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!