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.

Reggae Revival

There is something stirring up in the Caribbean - the return of a popular and authentic roots reggae scene.  I love the reggae music that come out of Jamaica in the 1970s, before  the cheesy reggae of the 80’s and 90s in the search for world wide appeal and commercial success.

Protoje

After the 1970s in Jamaica, reggae had been influenced by dance and rap creating the genre known as Dancehall which became the dominant genre since the 1980s with sex, violence, materialism and dancing as key lyrical themes.  Dub Poet Mutabaruka explained, “If 1970s reggae was red, green and gold, then the next decade was gold chains”. Each to their own, but Dancehall left me cold.

Jah9 

Recently there has been resurgence in the roots reggae style that I loved from the 1970s.  These are young Jamaican talents using bands and real instruments.  Usually carrying a spiritual vibe of the Rastafarian religion and full of social comments, rebel stances, laidback grooves and plenty of ganga.  The new roots reggae scene has been dubbed the Reggae Revival.

Raging Fyah

Whilst returning to the themes and sounds of the 1970s, these new acts do not sound dated or function as tribute bands.  These are exciting artists who have become popular in their homeland by playing roots reggae and deserve wider attention.

Chronixx

This playlist includes some great selections from the leading lights including Chronixx, Raging Fyah, Jah9, Dre Island, Kelissa and Protoje, .  It’s a punky reggae party.

Mixtape Nov '15

This is the first of my monthly roundups of (fairly) new music.

Twenty songs by artists old and new, a scattering of covers, two Kurts and a dollop of beats.

• Kurt Vile - Pretty Pimpin.  "I'm talkin' bout the man in the mirror..." 

• Mercury Rev - Are You Ready?  Yes!

• Methyl Ethel are a local band from Fremantle and Rogues name checks my nearest bridge and the heat of a WA Summer.

• The Libertines - Anthem For Doomed Youth.  Highlight of their depressingly poor third album.

• Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Look It Here.  Motown Junk from Colorado.

• Mark Morriss - Souvenir. The Bluetones front man covering an old Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark song that I remember from a Chart Hits '81 cassette I used to own.

• Warpaint - Ashes to Ashes.  Excellent David Bowie cover.

• Swim Deep - To My Brother.  Brummie band channeling the spirit of Screamadelica.

• Seasick Steve - Roy's Gang.  Bad Ass Blues.

• Public Service Broadcasting - Gagarin.  Ode to a Spaceman from their space themed LP.

•  The Chemical Brothers - Wide Open.  Best track they've recorded in years but very reminiscent of Sugar Ray's Spinning Away.

• Helsinki featuring Albert Hammond Jr. - The Batteries Weren't Dead.  Cool instrumental.

• Surfer Blood - I Can't Explain.  Christmas Has Come Early Again.

• King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Trapdoor.  Single from their forthcoming album Paper Mache Dream Balloon.  This Aussie Band just don't stop recording albums, this will be their sixth in three years.

• Broken Bells - It's that Talk Again.  The Shins and Danger Mouse.  Noice!

• Johnny Marr - The Headmaster Ritual (live) - from the Great live album Adrenalin Baby which includes songs from his time in The Smiths, Electronic and his solo career.  

• DMA's - Lay Down.  Sydney band which Oasis like swirling guitars.  

• Yo La Tengo - Friday I'm In Love.  Great cover of The Cure's giddiest song. 

• Kurt Cobain - And I Love Her.  Kurt covers the Beatles in his home recording.  Remains to be seen whether the new album justifies the sound of scraping the barrel (again).

• Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - The Girl With X-Ray Eyes (David Holmes Rework).  I'm a sucker for kids choirs on rock songs so I stood no chance with this remix.

 

Halloween Treats

"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark..."  

If you should meet the re-animated corpse of Michael Jackson - make it a head shot.  

  

Have some Halloween Treats 

The scariest moment - It's less than 2 months until Christmas

Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - Zombie Christmas

Slow Burners of the 1980s

John Peel (1939 -2004)

    My latest musings relate to the opposite of the overnight success stories particularly focused on the English alternative scene of the 1980s.  Back then, the bands on independent labels were rarely expected to achieve any commercial success and this analysis was well justified.  For every successful indie act of the 80s there must have been 500 artistically pure and very obscure merchants of jangley twee/ industrial noise. Their proudest moment remains that night when John Peel (legendary indie champion and DJ) accidentally played their debut single for ten seconds, at the wrong speed before interrupting it with a gruff apology and reverting to a session track by The Fall.    

