1. Rivka | Sky Child
This song had me hooked by the first five seconds (not to mention an awesome music video accompaniment). The sounds of children playing in the background mix all too perfectly with the awesome synth and Rivka's purely angelic vocals. For me this is literally the PERFECT song. It brings me into this ideal world in my mind where you're just kind of alone in a world of beautiful sounds and nothing else matters. I'll probably get lost in my mind if I ever see them live!
2. Right Away, Great Captain! | Cutting Off The Blood To Ten
I love a great story told through song especially when it's full of emotion and it's representative in the music itself with the build up of speed and volume and how hard an instrument is played, and this song is the epitome of emotion. It tells the story of a 17th Century sailor who finds his wife cheating on him with his own brother. I vividly remember the first time I heard this song I was driving home from school and I literally was taken out of the real world (which is ridiculously dangerous), the lyrics put the most tragic movie in my mind and I felt everything that the sailor felt, which was mostly an intense feeling of betrayal and a confused hate/love for his unfaithful wife. It's really memorable when a song can make you feel so strongly about a fictional character.
3. Boards Of Canada | An Eagle In Your Mind
It's really hard to say how I felt when I heard this song for the first time. My feelings while listening to it now still fluctuate from total awe, to being creeped out, to being in total awe all over again. I unabashedly love a song with unique drum kits and percussion and BoC uses a conversation with their roommates girlfriend to create a really crunchy sounding drum kit in this song, and it works perfectly.
4. Krusht | On A Hill (feat. Alleyes Manifest)
This song is great and the synth really makes you feel like you're in a fantasy world until the percussion comes in and you realize you're in a badass Hip Hop world! This song also uses some chopped vocals which is something I always love to hear in a song.
5. Teams | Based Love
I'm absolutely obsessed with chopping vocals and when I heard this song I nearly shit my pants. Everything about this song just makes you want to move. The synth is catchy but manages to take a back seat to the chopped vocals which are done amazingly in this song. I LOVE TEAMS.
6. Shabutie | Cassiopeia
This is a really emotional song and that is honestly what I love about it most. Shabutie was the band before the very popular Coheed And Cambria came to be known and the vocals in this song hit hard and really make you feel entranced by an amazing story in song form. Coheed will always be my #1 favorite band of all time and these earlier songs just really resonate with me. I remember the first time I heard it I had plugged my laptop in to my amp and turned it up as loud as I could and just listened to it over and over again for probably a half an hour. Early Coheed And Cambria songs as well as Shabutie are attached to so many wonderful memories of my early teen years and every time I hear them it brings me back like an audible time machine.
7. Washed Out | Feel It All Around
This song is constantly in my playlist and hits every point that I love in Chillwave. Every time I hear the song I make the cheesiest smile haha. Love this artist.
8. Shisa | Sweet Sptmbr
I absolutely love this song. I started getting into dreamy kind of Drone earlier this year and when I heard Shisa's mash-up of M83 and Waka Flocka Flame I had to listen to everything else he had made. When I heard Sweet Sptmbr I literally took a deep breath, relaxed, and smiled. It's absolutely perfect for what I look for in good Drone.
9. Spooky Cheddar | Definite Maybe
It's just the intro track to his album Bedroom Visionquest. But it really sets the mood for the album which is something I really like to hear. I love a short track like this that gives me an idea of what the rest is like especially when it's as enticing as this. The first time I heard it I was literally blown away. The creepy fading in an out of a screaming/applauding crowd mixes really well with this conflicting mysterious synth he uses.
10. Michael Myerz | How I Got My Shrunken Head
This was actually the first song I had ever heard from Michael Myerz and continues to be one of my favorites of all time from him. You're practically hooked from the first 10 seconds of the song. The beat is so unique that t's impossible not to bob your head to it.
