TOAD'S TOP 100 SONGS OF ALL TOAD
IT'S TIME FOR MY ANNUAL LIST (rank loose) |
| 100 |  | The National
Trouble Will Find Me
"Humiliation"
Coolest outro in the band's catalog. |
| 99 |  | Marty Robbins
Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
"Big Iron"
Goddam classic. Used to play this one on guitar for the camp kiddos when I was a counselor |
| 98 |  | Dekkar
Fill Me Up Again... The Dekkar Anthology
"Ride with the Devil"
On Cinema At the Cinema >>>>>> |
| 97 |  | Casualties of Cool
Casualties of Cool
"Flight"
Just really, really pretty. |
| 96 |  | M.I.A.
Maya
"TEQKILLA"
An absolutely glorious middle finger of a song. I hate and love THAT synth in equal measure. |
| 95 |  | Vylet Pony
Super Pony World: Fairytails
"I Was Afraid"
Our girl has written some really, really fun EDM tracks. |
| 94 |  | Ween
Quebec
"I Don't Want It"
I love this band's whole catalog, but this one is closest to my heart. |
| 93 |  | Royksopp
Melody A.M.
"Sparks"
Music for floating off In(to) Space (another banger). |
| 92 |  | James Blake
The Colour in Anything
"Timeless"
The best, most successful example of this record's inexplicably quirky yet beautiful sound. |
| 91 |  | Daniel Avery
Ultra Truth
"Ultra Truth"
Addicted to this record. Any of those tracks could have been here. |
| 90 |  | Kitty
FROSTBITE
"Last Minute"
A pure neon pink banger. |
| 89 |  | Akini Jing and Chace
永无止境的告别
"Blessing"
A pure black-and-red banger. |
| 88 |  | Oklou
Galore
"god's chariots"
This wonderful record is definitely more of a sum-of-its-parts deal, but this is a pretty good part. |
| 87 |  | Romy
Mid Air
"Strong"
Anthemic and lovely dance music for anyone that needs a little reassurance. |
| 86 |  | Deadmau5
For Lack of a Better Name
"Strobe"
I really miss when Deadmau5 was focused on finding one great melody and stretching it to its limit. |
| 85 |  | Twice
Taste of Love
"Alcohol-Free"
Tropical bliss. Peak vacation music. |
| 84 |  | Case/Lang/Veirs
Case/Lang/Veirs
"Atomic Number"
Cozy music born of cozy people. |
| 83 |  | MJ Lenderman
Boat Songs
"TLC Cagematch"
Summertime Sadness for the boys. |
| 82 |  | ABBA
ABBA Gold
"Dancing Queen"
Levitated to this track at a middle school dance and it hasn't left me since. |
| 81 |  | Johnny Cash
Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash
"Ring of Fire"
Go-to kareoke choice that's both silly and kind of glorious. |
| 80 |  | Taylor Swift
Folklore
"invisible string"
Fave Taylor song. I love it, and I imagine Swifties feel the same way for like, a hundred tracks in her catalog, but this is one of the few that really 'does it' for me. |
| 79 |  | Goldfrapp
Felt Mountain
"Utopia"
Unearthly verse, rapturous chorus. |
| 78 |  | Molly Nilsson
Extreme
"Pompeii"
Shoutout to the gayest music video of all time |
| 77 |  | Glen Campbell
Wichita Lineman
"Wichita Lineman"
I lived in Wichita for a lil while there. This is all the good parts and prettiness of that place shoved into one song. Spoiler: it's a cozy yet sad lil place. |
| 76 | | Sickboyrari
City of Crows
"Nite Walker"
'this aint trap, this some witch house.' between this and Trapdoor by Salem, it's baffling we haven't seen more fusion across those genres - great combo. |
| 75 |  | ConcernedApe
Stardew Valley OST
"Spring (It's A Beautiful World Outside)"
Videogame music is usually really tied to its videogame, but something about Stardew - where you have so many vibey tasks and the music really has to carry the overall mood - makes the music perfect for background listening, in-game or no. This is just a beautifully-written and -paced piece of classical music with oldschool electronic charm. |
| 74 |  | Lewis
L'Amour
"I Thought the World of You"
This record is a heavenly miracle brought down to Earth by the subdued, almost embarrassed vocal delivery of our titular dude. Lots of contenders on this record - changes by the day. |
| 73 |  | Bladee
333
"It Girl"
Simultaneously uplifting and depressive lyrics with one of Bladee's most memorable vocal melodies and a stunningly lovely, glittering instrumental. |
| 72 |  | Destroyer
LABYRINTHITIS
"It's In Your Heart Now"
Sprawling, groovy epic with a few genius synth lines and drum variations. |
| 71 |  | Ben Howard
I Forget Where We Were
"Time Is Dancing"
Gorgeous, soft textures and pleading vocals make this both a walk through winter and a snuggly day in bed. |
| 70 |  | Arca
KiCk i
"Machote"
Glorious, explosive, melodic, restrained, percussive, atmospheric - a meeting of so many opposites in glorious harmony. |
| 69 |  | Animal Collective
Fall Be Kind
"What Would I Want? Sky"
Swirling chaos into a jagged pop song. So many different feelings and textures, and basically a half dozen stunning 'moments' that indie rock songs of its time were lucky to have one of. |
