With cyclops eye strays, stay shatterin' lives, out where the poltergeists of history haunt the alive



37. Strangers by Dangermouse and Black Thought with Run The Jewels and A$AP Rocky

-Super producer Dangermouse and Black Thought from The Roots teamed up for this project that probably should have had a cooler name like Gnarls Barkley or Broken Bells, but we'll forgive them mostly because of this song. Run The Jewels can turn anything into gold, yet this song is a perfect for both of them. And Asap Rocky has never sounded better either. You could use this team at the hip-hop All-Star game and probably win.

The Weeknd blew it not calling his album "Out of Time" with that album cover

Aight that's gonna be it for now. Don't think I'll have time to post anymore, unless my work says "hey you don't have to come in today and we'll pay you anyways!" ... Which isn't likely for me or anyone else.

It's Da Eve! It's also absurdly cold outside. Thanks alot, Santa. Ya Jerk. Guess I'll have to deliver all the good presents this year in the form of songs!

I'm lost and I'm lonely, I hunger for you only



36. Wolf by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

-It has been a whole ass ten years since Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their last album - Mosquito. Sure, Karen O has released some solo stuff in the years between, but it's just not the same. They not only returned to the studio, but to the stage as well, and lucky enough I got to hear this song for the first time at one of their shows. And what a great show it was! Karen was doing all sorts of weird/funny strange stuff on stage but it never lessened the performance. If anything, they sounded better than they do on their records.

Just got in the habit of switching the flow, just trying to travel the globe



35. GED (Gettin Every Dollar) by Lute

-Lute is one of those rappers that probably should be more popular, but is just making bars at the wrong time. This is more of the Kendrick style of hip-hop, which hasn't resulted in much airplay for anyone other than the man himself. The public would rather have dance music. So guys like Lute really benefit from the streaming era since people like me can find their music without having to fight against all the autotuned poprap. This song seems to be about graduating from a poor rapper to a rich one, and while he may not be there yet, it probably feels that way just getting even a few people to listen to your music and make a few bucks off it. Get those dollars lute, you deserve them.

And when the color is too bold and bright, I'm daydreaming in black and white until it passes



34. Here To Forever by Death Cab For Cutie

-I think many, if not all, of us can relate to the first verse of this song wherein Ben Gibbard tries to escape into the solace of old films, only to find a reason to be upset about that too, and yet unable to walk away because it's still the best option he has. The song is pretty upbeat and positive though, just inward looking. Anyways, while this song and the whole new album are very good, that wasn't the big story. Ben just announced that next year Death Cab For Cutie will go on tour as an opener ... for The Postal Service! The man is doing double duty! What a fantastic idea. Death Cab have obviously been doing all the work, but TPS will really hit that early 00s nostalgia sweet spot that has become so big in the concert industry. I highly look forward to it!

Glad to see Visions of Atlantis made it!

Gonna stop here for now. I have off today. Might do some family stuff, but that won't take very long. So we'll get down to the top 30 later today!

As promised He has returneth. And by he I mean It's Me, Hi ... OK now we're just getting out of control.

"Just get back to the songs" - everyone

I guess I need to hear the truth this time, You kept me waitin' on a lie



33. Firefly by Shygirl

-After a few mostly electronica EPs, Shygirl busted into the mainstream with her official debut album this year. While it still has plenty of the grimey electro that she was known for, she also added elements of hip-hop and bubblegum pop. Firefly falls into the latter category, being so catchy that I'm surprised it didn't become a bigger hit (or a hit at all ... maybe it charted in her home country of England or something.) The only question she has yet to answer is what color shyguy/girl she plays in Mario Kart. I'm betting on light blue.

Took in all I was given, erased it all to fake a work of art



32. Love On The Run by Broken Bells

-This is one of the few exceptions I meantioned a couple songs back when producer Dangermouse appeared with the song "Strangers." Because, obviously, Broken Bells is not only a different project, but so far away from the album with Black Thought that DM might as well be Split when he's making this stuff. With that kind of range, who can blame him for writing a seven minute epic called Love On The Run. His bandmate here is James Mercer, best known from the band The Shins who are best known for tracks like Simple Song and New Slang. Broken Bells started as a way for him and Danger to just make this upbeat indie-flavored dance songs, but LOTR sounds more like a Bond theme than anything the two have previously done. A relaxed Bond that is. Not Daniel Craig. More like Roger Moore. Or possibly Pierce if the 90s weren't so gloomy and dark.

It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling, always left Abuela and the family fumbling grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand



31. We Don't Talk About Bruno by Encanto

-I was torn on whether to include this since the movie itself came out in November 2021. Yet, like most people in the world, I didn't see the movie or hear the song until late December. Bruno definitely made its mark in 2022. Besides being very catchy, the song is brilliant at explaining the so far unseen character, why he's been exiled and what it has to do the rest of the movie. Poor Bruno. Nobody in real life can predict the future, but casting out intelligence for informing people of truths they don't wanna hear has been part of everyone's culture since the beginning of time (Dr. Fauci being the most recent example of someone certain people demonize because he saw bad news on the horizon and bothered to tell us about it.) It's a damn shame what they do to Bruno. Luckily, spoiler alert, he is the forgiving sort. I wouldn't have been so nice about it. Like hey, you're going to break something important to you on December 27th at 4:03 PM. Then they'd be so stressed about my fake prophecy that it might come true!

That's not a 2022 song. And Surface Pressure is better.

