Mixtape January 2019 (Cover Version Special)

The final year of the decade has begun.  A decade that doesn’t have a recognised name to describe it.
I am looking forward to the Twenties when such issues are resolved and I can focus on proper problems.  However I have been on holiday and failed to create a playlist at the start of the month.  So here is a cover version playlist to make up for it.  Normal service will be restored soon...

1) Summer In The City by Johnny Marr and Matt Johnson
Reuniting Johnny Marr with his friend and singer from The The with a great cover of this ‘60s classic - originally written and recorded by The Lovin' Spoonful.

2) Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t Have) by Bob Evans
The original by the Buzzcocks was sung by Pete Shelley who sadly died in December 2018. R.I.P.

3) Faith by The Boy Least Likely To.
Early learning instruments well used in this George Michael cover.

4) I’m On Fire by Chromatics.
Bruce Springsteen song given stripped back treatment.

5) Linger by Freedom Fry
The original was a hit for The Cranberries and this cover is by the same group who also recorded an excellent version of 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins.

6) Let It Happen by Husky
A Tame Impala song covered by a Melbourne band

7) Eventually by Lucius
Another Tame Impala track performed here by Brookyn band Lucius.

8) Take On Me by Weezer
A-ha are one of my guilty pleasures. Weezer have just released the Teal Album comprised of covers so that is obviously album of the month.

9) Diamonds Are Forever by Arctic Monkeys
Brilliant Bond Theme from a terrible Bond movie.  If you enjoy 007 then check out the Smershpod Podcasts which review all the Bond films and then mercilessly rip them apart.

10) Love Is Blindness by Jack White
The former White Stripe covers a U2 album track from Achtung Baby.

11) Hungry Like The Wolf by Muse 
Muse with a live recording of the Duran Duran hit from 1982.

12)  Inbetween Days by Ben Folds
Ben Folds with a distinctive cover of this 1985 hit by The Cure.

13) Interesting Drug by OK Go
A cover of Morrissey's 1989 hit.

14) Don't Look Back In Anger by Portugal. The Man
Laidback version of the Oasis classic.

15) Bittersweet Symphony by Mondo Cozmo
Original by The Verve who stole the strings from a classical cover of the Rolling Stone's the Last Time.  This cover is several layers deep just like the film Inception.

16) Clint Eastwood by Naosol & The Waxx Blend
Sunshine in a bag.

17) I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Branches
Cover of the 2003 song by The Darkness

18) Synth For The Devil  by Jan Blomqvist 
A dance workout of a classic from The Rolling Stones

19) Do You Realize? by Blue Fringe
Cover of The Flaming Lips by an Israeli Band.

20) The Rip by Wilsen
Original by Portishead taken from the 2008 album Third.

Albums of the Year 2018

Here are my favourite ten albums of 2018 with a short blurb of recommendation, a video and a playlist.

10) Living The Dream by Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators
Slash's latest album is one of the best hard rock albums in years.  This is a genre I have generally stayed away from for twenty years as it seemed a pale imitation of its glory years but this is something of a revival.     

 

9) Flow State by Tash Sultana
Talented Australian singer and multi- instrumentalist released her debut album this year and has already become well respected around the world.  It's good music to chill out to.



8) Marble Skies by Django Django
Third album from UK band chock full of tasty tunes and they haven't put a foot wrong in their career to date.



7) Combat Sports by The Vaccines
The Vaccines are now on their fourth album and show no signs of slowing down or fading away.



6)  Pound For Pound by The Nextmen Vs Genleman's Dub Club
Dub rhythms, horn sections, a plethera of guest vocalists and a collaboration between two English reggae groups produced this awesome album.     



5) Good Mood by Ball Park Music 
An Australian band from Queensland who have earned the love of Aussies over the last decade.  Not sure if they have much of an international profile but their fifth album has just been voted Triple J's listeners album of the year in a national poll.   



4) Little Dark Age by MGMT
MGMT had three worldwide hits on their debut album back in 2008 and then disappeared from my radar whilst they actively avoided radio friendly music and went very experimental.  In January 2018 MGMT unleashed this mini epic inspired by early eighties dark synth pop and the rise of Trump.   



