Welcome to Tiny Music Critic’s inaugural RWD<<, a monthly feature in which I dissect the previous month’s music news and releases, and point you, my desperate, devoted readers to the best that the music world has to offer (at least, according to my limited Anglo-American-centric worldview).
Before we get on to the heart of the matter (i.e. the lists, because - Lord knows - t’internet loves lists), let’s take a look at some of the biggest music news stories of January... well, one of them, anyway.
The music world suffered a great loss last month.
No, I’m not talking about the last shred of respect anyone had for Kanye West before his ill-advised, toddler-denigrating, woman-hating twitter tirade against Wiz “kk hitter” Khalifa; no, I’m obviously referring to the late, inimitably great David Bowie.
My relationship to Bowie’s music has always been a bit of a tangential one. My father introduced me to his music, but he also introduced me to Talking Heads, and I always leaned more towards that David B. than the artist formerly known as The Goblin King, fka The Thin White Duke, fka Aladdin Sane, fka Ziggy Stardust, fka Major Tom, fka Arnold Corns.
My wife was a huge fan during her teenage years, and whilst I have listened to and hugely enjoyed the hits, as well as Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, I am now looking forward to exploring his ample discography of classic records on a more in-depth basis.
It helps that Black Star was absolutely phenomenal. What an amazing parting gift; heroically off-kilter, unapologetically dark, and, in the context of what happened just 2 days after its release and what we now know about Bowie’s health during the albums’ making, impossibly moving.
Without further ado, here are my Top 31 Tracks of January 2016:
At 31, we have the most un-Tortoisey song Tortoise have released: it’s Yonder Blue, featuring the velvety voiced lady from Yo La Tengo. Discerning listeners may, erm, discern a kinship with the work of Timber Timbre.
Coming in at the big 30, it’s Swedish Sacred Bones-signees, Lust for Youth, with Stardom. Gotta love that peculiarly Scandinavian enunciation. It’s for all you lovers out there, apparently...
29. Cullen Omori has made his feelings about Smith Westerns pretty clear; setting a poster of the band on fire in your debut solo music video leaves little room for ambiguity. Anyway, Cinammon, from his forthcoming album, is a twinkly, 80s pop confection with strong shades of The Tough Alliance.
It’s no Kerou’s Lament, but it’s still worthy of the 28 spot on this list; it’s Ellery James Roberts’ latest track with his LUH project, I&I. Produced (albeit barely noticeably) by The Haxan Cloak, it’s a gorgeous song that’s all triumphant build with call and response vocals and just the right level of melodrama.
27. I can only imagine that Big Ups put their heads together to write the most Slint-esque song they possibly could. Well, homage is flattery. Luckily, National Parks is an absolute belter of a track; all spindly atmosphere in the spoken word verses, and bursts of violence in the “chorus” before the post-rock gives way to snotty Idlewild-esque punk-rock.
Oh, Eleanor Friedberger, so unassuming but so effortlessly charming. Sweetest Girl is sitting pretty at number 26.
For some reason this isn’t what I expected Shearwater to sound like. Quiet Americans features a scenery-chewing vocal performance that claims the 25 spot on this list with gusto. For fans of San Fermin.
24. RJD2 has struggled to gain foothold in the realm of relevance pretty much since his excellent debut, Deadringer, dropped 65 years ago. But Peace of What is an energising slice of soulful electronic funk. Good job, R2-D2!
Four drunk Spanish girls walked into a recording studio, armed with nothing but a terrible name (Hinds), awful note-bending vocals, and a redeeming sense of charming melody. The result is Warts, a song that will stick in your head similar to the manner in which it has gotten itself stuck in the 23 position.
22. Fresh off providing the emotional hook on Kanye West’s stand-alone single, All Day Tigger, Allan Kingdom corals Chronixx into featuring on the liar-hating anthem, Fables.
Are you missing How To Dress Well? Luckily, dvsn is here to scratch that post-RnB itch with Hallucinations. In at 21 FYI.
This list was missing some muscular volume. Thank goodness for Lycus, whose huge and brutally punishing Solar Chamber claims the no.20 spot.
Yeasayer are back! And it’s with their best song since ONE off Odd Blood; I Am Chemistry is as wonderfully bizarre as we should have expected. It’s probably the first time I’ve enjoyed the addition of a children’s choir. And for that, the song takes 19th position.