And that does it for the first twenty! How far we've come since those innocent times, all of four days ago.

Any comments, questions or concerns should be directed to @elonmusk on twitter.

Yeah I cheat a little sometimes. It's more about the spirit of 2022, which Bruno felt way more apart of than 2021. I do like Surface Pressure alot too, but didn't include it.

Hope everyone is having the merriest of Christmas. I should be able to make all your wishes come true with a double update today, one now and one later on whenever I'm done with Xmas activities.

Sometimes I hate being right, but convincing myself hurts more than the fight



30. Why So Toxic - Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh (aka The GFM Band)

-It's only appropriate to kick off the Christmas day update with the gifts that the three wise men gave to the messiah Brian (and then immediately took back to give to Jesus.) GFM are better known for their heavier material, the singer does have great screaming vocals. They opened for Fozzy this year and Chris Jericho will accept nothing less than the hardest cuts. Burn Your Fears, the opening track on this album, or Disrupt The Silence, the final track on the album, would also be quite worthy of inclusion. Yet Why So Toxic, an Avril-esque pop-punk sound, just stood out to me as being so much fun, despite gaslighting being a rather infuriating issue to deal with. The album is only six songs, 22 minutes, so why not check it all out and tell me if I made the right decision here.

Ease up to the hunter from the prey and transform indefinitely



29. Call Me Little Sunshine by Ghost

-I was gonna say this was opposite of the Christmas spirit, but I guess it does have to do with spiruality ... in a way. It feels like the usual themes out of Ghost, the somewhat tongue-in-cheek asking the devil for fame and success, as certain types of people assume that rock stars have done since the beginning. I did hear them say something about how the asking for validation online via photos/status updates is the same type of thing as asking the devil (and maybe god too?) for whatever it is you want. I guess it does kind of fit ... in a way. I honestly don't really care about any of this devil stuff though. I listen to Ghost for their guitar work and this song has a very memorable riff that was stuck in my head all year.

If I was just a lie to you, well, you were less than that to me



28. Loved You A Little by The Maine with Taking Back Sunday and Charlotte Sands

-I just absolutely love the call and response vocals on this song. In the verses, The Maine go back and forth with Taking Back Sunday (one of my fav emo bands ever.) But it works equally well with Charlotte Sands on the chorus. Lyrically, it's a bit of a petty song. Like someone saying "you can't fire me because I quit!" Whatever, if these words brought all these people together than it was more than worth it.

That'll be it for now. Enjoy your Christmas! Will finish the first half later and maybe moresome. Is moresome a word? If not, it should be.

Well, Christmas time is past (it wasn't my plan to be up this late doing laundry but here we are), however, if you're still chasing that sweet sweet Christmas spirit then watch Klaus. Great movie! Maybe a top 3 Christmas movie after only Die Hard + A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.

I never chase the pussy but the bag is what I get to, I never stress the bitch 'cause if I lose her I could get two



27. Jiggalo by Mike Dimes

-"Bitch I go by Mike Dimes" is a great way to introduce yourself to someone who hasn't listened to your music before. I often talk about how I like my hip-hop to have sharp, relevant lyrics ( a standard I don't always hold other genres too), but there's nothing wrong with a good ole fashion song about how much you fuck. The production and lyrics are both pretty modern, but its amazing how much Mike Dimes sounds like a golden-age rapper just because he doesn't use the damn autotune. If you like this, follow it up with Paparazzi and Backroom, it's a terrific triple stretch of tracks on the album.

Portuguese on her knees, moppin' down the P, she let me squeeze, then she lеave 'cause she keep it P



26. Pushin P by Gunna & Future with Young Thug

-Pushin P is not a song that would normally even be on my radar. We can thank the 2022 NBA All-Star Game for that. Live in Cleveland, the halftime show was performed by DJ Khaled "and friends." Lil Baby opened things up, Ludacris closed things out, Mary J and Lil Wayne were there in the middle. What stood out to me wasn't even a DJ Khaled song though. It was Gunna doing the second verse of this song "I pop a p, I'm paranoid..." It's not even produced by Khaled, so says the opening tagline of Wheezy outta here. I'm so glad he did though. This trap track is so catchy. The one thing that is slightly off is their explanation on what pushin p actually means. They say its keeping it 100 and still being the best version of yourself or something like that. Yet the entire song seems to be about what women will do for you in order to get their drugs. I'm guessing that p is perceset since that shit is highly addictive. I'm not hip with the street drugs anymore though, so it could be something completely different that turns lesbians into pesbians for p. Pushin P.

You don't have to play the part they wrote for you, just be true, there are things that you could do that no one else on earth could ever do



25. Unconditional I (Lookout Kid) by Arcade Fire

-After spending their time going more and more electro during the 2010s, Arcade Fire pivoted back to the folksy indie-rock sound that made everyone love them so much in the first place (though they didn't leave it behind entirely as heard in Unconditional II.) I've liked everything they've ever done, so the electronic stuff (especially the excellent Reflektor album) didn't bother me none, but it was also nice to get the feeling of going back home. They will always get my heart and my precious time. The Lightning II and Age of Anxiety I were worthy of getting on the list, but Lookout Kid is just the best.

And that'll do it for our "Christmas" updates. Should be able to knock out a couple more songs on Boxing Day tomorrow.

Oh and shout out to my mom for getting me a new dualsense for Christmas. It's been a long time since I popped for a present like that, but my old was starting to drift and all the gamers here know just how annoying controller drift can be.