Category: Uncategorized

34: Charli XCX: Sucker

~ Lex Leeson ~ 7 Comments

It’s strange to think that Charli XCX’s complete omnipresence is a relatively recent thing, her reign of pop terror only really starting when Icona Pop’s version of her penned song ‘I Love It‘ was at first cheerfully agreeable and then irritatingly inescapable a couple of years ago. It peaked this summer when Iggy Azalea’s ‘Fancy‘ was such a bewilderingly huge hit that the OCC erected a 12 foot tall bronze statue of a big steaming dump in recognition of its success. Perhaps it’s just the confidence she performs with, obviously convinced that she was a star years before any record sales backed her up, maybe it’s just comes naturally to singers from Sweden, as you mistakenly believe she is. ‘Sucker’ deals only in extremes: everything on it is either outrageously brilliant (the wondrous twisted doo-wop of the album’s closer) or unforgivably awful (‘London Queen‘ may well be the lowest point in recorded music up to this point) but whatever the results Charli is obviously more interested in bending accepted pop culture to her whims rather than conforming to it, and pop is all the luckier for it.

‘Fun’ Fact: If ‘Boom Clap‘ really was the sound of your heart it’d be a serious medical issue

Meh, I’ve heard that ‘Boom Clap‘ song a lot but I’m not really a fan: Then you’re obviously a cretin who’s just lying to himself.

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35: Miley Cyrus: Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz

~ Lex Leeson ~ 5 Comments

OK, now this is just nuts. Nuts in a different way to Holly Herndon perhaps, but absolutely no less nuts. These 23 (!) self-released songs made with help from Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne (who last released a decent album when Miley was 9 years old) has been called a vanity project by some, chiefly because it absolutely is one. But why is that a bad thing? Why don’t more pop stars strive to create something like this? Why doesn’t Leona Lewis self-release something as bonkers as a tender song about her pet goldfish being eaten as sushi which ends with her breaking down crying? Would Nick Jonah even consider releasing something as downright bizarre as ‘Milky Milky Milk‘? Why is such staunch anti-commercialism lauded in others but absolutely chided in Miley? And ‘…Dead Petz’ is frequently amazing and far more weighted toward cosmic beauty than the clunky attempts at controversy exhibited in ‘single’ ‘Dooo It‘. Yes, it’s predictably waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long, and Miley is often trying fae too hard, but it’s largely a success and ensures Cyrus remains one of our most entertainingly insane pop stars.

‘Fun’ Fact: If I had a baby girl next year by the time I was Wayne Coyne’s age she’d be Miley’s and people would think it a bit weird how I hung about with her so much

What the hell am I going to sing in my X Factor audition tomorrow?! ‘Twinkle Song‘ will break the judges’ hearts, even if the lyrics are absolute nonsense

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36: Holly Herndon: Platform

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

Aye…?

This is 2015’s most challenging and cerebral attempt at music. I’m not even sure this is music, perhaps Holly just showed a group of foxes crayon drawings of burning clowns and recorded their calls of distress and confusion. When you first play the album it’ll sound like nothing you’ve ever heard before, and make the most of that hearing because the next time you stick it on it’ll sound completely different again: new sounds will screech at you, new convulsing rhythms will suddenly creep into your sweaty nightmares. That’s if you ever get to a second listen of course, this is the album released in 2015 most likely to leave you a quivering wreck in the corner of the room as you offer people the most disgusting sexual favours in exchange for just one listen of the latest Stereophonics album. Herndon refuses to make her music simple or even digestible, and the spoken word snippets are just a whole other level of disturbing. Much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Inherent Vice’ you just know there’s a lot to get your teeth into here, though it’s such a dense tome you’re not sure if you’ll ever have the time.

