The Amazing Life of Ant D

Best Albums 2025

2026-02-25T21:56:50+00:00

Nothing says Mid-February like a belated Best-of Album list from the previous year. Not sure why it has taken me this long, have known my list since before the end of last year. I listened to a lot of music again last year but struggled to get to 10 new music albums that I really backed and as such there are a couple of questionable inclusions, not because they aren't good but whether my rules that I have been so strict on normally should allow them, anyway;

10. Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out?

A feminist punk band from Brighton coming through with their debut album. The band have been together for a few years and released an EP and some stand alone singles previously. I saw them live this year supporting The Libertines and they were just as fun as I was expecting, angry, shouty and everything you want them to be, they even changed the lyrics to one of their songs which i thought was an improvement on some poorly chosen, if well meaning, original lyrics. As for the album, I enjoyed it, though it does geta bit samey as you go through, stand outs would be; "Cuntology 101", "Company Culture" and "Filthy Rich Nepo-Baby".

9. Moonchild Sanelly - Full Moon

I had not heard of Moonchild Sanelly before December 2025, even though looking back now she has been around for a good deal of time. I heard her initially as a feature on the Africa Express album and then delved a bit deeper and found she had done some work with Gorrilaz but also an extensive back catalogue. The South-African rapper, born Sanelisiwe Twisha provides up-beat, catchy, very camp and in some places quite sexy songs, some of my favourites are "Do My Dance", "Sweet & Savage" and "To Kill a Single Girl (Tequila)".

8. Ex-Vöid - In Love Again

Ex-Vöid were the exact opposite to Moonchild Sanelly in that I discovered the 4-piece London based band right at the start of the year and I listened to their Twee-Indie pop non-stop throughout January, especially "Swansea" a song about love gone wrong. Ex-Vöid have risen from the ashes of another indie band Joanna Gruesome who i had remembered the name of but not particularly the music. Other tracks I enjoyed from the album included the title track "In Love Again" and "July".

7. Grouplove - Rock'n'Roll won't save me (Live)

The first, slightly iffy inclusion on this list is Grouplove's first live album. I have been a fan of LA band Grouplove for more than 10 years now, with last.fm telling me I have listened to them more than 1500 times. A live album though.. should it count? I have decided yes as it was quite a different experience, more than just a selection of greatest hits, it shares with you a true experience of watching the band live, hearing the banter between Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi and if that wasn't enough they also throw in a cover of Blur's song 2. Tracks I particularly enjoyed were "Shark Attack" and "Close Your Eyes and Count to 10" but mainly for me it was the on stage rapport.

6. Pulp - More

Back to a more conventional album, this the first album from the Sheffield veterans for 24 years! And what a come back it was, a UK number 1 and nominated for the Mercury prize. Musically the band just kind of carried on from where they left off with Jarvis Cocker's droney, half talking, half singing vocal style and lyrics that are in part deep and in part extremely funny and satirical. I didn't initially fall for the first single, "Spike Island" but it grew on me and then when the follow up "Got to have love" dropped I was obsessed. Other favourites include "Grown Ups" and "Farmers Market". It also led to me really falling back in love with a lot of their old stuff which is a bonus.

5. John Glacier - Like a Ribbon (Deluxe)

Both the original and deluxe versions of Like a Ribbon came out in 2025 but it is the Deluxe version that i put on the list. Glacier is a mysterious artist, she doesn't even have a wikipedia page despite her music having one which feels very deliberate. I would tentatively describe her as a rapper, although I could accept poet or spoken word artist, her instagram describes her as an "airy-boss". Whatever she is I fell for her song "Money Shows" last year and was extremely excited for the full album release, I was initially, disappointed with the original release as the majority of it was just songs regurgitated from her 3 previous E.P releases but when the deluxe came out later in the year it made me appreciate them all over again along with a few new gems. Favourites on the release include, of course "Money Shows" but also "Dancing in the rain" and "Cover me".

4. Lisa O'Neill - The Wind Doesn't Blow This Far Right

Now this... This really takes the biscuit as far as the rules go, The Wind Doesn't Blow this Far Right is a 6 track E.P, not an album at all. Its very good though and were it a full length album maybe it would have caused trouble at the top of the list. All 6 tracks are bangers from the very political title track, to "Homeless in the Thousands" which features an interesting guest vocal from Peter Doherty, to the haunting cover of "In the Bleak Mid-Winter". It feels like a disservice that I am not recommending every track but that would be greedy. I first discovered O'Neill when she performed the female vocal on "FairyTale of New York" at Shane MacGowan's funeral, I don't think her style is for everyone but her voice really tells a story that I always want to lsiten to.

3. Peter Doherty - Felt Better Alive

I promise, traditional album releases from here on in. I surprised myself when I decided that this wasn't going to be even higher because I really did enjoy it, the problem is I suppose that I always expect to enjoy a Peter Doherty release so it needs to be extra special to really impress me. The title track was a nice introduction but then when "Calvados" dropped I knew it was going to be good. I saw the man himself perform on the week of the albums release and despite it being a unconventional choppy setlist, it was a good show that showcased a lot of the new songs. Saying that apart from the aforementioned Calvados, he didn't play my other favourite from the album at that show, "Poca Mahoney" which features a certain Lisa O'Neill, they clearly did each other a solid this year, a song about some of the church's less favourable history. An odd inclusion on the album was an alternate version of "The Baron's Claw" which appeared on the most recent Libertines album the year before.

2. The Wombats - Oh! The Ocean

In truth it was a toss up between this and Pete for the no.2 slot and I gave it to the Wombats mainly on the fact that it was unexpected. I loved the band's first album but since then I have not really liked all that much apart from the odd single but this, the Liverpool band's 6th album is an absolute cracker. My early favourite was "blood on the Hospital Floor" which despite its title is super catchy and singable but then came "Sorry I'm late, I didn't want to come" which perfectly describes how I feel about socialising in my advancing years. Then when you thought the album was drying up it hit me with "Gut Punch" (see what I did there) which gave the project a new lease of life and kept me listening throughout the year. This really was a great comeback, I hope they can keep it up with any future releases.

1. Varo - The World That I Knew

Now to the winner and this was, from the moment it was released my favourite album of the year. I have got quite heavily into Irish music in recent years, largely since the passing of Shane MacGowan, before that I listened fairly exclusively to the Pogues and the Dubliners but now my love of the nations music has grown and a lot of the artists are features on this album by female due Varo. Now calling Varo an Irish band is a stretch in itself, they are 2 fiddle players, one from France and the other, Italy, but with a penchant for the Irish sound. The first track that grabbed me was my favourite of all tracks released last year, "Green grows the Laurel" featuring John Francis Flynn, it is long and droning and beautiful, his deep voice between the bands more delicate ones was a nice contrast. When the album was released soon after it featured singers from Lankum and Junior Brother amongst other up and coming Irish folk acts. It is hard to choose favourites on the album as I really do like the whole thing from start to finish but if I had to choose a couple I would pick "Red Robin" and "Heather on the Moor".

And there we have my belated list of "albums" from 2025, honorable mentions go to the latest Wet Leg album, Franz Ferdinand and Wolf Alice but in the end they didn't do quite enough and had I put them in place of my less conventional picks I would not have been happy. Until we meet again!

Top 25 Tracks of 2025

2025-12-29T17:02:58+00:00

Back again for track review 2025, another year where I have listened to a pretty decent amount of music. I really wanted to break one of my rules this year as I will document at the end but I stuck to my guns as the rules have not changed in the best part of 15 years. Oh what are the rules you ask? but of course, all songs to be released as either a single or album track in 2025 and no more than 1 track per artist. So here is the list;

25. Common Perry - Better Off

24. Moonchild Sanelly - Do My Dance

23. Marina - Cuntissimo

22. IMLE - Slainte

21. Bob Vylan - Dream Bigger (Ft. Amy Taylor)

20. JPEGMAFIA - What the Hip Hop Hell is This?

19. Wet Leg - Mangetout

18. SPRINTS - Descartes

17. Scorcher - No More Parties (ft. JME)

16. Viagra Boys - Man Made of Meat

15. The Divine Comedy - Rainy Sunday Afternoon

14. BABYMETAL - from me to you (Ft. Poppy)

13. Sports Team - Sensible

12. Be Your Own Pet - What a Bitch

11. Pulp - Got to Have Love

10. Lambrini Girls - Cuntology 101

9. Kneecap - H.O.O.D. (2025 Mix)

8. Babyshambles - Dandy Hooligan

7. Ex.Void - Swansea

6. Lisa O'Neill - The Wind Doesn't Blow This Far Right

5. Rachel Chinouriri - Can We Talk About Isaac?

4. Peter Doherty - Calvados

3. Wolf Alice - Sofa Song

2. The Wombats - Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come

1. Varo - Green Grows the Laurel (Ft. John Francis Flynn)

There we have it for 2025, first of all I will discuss the rule break that I Wanted to make, I really wanted to include Hak Baker - Poems, a beautiful song that I discovered this year and would definitely have been a top 3 on the list but sadly it was released in late 2024 and I only became aware of it this year. Other things I found interesting about this list, it became clear early in the year that there would be 2 themes to the list, Irish artists (6) and tracks with female vocalists (14). At over 20%, I am very sure that 6 Irish acts is the highest representation from the nation and I have definitely never had more than half of tracks with female vocalists which is pretty cool. Also two of the songs have Cunt in the title...

Enjoy my playlist here! Albums shortly

END

Top 25 Tracks of 2024

2024-12-29T17:52:29+00:00

I realised I did it the wrong way around, it is meant to be tracks first, ah well, here it is now. As mentioned in the albums list I have listened to a lot of music and so narrowing this down to just 25 was a bit of a challenge. As always the rules are no more than one song by any one band and it must have been released as either a single or on an album in 2024, there are some contentious ones on that metric. Anyway here we go;

25. Revelation Roots - Pressure

24. Waxahatchee - Right Back to it (Ft. MJ Lenderman)

23. Sports Team - I'm in Love (Subaru)

22. Fat Dog - Wither

21. Yannis & The Yaw - Walk Through Fire

20. Little Man Tate - Cheap Stolen Kisses

19. Kendrick Lamar - Reincarnated

18. Maximo Park - Armchair View

17. Charlie XCX - Guess (Ft. Billie Eillish)

16. Ice Spice - Did it Fist (Ft. Central Cee)

15. The Mary Wallopers - Bonnie Ship The Diamond

14. The Go! Team - Hold Yr Terror Close (The Pastels Rework)

13. Lankum - The Rocky Road to Dublin (Live)

12. JPEGMAFIA - Sin Miedo

11. Laura Marling - Caroline

10. The Reytons - 2006

9. Sum 41 - Future Primitive

8. Soft Play - Everything & Nothing

7. Bright Eyes - Bells and Whistles

6. John Glacier - Money Shows

5. Jack White - What's the Rumpus?

4. The Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters

3. Yard Act - Dream Job

2. Fontaines D.C. - Starburster

1. The Libertines - I Have a Friend

There is my playlist, listen to it here. Its a good list I won't lie and there were some great songs that didn't even make the cut. Also special mention to The Boundaries song that got a video this year, despite being written 4 years ago, you can watch it via this link; The Boundaries - Hard Staying at Home

END

Best Albums 2024

2024-12-29T17:52:19+00:00

Well Hi, its been a minute hasn't it? This will be my first post in about 4 years. I will say mainly because I have not had a home computer in most of that time but you know other things get in the way too. I'm sure the world has been missing my take on the music scene. Anyway 2024 I have been listening to a LOT of music, according to Last.fm, I have had my prolific listening year.. well, ever! so this one should be based on some good listening. And so onto the list;

10. Bright Eyes - Five Dice, all Threes

It was touch and go whether this album was going to make my list as there was another which ran it very close. Five Dice, all Threes is the 10th album from Bright Eyes if you exclude their Christmas release and whilst not there best it is a solid listen. All being well I would have seen Bright Eyes live this year but they cancelled the UK part of the tour due to front man Conor Oberst losing his voice. Best tracks on the album include; Bells & Whistles, Rainbow Overpass and El Capitan.

9. Sum 41 - Heaven :x: Hell

This is a lot lower than I had foreseen putting this album. Unlike Bright Eyes I did manage to see Sum 41 this year on their farewell tour. It was great fun seeing the pop-punkers bringing out all of their former glories such as "In Too Deep" and "Fat Lip" but actually I really enjoyed some of the tracks from this new album too. The singles "Landmines" was one of my top tracks of last year and "Rise Up was another great single coming from this release but my personal favourite was "Future Primitive", a song that sounds like it has been taken straight from an early Tony Hawk's video game. The downside to this album is that in being a double album its just too long, ironically for the band its not All Killer and has plenty of filler including a fairly poor Rolling Stones cover of Paint it Black.

8. Kendrick Lamar - GNX

A very late entry onto the list and one that had it come out a bit sooner may have been a few places up the list. K-dot was named rapper of the year and that was before this album even dropped, heavily based on the "beef" between himself and Drake which Kendrick resoundingly came out on top of with the release of the non album track "Not Like Us". As for the album, I not only enjoy the tracks but have found myself researching the lore behind them which has helped to build them out and make them more enjoyable. Some of my favourites from the project include; "Squabble Up", "Hey Now" and "Reincarnated"

7. Fontaines D.C. - Romance

Romance is the 4th studio album by Irish Post-Punk band Fontaines D.C.. This was the first time I had really given the band any time of day and it was only after I heard the single "Starburster" which was one of my absolute highlights of the year with its odd rap like verses and chorus with its gasping noises, I can't put my finger on exactly what it is but I couldn't stop listening. Some of the other songs on the album took me a little longer to get into but over the course of the year it has been an album that I keep finding myself coming back to. Favourites include "starburster", "In the modern world" and "favourite".

6. Soft Play - Heavy Jelly

The first album from this punk duo since their controversial name change. Formerly Slaves, Soft Play made a come back with single Punk's Dead which addresses the name change in humorous fashion. The same vibe is present throughout the album which at no point takes itself very seriously. It is the first album from the band I have ever really enjoyed, so I hope this vein of material continues. Particular highlights include; Punk's Dead, Isaac is typing and the one less jovial track on the album, Everything and Nothing.

5. JPEGMAFIA - I Lay Down My Life For You

This was certainly the year where American rap projects made a real impact on my listening and none more so than this one from JPEGMAFIA. This is the 5th solo studio album from Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks and like the previous entry the first time I have got into this artist. His style is extremely varied taking influence from dance, rock, old school hip hop and more to make a sound which is truly his own. My favourite was single Sin Miedo which really does span the genres in a mad but brilliant fashion. Other highlights include "either on or off the drugs" and "don't rely on other men"

4. Yard Act - Where's my Utopia?

Now this is a band who I did already know well, Where's My Utopia is the 2nd Album from Leeds 4-piece Yard Act. The bands first album, "The Overload" was amongst my favourite albums of 2022 and although this one took me a little more time to get into with its more disco-adjacent sound. It took single "We Make Hits" to break me back into their world and once in I was once again hooked on their silly, almost spoken word indie nonsense. As the year went on "Dream Job" which was an earlier single from the album became my favourite but there are many highlights including "Fizzy Fish" and "Vineyard for the North".

3. Jack White - No Name

This one from Jack White came out of absolutely nowhere, the legend has it on a Friday afternoon in July, all customers at Third Man Records outlets had a mystery vinyl added to their shopping bags at check out and that album was "no Name". Released to the wider world a few days later this latest solo work from Jack White was astounding, from first play I knew this was going to be among my favourite records of the year. A bluesy, rock masterpiece with almost every track being worth mentioning but if I had to whittle it down, my favourites would be, "What's the Rumpus?", "Bombing Out" and "Archbishop Harold Holmes"

2. The Last Dinner Party - Prelude to Ecstasy

The debut album from the all female 5-piece was the stuff of marvel. I will be honest I initially didn't give the band much a chance, my inner hipster not enjoying the amount of hype that was following the band but once I gave in I was glad that I did. Each song is a wonder in its own merit, my favourite was "Nothing Matters" which if I had been ahead of the game I Would have enjoyed in 2023 so I was a bit late to the party but it really is a banger. Other greats include "Caesar on a TV Screen", "Sinner" and "Feminine Urge". It was an album in a year that I listened to a lot of music that I Just kept wanting to come back to over and over again.

1. The Libertines - All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade

And the zero surprise award goes to... The Libertines. Look when my favourite band release an album in the year it is going to be my favourite, most listened and most obsessed over album of the year. The play count for the tracks on this album is silly, in the 50s and 60s for each track apart from "Run, Run, Run" which made it over the 100 mark. My favourites from the album chopped and changed throughout the year with "Shiver" and "Songs they never play on the Radio" being up there but in the end it went to "I Have a Friend", a track which felt like an old school Pete song. I managed to see the band twice this year, once in the smallest venue I have ever seen them and the 2nd on Brighton Beach, both were great for different reasons. ALL Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade gave the band its first number 1 album in nearly 20 years (Whilst only being their 2nd album within those 20 years). Hopefully this will see the band become a little bit more prolific than the an album every 10 years.

And there you have it, its like I never left. This years winner was a dead cert from before the year even started really. I have missed making these though so hopefully I will keep it going into next year. Some albums that came close to making the list included Laura Marling's Patterns in Repeat which probably would have made it on given a few more weeks of listening, also the Reytons with Ballad of a Bystander which did the opposite, it was in the list for most of the year and then fell out of the top 10 at the last hurdle. Not a wooden spoon as such but an album I was hoping for more from was Little Man Tate's comeback "Welcome to the Rest of Your Life", it was just not enough of a progression from their albums of 20 years ago. Anyway, nevermind that, enjoy these albums if you wish and see you again next time.

END

Top 25 tracks of 2020

2020-12-23T13:54:28+00:00

Well this has been a pretty uneventful year.. No, no that is not true. In a lot of ways I have been very lucky, myself and my family have remained healthy, I have been able to work throughout, the birth of my second child went as well as it could have and to round it off I've even had the vaccine but still a bit of a crap one. Musically it has been pretty interesting, I was doing well until March listening to a lot of new music, then I mostly was listening to REM - Its the end of the world as we know it and drowning my sorrows in beer. No matter though I have managed to pull together a list with the same rules as ever, 25 songs released as single or on an album this year and no two songs from the same artist;

25. BABYMETAL - BxMxC

24. Panic Shack - Jiu Jits You

23. MF Tomlinson - Strange Time

22. Do Nothing - Lebron James

21. Bright Eyes - Mariana Trench

20. Declan McKenna - Beautiful Faces

19. Waxahatchee - Can't Do Much

18. Little Man Tate - Boy in the Anorak

17. Powfu - death bed (coffee for your head)(ft. Beebadobee)

16. boy pablo - hey girl

15. The Strokes - Bad Decisions

14. Megan Thee Stallion - Savage Remix (Ft. Beyonce)

13. Slaves - One More Day Won't Hurt (Ft. Bob Vylan)

12. SHY FX - Roll The Dice (Ft. Stamina MC and Lily Allen)

11. JME - Pricks

10. Grouplove - Wildflowers

9. Trampolene - Uncle Brian's Abatoir (Ft. Peter Doherty)

8. The Reytons - Headache

7. Everything Everything - In Birdsong

6. Mura Masa - Deal Wiv It (Ft. Slowthai)

5. Laura Marling - For You

4. Bombay Bicycle Club - Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

3. Billy Nomates - Hippy Elite

2. Sports Team - Here's The Thing

1. Gorillaz - Momentary Bliss (Ft. Slaves and Slowthai)

So a couple of things to address, yes Slaves and Slowthai appear twice each but I have taken the decision to go with the named artist meaning I go with it as they are featured artists not the main artist (plus its my list). The next thing is the sheer amount of collaborations in this list on a year when we weren't allowed to meet up is very ironic. I think this list is probably one of the more eclectic I've ever had, of course plenty of indie but within there you have some elements of jazz, grime, hip hop, heavy metal and whatever you would classify the SHY FX song as?!

But anyway good one for Gorillaz, Momentary Bliss was out very early in the year and I have loved it throughout and am nowhere near sick of it. If you want to listen to the playlist you can find it here.

Best Albums list to come and maybe even a Beers of the Year list, we will see. Much Love

END

Songs of the Decade 2010-2019

2020-01-29T17:52:06+00:00

I said I would do it and I have done so, this was far more complicated than I had hoped for and in truth I am not really that happy with this list as a finite best of the decade, more so this is 50 songs that I really like from the past 10 years. I did originally plan to go to 100 but by the time you get that far you start thinking do I really like this more than that and it loses its fun.

50. Bombino - Amidinine

49. Akala - Yours and My Children

48. Johnny Flynn - Raising the Daed

47. Bipolar Sunshine - Rivers

46. FFS - Johnny Delusional

45. Perfume Genius - Mr Peterson

44. Azealia Banks - 212

43. Alice Merton - No Roots

42. Nova Twins - Bassline Bitch

41. Xylaroo - Sunshine

40. We Are Scientists - Buckle

39. Sunless '97 - Whenever I can

38. RATBOY - Move

37. Peace - California Daze

36. M.I.A. - Come Walk With Me

35. Oberhofer - Away Frm U

34. Stormzy - Big for your boots

33. Jamie T - Zombie

32. Vampire Weekend - Unbelievers

31. Lost Under Heaven - I&I

30. AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove

29. Blaenavon - Orthadox Man

28. Citadels - The Chemical Song

27. GIRLI - Friday Night Big Screen

26. Art Brut - Hospital!

25. David Bowie - Where Are We Now?

24. Bloc Party - The Love Within

23. Declan McKenna - Why Do Yo Feel So Down?

22. Everything Everything - Regret

21. Blossoms - Charlemagne

20. The Big Moon - Formidable

19. Peter Doherty - Flags of the Old Regime

18. Kele - Everything You Wanted

17. Tinashe - Zambezi

16. Skinny Lister - Plough & Orion

15. Bellowhead - New York Girls

14. King Charles - Love Lust

13. The Skints - Rat-A-Tat-Tat

12. Frank Turner - Get Better

11. Jerry Williams - Grab Life

10. Cocknbullkid - Cocknbullkid

9. Many Thiings - Dear One

8. Two Door Cinema Club - Come Back Home

7. Palma Violets - Best of Friends

6. Crystal Castles - Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith)

5. Drenge - Bloodsports

4. Childcare - Kimberley

3. Grouplove - Colours

2. The Libertines - Heart of the Matter

1. Egyptian Hip Hop - Rad Pitt

There we have, 10 years in just short of 3 hours, I feel there is probably a bit of a nostalgia bias towards the songs from the beginning of the decade and give it another few years this list might be a bit different. If you want to have a listen you can here, minus track 4 which is not on Spotify.

END

Best Albums 2019

2020-01-29T13:26:48+00:00

Look it's still January so this post is only a little bit late. I enjoyed listening to albums in 2019, there was quite a lot that I liked which makes this list easier to do. There are some on here that aren't surprising at all if you know me, there are some which maybe are; cryptic eh? Lets get into it.

10. The Skints - Swimming Lessons

Let us start with one of the less surprising entrants, Swimming lessons is the fourth album from London based reggae-ska-rap band The Skints. I've been sold on the Skints since I was introduced to them by my friend shortly after the release of their first album and although they have never made huge waves in popular music they have slowly built a good following over the past 10 or so years culminating in a headline show at Brixton Electric this past year which I had the pleasure of attending. For me the band will always be better live than on CD which is why they are as low as they are but tracks such as Armageddon and Restless are a highlight (despite the awful rap on the latter).

9. Childcare - Wabi-Sabi

Apparently Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese term meaning to accept imperfection, strange choice of album title but I agree with it. Wabi-Sabi is the debut album from Childcare, a band I've been following the progress of since 2015 and the first time I heard the single Kimberley, that song genuinely has a shout at being in my top 10 songs of all time. Kimberley is not on this album and thus I have to accept the imperfection. The album is good, I enjoy tracks Man Down and Getting Over You especially and had I not had such a high expectation this might place higher but without Kimberley how can I? Childcare I fear suffer from the perennial sickness of Indie bands, ditching their more popular older material to seem avant-garde, I doubt they will ever record a second album.

8. Lost Under Heaven - Love Hates What You Become

Love Hates What You Become is the 2nd album from Lost Under Heaven, a male/female two-piece consisting of former Wu Lyf man Ellery James Roberts. Mr. Roberts is another great example of an Indie darling who takes himself far too seriously but I can't help it, I like the music those guys make. Roberts has an unmistakable raspy voice which can be heard on the soundtrack to 13 reasons why, although that is from the bands previous album. From this offering my favourites are Come and For the Wild.

7. Kele - 2042

Everyone knows Kele Okereke as the front man of Bloc Party but in recent years he has thrown out a plethora of solo material. 2042 was actually the 2nd album released by Okereke in 2019 after "leave to remain" which was the soundtrack to his play of the same name - I have been reliably informed that despite the name it has very little to do with Brexit and more to do with being a gay man in London. I was dissapointed by Leave to Remain as an album so when I heard the first release of 2042 I was really excited, Jungle Bunny is a really catchy song about a serious subject much more akin to his 2017 album Fatherland which was one of my favourites that year. 2042 has some great tracks in Jungle Bunny, St. Kaepernick wept and Guava Rubicon but the album as a whole has a few misses and goes on a bit at 16 tracks which is why it only makes number 7.

6. Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

This is the fourth album from New York 4-piece Vampire Weekend and the first for 6 years. Singles from Father of the Bride started leaking out in twos at the start of the year starting with Harmony hall and 2021 with the former being my favourite from the entire album, these provided a taster of what was to come and the album as a whole did not disappoint. I do think that similarly to 2042, the album suffers from being longer than it needs to be at 18 songs but this I fear may be a trend of the post physical world, people don't seem to listen to albums in the same way as they used to. But yes this album was actually probably better than I was expecting, I'm not sure why that is maybe as they don't seem as miserable as most of the artists in this list and as a result they have crept up to the higher end of this list.

