Jaz13music

Recently Michael Buble seems to have become as much as a certainty for the Christmas album number 1 as Wham are for the singles. But do Christmas albums have relevance any more in the streaming era of playlists? Pretty much everyone has an favourite Christmas song but does anyone here have a favourite Christmas album? Maybe one made up of cover versions, original songs or perhaps a mixture, soundtrack albums or collectives? I’d be interested to see any recommendations you have! My own favourite would be ‘The Gritterman’ by Orlando Weeks (from the band the Maccabees) and narrated by Paul Whitehouse. It’s a lovely gentle album and story (with illustrations) but with really beautiful songs. Quite reflective and bittersweet, a bit like my favourite pop Christmas song, Greg Lake’s Father Christmas, or my favourite carol, In The Bleak Midwinter. It’s well worth a listen.

Here’s mine, yes I’m old! But not yet 101 so we’re still okay for a while! I’m really happy with the list, some fantastic songs and surprisingly well scattered throughout the decades. But the less said about GG, at #4, the better. 0 Those Were The Days - Mary Hopkins 1 I’ll Never Fall In Love Again - Bobby Gentry 2 Black Night - Deep Purple 3 Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me - The Tams 4 I Didn’t Know I Loved You (Til I Saw You Rock And Roll) - Gary Glitter 5 Monster Mash - Bobby Boris Pickett And The Crypt-Kickers 6 Long Tall Glasses - Leo Sayer 7 SOS - ABBA 8 Dance Litter Lady Dance - Tina Charles 9 No More Heroes - The Stanglers 10 Now That We’ve Found Love - Third World 11 Every Day Hurts - Sad Cafe 12 Killer On The Loose - Thin Lizzy 13 Endless Love - Diana Ross And Lionel Richie 14 A Good Year For The Roses - Elvis Costello 15 Blue Hat For A Blue Day - Nick Hayward 16 Missing You - John Waite 17 Rain - The Cult 18 We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off To Have A Good Time - Jermaine Stewart 19 Valerie - Steve Winwood 20 We Call It Acieed - D Mob and Gary Haisman 21 Mantra For A State Of Mind - S-Express 22 Never Enough - The Cure 23 I Want You (Forever) - DJ Carl Cox 24 Don’t You Want Me - The Farm 25 Joy - Staxx 26 That’s The Way You Do It - Purple Kings 27 Can I Touch You… There? - Michael Bolton 28 Read My Lips - Alex Party 29 Your Caress (All I Need) - DJ Flavours 30 Someone Loves You Honey - Latricia McNeal 31 B With U - Junior Sanchez and Dajae 32 Take On Me - A1 33 Not Such An Innocent Girl - Victoria Beckham 34 Papa Don’t Preach - Kelly Osborne 35 Who’s The Daddy - Lovebug 36 You Should Really Know - Pirates/Enya/Ama/Boss/ Ishani 37 The Great Escape - We Are Scientists 38 In The Morning - Razorlight 39 Clothes Off - Gym Class Heroes 40 Mountains - Biffy Clyro 41 I’m Not Your Toy - La Roux 42 Turn My Swag On - Greg Street 43 Need You Now - Lady Antebellum 44 Avalon - Professor Green and Kusterbeck 45 Pour It Up - Rihanna 46 Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart) - The Vamps 47 Wildest Dreams - Taylor Swift 48 Sunshine - Tieks And Dan Harkna 49 Spirit - J Hus 50 Rise - Jonas Blue Ft Jack & Jack 51 Nice To Meet Ya - Niall Horan 52 Airplane Mode - Nines Ft NSG 53 Chosen - Blxst/Tyga/Ty Dolla Sign 54 Remember - Becky Hill And David Guetta 55 Cheat On Me - Burna Boy and Dave 56 Disco - Surf Curse 57 Blessings - Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas

Some new(ish)/ breakthrough artists I’d like to see included, but almost certainly won’t be (all definitely worth a listen if you haven’t already heard them):- Dove Ellis Westside Cowboy Smerz Saya Gray Divorce Dijon Hatchie Nourished By Time Heartworms Georgie & Joe 2BYG Nation Of Language Truthpaste Great Grandpa Jim Legxacy Oklou Maruja Grace Ives Witch Post I also would definitely second those who have suggested Geese, Turnstile and Rose Gray. And if Chappell could be nominated last year, why not Magdalena Bay this year. I did a playlist, if anyone is interested. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/57StlY3gFFEymR6SDXfjMX?si=ouXvwuu4Qaqfe6EIeaF8qg&pi=-8RuzXX7SA-ZL

Semi-Final Two +25 Fat Dog - King of the Slugs +24 Kendrick Lamar - Humble. +23 SZA - Kill Bill +22 Måneskin - Zitti E Buoni +21 Troye Sivan - My My My! +20 Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything +19 Charli XCX (feat. Rina Sawayama) - Beg For You +18 Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles +17 Cardi B (feat. Megan Thee Stallion) - WAP +16 Harry Styles - Sign of the Times +15 Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna) - This Is What You Came For +14 Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better +13 MGMT - Little Dark Age +12 Weeknd - In Your Eyes +11 Elton John & Dua Lipa - Cold Heart (Pnau Remix) +10 Charli XCX - Vroom Vroom +9 Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine +8 Sam Fender - Hypersonic Missiles +7 Charli xcx - Von dutch +6 Troye Sivan - Rush +5 Fontaines D.C. - Starburster +4 1975 - The Sound +3 Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? +2 Ariana Grande - We can't be friends (wait for your love) +1 Chappell Roan - Hot To Go!

