My Tracks of the Year 2019

So I thought I'd do a playlist for the best of 2019. These aren't necessarily the songs released this year but the ones I've been listening to. Check it out on Spotify here.

Like An American - Vistas
This Edinburgh band had their first gig outside of Scotland in Sheffield to a sold out crowd. This single grabbed me for some reason.

Damage Done - Sea Girls
This track starts slowly but by the end I'm not wanting it to end, he even gets me singing "Darnce".

Hall of Fame - The Howl & The Hum
Sam Griffiths, lead singer and songwriter of the band, grew up in Colchester and then moved to the north in his later teens. The band are partly named after an Allen Ginsberg poem if that means anything to you. This is quite a short track but if you fancy a more epic, slowly building track then check out Godmanchester Chinese Bridge, it's had nearly 6 million streams on Spotify as I type.

Hypersonic Missiles - Sam Fender
We all need to be reminded of fake news (or propaganda as it was called before social media) and how it can be healthy to be cynical. Sam gives us that slap around the face.

Better Than Me - Ten Tonnes
This track can hardly be described as being missed by the mainstream, it was played to death on radio but it's great to revisit. G.I.V.E was another track of theirs that I enjoyed.

The Walker - Fitz and the Tantrums
OK so this is 2013 but it was one of the tracks for the Umbrella Academy and it's awesome. I've played this so much but I've also listened to some of their other tracks. Check out more recent releases All The Feels and I Just Wanna Shine, a belter of a song and anything mentioning climbing mountains gets a massive tick from me.

Symbols of Joy & Eternity - Sundra Karma
This is just awesome, love it, love it, love it! The way they use the speaking section and then bring the music back in, BOOM!

Your Girlfriend - Blossoms
As it's the season for unrequited love, or at least in one scene of Love Actually, then this song is perfect, it's a great pop record and the lyrics tell a story. What more can you want. Their follow up single, The Keeper came a close second best.

Dreamland (feat. Years & Years) - Pet Shop Boys
The best track I've heard from PSB for years, are there two bands more suited to collaborate?

Arriba (feat. Clean Bandit) - Little Big, Tatarka
Sprint standing up, sprint sitting down, sprint hover. Again! Now die. Why did I suggest this track to our spinning instructor?!

Can't Hold Us - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Another track from spinning, this one was released a while back, 2012 I think but I wanted to share it with you in case you hadn't caught it the first time around as I've been listing to it loads.

Love Runs Out - OneRepublic
Another spinning one and this one is 2014, I've got to share it though, what a track.

Vacation - Dirty Heads
Discovered after I shazamed a fishing programme advert in the middle of the Tour de France. From 2017 for those counting.

Story Problem - The Envy Corps
I did warn you they weren't all from 2019, this one is from 2007/08 and is a cracking tune. I think I picked it up off  Run Fat Boy Run, our go to film to watch the night before a big run. This year it was my wife's first marathon and she certainly hasn't let me forget it!

Excites Me - LIFE
This is one of my daughter's favourites, she's a bit of a rock chick and asks for it a lot, not just because it mentions dinosaurs either. Check out Bum Hour from their latest album as well.

Sean Connery - Allez Allez
Meet the groove, the hairy old man. He's not like anybody else.

Track Suit - Minor Mishap Marching Band
They are a "25 piece renegade brass band from Austin, Texas" and I discovered this track while watching Fargo the excellent TV series on Netflix. Check out the YouTube video of them performing the track here.

Rabbia e Tarantella (from Inglorious Basterds0 -  Ennio Morricone
What a great film and recently watching it again I shazamed this track. I've played it lots since, much to calls from my wife of "are you playing that Nazi music again". It's not Nazi music, it's just a score used in a film!

Kids Addicted - Red Rum Club
I woke up with this in my head the other day, always a good sign I think.

HEYROCCO

HEYROCCO seem to be a band having fun and keen on enjoying the ride. Miles from home and leaving little ones behind, I couldn't work out whether they were insulting the venue or enjoying it by describing it as a back yard gig. Lead singer Nathan Merli had a real younger brother charm who you could imagine getting away with murder and his big sister always forgiving him.

Turning to Big Jeff in the crowd (Bristol's finest gig-goer) he proclaims "I love you man" much to Jeff's and all of our delight. "I love you all" he follows it up with. Jeff now has another string to his bow, as well as moshing along at all venues and bands, he now draws. So there he stood in his big frame, a little bit moshing, a little bit singing along, all the while adding to his portrait of Nathan.

