The Music Scalpel

       2024: the year pop music came back to life. This was a solid year for the genre, so this list was hard to make. There are more "dislikes" than true "hates." Yet there are still some "hates" and I found a new list this year. As I write this, Billboard has not released its year-end list, so I paid a couple bucks to a chart predictor on Twitter, Talk of the Charts, to use their list. With this list, I actually get 100 new songs. Billboard's year-end is 25% Christmas songs and music from last year that stayed on the chart for a long time. So this list goes up to 118. Now that that's settled. let's start with the dishonorable mentions. FE!N by Travis Scott feat. Playboi Carti (#97): This unessential song has an obnoxious repetition of "fiend," a synth line that sounds offkey, and a pair of boring verses from Travis and Carti, where the latter sounds awful. act ii: date @8 (Remix) by 4Batz feat. Drake (#80): I hate everything that 4B...

     Here is the next post for the important years in my music-listening life. Before 2010, I did not have a music taste. I liked some of the old music my parents loved, and I had some knowledge of modern music from my older sister. Then, in 2010, I paid more attention. I stole my parents' satellite radio receiver and enjoyed AltNation. I read some music blogs, such as Stereogum and Spin Magazine. I bought CDs from bands like The National, the Black Keys, and Vampire Weekend. By the end of the year, I was into the alternative/ indie-rock scene.     To celebrate this year, I will look back at the best critically acclaimed tracks of 2010. I will use the site acclaimedmusic.net again. Here is the list . This time I listened to all 120 tracks instead of the top 100 like I did with the 1992 list. Without much further ado, here are the honorable mentions: Nightcall by Kavinsky feat.Lovefoxxx (#43): Here is a charming synthwave track co-produced and co-written by a mem...

 This year had good music too. Let's talk about it.  Here's the chart I used: Link Honorable Mentions: Princess Diana (Remix) by Ice Spice & Nicki Minaj (Year-end rank:#69): I like how these two rappers contrast. Neither girl says anything special, but I can't get that plucky beat out of my mind. I've listened to this song many times just because of that beat. wait in the truck by HARDY feat. Lainey Wilson (#54): I am not a fan of country music, but I like the storytelling in the song about a man getting revenge for a domestic violence victim by killing the abuser (Don't try this at home.). The gospel choir is also a nice touch. Chemical by Post Malone (#57): Post Malone may be a mediocre rapper, but he is a decent pop star. Here, Posty sings about his tumultuous relationship with his partner with the happiest-sounding tune behind him.  Cupid by FIFTY FIFTY (#44): A cute love song made by cute Korean girls. At least, I think it is. It's mostly in Korean. Tom...

  Another year, another new list of songs for the year thanks to Billboard. This year has the country boom. A lot more country has hit the charts than I can ever remember. Nashville learned how to use streaming to promote its artists. In addition, the regional Mexican scene significantly impacted the Billboard charts. I wish I could get into either of these genres. I have never gotten into country music. This doesn't mean I hate the genre; I am mostly indifferent. Regional Mexican music is not in English, so I can't care about it either. The genres alternative, rock, and rap had a down year on the charts. That being said, let's go over my least favorite hits of the year. Dishonorable Mentions: Creepin' by Metro Boomin', the Weeknd & 21 Savage (Year-end Spot: #5): This is an example of soulless sampling. The producer, Metro Boomin', had Weeknd sing "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans (The Weekend sounds great, by the way.) and forgot to put in ...

       1992. I was born this year in a hospital in Connecticut. This year is significant to me for that reason and that reason alone. I also recently found a website that lists the most critically acclaimed songs by year. A Swedish statistician combed through many top 10 song lists compiled by Rolling Stone, NME, and other music publications from all over the world. With this data, he found the most acclaimed songs and separated them by genre, year, and country. For fun, I decided to see what the most critically-loved songs of my birth year were, listen to the top 100, and rank my favorites.       To see the list and complain about my choices click here . Honorable Mentions: Sheela-na-gig by PJ Harvey (#23): For those who don't know, a sheela-na-gig is a crude carving of a woman exposing her lady parts found in Europe in the 11th century. In the song, PJ Harvey uses her body to get the attention of a man. In return, she gets slut shamed by the man...

2022: pop music's filler year. The charts started with a ton of stagnancy. Many of 2021's big hits were also big hits in 2022. Pop stars tried to have their songs take off, and many of them failed. Eventually, there were some new songs, but it was too late. Now let's look at the worst parts of this year. These songs come from Billboard's Top 100 songs for 2022. If the song charted last year or is really old (i.e. Christmas music) it will not make the list. Dishonorable Mentions: First Class by Jack Harlow (Year-end list: #6): This song is not terrible, it's just disappointing. Jack can do better than this song. It is dominated by an obvious sample of a terrible song. Some people sample cool musicians, but he chose to sample Fergie. And Jack's lyrics are unimpressive and forgettable, forcing you to focus on the sample. AA by Walker Hayes (#61): Corny country song about how hard he tries to not screw up. It feels like a blatant re-tread of "Fancy Like," ...