"Always been a little bit fast and wild, my mama always said I was a problem child"




3. No Angel by Charli XCX

"Back in high I used to bus it to the dance, now I hit the FBO with duffles in my hand, I did half a xan 14 hours till I land, had me out like a light"



2. SICKO MODE by Travis Scott and Drake

Charli XCX is back and is really quite an honest woman. A guy is falling for her hard, and shes all like "Look, honey, you're hot and all but this will probably end bad for you. It might be worth it anyways though?" Charli also had the best year of her career without releasing an album somehow. Just 5 quality singles and one hilarious music video. I don't want to encourage this type of behavior, albums make organizing year end lists a hell of a lot easier, but considering how much she improves the further she steps away from her label (Sucker is the only mediocre effort of her career) I will have to take the hit and do extra work. My fingers may burn as her lovers' hearts do, but the journey is worth it.

Both Travis Scott and Drake are artists I don't normally care for, but every now and then they can hit with me and on this Very First Time they absolutely killed it. It seamlessly mashes 3 different songs (with 5 different producers) into one hip-hop megalodon. Maybe that is the key to a great Drake song? Maybe I would like him more if he sang "Kiki, do you love me? Cause I only love my bed and my mama." It could also be that he has a ton of earned confidence on this track, rather than his normal emo-Kanye-esque mumbling. And Travis Scott takes this just as hard. No autotune, clear defined words, tripping out in an Astroworld of his own making.

Yeah I'm just gonna post it now. It should be pretty obvious who it is, but I hope you all enjoyed yourselves along the way.

"It hurts to turn the radio on, stamina's gone, my spirit is weak"



1. Now or Never Now by Metric


-Oh boy this song hits me in the feels every single time. As easy of a #1 choice as there ever was. As with the rest of the album, Metric are able to present the bleakest of subjects with such an uplifting tune alongside it. The song it reminds me of most is LCD Soundsystem's classic All My Friends (which itself is inspired by another classic Baba O Reilly). It is easy to let these feelings bring you all the way down. Emily even walks into the ocean, never to return in the video (which I didn't post because it cuts nearly 2 minutes off the song, a criminal offense in my opinion). But if I hadn't seen the video I would have never assumed that's how this story ends. Now or Never Now should be applied to everything. No matter your circumstance, it is too easy to wait around for things to improve. Grumbling about bad luck and how things would be different if only other people weren't so shitty. But I think Emily brings herself back by looking at what could be instead of what should be. The music industry is definitely not the best place to find any sort of silence, but they all deserve a break if they need one. Judging by this album, I think they already were able to refind that missing sense of self though.

"Because everything that's under my skin, where I end and begin, still belongs to me"

Full list:

1. Now or Never Now - Metric
2. SICKO MODE - Travis Scott and Drake
3. No Angel - Charli XCX
4. Bad Listener - Beartooth
5. She’s Kerosene - The Interrupters
6. She - Ty Segall
7. 5 In The Morning - Charli XCX
8. Underline the Black - Metric
9. Dressed to Suppress - Metric
10. Space Cowboy - Kacey Musgraves
11. Pray For Me - The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar
12. Violence - Parquet Courts
13. If Your Prayers Don’t Get To Heaven - Brian Fallon
14. Black Holes (Solid Ground) - The Blue Stones
15. Television Romance - Pale Waves
16. Desperate Man - Eric Church
17. Lonely Weekend - Kacey Musgraves
18. I Like the Way - Against The Current
19. The Ringer - Eminem
20. God is a Woman - Ariana Grande
21. I’ll Make You Sorry - Screaming Females
22. Never Be the Same - Camila Cabello
23. Charity - Courtney Barnett
24. And, Goodnight - Ty Segall
25. Tell Me What You See - Fucked Up
26. Every Day’s the Weekend - Alex Lahey
27. So Right so Clean - Cloud Nothings
28. Like You Like That - L Devine
29. We’re Going Home - Vance Joy
30. Be More Kind - Frank Turner
31. Love Wins - Carrie Underwood
32. Black Moon - Screaming Females
33. Almost Had to Start a Fight / In and Out of Patience - Parquet Courts
34. Graffiti - Chvrches
35. TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME - The 1975
36. Bathed in Light - The Dirty Nil
37. Bartier Cardi - Cardi B and 21 Savage
38. Shoot Me Straight - Brothers Osbourne
39. Short Court Style - Natalie Prass
40. Yikes - Kanye West
41. APESHIT - The Carters and Migos
42. Major System Error - Marmozets
43. Without Me - Halsey
44. Turn Off The Light - Kim Petras
45. What A Time To Be Alive - Superchunk
46. Always Remember Us This Way - Lady Gaga
47. Go Out Fighting - Dr. Dog
48. Over and Over and Over - Jack White
49. Plug Walk - Rich The Kid
50. Hunger - Florence + The Machine

And so marks the end of the Flava'd Fifty 4. Thanks to everyone for the views and comments. I hope everyone found at least one song they liked.

Sorry it got so repetitive at the end there. There was just no way around it.

The Flava'd Fifty will return!

I did not realize Metric had a new album this year so I'll check it out. I associate them with the cool kids in high school who listened to Canadian indie bands (this being a few years before Fantasies) while shotgunning beers at campgrounds.