Never expected to see a Rita Ora song in your countdown! :kink: So pleased you're enjoying Anywhere, it's definitely my favourite Rita track! Similar for Charlie actually, How Long is a brilliant track and at the very least it's a contender for his best track to date, alongside We Don't Talk Anymore.

And last one of the year~

 

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71. Starley – Call on Me (Ryan Ribeck remix)

72. Katy Perry – Chained to the Rhythm

73. Paddy and the Rats – Join the Riot

74. Little Scream – Love is a Weapon

75. Cassie feat. Rick Ross – Numb

76. Hugar feat. Arnor Dan - Waves

77. Xi – Happy End of the World

78. Solarstones - Falcons

79. Hannah Diamond – Make Believe

80. Death Team – Messed Up

 

Quite a few BJSC ones here. Paddy & The Rats was so so refreshing, from the instant it begins, it takes you aback from the moment it starts with it instantly sounding like you've been dragged onto a impromptu pirate mutiny, and the lyrics serve to just aid this and with a 'yo-ho' starting chorus, it's just an *ahem* boatload of fun, I can never really find these traditional sounding old-style bands so I love hearing them when I get the chance. Hugar proved one of the biggest growers to come from the contest, I liked So Close a few years back, but this captivated me more and has the same wonderful, soothing vocals set to an epic, orchestral backing making for an excellent ballad that sounded amazing when I walked by the sea in the summer (lol puns). Xi is the sort of thing I might send to the contest and I'm always happy to find something like it, apparently of a genre called 'artpop' (non Gaga related), it's a wonderful building piano instrumental that lives up (somewhat tragically) to it's apocalyptic title, I feel like I'm noticing so many other piano tracks on here, the instrumental from American Beauty here, but that may just be me. Anyway, wonderful listen. Solarstones is some more totes emosh instrumental action (with a brief bit of spoken word),a pulsating, wonderful trance song that is as fast moving and uplifting as the bird it bases it's title on. I'm always a fan of this genre and this doesn't disappoint. Hannah Diamond pops up again, I think she's been in all of these charts I've done, this I think is my favourite. Her songs and voice are just so sweet and innocent and it's honestly like I forget all my woes when listening to her, Make Believe could maybe do without the super autotuned bridge, but otherwise it's another cute and cheerful offering from her with some slightly beefed up production which is only a good thing.

 

There are two big chart hits here - Starley seems like a rare bright spark in the general turgid state of dance in the UK charts this summer, I just think she has quite a lovely voice accompanied by an uplifting and infectious keyboard loop that makes it an effective if not exactly new emotional dance piece, it was one of the few songs in the earlier part of the year that I actually didn't mind seeing doing so well and I was glad the public connected with it as well as I did. Katy Perry was an interesting one this year, but she certainly started on a good note - Chained to the Rhythm was a significant departure, from fairly mindless pop to a something with a bit more meaning (I'm not using that fucking awful 'woke' term), certainly in the Trump era, a metaphorical protest song about how we are all in a certain system is very apt and it's something to be admired, it's not perfect (the wasted zombie sign is god-awfully clunky), but it's an interesting new direction that is one of the most pleasant surprises - or at least it was, she then decided to release utter shite as the follow-up singles and play into this 'feud'...ADoseofBuckley explains it better than I do. Shame, but at least she has this ay?

 

And the last three are all quite different - Little Scream is that rare folk/country-type song that I actually really like, very Prince in many ways with a lot of different hooks, but that central one is very, very catchy and it's probably why it's managed to stay with me so long, I never quite had the courage to send it to BJSC but I'd recommend a listen,

. Cassie I discovered on Jupiter's CD in the swap and it was a fantastic discovery and a good return to an artist I never particularly cared about, Me & U aside, it's a wonderfully slick R'n'B with wonderful and hypnotising production and a rap verse which actually doesn't feel tacked on, a perfect chill track and one I've come back to a lot. Finally, one from the BJSC Scandi spin off which led to an interesting discovery - Death Team are a Swedish pop duo that wouldn't normally be my thing what with all the pop hooks and bragging lyrics but the production is just marvellous which really lifts the song up, in the case of Messed Up, it's due to an eargasmic chorus and some wonderful synths and flutes in the background that really lifts this above standard pop filler. So Fresh also has a wonderful flute and Jump, which was in BJSC, wasn't as strong but had that wonderful lyric, 'I wanna a doughnut but you're on a diet', which makes it all the more worthwhile.

 

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my faves of 71-100

 

71. Starley – Call on Me (Ryan Ribeck remix)

72. Katy Perry – Chained to the Rhythm

77. Xi – Happy End of the World

78. Solarstones - Falcons

79. Hannah Diamond – Make Believe

82. Era - Ameno

88. World’s End Girlfriend – Les Enfants du Paradis

89. Conner Youngblood – The Warpath

96. Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee - Despacito

97. Stefflon Don feat. French Montana – Hurtin’ Me

98. Rita Ora - Anywhere

99. Big Shaq - Mans Not Hot

100. Captain Ska – Liar Liar GE2017

 

great so far, didn't expect so many mainstream additions but I'm liking those, Anywhere is a big highlight of the last few months and I'm also a big fan of Man's Not Hot, Hurtin Me and Call on Me.

Westworld and Doctor Who :)

 

Moana, Lego Batman and GOTG II are great movies.

Of the top five, I have seen Dunkirk but I don't remember a lot of it other than some of the tactics that the soldiers would use to avoid being shot down by enemy soldiers.

 

 

Liar Liar is hilarious

Man's Not Hot is an enjoyable meme tune

Anywhere and Don't Delete The Kisses are brilliant.

Hurtin' Me, Despacito and Want You Back are pretty good.

How Long is okay.

--------------------

Run and Perfect Places are excellent.

No One Knows Me Like The Piano is a wonderful emotional song. The piano hits me everytime. :heart:

Malibu is divine.

----------------------

 

Call on Me was a great track from the start of the year! One of those which hits you instantly so to speak

 

Join the Riot was a decent BJSC entry as well - kind of annoyed I never re-visited it :(

Thank you for the comments, guys! (Darn it, my indie credentials tainted by these mainstream picks + Rita Ora, back the drawing board~)

 

-x-

 

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61. Dua Lipa – New Rules

62. Lucy Camp – The Heart Dies

63. London Grammar – Big Picture

64. Kyarypamyupamyu – Harajuku Iyahoi

65. Grouplove – Good Morning

66. CUSCO – Oracle of Delphi

67. Aether – Dear Lillie

68. Sixfingerz – Laws of Nature

69. MK - 17

70. Rag’n’Bone Man – Human

 

Some familiar names here as well, and some not so much - I'll start with the ones you should know. Dua Lipa slayed both Buzzjack and even the rest of the UK this year with New Rules, and it was well deserved. I've been going off her since the wonderful Be The One (which I'm also glad somehow got a second shot at success this year) and some of her songs were utterly terrible, but this one's better. A cool, confident delivery, a nice pulsating dance beat and enough attitude and sass to make it seem convincing makes this a stand out and a deserved number 1, especially when there has been a notable drought of solo female number 1s recently. MK is another one of those dance gems, in truth I only heard this recently but it's already made a big impression, not a trace of shite 'chilled' tropical house which is good and a relentless dance beat and energetic vocals ensure this is a pretty banging ride. Kinda like Haim, London Grammar didn't quite enchant me as much this year with the singles as 2013, but Big Picture was amazing and probably one of my favourite songs from them. With their trademark haunting vocals and an atmospheric and twilight-like backdrop, it's a brilliant track and I still rlly need to listen to that album~ Finally, Rag'n'Bone Man I can't say I'm massively interested in as a solo artist, but it was nice to see some chart success from quite a gruff vocal delivery and slightly more raw sound, I certainly preferred it to the radio packaged Sheeran-like formula. I still really enjoy Human and glad it turned itself into quite a smash.

 

For the slightly lesser known ones which I'll link to so you can all listen~

were my new obsession at the tail end of last year, some glorious new age world music based off various ancient myths and legends was right up my alley, the two that stuck with me in particular was one more that is still to come and the wonderful Oracle of Delphi - a track built around uplifting tribal chants and a pitched piano and flute to conjure up a feeling I can only describe as a Heavenly feel, I'd highly recommend it.