Back to HEYROCCO and as a three piece they were making a lot of noise, drummer Christopher Cool adding backing vocals as well as beats to Nathan's vocals. Cool didn't look like a drummer, he was too clean cut, wearing a suit jacket over his Iron Maiden T-shirt. It was quite refreshing. Like Sean Penn's character in Carlito's Way, he's the one you least expect to go nuts but you get the feeling he enjoys the afterparty just as much as the gig.

Cool hit the skins big time but I'm not sure his energy was quite matched with the songs and you had this weird contrast of a band giving their all but the tunes coming out a bit downbeat at times. Mom Jeans is a song that stuck with me after the gig and I enjoyed their set. At times it was grungey at other times the vocals were more Semisonic.

With their set finished, Nathan came in to the crowd to see Big Jeff's drawing, introducing himself and saying hello. I think HEYROCCO are further along their artistic journey than Jeff but they were perfect buddies as the band joined the crowd to enjoy The Lemonheads from the not so active mosh pit. They had charm and style and I look out with interest for their next album, if it's a progression fuelled by their energy and charisma it could be something special.

A Gig With The Ex

I came across an ex the other day, not a major flame, not one I think of regularly but an ex all the same. Going by the name of The Lemonheads, they were a band I really enjoyed at a time I was just really getting in to my music. Introduced to me by my two main musical influences at the time, my sister and my mate Michael, It’s A Shame About Ray was a great album and liked by my circle of friends – even Kris who I bet all these years later doesn’t own more than ten albums!

As with meeting any ex, it was weird to start off with. We’d both changed, I’d lost my hair and he’d, OK he’d still got his full head of hair but he looked older and maybe a bit worse for wear. A towering man, someone still able to pull off baggy clothes, he had a strange presence on stage. With a name like Evan Dando, his name is probably bigger than the band's – the fact that the guy at work knew him but not the band said it all.

Back to my love of them as a teenager and they were one of the first bands that I worked out that b-sides could actually be good. With my tickets not confirmed until close to the show, I hadn’t done my usual revision of their back catalogue and recent stuff, only having a quick flick through their latest covers album Varshons 2. Released ten years after the first Varshons, nothing had jumped out and grabbed me but I was still looking forward to the gig. Would they play much from It’s A Shame…, would they play the acoustic tracks I liked, would they play much old material at all?

As I said it was all a bit weird to start off with, they were on stage bang on time, in fact they hadn’t even stopped the warm up music by the time Dando had started playing and the rest of the band were playing catch-up. This quick start didn’t show any sign of stopping as they raced through the numbers and I was soon able to hear songs from my youth. He was certainly going to give us quantity and it was the rest of the band and sound engineer’s job to keep up and try to bring in the quality.

It was an odd sight to watch, after the opening tracks Evan grabbed himself some extra slack on his guitar lead so that he could get to the back of the stage to grab his bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon. This seemed to cause the rest of the band to raise eyebrows at each other but it didn’t perturb Dando and, just like meeting your ex’s family years after your relationship, it suddenly felt like we were seeing the inner workings of The Lemonheads, with equally awkward moments.

They have always been Dando’s band and he ran the show that way. Changing the set list at the whim of the crowd or his want, stopping songs suddenly and heading off in another direction without warning. Picking an enthusiastic lady out of the crowd and playing her song request “this one’s for you blondie”. As she successfully requested a second track he got half way through it and then just stopped and said he’d play it when they’d finished the set list. He started playing a cover and the bassist had no idea, turning to the drummer for help, mouthing “what’s going on”.

It wasn’t a shambles though. Dando did it with the style of an old rocker, pouring his whisky over his head to wet his hair and push it back. It would have been cool if he hadn’t got it in his eye and broke off from playing his guitar to wipe it out with his T-shirt. Looking like a bigger, stronger Iggy Pop, he seemed to grow in to the gig, starting to smile and talk a bit more.

There was no time for applause between songs and with my favourite tracks, singles, b-sides and album tracks all played they headed off stage for the customary calls for more. They soon came back on but with Mrs Robinson still not played it looked like there was only one way it could go. Of course we should have known there was no chance of that. A few songs played, he put his hand up, signalling what looked like five more minutes. But no. That was it. He turned, walked off stage and the band hurried after him. Another encore? Lights on, music playing. Like the ex heading off that you no longer have a connection with, there was no need for a long goodbye.