| 68 |  | These New Puritans
Field of Reeds
"V (Island Song)"
This song exudes the sort of comfy dread that settles upon abandoned historical sites now covered by vines and wildflowers. A real weight to this piece and doom in its off kilter vocals. The reward - a stunning march through a mass of gauzy vocals and patient, intertwining melodies - makes this one of the most dynamic longer songs in memory. |
| 67 |  | Mabe Fratti
Pies sobre la tierra
"Creo Que Puedo Hacer Algo"
Strings, soaring vocals, reverb, all anchored by enchanting chord progressions and mixing that seems to spotlight each beautiful element in turn. |
| 66 |  | Ichiko Aoba
amuletum bouquet
"amuletum"
The most overtly gorgeous track in a catalog full of them. The audio equivalent of the most stunningly-animated scene in a Ghibli movie. |
| 65 |  | George Clanton
100% Electronica
"Bleed"
A bombastic pop song that shoots for the stars by exploding into a bizarre vocal-synth riff that both feels completely bonkers and perfectly at home. |
| 64 |  | Bowery Electric
Beat
"Without Stopping"
A train slowly chugging over the Russian steppe amidst sunset glow. Sleepy and unstoppable. |
| 63 |  | RXKNephew
Till I'm Dead
"Long Song"
Sure, this song is massive for a hip-hop track, but it contains more hilarious bars than most entire hip-hop albums. Add a groovy beat and excellent delivery to the mix and you've got a masterpiece. |
| 62 |  | Stars of the Lid
And Their Refinement Of The Decline
"December Hunting for Vegetarian ****face"
A sea of heavenly guitar reverb to fade off into, and one of the best of its kind despite a half million imitators. |
| 61 |  | death's dynamic shroud
Live from Japan
"Butterflies"
Gauzy, epic pop music through a technicolor cyberpunk filter. |
| 60 |  | Digable Planets
Blowout Comb
"Black Ego"
One of the loveliest instrumentals of all time featuring a handful of acrobatic yet chill-as-hell verses. That falling bass riff sample is among the best flips ever. |
| 59 |  | MGMT
Oracular Spectacular
"Time to Pretend"
Millenial desperation and ennui set to a star-scraping pop track. Undeniable. |
| 58 |  | Charli XCX
How I'm Feeling Now
"forever"
The distortion, disconnection, and barely-believe-it-yourself hopefulness made this one of the most convincing art pieces to come out of quarantine. It's also one of the most exciting developments for pop music's most consistently fun experimental artist. |
| 57 |  | Cocteau Twins
Heaven or Las Vegas
"Heaven or Las Vegas" |
| 56 |  | Pavement
Wowee Zowee
"Grounded" |
| 55 | | Cult Member
Ethernet
"Faygo" |
| 54 |  | Big Thief
Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
"No Reason" |
| 53 |  | Loukeman
Sd-1
"Shadowww" |
| 52 |  | Majical Cloudz
Are You Alone?
"Downtown" |
| 51 | | Jamie xx
Idontknow
"Idontknow" |
| 50 |  | Todd Terje
It's Album Time
"Inspector Norse" |
| 49 | | Hikaru Utada
Colors
"Simple and Clean" |
| 48 |  | Beyonce
Beyonce
"Partition" |
| 47 |  | Kylie Minogue
Disco
"Say Something (Extended Mix)" |
| 46 |  | Azealia Banks
Broke With Expensive Taste
"212" |
| 45 |  | Julia Holter
Have You In My Wilderness
"Feel You" |
| 44 |  | GFOTY
GFOTYBUCKS
"Friday Night" |
| 43 |  | Fennesz
Agora
"In My Room" |
| 42 |  | Colin Stetson
New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges
"A dream of water" |
| 41 |  | Wilco
Sky Blue Sky
"Impossible Germany" |
| 40 |  | Alex G
House Of Sugar
"Gretel" |
| 39 |  | Yo La Tengo
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside...
"You Can Have It All" |
| 38 |  | Kacey Musgraves
Golden Hour
"Slow Burn" |
| 37 |  | The Cure
Disintegration
"Pictures of You" |
| 36 |  | Yeule
Glitch Princess
"Bites on My Neck" |
| 35 |  | Laurel Halo
Quarantine
"Thaw" |
| 34 |  | Weyes Blood
Titanic Rising
"Wild Time" |
| 33 |  | Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation
"Teen Age Riot" |
| 32 |  | Tommy Cash
Euroz Dollaz Yeniz
"X-RAY" |
| 31 |  | Massive Attack
Mezzanine
"Teardrop" |
| 30 |  | Bladee
Eversince
"Lovenote" |
| 29 |  | Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
In Summer
"Blue Nudes (I-IV)" |
| 28 |  | Caroline Polachek
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You
"I Believe" |
| 27 |  | Alex G
Beach Music
"Snot" |
| 26 |  | Shabazz Palaces
Black Up
"Swerve... the reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not notwithstanding)" |
| 25 | | Denki Groove
Nothing's Gonna Change
"Nothing's Gonna Change" |
| 24 |  | Deerhunter
Microcastle
"Nothing Ever Happened" |
| 23 |  | Let's Eat Grandma
Two Ribbons
"Sunday" |
| 22 |  | Swans
The Glowing Man
"The Glowing Man" |
| 21 |  | Lana Del Rey
Norman Fucking Rockwell!
