Best Songs by 21st Century Women+

[poorpete]

The form: https://goo.gl/forms/rrbnrdRzmuHrXxXv2
The playlist: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... vtPPdCQQAN

Here we go, listen to these songs, once through or a bunch of times, and pick your five favorites
After each poll closes the top 5 songs move on to compete with the Next 10 songs on the NPR list.

176 St. Vincent Digital Witness
177 Ms. Dynamite Dy-Na-Mi-Tee
178 Abigail Washburn City Of Refuge
179 Juana Molina Eras
180 Victorie Cathedral City
181 TORRES Sprinter
182 A-WA Habib Galbi
183 Noname Diddy Bop (feat. Cam O’bi & Raury)
184 Light Asylum A Certain Person
185 Fatima Al Qadiri D-medley
186 Phoebe Bridgers Smoke Signals
187 Rapsody Black & Ugly (feat. BJ The Chicago Kid)
188 Allison Miller Otis Was a Polar Bear
190 Khia My Neck, My Back (Lick It)
190 McCrary Sisters Train
191 Ashley McBryde Girl Goin' Nowhere
192 Lizz Wright Hit The Ground
193 Demi Lovato Cool for the Summer
194 KING The Greatest
195 International Contemporary Ensemble In the Light of Air: I. Luminance
196 Kaki King Playing with Pink Noise
197 Buika Mi niña Lola
198 Emel Mathlouthi Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free)
199 Lori McKenna Humble & Kind
200 La Insuperable Damelo (feat. Chimbala)

[Mike]

Listening.

[poorpete]

After my first listen, my favorite was Demi Lavato's "Cool for Summer", though I did like everything else fine. I wonder, once the hooks set in, if the other songs that have more to say (musically and lyrically) will overtake it. -- of course it's produced by Max Martin.

I also moved around the poll so people can skip the embedded videos and I added a comments field at the end.

After second listen, I was most impressed with "Otis was a Polar Bear" which is really starting to hook into me.

[Mike]

3x through so far.

Cool for the Summer wears on me. It's become just any old pop song at this point.

Damelo and La Nina Lola do nothing for me. Just nothing. I don't mind them being on, but I'm glad when they're gone.

Otis was a Polar Bear... every time... EVERY time... I really like this when it starts up. Then somewhere around the three or four minute mark, I think "nice, but I can't wait to hear what's next". Then at the 6 and a half minute mark, I actually have to look at my phone, thinking, "Jesus! How long is this damn song?! What? Seven and a half minutes? Seriously? I should just skip it. I will. I... no... no, it's close enough to the end, let's make it a full listen." *sigh* I'm beginning to resent Otis.

Humble & Kind I know already. It's okay.

Playing with Pink Noise makes me feel good every time.

Kelmti Horra is very pretty, but not in my wheelhouse. The lyrics are awesome and powerful if you look at the translation, but i don't connect them with listening to the song. In fact, I'm usually thinking, "Huh, I don't remember any Arabic in Les Mis. When did this come in?"

Hit the Ground is pretty good. Black and Ugly is maybe my favorite. But Girl Goin Nowhere snuck up on me. I dismissed it on first listen, but later realized it was actually a "Fuck you! Girl power!" song... just a really subdued one.

But there's plenty of time for more listens.

[Phoebe]

The Pink Noise is my favorite!
Hit the ground was okay but I might have liked it a lot better had it been a different song sung by the same singer. And that's not really a very good argument for the song!

[poorpete]

I've started to really enjoy these songs, even the ones that left me cold originally.

Girl Goin' Nowhere - Like the lyrics, it's a victory lap that still feels grounded. I really like songs where the band comes late, and it's perfect when they come in when she sings "I hear the band" -- that's fun.

Kelmti Horra - Pretty, I really like the production, especially like the sing-along Hey-Jude-like coda. Helpful to know it's inspirational lyrics and context. But I dunno if I'd listen to it over and over other than in this context.

Otis Was a Polar Bear - maybe because I listen while at work or cleaning, but I'm not bothered by the length. I enjoy this a lot.

Hit the Ground - I like its Tracy Chapman-esque feel. I'm not adverse to it, but I think I like some of the other songs better.

Mi Nina Lola - Wow her voice and the piano on this, damn. Might be my favorite now.

Damelo - I mean this would be fun at a club, and has it's fun parts, she's a fun rapper, but the simple chorus and the calls out to the DJs and producers at the end, I could do without.

Playing with Pink Noise - I love acoustic guitars and she's a master, and love how quick and inventive this is, buuuut, after 5 it's still left me a little bit cold. In the video, she is super-serious-face, which kinda puts a damper on the quirklyness here -- oh no, am I asking a woman to smile more? What I'm saying is: I don't understand the emotion in this song. I'm reminded of Niccolo Paganini, of whom contemporary reviewers felt his music was a technical achievement but emotionally distant (I personally find his music very emotive). With her song here, I feel that dichotomy on display. But, hey, modern day Paganini isn't faint praise!

Cool for the Summer - "die for each other, we're cool for the summer" kinda gets at the weirdness (uhhh dichotomy?) of the lyrics of this song, where it's like, we're perfect for each other forever ... and by forever I mean until Labor Day. There's also some little pokes of annoyance I have where the song seems to pick and choose hooks from other songs, especially two points near the end that sound like "You Get What You Give" by The New Radicals. But it's so damn catchy, dammit.

