Tracks of the Year 2015

According to the Spotify, I have listened to over 2000 different artists and nearly 7000 different tracks during the last 12 months.  From this I conclude that I should get out more.

I have culled those options into a Top 40 Countdown list of my favourite tracks of 2015.
I'm too lazy to write about every song in this list but they all have merit.
In reverse order...




 #40 An Australian collaboration between Craig Nicholls of The Vines and Nick Littlemore from Empire of The Sun  under the supergroup name White Shadows they have taken a very ordinary Vines B-side called "Give Up Give Out Give In" and turned it into a classic tune.  The transformation is amazing and it is worth finding the original to compare.

#39 "Pedestrian At Best" by Courtney Barnett.  Courtney from Tasmania has divided opinion after winning Triple J's Australia Album of the Year ahead of more popular acts such as Tame Impala.  I loved her early singles but her debut album was disappointing as a non-stop wordy whinge-fest.

#38 "Stroking My Beard" The Beards.  This hairy Aussie band have made a career singing about their facial hair.  This is a prime example of why it works so well.

#37 Ryan Adams "My Wrecking Ball"

#36 Hymnal "In The Valley Below"

#35 Public Service Broadcasting "Gargarin" - Ode to an East German Soviet Spaceman.

#34 The Yetis "Little Surfer Girl" Fuzzy Beach Pop.

#33 Gaz Coombes "The English Ruse" - Supergrass Disco Pumpin' On The Stereo.

#32 The School "All I Want From You Is Everything" - Poppy Welsh Gold Miners strike again.

#31 Holy Holy "House of Cards"

#30 Pete Doherty "Flags of the Old Regime" - Pete's Tribute to his friend Amy Winehouse.

#29 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds "Ballard of Mighty I" - Oasis don't need to reform yet.

#28 Sons of the East "Already Gone" - Sydney band who sound a bit like Mumford and Sons.

#27  Mystic Braves "Five Minute Dream Girl" - Retro Fuzzy and Awesome.

#26 DMA's "Lay Down" - Another reason why Oasis don't need to reform.

#25 Swim Deep "Fueiho Boogie" - The Brummie Unhinged Psychedelic Reel.

#24 Unknown Mortal Orchestra "Necessary Evil"

#23 Proteje "Protection" - New Jamaican Reggae Legend

#22 Jamie XX "Loud Places" - The XX go clubbing.

#21 The Libertines "Anthem For Doomed Youth"

#20 Pond "Zond" - Perth madmen

#19 Mercury Rev "Autumn's In The Air"  Lush orchestration and vocals.

#18 Gengahr "She's A Witch"   She turned me into a newt.

#17 Blur "Pyongyang" - Haunting ballad about Damon's trip to North Korea.

#16 The Chemical Brothers "Wide Open"

#15 Methyl Ethel "Rouges" - Singing stream of consciousness ramblings about being knocked down on The Causeway  (my nearest bridge), alien abduction and the heat of a Perth Summer.

#14 Jacco Gardner "Find Yourself" A very talented young Dutchman.

#13 Mini Mansions featuring Alex Turner "Vertigo" - Starved of Alex Turner material this year but hoping for the Last Shadow Puppets and Arctic Monkeys to release new albums in 2016.

#12 The Avener featuring Ane Brun "To Let Myself Go"

#11 Kurt Vile "Pretty Pimping"

#10 Alabama Shakes "Don't Wanna Fight"

#9 Beck "Dreams" Beck teases everyone with this gem of a pop record but holds off the album's release until 2016.

#8 Belle and Sebastian "Nobody's Empire" An autobiographical song from Stuart who was hospitalised suffering from M.E. back in the early Nineties.

#7 The Hives "Blood Red Moon"  A modern cowboy song that is screaming to be the theme tune to a new Netflix series.

#6 Unknown Mortal Orchestra "Multi-Love" 

#5 The Dead Weather "I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)"  Supergroup with a super riff.

#4 Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk"  Impossible not to enjoy and very hard to listen to without dancing 'round your kitchen.

#3 Blur "Lonesome Street" Classic Blur featuring the alternating mix of positive and cynical lyrics that give way to another bittersweet chorus.  The band are tight like it's '93 throwing in some "Woo Woos" and whistling.  Their whole musical career is mashed up on The Magic Whip and the only missing element is Phil Daniels' cockney diary extracts.

#2 Tame Impala "Let It Happen"  They went interstellar this time.

#1 Hot Chip "Huarache Lights"  A groovy repetitive Hot Chip workout. "Replace us with the things that do the job better" they sing until they get replaced by a robotic voice.  If Terminators were funky this would be the soundtrack of their revolution against the humans.



Happy New Year Pop Pickers!

Albums of the Year 2015

The nights are getting longer/shorter/not changing depending on your latitude, which means the end of the year polls are coming.  I have been making a list and checking it twice.  

