100 Songs for 2015: Outtakes (Day Three)

100 SONGS FOR 2015 HITS THE INTERNET ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 7!

We're five days away! Today, ten more great songs that didn't make the cut.

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(1)  Adele - "Hello"

I think maybe I misunderstood the relationship we all had with Adele. It always seemed like we were kinda making fun of her. (And really, it still seems like that.) That of course she is an immense vocal talent, but that maybe she might be overdoing it just a touch on the sentimentality and emotional theatrics. With the release of 25, though, it seems like we've all decided that Adele is now speaking from the deepest truths of the human condition, and that everyone feels like this all the time. Did I just get cynical over the last four years?

(2)  Drake - "Hotline Bling"

Because the girl seems to be having the time of her life since Drake left the city.

(3)  Travi$ Scott - "3500"

There's a lot to dislike here. Scott, as far as I can tell, is only famous for the fact that he's dating Rihanna. Future seems to be doing that thing celebrities do where they name-check products they like in the hopes that companies will send them free stuff, only he's doing it with prescription cough syrup. And really, seven minutes and forty-two seconds is too long for anything. And yet ... that hook is majestic. Listen to it from 1:35 to 2:06. If this song was just that hook, looped, for three and a half minutes, adding another drum track and getting just a little bit louder every time, it would be one of my favorite songs of the year.

(4)  Jamie xx - "Loud Places"

"I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)" got some early love as a potential Summer Jam candidate, but The xx's real expertise has always been simmering slow builds like this one.

(5)  Kanye West - "Only One"

808s & Heartbreak-style Kanye is an acquired taste, but Yeezy's relationship with his mom has always been one of the most humanizing aspects of his persona, and the line "You're not perfect but you're not your mistakes" is so apt for an artist who so many people want to define by those mistakes.

(6)  Lianne La Havas - "What You Don't Do"

As Stereogum put it, "Lianne La Havas manages to make every word she sings sound like it delights her more than the previous one." That's a great quality to have.

(7)  Houndmouth - "Sedona"

Fun fact: After World War II, Sedona, Arizona actually was known as "Little Hollywood." No outside confirmation on the town's cash or credit, though.

(8)  Tame Impala - "Let It Happen"

Tame Impala's lead singer said that "listening to the Bee Gees after taking mushrooms inspired him to change the sound of the music he was making." That is the most accurate and self-aware description of a band that I've ever heard.

(9)  Big Grams - "Fell In The Sun"

Hey, how did your supergroup get together?

In December 2010, Big Boi, one half of famed hip hop duo Outkast, accidentally discovered Phantogram, an electronic rock duo consisting of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, when hearing their single "Mouthful of Diamonds" in a pop-up ad.

Okay then.

(10)  MS MR - "Painted"

What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen? What did you think would happen?