3)  SECT by Golden Features
A DJ and producer from Sydney released his debut album of excellent dance music that has more than enough interesting golden features to please those of us who don't have the energy to dance.



2) Parcels by Parcels
It's an excellent album of groovy funky electroinica from Australians based in Berlin.  It sounds like the sequel to Daft Punk's Random Access Memories.  Daft Punk have been quiet for five years now so Parcels can fill that void.



1) Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys have also been away for five years before this release.  Whilst Alex Turner has been active with the Last Shadow Puppets the fans were keen for a follow up to AM.  What they got was a surprising change of styles as Arctic Monkeys released a lounge jazz concept album about a hotel on the moon.  Alex' Turner's genius has pulled this off and after initial confusion it is very rewarding album when you immerse yourself in it.  Four stars out of Five.



I have compiled a spotify playlist with four tracks from each album if you want to dip in.


Happy New Year

Tracks of the Year 2018

Each month I pluck twenty tracks from obscurity and provide them with a wider exposure among the worlds music fans in my undisputed role as leading social media influencer...

As the year ends I review these and create a best of list comprising my top 40 tracks of the year. This year I have already praised these songs and want to offer you alternative views so I have sought the wisdom of fanatics, critics and internet trolls from the comment section of YouTube... 

40) The Poison Tree by The Good The Bad And The Queen
"I want to cry amigos" Pablo Landin

39) Sweet Release by The Coral
“They now sound like Franz Ferdinand” Jamie Lester

38) Sometimes by Cub Sport
“Who let this guy...thing...out of the 80’s box? You know, there’s a reason we quit listening to this crap and dressing like idiots on Miami Vice.  Go forward and stop retrograding everything” Nathan Boyd

37) Faces by Holy Holy
“This is so repetitive... "Faces are faces and faces are places, Places are faces and faces and faces..." Its just someone singing "faces and faces and faces and faces over and over. Please no more, make it stop.” Maxx

36) Everybody Wants To Be Famous by Superorganism
"Maybe the worst song I ever heard" tullguy

35) Like This (Radio Edit) by Protoje
"im a Chinese men,not America,smokeing ganja,not crack,我也没干什么坏事儿你们凭什么抓我,卷一个大的我头脑不会发昏" Sahvy Hsu

34) Spooky by The Nextmen Vs Gentlemen’s Dub Club featuring Hollie Cook
“The Doctor Who melody works ridiculously well” Subculture

33) Scream Whole by Methyl Ethel
“Good Song. But nothing new here” Liam Welsh

32) We Belong Dead by Slash
“Slash is literally the last person on earth I would have expected on a dubstep track,but man he’s absolutely killing it” saniopurulent

31) Dylan & Caitlin by Manic Street Preachers
“Turning into The Beautiful South” Mike Thorpe

30) Severed by The Decemberists
“Who are you and what have you done with my favourite alt-folk band?” Floyd

29) Worship by Golden Features

"This is a style in itself" ABII

28) Surface To Air by Django Django featuring Self Esteem

"Utter utter dippy shite" Johnny Christmas

27) Walking All Day by Graham Coxon

"This song is how I feel today - shit" Johnny Grogan

26) Seize The Day by The Herbalist

No Comments

25) Pulsar by Ride

“Love this cover of Sweet Child O’ Mine” Chris Waistle

24) Rudeboy by Nextmen Vs Gentlemen’s Dub Club

“Cultural Appropriation at it’s finest” Laura Hayes

23) The Heart Is A Muscle by Gang Of Youths

“Meh, Arcade Fire did it better” Jesse Delaney

22) Our Love by Sloan Peterson
"💖" Erin R

21) Call If You Need Me by Vance Joy

"Australia's answer to Chris Isaac" Julie Norgrove

20) Black Flowers by Reverend and the Makers

“Mucking Fagic” Ian Buchanan

19) Bad Got Me Good by Gin Wigmore

“Experiment with psychobilly please :)” Malcolm Scally

18) Black Moon Rising by Black Pumas
"Sounds Like Ceelo Green at his worst. also out of tune." teragraML

