21. Kae Tempest feat. Lianne La Havas – No Prizes

22. Regina Spektor – Up the Mountain

23. Wet Leg – Chaise Lounge

24. Jamie xx – Let’s Do It Again

25. George Fitzgerald feat. SOAK – Rainbows and Dreams

 

I think pretty much all of these came to me through 6Music, which has been a godsend for keeping me up to date with more under-the-radar releases and not relying on the same generic chart rubbish that Radio 1 seemed hooked to. First up is George Fitzgerald. I heard quite a few nice tunes from him this year, but this one is the strongest, with a wonderfully dreamy soundscape and SOAK's hushed tones really suit the track well, it's really a dance track to listen to after a storm has passed and look ahead to a brighter future <3 With slightly different dance vibes is Jamie xx's high-octane little number, Let's Do It Again. I'm still not really that well-versed in his material, but this one sounds fresh for the dancefloor, the repetitive lyrics, montage of vocal effects and pulsating bassline really make it something that gets you pumped in the morning.

 

Slightly different vibes from Regina Spektor whose quirky and foreboding track is quite brilliant at gripping you right from the start, you're not quite sure what is in this secret place she's discovering, but the intensity that's on offer keeps you guessing and following her on this crazy little trip. Dramatic strings, repeated refrains and even choirs, this strange track has got it all. Again, I wasn't all that informed about this artist, but this was a great introduction. Kae Tempest was recommended to me right at the beginning of the year and was really taken in by their spoken word style and rough and reflective lyrics. It reminded me a lot of Original Pirate Material by the Streets. Salt Coast combines this poetry with powerful instrumental backing, though my favourite is ever so slightly No Prizes as it really emphasises two different vocal styles and the stripped production makes the lyrics starkly clear. It's really quite beautiful.

 

Finally, I did know Wet Leg a bit before this year, but I did hear various others from them this year that really exuded their quirky indie charm, it's a bit weird and not for everyone but I really like it. Chaise Lounge is the best with nonsensical yet charming lyrics, addictive guitar riff and cool delivery, it's so unique and it's not hard to see how they blew up from it.

 

 

Top 20 tomorrow!

Giving No Prizes a listen now - don't think I've heard any Kae Tempest since 'The Beigeness' back in 2013! This is quite different but I think it could grow on me (and the percussion in the background is quite nice)

Ooh great to see another 6Music convert. I've been getting away with putting it on in the office since at least 2015. It only occasionally gets switched over for PopMaster. Anyway, that last five are particularly strong. Great to see “Widow” and “B.O.T.A (Baddest of Them All)” appear earlier in your T40 - two big hits for me also this year, would def recommend seeing WMC live if you get the chance! Can't believe you've not heard from them before, get “Valleys” on your playlist immediately!! (my #1 of 2020)

 

I've also enjoyed “Happy New Year”, though my favourite from Let's Eat Grandma this year was “Levitation” - such a joyful record. : )

Widow, B.O.T.A. and Chaise Longue are my highlights of the last 3 sections - I know a few of the others but probably haven't heard them in several months so will try to revisit them along with those which are new to me.

Giving No Prizes a listen now - don't think I've heard any Kae Tempest since 'The Beigeness' back in 2013! This is quite different but I think it could grow on me (and the percussion in the background is quite nice)

 

I'd recommend Salt Coast as well (I would've included that in my top 40 too but I'm limited in spaces so don't want to repeat artists too much) <3

 

Ooh great to see another 6Music convert. I've been getting away with putting it on in the office since at least 2015. It only occasionally gets switched over for PopMaster. Anyway, that last five are particularly strong. Great to see “Widow” and “B.O.T.A (Baddest of Them All)” appear earlier in your T40 - two big hits for me also this year, would def recommend seeing WMC live if you get the chance! Can't believe you've not heard from them before, get “Valleys” on your playlist immediately!! (my #1 of 2020)

 

I've also enjoyed “Happy New Year”, though my favourite from Let's Eat Grandma this year was “Levitation” - such a joyful record. : )

 

6Music has really shown me there is a lot of great underground music out there, I always Radio 1 before, but it was playing a lot of the same chart stuff which I just wasn't into. I can only really listen in the morning before I go to work (can't really play a radio in my office D:), but I've checked the songs I really liked out after.