‘Fun’ Fact: ‘Inherent Vice’ was released more than a year ago, yet I’m still using it like it’s some sort of topical culturally reference

Don’t you think all those samples of voices and machinery looped and looped until they’re driven into unrecognisable insignificance is some sort of meta commentary on the art of electronic music making itself? Mate, I’ve no idea, my head hurts if I’m being honest, at least ‘Morning Sun‘ is the least crazy thing on here

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37: Marina and the Diamonds: Froot

~ Lex Leeson ~ 6 Comments

Marina Diamandis (that’s far too cool a real name!) has been an absolute master of pop music (pop mistress? That sounds far too perverse, I’m certainly not doing a Google image search) for more than five years now, although her last album ‘Electra Heart’ was a well-meaning yet ultimately failed attempt to create a character commenting on female portrayals in pop culture and society. On ‘Froot’ (maybe 2015’s best album title) she compensates for that artificial miss-step by taking her music to often starkly emotional places without ever losing her knack for crafting an absolute-stone-solid-mother-fucking-gold pop chorus. You worry that she may have thrown the bubbles out with the baby water sometimes by reigning in some of her more bonkers tendencies that once made her so engrossing, the record’s a little more reserved than her absolute best. The wait for that one perfect record I’m convinced she’s capable of goes on a little longer.

‘Fun’ Fact: Marina is plump and ripe, she’s pinker than shepherd’s delight, sweet like honeysuckle late at night

I like my music to be just a little bonkers: You’d love ‘I’m A Ruin‘ then

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38: Richard Hawley: Hollow Meadows

~ Lex Leeson ~ Leave a comment

Aaaaaaww, no there’s absolutely no problems here is there? Hawley maintains his not inconsiderable track record of producing songs that would sound out of place neither on a Nick Cave album nor a Radio 2 day time playlist. This may be the album on this list your Dad is most likely to own but that doesn’t mean it’s not 11 tracks of melodic perfection coated in achingly gorgeous arrangements, and it’s all as unbearably smooth as the 8 pounds of pomade he slicks into his hair every morning.

‘Fun’ Fact: Despite being 48, Hawley is still a little younger than you think

I saw Hawley going into WH Smiths once. Actually, that was in Great Yarmouth so I’m not entirely convinced it was him… Regardless, what song would you recommend to remind me of that momentous time? ‘Heart of Oak‘

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39: Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment: Surf

~ Lex Leeson ~ 2 Comments

Chance the Rapper is a brilliant example of post-capitalism, asking for no money from fans for his musical releases as he makes his living entirely from touring, even acknowledging his existence is an admission to failure in front of the oncoming revolution and next year the only way you’ll be able to get a copy of the next album by even your favourite artist Marti Pellow is if you turn up to the front door of the YMCA he sleeps at in person and trade him a tote bag of heroin for a private performance. The band of collaborators Social Experiment’s debut ‘Surf’ is the first studio album (released for free on iTunes) of any sort chiefly by CTR and despite (or perhaps because of) its extraordinary ambitions it can’t help but sound insignificant and weightless on first listens, bogged down by horrendously MOR production that sands off any rough edges the sound really deserves. The record is designed to convey levity though, so it’s unassuming flippancy is entirely intentional and it rewards repeated listens as it’s more subtle genius shines, it’s a record that deserves whole months to be lost into. In the end though despite its high quality it can’t help but sound a rather throwaway release more designed to show off the talents of CTR’s friends.

‘Fun’ Fact: Chance the Rapper was born almost a week before Macedonia was admitted into the UN, so don’t believe any of the shit he says about how he remembers it

That was another one of those half-arsed reviews where I couldn’t actually tell if you liked it or not: Don’t be so fucking ridiculous, it has its faults but I definitely like it, ‘Slip Slide‘ being one of its many high points

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40: Courtney Barnett: Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

How much you like 2015’s least gainly titled album will depend on what amount of importance you put on either music or lyrics, and given how bizarrely celebrated the album generally is it’s clear which side of the fence most rock critics fall upon. Musically this album is… well, I’m far too polite to say ‘dog shite’ but you can put your own synonymous phrase in here- mongrel muck?- as it achieves the artistic level more associated with the worst Britpop b-sides of Northern Uproar, only lacking Stockport’s finest way with a subtle nuance. Barnett more than saves her debut though by being such an engaging presence and a lyricist of the absolute highest order; funny without being silly or obvious, smart without being arch or overtly intellectual. At the moment Barnett gets a tentative recommendation in the belief she could get extremely good indeed if she just finds some musical backing that can live up to her words in any way at all.