    It was in this climate of low expectations that indie bands found they had the time to experiment, develop, change band names, have musical differences with each other and jam outside of the spotlight.  During the 80s many bands survived on unemployment benefit (dole money) and were able to focus on their musical passion free from the daily grind.  Manchester’s Happy Mondays even took their name from weekly parties that would begin shortly after collecting and blowing their dole on a stash of drugs that fueled their unhinged recordings.  The story of the rise and fall of the Happy Mondays is featured prominently in the Second Act of the classic 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People. Featuring Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson ("I'm the man in charge of Factory Records... I think").   If you’ve not seen this movie then watch it as a matter of urgency.  If you have then watch it again.  If you take one thing from these ramblings then let it be this. Watch 24 Hour Party People.  

24 Hour Party People Movie Trailer (2002)

    The Stone Roses released, in my opinion, the greatest debut album of all time in 1989.  The Roses seemed fully formed when they burst into the national limelight but of course they had been developing for over five years before anyone beyond the North West of England had heard of them.  They wisely decided not to release their first album because they were disappointed with the results.  It is interesting to hear their early versions of songs that would later appear on their eponymous album and a testament to their own belief and quality control that they would abandon the album and continue developing in the shadows. 

The Stone Roses and the Embarrassing Mid-80s Photo Shoot

The Stone Roses I Wanna Be Adored 1985 Version

 I guess that striving for perfection partially explains why The Stone Roses have only released two albums in over thirty years.  Other reasons include Geffen Records giving them a Five Million Pound advance for the second album, the implosion of the band on the 1995 Tour, the coke habits and John Squire’s delusions of being the lead guitarist of Led Zeppelin.  

Further reading:  Stone Roses Early Years

    Pulp and James are two more examples of bands having time to develop.  Jarvis Cocker was a Sheffield schoolboy when he formed Aribicus Pulp in 1978 and spent over a decade in obscurity releasing records that no-one wanted to hear and presumably playing gigs to two students and dog.   

    Back in Manchester, James were formed in 1982 and spent eight years jamming, gigging and selling more T-shirts than records.  James released an alternative version of their breakthrough single Sit Down in 1989 as a long protest song.  Well worth a listen to compare it with the popular hit single.  It wasn’t until the Nineties when they troubled the charts and came to a wider audience. James later re-recorded Sit Down into the infectiously catchy pop version that took it to #2 in the UK charts, and a permanent place on the set-list of every student disco for the rest of the decade.  Only Shiny Happy People by R.E.M. could rival it in that dubious category.

James Sit Down (1989 Rough Trade Version)

      Pulp had crafted a seedy atmospheric niche with lyrics to match.  The collection of three E.P.s compiled on the Intro album (1993) is the best place to find them just coming into bloom.  

Pulp performing live in 1993  Sheffield:Sex City

    The Sisters EP containing the classic Babies became a minor chart hit in 1992.  Both Pulp and James had developed their own distinctive sounds and then introduced the catchy chorus that would propel them into the spotlight.  These bands must have had contemporaries who saw such moves as commercial sell-outs.  Those contemporaries remain largely unknown and are probably bitter that they never headlined Glastonbury. 

    Both bands retained their unique sound and produced enough interesting and quirky music to enjoy long careers once they had made the initial breakthrough into mainstream consciousness.   

    All of these bands had time to develop under the radar during the Eighties and announced their arrival in spectacular fashion in the early Nineties.  The bar was set high for the following generation of bands, which were eagerly signed up by subsidiaries of the major record companies.  The next generation had to deal with the expectations to instantly match the same levels of commercial success or be dropped from the label.  Many of the younger bands, cut adrift following the burst of the Britpop bubble in 1998, were never given that opportunity to develop.

Punk 76

I was born in the year of Punk so my safety pins were stuck through my nappy rather than my nose.
Punk's origins had begun in New York in the mid Seventies but '76 was the moment it kicked off in the UK and Australia.

The Ramones and Blondie released their debut albums in the States.  The Damned released the first UK punk single on the independent Stiff label and Manchester's Buzzcocks recorded their Spiral Scratch EP although it wasn't released until January '77.
Joe Strummer left his previous pub rock band The 101'ers and went on to form The Clash.
In Australia Radio Birdman and The Saints also released early classic punk singles.

The Sex Pistols made headlines in the UK when they appeared on a UK TV show and swore a lot when encouraged by the presenter.  Shocking behavior 40 years ago but rather cute now.

Sex Pistols Bill Grundy Interview 1st December 1976

Big Beat Nostalgia 97

Welcome to my first blog. Let's start with some Big Beat nostalgia from '97

Full Moon 1997 Mix Tape

And now for a YouTube Video of a classic trance anthem I was gurning to in the same year.  

Slacker - Your Face (In The Mirror)