisdom, back on my mind. This was prolly my fav off a wonderful album.

Version:

"I Look Good" by Chalie Boy

Song: I Look Good
Artist: Chalie Boy
Album: I Look Good (2009)
Lyrics that resound:🎶 On my momma, on my hood. I look fly. I look good. 🎶 Commentary: If the chorus has never gotten stuck in your head ... is it just me? The song, on the whole, is not good though :D

Version:

"He Eh Lalla" by Ifriqiyya Electrique

Song: He Eh Lalla
Artist: Ifriqiyya Electrique
Album: Laylet El Booree (2019)
Commentary: Fun new discovery for me. I just read the musicians' bios and they seem v cool.

Version:

"Wandering Boy" by House and Land

Song: Wandering Boy
Artist: House and Land
Album: self-titled album (2017)
Commentary: Sometimes I get bored with people trying to do traditional folk music, but this is just beautiful. Love love love.

Version:

"pull up" and "SMD" by Pink Siifu

Songs: "pull up" and "SMD"
Artist: Pink Siifu
Albums: im still. (2018) and NEGRO (2020)
Also try:  Death Grips, Ho99o9 (if you like SMD)
Commentary: I thought Pink Siifu was an above average, talented rapper. Then NEGRO came out this year and I was like, "Shoot." Nice mix of experimental, punk ethos. I wanted one from each of those 2 phases here (rap, then the combo). ensley was the first album I heard of Siifu's (a rapping one) -- liked that too.

Versions:

"Indivisible" by Lungfish

Song: Indivisible
Artist: Lungfish
Album: Indivisible (1997)
Commentary: Oops, guess I'm posting more drone-y guitar music. I've already posted Daniel Higgs' solo stuff on here because I like his style, musically speaking. Lungfish is an interesting precursor to the solo stuff.

Version:

"Fransa" by Kel Assouf

Song: Fransa
Artist: Kel Assouf
Album: Black Tenere (2019)
Commentary: If you ever get tired of desert blues, Tuareg Rock, etc. maybe find another blog site. Love this album and its cover.

Version:

"White Oak" by Daniel Bachman

Song: White Oak
Artist: Daniel Bachman
Album: Oh Be Joyful (2012)
Also try:  John Fahey, other American Primitive guitarists
Commentary: I'm a sucker for finger-picked guitar, especially a là American Primitive.

Version:

"Slave" by Duval Timothy

Song: Slave (ft. Twin Shadow)
Artist: Duval Timothy
Album: Help (2020)
Commentary: Think I saw this album on Pitchfork. It's great. Intrigued to encounter more of their multidisicplinary work.

Version:

"Ruff Ryders' Anthem" by DMX

Song: Ruff Ryders' Anthem (prod. by a teenaged Swizz Beatz)
Artist: DMX
Album: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)
Commentary: An acquaintance referenced this on Facebook and I'd never heard it or of it. It's dope though. Definitely an earworm. "Stop! Drop! Shut 'em down, open up shop!"

Version:

"The Roving Cowboy / 阿瓦尔古丽" by Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn

Song: The Roving Cowboy / Avarguli (阿瓦尔古丽)
Artist: Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn
Album: self-titled (2020)
Commentary: You know how I try to appreciate various folk music traditions from around the world? Well, this album merges two of them beautifully. They blend "material from the hills of Appalachia to the prairies of Xinjiang region." I wish there were more of this -- so many folk musics, so little time (and collaboration!) There is a weird thing where it seems like Wu Fei is appropriating Uyghur music as a Han woman from Beijing?

Version:

"Carbon 7 (161)" by Jlin

Song: Carbon 7 (161)
Artist: Jlin
Album: Black Origami (2017)
Commentary: Jlin is a very talented and interesting artist. I keep an eye on her work.

Version:

Claude Cormier M'y’s choreography to Kyle Edward's remix of Fun's "We Are Young"

Song: "We Are Young" (Jersey Club remix)
Artist: originally by Fun and featuring Janelle Monáe, remixed by Kyle Edwards & Dj Smallz 732; choreographed by Claude Cormier M'y
Commentary: This is all about the video. I have rewatched this so many times. The choreography is impeccable and the dancers are magnificent (even just watch their faces at the turning point!!). No spoilers, but watch the whole thing.

Version:

"NYC Cops" by Heems

Song: NYC Cops
Artist: Heems (Himanshu of Das Racist)
Album: Stroked: A Tribute to [The Strokes’ 2001 album] Is This It (2011)
Commentary: I've liked this song since it came out in 2011, but it's been in my head and heart a lot lately. A heavy listen, but an important chronicle of New York City's police murders
#BlackLivesMatter

You can also read this weblog commentary on the song.
Version: