RabbitFurCoat

Watching the Austira highlights a few days after the race, got to say I was expecting this incident to have been far worse than it was considering all the talk about it. oh... was that it?!" was my main thought.

Well if this happens then yeah it'll probably be considered poor and he'll rightly get criticised for it, but let's actually let it happen first eh? You'd think we'd been knocked out 4-0 by Scotland given some of what's been said in the last two weeks. My point was he literally can't win with anything, his critics are so vociferous in their dislike of him that they just can't praise him for anything at all. The amount of fans slating Kane and Bellingham, and Southgate for keeping them on, was huge. If something shit happens it's all down to Southgate, if something good happens it's completely lucky and nothing to do with him whatsoever. This just isn't true though, is it? Kalvin Phillips under Bielsa was better than what Wharton or Mainoo have been in their limited careers so far. People see the Phillips of the last two seasons and revise history, he's now a joke figure but he was one of the Premier League's best midfielders and deservedly had a place in the England squad, and for two years was one of their better performing players. In the tournaments leading up to Southgate we were knocked out and beaten by Iceland, Costa Rice and Russia. You talk as if beating Colombia, Sweden, Ukraine, Germany is some kind of 100% given. If you listened to fans, then there were about a dozen centre halves which he should've been picking over Maguire. I don't think anyone is trying to suggest he's some kind of tactical genius, and maybe it does need someone else to be able to take England to the next level, but some of what he's achieved is incredible and down to him, the culture around the squad under him compared to previous is chalk and cheese, his playing of the media has always been great too. In so many facets of international football management he's 9-10/10. His tactics may let him down but many better tacticians have not gone as far. Ultimately international football isn't like club football, it doesn't attract the best coaches, and tournaments are at at the end of long seasons and coaches don't get long with the players. Defensive, pragmatic football can (and often is) successful at this level, Didier Deschamps is hardly some kind of mastermind and France have rarely been great to watch despite some of their talent, but they're the most successful side of the last decade.

I think last night was Southgate's worst performance in a tournament, and by some distance. I think a boring group stage can be easily forgiven, especially in this expanded tournament where so many go through. Watching the Slovenia players celebrate with their fans at the other end of the stadium just showed how much it meant to them last week, and you don't need to be good in group stages to get to the end of, or win, a tournament - this is proven at virtually every tournament that ever takes place - so doing what's required whilst conserving energy and being solid is ultimately fine. But defensively we were awful, made far more mistakes than we had and Slovakia were able to get into great positions far easier than in the groups. I find the whole thing with Southgate is hilarious really. He is unquestionably one of the two best England managers of all time, the levels he's been able to take us to are excellent and unthought of, some of the criticism has been way OTT, particularly around WC 2018, and he has made tough decisions which are often right. Continually slagged off for picking Maguire yet he proved at every tournament he's an excellent defender deserving of his place, going for Saka over Sancho was incredibly unpopular yet was spot on, his use of Phillips did make him a key and valuable player, he said it in a daft way but ultimately he's spot on that we haven't found the person to replace him yet, neither Trent, Gallagher or Mainoo have offered what he did. Even last night, fans going spare at a lack of subs and Bellingham and Kane still being on, them both scoring, but that's lucky and nothing to do with Southgate thinking that maybe having your two best players on is worth doing. I think people forget just how awful England have been at international tournaments throughout their history, 5 times to a last 4 and three of those were in England. Even the most revered teams haven't really been that good. Fans of a certain vintage still reminisce about Italia 90 but England scraped through a terrible group with an identical record to Euro 2024s, got past two teams they should do in extra time and then essentially did what the current setup is criticised so much for, and got knocked out by the first decent team they faced.

