Zrbo's Favorite Songs of 2018

Another trip around the sun and another year of music. I had a bit of a difficult time ranking my favorite songs but in the end I think I'm satisfied with what I came up with. Also, for those who've followed my Top 5 lists in the past, this is the first list in quite a few years where I haven't thrown in a retro song (can you believe it?). And now, the envelope please...

5. Holygram - "Signals"


These guys have definitely been in a goth club before. Holygram bill themselves as a post-punk/new wave act from Cologne, but you wouldn't be able to tell these guys are German at all. They sound straight up like they came out of 1982 with a sound similar to The Cure, and they look like... members of Oasis? Anyways, I like this song, though if I have a complaint it's that they're emulating the sound but not necessarily bringing anything new to the table. In fact, most of their songs sound remarkably similar, even if it is a good sound.

4. Charli XCX & Troy Sivan - "1999"


"Is this my generation's Bryan Adams' "Summer of 69"?" I asked myself when I first heard this song. The parallels are there: a song sung about a nostalgic year when the artist in question wasn't even really old enough to enjoy said nostalgic year (and yes, I know what Adams' song is really about, but just go with me here). Bryan Adams was only ten in 1969, Charli XCX was just seven in 1999. "1999" isn't particularly ground shaking, but it's an effective piece of pop that, besides the well made video, I've found stuck in my head for longer than I care to admit.

And what a video! Yes, it's just a collection of visual references designed to make those of a certain age say "I get that reference!". There's Jack and Rose from Titanic! The Spice Girls! Eminem! That guy from The New Radicals! They're all here!

You could argue that the song is a bit self defeating. I imagine Charli XCX's main audience is perhaps a bit too young to effectively remember (or to have even been alive) in 1999, and those that would be old enough to appreciate the song and it's video references are not really Charli's target audience. But anyways, I find it kind of bubblegum fun and I hope you do too.

3. Day Twelve - "Move" (Still mix) and "Move" (Neuroticfish remix)

That's right, two versions of the same song! I came across Day Twelve when I was listening to the latest Psy'Aviah album (who previously appeared on one of my Top 5's) and came to the realization that all of my favorite Psy'Aviah songs were sung by the same vocalist, Mari Kattman. So I found her Bandcamp page and came across this old band of hers (that did a total of one album) and fell quickly in love with it. I've listened to their album Fin more than any other album this year, and it was a bit tough to decide just which song to choose. I almost went with "The Basement" which is, ahem, a song about being trapped in a basement knowing you won't survive the night, but the whole thing is sung in the style of... sultry lounge music? It's worth a listen.

Anyways, I instead went with these two versions of the song "Move". The original is okay, but these two mixes bring out different sides to the song. The "Still mix" is the original stripped down to just Kattman and a piano. I would describe it as sounding like a Tori Amos song. Then there's the "Neuroticfish remix" which is the same song but made for dancing. The two versions are so drastically different it's almost hard to tell they're the same song. The real treat of the song however is what Kattman does with her voice in the original and Neuroticfish versions. She goes from singing to screaming and back to singing, sometimes all in the space of a single line. It's impressive, though understandably an acquired taste.

2. 45 seconds of "Big Enough" by Kirin J. Callinan


Here's an unusual first for Zrbo's Annual Top 5 list: a snippet of a song! Yes, there's an entire song that this 45 second clip belongs to but let's face it: it's not very good and really it's just there so Mr. Callinan could have a pretense for these 45 seconds. These magnificent, glorious 45 seconds.

Yes, it's basically just a silly bit that's most likely cynically produced just to "go viral" but dammit, whenever I hear these 45 seconds I just find myself with a big goofy smile on my face. Even if I'm having a bit of down day, I know I can just put this on and for a brief moment at least I'll be laughing my ass off. Watch the full video if you must, but it's not really worth watching more than once. It's really just kind of a big goofy eurodance number. The heart of it is these 45 seconds, and it's better just to listen to the clip going in blind not knowing what you're about to witness - just relax and enjoy the cowboy man. Also, turn up the volume for maximum enjoyment.

1. VNV Nation - "Armour"
It's pretty much a given that in a year when a new VNV Nation album comes out you're going to find a song of theirs on my annual list. This year's album Noire had a host of excellent songs, and it was tough for me to pick just one (I limit this list to one track per artist). I was tempted to choose the contemplative "God of All", or I could have chosen the Erasure-esque "Wonders" which has severely grown on me. But I'm going to go with my gut and choose the first song from the album the band first chose to debut at this summer's Klaffenbach festival in Germany.

From the first time I heard "Armour" I fell in love with it. It's a somewhat typical style of song that VNV does, a sort of self-affirmational. With lyrics describing the singer donning his metaphorical armor as the world has failed him, it's the song I needed in 2018. As a said in my review of the album, this song is like candy to my ears, and  thus it takes it's place as my favorite song of the year.