Post by steve on Dec 15, 2020 13:31:00 GMT 1
It's that time of the year when there are more lists than you can possibly shake a stick at so forgive me for burdening you all with another. However, I hope it's rather more interesting & mildly less controversial than most best-of lists you'll come across this year.
During the shiat show that was 2020 I have been earnestly seeking out great new music & re-visiting old obscurities & I think this has kept my sanity largely intact. A lot of this discovery wouldn't have been possible without the awesome @socalnewwaver & his PastFORWARD radio show which has brought so many amazing tunes my way over the last 12 months.
.
So, here comes the dreaded list........
Deserta - Black Aura
Without doubt, the best thing I have heard this year. The Album, Black Aura, My Sun feels like MBV meets Sigur Ros & have a love child. The closing track on the album even steps into the realm of The Cure in their darkest moments. What’s not to love?
bandcamp
The Know- 143
143, I came to learn, means I Love You. & was perhaps the lead track on the We Are The Know’s debut EP. It tells the story aswell as evoking the feeling of a never ending night out where anything & everything can & does happen along the way. I spent much of 2020 diving into shoeegaze & dream pop & this band were always going to be in my top 10
bandcamp
Coco - One Time Villian
Nobody knows who this collaborative are (except them I guess) and I happened upon this on the radio one morning. It took me a while to track down a copy & it is a wonderful, lazy but, at the same time, hook filled piece that, at just over 3 minutes long, doesn’t seem enough & yet seems plenty. Irresistable.
bandcamp
Hazel English -Combat
I think I can describe the album as “pleasant”. But the lyrics are not that pleasant & the tracks are easily better fodder than any of the latest batch of radio darlings & Mercury award nominees. Standout track though is by far & away, Combat which is an indescribably beautiful song about stubbornness & not backing down in an argument. But you’re never sure whether the argument is with someone else is with herself.
bandcamp
The Mysterines - I Win Every Time
Bit more oomph for this one. Still impossible to buy (other than on 19th century technology) so I have to make do with the video for now. Which, given it’s just Lia in her pants, is fine by me
. While it hints at more of than a touch of Sonic Youth, it’s still, for me, in your face enough to be too hard to ignore.
No bandcamp currently
AA Williams -Melt
It’s not hard to see why Eldritch asked Williams to be a support on recent dates. The guitar work on the album is so dense it pulls light in, which is probably a good thing as the material is deeply dark. Love & Pain is verging on terrifying but I always come back to Melt which grows from dark roots & bursts forth into even darker branches that, once again, block out light. Does what it says on the tin.
bandcamp
The Lovely Eggs - Bear Pit
The more psychedelic direction the Eggs have taken seems to suit them. They can get p!ssed off about stuff & sing about insect repellent to their heart’s content with a driving, fuzzed up guitar & they’ll still be adorable.
TLE tend to not to to do digital releases.... (or encores )
Pit Pony - Sulk
The old punk in Maryanne Hobbs opened my ears to this lot when she payed Osaka on the radio last year. Been hooked ever since. Fearsome garage band from the North East of England who have a handful of very decent tunes on bandcamp now. Sulk’s been around a while but got an official release this month, so it counts. It’s dirty, loud & fierce. &, above all, superb.
bandcamp
Fireflies - Heidi
Another that took a long while to even identify, let alone find. It cropped up on the Killing Eve soundtrack & I was smitten. Get Out Of Town was a close second, but Heidi will always conjure up images of Villanelle attempting to make a cake, It’s a lo-fi Mary Chain/ BRMC vibe with practically no effects & frankly it doesn’t need them.
bandcamp
Shana Falana - Everyone Is Going To Be Okay
It’s just dawned on me that all my picks have women singing. That wasn’t intentional. These were simply the best of 2020 for me but, as the kids say, YMMV. EIGBO is a look at positivity in what has been a truly crappy year while taking a darkish turn that highlights the reality of peoples’ pain.
It’s also a great singalong tune.
bandcamp
!!BONUS!! Cover version of the year.....
Bokka - Daydreaming
This was going to be a top 10, but I wanted to include a cover version. So, while the top 10 are originals, the cover, being a cover I see as a sort of 10+ rather than an 11.
It’s not news that I actually hate post The Bends Radiohead & that Thom Yorke’s whiny noise just makes me want to stab whoever’s standing closest to me. But it turns out, like the Stones, their songs covered by other people are monumentally better than the originals. This is no exception. Play it loud with headphones on in a dark room.
Again, no bandcamp, but can be (legally) purchased here
So those are my top ten although there were a hell of a lot more I could have added. But this post would have been mahoosive had I done that.