01 (08) Los Campesinos! - Feast of Tongues (01) (03) (1 week) 02 (01) Bob Vylan - Reign (01) (08) (2 weeks) 03 (02) Fat Dog - Running (02) (05) 04 (03) DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (03) (06) 05 (04) Chelsea Wolfe - House of Self-Undoing (03) (08) 06 (07) Pip Blom - Get Back (Tom Sharkett Remix) (06) (06) 07 (05) MINTTT - Bom Dia, Mentira (01) (12) (2 weeks) 08 (06) Ruel feat. DMA's - We're A Pair of Diamonds (06) (07) 09 (12) Cults - Crybaby (09) (05) 10 (09) Fontaines DC - Starburster (09) (08) 11 (16) Los Campiesinos! - A Psychic Wound (11) (04) 12 (19) Los Bitchos - La Bomba (12) (04) 13 (26) Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather (13) (02) 14 (10) Elbow - Good Blood Mexico City (02) (08) 15 (15) Jake Bugg - Zombieland (15) (04) 16 (11) The Mysterines - Sink Ya Teeth (03) (09) 17 (21) Les Savy Fav - Somebody Needs a Hug (17) (03) 18 (14) Bat For Lashes - Home (14) (05) 19 (23) How To Dress Well - Gas Station Against Blackened Hillside (19) (03) 20 (13) Overmono x The Streets - Turn The Page (06) (07) 21 (32) Romy - Always Forever (21) (02) 22 (30) Wunderhorse - July (22) (02) 23 (18) English Teacher - R&B (01) (15) (4 weeks) 24 (28) The Hold Steady - The Death of the Punchline (24) (04) 25 (46) James Blake - Thrown Around (25) (01) 26 (17) The Blinders - All I Need (01) (13) (3 weeks) 27 (22) St. Vincent - Flea (15) (09) 28 (39) Bullion feat. Charlotte Adigéry - World_train (28) (02) 29 (20) Benjamin Damage & Bicep - CHROMA 002 L.A.V.A (02) (13) 30 (31) Funk Tribu feat. CAIVA - Keep Up (30) (03) 31 (**) Soft Play - Everything and Nothing (31) (01) 32 (36) Say Lou Lou - Waiting For a Boy (32) (02) 33 (49) Abstract Crimewave feat. Lykke Li - The Gambler (33) (01) 34 (24) Richard Hawley - Prism In Jeans (22) (05) 35 (27) Elbow - Things I've Been Telling Myself For Years (21) (05) 36 (25) Rinse feat. Hatchie - Kiss Me (Kill Me) (15) (06) 37 (**) Richard Hawley - People (37) (01) 38 (34) MGMT feat. Christine and the Queens - Dancing In Babylon (02) (16) 39 (33) Bob Vylan - Makes Me Violent (05) (14) 40 (29) Dead Pony - IGNORE THIS (16) (08)

How I'd rank Series: Incredible, must view: 2, 3, 7, 9, 13 Great: 1, 4, 11, 14, 15 Good: 6, 12, 16, 17 Meh: 5, 8, 10 All time top 5 contestansts: 1. Mike Wozniak 2. Paul Chowdhry 3. Rhod Gilbert 4. John Kearns 5. James Acaster

01 (01) Bob Vylan - Reign (01) (07) (2 weeks) 02 (05) Fat Dog - Running (02) (04) 03 (04) DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (03) (05) 04 (03) Chelsea Wolfe - House of Self-Undoing (03) (07) 05 (02) MINTTT - Bom Dia, Mentira (01) (11) (2 weeks) 06 (09) Ruel feat. DMA's - We're A Pair of Diamonds (06) (06) 07 (12) Pip Blom - Get Back (Tom Sharkett Remix) (07) (05) 08 (33) Los Campesinos! - Feast of Tongues (08) (02) 09 (10) Fontaines DC - Starburster (09) (07) 10 (06) Elbow - Good Blood Mexico City (02) (07) 11 (08) The Mysterines - Sink Ya Teeth (03) (08) 12 (17) Cults - Crybaby (12) (04) 13 (07) Overmono x The Streets - Turn The Page (06) (06) 14 (16) Bat For Lashes - Home (14) (04) 15 (18) Jake Bugg - Zombieland (15) (03) 16 (23) Los Campiesinos! - A Psychic Wound (16) (03) 17 (11) The Blinders - All I Need (01) (12) (3 weeks) 18 (14) English Teacher - R&B (01) (14) (4 weeks) 19 (24) Los Bitchos - La Bomba (19) (03) 20 (13) Benjamin Damage & Bicep - CHROMA 002 L.A.V.A (02) (12) 21 (27) Les Savy Fav - Somebody Needs a Hug (21) (02) 22 (20) St. Vincent - Flea (15) (08) 23 (30) How To Dress Well - Gas Station Against Blackened Hillside (23) (02) 24 (22) Richard Hawley - Prism In Jeans (22) (04) 25 (15) Rinse feat. Hatchie - Kiss Me (Kill Me) (15) (05) 26 (42) Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather (26) (01) 27 (21) Elbow - Things I've Been Telling Myself For Years (21) (04) 28 (31) The Hold Steady - The Death of the Punchline (28) (03) 29 (19) Dead Pony - IGNORE THIS (16) (07) 30 (46) Wunderhorse - July (30) (01) 31 (36) Funk Tribu feat. CAIVA - Keep Up (31) (02) 32 (**) Romy - Always Forever (32) (01) 33 (26) Bob Vylan - Makes Me Violent (05) (13) 34 (28) MGMT feat. Christine and the Queens - Dancing In Babylon (02) (15) 35 (29) Swim School - Seeing It Now (29) (04) 36 (**) Say Lou Lou - Waiting For a Boy (36) (01) 37 (25) Anna Prior - Fall Back (03) (09) 38 (34) Maximo Park - Favourite Songs (23) (08) 39 (41) Bullion feat. Charlotte Adigéry - World_train (39) (01) 40 (32) Metronomy x Pan Amsterdam - Nice Town (04) (10)