3WTM 2018 Playlist

So what have I been listening to this year? I'm sure you've all been wondering. Well now you can hear with this great Spotify playlist or Apple Music Playlist.

Angry Cyclist - The Proclaimers
The Proclaimers? You bet! Somehow Spotify thought I might like this and they were right. Try it, forget who it's by, if you can, and you won't regret it.

110 Ways To Make Things Better - Jordan Allen
I still can't get over how much he sounds like the Pigeon Detectives. It was either this track or Synchronised to go on the playlist, I'd listen to all his stuff if I was you.

Stand Up Tragedy - The Fratellis
The more I hear of them, the more I like them. So underrated after a big hit early on.

Pressure (feat. UCLA Bruin Marching Band) - Muse
This song is good but add a marching band and it makes it, gives it that something extra that doesn't make it just another Muse track.

Never Enough - The Hunna
Not their most played track on Spotify, how that is, I have no idea. I loved it from the minute I heard it on the radio.

Running On Empty - Issac Gracie
Another radio earworm for me. Straight on to a playlist and on constant rotation.

Harder Than You Think - Public Enemy
The intro music from Channel 4's Last Leg.

Montage - Andy Hull and Robert McDowell
Say the word "montage" and I instantly think of Team America (f*%£ Yeah). However this is from the eBay advert and Swiss Army Man OST.

Last Century - The Almighty Rhombus
They've featured previously on the blog so it was great to hear they were back with new material. Check it out.

Simplify - Young The Giant
I enjoyed their My Body song so much I had to listen to their other tracks to see what else they had to offer. This is pretty good.

Love Is A Basic Need (Orchestral Version) - Embrace
Another strong track from the boys from West Yorkshire.

Unbelievers - Ezra Furman

Seavolution - Tiesto
Tastes change over time but I was certainly surprised to be recommended this by Neil, occasional contributor to the blog. Cracking track though.

Dished (Male Stripper) - Purple Disco Machine
Keeping the dance music section of the blog going. I'm loving this in my spinning classes at the moment.

Freaks - Timmy Trumpet
Known as the trumping song in our house, our kids go mental for it.

You Fine - Saint Motel
Darlings of the advertising world, Saint Motel's b-side is another foot-tapping tune ready to persuade you to use the latest brand.

The Heart Is A Muscle - Gang of Youths
I'm a bit late to the GoY party but I'm going to do some revision and make sure I'm up-to-date after finding this track.

No Roots - Alice Merton
As I'm currently doing rehab for my back I'm inclined to sing I've Got No Glutes to this as I try to improve my core (and my glutes).

You've Got Time - Regina Spektor
Another party I'm late to, not Regina but Orange Is The New Black, the Netflix series that this is the theme tune to.

Jordan B Peterson's Drinking Song - Akira The Don
When I was stuck in a traffic jam the other week, missing my eldest's parents evening, I started scouring Spotify and somehow I revisited Akira The Don. His (?) Drinking Song has been a favourite of mine for sometime and I was interested what he was up to now. It's a lot of spoken word over backing tracks which work well in the right kind of environment. This one seems to be an update / variance on the original Drinking Song and works for me. Is that Wheels as the backing tune? Try also Any Dream You Wanted.

Time To Give - White Lies
A return for White Lies and a return to form in my eyes / ears.

River Thames - MOSES
Thrown up by Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist. Not a bad algorithm that one.

The Revolution Will Be Digitised - Bibelots
As above, a new discovery for me.

That's Not Entertainment - The Lottery Winners
I do like discovering new music but it can be work at times, going through a lot of average songs. This was a nice find, it sounds like it should be on the Road Trip soundtrack.

If you've managed to read this far please take the time to leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter @johnalamb

3WTM November / December Playlist

Some of my favourites along with contributions from friend of the blog Andy P. As always, available on Apple Music and Spotify.

Andy's Choices:

Holly y Su banda - Benji Muji Mau

Not a normal genre that I would go for but just something fun and delightful and a bit  different. 

Johnny Flynn - The Landlord - English folk meets the blues. An interesting combination and not quite as folky as much of his other stuff but I think it's my favourite track off his latest album.

Pearl Love - Shuddering Trains

This is a local (to me anyway) young lady who has a delightfully delicate touch. She has been dabbling with music for a while but this is her first proper release. A great demonstration of how streaming allows new artists to get their music out there in an unhindered way.

