December 13, 20168 yr Author #35 Wristband Paul Simon 9lJHVpH5v8Q Album: Stranger To Stranger A rock legend next, with “Wristband” by Paul Simon. The song tells a humorous tale about how the protagonist is unable to get into a gig, despite the fact that it is him that is due to play that night. Even in his eight decade, Paul Simon still knows how to write a great song.
December 13, 20168 yr Author #34 Zenzenzense Radwimps PDSkFeMVNFs Album: Your Name OST My favourite film of the year by a long shot has been Your Name, an anime film about a country girl and a city boy who switch bodies. It’s an emotional yet funny film, whose enjoyment is heightened by the wonderful soundtrack by Radwimps. Taken from that film is “Zenzenzense”, a song that is used perfectly in the film’s closing credits.
December 13, 20168 yr Author #33 Amen Enigma ft Aquilo ZYlNjQ5TTF4 Album: Fall of a Rebel Angel This is a great collaboration. Enigma are a spiritually-infused electronica act, best known for their surprise #1 single “Sadeness (Part 1)”, whilst Aquilo are one of the most hyped blog bands of the past few years. They’ve come together to create “Amen”, a song which is a reflection on faith with a powerful electronic backing.
December 13, 20168 yr Author #32 O B 1 Jagwar Ma N1i06Aog2MQ Album: Every Now and Then Australian psychedelic rock next from Jagwar Ma. Taken from their sophomore album, “O B 1”, which is almost definitely a reference to the Star Wars character, is an infectious little song indeed.
December 13, 20168 yr Author #31 Nothing But Love James I8OobMrlvrY Album: Girl At the End of The World Although their best work was in the 90s, James have continued to produce fantastic music well into the present day, if “Nothing But Love” is anything to go by. It’s one of their more recognisable recent hits, as a result of it being used in a high profile advert for the National Lottery this year, but its mandolin led lovelorn charm makes it a pure delight.
December 13, 20168 yr Hadn't heard any of the songs on this page before so I've given them a listen. My favourites are Zenzenzense & Nothing But Love (didn't realise they still existed :o)
December 15, 20168 yr I'm mostly posting to tell you I heard your old UP entry Step Rockets - Kisser on TV tonight and it was pretty glorious. While I was here I gave 'Re-Arrange' and 'Wristband' a listen and both were totally worth it! 'Life Itself' is also a fave, as is 'Tilted' but preferably the French version.
December 17, 20168 yr Author #30 Burn The Witch Radiohead yI2oS2hoL0k Album: A Moon Shaped Pool Yes, for the first time since starting these lists in 2008, and despite being one of my favourite bands, this is the first time a Radiohead song has made my year-end top 50. “Burn The Witch” sees a further evolution for the band, as they take their sound in a paranoid orchestral direction. Great video too.
December 17, 20168 yr Author #29 Voices In My Head Bob Mould QLKIkmiLCzM Album: Patch The Sky As former lead singer of Husker Du & Sugar, Bob Mould is rightly seen as alt-rock royalty. His returning solo lead single in 2016, “Voices In My Head”, demonstrate why is loved so - a great pop song buried under walls and walls of guitars.
December 17, 20168 yr Author #28 A Boy From Wales Called Gareth Bale Helen Love mwFBWTRjhiE Album: Non-Album Single Helen Love have been cult indie-pop stalwarts since the early 90s, releasing well-regarded music without ever breaking through to the mainstream. This year, the Welsh band released an ode to the club’s captain, Gareth Bale, to tie in to their rather successful Euro 2016 campaign, to make one of the most brilliant, catchiest songs of the year.
December 17, 20168 yr Author #27 Shelter Porter Robinson ft Madeon fzQ6gRAEoy0 Album: Shelter Yes, it was the gorgeous, heartbreaking anime video that made me fall in love with “Shelter” by Porter Robinson & Madeon. The song fits the video perfectly, and listening to the song in an airplane has been known to cause what Mark Kermode would term as “Altitude Adjusted Lachrymosity”.
December 17, 20168 yr Author #26 Loose Fitting Girls Half Japanese Half Muscle L_PeYvS1tco Album: N/A A great little electro-pop songs from the mysterious producer Half Japanese Half Muscle. “Loose Fitting Girls” is a great little song in the mode of Passion Pit or The Naked & Famous.
December 17, 20168 yr Author Thanks to everyone for commenting so far - hopefully you'll find at least one new fantastic song as a result! I'm mostly posting to tell you I heard your old UP entry Step Rockets - Kisser on TV tonight and it was pretty glorious. Ooh, where did you hear it? I know the song was used as background music on the US version of Shameless a few years back, but was it used somewhere else?
December 18, 20168 yr Ooh, where did you hear it? I know the song was used as background music on the US version of Shameless a few years back, but was it used somewhere else?It was on Real World Seattle: Bad Blood, a trashy MTV show that I otherwise wouldn't recommend, but the music choices are occasionally on point.
December 18, 20168 yr Author #25 Pull My Arm Flowers 7OWTNCJ5npU Album: Everyone’s Dying To Meet You Next up is some great indie-pop from Flowers. “Pull Me Arm” is an irresistable, short, shoegaze-y ditty.
December 18, 20168 yr Author #24 Money Rukhsana Merrise -YnDuUMu2Rc Album: N/A Whilst I’m happy enough to put my hands up and admit that hip-hop is hardly my favourite genre of music, every now and again there’s a song of the genre that does something quite interesting to make me enjoy it. “Money” by Rukhsana Merrise is one of those occasions. The song features deep hip-hop beats a la Portishead and mixes in less traditional instruments (Indian, I believe) to create something both engaging and timely.
December 18, 20168 yr Author #23 Paranoia A Northern Light gppvobn2Xtg Album: Non-Album Single Belfast band A Northern Light have a habit of releasing one single every few years that sounds fresh, blows me away, yet doesn’t get the attention it richly deserves, and then they seemingly disappear afterwards. Take “Paranoia”, their first song since 2013. It’s a richly rewarding listen, mixing heavy rock with drum & bass and trance music to create something really fresh and original. It was a great song, but didn’t really catch on in the way I would have liked it to. Give it a listen and you’ll understand exactly what I mean. Previous chart positions: 2013 Kill It - #36
December 18, 20168 yr Author #22 Three Packs a Day Courtney Barnett OQw2qj2utOg Album: Three Packs a Day Courtney Barnett released this rather humorous single, “Three Packs A Day” this year, in which she sings about how she’s managing her addiction to instant noodles. A little joy. Previous chart positions: 2015 Pedestrian at Best - #9
December 18, 20168 yr Author #21 Born Again Teen Lucius Uv6jER7wrPM Album: Good Grief A great alternative rock song with great twin lead vocals.
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