‘Fun’ Fact: Barnett hails from Melbourne, which has the largest tram system anywhere in the world outside Europe.

I don’t really listen to lyrics unless they’re the song’s name screamed repeatedly in the chorus: Maybe don’t bother with ‘Dead Fox‘ then

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41: Lana Del Rey: Honeymoon

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

…and so LDR merely twists tighter as she delves even deeper into herself, or rather into her own persona. I previously considered 2014’s ‘Ultraviolence’ as the most ‘Lana Del Rey’ Lana Del Rey album possible, but this Lana Del Rey album is so much more ‘Lana Del Rey’ that it makes the previous Lana Del Rey album barely ‘Lana Del Rey’ at all in comparison to how ‘Lana Del Rey’ this Lana Del Rey album is. It’s all here and correct, even if it’s passed of in a markedly darker production package than before, all the high drama and imagery so on the nose that it’s in real danger of inducing severe nasal trauma. Lana is making absolutely no concessions to the haters, so they’re left with nothing but continued attempts to deny she’s a wonderfully commanding presence.

‘Fun’ Fact: Lana Del Rey once described herself as a ‘gangsta Nancy Sinatra’. Ah Jesus, I think I hate her as well now…

Dude, do you know Lana Del Rey isn’t even her real name?? She’s so freaking fake… I’ve got some bad news about Scroobius Pip, listen to ‘Salvatore‘ and try to calm down

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42: Cannibal Ox: Blade of the Ronin

~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

OK, let’s get the obvious over with first: this is a hip-hop album and so therefore it’s 19 tracks long, and even though 63 minutes doesn’t sound too much to handle I assure you it feels a lot longer. Nevertheless the first album in 14 years by Vast Aire and Vordul Mega (those names are worth a space on this list on their own) is near masterful in places, wonderfully atmospheric and sounding not unlike a Wu Tang Clan record that’s especially shot through with underlying sadness. The lyrics sometimes jar the carefully created sense of drama (‘These girls like Frankenstein/They got fake hair, fake nails, and monster behinds’)- and really guys? A Yoda sample??- but ‘Blade…’ is sporadically fantastic

‘Fun’ Fact: Cannibal Ox’s last album was released the same day as ‘Celebrity’ by *NSYNC

‘Masterful’? ‘Masterful‘?? Come on! You can’t mean masterful! I absolutely can! ‘The Fire Rises‘ is as masterful as they come!

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43: Peaches: Rub

~ Lex Leeson ~ Leave a comment

It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s been 6 years since Peaches’ last studio album, maybe because you’re likely to still hear ‘Fuck the Pain Away‘ roughly once every 20 minutes if you ever deign to leave the house (which obviously doesn’t apply to me), or maybe it’s because her abrasive electronica paired with a celebration of life’s rather less PG obsessions has become bizarrely influential. Peaches’ main themes of gender identity, freaky sex and body dimorphism are if anything more prevalent now in wider culture than they were in 2009, so her songs’ impact has been softened slightly by their familiarity (if I told you the new Miley Cyrus album had a song on it with the chorus ‘Dick in the air, let me see you put your/Dick in the air‘ or ‘Can’t talk right now this chick’s dick is in my mouth’ you wouldn’t be that surprised). What nobody else can match though is Peaches’ talent for singing songs so explicitly about sex that never make concessions to sounding ‘sexy’, at least by heterosexual male standards.

‘Fun’ Fact: Peaches once lived with Justine Frischman and MIA in a flat that must have been so overpoweringly cool that my head would have exploded if I’d walked within three blocks of their front door

Just say, hypothetically of course, that the album started to drag ever so slightly toward its end, would there be any song to give it a much needed kick back to life? Funny you should say that, as that’s precisely what happens, but ‘Dumb Fuck‘ saves the day

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