The Legit Bosses: Best Tracks of the Year (50-41)

~ Lex Leeson ~ 2 Comments

50 Glass Animals: Youth

As soon as you hear that first ‘Ooh!’ a few seconds in you’re more than likely dropping your ears’ knickers

(what the fuck does that mean?)

49 Wild Beasts: He the Colossus

I feel that in 20 years time when late night art talk shows on BBC4 are discussing how odd it was that Wild Beasts are widely accepted as one of the greatest bands of the 21st century yet completely unheralded in their time I’ll be showing blog entries like this to unbelieving post-millennials to prove how far ahead of the curve I was

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The Legit Bosses: Best Tracks of the Year (60-51)

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

60 Car Seat Headrest: Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales

God, I love this song, as underneath all it’s cool and intensely legitimate indie credentials it’s a great epic rock song the like of which G’n’R themselves would be proud to put their names to. I liked it when I first made this list too…

59 ANOHNI: Execution

Heeeeeey! Dis woz on dat list too! I still love it at least as much as I did when I wrote that mid-year list back when I would post things at relevant times

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The Legit Bosses: Best Tracks of the Year (70-61)

~ Lex Leeson ~ 2 Comments

70 Zeal & Ardor: Devil is Fine

Remember: this is probably actually the best album of the year, I’m just too afraid to say so

69 Underworld: I Exhale

I Exhale is amazing: it blatantly and shamelessly rips off The Clash’s Train in Vain, Bowie’s Sound and Vision AND The Fall’s Hit the North, yet still manages to be a cast-iron banger. I couldn’t include the surrounding album on the Necessary Evil countdown, as they can’t go unpunished for such things, but this song is wonderful (especially the album’s 8 minute cut)

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The Legit Bosses: Best Tracks of the Year (80-71)

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

80 Radio Dept.: Committed to the Cause

Every time I hear this amazing song for the first two and a half minutes I wonder whether I’ve overrated it slightly, and perhaps it’s merely brilliant rather than the AMAZING required to be considered one of the year’s Legit Bosses, but then that musical break explodes into life and I remember how much I love the song

79 Beyoncé: Pray You Catch Me

http://videos.sapo.pt/OBl0pRzRKF92LIpQwbAe

Yeah, you’re right, this’ll probably be the only Beyoncé song on this list. As an opening track, and intro to the album’s concept, style and tropes, it’s an utterly perfect song

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The Legit Bosses: Best Tracks of the Year (90-81)

~ Lex Leeson ~ 2 Comments

90 Jamila Woods: VRY BLK

I’ve no idea why I love this song so much, it’s mostly just a reworking of that irritating ‘Hello Operator’ kids song with more racially conscious lyrics. But it has something, from the alluring wavey intro to the euphoric chorus of ‘I’m very black, black, black/Can’t send me back, back, back/You take my brother, brother, brother/I’ll fight back, back, back’ that gets me evry tm

89 Chairlift: Unfinished Business

Fuck me, that chorus though…

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1 Beyoncé: Lemonade

~ Lex Leeson ~ 21 Comments

Well… yeah… I mean, come on… yeah!

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lemonade.jpg

The sixth album by Beyoncé is so obviously the best album of 2016 that it’s near offensive to posit the theory that any other could possibly be considered superior

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‘Lemonade’ is legitimately one of the greatest records released in my… 29 years of age, of which maybe I was paying properly close attention for 13 (once you take away the times I was either too young or too drunk and suicidal). Both musically, artistically and due to wider cultural impact, few records can seriously compete with this immediate masterpiece

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You’re Looking at the Real Deal Now

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

 

In 2010 Spin Magazine listed the greatest albums released since the magazine’s conception in 1985, since I’ve been (ahem) alive for a large part of that time I’m going to quickly list the top 20 and briefly state why they’re now way near as good as the top record of 2016*:

*erm, assuming that all the records released between 2010 and now were comparatively garbage

 

20 My Bloody Valentine: Loveless

Speak up, mate, speak up! I can’t bloody hear you over all this racket! Also: know how many albums Ireland contributed to this year’s Necessary Evil? None! Your country’s a musical nonentity!

my bloody valentine

19 Jay-Z: The Blueprint

Oooooh! Look at my big cigar! A guy smoking a cigar this big couldn’t possibly be subconsciously compensating for something else could he?? Pathetic!

jay z.jpg

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2 Bon Iver: 22, A Million

~ Lex Leeson ~ 7 Comments

Let’s get the important stuff out of the way first: I’ve always pronounced it ‘Bon Ivor’

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Because of this I set up a Google Alert to tell me when somebody finally made a ‘Bon Iver the Engine’ meme, as I truly believed that such a witty reference to both an ultra hipster musical act and an old children’s’ show would truly bring the world together in these troubled times

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No, but apparently he’s one of those ultra-hipster tossers who chooses to pretentiously pronounce his name the way it’s spelled, so the reference is lost

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bon1.jpg

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