5. Better Oblivion Community Centre - Better Oblivion Community Centre

The first of three eponymous albums on this list (you won't be surprised when you see the 2nd one), Better Oblivion Community Centre is a project from Connor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers and this is their first album together. Connor Oberst is someone who I have been listening to many years from his work in Bright Eyes and am always eager to hear his new music but Phoebe Bridgers was not a name I had come across before although I see she too is quite the name in the US Indie scene making Better Oblivion a bit of a super group. Didn't know what I was in for is the first track and my favourite from the album it combines the gentle lyrical stylings you would expect from Oberst with some lovely harmonies and a very relaxing backing track. This album unlike the previous two is an album that I will happily listen to from beginning to end over and over, it seems to have a natural flow

4. Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres - Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres

Its the one you were all expecting and I did not dissapoint, 2019 saw a new album from a member of the Libertines so of course it has made it into my list. The Puta Madres are a ragamuffin crew of misfits including Jack Jones of the band Trampolene who Peter has been a long term admirer of. This album from Doherty was the first in many years that actually gained some quite positive critical review which surprised me as on first listen it didn't really grab me at all but you know I persevered and the more I listened the more I liked. I wouldn't say that this is amongst my favourites of the main man's work, that will always be saved for The Libertines, but I wouldn't necessarily put it as his best solo work either. Some songs I don't think work that well such as the mish mash cover of the Velvet Underground and Oasis that is Someone Else to be but other songs such as Shoreleave and Punk Buck Bonafide do show his writing talents. I watched a few interviews around the time of the albums release and if I had to guess I would say Pete is back on the hard stuff which is a shame for him but if the critical reviews are anything to go by the press prefer him on it.

3. AJ Tracey - AJ Tracey

A grime album, at last something that does not fall under the indie genre, what can I say I have a type. AJ Tracey's album though is good enough to break me out of my usual comfort zone, and it is the first time since Kano's 2016 Album Made in the Manor that a grime album has made the list. AJ, born Che Wolton Grant, is a 25 year old Grime artist from Ladbroke Grove, London and the song named after his home town is what really sold this album to me from listen one with its catchy beat and flow. Although Ladbroke Grove is for me a stand out, every time I listened to the album another song popped out at me whether it be Psych Out! in which he explains how great he is or Horror show which now has a place in my Halloween playlist. Tracey in the same vain as a lot of young grime artists have a lot of songs which are fairly self indulgent and doesn't always have a lot of depth but the flow is good and its an album that just keeps drawing me back in.

2. Blaenavon - Everything That Makes You Happy

Another artist on the list that released 2 albums in 2019, the 2nd Demoitis was released about two days before the new year and so never had a shot but Everything Makes You Happy was released in October and was an ever present in my rotation for the rest of the year. The 3-piece Hampshire band, named after a small Welsh town for reasons unknown have climbed a place after their debut album, That's your Lot made 3rd place on my 2017 album list. To be fair Everything That Makes You Happy could easily have been number 1 on this year's list but was just pipped to the post as you will see shortly. This album like all my favourites is one that you can listen to the whole way through without getting bored and with stand out tracks such as The Song's Never Gonna Be The Same and my personal favourite Never Stop Stirring it has songs on from beginning to end that I really enjoyed and will be listening to for years to come.

1. Girli - Odd One Out

If you had told me at the start of the year that a pink haired, bi-sexual, gender fluid, feminist rapper come singer would be at number one on my album list I would have probably said.. yeah, fair enough it is 2019 after all. Girli is an artist I have been listening out for for a number of years after I heard her single Girl I met on the Internet in 2016. I always assumed that she would be one of these artists who releases the odd single year on year but never really gets as far as an album and I will admit I was wrong although at just 9 tracks and 24 minutes long it is a bit short for my tastes but it only leaves me wanting more. At the start of the year Deal with It was the track that immediately got my attention but after a number of listens, Friday Night Big Screen a song in which Girli compares her life to those of movie characters quickly became my song of the year and I spent many a traffic jam singing along to the wondrous if slightly camp lyrics. Some of the songs may be a bit on the nose with their 2019ness but on the whole they are fun, upbeat and uplifting.

Blimey, there we have it another year, another list. If I do say so myself this list is far better than last years as normal there were some surprises that made it in and some albums that I expected to be great that didn't quite live up to expectations such as the albums by Drenge and Skinny Lister which although weren't bad, they just weren't quite good enough. Honourable mentions also go out to Marina (formerly Marina and the Diamonda) and Cassia who were just edged out of the list. As alluded to in my singles countdown I have started narrowing down my songs and albums of the decade so I will probably write that sometime within the next 10 years. Until then adieu

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Top 25 tracks of 2019

2019-12-16T22:07:30+00:00

Bloody Hell, its the end of the decade, we've got another 5 years of the Tories and we'll be out of Europe by January but hey at least we've got music to keep us sane. You know what as well, this year I actually feel that I have improved a bit with listening although still not at my heyday but then I'm not a lazy student any more. Bloody Hell 10 years since I was a student!!! Anyway music, 25 songs, 1 song per artist and all released as a single or album track in 2019.