Give 'em a listen &, if you like them, chuck a few shekels their way & maybe discover even more awesome sounds. There's lots out there...
Your turn then. What new stuff has been bothering your neighbours over the year?
During the shiat show that was 2020 I have been earnestly seeking out great new music & re-visiting old obscurities & I think this has kept my sanity largely intact. A lot of this discovery wouldn't have been possible without the awesome @socalnewwaver & his PastFORWARD radio show which has brought so many amazing tunes my way over the last 12 months.
.So, here comes the dreaded list........
Deserta - Black Aura
Without doubt, the best thing I have heard this year. The Album, Black Aura, My Sun feels like MBV meets Sigur Ros & have a love child. The closing track on the album even steps into the realm of The Cure in their darkest moments. What’s not to love?
bandcamp
The Know- 143
143, I came to learn, means I Love You. & was perhaps the lead track on the We Are The Know’s debut EP. It tells the story aswell as evoking the feeling of a never ending night out where anything & everything can & does happen along the way. I spent much of 2020 diving into shoeegaze & dream pop & this band were always going to be in my top 10
bandcamp
Coco - One Time Villian
Nobody knows who this collaborative are (except them I guess) and I happened upon this on the radio one morning. It took me a while to track down a copy & it is a wonderful, lazy but, at the same time, hook filled piece that, at just over 3 minutes long, doesn’t seem enough & yet seems plenty. Irresistable.
bandcamp
Hazel English -Combat
I think I can describe the album as “pleasant”. But the lyrics are not that pleasant & the tracks are easily better fodder than any of the latest batch of radio darlings & Mercury award nominees. Standout track though is by far & away, Combat which is an indescribably beautiful song about stubbornness & not backing down in an argument. But you’re never sure whether the argument is with someone else is with herself.
bandcamp
The Mysterines - I Win Every Time
Bit more oomph for this one. Still impossible to buy (other than on 19th century technology) so I have to make do with the video for now. Which, given it’s just Lia in her pants, is fine by me
. While it hints at more of than a touch of Sonic Youth, it’s still, for me, in your face enough to be too hard to ignore.No bandcamp currently
AA Williams -Melt
It’s not hard to see why Eldritch asked Williams to be a support on recent dates. The guitar work on the album is so dense it pulls light in, which is probably a good thing as the material is deeply dark. Love & Pain is verging on terrifying but I always come back to Melt which grows from dark roots & bursts forth into even darker branches that, once again, block out light. Does what it says on the tin.
bandcamp
The Lovely Eggs - Bear Pit
The more psychedelic direction the Eggs have taken seems to suit them. They can get p!ssed off about stuff & sing about insect repellent to their heart’s content with a driving, fuzzed up guitar & they’ll still be adorable.
TLE tend to not to to do digital releases.... (or encores )
Pit Pony - Sulk
The old punk in Maryanne Hobbs opened my ears to this lot when she payed Osaka on the radio last year. Been hooked ever since. Fearsome garage band from the North East of England who have a handful of very decent tunes on bandcamp now. Sulk’s been around a while but got an official release this month, so it counts. It’s dirty, loud & fierce. &, above all, superb.
bandcamp
Fireflies - Heidi
Another that took a long while to even identify, let alone find. It cropped up on the Killing Eve soundtrack & I was smitten. Get Out Of Town was a close second, but Heidi will always conjure up images of Villanelle attempting to make a cake, It’s a lo-fi Mary Chain/ BRMC vibe with practically no effects & frankly it doesn’t need them.
bandcamp
Shana Falana - Everyone Is Going To Be Okay
It’s just dawned on me that all my picks have women singing. That wasn’t intentional. These were simply the best of 2020 for me but, as the kids say, YMMV. EIGBO is a look at positivity in what has been a truly crappy year while taking a darkish turn that highlights the reality of peoples’ pain.
It’s also a great singalong tune.
bandcamp
!!BONUS!! Cover version of the year.....
Bokka - Daydreaming
This was going to be a top 10, but I wanted to include a cover version. So, while the top 10 are originals, the cover, being a cover I see as a sort of 10+ rather than an 11.
It’s not news that I actually hate post The Bends Radiohead & that Thom Yorke’s whiny noise just makes me want to stab whoever’s standing closest to me. But it turns out, like the Stones, their songs covered by other people are monumentally better than the originals. This is no exception. Play it loud with headphones on in a dark room.
Again, no bandcamp, but can be (legally) purchased here
So those are my top ten although there were a hell of a lot more I could have added. But this post would have been mahoosive had I done that.
Give 'em a listen &, if you like them, chuck a few shekels their way & maybe discover even more awesome sounds. There's lots out there...
Your turn then. What new stuff has been bothering your neighbours over the year?