Guehi has been his go-to more recently, and has started the last three England games he's been fit for. I think Grealish is the only one that's particularly surprising, I still think he can offer what we need, and he's perfect for bringing on when winning, and we've now got loads of left footers that like to cut in in attack, but with Gordon and Saka both struggling for fitness, probably makes Bowen more necessary to be an option to be the forward who'll run in behind. Ultimately, as ever with England squads, the debate is all about players which will play <25 minutes all tournament. Oh no, he's picked A, B & C to never get on the pitch instead of X, Y & Z, what a disgrace Southgate...

+1 Sunday Bloody Sunday must be more known than 75% of that list.

Interesting... I'm fully on board with more shake-ups in the driver market. Ocon will likely have options going forwards (Haas, Audi, Merc for a year before Kimi?) as he's still a good enough driver to be in F1, but I can see why you'd get rid - he's not so good to be worth the baggage and issues.

01 (02) Bob Vylan - Reign (01) (06) (1 week) 02 (01) MINTTT - Bom Dia, Mentira (01) (10) (2 weeks) 03 (04) Chelsea Wolfe - House of Self-Undoing (03) (06) 04 (08) DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (04) (04) 05 (12) Fat Dog - Running (05) (03) 06 (03) Elbow - Good Blood Mexico City (02) (06) 07 (06) Overmono x The Streets - Turn The Page (06) (05) 08 (05) The Mysterines - Sink Ya Teeth (03) (07) 09 (10) Ruel feat. DMA's - We're A Pair of Diamonds (09) (05) 10 (13) Fontaines DC - Starburster (10) (06) 11 (07) The Blinders - All I Need (01) (11) (3 weeks) 12 (17) Pip Blom - Get Back (Tom Sharkett Remix) (12) (04) 13 (09) Benjamin Damage & Bicep - CHROMA 002 L.A.V.A (02) (11) 14 (11) English Teacher - R&B (01) (13) (4 weeks) 15 (19) Rinse feat. Hatchie - Kiss Me (Kill Me) (15) (04) 16 (21) Bat For Lashes - Home (16) (03) 17 (24) Cults - Crybaby (17) (03) 18 (26) Jake Bugg - Zombieland (18) (02) 19 (16) Dead Pony - IGNORE THIS (16) (06) 20 (15) St. Vincent - Flea (15) (07) 21 (23) Elbow - Things I've Been Telling Myself For Years (21) (03) 22 (25) Richard Hawley - Prism In Jeans (22) (03) 23 (37) Los Campiesinos! - A Psychic Wound (23) (02) 24 (30) Los Bitchos - La Bomba (24) (02) 25 (14) Anna Prior - Fall Back (03) (08) 26 (18) Bob Vylan - Makes Me Violent (05) (12) 27 (41) Les Savy Fav - Somebody Needs a Hug (27) (01) 28 (22) MGMT feat. Christine and the Queens - Dancing In Babylon (02) (14) 29 (33) Swim School - Seeing It Now (29) (03) 30 (46) How To Dress Well - Gas Station Against Blackened Hillside (30) (01) 31 (34) The Hold Steady - The Death of the Punchline (31) (02) 32 (20) Metronomy x Pan Amsterdam - Nice Town (04) (09) 33 (**) Los Campesinos! - Feast of Tongues (33) (01) 34 (31) Maximo Park - Favourite Songs (23) (07) 35 (29) CAIVA - Danger In Your Eyes (The Countdown) (06) (10) 36 (43) Funk Tribu feat. CAIVA - Keep Up (36) (01) 37 (27) Nia Archives - Unfinished Business (08) (10) 38 (28) Richard Hawley - Heavy Rain (12) (08) 39 (35) KETTAMA feat. Real Lies - Purple Hearts (05) (13) 40 (38) Otha - I Hate You In The Morning (28) (05)

