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Song of the Day #5,650: ‘Little Drummer Boy’ – Pentatonix

The 2010s has not been a good decade for Throwback Weekends, as the songs atop the Billboard Hot 100 did not shift much that year. It is also a year I was already blogging, so newcomers to the list have often already been featured here.

This week, at least, the glut of familiar songs among the top ten paid off. I had to drop all the way to #13 to find a song I haven’t written about, and it happens to be a perfect thematic fit on this Christmas Eve — ‘Little Drummer Boy’ by the a cappella group Pentatonix.

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Song of the Day #5,649: ‘Milkshake’ – Kelis

Today we’re throwing back to the week of December 20, 2003, when the Christmas season was dominated by Outkast. The Atlanta-based rap duo held the top two spots on that week’s Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Hey Ya!‘ and ‘The Way You Move,’ two classics from the era.

Because I’ve featured those songs already, I’m moving on to #3, where singer (and future chef) Kelis peaked with her song ‘Milkshake.’

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Song of the Day #5,648: ‘Shiver’ – Fever Ray

My final feature from Pitchfork’s list of 2023’s best songs is the electro-pop track ‘Shiver’ by Swedish act Fever Ray (a project by musician Karin Dreijer).

This is the sort of Bjork-ian weirdness that music critics seem required to like. One of the reasons I’m glad I’m a fan and not a critic is the lack of responsibility to keep up with artists and songs like this.

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Song of the Day #5,647: ‘It Must Change’ – ANOHNI and the Johnsons

Pitchfork’s #12 song of 2023 comes from ANOHNI and the Johnsons, an art-pop group fronted by New York-based performer ANOHNI. ‘It Must Change’ feature’s ANOHNI’s distinctive vocals over the sort of sleek and soulful musical backdrop you might find on an Al Green tune.

I first encountered ANOHNI when she duetted with Rufus Wainwright on a track from his 2004 album Want Two. At the time I read that she was transgender and believed that she had transitioned from female to male (her stage name was Antony at the time).

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Song of the Day #5,646: ‘Daddy’ – Nourished by Time

Pitchfork’s #11 song of 2023 is ‘Daddy’ by Nourished by Time, the stage name of singer/producer Marcus Brown. I’ll admit it took me a minute to track this one down because I thought it was a song called ‘Nourished by Time’ by an artist called Daddy.

Brown recorded his debut album in his parents’ Baltimore basement, and whether you like this song or not, the man deserves kudos for creating such a polished track as a DIY project.

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