Josh Doyle - Solarstorm

I saw Josh live a few months ago as the support act at a tiny venue and was really taken with his laid back approach. His career has gone through peaks and troughs over time but he just keeps going doing what he enjoys and seems to be somewhat ambivalent to how much commercial success.

Amy Wadge - One last dance 

Amy who? She's a Grammy award winner - still not heard of her but I guarantee you know her songs. Most notably she frequently co writes with Ed Sheeran including "thinking out loud"

She is a prolific song writer and if you get the chance to see her perform (and she doesn't do very many live dates) she is very entertaining. Many of her songs come about from events in her life - this was one that she wrote about her ninety something year old Grandparents who passed away within a few months of each other.

John's Choices:

To start off with I've got lots of old names that have been around a good while and will be familiar to you all but are their new tracks?

Geronimo - Stereophonics
Stereophonics seems to hit patches of form and then can come up with a dud album or two. Their latest offering certainly seems to be the former, with another strong single from the album.

The Next Time We Wed - The Fratellis
I think The Fratellis are underrated or maybe it's just me who has underrated them? I absolutely love Me And The Devil from their 2016 album and this track is up there again. Don't be like me and pass them by. You'll regret it.

Run It Wild - Robbie Williams
I don't listen to commercial radio, so maybe Robbie is getting a lot of air time there but I certainly haven't heard him half as much as I normally would expect. I'm really enjoying his latest material yet on the radio this morning they were playing one of his old tracks. That's WWWTM all over!

Always Ascending - Franz Ferdinand
You can't miss the distinctive vocals, so it's always going to sound like Franz Ferdinand but the track itself has got an 80s feel to it, maybe even a bit of ELO...

Nothing To Live Down - Shed Seven
I had to put another Shed Seven track on, their latest album is getting loads of coverage and great feedback from critics and fans alike. This track has been on the 6 Music playlist. People Will Talk remains my favourite track off the album. Well worth listening to for those who bother reading this blurb to go with the tracks.

Permanent Vacation - The Academic
The Academic are a band from Ireland that have more of an American sunshine band sound to them.

Love You So Bad - Ezra Furman
Probably my favourite of the playlist but it seems not to everyone's taste. It's definitely worth checking out.

Holly Wood - Will Joseph Cook

Miami - Baxter Dury
I found Baxter through a recommendation on Twitter by Reverend and the Makers. He's not one to play in front of the kids but really has something to his music.

Golden Slumbers - Elbow
You can't fail to have heard this over Christmas, the cover version of The Beatles track has gone down a storm, even in my Elbow-hating-office.

Out of Her Mind - Cassia
More Vampire Weekend inspired music, seems they really hit a note with some bands.

New Year - Catholic Action
There's only one time to release this track isn't there.

Me & You - George Ezra
This original track written especially for the Channel 4 adaptation of the popular book We're Going on a Bear Hunt by George Ezra. It's a lovely, catchy song played at the end of the film.

Lemon to a Knife Fight - The Wombats
The Wombats were featured in the early days of this blog so it would be rude not to mention they're touring again and have this song out.

Happy New Year - Big Moon

Cold Cold Cold - Cage The Elephant
CTE are such a hit a miss band for me. It takes a lot of energy to listen to all their tracks. When I saw this track was on someone's most listened to track of 2017 I had to check it out. It's another winner.

Ophelia - The Lumineers
As above, I discovered this track from someone showing their most played tracks on Spotify via Twitter.

I Can't Quit - The Vaccines
The new single from this band that I've followed ever since my good friend Neil introduced me to them. I hope the rest of the album is this good.

Anyone Knows What Love Is - Irma Thomas
This features on a Black Mirror episode and really brought the whole plot together at the end. The excellent 15 Million Merits is another great track from this episode but sadly it's not on Spotify. It's by Stephen Merits if anyone wants to hunt it down.

I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Anton Du Beke
Those music snobs out there can move along straight away. However if you like a bit of Richard Cheese or Mike Flowers Pops you may appreciate this swing version of The Arctic Monkeys.

3WTM October Playlist

Just me (John) this month but I've got a bumper selection of songs for you. A real mix of new bands and old bands returning with new material.  Check them out on Apple and Spotify as normal.

Up All Night - Beck
A few (normal) people on Twitter were saying how good this track so I had a little listen. Not what I would normally expect from Beck but good all the same.

Rosie - Jordan Allen
What a great find. Sounds like Pigeon Detectives to me.

Room In My House - Shed Seven
Back with a new album and out on tour again, it seems like all the nineties pop bands are coming up with songs and touring again. It makes it even harder to believe that the music industry is poor. Either that or there isn't any better work out there for musicians.

Under A Million Lights - Tom Chaplin
More new material from Tom, once of Keane, maybe he's more than a flash in the pan now he's writing his own tracks.

Take Me Home - Milburn
The brains behind Milburn, Joe Carnall, has been working closely with Reverend and the Makers and I incorrectly credited John McClure with writing Juliet Knows (by RatM) when in fact it was Joe. This track with Joe's original band is not in the same vain but has a nice little hook to it.

Hourglass - Imitating Aeroplanes

Tord Øverland Knudsen out of The Wombats is part of this band and it has more of a Norwegian feel than The Wombats do. In fact I would never have put the two together. I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Can't Do - Everything Everything

More quality from EE, as I said last month, nothing new in terms of style but great all the same.

Distance Yourself - Baby Strange

The lead singer's voice has a bit of the Ricky from Kaiser Chiefs about it.

Loveblood - Sundra Karma

Always makes me thinks it is Arcade Fire when it comes on. 100% compliment. I discovered this after featuring one of Sundra's other songs on here.

New Home - The Bay Rays

I feel like this has an 70s or 80s rock feel to it but as they're a bit before my time I can't say that for sure. A good, upbeat track.

Losing Your Love - Paris Youth Foundation

This Liverpool band have been described as Wolf Alice meets The Strokes by the NME.

Black Magic - The Amazons

My daughter was disappointed when this wasn't Little Mix - I wasn't!

Go - Valley Lodge

I've got this from Shazaming a football related programme, maybe Final Score on the BBC? It's got a real hook of a riff! UPDATE: It's from the excellent Thrice Champions Podcast, they use it on the intro.

The Man - The Killers

I'm enjoying this track from The Killers, quite a lot of synths but that's no bad thing.

Oxygen - Catfish and the Bottlemen

I've always enjoyed CatB without me really getting in to them. This suggests to me I should be checking out more of their material.

Dangerous Day - Space

I was a big fan of Space back in the day and I was interested to hear what new material from them would be like. It's not bad but I'm not jumping for joy just yet. Shared more out of interest than anything else.

Almost Human - Air Traffic

Somehow two of my email addresses are subscribed to Air Traffic's mailing list. So I was fully aware they were touring again and they have released this single as part of their tour. Not bad guys.

Friend of a Friend - Red Rum Club

Another Liverpool band who are missing a trick if you ask me, if I was them I'd have my logo with the two Rs backwards as a nod to The Shining.

Detectorists - Johnny Flynn

The theme tune to the excellent BBC Four comedy written by Mackenzie Crook which he stars in alongside the brilliant Toby Jones. It's a slow moving comedy about two guys who spend most of their time with their metal detectors, making them "detectorists".

Go Mental - Robbie Williams

Not politically correct in this time of mental health awareness as my wife tells me but I can't help yelling along as well as joining in on the soul side of the song.

Holy Mountain - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

I know this song is everywhere but I'm really enjoying it. I was surprised to hear my colleagues don't feel the same, including a long time Noel fan. Is it just me? Comment below to give me your view. The sample is The Ice Cream and their track, The Chewin' Gum Kid.

Caught By The Wind - The Stereophonics

I like their latest single and it's great to see them doing so well twenty years and ten albums since they burst on to the scene. Hurry up and wait indeed.

Warriors - Too Many Zooz

The latest iPhone advert track, Discovered playing in a subway allegedly.

One of Us - New Politics

Danish pop band from Copenhagen, they've been around for years but this is one of their latest tracks.

3WTM Latest Playlist

A playlist of what music we have just discovered, new or old, that we feel needs sharing. We hope you find a gem or two. Stream on Apple or Spotify as normal. If someone fancies checking the Apple one and letting me know it works, that would be much appreciated.

Chris' Selection:

Beehive – Mark Lanegan Band – Gargoyle 2017

I like Mark Lanegan. His voice is a bit like Iggy Pop turned down a notch. Apparently, he can be a bit dour. This puts me a little in mind of House of Love.

Guns – Broken Witt Rebels – Georgia Pine EP - 2016

Vocally this reminds me a little of Kings of Leon – a great track that skips along nicely. Guitar-based I might add.

Comeback Kid – Kasabian – For Crying Out Loud – 2017

This was in my playlist of the week from Apple Music and very good it is too. I was mainly drawn to it for the title of the album to be honest – ‘For Crying Out Loud’ is a phrase I might well use in exasperation when a stronger phrase would be more apposite. You tend to know what you’re going to get from Kasabian, and this delivers.

Arabian Heights – The Afghan Whigs – In Spades - 2017

I’ve never heard of these but they’ve been around quite a bit. They’re an American group who were around in the late 80s and 90s, but then split up. They reformed in 2011. Anyway, this track sounds very polished. I love the guitar playing in it and the general feel.

Evergreen – The Darling Buds – Evergreen EP - 2107

I used to love The Darling Buds – one of the first indie bands I got into. I saw them play at The Leadmill and remember them coming out and dancing next to us later in the evening. Well this is very much like them – makes me think a little of The Bangles I suppose.

Teardrops In A Hurricane – Jordan Mackampa – Tales From The Broken – EP – 2017

There’s something about this that reminds me of Black and Gold by Sam Sparro. It doesn’t have quite as strong a beat – but it is a steady and consistent beat. Gorgeous vocals – very laid back.

Million Dollar Secret – Lucius – Tales From The Broken – EP – 2017

Also quite laid back. Lucius are a 4-piece from Brooklyn with just a couple of Eps to their name. No drums – no guitars. Ambient synthy sounds.

On Her Journey To The Sun – Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly  - On Her Journey To The Sun – 2017

Prog rock? Psychedelic pop? Lovely lilting feel and great instrumentalisation with some great solos. Soaring vocals in places.

Delirium Tremendous – Felix Hagan & The Family – Delirium Tremendous – Single – 2017

Would this be classed more as pop? Who knows? It’s very catchy. In places it makes me thing of Rock Lobster. It is very catchy and probably the track I enjoy most amongst my selections this month.

John's Selection:

Better - Matthew Ebel - Cognitive Dissonance

Matthew Ebel is a great talent and Cognitive Dissonance is a good album but he and it doesn't know what it wants to be. One second he's Ben Folds (piano, odd swearing, humour), next second he's Dave Grohl (singing style) and then on some tracks he goes all Daft Punk on us. I urge you to listen to the album just to appreciate his chameleon style. In this track he's just Ben and Dave but you get the picture. Will be interesting to see if my friend Spanners likes the track.

Juliet Knows - Reverend and the Makers

Wisely John McClure has let his pal Joe Carnall (of Milburn fame) sing the lead vocals on this and it lifts it up to the levels it deserves. I'm sure John would admit that he's not the greatest singer out there but what he adds as a front man and lyricist shouldn't be questioned. This is the second single off the forthcoming album that I have already pre-ordered.

T-Shirt Weather - Circa Waves

This track is a few years old and one I've just discovered - or at least it has now come in to my consciousness. The band, from Liverpool, released their second album last year and are well worth checking out.

Imagine Life - Thirteen Senses

Another song from the past that I have just discovered. I actually came across this track on a podcast about cycling. I believe a member of the band are really in to their cycling and allowed the excellent The Cyclist Podcast to use their music. The element that got me was the hook that sounds not dissimilar to Arcade Fire's Wake Up although when listening to the track as a whole it's harder to spot. See if you agree.

Junk Food Forever - The Amazons

Having run out of podcasts and struggling to find anything of quality on my usual radio stations, I turned to Radio 1. Well I was taken back when this quality, guitar based track came on. From Reading and included in the station's "Sound of 2017", they're pretty good!

Desire - Everything Everything

More of the same from Everything Everything, so much so that I had to check it was a new track. Sometimes we just want bands to give us more of what they do best and EE deliver.

Bring You Down - The Real People

1995 / 1996 was my era for music, I inhaled every guitar band I came across and loved every minute. So when I came across a band I'd not heard of from that time I had to learn more. This track is great, how did I miss it? It turns out they were big friends of Oasis as they gave them a scouse helping hand when the Mancunian scene was a little less friendly.

Young Love - The Lottery Winners

This is a pop song that I've had on my playlist for quite sometime, I really need to share it. It's "just" a catchy tune that won't go away. We all know that any song like that isn't "just" anything. Enjoy this earworm.

3WTM April and May Playlist

Each month we put forward the tracks we've been listening to. Usually more new music because that's how it goes month to month but if we've found any gems from the past then we add those to. We were aiming for April for this one but it's more like May in the end! Stream on Spotify or the not so good Apple Music.

John's Selection

Amigo – Chef’Special

It’s a nice upbeat track that’s a bit Vampire Weekend like. Chef’Special are a band from Haarlem in The Netherlands.

Shake – The Rassle

The Rassle are a band we featured a good while back on the back as they evolved out of the excellent The Virgins band (worth checking out Rich Girls if you don’t know that track already). Never hitting the highs of The Virgins, The Rassle have however produced some quality pop tracks over the years.

The Time I Met The Devil – Brave Giant

Seems I really like a banjo (or is it a mandolin?) in a song and this rattles along at a great pace. You can’t help put tap your foot.

Back Then – Formation

Wow, on a roll this month and really happy with these tracks. This duo are from London and that’s about all I know sadly. They have an album out so I’m off to check that out. You should too.

Silver Heat – Ten Tonnes

Ten Tonnes is the alias of a 19 year old and wow, I’m impressed. It seems a really grown up track, I think you’re going to like people.

(Don’t Let Them Catch You) Crying  – Madness (Leo Zero Tufnell Remix)

This is great, reminds me of the great Abdomo song (No 1 by Grove Armada) that just eats away at you over time and by the end it’s sunk its teeth in to you and won’t let go.

Chris's Selection

Whisper I’lllistentohearit – Spoon, Hot Thoughts.
I’m new to Spoon I think, but they’ve been around since 1993 – they’re from Austin Texas. This song is a very open sounding arrangement – guitars, synths, a straightforward drum beat. It perhaps makes me think a little of Arcade Fire.

Wes Come Back – Rodes Rollins – Young Adult EP. I think this young lady is American too and at the start of her career from the look of things. This song is very laid back. It reminds me a little of Underwater Love by Smoke City.

Somebody Better – Black Honey – Somebody Better Single. This is a group from Brighton and a belter of a song – again, they haven’t got much out.


Please Me – Puppet Rebellion – Please Me Single.
Manchester band (who've featured on the blog before - JL). Possibly aimed at a younger audience, maybe not, this is a decent enough song. It puts me a little in mind of Two Door Cinema Club in places.

3WTM February Playlist 2017

So each month we choose some tracks that have been hitting the right notes, we then share them as a playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Check 'em out!

Chris' Tracks

New Estate – Giant Rooks – New Estate EP – A German Alt-Pop quintet apparently. Upbeat guitars, synth, piano – vocals hint a little at Alt-J.

Fly-By Alien – VANT – Dumb Blood – I think VANT are reasonably well known. Probably at the heavy end of stuff that I like, but good.

The Lost Sky – Jesca Hoop – in a complete U-turn from VANT – simple acoustic guitar, light female vocals, plucked cellos? A bit of a folky feel to this, beautiful and interesting. Great harmonies. Jesca Hoop is from California, but gave up the California sun in 2008 to move to Manchester (of all places).

Up to the Surface – Cloud Nothings – Life Without Sound. Cloud Nothings are an American indie-rock band. This track is OK, but maybe a bit steady.

Overflow – Ten Fé – Hit The Light. Ten Fé are a London based act. This track puts me slightly in mind of Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap, but it’s only a passing resemblance, and probably down to the bass part. Is there a bit of Ultravox in there?

Six Flags in F or G – Surfer Blood – Snowdonia. Rock Lobster.

Substitute – Billy Bibby and The Wry Smiles. Were the wry smiles a reaction to the name ‘Billy Bibby’? Who knows? Oh – apparently he used to be the guitarist with Catfish and the Bottlemen. A pretty good song, all in all.

Evening Prayer – Half Waif – Life Will See You Now. A bit of an odd one this. It’s a song about a bloke who made a 3-D print of a tumour he’d had removed. Or more, it’s about the relationship of the songwriter to the bloke who made a 3-D print of his tumour. I saw someone on line compare to The Human League in style and it seems a reasonable observation to me.

Dama de Lavanda – The Paperhead – Chew. Well this starts out with a similar guitar riff to Morning’s Eleven by The Magic Numbers. A bit of trumpet gives a mariachi feel in places.

John's Selections

The Kids Don't Wanna Come Home - Declan McKenna

Winner of Glastonbury's Emerging Talent Award. Brazil was his big hit of the time. I'm off to check it out.

Fill In The Blank - Car Seat Headrest

I heard of them through Twitter, I get the feeling that's a strategy rather than by chance.

Blown Rose - Blossoms

OK I'm a bit late with this one. I've been listening to it for a while and it's hear for anyone who has caught this emerging band yet.

Great Pile Of Nothing - Mozes And The Firstborn

It's got a real feel of American indie, early nighties maybe. However they're from the Nederlands, this is off their second album released in 2016.

The Walker - Fitz and the Tantrums

Somehow I've ended up on their mailing list and until now they've not hit the mark. I like this though, especially the whistling. Boom!

Pentagrams - Deja Vega

No idea how I stumbled across this track but I know it's not recent, from the end of 2015. Good track though, worth sharing.

Feeling OK - Best Coast

I've been listening to this track since April so I don't know how I've passed it up each month, it certainly deserves our attention. It's off their California Nights album released in 2015.

3WTM January 2017 Playlist

A monthly run down of what we've been listening to. Available on Apple and Spotify.

John's Selections:

Virgin Suicide – Virgin Suicide

A Danish band who have supported The Charlatans and have been The Guardian’s band of the week. They’ve got an indie guitar pop sound with an American west coast feel.

Public Display of Affection – EAT FAST

I can't find out much about this band but I don't think that matters. They've got an album out and seem to have their own sound and I like it.

The King And All Of His Men – Wolf Gang

I like discovering music in different ways and would happily use Shazam in a cinema if it wasn’t frowned upon. This song was used by the BBC on their football programme Final Score. Having found Pumpin Blood through the same programme, they clearly have good taste. I enjoyed finding this the other day and following it to find Lion In Cages, another quality song by the band. Sadly the London based band split in 2015.

Gonna Die Alone – Hanni El Khatib

What a cheery thought. I do like the song though. He’s been around since 2010 and this is a recent track released in 2016 from the San Francisco artist.

Silk – Wolf Alice

I hadn’t got Wolf Alice before. I’ve revisited their music on a couple of occasions because of recommendations but still I didn’t get them. Then I saw the Trainspotting 2 trailer. Music put to images, especially ones stirring up feelings of nostalgia, wow that’s a great thing in life. Wolf Alice I get you now.

Oh Mary – Kulashaker

This song has been on my Spotify for a while and it’s taken a while to grow on me. “Oh Mary what have you done?” You’ve given me a new track to enjoy by a band I used to love.

Satisfaction - The Bay Rays
As they supported The Slaves I'm guessing Neil's heard this band already but for those of you who haven't (including me before now) then this band are worth checking out. They're still touring if you want to catch up with them.

One Drop - Be Charlotte
19 years old and from Scotland. You can tell the later from the music and it works. You certainly wouldn't tell her age from the track. Some real talent right there.

Good Girls - Crystal Fighters
A band on their third album and they've finally come on my radar. I can't work out if I've just missed everything or they've finally broken through. A bit of both I guess. They sound like a dancey version of Vampire Weekend.

January 17 – Chris’s Choices

Drifting Apart – Goan Dogs – Drifting Apart (Single). Haunting, captivating and beautiful (despite the negative theme). I like this song so much that I dare not listen to the other two singles that Goan Dogs have released, if that makes sense.

Glue Bag Flags – Smoove & Turrell – Crown Posada. A great upbeat soul track.

Do You Have A Name – Glass Caves – Do You Have A Name (Single) – Pontefract based Alt-Rock with one album to their name.

Empty Promises – Mainland – Empty Promises (Single) – strong track which sounds very similar to Bloc Party’s Luna with vocals by the singer from The Walkmen – to my mind anyway.

Terribly So – Howe Gleb – Future Standards. I’m not sure how this crept into my weekly playlist from Apple. Think Leonard Cohen with a jazz/swing feel.

Diary – Weyes Blood – Front Row Seat To Earth. Clear female vocals over simple piano arpeggios start this atmospheric song off

Badguys – Christopher Paul Stelling – Badguys (Single). Great track with a quirky time signature

Pulling At The Grey – Young Romance – Another’s Blood.

Modern Contemporary – Rainbow Arabia – L.A. Heartbreak.

The Pact – Puppet Rebellion – The Pact (Single)

The State I’m In – Josephin Ohm + The Liberation – The State I’m In (Single)