17) Star Treatment by Arctic Monkeys
"Play it on 1.5x and hear Alex rapping" Anjastuh 

16) I Am A Dog by Ball Park Music
“I just don’t like that chorus lyrics. I just don’t like it” The lead singer’s dad

15) Walking To Oman’s by Fraser A. Gorman
"No more Bob Dylan's hairstyle" leql

14) Jinglin’ Janglin’ by Fort Knox Five
No comments 0👎

13) My Antidote by Slash, Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators
“Heard it all before...This band are so boring.” Dan Kozak

12) 1933 by Frank Turner
“Personally I believe the political message to this song to be a pretty cliche and over exaggerated but I enjoy the song so meh” legoWithASliceOfCheese

11) Talking Straight by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
"Not bad, nothing new" Lukas

10) Lay It Down by Black Gold Buffalo

"Nice sound" DX Satellite Rock

9) You Worry Me by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats
"This song is the bane of my existence. Its literally on every radio station and it sucks." blumpkinfest

8) Your Love Is My Favourite Band by The Vaccines
"This band is terrible" Malori Williams

7) Me and Michael by MGMT
“*Michael and I” Nick Steinbring

6) Bullet Proof by This Is The Kit
"So magical, I'm in love, I love it 😍" The Brokenscene Queen

5) Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts) by The Smashing Pumpkins
"2079" Cambaudio

4) Out The Window by Confidence Man
“This song is like the whole of summer 1990 distilled into a single track.  Love it.” Steve Berry

3) Tieduprightnow by Parcels
"Surely they aren't Australian?" Inaya Zubair

2) In The Air by The DMA’s
"Emotional Chav" 3 incher

1) Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino by Arctic Monkeys
“Jazz??? My ass this is elevator music at best!!!” Tamar Wahab

Mixtape August 2018

This month's playlist has been a hard one to compile due the amount of awesome music I've stumbled over.  I've picked twenty of the best songs and remixes which have either moved me or got me moving.   

1) Idaho by Gorillaz
Their latest album The Now Now is a more low key affair without the hundreds of rappers who crowded their previous effort, Humanz.   This allows 2D or Damon's voice to take centre stage and often it sounds more like Blur.

2) As You Said Your So Longs by El Goodo
A 60's influenced Welsh dream pop band - friends of the Super Furry Animals. Very similar sound to the Cosmic Rough Riders if anyone remembers them.

3) Demon Is A Monster by Cornershop
This funky instrumental was used as the theme music to one of my favourite podcasts so happy to share it.

4) Black Magic by Baker Boy ft Dallas Woods
Arnhem Land's Baker Boy is back rapping in both English and his native tongue over indigenous instruments and an epic riff.  Sending a middle finger to Australia's politicians.

5) Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by  Arctic Monkeys
It's certainly a departure from their previous sound but their sixth album is very rewarding and has been on high rotation over the last few months.

6) Out The Window (Andrew Weatherall Remix) by Confidence Man
The original was featured on this blog a few months ago and at the time I said it sounded like Primal Scream.  And now Andrew Weatherall has remixed it so it sounds even more like Screamadelica.

7) Cactus (Boxed In Desert Mix) by Teleman
This is another tune that I featured the original on a recent playlist and it is included again because of another wicked remix.

8) Dancing (Dawn Wall Remix) by Friction ft JP Cooper
Drum N Bass star Friction given a banging remix treatment by Dawn Wall.

9)  Downtown Shutdown by The Presets
Electro-pop from Australia's dance act.

10) You Worry Me by Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Another mature rock number very reminiscent of Kings of Leon.

11) Too Little Too Late by Miles Kane
Damn catchy power punk pop - what's not to like?

12) Mambo Rap by Parov Stelar
A talented Austrian (not Australian) musician with a mambo beat and amusing lyrics.  It's a banger!

13) Double Denim by Helen Love
They haven't changed in quarter of a century and seem destined to rewrite the same song forever.  Gotta love them for it.  They have never sold out - perhaps no-one would buy them!

14) Burnt Out Star by Pond
Perth's Pond have returned with an eight minute space prog rock opus. 