Semi-Final One +25 Lana Del Rey - A&W +24 Jessie Ware - Free Yourself +23 Grimes - Kill V. Maim +22 Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us +21 Wolf Alice - The Last Man On Earth +20 Troye Sivan - One Of Your Girls +19 Arctic Monkeys - Four Out of Five +18 LF System - Afraid To Feel +17 Lil Nas X - Old Town Road +16 Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out +15 Chemical Brothers (feat. Q-Tip) - Go +14 Djo - End of Beginning +13 Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova +12 1975 - Somebody Else +11 Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still +10 Glass Animals - Heat Waves +9 Major Lazer (feat. DJ Snake & MØ) - Lean On +8 Kendrick Lamar & SZA - All The Stars +7 Paramore - Hard Times +6 1975 - If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know) +5 Sam Fender – People Watching +4 Ghost - Mary On A Cross +3 Billie Eilish - Bury a Friend +2 Killers - The Man +1 Charli xcx (feat. Billie Eilish) - Guess

And finally, at the last moment, one of my 30 nominations actually scraped it into the top 40/AQ’s (Cry For Me)! Phew!

Now I need my vinyl to arrive to listen to the extra songs!

2 million this year, that in itself must be rare? Possibly followed by a million next year, that would be unique wouldn’t it?

+30 Mk.gee - Alesis +29 Magdelena Bay - Cry For Me +28 Nilüfer Yanya - Like I Say (I Runaway) +27 Fabiana Palladino - I Can’t Dream Anymore +26 Magdalena Bay - Death & Romance +25 Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us +24 Vampire Weekend - Capricorn +23 Fontaines D.C. - Favourite +22 Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso +21 Magdalena Bay - Image +20 Father John Misty - Screamland +19 Last Dinner Party - Sinner +18 JADE - Angel Of My Dreams +17 Kim Gordon - Bye Bye +16 Cure - Alone +15 Charli xcx - Von dutch +14 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God +13 Mk.gee - Are You Looking Up +12 Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe! +11 Addison Rae - Diet Pepsi +10 Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim +9 FKA Twigs - Eusexua +8 Sam Fender – People Watching +7 Ariana Grande - We can't be friends (wait for your love) +6 Good Neighbours - Home +5 Tyler, The Creator - Noid +4 Fat Dog - Running +3 Adrianne Lenker - Sadness as a Gift +2 English Teacher - R&B +1 Everything Everything - The End Of The Contender

King Of The Slugs is absolutely the song of the year!

2 more fantastic singles to add to the 4 releases in the last few weeks. They never miss. Surely we can’t hope for a new album so soon after Imaginal Disk!🙏

I’m making an early/bold prediction that Golden joins this list next year though!

I agree with many saying The Fear is their favourite LA song….. those gorgeous synths!

I love it when an artist throws absolutely everything at the first new release of an era like this. Think she’s elevating herself to the very top level of boundary pushing artists like Kate Bush, Bjork, Fiona Apple etc. Wonderful stuff and what’s more I suspect it will sound even better in the context of that impending 4 suite album. All that and we haven’t got onto discussing 3 different languages and that Mike Tyson quote…..

So Beautiful Things joins that select group of songs with 2 consecutive 1 million ‘selling’ years. Is it still likely an unprecedented further 3 songs will manage it this year (with Espresso to miss out)? Amazing outcome after it being such a rarity up to now.

I love that she seems to do what she wants, when she wants and how she wants. More flamenco, nah. More dance, nah. More reggaeton, nah. How about an orchestral operatic monster in 3 different languages, ending with a Mike Tyson quote?!!

Boy oh boy, this sounds HUGE! Rosalía defying all expectations yet again.