was a SuicideSheep find, I don't find an awful lot of them anymore but they can still be good, an instrumental, extremely stripped back piano with the sounds of a silently building electronic bassline being it's only accompaniment, it's so empty which only makes it's mood deepen, it might just make you cry if you're in a low enough mood :'(

were a BJSC potential for a while, this was another one of those reddit late night finds, a middle-eastern, exotic track which moves along at quite a slow and mysterious pace with some broken spoken word sections, idk why but I wasn't quite expecting what was coming next, especially as it goes full on ancient ritual towards the end, it's an almost perfect atmosphere built. Maybe I'll get the courage to send it one day~

 

Speaking of BJSC, there are three discoveries from there that are here. Kyarypamypamyu I would describe as...weird and wonderful (indeed that's the impression I get of her home country, Japan itself), Harajuku Iyahoi as hard as that is to type is the most infectious and happy song I've heard this year, and it's video is fit with dancing Christmas trees and all manner of other things kooky only increases it's appeal, it's grown on me so much since it's contest. Also from that contest are Grouplove, I only knew Tongue Tied prior, which I enjoyed partially as it reminded me of first year uni memories, however, I think this might have bettered it. I actually never realised they had a girl in their group until this and she is great especially with the super catchy cat and rat trap rhyme and a great chorus that's just as catchy. A really fun pop and rock track that wouldn't sound out of place on the radio so I'm honestly surprised it hasn't caught on. But perhaps the most surprising discovery for me was Lucy Camp, with a fast paced narrative piece about what I assume is a troubled young girl and the plights of herself she has to give up. The sad piano adds to the already melancholy themes and Camp's delivery is perfect - starting hushed and angry but becoming louder, more desperate and angry as it goes along. It's one of the most breathtaking and raw vocal deliveries I've seen in a song this year and it really has stuck with me. I would highly recommend anyone that wasn't in that contest to listen (or re-listen, like I did, as I'm not sure it quite hit me the first time I listened to it!)

 

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The shade on Charlie Puth and Rita Ora was so on point and savage at the same time, much more my thing than overblown default praise. I do go the other way than you on Miley Cyrus's recent personas though - in a year with The Handmaid's Tale, seeing the outspoken sex-positive disaster area put on her white virginal dress, cover up her tattoos and grow her hair out while swearing her past 'phase' was just stupidity and she's better now was a little disturbing! Great read so far altogether tho! Also I'm glad to have converted another Cassie fan :D

Edited January 3, 20187 yr by JingleBellJupes

That's...a good point about Miley, I never thought of it that way :mellow: still a good tune x

 

-x-

 

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51. Camila Cabelo feat. Young Thug - Havana

52. Films – Kumoito

53. Peter Gundry – The Vampire Masquerade

54. Stellar Dreams – Dimensions

55. Gareth Emery & Standerwick feat. HAILENE – Saving Light

56. Amy Lee – Love Exists

57. KING PLAGUE – Ave Plague

58. Carpenter Brut – Turbo Killer

59. Paramore – Hard Times

60. The Birthday Massacre - One

 

Officially my SECOND favourite UK number 1 (which isn't too bad for quite a few of them to be here) is Camila Cabelo - an artist I didn't expect to be anywhere NEAR here, Fifth Harmony were an utterly TERRIBLE band (and I don't usually feel that strong about chart acts), I would be happy if I never heard that work thing ever again, I could barely tell any of them apart so I wasn't entirely keen on solo material - I guess she certainly was the hidden talent (or maybe she's being given better material now idk) going by Havana, naming a song after a place is always interesting, and I think she manages the capture a bit of Latin American spirit here with the musical style, particularly with the trombone backing. I'm not sure what the chorus is meant to mean, but it's very infectious and the whole stripped back sound feels very refreshing and shows off her voice to it's full extent, the rent-a-rapper verse isn't the best (Geoffrey? :unsure:), but overall this was probably the best surprise package of the year, don't go back to Fifth Harmony plz! I've always been a fan of Paramore (Is Misery Business rlly ten years old? D:), I wasn't sure how they'd cope without that pop-punk sound they do so much better than other copycat bands, but by going for this Blondie new wave kind of sound, it turns out it suits them really well and gives Hayley a chance to show another side of her popstar expertise, I think it was a great move for them not to go stale and keep surprising us and I hope they keep flourishing as a band. Evanescence were another band that I loved, but have alas lost a bit of interest in over the years, but this year I heard the rather wonderful Love Exists by lead singer, Amy Lee. It took me a while to realise this was a cover of the Francesca Micheilin (also featured here ;o) song I heard in PFSC, both versions are wonderful, but this version has a lot of intensive passion to it and her always incredible voice turns it into an epic dark love ballad, I'd really recommend it to all.