25. Gently Tender - Intros and Outrage

24. RAT BOY - Don't Hesitate

23. Childcare - Sugarcane

22. Cassia - Small Spaces

21. Jon Boden & The Remnant Kings - Leviathan

20. The Skints - Restless (ft. Protoje)

19. Marina - To Be Human

18. The Raconteurs - Now That You're Gone

17. Pixies - Catfish Kate

16. Lost Under Heaven - Come

15. The Divine Comedy - Norman & Norma

14. Foals - In Degrees

13. Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Mettaevolution

12. Billie Eilish - Bad Guy

11. Jerry Williams - David at the Bar

10. Vant - Thank Lucifer

9. Kele - Jungle Bunny

8. Better Oblivion Community Centre - Didn't know what I was in for

7. Harmony Hall - Vampire Weekend

6. Shoreleave - Peter Doherty & The Puta Madres

5. Blaenavon - Never Stop Stirring

4. The Futureheads - Good Night Out

3. Declan McKenna - British Bombs

2. AJ Tracey - Ladbroke Grove

1. GIRLI - Friday Night Big Screen

Didn't clock until writing but there are very few "new" artists in there compared to normal but I know what I like I suppose, or maybe I'm just getting old and this modern music stuff just sounds like noise. I've even got two instrumental songs in there, don't think I've ever had one in my top 25 before but you know, it just sounds good. If you want to listen to it, you can, HERE. Otherwise keep a look out for my albums of the year AND, drumroll please...... my songs and albums OF THE DECADE. Dun dun dun

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Best Albums 2018

2019-04-24T22:44:11+00:00

Hey Whats up? Looking for the Best albums of 2018 you say? Well, I can't promise that I'm afraid, I did not listen to a particularly huge pool of the music released in 2018 but I can offer you the best of what little I have listened to. 2019 is looking better though, I am really pushing myself to make time to listen to new music, a resolution if you will. But anyway, enough of the ramble and into my favourite albums of the few that I did listen to in 2018:

10. The Wave Pictures - Look Inside Your Heart

So the Wave Pictures have been around for a long time and the Leicestershire 3-piece have released too many albums to count. For me the band always encounter the same problem that their songs are individually very good but when you put them together it begins to sound a bit samey and this album.. is no different. There are though a good number of songs from this album that I do really recommend giving a listen to including Roosevelt Sykes and my personal favourite Sugar. Lyrically fun and easy to listen to.

9. Julia Pietrucha - Postcards From The Seaside

So I had just come back from a boozy stag do in Poland with the name Julia Pietrucha saved on my phone with no recollection of what it was. I was worried. One google search later I found Polish singer/songwriter Julia Pietrucha and vague memories came back of a recommendation made by our tour guide one evening. A good recommendation it was too, JP is a piano led singer not too dissimilar in styling to Regina Spektor. Postcards from the Sea is her 2nd studio album and is a mix of songs in both English and her native Polish, some of my favourites including Sailor and Under Da Sea.

8. Public Access T.V. - Street Safari

This album was one of the first that I really listened to in early 2018, the band has been around for a number of years and I had enjoyed their previous releases. Street Safari though saw them take a slight detour from their traditional indie rock sound to a funkier feel. I heard first single Lost in the Game on John Kennedy's radio X exposure show and really enjoyed it. Street Safari is the New York bands 2nd album and although not a classic it is a good listen.

7. Tom Grennan - Lighting Matches

Tom Grennan has been floating around for a few years, I first heard of him when I saw him warming up for the Libertines at Brixton Academy. Back then I thought he sounded a bit like a cheap Kid Harpoon rip off, now in 2019 he is ten times more well known than Kid Harpoon ever was and to be fair to him his songs have now got a very different and more unique feel even if he still does share a very similar voice. Sober is by some way my favourite song from his debut album Lighting Matches but I do quite like Barbed Wire and a number of the others too. I saw Mr Grennan perform live again at Community Festival and he was one of the days highlights for sure.

6. Goat Girl - Goat Girl

Goat Girl are an all female four-piece from London who apparently put on a very good live show. The band were one of the most hyped new bands on the Indie scene in about 2016 but I never really understood what the appeal was but then I had never and still haven't seen them live. Their sound is quite droney both in music and in the vocals and I think that what I didn't get in 2016 was that possibly the production on early tracks such as Country Sleeze wasn't as good. By the release of their eponymous debut the sound quality was much improved and the album as a whole is a much more enjoyable listen with stand out tracks The Man and Cracker Drool.

5. Razor Light - Olympus Sleeping

Olympus Sleeping is the first album from Razorlight in 10 years since the release of the much maligned 2008 album Slipway Fires. Front man Johnny Borrell has had a few projects in the meantime that have never really taken off. The opening to the album is a spoken introduction from 2000s Indie stalwart Adam Green asking for "A Razorlight album that doesn't completely suck" this self deprecation is something that has possibly come with age to Borrell who was a notorious pain in the arse in his heyday. But Green has got what he asked for in Olympus Sleeping, this album is a real throwback to mid 2000s indie music which of course is my favourite time so it wasn't too much of a surprise that I really enjoyed this album. Top tracks include Carry Yourself, Sorry? and Got to let the good times back into your life.

4. Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

You couldn't move very far without hearing an Arctic Monkeys song in early 2018, TBH&C was without doubt the most talked about release in 2018. The album is a concept based around a fictional hotel on Mars but still manages to hold onto a lot of Alex Turner's lyrical charm. Its hard to believe but its been 13 years since Arctic Monkeys first release and this is now their 6th full length album, personally I am always going to prefer the early stuff more but I still had a good number of listens to this one. My favourite songs Four out of Five and the title track, Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino.

