01/perfume genius/queen
they say use your words. don't get frustrated, and don't resort to violence, just talk it out and say what you gotta say. get your point across, be heard. use. your. words. but often, no good comes from this, and our words aren't used for good. they're used to insult, undermine, or destroy; create a barrier or a distance; a separation of us vs/from them.
the confrontational words and undertones of queen took many years to write. probably an entire lifetime. a lifetime of taking in taunts and slurs for walking with a sashay, not being rugged, or speaking in tones that you, him, or them might not deem masculine. a lifetime of being made to feel different when all you're doing is existing and being you, the only thing you know. it is a song that uses its words to undermine and attack your fragility, not asking to exist, but demanding it, arriving, letting you know I am here. it is an upfront piece of musical catharsis, with a gothically haunting score as dizzying as the gay panic it addresses.
queen wants to make you uncomfortable by making itself comfortable. it wants to upset the natural order of things by simply being present and aware of who it is, not what you think it is or want it to be. a man and his words. cutting like a knife and seeking transcendence, queen is beautifully human, and absolutely necessary.
02/lana del rey/shades of cool
03/ariel pink/put your number in my phone
04/run the jewels feat. zack de la rocha/close your eyes (and count to fuck)
05/beyonce feat. jay z/drunk in love
06/chris brown, usher, and rick ross/new flame
07/todd terje feat. bryan ferry/johnny & mary
08/parquet courts/ducking and dodging
09/lady gaga/g.u.y.
10/ilovemakonnen feat. drake/tuesday
11/haim/if i could change your mind
12/sisyphus/rhythm of devotion
13/tweedy/high as hello
14/black lips/boys in the wood
15/julian casablancas + the voidz/take me in your army
16/sbtrkt & ezra koenig/new dorp. new york
17/banks/this is what it feels like
18/avey tare's slasher flicks/little fang
19/metronomy/love letters
20/st. vincent/birth in reverse
21/the black keys/turn blue
22/death from above 1979/right on, frankenstein!
23/fka twigs/lights on
24/jessie ware/you & i (forever)
25/jenny lewis/just one of the guys
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