SONGS OF THE YEAR: "Listen to Me" by J Mascis

Our Top 21 Albums issue comes out Dec. 22, but that doesn't come close to telling you what 2011 sounded like. To help find the devil in the details, we've asked City Paper's critics, friends and family to name some of their favorite songs - be they secret gems on terrible albums, sleeper tracks you missed, huge pop songs that need defending, or just plain good songs everybody already knows and loves. (Ignore the video, this is about the audio.)

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SONGS OF THE YEAR: “Listen to Me” by J Mascis

POSTED: Friday, December 23, 2011, 12:00 PM

Filed Under: Music Song

Our Top 21 Albums issue comes out Dec. 22, but that doesn’t come close to telling you what 2011 sounded like. To help find the devil in the details, we’ve asked City Paper’s critics, friends and family to name some of their favorite songs — be they secret gems on terrible albums, sleeper tracks you missed, huge pop songs that need defending, or just plain good songs everybody already knows and loves.

Here’s the leadoff song from the heartbroken album of the year. J, who’s often pretty sensitive, wears his heart on his sleeve more than ever before. No one part of this one shines brighter than another and it works to J’s advantage. He seems aware that playing a catchy, rolling guitar line behind lyrics that sound more like a diary entry than anything else is what makes it appropriate for setting up the next nine songs on the album. Coincidentally, he put it on the market just days after your’s truly was put back on it, too. Thanks for helping fill the hole, J.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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