Black & Ugly - seems inspired by Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo and neo-soul. Love the hook and the production and Rapsody's flow. My brain has been focused on the play-on-words line: "It's personal, a diary, and frankly..."

Humble & Kind - like the sound and message (that's all you can really ask from a song, right?), the drummer does some neat little fills, but otherwise feels a bit by-the-numbers, no? Oh wait, humble and kind, umm, it's very good and I'm very impressed. Whew.

[poorpete]

Should the poll separately ask for the best song of the 10/15?

[poorpete]

How should tie-brakers work? AKA if more than one song is tied for the fifth space for advancement.

The ego in me wants me to choose the victor but it's probably best to give the tie-breaker to the original NPR ranking.

[Phoebe]

Personally I think you should choose the Victor, because the way the voting works, you end up having to vote for songs that you think quite disparate in quality. The difference between my number one and number five is pretty great, but they both received a vote. So under the circumstances you're not preserving a detailed accuracy by choosing anything other than yourself to break the tie.

[poorpete]

Hmm maybe I'll look to see if Google has ranked voting

[poorpete]

Also, feel free to note your fav here or in the form in the comments field. I'm unsure what my favorite is, but I'm pretty sure "Damelo" is my least favorite.

[poorpete]

I made an optional "Your Name" field, so I can identify people who are repeat users, and if I want to quote their comments with attribution. One person added a bunch of comments, so if that was you, let me know and I'll make note

I assume it's only going to get tougher, but this was tough. Here are my top 5:

Rapsody - Black & Ugly
Demi Lovato - Cool for the Summer
Buika - Mi niña Lola
Allison Miller - Otis Was a Polar Bear
Ashley McBryde: Girl Goin' Nowhere

There has been 4 voters so far, I'm excited to have y'all aboard this!

(So far "Otis Was a Polar Bear" and "Black & Ugly" have been picked by everyone)

[Phoebe]

This is tragic but I totally forgot if it was me who made comments. I'm pretty sure I put all my comments here?

[poorpete]

Nah, I found the person who put it in, thanks. But you both submitted, yes? If so, we currently have a 2 way tie for the fifth slot. But I'll hold off giving info until Friday's over

[poorpete]

A tie for fifth was between Demi and Kaki and my wife broke it, sorry for those who liked Kaki the best. Unlesss- you two really convince me that this is wrong and were your favorite. Should I add a favorite selection for Round 2?

Here's who moves on:
Rapsody: Black & Ugly (feat. BJ The Chicago Kid)
Lizz Wright: Hit The Ground
Ashley McBryde: Girl Goin' Nowhere
Allison Miller: Otis Was a Polar Bear
Demi Lovato: Cool for the Summer

Here's who was left out:
196. Kaki King: Playing with Pink Noise
197. Buika: Mi niña Lola
198. Emel Mathlouthi: Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free)
199. Lori McKenna: Humble & Kind
200. La Insuperable: Damelo (feat. Chimbala)

[poorpete]

Poll: https://goo.gl/forms/rrbnrdRzmuHrXxXv2
Playlist: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list ... vtPPdCQQAN
(both are the same link as before)

Two songs here I've heard before, and I think you two have too

[poorpete]

Thoughts with one week left:

Digital Witness - yes please. Though I liked the songs from Massseduction better, this is a solid pick from her archives.

Let It Go - I've heard this probably 50 times, and I don't hate it, so that's probably enough to move it on. But there are a lot of solid songs here!

Blue Lights - yes please. Reminds me of Alessia Cara, who I'm bummed doesn't have a song on this list. Beautiful voice, and great lyrics. I think will be a pick.

My Neck, My Back (Lick It) - Yyyyyeah, no thanks. I mean, I applaud this song for being open about such things, and being clear about sexuality and sexual needs. It also has a good beat. But, songs by men about similar stuff I don't like, and so I feel confident banishing this from my playlist once again.

Dy-Na-Mi-Tee -- super fun, catchy, honest lyrics.

Sprinter - Like it. Like its Radiohead/Muse chorus. And it's confident-yes-unnerving outro. And its grunge guitar. This will be a hard one to ignore.

In the Light of Air: I. Luminance - zzzzzzz. OK, I think I'd like this when performed live, and is certainly not unlistenable, there's talent and mood, it's good. But sounding better than the squeaks of my garage door closing, and being less memorable, is that' really a-zzzzzzzz, sorry where was I?

The Greatest - Moody modern R&B. Very good, but no reason to think NPR underrated this.

Train - A gospel turned funk update in the vein of "People Get Ready" with a solid LaBelle feel. This is music that speaks to me, I really like it, but sounds a bit too-planned-out, a little too predictable -- or not, I'm not sure. I'm torn.

Smoke Signals - sweet little moody melancholy song, and love the little references to classic-rock heroes and driving at night. Ooof, tough ones, in a good way!

[poorpete]

So I changed up the polling, so you'll vote for
1. your favorite (will get an extra-boost, so your future Kaki Kings can advance)
2. four more favorites
3. two more (in case of ties, and to help assist ranking the 10 songs that don't advance)

[poorpete]

[Mike]

I've had stomach flu for 8 days. I've listened to each song once, and a couple of them twice. If the deadline is tomorrow, I'll be able to vote by then.