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

Old Indie Kid Mixtape November 2018

This is the third anniversary of the Old Indie Kid Mixtape series.  So celebrate with some new tunes.

1) We Belong Dead by Slash
You wait two and a half decades for Slash to do something epic and he releases a great rock album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators and a horror soundtrack which sounds like a collaboration with Skrillex. Have nightmares!

2) Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts) by The Smashing Pumpkins 
The Smashing Pumpkins have released a few new tracks since they reformed but this is the first one that can compare to their Siamese Dream / Mellon Collie output. 

3) Black Moon Rising by Black Pumas 
Drum roll introduction for the Black Pumas debut single.  They are a psychedelic soul band from Austin Texas and one to watch.

4) Retreat2018 by Chase & Status & Cutty Ranks 
This drum n bass track takes me back to the early 90's.  It wouldn't feel out of place on the Prodigy's Experience.

5) Jinglin' Janglin' by Fort Knox Five  K-Lab 
The sound of Funk being extra funky.

6)  White Coats by Baxter Dury, Etienne de Crecy & Delilah Holliday
Baxter's distinctive Laandan vocals are excellent here and it is groovy thanks to the Etienne de Crecy's French disco sound.

7)  Beyond The Outskirts by Suede
I saw a very funny spoof documentary of Suede this week - watch this.

8)  Atlas Please by Gengahr
A new single from a band I have never tried to pronounce.  Luckily Gengahr don't come up much in conversations.

9) Withorwithout by Parcels 
Finally Parcels released their debut album and I've been playing it on repeat.  Sounds like Daft Punk and will be a contender for album of the year.

10) Sometimes by Cub Sport 
Going from strength to strength Cub Sport sound very now and occasionally I am open to sounds that emerged after 1997.

11) There Will Come A Time by Orbital featuring Professor Brian Cox 
Orbital are fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and they teamed up with D:Ream's keyboard player to be the voice of The Book in their own space epic.


12) First World Problems by Ian Brown
Nine years since his last solo material due to the revival of The Stone Roses.  I didn't like this at first but it is growing on me.  His new album Ripples is scheduled for release in March.

13) Bassackwards by Kurt Vile 
The bass is sampled backwards on this ten minute epic taken from Kurt's latest album Bottle It In.

14) Innocence Module (UK Mix) by Null 
Australian producer Hayden Quinn has just released his debut album Med which includes this pulsating slab of acid trance.  

15) Like This (Radio Edit) by Protoje
Token reggae track from perennial favourite Protoje.  This radio edit removes the annoying and ill advised chatting intro found on the album version.

16) Sixteen Days by Pond
Western Australian psychedelic indie rock is always a pleasure to promote.

17) Can't Forget by The Lemonheads
A new song - it's a cover I believe from Evan Dando and friends.

18) When I Dream by San Cisco 
Great new single from a local Aussie indie pop band.

19) Perfect Person by Mystic Braves 
The best thing about this is it sounds like classic Teenage Fanclub.

20) White Star Liner by Public Service Broadcasting
A titanic new single that will probably sink without trace.  Too soon?

Mixtape May 2018

I'm back again with twenty new songs that have tickled my fancy over the last few weeks.
I don't appear to have personally uncovered any new bands this month but there is a high supply of great new music from established artists. 

1) Tracers by Johnny Marr
Guitar-fest heralding the return of Johnny Marr and his third solo album since striking out under his own name.  Actually his real name is John Maher but he adopted his stage moniker to avoid confusion with the drummer of The Buzzcocks.

2) The Lovecats (TC & Benny Remix) by The Cure
The Cure's 1990 remix album Mixed Up was my first introduction to this seminal band and I quickly hovered up their back catalogue (except Faith /Carnage Visors (1981) which I couldn't stand).  Twenty eight years later The Cure are preparing a special edition of Mixed Up and this previously unreleased remix of their 1983 pop single is a welcome discovery.

3) Fascination by Confidence Man
Funky Australian electro taken from their debut album Confident Music for Confident People.

4) Surfing In The Sky by The Vaccines
High tempo crashing drums and guitars with soaring melodies and chipper vocals make this an infectious slab of punk pop rock n roll.

5) I Am A Dog by Ball Park Music
This song is on high rotation in our household and it's my wife's new favourite song. The dog likes it as well.

6) Burn It by Sunflower Bean
New York band have released their second album produced by Jacob Portrait of Unknown Mortal Orchestra.  Thankfully this record has avoided the weirdness that has spun Unknown Mortal Orchestra into their current unlistenable experimental direction.

7) Into My Arms by Band Of Horses
A cover of the classic 1997 love song by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

8) Bad Got Me Good by Gin Wigmore
This is a timeless breakup anthem which I can't listen to without imagining it's being sung in a 1930's Speakeasy.  Maybe it isn't timeless if I think it has a specific time?  It's great anyway.

9) Sundials (976-DUB) by Django Django
A dub remix of Django Django - I'm in blissed out heaven!

10) Serotonin by GUM
Keeping things on the calmer side GUM's latest single sounds like Spiritualized playing Screamadelica.  Relax, Man.

11) When You're Ready (Karizma Remix) by Winston Surfshirt
Winston Surfshirt's debut album has been given the remix treatment and Sponge Cake Rebaked has been released.  This track was remixed by Karizma - an artist on Spotify who had one follower.    I'm now number two in the Karizma fanclub so I'll let you know how their career develops!

12) Blaze Away by Morcheeba & Roots Manuva
This collaboration sounds good on paper and happily it doesn't disappoint on wax.

13) Better Than That by James
Manchester survivalists James are back with an upbeat single, top vocals and drum n bass rhythms.

14) Right Here, Right Now (Friction One In The Jungle Remix) by Fatboy Slim
Keeping it Massive - a tasty d&b remix of the Fatboy Slim track that was turns 20 this year! 

15) Pablo Picasso by Jack White
Ex White Stripes man covers one of my favourite songs originally recorded by the Modern Lovers in the early 1970s.  I prefer the original but this cover is a fun re-interpretation.  In Jack White's mind he is Jimi Hendrix.

16) TiedUpRightNow by Parcels
Berlin based Australian group specialising in five piece harmonies and funky disco.  Beloved by Daft Punk who co-wrote their previous single.

17) Loaded by Miles Kane
Miles Kane is one half of The Lost Shadow Puppets.  The other half is Alex Turner who will release the Arctic Monkeys long awaited sixth album next month. 

18) For Now (Confidence Man Remix) by DMA's
The Oasis fixated Sydneysiders have released a second album and this baggy inspired track is remixed by fellow Aussies, Confidence Man. 

19) Everything's Gone Green (live) by Peter Hook & The Light
I'm currently reading Peter Hook's book Substance - Inside New Order which is a gripping read about the music, the tour antidotes and the inter-band rivalry. I often wondered why Hooky left New Order but after a few chapters of this book I'm surprised they lasted so long.  This is a live recording of New Order's first programmed tracked.  It was the forerunner to the dance hits Temptation and Blue Monday.

20) She Taught Me How To Fly by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
This song is so catchy I had to included it so it can be stuck in your heads as well.