 

Now here are quite a few of my really treasured blog finds - Films hit me out of nowhere late last year with the incredible clone, and I continued to check out their material this year and indeed, they have two other songs still to come. This one, Kumoito, a Japanese operatic sounding building song that builds as it soars higher, putting it in parallel with the image in the

with makes for a moving experience, it's another really beautiful and unique piece of music that is also quite uplifting. Peter Gundry is a music composer that makes dark classical music suitable for horror movies, believe me it's as epic as it sounds. The Vampire Masquerade, an ex BJSC potential of mine, is my favourite of these, starting with a moody accordion it builds into a soaring crescendo with wailing choirs, perfectly soundtracking a sinister dance ball at Transylvania, I love music like this that gets the imagination going. Stellar Dreams also have another song to come and were another great New Retro Wave find, this time harkening back to the 80s with their wonderful retro synth-pop and epic scale of their song names. Dimensions, again, would be a perfect soundtrack to an 80s sci-fi movie travelling to a new dimension with it's wild synths, hushed yet shrill and intriguing vocals and various little sound touches which all add to the wonderful atmosphere, this was a missed opportunity to put in Blade Runner 2049. One of the most unexpectedly great discoveries I made last year which went a bit under the radar is The Birthday Massacre, I heard a few of their songs in BJSC before and don't recall that much about them, but what I heard from these (they came up as YouTube recommendations) really surprised me, it was really raw and emotional moody rock, it's often that a lot of this genre passes me by but this somehow stuck with me. One has some of the simple yet saddest lyrics I've heard this year (lying/dying slowly, one is only...only one :''''() and that coupled with a great 80s like rock sound made it a great package. There is one more to come from them~

 

Oh what was that, BJSC? Yes, more of those. Gareth Emery's Saving Light was one of my rare favourite that actually won, and I couldn't be more glad as there have been times in the year it has almost made me cry with the combination of thundering, emotional trance beats and big, emotional vocals and a heartbreaking video. Thanks for this one, Dan, more like this in the future x KING PLAGUE is as weird as that title suggests - I would never thought Ave Maria could be combined with a bleeping and blooping witch house beat but it makes for a uniquely brilliant combination that gives me the chills, and finally, Carpenter Brut is one of the most epic and exhilarating instrumentals that I've found this year, clearly meant to be played with going somewhere fast, it doesn't change up all that much but is relentless in it's delivery and would be a perfect addition to New RetroWave or other Youtube channel and deserves to be used in every ghost car chase ever, thanks for this x

 

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Good Morning is a great track! I had loved Ways to Go a few years before and Welcome to Your Life was alright, but this was a great re-introduction to them for me :D

 

Nice to see 17 here - looks like it's going to be big this month which is great to see! Piece of Me is just that little bit better for me though ;)

 

Saving Light was another great BJSC hit, I kind of forget it won since it doesn't seem like a typical 'winner' but glad it did nonetheless~

Hi Chez! I'm just skimming through these as I'm so far behind but have read a few paragraphs and loved your thoughts on Perfect Places and Hard Times in particular. I'm with the majority that prefers Green Light but would say Perfect Places is just as special for the exact reason you've described, it does sound like a more mature version of Team to me and it was nice to have something on Melodrama that was so reminiscent of Pure Heroine, if only just to see how far she's come as an artist since then. And I was also very surprised to hear how well the 80s new-wave sound suited Paramore! Still prefer their classic stuff but it was enough of a reinvention to keep me interested.

Argh, so sorry this is taking so long, thanks for your continued interest! Gonna try and do two posts tonight~

 

-x-

 

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41. Yaeji – Feel It Out

42. MGMT – Little Dark Age

43. RUFUS - Innerbloom

44. Two Steps from Hell – Archangel

45. Calvin Harris feat. Frank Ocean & Migos - Slide

46. SIAMES – The Wolf

47. Stuck in the Sound - Let’s Go

48. Crystal Castles – Concrete

49. In love with a ghost - flowers

50. Fang Island – Daisy

 