I can now reveal my top ten albums of 2015 and some additional recommendations that missed out on the cut.  In reverse order to maintain the illusion of rising excitement...

10.  Oh Inhuman Spectacle - Methyl Ethel 

Methyl Ethel are a band from Freo in Western Australia who have released a handful of singles and this debut album.  They sound like a lazy Summer's day and are destined for further greatness in the next few years.  Listen to the single below and marvel at how they incorporate a saxophone solo without sounding cheesy.  Not an easy feat!

9. Why Make Sense - Hot Chip

Infectious grooves from and for dorky indie dads.

8. Ancient Future - Protoje

Jamacian reggae from one of the biggest reggae artists from the Reggae Revival scene.  Check out my earlier post  if you love a bit of reggae.  This is the third album by Protoje and the video below features Chronixx who is another big root reggae superstar.

7. Music Complete - New Order

New Order have returned with the best album since Republic.  Despite losing Peter Hook to musical and personal differences they are reunited with Gillian Gilbert who had ten years off and with Tom Rowlings (The Chemical Brothers) as the producer. The singles are loaded up front on this album but I find the more interesting material is found on the second half of the record, which gets better and better as it progresses.   Iggy Pop also appears on the track Stray Dog.

6. Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance - Belle & Sebastian

The Scottish Twee Overlords return to vanquish all before them armed with some pop songs.

This is the first studio album for five years and their ninth album in their twenty year career.

It's a fantastic return and adds some classic tunes to their repertoire.

5. Currents - Tame Impala

Perth's Tame Impala make the crossover into the big time with this album of psychedelic dance pop tunes.  This is the second WA band to make my top ten but they are not the last.

4. The Light In You - Mercury Rev

Mercury Rev release their most accessible album of the century which almost hits the highs of their timeless 1998 classic Deserter's Songs.  So many top spacey rock tunes to wash over you.

3. Man It Feels Like Space Again - Pond

The third and final Perth band to grace my list is the unhinged poppy psychedelia of Pond.

2. The Wanderings Of The Avener - The Avener

The French Producer behind the worldwide smash hit Fade Out Lines released his debut album in January 2015 containing plenty of deep house covers and guest vocalists including Hope Sandovol of Mazzy Star and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.  A great laid back collection of modern dance music.

1. The Magic Whip - Blur 

It was 1999 when Blur last released an album with full attendance.  Since then there have been many great solo albums and side projects.  Damon formed Gorillaz and Good The Bad and The Ugly. Graham had a series of lo-fi solo albums.  Dave stood for Parliament and became a lawyer.  Alex wrote an autobiography and become a Cheese Farmer.  Blur's Magic Whip was recorded in a dingy Hong Kong recording studio when the band found themselves with a week to kill following the cancellation of a festival.  Whether The Magic Whip will be Blur's swansong is unknown but with Gorillaz revival in 2016, it could be the last for a while so enjoy it.  

   

Honorable Mentions to the following albums that just missed the cut...

Wasting Away And Wondering - The School

Multi-Love - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Born Under Saturn - Django Django 

A Dream Outside - Gengahr
Chasing Yesterday - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Mixtape Dec '15

December has sneaked up again.  Here's my new monthly mixtape to district you.

• 5 Minute Dream Girl - Mystic Braves.  New retro psychedelic pop from L.A.

• Already Gone - Sons of the East.  Indie folk band from Sydney.

• Business Suit Morning Struggle - Turtle Giant. Brazilian trips. 

• I'd Be Lost - Sarah Blasko. Icy Aussie vocals over minimalist disco.

• Ourson - Camel Power Club. Don't know anything about these guys.

• Anaesthetised Lesson - GUM. Solo project of Tame Impala/Pond musician. 

• Laid - the Pains of Being Pure of Heart.  Cover of the James' classic 1993 song. 

• Trouble - Cage The Elephant.   Kentucky rock band.

• This Must Be The Place - Iron & Wine.  Cover of Talking Heads 

• Impossible Winner - The Dead Weather.  Jack White & Alison Mosshart are cool. 

• Pish - The Brian Jonestown Massacre.  California Dreaming.

• Life Gives You Lemons - Citizen Kay.  Aussie Hip Hop over a funky horn sample.

• Goatslaves - Goat.  Swedish space cadets. 

• 'Cause I'm A Man - Tame Impala (HAIM Remix).  Great remix of the WA Overlords.

• 1979 - Freedom Fries.  Downbeat cover of Smashing Pumpkins 1995 hit.

• Burnout - The Lulu Raes.

• Nothing Like A Friend - Richard Hawley.  Northern crooner sings a ballad.

• Ong Ong - Blur.  I absolutely love it.  Please Sir, can I have some more?.

• Cantina Band - Ash.  Just because we get a new Star Wars film this month.

• Christmas Chime (Stocking Filler) - Orbital.  Christmas remix of 1990 techno tune.