Yeah, bearded white dudes. Let it out. Shit’s not gonna get any better. Oh, we think it will, sure. The grand illusion, don’t you know. A New Year = a new beginning. Hogwash. At first listen, you might think Chris Mollica’s selections for songs of the year portend some idyllic new life, replete with love and happiness. Listen closer, my friends. They have one thing in common. They’re all bummers. Beautiful f’ing bummers.
Fleet Foxes – “Helplessness Blues”
From: Chris Mollica
To: Natalie Snoyman, Brandon Hall, Jenn Lao, Chris Atto
Being myself a night owl, I love that New Year’s Eve presses everyone to celebrate midnight. Agreed. The Old Year (as it is henceforth deemed!) ALWAYS involves me drinking too much, yelling too much and making bold declarations for the coming set of days. So here’s my advice. It goes a little beyond Advil and water before you put your head down. Rumi’s The Vigil. Stay up, lovers. Greet the New Year with open eyes and perhaps a clearer understanding. Hopefully you’ll also be sober by the time you lay down.
What I’ve been loving so far in this little conversation is how the different musical tastes emerge as a year is boiled down to the songs that everyone obsessed over. Brandon is the romantic that likes to dance. Chris A. is a spaced out, melodic xenophile (and I couldn’t be more grateful). And lovely Jenn is, well, beats. You a drum girl, girl. So what am I? What does my crop o’ songs say about me?
Thao & Mirah – “Teeth”
Let’s start with “Teeth,” an awesome gem from the team-up of two underrated artists, Thao and Mirah. Each in their own right has produced myriad great songs. On Thao & Mirah, they teamed up and brought none other than Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YarDs to produce the thing. Thanks! There’re handclaps, layers upon layers voices, longing, regret and teeth. It feels organic. It feels rich. It feels like the loveliest blow-off you’ll ever hear, until…
Real Estate – “Wonder Years”
“Wonder Years” by Real Estate feels like it’s been around forever with its relaxed, hazy production. It coulda been on “The Wonder Years” for goodness sakes! This is what happens to love when it stops happening and you’re done sulking and have some wits about you. So I guess it’s not a blow-off, more of a not-going-to-again.
The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Barnes’ Yard”
If you don’t know The Rural Alberta Advantage, run out and grab their debut, Hometowns. It’s all love and rock and roll. Brandon, you’d love it. The follow-up, Departing, doesn’t match that album’s vigor and intensity, but it’s a grower, beautifully capturing what happens to out of control love once reality seeps in. “Barnes’ Yard” is my favorite track, one I strolled all over Los Angeles singing (sorry, Los Angeles). This is a man trying to hold onto his lover all while lives are falling apart around them. It drives like a mofo.
Wilco – “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)
Brandon, it may not seem clear to everyone, but the new Wilco album split you and I down the middle. It began a feud that will surely consume nations before it’s quelled, or at least lead to other engaging conversations. Either way, I think we can completely agree on this: Jeff Tweedy’s twelve minute rumination on the dying of a religious father is a song for the ages. “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)” is patient and beautiful, filled with effortless shifts to its simple melody. I feel like it can easily fall into the pantheon of great story songs alongside some of Dylan’s. I get the feeling this one’s a lifer…alongside the white elephant in the room.
“Helplessness Blues” [ed: video at top] is the best song of the year. Chris A., internet high five! C’mon! This thing’s amazing! In the course of five minutes Robin Pecknold confronts the disillusionment of self-importance that deludes a generation of people who’ve been awarded trophies for participating. He offers himself to the greater whole, unsure of his place, but also unwilling to follow any path handed to him. No, his way shall be true, full of work and sincerity. F’ing A! This is big stuff! This is life stuff. Great folk songwriting by way of the Beach Boys.
“What good is it to sing helplessness blues? Why should I wait for anyone else?”
Chris
From: Brandon Hall
To: Chris Mollica
Boo. You don’t get any more milquetoast than Fleet Foxes.
Unless, of course, your name is Wilco.
And I like The Rural Alberta Advantage. I don’t love them. You misjudge me, sir!
b
From: Jenn Lao
To: Chris Mollica, Brandon Hall, Chris Atto, Natalie Snoyman
And Chris M. is the contemplative listener. His songs come in waves, steady, against a horizon line.
“I have teeth I must bare”
Jenn
AudioVole 
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