Sh!Tshow (Miracle Archives)
Theme tune for the popular opinion that everything is going horribly wrong. It’s not, really, it’s just going.
Shake Your Rump (Beastie Boys)
Laura and I have been officially courting for 30 years this year. This sing along favourite of ours is as close to a commemoration as we have go so far.
Portuguese Dance II (Jerskin Fendrix)
Poor Things was probably the most memorable of films I saw this year. This was the music playing in one of my favourite scenes of the film.
Ficar (Carminho)
Carminho also popped up briefly in Poor Things, which led me to her album which I really liked. I feel like I’m liking music more where I don’t understand the words, because most lyricists are rubbish.
The Holy Ground (The Mary Wallopers)
The Mary Wallopers are, to my mind, one of the closest in spirit to the Pogues-like sub-genre of folk. I put them on last year, and this I think was actually the first song of theirs I heard. I like them a lot.
Call Your Mom (Noah Kahan with Lizzy McAlpine)
This was Skye’s top song on Spotify. I do have a bit of a soft spot for Noah Kahan. It’s a bit sad and a bit hopeful, which seems about right.
Topless Mother (Nadine Shah)
Also had a soft spot for Nadine Shah for a while. Her new album had a couple of jolly little tunes including this one which is designated Laura’s song because she sung along to it on Radio 6. Sinatra Viagra Iguana. See comments about lyricists above.
Power (SAULT)
Anonymous musical collective SAULT have also been lurking for a long time. They had five (!) albums come out in 2022, listened to a lot of them in 2023, but this one stuck in my head with it’s positive message.
Girl (Sky Brown)
British Olympic hopeful Sky Brown became a bit of a Farah idol in the run up to the Paris Olympics. As part of her brand building she previously had a mandatory foray into pop music, which is this empowerment tune that was on repeat for Farah. Why do girls get this and boys get Andrew Tate?
Beyond The Sun (Beth Gibbons)
Kind of surprised that it took Mrs Portishead this long to get her first solo out. Her trademark cheer tunes filling the dance floor, I’m sure.
COBRA (Dead Pony)
Scotch Rockers Dead Pony clicked somewhere for me a few years back and they too had their first album out this year, not a collaboration with Beth Gibbons for shame. This was the most earwormed of that selection.
Creepy Crawlers (Viagra Boys)
Another lurker – narrowly missed out last year as their album grew on me. They do some interesting tracks, this one feels like it definitely captures a mood and acts as an interlude.
DUMB (Noga Erez)
Stumbled across Noga Erez and her slightly off centre pop, she had a new album out as well, listened to it, liked it, chose a song. Not much of a narrative there.
Tokyo Calling (ATARASHII GAKKO!)
A bit late for last year this Japanese group popped up on TikTok, I thought they were just dancers but then this anthemic single caught my ear. Had an album out this year but this remained the stand out for me.
Own Devices (Sophie Hunter)
Another TikTok discovery, I saw a clip of her performing Cha Cha in the streets of New York which lead me to her EP. Feels like a distinctive, different voice. Appreciated. Inevitably just found she’s been on Radio 6. Hasn’t everyone?
Big Dick Energy (Lambrini Girls)
I don’t even listen to Radio 6 but still end up with the same playlist. Lambrini Girls came to me via Spotify last year, maybe before they sacked everybody useful. Of the new singles in advance of a hyped up album next month this one amused me most. A better, British, Amyl and The Sniffers also championed by, of course, Radio 6. Kind of takes me back to my Riot Grrrl days. Ahh, memories.
El Que (Angélica Garcia)
Featured on a previous annual, another album came with a more solid sound and a bit more Spanish language. Radio 6 of course like her. Was hard to choose a track but this one would wake me up when I was working.
The Feminine Urge (The Last Dinner Party)
A duplicate from last year. One of my favourite albums of the year they do sometimes sound like a tribute act to a certain era of alternative pop, but that’s not a bad thing considering what else is out there at the moment. And their lyrics are actually listenable.
Give & Take (Rosie Frater-Taylor)
The first song to be added to the long list for 2024. A Spotify discovery, I think, Rosie F-T is apparently a virtuoso guitarist and blends (it says here) rock, alt-pop, neo-soul, new-school jazz, and folk. Whatever you call it, I thought is sounded FRESH.
The Line (Vera Sola)
Spotify brought me here. Danielle Ackroyd, Blues Brother offspring, also caught me off guard with something a little different and some proper singing and that. On a first listen I found this too frenetic but it wormed its way into my regular listens.
Punk’s Dead (Soft Play)
Slaves name change upset some idiots, but it inspired the band to write this song which is one of their better more recent efforts. Radio 6 probably like it? I don’t know.
Perfectly Alone (K.Flay)
Hardy perennial K.Flay went deaf in her right ear, wrote an album partly about that. This final song clicked quite heavily for me but there’s several on there.
Maybe (The Ink Spots)
Amazon’s Fallout TV series was one of the best things out this year, allegedly even those that didn’t play the game. Interwar international superstars The Ink Spots are stalwarts of the game (and were in the TV series too) to the extent that they featured on my Christmas compilation way back in 2007. There’s something haunting about their choons that works as a soundtrack for the apocalypse, which seems timely.