One act that I'm very glad to put here is MGMT, I've somewhat been out of touch with them for a while since the very catchy indie pop of their first singles and one of the best songs of the 21st Century thus far in Time to Pretend. Little Dark Age is quite a brilliant and eye catching thing to come back with, with dark, tesselating synths surrounding the vocals that aren't in in you face as TTP but instead work as an ominous build up to a striking chorus and a really awesome synthy atmosphere. It's very gothic, especially with the odd video, and mysterious but it's easily the best thing I've heard from them since the first era, and I'm glad almost a decade later, they are still capable of producing a surprise. Speaking of new styles, there were probably none more prominent than Calvin Harris, finally ditching his breakdown-heavy mold of EDM that was getting just a tad stale and opting for subtle urban-tinged dance, I can understand the reaction, but I think it's rather lush. It's not often I'm into urban music, but Frank Ocean's voice is incredible on Slide and you can really appreciate all of it for what it is with the desolate production, which is refreshing when it's usually entirely the opposite vocals on Calvin's tracks. I certainly hope he continues with this, Feels wasn't far off featuring here either.

 

We also have two songs that were great as they are - but made incredibly epic with their brilliant animated videos. That would be

&

, the former I wish I'd have sent to BJSC when I found it myself but I'm glad Iz did anyway. The animation is strikingly dark and frantic that can be read metaphorically in many ways which I always love, and the song itself is a serious bop, with a very infectious chorus and wolf-like sounding bridge. The latter is a rather sad video at heart that does feel quite Black Mirror-esque in it's story but nonetheless looks beautiful as well, the song is an all out epic rock anthem, with pounding guitars, frantic vocals that are pretty rudimentary to the head-banging soundscape. It's a thrilling listen and I'm still annoyed that this did so badly in Nuggets, do you all not know an anthem when you hear it :/ There is one other discovery from an indie forum song contest here too - Yaeji seems to have a very quirky and distinct style to her songs and Feel It Out is great in it's hushed vocals, yet very catchy melody and differing background noises creating a rather intimate experience that still feels very unique, must check out more from her in the future even if I was a bit underwhelmed by the one in BJSC. One of my own random YouTube finds is here is in love with a ghost, and honestly that does somewhat describe him in general or at least what you'd expect someone to be with a name like that, he's a very aesthetic arty French musician who makes dainty, relaxed, pristine chilled out music with animated backgrounds that is perfect as a backdrop to a cafe in Paris. They also have titles that are wildly extravagant and seem to tell stories. I am aware that this is making him sound extremely pretentious, but do check out his YouTube channel and maybe you can judge for yourself x flowers despite being his more subtle titles is a beauty - chiming along with a light tinkling piano and some very pretty vocals and even some rain sound effects to give it a real natural feel, it's honestly the song equivalent of a finely made maneki-neko that you can't imagine breaking. So arty and beautiful, I'd highly recommend exploring him.

 

And finally BJSC and a Kluminican Republic double. RUFUS is an epic masterclass in slowly building beauty coming from an electronic track. It never explodes into life, but that somehow adds to it as everything goes towards the atmosphere and it sounds wonderful, those nine minutes feel like you're transported somewhere much more serene than this. Two Steps From Hell, former champions of this chart and an act whom I still massively enjoy checking out on YouTube even if nothing quite comes close to Miracles, Archangel is more their typical epic, film score soundtrack style that you'd expect, and that certainly isn't a bad thing, there's so much packed into that two and a half minutes that it's replay value is immense. Crystal Castles are another act that I really need to bookmark to listen to more material from as I love their hardcore dark electro sound and Concrete is no different from that, with harsh shouting vocals that are almost indecipherable but it doesn't matter when the production is raging ahead, an aggressive, daunting outbreak of sound, it's certainly a thriller to listen to and again is definitely over too quickly. Fang Island, apparently from 2009 but not that I would've noticed that, is another wonderful soundscape with light organs melding perfectly with the guitars and the chanting uplifting vocals and somewhat odd video giving a very inspiring and hopeful listen that always puts me in a good mood.

 

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The Wolf was a decent BJSC track this year, remember particularly liking it in the contest but haven't really revisited it :(

 

Slide was nice also, if not really what I wanted/was expecting from new Calvin!