I think Gordon played really well in those March friendlies and he's very much on the verge of being in the side. I think he'll surprise people how well he does and how much he gets used, especially without Rashford or Sterling as the default options on that side. You're right about those comparisons to previous generations. I thought as a nation we'd admitted that it was wrong to cram the best players into the same team at the expense of a functioning system, yet here we are with a bunch of exceptionally talented number 10s and loads of fans and social media accounts wondering how a team containing all of them can't win the tournament. I don't see anything other than Rice + another deeper CM in either Mainoo/Gallagher/Trent, especially for more difficult knock out fixtures, it's ultimately how you be successful in tournament football, just look Deschamps at France. Even during the run-in for the Premier League Pep and Arteta were largely partnering Rice and Rodri with Partey and Kovacic, whilst also not having particularly expansive defenders or even natural full backs.

I sort of followed this. I'm glad Eleanor Rigby won and A Day In The Life came top 10, they'd be in my top 3. I did attempt to start voting, I just don't care for anywhere near enough of their songs to have ranked 50 of them.

There is no space for Palmer in this side, especially with Kane as the striker. Too many players who like to operate in the same area. It's either Gallagher/Mainoo alongside Rice with the latter given licence to go forward more, or Bellingham/Foden as "8s", in which case it has to be Gordon on the left.

I have no problem with Monaco remaining on the calendar, even with a complete inability to make overtakes, but it's a massive shame when the rules of the sport deem the race completely pointless. At least there's some jeopardy over strategy, and drivers pushing with the possibility of mistakes in 'normal' race conditions, but there was no need for any of that in this years race due to the red lap = mandatory pit stop rule. When cars can complete 77 laps on a set of mediums it makes for an awful spectacle.

01 (01) MINTTT - Bom Dia, Mentira (01) (09) (2 weeks) 02 (06) Bob Vylan - Reign (02) (05) 03 (02) Elbow - Good Blood Mexico City (02) (05) 04 (07) Chelsea Wolfe - House of Self-Undoing (04) (05) 05 (03) The Mysterines - Sink Ya Teeth (03) (06) 06 (10) Overmono x The Streets - Turn The Page (06) (04) 07 (04) The Blinders - All I Need (01) (10) (3 weeks) 08 (17) DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (08) (03) 09 (05) Benjamin Damage & Bicep - CHROMA 002 L.A.V.A (02) (10) 10 (12) Ruel feat. DMA's - We're A Pair of Diamonds (10) (04) 11 (09) English Teacher - R&B (01) (12) (4 weeks) 12 (22) Fat Dog - Running (12) (02) 13 (14) Fontaines DC - Starburster (13) (05) 14 (08) Anna Prior - Fall Back (03) (07) 15 (15) St. Vincent - Flea (15) (06) 16 (19) Dead Pony - IGNORE THIS (16) (05) 17 (25) Pip Blom - Get Back (Tom Sharkett Remix) (17) (03) 18 (11) Bob Vylan - Makes Me Violent (05) (11) 19 (24) Rinse feat. Hatchie - Kiss Me (Kill Me) (19) (03) 20 (13) Metronomy x Pan Amsterdam - Nice Town (04) (08) 21 (30) Bat For Lashes - Home (30) (02) 22 (16) MGMT feat. Christine and the Queens - Dancing In Babylon (02) (13) 23 (26) Elbow - Things I've Been Telling Myself For Years (23) (02) 24 (32) Cults - Crybaby (24) (02) 25 (35) Richard Hawley - Prism In Jeans (25) (02) 26 (**) Jake Bugg - Zombieland (26) (01) 27 (18) Nia Archives - Unfinished Business (08) (09) 28 (20) Richard Hawley - Heavy Rain (12) (07) 29 (23) CAIVA - Danger In Your Eyes (The Countdown) (06) (09) 30 (43) Los Bitchos - La Bomba (30) (01) 31 (29) Maximo Park - Favourite Songs (23) (06) 32 (21) Third Wife - Feel For You (21) (04) 33 (38) Swim School - Seeing It Now (33) (02) 34 (41) The Hold Steady - The Death of the Punchline (34) (01) 35 (28) KETTAMA feat. Real Lies - Purple Hearts (05) (12) 36 (27) Underworld feat. KETTAMA - fen violet (07) (09) 37 (**) Los Campiesinos! - A Psychic Wound (37) (01) 38 (31) Otha - I Hate You In The Morning (28) (04) 39 (36) Jamie Webster feat. Brooke Combe - Better Day (01) (16) (3 weeks) 40 (34) Fred Again.. feat. Lil Yachty & Overmono - Stayinit (16) (08)

The McLaren livery is nice, but I do prefer a one-off that bears some kind of resemblance to the current one so you can still tell what team it is, the Papaya has always had a presence in their last few one-offs.

