So, this is, according to Apple Music, what I listened most to this year.
1-7 and 10-13
And in a rare wipeout, one album dominated the plays. Cheat Codes, with Danger Mouse and Black Thought, ended up on solid rotation, statistically wiping out anything else in this rundown. There’s not much video for this, but here’s a link to the Cheat Codes album for you to enjoy.
8
And bang in the middle of that list, something that was new to me and was just crackingly good. White Lies and “Am I Really Going To Die”…
9
Next up, an album track from way back in 2010 which has steadily rising up my playlist listens, OMD’s Sometimes:
14
And now we do a double back to a cover version which nails my 80s and 90s vibes in one. It’s the great ABC covering the great Radiohead’s High and Dry.
15
I have a soft spot for Mark Ronson’s sound and in the guise of Business International, it’s a literal Banger - Bang Bang Bang…
Also, that video, oh my, so many 80s video tropes rendered in Twenny-Tens Tech.
16
Still kicking it strong in the playlist, Dj Shadow (and Run The Jewels) with “Nobody Speak”. Fall in love with that bass line, then the sleek rhymes and top it all off with a classic video in a super Post-Soviet space:
17
And now, back to something fresh from 2022. Soft Cell returned with an epic slab of Cellular energy. “Happiness Not Included” is delightfully furious about the state of the world today. How could they top this…
18
And the answer was this. Purple Zone, with Soft Cell and the Pet Shop Boys. The team up we thought we’d never seen born out of Soft Cell inviting the Pets to remix the track. And as with so many Pets remixes, its transformative, in this case to the track credit itself making it a “Soft Cell & Pet Shop Boys” event.
19
The Slow Show, who are apparently popular in Germany, wandered into my ears with this track which got its album debut in 22. Mountbatten is a fragile dance through a difficult nostalgia for loss. And it’s lovely.
20
As if to say stop here, this was last years track of the year with the fine fine Dubstar and “I can see you outside”. Now, in 2022, with a video (last year it had a lyric placeholder (which was gorgeously done)) and a whole Album, Two, to carry with it. Still raising my spirits as the pandemic becomes a new normal…
But wait… there’s a bit more
This would already be eating up the chart if it hadn’t landed in mid-december. Keaton Henson creates strong, fragile songs that tell of broken hearts, broken promises and broken people. So what I wasn’t expecting was “Keaton’s Party Playlist” with some fine fine, utterly Keaton covers. Fall in love with “Call Me Al”…
And then discover that Taylor Swift is a lyrical genius with Anti-Hero… and that Keaton can take Swift’s words to a staggeringly sweet self-searching song….
And that’s it…
So, hope there’s something in the you might get to love. The great thing about great music is being able to share it. So, Happy New Year, see you all in 2023 and back to the grindstone post-winter perinium.