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31. Paradis – Toi et Moi
32. Alev Lenz – Fall Into Me
33. Steven Wilson – The Raven that Refused to Sing
34. CUSCO – Orpheus & Eurydice
35. Tina Guo – Pokemon/Super Mario Bros.
36. Owl Eyes – Closure
37. Inouwee – Danger
38. French Montana feat. Swae Lee - Unforgettable
39. Films - Sympathizer
40. Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson – Symphony

One of my favourite BJSC discoveries and general music discoveries by far was Tina Guo, indeed a classical/metal instrumental crossover covering a memorable video game theme like Super Marios Bros. was quite something, and if there was an album on this, I was sure enough gonna track it down. Sure enough, Game On was brilliant with exactly the same epicness as you would expect from that concept. My absolute favourite perhaps predictably was the Pokemon theme, that theme was literally my childhood personified and sure enough it combined a selection of the best elements (including 1st Gen gym leader music *.) to make it brilliant, I can't decide which I like more, hence me combining them here, fantastic discovery nonetheless. There are three other Buzzjack related discoveries - I loved Garde Les Pour Toi by Paradis, but I think this one might be even better. Utterly luscious French electronic music with one of the most soothing and salivating basslines I've heard in a song this year, my only issue is the length as it more than justifies being as long as Garde...! This sort of sound is, as you might have guessed, quite up my street so I definitely plan on checking them out more. Inouwee I should really be refusing to acknowledge the existence of for denying me a win in UP of nothing more than my own accord for me giving it my top points, but I can't tell a lie and it is right up there with one of my favourite UP discoveries. The synths are eclectic and dominate the track but the quite subtle vocal works with them well to create pretty much a masterclass in effective indie-pop that wouldn't sound out of place as a CHVRCHES single, great stuff. On the topic of CHVRCHES, Owl Eyes' song that I also got from Jupiter's CD could easily resemble a song from them as well with it's atmospheric synths and beautifully constructed pop melodies. I'd never known a lot of her work before despite that lovely name, so this was a great introduction to her.

There are also some of my own song content entries here - Alev Lenz I admittedly wouldn't have heard at all without it's use in Black Mirror's Hated in the Nation where

the bees attack

, it is one of my favourite episodes and one of the most powerful scenes in it and contributing to that is this glorious song. Even without that context, it is so striking, the dark, murky, stripped back feel of the production create an atmosphere of ominous and damning nature that whilst not particularly bright, it's stunning in it's harrowing power, I'm still gutted at it's BJSC performance. It is such a striking single that I do wonder what else she's capable of. Orpheus and Eurydice was my favourite of my late year Spotify trawl of CUSCO and still remains a wonderful listen. I have never heard a more exotic, ever changing instrumental with as many layers and deepness to it as I have this, it's stunning, starting as a whirling flute melody, it builds into dark and ominous depths until all manner of strings, woodwind and guitars are joining it in the crescendo. I was unfamiliar with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (pictured) so I looked it up and was actually shocked how well the music fitted with the legend - right down to the enchanting music and the gradual journey into the Underworld. Just another case of how they make the sound of myths and legends sound perfect. Another very layered instrumental which I sent to the Japan/Korea spin off is Sympathizer, another one by Films. If Kumoito earlier was light and enchanting in manner, this is the opposite with another ominous, wary vocal coupled with damning production before breaking into an orchestral, string-laden outburst, coupled with a video that shows various natural phenomena and stormy landscapes with even some fitted into the production, it's another breathless beauty. I got back into Steven Wilson a lot this year for...well you'll see as we carry on~ But one of my favourite discoveries from exploring his old stuff was the excellent The Raven That Refused to Sing, a sombre seven minute prog-rock lamenting of lost love with a typically beautiful and dark animation demonstrating this exactly in the music video, definitely worth a

, shoutout to Routine and Drive as well that were of similar excellence. It is a slight shame we didn't get any of them this era even if there still was a lot to love.

Finally, we have probably the last two 'big' chart hits that'll feature here, I do latch on to big UK hits when the public gets it right and they definitely did with these two. Clean Bandit continue to be the absolute saviors of the chart with one of the few great number 1s in 2016 with Rockabye and now dethroning the Sheeran with this not-as-good but still great song. If Rockabye was tropical pop done right, this is them reaching back into their classical roots, appropriately titled Symphony, the strings are made the focus which is always wonderful in a pop song and somehow Zara Larsson doesn't sound obnoxious here and her vocals suit the track very well which is an achievement (in fact, this is the best she's sounded since Uncover, maybe she should stick to ballads), another wonderful song from them, and even I Miss You is growing on me now, did I ever say I was disappointed with them? I take that back, keep saving the charts. Also here is French Montana, an artist I wasn't overly familiar with, but was easily one of the best urban hits of the year. I think I like it best, cos it relies on the atmosphere on the track and allows the performance to take priority rather than overloading it with autotune and relying on the standard rap verse-pop chorus-rap verse, and is quite interesting in structure, the echo effect on the vocals give it a great effect and adds some depth to it and even some steel drums are in the mix. Basically, it stood out to me amongst the plethora of indentikit pop-rap songs this year and it's stuck with me, hence the top 40 placing. I hope the chart can continue with these nice surprises this year!