No that's Razorlight's song of the same title, The Coral's is much better but I don't imagine it will last long. Scouting For Girls is so far worse than anything on this list.

Forest didn't break rules until they didn't sell early enough last summer, they'd complied financially in the Championship for years.

I'm not quite sure why autoplay would be so annoying to turn it off. It can get a bit repetitive but it's only short-term and always songs I'd normally listen to anyway, it's not like it adds loads of plays of songs from people that would never come across and play it themselves.

01 (06) MINTTT - Bom Dia, Mentira (01) (08) (1 week) 02 (09) Elbow - Good Blood Mexico City (02) (04) 03 (05) The Mysterines - Sink Ya Teeth (03) (05) 04 (01) The Blinders - All I Need (01) (09) (3 weeks) 05 (02) Benjamin Damage & Bicep - CHROMA 002 L.A.V.A (02) (09) 06 (14) Bob Vylan - Reign (06) (04) 07 (11) Chelsea Wolfe - House of Self-Undoing (07) (04) 08 (03) Anna Prior - Fall Back (03) (06) 09 (04) English Teacher - R&B (01) (11) (4 weeks) 10 (12) Overmono x The Streets - Turn The Page (10) (03) 11 (07) Bob Vylan - Makes Me Violent (05) (10) 12 (22) Ruel feat. DMA's - We're A Pair of Diamonds (12) (03) 13 (08) Metronomy x Pan Amsterdam - Nice Town (04) (07) 14 (18) Fontaines DC - Starburster (14) (04) 15 (17) St. Vincent - Flea (15) (05) 16 (13) MGMT feat. Christine and the Queens - Dancing In Babylon (02) (12) 17 (25) DEADLETTER - Mere Mortal (17) (02) 18 (10) Nia Archives - Unfinished Business (08) (08) 19 (24) Dead Pony - IGNORE THIS (19) (04) 20 (15) Richard Hawley - Heavy Rain (12) (06) 21 (27) Third Wife - Feel For You (21) (03) 22 (41) Fat Dog - Running (22) (01) 23 (16) CAIVA - Danger In Your Eyes (The Countdown) (06) (08) 24 (29) Rinse feat. Hatchie - Kiss Me (Kill Me) (24) (02) 25 (37) Pip Blom - Get Back (Tom Sharkett Remix) (25) (02) 26 (**) Elbow - Things I've Been Telling Myself For Years (26) (01) 27 (19) Underworld feat. KETTAMA - fen violet (07) (08) 28 (21) KETTAMA feat. Real Lies - Purple Hearts (05) (11) 29 (23) Maximo Park - Favourite Songs (23) (05) 30 (34) Bat For Lashes - Home (30) (02) 31 (28) Otha - I Hate You In The Morning (28) (03) 32 (42) Cults - Crybaby (32) (01) 33 (20) Vampire Weekend - Classical (17) (05) 34 (26) Fred Again.. feat. Lil Yachty & Overmono - Stayinit (16) (07) 35 (47) Richard Hawley - Prism In Jeans (35) (01) 36 (32) Jamie Webster feat. Brooke Combe - Better Day (01) (15) (3 weeks) 37 (31) Orbital feat. David Holmes, Mike Garry & DJ Helen - Tonight In Belfast (03) (13) 38 (43) Swim School - Seeing It Now (38) (01) 39 (35) Caroline Polachek - Coma (17) (09) 40 (38) Kelly Jones - Inevitable Incredible (11) (10)

Leicester are likely to start on minus points and need to sell before they can buy, they seem to have messed up FFP way more than Everton or Forest have. I don't think they're certs to stay up at all. Maresca is worse than Kompany for being Pep-lite, there's no way he can play like that in the league above with that squad. I think there's another good case for all three promoted teams to come back down again, Ipswich's style won't translate when they concede that many chances and goals and I don't rate any of the play-off teams that much. Brentford have suffered massively from injuries this season, Forest's team can be very good and their first XI is way better than where it is in the table, and no one else looks close to dropping to <35 points, Everton maybe because of finances.