 

I know, where have they been all my life, I will definitely look to check out more from them going forward, thanks for the starting point!

 

Widow, B.O.T.A. and Chaise Longue are my highlights of the last 3 sections - I know a few of the others but probably haven't heard them in several months so will try to revisit them along with those which are new to me.

 

Thanks for commenting! I think you'd be into Regina Spektor and Kae Tempest (and maybe Sung x)

27. Eliza Rose – B.O.T.A (Baddest of Them All)

30. Grimes – Shinigami Eyes

 

B.O.T.A. was a refreshing change for the official chart and it was really nice to see something different being embraced though was it cause of tiktok? I'm not clued into why it took off.

 

Shinigami eyes is one of my favourite Grimes songs. There are a couple others I really like though I can't think of their names off the top of my head. Shinigami eyes did hit my EOY in the top 75 this year I think though!

 

19. NYX feat. MA. MPOY - Mutualism

20. Yeah Yeah Yeahs feat. Perfume Genius – Spitting off the Edge of the World

 

My runners-up from last year, the experimental drone choir NYX released a separate collaboration at the start of the year, whereas their pagan folk take on the classic Jerusalem was unsettling and distorting. In this 11-minute epic, they turn to spirituality and the four elements. Created over lockdown in 2020, it features spoken word poetry from MA.MPOY and, I'll just let them speak for themselves about it:

 

Described by NYX as “a metamorphic meditation, embodying our relationship with nature, symbiosis transformation and collective consciousness”, the 11-minute audiovisual work emerged from what the choir term ‘symbiotic working,’ intended to generate “a true sense of connection, expression and interdependence.” Unfolding from the image of a match being struck deep within a mass of dense and twisted foliage, Mutualism is slow, introspective trip through the leaves, stones and earth of the natural world, a call and response between the modulated vocal tones, live electronics and instrumental arrangements of NYX, the lysergic visuals of Nick Cobby and the incantatory performance of MA.MOYO.

 

“Moving slowly together, each phase of development returned a collective of 14 artists to creatively respond to each new iteration, an evolving relationship that became more than the sum of its parts,” explains NYX. Originally devised as 360-degree projection, the above presentation sees the work condensed into a single channel. Revealing itself slowly, Mutualism takes on the resonance of an esoteric ceremony, with NYX’s redefinition of choral music at once gesturing towards devotional forms while shedding light on the potential for new forms of communal performance and practice. By the time the piece bursts into fractals, heralding a stunning, textural polyphony of voice both sung and spoken, it is clear that, through the collective’s process of symbiotic working, Mutualism is a meditation that envelops both artist and audience in service of a truly interdependent experience.

 

It’s an urge that is reflected in Zhawi’s words, which continually return to a central mantra: “meet me in the middle.” Invoking fire, air, earth and water, MA.MOYO relates natural elements to her own physical senses, situating her body within a shared space and aligning herself to the world around her. “My freedom / Is your freedom,” she asserts. “For that is the only way to live.”

 

And if that sounds like artsy-fartsy garble to you, you may not be into this. But I really love the gradually layering features of the track, the soft yet unfolding spoken word that gets more condensed and lost in the atmosphere as the production ramps up as well as a beautiful twisting video that immerses you in this natural world. They remain one of the most unique, mind-blowing artists out there whose work sounds genuinely original.