3. Frank Turner - Be More Kind

This album was a very hard one for me to rank in this years ratings, I love Frank Turner and have seen him live many times and for me some of the songs on this album are the best he has ever done. Be More Kind and 1933 are both brilliant in different ways, the first a call for love, the latter a bit of political satire. If the whole album was at the quality of those tracks this album would almost certainly have been number 1 on this list. Unfortunately not all tracks on this album were made equal and tracks like Make America Great Again and Going Nowhere are some of my least favourite he has ever done. MAGA is just very lazy writing in my opinion, its catchy and has a good message but it has no real depth and Going nowhere has the lyric "I'm in there like swimwear, I'm going nowhere" nothing more needs to be said. Not including greatest hits and compilations this is Turner's 6th album and it is one that I have such mixed feelings about but because I really do like some of the tracks this position felt right.

2. Jack White - Boarding House Reach

Jack White is someone who never ceases to amaze me, he clearly is completely mad and a complete genius and has shown this as a member of the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, his solo stuff and in owning a record label; this latest release of his encapsulates this madness and sounds like nothing he has ever done before. Boarding House Reach is White's 3rd solo album and is released under his own Third Man Records. I will admit some of the songs on this album took me a few listens to really appreciate such as Everything you ever learned with its repetitive tannoy like sound to start but when you get into the meat of the song (strange choice of phrase for a vegetarian) it is great and that is not nearly my favourite track on the album. My top tracks would be Respect Commander, Corporation and the real stand out track Connected by Love which sounds almost anthemic with its Gospel Choir in the chorus. A really great album that might take a couple of listens to really get into it but it is worth the push.

1. Art Brut - Wham! Bang! Pow! Lets Rock Out

In truth this was by far and a way the easiest decision on this list, I absolutely loved the silly rock'n'roll stylings of Eddie Argos and the Art Brut Gang. Wham! Bang! Pow! Lets Rock Out is the bands 5th album and their first for 7 years as they took a hiatus in between presumably to take a break from their rock'n'roll lifestyle which is regularly touched upon throughout the album. Art Brut are band that definitely do not take themselves too seriously and at least sound like they are having a lot of fun doing it. I listened to this album so much I could quote individual lyrics from every song but I won't bore you and instead will gloss over a couple; in tracks Hospital! and I Hope You're very happy together the band take the sombre subjects of Addiction and Heart Break and deal with them with humour and fun, and possibly my favourite lyric on the whole album (although not from my favourite song) comes in Awkward breakfast where Eddie states "Last night you were being rude with me, now we're eating bowls of muesli". If you are looking for a beautiful singing voice with brilliantly played instruments and deep and thought provoking lyrics you are very much in the wrong place but if you just want to have fun and Rock Out then this really is an amazing album to do it to.

So there we have the end to the 2018 journey (although I finally got round to finishing the writing of it in April 2019). It was a mixed ride. I really do think that I didn't have the best sample size but I am happy with my picks nevertheless. Honourable mentions go to The Voidz (which is Julian Casblancas from The Strokes fame) and the Von Bondies who just missed out on the top 10. As far as the Wooden Spoon its a hard one, nothing was truly awful in comparison to what I was expecting although both Shame and Blossoms failed to excite me as much I was hoping. Anyway that's it, see you in the future.

END.

Top 25 Tracks of 2018

2018-12-18T21:43:24+00:00

Ahh 2018 is drawing to a close and what has it left as its legacy? Brexit confusion, England in a World cup semi final and some decent music of which 25 songs I will list for you here today. My music consumption wains year on year due to other commitments, I went to but one live music event this year, usually a cornerstone for my lists. This year my new music has mainly come from John Kennedy on radio X and Spotify's algorithm of what I might like which although has many haters is pretty good at doing its job. Anyway enough of the babble, 25 songs, maximum one per artist and released either as a single or album track in 2018;

25. Arctic Monkeys - Four out of Five

24. George Ezra - Shotgun

23. The 1975 - Give Yourself a Try

22. Crewel Intentions - Youth In Overload

21. Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending

20. Childish Gambino - This is America

19. Gently Tender - 2 Chords Good

18. Alfie Jackson - If I Could Be An Astronaut

17. Public Access T.V. - Lost in the Game

16. LUMP - Curse of the Contemporary

15. Julia Pietrucha - Unda Da Sea

14. Blossoms - I Can't Stand It

13. Jack White - Connected By Love

12. Childcare - Man Down (King Kong Shake)

11. The Wave Pictures - Sugar

10. Graham Coxon - Walking All Day

9. Lauren Hibberd - Call Shotgun

8. Frank Turner - Be More Kind

7. The Coral - Eyes Like Pearls

6. Tom Grennan - Sober

5. Alice Merton - No Roots

4. Razorlight - Carry Yourself

3. Vistas - Tigerblood

2. Art Brut - Hospital!

1. Jerry Williams - Grab Life

So there we have it one song from each half of the now defunct Palma Violets, two songs with shotgun in the title and a song on top of the tree by an artist I had never heard of before. The list is very light on rap this year which is a shame, not sure whether that is more due to the quality of music not being as high or just my exposure to the right stuff hasn't been there. Maybe the algorithm isn't so perfect after all. Anyway I will try and rectify this for 2019, if you want to listen to this years HERE.

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