Thanks for you comments, Dandy! Great to see you like the Heartworms track ^_^ I've been very similar with The National. I think I'd found them one album too many, but it was their previous album that pulled me back in, I felt the collaborations with variosu female voices worked and made it different enough. Any new release of theirs always comes up on my Spotify new releases playlist, so will always listen and most singles from this year were fine but that's it, both albums were pretty dull listens throughout, but there was the one song I ended up loving!

OXh2IYTy6M 06 Yuné Pinku - Blush Cut (3, Night Light - #37, 2023) Points: 578 Preference Rank: 6th Listening Rank: 9th Chart performance Rank: 10th 05 Temples - Meet Your Maker (2, Paraphernalia - #100, 2020) Points: 583 Preference Rank: 9th Listening Rank: 5th Chart performance Rank: 6th Just outside the top 5 is Yuné Pinku, the highest placed song by a female and the highest placed song that didn't reach my chart #1, spending four weeks at #2 behind The Snitching Hour. Following up from two big hits last years Fai Fighter and then Night Light, Blush Cut is wonderful piece of chilled electronica and completed a trio of excellent singles, along with a few other decent ones too. Temples gave me one of my best ever BJSC performances, finishing 4th with Paraphernalia in 2020, which was the first song of theirs I really got into. Their fourth album Exotico was released last year but Meet Your Maker is pure perfection. As with some of their output, it's very Tame Impala in both its vocal style and production, a great riff and a catchy hook, it was my sound of the late summer.

XdF8BBlBu5c 08 U.S. Girls - Tux (Your Body Fills Me, Boo) Points: 573 Preference Rank: 15th Listening Rank: 8th Chart performance Rank: 7th 07 DEADLETTER - The Snitching Hour Points: 578 Preference Rank: 12th Listening Rank: 10th Chart performance Rank: 3rd Half of the songs in the top 8 are debut end of year entries, and two of them appear together here. The first is the 2nd of three solo female entries in the top 10, coming for Meghan Remy and her project U.S. Girls. I'd come across her previously with 4 American Dollars and big BJSC hit So Typically Now, which were both decent but I didn't chart either, her debut coming in early 2023 with Futures Bet, a middling hit (rank #131 here) before this disco inspired banger climbed its way to the top for a fortnight in April. An interesting concept for a song, sung from the perspective of a no-longer-used tuxedo, and a great video to go with it. Also debuting are DEADLETTER, they're pure 6 Music and their playlist was where I discovered The Snitching Hour. Instantly I was drawn in by its brass intro and it only took a couple of listens before its catchy post-punk hook was whirling round my head. It's the only song of '23 to spend more than 4 weeks at the top of my chart, 5 weeks across June and July, but still only enough to be ranked 3rd by chart performance. I entered this as part of my post-punk UP/Nuggets double last year and was slightly disappointed by its poor performance, but the other half made up for it, and is still to be discussed... I've not been anywhere near as fussed with other tracks I've listened to, although current single Mere Mortals is something I'm enjoying a lot and has this week given them a second hit.

Right, will get this finished over the next couple of days... thC-C_Bk8H0 10 The National - Space Invader (10, Conversation 16 - #2, 2010) Points: 570 Preference Rank: 11th Listening Rank: 7th Chart performance Rank: 15th 09 Heartworms - Retributions Of An Awful Life (4, Consistent Dedication - #54, 2022) Points: 571 Preference Rank: 1st Listening Rank: 2nd Chart performance Rank: 29th :| We begin the top 10 with regulars The National, who rack up their 10th EOY hit with Space Invader, the third to go top 10 following Conversation 16 and Day I Die. I was late to The National, with them having already released four albums by the time I discovered them, but since then they've been perennial hit makers. This year wasn't their strongest, with two albums released and neither of them are close to being towards the top of their output, a few decent singles but Space Invader, the lead for their second album of the year, hit the spot, a song right up there with their most beautiful, with great vocals and lyrics from Matt Berninger. Coming into 2023, following the previous years Consistent Dedication, I was fully hyped for more Heartworms songs, and she didn't disappoint when Retributions Of An Awful Life was released in January. By the end of the year, I'd listened to only one song more and when I ranked them it was my favourite. Unfortunately, a top 10 chart run of 06-03-03-03-05-08 in Feb/Mar lets it down and it settles for 9th. Incredible synths from the off and crunching guitars, it's a great listen and a year later I'm still hyped for any future releases. She's definitely in my 'to see live' list too.