I'm not sure what this says about my musical tastes, but of the 700-or-so songs on my little MP3 player, about 5 of them are named "Go" (sometimes with an exclamation mark, sometimes without). This one is my favorite track from my favorite album of 2017, Wild Cub's "Closer." It sounds like a cross between The Killers and early Arcade Fire, and its thrilling chanted climax makes it perfect for New Year's Eve listening.
Here's a confession: back in the 90s, I liked pretty much anything which put a dance beat to "world music" sounds. Enigma, Deep Forest, Transglobal Underground--you name it, I listened to it. After a while, I soured on some of those groups (especially Enigma, who I started to find cheesy). But now that I'm living in Armenia, whose local folk music has sometimes been sampled in this type of "world beat music," I'm starting to reappreciate groups like Enigma. So this new song by Swedish group The Sound of Arrows, with its 90s world beat vibes, is right up my alley.
I don't think any band this year had a bigger transformation than Eliza and the Bear. As recently as 2016, they were recording Mumford & Sons' style folk rock, But now they're a funky, 80's-inspired pop group. "Hell" is their best single yet, with an irresistible singalong chorus.
This seemed like appropriate music to accompany my 26-hour trip from Yerevan, Armenia back to my former home of Florence, South Carolina. The US has a reputation as a "modern land," whereas Armenia is perceived as an ancient land, sometimes even as a backward one. But as I compare the efficient automated check-in I just went through at Yerevan's airport with the nightmare I'm likely to encounter at JFK later today, I think those reputations might be a little exaggerated.
Now, on to the song: it's a fucking epic. It feels like what would have happened if The Church, Echo & the Bunnymen, and David Bowie had a baby. I've been a fan from Australian band City Calm Down for a while, but this is their best song yet.
As I realized recently when preparing a Communications lecture on changing phone technologies, there were a LOT of songs in the 70s and 80s about telephones. (Just to name a few: ELO's "Telephone Line", Blondie's "Hanging on the Telephone", Pete Shelley's "Telephone Operator", Kraftwerk's "The Telephone Call." And that's not even getting into the "867-5309"s of the world). Most of these songs referenced physical features of the telephones, like the cord, the handset, the keypad to talk about human relationships and romantic frustrations.
You'd think, with the move to haptic technologies--responsive touchscreens in every pocket--there would be a lot of songs about that. We have "You Spin me Round (Like a Record)," so where's "You Swipe Through Me (Like an Instagram Feed)"? Well, this funky little number from LA band VOKES is here to redress that imbalance. Sing along now: "Swipe me/ Give me what you want but never need/ Make you question your society/ Fill your brain with so much controversy."
September and October are traditionally the worst months for new bands to release music, because they get lost in the shuffle amidst the superstars releasing singles in advance of their big 4th quarter releases (timed to rake in the Christmas cash). Occasionally, there are exceptions; Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," for instance, was a September release, and by early January, Nevermind had knocked Michael Jackson's Dangerous off the top of the album charts. But that's pretty rare.
All I'm saying is that I hope that, in 2018, this ultra-radio-friendly anthemic single from Brooklyn band Storm Kid finds an audience somewhere and gets more than the paltry 2,500 YouTube views it's earned in the past 3 months.
Kaskade, "Winter Wonderland" Tom Chaplin, "2000 Miles" Red Empire, "A Dublin Christmas"
To be honest, 2017 hasn't been a great year for Christmas music. (2017 hasn't been a great year for much of anything). But amongst the lumps of coal--like Sia's horrifically-titled "Santa's Coming for Us"--I've picked out a few musical gifts for you.
Kaskade's album of Christmas classics done in EDM-style sounds like an idea that shouldn't work. And mostly it doesn't, because the traditional carols they're covering barely count as songs in the modern sense; all the production tricks in the world won't make "Silent Night" or "Deck the Halls" interesting. But they DO manage to turn "Winter Wonderland" into a moody banger, which is an accomplishment in itself.
Former Keane frontman Tom Chaplin's Christmas album is more traditional, which means that most of it is pretty boring. But the full choir and Chaplin's choirboy voice all really work on his dramatic cover of a modern Christmas classic, the Pretenders' "2000 Miles."
Finally, I've got an original Christmas song from Irish band Red Empire. Don't let those jingling bells at the beginning fool you; this is one of those melancholy Christmas songs, with lyrics like "Though you're suffering now, know that I suffer with you" and a video that's all about a homeless man getting beat up. In other words, the perfect Christmas song for 2017.
Since it's Christmas Eve (aka the anniversary of Mary's labor day), I thought I'd go with a song that has "Virgin Mary/ Scarlet Letter" right in the chorus--which is as close as you can get to saying "Madonna-Whore Complex" if you still want your song to be played on Country radio stations.
This song has received a lot of critical derision for being awkwardly sincere and for being "woke" but somehow not quite being "woke" in the correct way. ("Female" is apparently now on the list of verboten words, since MRAs use it too). But I think that if Country music is good at one thing, it's being awkwardly sincere, and this song helps deliver an (admittedly mild) feminist message to the audiences who most need to hear it. Plus, I love the subtle shading of Beyonce's vapid female empowerment anthems: "When you hear a song that they play saying you run the world/ Do you believe it? / Will you live to see it?"