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'Symphony' is one of my absolute faves of last year, and perhaps of all time too. Such a good song.

 

Also love 'Unforgettable' (was great seeing that smash so much), 'Slide', 'Havana', 'Saving Light', 'New Rules' and '17' from since I last commented.

 

'Little Dark Age' was a nice surprise from MGMT too.

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21. Harry Styles – Sign of the Times
22. Ariana Grande – One Last Time
23. Forest Swords - Panic
24. Daydreamer – Skyscraper
25. Saor – Hearth
26. Miles Prower – Who Needs Real Life Anyway?
27. Oh Wonder – Ultralife
28. Just Us - Cloudbusting
29. The Birthday Massacre – Under Your Spell
30. Merely – Backdraft

Yes Joseph, that is Harry Styles you see almost reaching the top 20, like what is going on, One Direction aren't reel muzak, what are they doing anywhere near my list? No, but really, kudos to Mr Styles as while I always thought he'd be big, I didn't think a five minute rock number would be the one that he breaks through with. Sounding like a combination of The Verve, David Bowie and Queen, it is a genuinely a really epic and thoughtful song that is a clear callback to, ahem, past signs of the times and suits him REALLY well. I'm still honestly a bit surprised he came up with something so good in all honesty, but seeing this at number 1 even for a brief moment was a great moment. Also here and on a slightly more sombre note is Ariana Grande, probably the one of people in which 2017 will be most remembered for if not for the best reasons, still this was certainly the perfect choice of hers to lead as a tribute to those victims as it is a very emotional listen - Just focusing on the music here, I've never been a huge fan of her music though she does seem to be getting better but this revival did make me see how capable she is of making a mature, genuine and timeless pop song to appeal to all, it sounded incredible at the One Love Manchester. Ariana really did showcase the best of herself this year even with sad circumstances and she really has opened my eyes to how excellent a person and popstar she can be. One dance hit that I thought would be a huge hit but clearly didn't register as well is Just Us,one of those rare faithful dance adaptations that doesn't spoil the original and creates new life in it - there's traces of Bush's vibes here and a focus on the wonderful strings is always great in a dance track. I just wish it could've been a bigger hit, lots of mixed chart blessings in this paragraph D:

Two great finds now that I included on my CD swap and are two very different songs in terms of mood - Forest Swords (so close to my first winner in any song contest on here </3 still not over it) is a random late night YouTube find which is one of the most striking and brilliant discoveries this year, with a jarring and fuzzy soundscape alongside suitably panic-stricken and obscure vocals, it's an intense and unsettling listen throughout but one that really leaves you on your toes. Coupled with a video that features various odd and sometimes grotesque and ominous situations like the one above and you have a bizarrely dark package. On the other end of the scale is Daydreamer, I checked out his Senses EP after obsessing over Travelling Light which featured in 2016's list, and while there was nothing that was quite an incredible journey as that, there was a lot of moody and evocative dance reminiscent of Porter Robinson and Skyscrapers is probably one of the most dreamy - with a wonderfully uplifting feel throughout and soaring drops and soothing keyboard melodies bookended by sweet, computerised vocals, it's a true delight of sky-high proportions, that's enough puns for one day, the second appearance The Birthday Massacre has an excellent 80s synth pop vibe to it that was really missing from other songs I'd heard from them. It's fairly simple in nature, but that only allows the riff to get stuck in your head and the lyrics also shouldn't be ignored for being pretty dark and indicative of a harrowing album, certainly a pleasant surprise. Oh Wonder were an act I always loved when I discovered them back on 2015 and they continued to build on that love this year, even if they resorted to a much more pop sound, it was still a delight to hear such a positive and care-free song and their wonderfully harmonising vocals are as endearing as ever. The album of the same name as this was also very strong and has one more cut still to feature here.

