This song will make you do one of two things upon hearing. The first is to sit back, relax, let Vile's chilled acoustic guitar and intimate vocals wash over you. The other is to get up, go out and do something, anything and bask in the uplifting vibe and bewitching lyrics. This is the beauty of "Walkin On A Pretty Daze", it just leaves so much to be imagined. The lyrics are sparse, but somehow full of meaning, hope and peace. The guitar is both simultaneously soothing and motivational. But it's Vile's voice that brings this to life. Whilst not being too dissimilar to his vocals on "Smoke Ring For My Halo", his close-mic whispering seems even closer, even more like he's in the room with you. All this completely justifies the fact the track is just over 9 minutes long because, to be honest, it could go on way longer and still be as captivating.
I yet again apologise for being lazy. As a reward here are my fave songs of the last year.
20) Don't Say You Love Me - By The Rivers
19) Sixteen Saltines - Jack White
18) Best of Friends - Palma Violets
17) Latch - Disclosure
16) Analyser - AlunaGeorge
15) I'm God - Clams Casino
14) Cheap Beer - FIDLAR
13) Household Goods - Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
12) Toucan Surf - JAWS
11) The Full Retard - El-P
10) Honey - Swim Deep
9) Cough Cough - Everything Everything
8) Higher Ground - TNGHT
7) Breezeblocks - alt-J
6) Follow Baby - PEACE
5) Pink Matter (Ft. André 3000) - Frank Ocean
Not only was the most reflective and brilliantly introverted moment of Frank Oceans' album, but also the best rap verse of the entire year. Quick yet tender, it showed André has definitely still got it.
4) Oblivion - Grimes
Only someone as brilliantly fucked as Grimes could turn a simple synth loop into a blissed-out, trippy masterpiece. The swirling vocal combined with dark lyrics give it an edge and vulnerability others would have ruined.
3) Goldie - A$AP Rocky
One of the tasters for Rocky's long awaited début, this goes hard from beginning to end. From the chopped n screwed chorus to the seemingly effortless bars delivered in Rocky's nonchalant flow this is A$AP's mission statement.
2) Clique - Kanye West, Jay-Z & Big Sean
Oh Kanye, Kanye, Kanye, let me count the ways I love you. You make Big Sean seem decent, bring out the best verse Jay-Z has had all year, whilst delivering the best brag-rap song of the year. Only you, Kanye, could refer to your mates as a clique. Only you, Kanye, could rap "Pass me refreshment, a cool, cool beverage", and make it sound cool. Only you, Kanye, could go this HAM.
1) King City - Swim Deep
Easily the best track of the year by easily the best new band of this year. This is escapism at it's finest. From the opening, sparse synth line to the crescendo at the end, everything about this song is perfect. It may not have much of a message, but I would definitely marry Jenny Lee-Lindberg.
IT'S BACK. I'm lazy and so haven't done this for a while, so excuse the long gap. Also found out that I can use posts n here for my degree portfolio. Since posting my last playlist, I've done many things, seen many places, matured. SRSLY. Anyway, here's my playlist for last month.
1) Clique- Kanye West, Jay Z & Big Sean
2) Hard In Da Paint- Waka Flocka Flame
3) Bugg'n- TNGHT
4) Never Never- SBTRKT
5) Stronger- Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
6) Syh- Egyptian Hip Hop
7) Bloodshake- PEACE
8) All I Wanna Do- Splashh
9) Toucan Surf- Jaws
10) Pink Matter (Ft. André 3000)- Frank Ocean
11) Hypocritical Kiss- Jack White
12) Police In Helicopter- John Holt
13) Shimmy Shimmy Ya- Prince Fatty
14) Professional Ganja Smoker- General Levy
15) The Full Retard- El-P
16) Bath Salt- A$AP Mob
17) Rapping 2 U- Das Racist
18) Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heaven)- Dexys Midnight Runners
19) I Can See Through You- The Horrors
20) Uptight (Everything's Alright)- Stevie Wonder
Let's be brutally honest; the 90's were shit. It was literally the worst era for music. I mean ok, as a child I probably didn't experience all the "greats" of the period, but as a fully fledged man-child, I have since explored them. And seriously, the 90's were awful. Britpop? What was that? Grunge? Seriously? So with this in mind I have compiled a list of the best tunes of the 90's. So what they have no artistic merit, play any of these songs at a party and watch the room crumble like your 6th birthday all over again.
