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Song of the Day #3,876: ‘Love It If We Made It’ – The 1975

The seventh and eighth top songs on 2018’s Pazz & Jop poll have also been featured on the blog before, demonstrating exactly how firmly I have my finger on the pulse of the popular music landscape. Or that I have to post 365 songs each year so I’m bound to get it right once in awhile.

At #7 is Kacey Musgraves with ‘High Horse,’ the first single from her celebrated album Golden Hour. Golden Hour claimed the #1 spot on the poll’s album list, adding to a year of tremendous accolades for Musgraves’s third full-length release, culminating in the Album of the Year Grammy this past weekend. That album is certainly appreciated in my house.

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Song of the Day #3,875: ‘Nobody’ – Mitski

The #6 song on this year’s Village Voice Pazz &amp Jop poll comes from Mitski’s album Be the Cowboy, which tied with Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy for #3 on the Top Albums list.

I have heard a lot of good things about Mitski, and this album in particular, but I regret to report that I just didn’t get it. I didn’t hear any memorable melodies, the production was unimpressive, and overall the whole thing just fell flat. But clearly it is striking a nerve for a lot of people, so this one might just be on me.

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Song of the Day #3,874: ‘Honey’ – Robyn

Over the last several years, I’ve featured songs from the top of Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop poll, which compiles the picks of hundreds of music critics into a master Top 100 Albums and Top 50 Singles.

Well, Village Voice closed up shop last year, first moving online only and then ceasing new content creation entirely. It looked like a sad end to a poll dating back to 1974 that gave a fascinating glimpse into the changing popular music landscape.

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Song of the Day #3,873: ‘Black Math’ – The White Stripes

This is the second song from The White Stripes’ 2003 album Elephant to show up on Random Weekends in the last month. On that post, I noted that the song was the fourth from Elephant to come up randomly. Now we’re at five — more than a third of the album’s tracks.

‘Black Math’ is Jack White’s spin on “We don’t need no education.” It’s a fast and furious screed against doing what you’re told.

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Song of the Day #3,872: ‘Roses’ – Kanye West

Kanye West has been acting a fool long enough now that it’s easy to forget he released some very good music back in the day.

West’s second album, 2005’s Late Registration, remains the early pinnacle of a career that has gone off the rails due to West’s ego and (on a sadder note) his mental health issues.

Co-produced by Jon Brion, who Kanye discovered through his work on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind score and Fiona Apple’s second album, Late Registration is still a great listen.

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