The remaining three are all Buzzjack related discoveries - Saor is one of my favourite BJSC discoveries and an unconventional one at that - I didn't think an eleven minute atmospheric black metal song would be much to my taste but it is one of the most epic songs I've heard this year, with bagpipes and horns melding with thrashing guitars before some black metal grunting comes in...ok this isn't so pleasant...but it's very short and then it gives to an instrumental guitar fused with mountainous strings which is amazing in every sense. It still takes me on a journey every time I listen and has opened me to more possibilities. Also from BJSC is Merely, a similar bagpipe infused banger which works excellently, the main thing that attracts me here isn't so much the instrumental but the excellent vocal - it's so sad and longing and desperate that you feel every word of that chorus and the bagpipes add a wonderful melancholic feel to it that makes it so wonderful to hear. One from the other contest, Miles Prower's Who Needs Real Life Anyway takes the mantle for the my favourite UP discovery of the year (lower than previous ones in my chart from this contest but alas), it's a really great instrumental dance track with frantic synths, nothing new but it's the sort of thing I'm always into, it also is basically the spitting image of Supermode's Tell Me Why in sound, with chord lines that almost resemble it entirely, and anything that reminds me of one of my favourite dance songs of the 2000s is something that sits very well with me, the sort of copycat I can get behind~

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Top 20 with a slightly different (and less time consuming :x) format will start at the weekend! :D

Good to see 'The Raven That Refused To Sing' on your list. Like you,it's a song I discovered well after it came out.

I rediscovered all of his work this year and idk why I missed it the last time, so good :heart:

 

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20 TIME TOP

 

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19. Varien - Lilith

 

Two pretty creepy and scary numbers to start things out that are glorious in their creepiness - Lilith was an unfortunate failure when I sent it to BJSC, but remains one of my favourite entries. I was pretty much hooked as soon as I saw the title 'Dubstep / Horror / Orchestral', three of my great musical loves combined can only be a good thing, and it is, starting off with a creepy haunted house piano line (which I'm sure I've heard before come to think of it) before the glitchy drops come in and then it drops to a acoustic for a minute before a full on LEAP into a choral electric guitar springing crescendo which could be the soundtrack to the gates of hell itself. And it's all done with a terrifying child glaring at you so it is really effective, one of the most epic horror trips I've had last year.

 

And finally another one from films - if I've not praised them enough already in this thread, then get ready for some more! This is the longest one at over seven minutes (and seems to be a bit more well known going by it's view and is mainly revolving around a single creepy piano line with soft harking vocals underneath, this is all about the build up more than anything, eventually the harrowing strings arrive, reflecting the arrival of the sense of dread that the track was building up to, the layers unfold and it's something very different at the end. A truly epic prowess into the powers of subtlety and how many emotions can be held in such simple melodies, I love this artist so much :wub:

 

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Oh Wonder's real high point for me was this utterly gorgeous ballad - they clearly went the way of upbeat mainstream pop this year, and it suited them well so I didn't mind so much but I certainly never expected them to be so good at composing an utterly wonderful ballad. My Friends is stripped back to just piano and silent strings as well as the harmonising vocals are probably the most sombre they've sounded and some pretty heart-rendering lyrics about the importance of connections. The minimalism of the production definitely works very well with the video as well, featuring the two of them addressing the camera with little backing, it's the anthesis of Ultralife but works really well. It's really quite an *ahem* wonder, I was very pleased that they've built on their great first era.

One of my great TV finds of 2016 was Westworld and while I wait impatiently for the second series to come upon us, I can certainly put up with the excellent soundtrack in the meantime. Featuring downcast, orchestral covers of classical songs for the most part that blend with the show so well, but even having not seen the show, it's hard to deny the impact of this epic rousing cover of the Rolling Stones classic song. Having the chance to send it to BJSC reinvention meant it stayed with me for a lot of the year and is still up there Ramin's best compositions, and when he does the majority of Game of Thrones' score, that's some achievement. Would highly recommend the soundtrack (and the show) to everyone~

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TOI ET MOI <3 amazing track and obviously a trifoski classic

 

glad you've got My Friends as a highlight from the Oh Wonder record too, it's lovely lovely lovely :'''(

 

Nice to see Toi Et Moi here, I'm always partial to some foreign language music and this was really catchy, should have given it more points in its contest methinks