Video and Audio: November 2020
"He's your President because you voted for him"
Baby Queen: “Buzzkill”
She takes “Loser” and the Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper” as a musical base, adding contemporary vocal effects and subtracting ’90s ironic self-loathing for the more committed ’20s kind. Bummer!
Master KG feat. Nomcebo: “Jerusalema”
Inexorably rising towards becoming the biggest South African hit of the YouTube era (bad luck Die Antwoord), this feels pretty much the same as the last Master KG song I liked, which is to say a balm that’s extremely all-purpose, so that Burna Boy slots in effortlessly on the remix while adding a hint of ecumenicism.
G Flip: “Hyperfine”
Post-Sia Australian drops her f-bombs in the first half of the chorus, so that “hyperfine” becomes an even higher aspirational state, like it’s Super Saiyan 2.
Peter Stampfel & the Bottle Caps: “Surfer Angel”
Few people have the sheer knowledge of pop culture detritus required to create this jumbled a pastiche. (I mean maybe I do, but I can’t play an instrument.)
Troye Sivan: “Easy”
Whichever song has the best “woo” of the year is always going to do well on my year-end list.
Sauce Twinz ft. Sada Baby & Sauce Gohan: “Big Drip Squad”
Four unusually complementary verses, with top honors going to one Sauce Walka, whose flows are pungent yet unusual, like, uh, sauce walking.
Billy Nomates: “Hippy Elite”
Guiss Guiss Bou Bess: Majorettes (live)
A tantalizing piece of evidence that they’re a hell of a live show. See them in 2022, looks like.
Laura Jane Grace: “This Year” (from Save Stereogum: An ’00s Covers Comp)
We’re nearly there!