April 23, 201510 yr I fully agree with your comments about “Somebody That I Used To Know”, such a strange No.1 looking back. He sounds very Peter Gabriel on the track and Kimbra's contribution works very well within the track, it was No.1 for 9 weeks in Australia back in 2011 (which is when I charted it) and I did enjoy its natural climb to the top 36-21-7-3-{1}.. in an era of held back songs that managed to debut at 1 but sold nowhere near as much!
April 24, 201510 yr Author My question was mostly a joke. I didn't really expect you to like it, Sword of Justice.
April 27, 201510 yr Author m-M1AtrxztU 30 Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne - Rather Be 2014 Into the Top 30. Ordinarily, this is the sort of song I don't like but its breeziness is so infectious. Jess's voiced doesn't have to do cartwheels to impress, either. There's so much space in the arrangement that its light-footedness puts a spring in your step and it all builds to that euphoric final chorus. Amazing. There's only two huge selling singles left in the countdown :o Edited April 27, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe
April 27, 201510 yr Author wg5geyUlU4Y 29 The National - Conversation 16 2010 The fifth, final and best single from High Violet. I'd only just discovered The National a few months before this was released but it was already my favourite song on the album. The choral backing vocals are a sure way of getting my attention - see Enjoy the Silence, Blue Monday. The melody is one part Interpol and one park Crowded House - a wonderful combination. The songs details the part of a relationship/marriage were one or both of the parties realise that they are no long in love with the other half. All the concessions to normality and pretences that are kept up are guiltily listed with all the private thoughts of the singer kept silence. It's exquisitely sad that he still wants to make the effort. :(
April 27, 201510 yr Author o1GnvlwE3g0 28 Crystal Castles - Vietnam 2010 From Crystal Castles (II) and sampling Stina Nordenstam, Vietnam is at once arresting and ravishing in a way that only Crystal Castles can do. The several layers of electronics rise and fall, revealing them selves in turn, giving each its moment to shine, all fitting together like lego bricks to form a glorious whole.
April 27, 201510 yr Love “Conversation 16” - and the video is great too featuring the wonderful Kristen Schaal off of Flight of the Conchords; I never ended up charting it because I don't think they released it as an official single until long after the album campaign had ended - I do prefer “Bloodbuzz Ohio” however which is one of my favourite singles of the 2010s so far (spending 6 weeks as my number 1 in early 2010).
April 27, 201510 yr Author JDe86ul6RmI 27 The Weeknd - High For This 2011 From here on we're in the big hitters. The songs that I generally fell to pieces over at one stage or another over the last 5 years. If the idea of Burial producing Michael Jackson could work in any way then The Weeknd would be it. This song is still giving up new treasure after all this time. I've just discovered the bass synth groaning like a hoarse trombone all over the place. Now that he's had a hit then perhaps the world is ready for the majesty of his music.
April 27, 201510 yr Author 2cXDgFwE13g 26 Skrillex - First Of The Year (Equinox) 2011 For someone who loves studio-wizardry as much as I do this is wet dream. Much better than Bangarang.
April 27, 201510 yr Author 25 Chequerboard - The Sorrow Bird 2013 Here's a song that very few, if anyone will know on Buzzback - perhaps Cal as I think he listened to the album. Chequerboard makes gorgeous acoustic guitar music and has been doing so for 7 years. He's my favourite Irish artist. This is like the Cocteau Twins but slightly more accessible. And is amazing. Edited April 27, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe
April 29, 201510 yr Author Thanks for your comments. You dont like Marry the Night or Rather Be? I found them both be very strong melodic songs.
May 9, 201510 yr Author iI8_Jz2SwbE 25 Damon Albarn - The Selfish Giant 2014 Damon perfected the "ballad with junk shop percussion" on Think Tank. He continued that theme on Everyday Robots and this was the stand-out track for many people. It relies mainly on the gorgeous chorus melody and his half lisp of a voice. Edited May 13, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe
May 9, 201510 yr Author 3O1_3zBUKM8 24 Naughty Boy ft Sam Smith - La La La 2013 Remember when Sam Smith was good? I do. I remember hearing this for the first time when it entered at number 1. I had predicted that I wouldn't like it. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It sounded like there were echos of the 2000 sound of UK Garage somewhere and I always liked some of that. Sam seems to wring so many varied tones out of his voice that are missing from his later word. I love the delay in the word "speak" when he sings it. Edited May 9, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe
May 9, 201510 yr Author Afbvd8g5hMU 23 Imogen Heap - Run-Time 2014 This woman is a genius. A one woman band. The amount of work involved in the details of this song is phenomenal. Loved this from the firs second I heard it - the main riff is somewhere between Erasure and Depeche Mode. Amazing song. She won the Grammy for best engineer in 2009 and rightly so.
May 13, 201510 yr Author X1XhabUawmU 22 The Irrepressibles - In This Shirt 2010 This was the third song I heard from this band - after Two Men in Love and Arrow. I love how James McDermott manages to end each line in many different ways, hitting different notes each time. You have to listen to the song a few times to spot the pattern. The influence is obvious from Antony Hegarty but James denies it. How they weren't nominated for a Mercury Prize is beyond me.
May 13, 201510 yr Author 0QEYme-LW20 21 Lady Gaga - Scheiße 2011 There was a trend in pop music for a few years to have emotionally detached verses - most probably as a result of electro-reviving bands like Ladytron/Crystal Castles, etc. What better way to be emotionally detached and austere than to sing in something that sounds like German? Fortunately she was still interested in having gloriously great choruses at this point. Plenty of 90s music references, as usual. Pitched bent rave synth, stuttering vocals, trance synth in the pre-chorus. Believe it or not it was Jark's love for this song that made me go and listen to it again.
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