Yeh love buglife ' q pints' it reminded me of an old Jamaican favourite of my dad called jamaica jonny and his single I still have on vinyl called Amstel Beer https://youtu.be/ZRNojxbBCwE?feature=shared
Some nice picks here! I was familiar with about half of these with a few making my top 40 (IDLES, Fontaines DC, Beth Gibbons) and a couple just missing the cut (Lola Young and Lucy Rose). I liked the sound of Egyptian Blue, Gut Health and The Peawees. I really enjoyed some of the Porridge Radio songs but didn’t connect with the whole album. I didn’t spend as much time with it as I would’ve liked, which was the case for a lot of albums last year.
Thanks, Mark! I’m in the middle of moving hell, otherwise I would’ve written a detailed response to your top 10. If I find a small break this week, I will get to it for sure. I can say that we definitely have a lot of overlap.
Very happy with the first five tracks here. Brilliant songs from brilliant bands! I got to see Girl And Girl back in September and they were amazing. Call A Doctor is a great album. I’m interested to see what they do next.
I am not going to comment on the vocals because I found them all pretty much excruciating to be honest 😂 (except maybe Beth Gibbons, but I don't think I could listen to an entire album of non-Portishead material sung by her). What I will comment on is the infectious bass on the Soapbox track.
As for your question on UK bands, from my perspective at least, UK artists across genres tend to come across as a tad more relatable. Especially now compared with 20 or 30 years ago.
Yes - relatable is a big part. But I think it all stems from the British Invasion and having such a brilliant base from which to build upon. There's an almost innate sense of melody and expression (and probably political/economic circumstances play a big role too).
I bet you could make it through the Beth Gibbons record! It's not trip-hop but it's uniformly excellent.
In my experience being British myself I tend to find American rock bands more full on, more produced and visual. They just seem BIG. British smaller, more subtle, less production. When it comes to individual artists if I don't know the nationality of a singer then I cannot necessarily distinguish between brit/US/canada unless accent gives it away
What a bunch of beauts! I love IDLES, Fontaines, Bug Club, Lucy Rose and... Well they're all good aren't they?! I definitely need to listen to more Gut Health. I'm loving their swagger. And Girl and Girl are new to me I think. I'm pretty sure I like the vocals! And thanks for that Egyptian Blue shout out. Had never seen that particular live session and loved it. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and looked at some other stuff from that channel. I'll share one of those vids later in my Recent and Decent thing. Keep the British music coming, I say! Also, love that you are checking out Later with Jools Holland. That's the only live music show we have over here and it's essential viewing. Do you have anything like that in America that doesn't feature at the beginning of a talk show? Like a proper live music show? All the best Steve. Happy New Year!
Thanks, Matt! In terms of broadcast TV, I can't think of a live music show that comes close to the greatness of Later...with Jools Holland. Maybe Austin City Limits is the closest thing that comes to mind.
I've been watching Jools' show for what feels like decades. There are some YouTube channels that have fantastic live series (like Yala TV). Here's a few I subscribe to:
Yeh love buglife ' q pints' it reminded me of an old Jamaican favourite of my dad called jamaica jonny and his single I still have on vinyl called Amstel Beer https://youtu.be/ZRNojxbBCwE?feature=shared
Some nice picks here! I was familiar with about half of these with a few making my top 40 (IDLES, Fontaines DC, Beth Gibbons) and a couple just missing the cut (Lola Young and Lucy Rose). I liked the sound of Egyptian Blue, Gut Health and The Peawees. I really enjoyed some of the Porridge Radio songs but didn’t connect with the whole album. I didn’t spend as much time with it as I would’ve liked, which was the case for a lot of albums last year.
Thanks, Mark! I’m in the middle of moving hell, otherwise I would’ve written a detailed response to your top 10. If I find a small break this week, I will get to it for sure. I can say that we definitely have a lot of overlap.
Good luck with the move, Steve, sending positive vibes!!
Very happy with the first five tracks here. Brilliant songs from brilliant bands! I got to see Girl And Girl back in September and they were amazing. Call A Doctor is a great album. I’m interested to see what they do next.
I am not going to comment on the vocals because I found them all pretty much excruciating to be honest 😂 (except maybe Beth Gibbons, but I don't think I could listen to an entire album of non-Portishead material sung by her). What I will comment on is the infectious bass on the Soapbox track.
As for your question on UK bands, from my perspective at least, UK artists across genres tend to come across as a tad more relatable. Especially now compared with 20 or 30 years ago.
Yep Soapbox bass is class
Yes - relatable is a big part. But I think it all stems from the British Invasion and having such a brilliant base from which to build upon. There's an almost innate sense of melody and expression (and probably political/economic circumstances play a big role too).
I bet you could make it through the Beth Gibbons record! It's not trip-hop but it's uniformly excellent.
Lastly: Yer Da! 😀
In my experience being British myself I tend to find American rock bands more full on, more produced and visual. They just seem BIG. British smaller, more subtle, less production. When it comes to individual artists if I don't know the nationality of a singer then I cannot necessarily distinguish between brit/US/canada unless accent gives it away
What a bunch of beauts! I love IDLES, Fontaines, Bug Club, Lucy Rose and... Well they're all good aren't they?! I definitely need to listen to more Gut Health. I'm loving their swagger. And Girl and Girl are new to me I think. I'm pretty sure I like the vocals! And thanks for that Egyptian Blue shout out. Had never seen that particular live session and loved it. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole and looked at some other stuff from that channel. I'll share one of those vids later in my Recent and Decent thing. Keep the British music coming, I say! Also, love that you are checking out Later with Jools Holland. That's the only live music show we have over here and it's essential viewing. Do you have anything like that in America that doesn't feature at the beginning of a talk show? Like a proper live music show? All the best Steve. Happy New Year!
Thanks, Matt! In terms of broadcast TV, I can't think of a live music show that comes close to the greatness of Later...with Jools Holland. Maybe Austin City Limits is the closest thing that comes to mind.
I've been watching Jools' show for what feels like decades. There are some YouTube channels that have fantastic live series (like Yala TV). Here's a few I subscribe to:
https://www.youtube.com/@OtherVoicesLive
https://www.youtube.com/@pastemagazine
https://www.youtube.com/@WGBHMusic
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kexp+live+performances
And there are others but YT is not showing me my subscriptions properly right now....
Happy New Year to you too! Looking forward to what you have to share for 2025.
Sweet, thank you so much for the YouTube channels! Can't wait to check them out!
Just heard that Girl and Girl song earlier today when it made a friend's Top Ten. Such an interesting tune and video!
Yeah, the music captures the extreme mood swings and mental gymnastics of the song’s narrator. I love it.