I don't know much about Kazakh pop music, but I know what I like. Seriously, there's some catchy tunes coming out of Kazakhstan right now, and the Kazakh culture ministry would be wise to spend some global marketing money and brand it as KZ-Pop. This song's title Google translates to "To Me Again," which makes sense, given that the song sounds a bit like a Eurasian millennial update of East 17's "Stay Another Day."
About 6 years ago, Viva Brother had a minor alternative radio hit with "Darling Buds of May," which was a dead ringer for Definitely Maybe-era Oasis. Now, after a long hiatus, they're back with "Bastardo," which chooses another Britpop band to imitate: Nu-Clear Sounds-era Ash. "Bastardo" was also the title of a solo single from former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. Coincidence? Probably.
Sometimes after a long workday, all you want to do is listen to smooth 80's-inspired ballads about heartbreak. It's interesting how the tropes of synthpop, which emphasize the male singer's vulnerability, pain, and passivity, hold up so well over 30 years later.
I don't really get why so many music blogs and critics go crazy for Carly Rae Jepsen. Don't get me wrong: I like Carly Rae Jepsen. Sometimes I even really really really really really really like Carly Rae Jepsen. But there are a lot of other young female singers making equally catchy 80's-inspired pop music. Phoebe Ryan, for example, has been releasing a string of memorable pop singles. "Should I," which combines CRJ-ish melodies with whispery vocals in the vein of Donna Lewis, is a highlight of her new EP.
J. Roddy Walston & the Business, "You Know Me Better"
AllMusic describes J. Roddy Walston & the Business as a "classic Southern rock combo," which might be the reason I've always given them a wide berth; "classic Southern rock" is not my favorite genre. But I love this recent single of theirs, in part because there's a wonderful balance between rock elements (hoarse vocals and ragged guitars) and pop elements (catchy melodies and an exciting build-up to a singalong chorus).
Looking out my office window this morning, all I see is grey fog. So to lift my spirits, I'm dire need of a song like this single from Liverpool band Two Islands. With its shimmering synths and swooping falsetto vocals, "Still Life" is like a burst of vibrant color beamed straight to my eardrums.
I like shoegaze and dreampop music, but sometimes I find the songs to be a little forgettable. All those shimmering guitars and waves of reverb tend to blur together after a while. But this track by Australian band The Jezabels stands out, partly due to its memorable melodies, but mostly because of Hayley Mary's incredible vocals, which sound like a cross between the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde and the Divinyls' Chrissy Amphlett.
When I moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 1999, it was like stepping into used-CD heaven. There were 4 or 5 good used-CD shops in a 4 block radius, since IU's students kept selling their CD collections for beer money. And a lot of the CDs were cheap enough that I took risks on bands I was only barely familiar with, including a lot of indie pop acts making music in the vein of Beck, The Eels, and Primitive Radio Gods. With its woozy vocals, grainy samples, and piano hook, "Plastic Soul" reminds me a lot of those turn-of-the-Millennium records. Which might be fitting for a song whose lyrics are all about nostalgia.
It may be freezing here, but in Australia, it's the start of summer festival season. Perfect timing then for veteran Aussie band The Presets to release this comeback single, which sounds like an electro-punk take on Fatboy Slim's "The Rockafeller Skank." This one's worth checking out just for the video, which I believe is what you see after you lick a cane toad.
Years of listening to Belgian male singers like Ozark Henry, Daan, and Balthazar/Warhaus frontman Maarten Devoldere made me very excited to visit Belgium where, I imagined, every man would have a deep, throaty voice and speak English with a soft, sexy slur. Needless to say, I was very disappointed, and I'd like to ask the Belgian Tourist Board for my money back.
But "Control," from Warhaus' new self-titled album--the follow-up to their wonderfully titled debut "We Fucked a Flame into Being"--resurrects my fantasy of Belgian masculinity. With its dramatic strings and exotic castanets, it would also make a great James Bond theme. It would certainly be a better fit than the last few actual James Bond themes, like that rubbish Sam Smith song, "I'm Wailing on the Wall" or whatever it was called.
JR JR--who formerly went by the much funnier name "Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr."--had one of the catchiest singles of 2015 with the whistle-laden "Gone." Their new single "Control (Secretly Sorry)" takes them to some weirder places, but it reminds me of a modern spin on 80's indie rock like Camper van Beethoven or Stan Ridgeway. There's are strange spoken word interludes at 0:35 and 1:50, plus lyrics referencing anti-vaxxers and the Flint water crisis, but musically the whole thing is incredibly upbeat and catchy, with tropical instrumentation that builds to a veritable bongo frenzy.
It's been an intense semester, so it's only appropriate that for today, the last day of classes, I call for a "Ceasefire." This is a classic Britrock song, with a soaring chorus and some stirring instrumentation that gives both the drummer and the guitarists their moment to shine. I hope I get a chance to see Judas live this summer, because this is the kind of song that would sound awesome in a festival tent on a warm June afternoon.
