THE BEST:
'Augustine' - Blood Orange
Even in spite of the pulsing drum machine beat, there’s
something gorgeously organic about this new power-pop anthem from Dev Hynes
(AKA Blood Orange). It’s got a soulful Prince-vibe to it. Can you believe this
man used to be in a dance-punk band called Test Icicles? And didn’t he have an
indie rock career under the name Lightspeed Champion at some point? You
certainly couldn’t criticise Dev for not trying new things.
'Plastic 100°C' - Sampha
Some of you may know Sampha from a Drake-collab he did a
couple years back. Personally, I’d forgotten about him. After this poignant performance,
I doubt I’ll ever forget this UK singer-songwriter again. This is the kind of
raw performance that gets your hairs standing up, the kind of performance that
makes the whole world stop, the kind of magical performance that makes you
believe there is hope and a God and a heaven. Basically, summed up, some dude
plays piano on a roof.
'Bold Ego Fledgling' -
The mix of industrial glitchiness, distorted guitars and weird echoed vocals may well freak you out at first. But as the song progresses, a sense of order does begin to form, and what initially sounds like a broken jukebox playing every song simultaneously slowly turns into beautiful organised chaos.
'For Real' - Mallrat
‘You make me smile for real’. Cheery lyrics and bouncy pianos make up this stupidly happy song from Aussie pop songstress Mallrat. Some days stupidly happy is all you need in life.
'Something Haunted' - Goblin Cock
Alternatively, some days all you need is a good bit of Goblin Cock. Initially lured in a couple years ago by the band name, I was happy to discover the group’s sound was just as awesome, made up of sludgy guitars and some kickass clean vocals as showcased in this rugged stoner metal riff-fest. Supposedly these guys broke up, and yet they’re still clearly making music, but I guess that’s simply the trend nowadays.
THE WORST:
'Hell No' - Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Michaelson seems like the kind of overly clean, safe and
calculated indie-pop singer found accompanying every baby product ad.
She’s probably dabbled with ukuleles at some point in her career. In other words, ‘Hell No’ is nauseatingly twee. And the less said about the music
video, the better.