5) 5678 - Steps
Steps were definitely better than S Club. Seriously, no contest. S Club were sell outs and had their own TV show due to (probably) poor album sales, whereas Steps kept it real and never lost a member. Although apparently some really weird shit happened behind the scenes. Anyway, this is their best original song. I mean who DOESN'T love a good hoe down?
4) Cotton Eye Joe - Rednex
Continuing with the hoe down theme with this absolute banger. I'm not really sure what anyone's saying, don't understand why there's a banjo solo and don't even think their rednecks (watch for the very sterotypical cowboys video), but I don't think I care. With possibly some of the best violin work of any song, I challenge anyone not to dosey doe to this.
3) Two Princes - Spin Doctors
This song gets no where near the amount of respect it deserves. I mean, it's a college rock classic, taking all the shit, depressing bits out of grunge and making them fun. I mean, Kurt Cobain never sounded anywhere near this chirpy. Interestingly this song was released a year before his death, so maybe the realisation he'd never be this good drove him to suicide (just sayin'). Also the band performed this on Sesame Street, and you can't get better than that.
2) Three Lions (96) - The Lightening Seeds ft. Skinner and Baddiel
Not only is this the best football song ever written, it's just a brilliant song. The reminder of every defeat sends grown men into hysterics, whilst the chorus gives them the perfect lift. It just all pieces together so perfectly. When I first heard aged about 4, I had no idea what the lyrics meant, I just knew it was a great song. As I slowly pieced the lyrics together, me and my dad would put it on every time England played and belt it out together. If you haven't had an emotional moment to this song, you have not lived.
1) Livin La Vida Loca
This is the best song of the 90's, hands down. Nothing else really comes close. I posted it on Facebook a few days ago and the amount of love that came in for this song shows how loved it was/is. So what it turned out Ricky Martin was gay and all his songs had been a sham? HE WAS COOL. Also, just listen to the music! I would pay someone a lot of money to find a better trumpet riff and Latino guitar solo than the ones in this song. He was the king of cheese, and therefore king of the 90's. CHOON.
Obviously you'll disagree with me. But you're wrong so it doesn't matter. And obviously there are some other great songs, but these are definitely the best 5. THX 4 REEDIN
Realise this isn't the best picture, but the guitarist is playing my guitar so fuck you
About this time every year every music magazine tries to find the Song Of The Summer. Whether it's a stupidly happy sunshine inducing pop song (hello Vampire Weekend) or the anthem everyone will drunkenly yell along to come festivals, predicting it The Song is key to having a good summer. Well, I've found it. This is the song.
Swim Deep come as part of Birmingham's new indie vanguard and show clearly why B-Town is the place to be right now.Although this is not your typical summer song (more than three chords), it just has something undeniably summery about it. Chiming synths and a driving bassline carry the reverby vocals in 4 minutes of pure sun. This is not the soundtrack to intensive heat and barbecues, but instead that point after a few pints when everything is chilling and the sun starts going down. The lyrics could have been put to three chords and made to sound like every other "anthem", ("with the sun on my back it's a nice day"), but the melancholic, echoy vocal gives it a different dimension. Although you're not going to be hearing this blaring out every festival tent this summer, nor sound tracking every Magners ad, this song needs to soundtrack your summer.
9/10
Embedded the video so you don't even have to click a link anymore (this took me ages to work out how to do)
Another monthly installment of my crazy playlist. This has been another week where I've become obsessed with one sound. Last week it was reggae, this week it was really minimalist R&B and Soul. I'm musically schizophrenic.
1) Keep You - Wild Belle
2) Take Care - Drake
3) Initiation - The Weeknd
4) Superstition - Stevie Wonder
5) Null - Runaround Kids
6) 1993 - Dananananaykroyd
7) High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive - Pulled Apart By Horses
8) Tapes & Money - Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
9) BTSTU - Jai Paul
10) I've Seen Footage - Death Grips
11) Mercy - Kanye West
12) Soul Man - The Blues Brothers
13) I Heard It Through The Grape Vine - Marvin Gaye
14) Bright Copper Noon - Willis Earl Beal
15) Thursday - The Futureheads
16) Bury My Bones - Pure Love
17) Liiiines - Ghostpoet
18) Rolling In The Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle) - Adele
19) Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
20) Summer Nights - Grease
I have been thinking about actually releasing this as a free mix every week if enough people want it. But it depends whether I can be bothered.