Let's stay in Canada for another day with this track from Toronto's ROMES. It's pretty simple lyrically, but the brilliance is in the melodies and the production. I love the drawn-out "I'm ready," "want me," "love me," and "I'm waiting" that start around 1:40, and the syncopated "Woh-oh...oh-oh...oh-oh" chorus is killer.
This one's currently sitting at #21 on the Canadian pop charts, and I hope that this means Scott Helman will eventually gain the international exposure that his young countryman Shawn Mendes has, especially since his music is far catchier as less drippy than Mendes'. "PDA" is a burst of mango-flavored, candy-coated pop, with a sing-along chorus punctuated by high-pitched yelps. But it's got a ramshackle charm of its own, including an odd little spoken word interlude at 2:20 that reminds me of Shawn Mullins' "Lullaby."
I don't normally post 9 minute songs, but it's the weekend, so I figured you'd have extra time to hear this epic from Swedish band Simian Ghost. Or you could just do what I did and use Audiotrimmer to create your own "radio edit" (mine goes from around 2:00 to 5:11). This gorgeous, glistening song reminds me of a cross between classic Mercury Rev and Sigur Ros.
I was incensed...incensed, I say!...to see Penguin Prison show up on the AV Club's list of 2017's wackiest new band names. I'll admit that Penguin Prison (producer Chris Glover) has a weird name, but they've been around for about 8 years, producing fantastic retro-electro jams like "A Funny Thing" and "Don't Fuck with My Money." Their latest single "Turn it Up" might just be their catchiest release yet, with an irrepressible beat and an inspirational "Don't give up" message.
Here's one thing I love about Florida indie band Black Kids (of "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You" fame): they've been infected by the same virulent strain of musical Anglophilia that I have. In other words, they sound like they've listened to a lot of late-'80s modern rock radio, because their latest single answers the question, "What would it sound like if Robert Smith fronted the Mighty Lemon Drops?"
Sometimes I think that I dislike rap music. Most of the current rap hits, from "Bodak Yellow" to "Bad and Boujee," sound like they're being made by mushmouthed illiterates on codeine, and even critically acclaimed young rappers like Kendrick Lamar don't do much for me.
But then I come across an Australian hip hop track like this one and I'm reminded what I love about the genre, its clever wordplay. A posse cut featuring three of Australia's best-known rappers, this one has so many great lines, it's hard to pick a favorite. Is it PEZ's "I can pad this verse out with lyrics that are 6 years old/ Cause I wrote better shit than you when I was 6 years old"? Or Seth Sentry's attempt to rhyme "Jupiter", "stupider", "cubicle," "uvula", "do better", "newsletter", and "nuclear"? Or perhaps it's 360's filthy pun, "Go and pull yourself together like a circle jerk"?
Baths (actually one guy named Will Wiesenfeld) is out and proudly fey, filling this song with baroque instrumentation, twee vocal mannerisms, and lyrics like "Will I let the salt flow my eyes or from my armpits?" I've been listening to the song for a few weeks, but today was my first time actually watching the lyric video, and I was disappointed to see that the song's chorus is supposed to be "and celebrate your stupid fate." I so prefer the lyric I kept hearing: "and celebrate your stupid face."
Trampolene is an excellent live band--with a weirdly mesmerizing mix of grungy indie rock and spoken word interludes--but until now, their actual records have been a bit patchy. "The Boy that Life Forgot," however, is an indie classic in the making, a piano ballad that turns into a raw rock anthem about one minute in. I'm not sure which part I love most: the crunching, whipsaw guitar, the lyric "Please insert your meaningless life into the chip and PIN device," or the pleading refrain, "Why am I this way?"
During my first few years of graduate school, from 1999 to about 2005, I bought a LOT of used CDs and UK music magazines that came packaged with CDs, which is how I ended up with more chillout compliations than I know what to do with. This song would have fit perfectly on one of those CDs, maybe sandwiched between Groove Armada's "At the River" and something from Moby. A mellow groove and drowsy, bluesy vocals make this the perfect tune for a lazy Sunday.
I was a little disappointed by Walk the Moon's latest album. Most of the songs seem to have been produced with the thought, "How can we get played on the radio? Sound as much like Maroon 5 as possible." (And sadly, they seem to be correct).
But I think "Surrender" is terrific. With its When in Rome-meets-U2 vibes, I've been thinking that it would have been the perfect song to soundtrack a late '80s teen romance. And sure enough, just a couple of days ago, I heard it on the trailer for an upcoming teen romance, "Love, Simon." It turns out it's the perfect soundtrack to scenes of a gay teenager flirting with the cute Waffle House waiter.
It's now December, and the days keep getting shorter, so let's brighten things up with a little trop-pop, full of steel drums and mellow handclaps. Like many female singers today, featured vocalist Ashe sings like she has a speech impediment, so the refrain, "Sippin' so much Goose that you could call it geese" comes out as "Sippin' so much Goose that you could call it quiche." Which I actually prefer.