Rapping in French! That’s all you need to know about Christine and the Queens’ Tilted for it to justify getting in at 18. Choice lyric: “I’m doing my face with magic marker”.
17. Holy crap, that drum sound. Explosions in the Sky may not have marked their return to form with a Your Hand in Mine-esque life-changing epic, but Disintegration Anxiety is taut, controlled and pushes all the right buttons.
Natalie Prass teams up with the producer of her Album of the Year 2015 winning album, Matthew E White, for Cool Out, an easy-going number that makes a strong case for the merits of the male-female duet. That one’s the 16th best song of the last month.
At 15, we have Mothers with their instant-classic indie rock tune, Copper Mines. When it picks up speed during the chorus, it’s like the band’s possessed by the spirit of David Byrne.
Imagine The Dap Kings playing with The Black Keys, and then add a level of songwriting sophistication that Dan Auerbach could only dream of, and you’ve got the 14th best song of January 2016: Sun City Creeps by Woods.
Wild Nothings have never piqued my curiosity enough to warrant a dedicated listen before. But Reichpop demands attention and gets to sit at no. 13, baby! It does wonderful things in magical ways. The marimbas! The Robert Fripp Remain-In-Light guitar solo!
Chairlift are a different beast to the entity that made the Eurythmics-indebted Something. Moth to the Flame is a legitimate floor-filler that brings unabashed glee to anyone who hears it. “He’s that kind of man, mama!” Indeed. That was 12.
This is 11: the beguilingly weird paean to bitter breakups, To Think That I Once Loved You by The Drones. There’s so much going on in this song, and in it’s own peculiar way, it’s heartbreaking.
We’re in the top 10. This is Anderson .Paak‘s year: the seeming result of a mind-meld between D’Angelo and Kendrick Lamar, .Paak does it all. And on The Waters, Paak nearly out-D’Angelos D’Angelo and out-Lamars Lamar, whilst BJ The Chicago Kid does his usual soulful stuff.
Wait, this is Panda Bear right? No, it’s Rostam (now former Vampire Weekender) with EOS. The 9th best song of the year so far is an uncategorisable thing of beauty.
In case you were thinking, “Hold up, this list needs some more of that black metal goodness”, we’ve got Krallice crashing in at 8 with Assuming Memory; the highlight from their Hyperion EP. Shame this isn’t on Spotify. Boo!
7. One day, Ka will get his due. For now, those in the know will bask in his brilliance. 30 Keys is one of his barest ever instrumentals but it’s never less than utterly compelling. Like The Wire in miniature, it’s a supremely detailed and unflinchingly human take on life in the drug trade.
That voice. Taking 6th spot is Were We Once Lovers? by Tindersticks; a song that builds at an absolutely perfect pace.
Pj Harvey’s The Wheel is one of those songs that feels like it could go on forever and you wouldn’t even mind. You can tell it’s a strong month for new music when a song of this caliber is only at no. 5.
4. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the synth sound that Porches got to carry Be Apart is simply perfect.
He’s been discussed at length already above; at 3, it’s the one and only David Bowie with the stunning penultimate track from his ultimate album. Dollar Days is a tour de force of songwriting, lyricism and arrangement. Fool them all again and again - yes you will, David.
Ok, so the album ended up being a bit of a disappointment, but, to be honest, Savages shot themselves in the foot by releasing Adore as a single. They should have kept it as a deep cut, discovered and cherished by fans as the un-telegraphed zenith of the band’s career so far. It was almost too close to call, but the song was just beaten into 2nd position by...
... possibly the most perfect pop song I can remember hearing in the past few years: Disappointed by Field Music. This song deserves the No.1 spot. Don’t believe me? Just listen will you? And prove yourself to be a person of good taste.
Listen to the Spotify playlist of 30 of these 31 songs here.
Listen to Krallice’s track here.
And finally, my Top 10 Albums/EPs of January 2016 are listed below:
10. ‘Paradise’ by Pop. 1280
9. ‘Suicide Songs’ by MONEY
8. ‘Ritual Spirit’ by Massive Attack
7. ‘Leave Me Alone’ by Hinds
4. ‘New View’ by Eleanor Friedberger
3. ‘The Waiting Room’ by Tindersticks
2. ‘Malibu’ by Anderson .Paak
1. ‘Blackstar’ by David Bowie
Listen to the Spotify playlist of these albums here.