 

Also here is the comeback from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and another 6Music favourite that really grew on me, I really loved their 2000s material and didn't think over a decade on that they could still sound fresh, but this has a great dramatic and epic feel to it with the towering synths and building feel, making it sound like a heavily synthed up 80s power ballad which is good by me. It's a song that really strikes you immediately with its power and will stick with you after. Perfume Genius is another artist I've heard good things about but never properly checked out and if this is reflective of his style, I'm very on board with it x

 

17. Daniel Avery & HAAI – Wall of Sleep

18. Caroline Polachek – Sunset

 

I hadn't or not certain I had heard from Daniel Avery since the wonderful Drone Logic in BJSC, since then, he has picked up a bit more attention and let's just say this isn't the first time we'll be seeing him here. Wall of Sleep was one that snuck up on me at the very tail end of the year but that I simply couldn't ignore. The spellbinding, frantic production combined with the dreamy vocals make for an instantly captivating and beautiful listen that is anything but sleep-inducing yet somehow manages to have the best power of loud, fast dance and slower, hypnotising dance. I was intrigued by HAAI from the excellent Baby We're Ascending (just missed the list here), but the combined force of these two was clearly a match made in heaven.

 

Caroline Polachek is yet another alt name that had a lot of noise around that I hadn't managed to run into much, but the quirky and hypnotising Billions was a great introduction, but I do have a soft spot for some well-done flamenco pop and Sunset with it's strumming mandolins and ethereal and melodic vibe really hit the spot. It's fairly simple for what it is and far too short, yet sometimes a short time length is all you need to conjure up a great feeling and even in its short timeframe, Sunset really achieves that.

 

 

27. Eliza Rose – B.O.T.A (Baddest of Them All)

30. Grimes – Shinigami Eyes

 

B.O.T.A. was a refreshing change for the official chart and it was really nice to see something different being embraced though was it cause of tiktok? I'm not clued into why it took off.

 

Shinigami eyes is one of my favourite Grimes songs. There are a couple others I really like though I can't think of their names off the top of my head. Shinigami eyes did hit my EOY in the top 75 this year I think though!

 

Thanks for commenting James, I believe it was Tik Tok, I'm pretty clueless towards however that algorithm works but it did some good!

 

Well that's a good choice, hope Oblivion, Kill vs Maim and We Appreciate Power are the other ones x

So I done goofed and forgot one of my favourite songs of the year, I guess it was too good to be true for this to go this smoothly So everything moves down a place and this becomes a top 41, round numbers be damned x

 

 

15. World’s End Girlfriend & CRZKNY – BLACK BOX FAKE FACT

16. Panda Bear & Sonic Boom – Edge of the Edge

17. Go_A – Kalyna

 

Ever since their absolutely insane entry to BJSC, I have really kept my eye out for World's End Girlfriend and their uniquely chaotic brand of instrumental music, and none are quite as chaotic as their collaboration with punk artist, CRZKNY. I'm not sure what the title alludes to, feels like a word game they played, but it sets up nicely for the mayhem ahead. It's really quite impossible for me to describe this in words (though uhsting did quite a good job in his EOY x), it thunders across multiple genres in its ten-minute runtime, my best comparison would be acid house akin to The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers in the 90s, except even more psychedelic. If that weren't mad enough, it's held together by ear-piercing beeps that could genuinely deafen someone. It truly is a sight to behold and essentially it is just a load of aimless noise, but the progression, construction, and sheer effort into creating that noise is captivating.

 

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom was a song I came across by chance on a playlist and it's really quite a wonderful throwback. Pet Sounds-era The Beach Boys comes to mind the most and that's a very good comparison point to have, with the heavily weird and psychedelic video like an Apple advert from Mars to accompany, it feels fitting. It's held together by some wonderful vocals and luscious synths which turns the strangeness into something eminently likable. It's wonderful to see in this era of uninspired sounds, someone turn to the classics and bringing them up to date.

 

 

Go_A achieved the rare feat of having a Eurovision song I actually kept and listened to long after the contest finished with SHUM, and I was intrigued to see more from them, and while I don't think anyone would've wanted the current tragic circumstances to be how it came about, but Kalyna is a truly powerful song that may just better SHUM. Continuing their folk and modern electronic fusions, the tone is a lot darker as it reflects a nation fighting for its life, crashing instruments, a solemn choir and synths flash in the background, but the sharp vocals remain the strongest aspect, with the title relating to a type of flower with strong symbolic meaning in Ukraine, it's not a song you need to understand to get the power of though, hoping they're all still well at this time :'(

 

Giving the GO_A song a listen now, whilst a bit darker-sounding than SHUM it still keeps a similar flow and instrumentation so interesting to listen to!