15) Ready Now by The Cat Empire
This has Triple J's Hottest Hundred written all over it.

16) My Own Sunshine by Fraser A. Gorman
Heart-jerking sad song which builds to an uplifting end.

17) Civil War by A-Sides Club
An Australian indie super-group comprising members of Boy & Bear, The Whitlams, All Our Exes Live In Texas and Hot Spoke.  They have just released their second album comprised of Guns N Roses cover versions.   This song was originally released by GNR in 1990 and the album is well worth a deeper dive. 

18) Texas by Mallrat
Talented Aussie indie singer songwriter with another track from her In The Sky EP.

19) Works Every Time by Mini Mansions
LA band return with their first new song in three years, and it's a corker.

20) Oh Dear! by Gruff Rhys
SFA frontman with another catchy song from the excellent orchestral pop Babelsberg album.

Mixtape June 2018

Half way through the year already so I have now selected 120 songs/tracks to soundtrack 2018 and I will continue to plow through new releases to uncover the best new music.  I found the Spotify algorithms were delivering me very predictable suggestions for new releases so I reviewed and unfollowed a few hundred bands trying to mix it up.   

Confident Music For Confident People 

1)  Out the Window by Confidence Man
This is a storming tune - sounds like Primal Scream circa 1991 meets the Polyphonic Spree.

2) Anything U Want by Needshes
Indie disco track hailing from Tashkent, Uzbeckistan. 

3) Your Love Is My Favourite Band by The Vaccines
Another great tune from the London band.  Love a song that mentions listening to the chart countdown.  Takes me back to the 80's with my tape recorder and finger hovering over the pause button.

4) Long Wave by Bonny Doon
This Detroit band take things in a more relaxed direction.

5) Walking To Oman's by Fraser A. Gorman
Australian musician has just released this beautiful downbeat track ahead of a new album.

6) Far Away Truth by Albert Hammond Jr.
Whilst The Strokes are on hiatus we still have Albert Hammond Jr. releasing music of a very similar nature.

7) Little Dark Age (Ghost Vision Remix) by MGMT
A remix of the title track of MGMT's last album.  I'm trying to find out who is behind this remix and it appears they might be related to UK duo Psychemagik and I will be delving deeper into their music.

8) Star Treatment by Arctic Monkeys
This new album has divided and alienated their fans.  I personally love it as Alex Turner is surely the best lyricists of his generation and he fills the whole album with his wordplay delivered via a trans-Atlantic lounge lizard crooner character.  Welcome to Smoothcore. 

9) Cactus by Teleman
The definitive song about finding freedom via cactus impalement.  Don't try this at home indie kids.

10) Bells & Circles by Underworld & Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop rants like a madman about the golden age of air travel when he could smoke on planes and pull air hostesses over an pounding Underworld track.

11) Contradiction by Alborosie ft. Chronix
Chronix appeared on three new singles this week collaborating with Alborosie, Richie Spice and Protoje - popular guy.

12) Dare (Friction Remix) by Gorillaz
This month I have been mostly enjoying drum n bass artist Friction.  Gorillaz have also just returned with a new song this month.

13) Break Me by DMA's
Time to chillax again.  Sydney's Madchester wannabes offer such an opportunity with some retro shoegazing music.

14) Sweet Release by The Coral
Merseyside rockers are currently touring with the Manics and although they vanished from my radar fifteen years ago they have actually been releasing albums all the time - to my total ignorance.

15) Smack My Pitch Up by The Traffic
I do not know who this band are but they play a great instrumental version of The Prodigy tune.

16) Tracks (Back To You) by Bootleg Rascals
Australian group who describe themselves as "Taco slinging dub warriors".

17) Younger by The Hails
Smooth grooves and indie rock from this band from Florida.

18) Never Start by Middle Kids
Sydney trio who have just released their debut album on the Domino label.

19) Easy Jesus by Naive Set
Guitar indie pop from Amsterdam.

20) The Perfect Life Does Not Exist by Ball Park Music
Playing out this month are Ball Park Music with yet another great song lifted from their Good Mood album.