THE BEST:
‘Dirt Sledding’ – The
Killers
US rock band The Killers release this carnivalesque
rock-n-roll-flavoured Christmas song accompanied by a curious music video in
which a deranged Santa throws a tomahawk at a teddy bear sporting Brandon
Flowers’ face on it. I have so many questions. Why is Santa in the desert? Is
the giant molar with a tutu supposed to be the tooth fairy? Are we human or are
we dancer? Watch here.
‘FloriDaDa’ – Animal Collective
‘FloriDaDa’ sounds like the Beach Boys attempting a children’s
party tune on acid. The track comes with the exciting announcement that the
Baltimore experimental pop group will be releasing a new album early next year
titled ‘Painting With’ on February 9th.
‘Mute’ – Native Construct
Barbershop vocal harmonies, prog metal riffs and Broadway
production synths all collide in this noodling but utterly brilliant musical
mindfuck (my first listen left me positively ‘mute’). Of course, a band this
unsubtle could only come from Boston.
‘Someone Like You’ –
Winter
What better way to begin the season with a band called ‘Winter’. Fans of shoegaze should check out this ambient track made up of warm guitars and hypnotic female vocals. The synth riff peppered throughout is slightly deranged yet somehow manages to blend in to the surrounding calm.
THE WORST:
‘VYZEE’ – SOPHIE
The little girl vocals are annoying and half the synths sound like farts. I’m also scared to know what she’s singing about: ‘squish it in your hand/ make it pop/ red and white/ tomato soup can’. That said, this track is so curiously weird I can see it growing on me.
Kill J – ‘Barbie
Girl’
This dark cover of the Aqua classic has none of the cheese of the original nor any of the fun. It’s like watching a gritty, serious remake of ‘Kindergarten Cop’. Even the ‘I’m a Barbie girl in a Barbie world’ line has been cut out.