SFW'S Best Of 2013

SFW'S Best Of 2013

Best of 2013 Daft Punk Dustin Tebbutt George Ezra Jeff Tweedy Mavis Staples Pharrell Seryn

Do you remember the long hot summer? Neither do I.  but let me take you on a brisk walk down memory lane, stopping off for some mince pies, mulled wine and and my top 5 Tracks of the Year.

Tracks of the Year!

Daft Punk - 'Lose Yourself To Dance' (2013)


I can honestly say that 2014 was the year that Daft Punk (with Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams help) brought disco back.  It's safe to say that until their input, disco would only be played in 'over 40s' theme nights and weddings. An instant classic.

Just in case you missed it, this unofficial video was a highlight - and it's not too late to be using the moves at your Christmas party.


Mavis Staples - 'Jesus Wept' (2013)


Stax legend Mavis Staples became reborn with the input of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy in the producers role. Their collaboration on the album "One True Vine" brought Gospel into the 21st Century. Every song carries a gravitas and emotion and could easily bring you, and jesus, to tears. Spellbinding.

Seryn - 'Ivory Black' (2013)


Texan 6-piece Seryn knocked me out with the gorgeous, Ivory Black.  Rich harmonies, subtle layers and a fine blend of tenderness and emotion. Listen to the live or studio versions of this track and the result will be the same - it will flatten you like a runaway rhino.

George Ezra - 'Did You Hear The Rain' (2013)


Bristolian, George Ezra was one of my musical discoveries of the year. I first heard when I saw him support Tom Odell in March and I immediately thought he was some sort of "Woody Guthrie-meets-Ray Lamontagne". Ignore this baby faced assassin (with a voice of a 50 year old) at your peril. If he was around in the 60s, he'd probably be as well revered as the other Greenwich Village gang. One to watch!

Dustin Tebbutt - 'The Breach' (2013)


Dustin Tebbutt's The Breach came from nowhere.  The Breach was like a musical mammoth that appeared on the tundra after a snowstorm, I loved it then and I love it now. My Track of the Year.

Want a handy playlist? Subscribe to my top twenty tracks of the year. All are winners.  

sfw Pada 00:09 Komentar

TRACKS OF THE WEEK 10/06/2013 - Daft Punk, Thunderbird Gerard, The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra, CSS, Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs

TRACKS OF THE WEEK 10/06/2013 - Daft Punk, Thunderbird Gerard, The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra, CSS, Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs

Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs CSS Daft Punk The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra Thunderbird Gerard

Five tracks that put the drizzle on our shizzle

SFW:-
Daft Punk - Lose Yourself To Dance (2013)

This track features on Daft Punk's latest album Random Access Memories and it has put a spring in my step.  This video isn't official, so hopefully it stays up for a while, but it perfectly captures the grove of the song.  Nile Rodgers guitar riffs, slap bass (???), Soul Claps and Pharrell Williams make it the song of the album and Track of the Week.  If listening to this doesn't make you dance or tap your feet, you have no legs.  (obviously, no offence is intended if you have no legs).

Flycasual:- 

Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs - 'Be Glamorous' (2013)

'Be Glamorous', a bit like me at work with my boat like safety boots, sweaty polyester trousers and mucky hi-viz vest, getting high on aviation fuel but apart that, it's one of the stand out tracks from Charlie Boyer and the Voyeurs debut album, Clarietta. They have only been going for just over a year and are being compared to the likes of 70's New York Post Punk heroes, Television (Marquee Moon blew my mind when Old Pa gave me a copy of it listen to all those years ago) but with a sound also firmly rooted to London. The excellent single also has hints of T-Rex, which, like the title suggests, adds some much needed glam to guitar music.

Shell Hunter:-
CSS - 'Hangover' (2013)

I've always thought Brazilian electro-rock group CSS (or Cansei de Ser Sexy) were a bit woo and a bit wey. This latest offering proves that they still are mad as ever. I love this aptly titled single and its equally amusing video (anyone can dance!). I say aptly because I'm nearing the end of my holiday in Spain and I've had to succumb to the hangover gods once or twice, I'll have to admit. This track, taken from new album Planta which will be released tomorrow is a bit of ragga meets mariachi and the more I hear it, the more I like it. Simple lyrics with hangovers and heartbreak in the same breath, both giving you an equally rubbish feeling in life makes for a great pop song. "Let's be happy and drink bloody mary!"

Check out their label SubPop's site to see more...

Old Pa's Corner :-

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra ft Bitty Mclean - Fu Manchu (2013)

 

Here is an interesting one from an album by The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra ft. Bitty Mclean and is called The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius.  

Lee Thompson and Mark Bedford, two founder-members of Madness, started this project trying to recreate the kind of music that had inspired them as teenagers. To cut a long story short they enjoyed themselves so much the decided to do an album of Ska inspired songs and the result is pretty good. It is like listening to Two Tone revisited and do I love all that.