+30 Fat Dog - King of the Slugs +29 Ratboys - Black Earth, WI +28 Picture Parlour - Norwegian Wood +27 Dave & Central Cee - Sprinter +26 Lana Del Rey - A&W +25 Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters +24 DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ - Honey +23 SZA - Kill Bill +22 Troye Sivan - One Of Your Girls +21 Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything +20 Lankum - Go Dig My Grave +19 Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha +18 Men I Trust - Ring of Past +17 Jungle - Back on 74 +16 Loreen - Tattoo +15 Jack Harlow - Lovin’ on Me +14 Olivia Rodrigo - Get Him Back! +13 Troy’s Sivan - Rush +12 Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine +11 Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova +10 Adrianne Lenker - Ruined +9 Beatles - Now And Then +8 Labrinth (feat. Billie Eilish) - Never Felt So Alone +7 Chappell Roan - Hot To Go! +6 Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam +5 Bob Vylan - Dream Big +4 Doja Cat - Paint The Town Red +3 MGMT - Mother Nature +2 Everything Everything - Cold Reactor 1 +1 Chemical Brothers (feat. Halo Maud) - Live Again

Also released this week and on streaming, Pale Song/Love Is the second single by Irish singer songwriter Dove Ellis. Wonderful stuff for any Radiohead Jeff Buckley fans, well worth checking out. A future star!

Thanks for the comments guys, interesting reading and what you’re all saying makes a lot of sense. Firstly, I certainly didn’t mean to ‘put down’ anyone for sticking to what they’re comfortable with, I hope it didn’t come across that way. In fact, if anything, my little autistic brain tends to direct me to repetitive stuff anyway, I think maybe I sometimes try to resist it too much! Don’t get me wrong, as a chart fan I love to see a massive hit as much as anyone, à la Ordinary, even if I don’t like the song itself. I suppose the ones that surprise me most are the older songs hanging around in the mid to lower charts. Not just Mr Brightside (though I often think I’m the only person who never liked that song, even as a big Killers fan) but also things like Lose Control and Beautiful Things (with no reflection on the merits of the songs themselves). Thanks Julian your explanation makes perfect sense! I’m sure I’m in the minority, being an old git, but I stream predominately as a way to try out new music before I buy physicals or Bandcamp downloads of the stuff which passes a ‘three-listen test’. That way I feel I’m giving decent payments to the artists as directly as I can. If I had limitless money and could just bulk-buy each week's releases, I'd do so in a heartbeat. For now, my bank balance hates me, but my music lover side is very happy.😂

Here’s what I don’t understand. With streaming we have pretty much the whole of the history of popular music available to everyone all the time, including far more new music to try than ever before and with no financial risk. What I mean is that in the physical era there was a certain reluctance to try a new artist due to cost of purchasing but that no longer applies. And yet, I think, most would accept that the charts are slower moving than ever now, with longer stays at number one and especially songs hanging around the top 10/20/40 etc for much longer. That means, despite all this availability, the general public are choosing to listen to the same stuff over and over again week in week out, rather than trying something new. I know it’s slightly off topic, but it is related in a way, with the attempts (ACR, 3 track rule etc) to ‘speed up’ the chart and I genuinely wonder if anyone has any theories why that has happened? The only thing I could come up with was that maybe people find too much choice overwhelming so retreat to what they know and are comfortable with? Anybody got any thoughts?

And now, finally, a new album incoming! Can’t wait, hope it can be massively successful. If it was you that manifested it Brer, I thank you!

Ha, does that tactic work then, nominating every year until it gets some votes! I’ve got a soft spot for Shygirl myself especially ‘Come For me’. At least it did better than my nomination for 4th Of July which got … precisely no votes aside from mine. Maybe next year …..?

So I’ve still not had one of my nominations come anywhere near the top 40/AQ places even! If it’s going to happen anytime it should be now….’Wild’ is the best song of the decade IMHO, please try to give it a listen through! +30 Spoon - Wild +29 Alvvays - Easy On Your Own? +28 Paramore - This Is Why +27 Wet Leg - Ur Mum +26 Fred Again - Delilah (Pull Me Out Of This) +25 Jessie Ware - Free Yourself +24 J.I.D. - Surround Sound +23 Charli XCX (feat. Rina Sawayama) - Beg For You +22 Jockstrap - Concrete Over Water +21 LF System - Afraid To Feel +20 Black Country, New Road - The Place Where He Inserted The Blade +19 Nilüfer Yanya - Midnight Sun +18 Caroline Polachek - Billions +17 Djo - End of Beginning +16 Ethel Cain - American Teenager +15 Let's Eat Grandma - Happy New Year +14 ROSALÍA - CANDY +13 Wednesday - Bull Believer +12 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Spitting off the Edge of the World +11 RAYE (feat. 070 Shake) - Escapism. +10 Sam Smith (feat. Kim Petras) - Unholy +9 Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Part 5 +8 Rosa Linn - Snap +7 Sam Ryder - Space Man +6 1975 - About You +5 Florence + The Machine - King +4 Carly Rae Jepsen (feat. Rufus Wainwright) - The Loneliest Time +3 Weeknd - Less Than Zero +2 Big Thief - Simulation Swarm +1 black midi - Welcome To Hell Wow that was hard to choose 30, such great nominations!

Fantastic nominations, love all these!