Lovely to see 'Minor Cause' appear in more than one EOY especially for a track that came out a decade ago! It's so lush and beautiful. Other songs I'm a fan of here would be 'Happy New Year', 'BOTA' and 'Widow' also sounds decent as well which I checked out a few weeks ago.

BLACK BOX FAKE FACT is such a great song, I need to give it more listens as it well deserves it, gem of a band.

 

I need to bookmark the songs I haven't heard here because odds are most of them will be very much my thing.

I really wish I could have gotten into sunset as much as it seemed the rest of Buzzjack had. Unfortunately I think it was just a bit too far out there for me.

Giving the GO_A song a listen now, whilst a bit darker-sounding than SHUM it still keeps a similar flow and instrumentation so interesting to listen to!

 

:cheer:

 

Lovely to see 'Minor Cause' appear in more than one EOY especially for a track that came out a decade ago! It's so lush and beautiful. Other songs I'm a fan of here would be 'Happy New Year', 'BOTA' and 'Widow' also sounds decent as well which I checked out a few weeks ago.

 

Minor Cause was a fantastic discovery, it's really stuck with me so thanks very much for it!

 

BLACK BOX FAKE FACT is such a great song, I need to give it more listens as it well deserves it, gem of a band.

 

I need to bookmark the songs I haven't heard here because odds are most of them will be very much my thing.

 

Kalyna & Wall of Sleep certainly seem like entries you might be into, Mutualism too if you want something more out there *__

 

I really wish I could have gotten into sunset as much as it seemed the rest of Buzzjack had. Unfortunately I think it was just a bit too far out there for me.

 

:'( I hope you liked Billions at least x

 

 

13. Royksopp feat. Alison Goldfrapp – Impossible

14. Resina – Horse Tail

 

Two 2000s dance icons combine with Royksopp and Alison Goldfrapp. These two were really a match made in heaven so it's a wonder it took so long into their careers to do this, but it doesn't make the end result any less wonderful. Impossible is a brilliantly slow-building ethereal dance number that maintains a dream-like quality as it pulsates along, with Goldfrapp's wonderful vocals and the atmospheric production by Royksopp, it's a really beautiful album to behold. Another album I really need to get around to hearing x

 

An under-the-radar artist I really enjoyed getting into this year was Resina, a Polish experimental cellist who makes exactly the kind of niche dark, neo-classical sounds I adore, I was so struck by her compositions downloaded her 2021 album, Speechless and listened to it while stuck in an airport in Ireland while my flight was delayed, not the best association, but the dark mood and ambient style was fitting! It was hard to pick a highlight for this list, a Crooked God was an unsettling piece that had a wonderful Robert Eggers-esque video to accompany the darkness (

if you weren't in the BJSC Halloween special), but Horses Tail manages to have an incredibly captivating and memorable melody along with suitably trippy and dark visuals. This time a wonderful, bizarre stop-motion portrayal of human-animal hybrids, but the song itself is a slowly building number which sees the dark strings accompanied by a choral backing and even sirens, it's an intense, unique listen and if you like it, I'd highly recommend the album to x

 

 

11. Arcade Fire – Lightning Part I & II

12. Arctic Monkeys – There’d Better Be a Mirrorball

 

Well I guess I had to talk about them eventually, because any Arcade Fire comeback is going to be in my top 40, it's almost written law and they are one of my favourite ever bands...and yet suddenly it's become rather awkward to listen to them at all and you get the sense they will come to a shameful end this year due to the rather horrible allegations made against frontman, Win Butler and his poor defence doesn't leave a lot of doubt...and it's just so awful for me having been a fan of them and loving their beautiful melodies while all this was going on, especially when they have such a nice, wholesome family image that has been so endearing to me :'( It's bought a lot of conflicting feelings, but ultimately they were responsible for one of if not my favourite ever album and a whole host of great ones to join and an artist should always be separated from their art, but it's undeniably still a little fresh and awkward right now and it really is quite sad, I don't think this has ever happened to an artist I've been such a big fan of before :(