"Mariners Apartment Complex" |
| 20 |  | Kate Bush
The Sensual World
"This Woman's Work" |
| 19 |  | Aphex Twin
Selected Ambient Works 85-92
"Xtal" |
| 18 |  | Susumu Hirasawa
Berserk
"Guts" |
| 17 |  | Mogwai
Young Team
"Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home" |
| 16 |  | The Field
Looping State of Mind
"Looping State of Mind" |
| 15 |  | death's dynamic shroud
I'll Try Living Like This
"내 마음은 떨고"
The grooviest mess of all time. |
| 14 |  | Colin Stetson
Hereditary
"Reborn"
Like "Berserk" lower on this list, Hereditary is a visual feat that would be greatly, greatly reduced without its masterful soundtrack. Stetson has never ripped as hard as he has here, and hearing him do it amidst a sea of twinkling bells and delicate trills is just awe-inspiring. |
| 13 |  | Cat Power
Moon Pix
"American Flag"
Seductive, pleading, thunderous, and trippy as hell. Might just be my favorite guitar line ever. |
| 12 |  | Preoccupations
Viet Cong
"Death"
Relentless, pounding rock music pushed through a bottleneck. Pressure mounting for ten minutes until it erupts into guitar sludge and crushing drum hits. Absolutely devastating that the group washed their sound out after achieving a magnificent balance on this record. |
| 11 |  | Bjork
Vespertine
"Hidden Place"
Burning darkness and yearning burst into euphoria over and over again. What else are pop songs supposed to do? |
| 10 |  | Beach House
Thank Your Lucky Stars
"One Thing"
That low, distorted guitar line is so simple and so pleasing. Combined with the warm production and given legs by the heavenly guitar solo that closes the track out, this is easily one of Beach House's most overlooked tracks. |
| 9 |  | Talk Talk
Spirit of Eden
"The Rainbow"
Simply the most dramatic and captivating transitions between mood, style, and form in any verse-bridge-chorus song I've ever heard. |
| 8 |  | Susanne Sundfor
Music For People In Trouble
"Reincarnation - Live from the Barbican"
A glorious, soaring folk track with delicate yet powerful performances across a lush ensemble. And it all culminates in a slide guitar solo - a true solo, played against silence - that could lull the grumpiest face into a smile of contentment. |
| 7 |  | Neupink
Heaven's Waiting Room
"HEAVEN'S WAITING ROOM"
Distortion and melody cranked to ten, carried by extremely simple, pleasing arpeggios and chord progressions. It just works. |
| 6 |  | DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ
Charmed
"Charmed Life"
I grew up in the early 00's when the radio was saturated with earworm melodies over soft rock backdrops. Tinges of disco and funk lived around the edges of those tracks, yet they never quite took center stage. DJ Sabrina's work has always capitalized on that era's push-and-pull between rhythm and melody, and here, she weaves both into a huge tapestry that plays to her strengths. This one took a little while to click for me in the mammoth context of its record, but now it's easily the track I go to the most. |
| 5 |  | Low
The Curtain Hits the Cast
"Coattails"
I tried to weed out doubling up on artists in this top 100, but obviously failed a few times. I could NOT get this song out of my top 5. It's a reverent, yearning slow-burn of a track whose patience pays off with one of the saddest yet most comforting final acts I've heard. One of those stare-at-the-stars-and-heal tracks that does wonders for the soul. |
| 4 |  | Fax Gang
FxG3000
"Jeopardy"
Seas of melodic noise constantly threatening to pull free of the hip-hop rhythms that anchor them. The transformation from noise-rap track, complete with producer tags and gunshot FX, to a transcendent ambient soundscape worthy of the ambient greats, is astounding to witness. |
| 3 |  | Vessel
Queen of Golden Dogs
"Paplu (Love That Moves the Sun)"
Noisy, cacophonous dance rager that smashes past and future into something immediate, epic (truly) and undeniable. Every time you think this song as climaxed, it climbs higher. If you've never heard this one, you're in for a massive treat. |
| 2 |  | Burial and Four Tet
Moth/Wolf Cub
"Moth"
Such a simple, beautiful idea given near unlimited space to breathe. Gorgeous textures, intoxicating groove, striking yet unobtrusive vocal sample - really feels like an apex for both artists. Despite its length, this one always ends up in my top five most played these past years. |
| 1 |  | Low
Hey What
"Hey"
Towering, spiritual plea over walls of melodic noise. Heavenly yet simple harmonies. I LOVE the poetic yet unpretentious lyrics here; kind of like a more concrete version of what Bon Iver does on their self-titled. If you can't tell between this and every other song in the top five (besides Moth), I am an absolute sucker for noisy, sprawling ambient outros. RIP Mimi Parker. |
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