You can't beat a bit of Ska inspired reggae, Try this take of the Desmond Decker classic. The original is below.

 

DESMOND DECKER - Fu Machu

London Scouser:
Thunderbird Gerard - 'Trouble' (2013)

At the risk of sounding repetitive I came across this song whilst listening to Scroobius Pip's xFM radios show via Mixcloud. Originally from New York, he now lives in Berlin via a stay in London. He has been described as the Kerouac of Rap and has been compared to a certain Q-Tip. Whilst I'm not so aware of the former, the latter is definitely good company. The chorus is instantly memorable and is accompanied by a great video. He is certainly one to watch and I will be keeping an eye fo' sho.

Checkout previous Tracks of the week here

Subscribe to our 2013 Tracks of the Week Spotify Playlist

sfw Pada 05:42 5 Komentar

TRACKS OF THE WEEK - 05/05/13- Terry Allen, Daft Punk, Major Lazer,Bibio, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

TRACKS OF THE WEEK - 05/05/13- Terry Allen, Daft Punk, Major Lazer,Bibio, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Bibio Daft Punk Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Major Lazer Pharrell Terry Allen

Five tracks that made us go all Wookie!

Flycasual:-
Major Lazer - 'Jessica' feat Ezra Koenig

"Some girls call all the shots, my nessica, my essica"

I've been listening to a lot of Reggae recently and it's nothing to do with the sunny weather of late. I find it a good way to reboot, a ctrl-alt-delete for the soul if you like, especially it being Spring and all that. Anyway this is great stuff, perhaps not Reggae per se but Major Lazer's (aka DJ to the stars, Diplo) brand of electro-dancehall is pretty infectious. I just love Ezra Koenig's (who incidentally is a big fan of Reggae and Dub) voice anyway and he provides it here for 'Jessica' which, apart from 'Get Free', are probably the best songs on the Free the Universe album. Vampire Weekend also release an album this month and being big fans we'll no doubt feature a track on our TOTW soon. I once knew a Jessica.

Check out Major Lazer's interesting blog here...
or if Vampires are your thing see the website here...

Old Pa's Corner:-
Terry Allen - Emergency Human Blood Courier (2013)

Here is a strange one for all you Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave Lovers, it is by 69 year old,  70 next week Terry Allen and is from his first album in 14 years called  'Botton of the World' (2013) (talk about writers block). I like this, it is a dark tale of murder and death. The album version is above and I have also found this live take which is pretty good. Well, that is if you can reject the stupid laughter from some of the audience who seem to think it is a funny song and they are meant to laugh.  'Hey guys! this is serious stuff, blood transfusions, murder and all that'. Just right for a Sunday morning. Pass that toast Maud!   

 

London Scouser

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Feat Wanz) - Thrift Shop (2013)

Ok, so he's white, a little bit strawberry blonde, and a mass-eeev lookie-likie for Boris Becker. Oh and he can pull off a catchy and pretty damned good rap/hip-hop song.

I forgot to mention that the guy loves a bargain, he can do no wrong in my eyes.

I heard this song courtesy of Scroobius Pip via his first show on XFM. I urge y'all to check the show out btw like I did on the Mixcloud app on my phone. 

Game, Set & Match

Shell Hunter:-

Daft Punk - 'Get Lucky' (2013)

When I heard Daft Punk's single had hit number one in the charts, I was surprised I hadn't heard it yet and was a little worried. I don't pay much attention to "charty" music anymore and I usually turn my nose up to whats popular. Despite all that, I finally listened to it the other day and its the best dance track I've heard in a very long while! You can really hear the 70s disco influence of Nile Rodgers from Chic! That coupled with the combination of Pharrell's saucy conquest lyrics and Daft Punk's electro computer talk makes the perfect song to sip margeritas after mowing the lawn! Its a bold statement but I'm pretty sure its going to be in my top 10 for 2013 and can see it being on my summer holiday playlist. All we need now is a heatwave...oh hello sun!

Daft Punk's fourth album called Random Access Memories is due out May 17th and if this is anything to go by, I will be drinking a lot of margeritas!

SFW:- 
Bibio - À tout à l'heure (2013)


Stephen Wilkinson, aka Bibio, is a English music producer from Wolvehampton and this track features on his latest and 7th album, Silver Wilkinson. Wilkinson adopted the alias Bibio from the name of a small black and red fly his father used on childhood fishing trips in Wales.

I may sound like a musical Wine Taster, but there are elements of Avalanches, a hint of Lemon Jelly and Jose Gonzalez.

He is a recent music discovery for me but À tout à l'heure makes me want to put on some shorts, pull out the BBQ and drink Pimms! Thanks to this, summer is on the way!

Download À tout à l'heure from Warp Records here

Checkout previous Tracks of the week here

Subscribe to our 2013 Tracks of the Week Spotify Playlist

sfw Pada 02:29 4 Komentar