 

But I will talk purely music now as there's a reason it's so high and was very close to my top 10. The Lightning is a wonderful comeback that I instantly preferred to most songs from the slightly overhated but still not that impressive Everything Now, starting out slow and gradually building with that beautiful melodic piano feeling of making it through the rain before bursting into that typical stomping sound in the second part with an anthemic singalong chorus that will stick in your head. It really is the perfect festival song and does make me sad I never saw them live. The album wasn't the most memorable and chances of them continuing look pretty slim, but if this the last hurrah, The Lightning their back catalogue mainly flawless.

 

Controversy free now with the other entry here, Arctic Monkeys have been moving away from the fun indie pop anthems to something a lot more mature and well-rounded and while I know it's got a mixed reaction, I personally really admire the route they've taken and how they are actually making music they want to make. There'd Better be a Mirroball is one that slowly creeps up on you, it might seem a bit nothing-y at first but you really appreciate the beauty of it on repeated listens. The vocals sound so vulnerable and broken which oddly makes the tragic and reflective tone of the song even more powerful. It reaches it's peak with the gorgeous strings at the end of the song and the organ throughout really does put me in the mind of A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum, which is a flattering comparison. Overall, it's the sound of a band that has grown up and knows where they're going and I look forward to seeing what they try next.

 

 

Top 10 starting tomorrow!

Thanks for commenting! I think you'd be into Regina Spektor and Kae Tempest (and maybe Sung x)

Thanks for the recommendations! I gave those a listen and would put Cosmic Road as my favourite so far, although that might be the most a song I've heard from Kae Tempest has stuck with me.

 

My favourites of the 20-11 section were the last couple. Regarding Arcade Fire, I feel your pain - it's a double-edged sword that we've been fortunate enough to enjoy their music without consternation for so many years which anyone new to their music will not have done, yet at the same time the prospect of modern classics such as Rebellion being airbrushed from acceptability is painfully dispiriting :( I don't have the same affinity with last year's album, yet I did think The Lightning I & II was the highlight of it.

 

With The Arctic Monkeys, there's a different kind of bittersweet feel to Mirrorball, because it seemed as if everything was in place for them, with their ticket sales, old songs doing well with Tik Tok boosts, and I thought it was a great, mood-building comeback song, you just didn't know where it was heading next. Body Paint - not so great, but it's solid. And then they go and release the album in the same week as Taylor Swift, and despite posting the 6th biggest opening sale since 2017, they break their run of #1s, and the album's considered a bit of a disappointment too. I still prefer it to Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino though.

Edited January 6, 20232 yr by jimwatts

Sunset has been on repeat for me in the last few months. Just bonkers that she released it so late in the year though. It feels MADE for Summer?! Welcome to My Island is almost just as good too. This upcoming album is shaping up to be something special. I can't share the same enthusiasm you have for Billions though.

 

I was so impressed by the Arctic Monkeys comeback single and think it remains my favourite track on the album. Sure, it's slow but it builds in such a way that it's just as exciting as their upbeat bangers of yester-year.

:hi: Chez! pigeon.gif

 

It's really nice to read that another BJSC participant (I've lost count how many it is now) that in hindsight would have given Eliza Rose actual points in BJSC. Songs can grow on people I can understand that :)

 

I was following its progress from the start and I believe how it started was that numerous DJs at Glastonbury played the song during their sets and from there TikTok latched onto it as well as a Warner Records A&R who was at the festival

 

Wall Of Sleep *.* great to see it appear on someone else's EOY other than mine. Also loving Widow and Let's Do It Again and especially Sunset :wub: OooooOoooooOooooOoooooOoOoooOooooOoooooo :wub:

 

:'( I hope you liked Billions at least x

He didn't :drama: