KBPS
The music magazine
#4 December 2015
INTERVIEW
IRENE AND THE DISAPPOINTMENTS
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE NEWEST BAND OUT OF LIVERPOOL Plus interviews with Steve Future Reole Roberta Howett
The best new and classic Christmas songs and the song countdown of the year All the latest album reviews
/KBPSmag @KBPSmag
Plus Music News Liam’s Christmas Number Ones Alistair’s Year In Review Rob’s Top Forty Song Directory and much more!
WELCOME TO KBPS! Hello and welcome to the fourth edition of KBPS! Let me first extend an apology to you if you were eagerly sat by your computer, phone or tablet waiting for this edition back in November. Due to time commitments I wasn’t able, sadly, to bring you the regular November edition but hopefully this bumper 66-page issue will make up for things, arriving just in time for Christmas. Inside this issue we’ve crammed in lots of content, from four exclusive interviews, our top 100 favourite songs of the year, our ultimate Christmas playlist of songs and our updated discography of all the songs worth listening to from this year. Also Liam, Alistair and Rob are once more coming over all Santa like and delivering a cracking column each down the KBPS chimney whilst I have also supplied some of the biggest news stories of the moment.
I hope you enjoy this festive edition and as always we’d love your support in sharing the magazine around via our social networks below. Anyway, before you get stuck into the issue with a mince pie (or whatever you have to hand) let me wish you a very Merry Christmas, happy holiday and a great new year and we’ll see you on the other side for edition five, if that is what Santa brings us this year! Philip Lickley Editor, KBPS
/KBPSmag @KBPSmag
Phil’s Thoughts on Festive Music At this time of year our thoughts often drift towards playing Christmas music. Whilst most shops insist on playing Slade, Wizzard and Mariah Carey since somewhere just after children return to school and therefore most shop assistants are sick of the songs well before even the first door is opened on an advent calendar, I like to start my songs on December 1st. Even then, is that too early? That means you spend over three weeks of the year playing festive songs, which is the equivalent of about five years if you live to over eighty. Is that just too much Proper Crimbo, Wonderful Christmastime and Sleigh Bells? It’s no wonder Slade’s Noddy Holder retired happy. Recently our bus station has started piping Christmas songs through the speaker system which is nice and relaxing and I give them a thumbs up for the thought. Though I’m slightly disappointed we don’t get Ibiza anthems played during July and a spooky soundtrack to scare grannies during the autumnal months.
There is something about a Christmas playlist that automatically cheers you up, so why not embrace Christmas music a little earlier, and bring in the festive spirit a bit sooner.
Just, please, don’t interrupt my hallowe’en playlist with Christmas songs unless it’s from the Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s ‘Ghostbusters’ in answer to the question ‘Who You Gonna Call?’ not Little Saint Nick.
MUSIC NEWS
Morrissey Wins Bad Sex Award
BBC Announces Sound of 2016 The BBC have revealed their annual list of the acts to look out for, having polled 144 people in the industry to get their thoughts on emerging artists. The longlist is Izzy Bizu, Blossoms, Alessia Cara, Loyle Carner, Frances, Jack Garratt, J Hus, Dua Lipa, Mabel, Billie Marten, Mura Masa, NAO, Rat Boy, Section Boyz, and WSTRN. The list of fifteen acts will be cut down in the new year to the top five ranked musicians.
Last year’s Sound Of... was topped by ‘Years and Years’ and previous years have seen Adele and Sam Smith hit the top spot. The Sound Of... listing started in 2003 where 50 Cent topped the list, and soon he was joined by Mika, Ellie Goulding and Jessie J. Find out more at bbc.co.uk/news/ entertainment-arts-34636509
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Scenes in his debut novel ‘List of the Lost’ have won this year’s Bad Sex Award. The offending paragraph is revealed below.
“At this, Eliza and Ezra rolled together into one giggling snowball of full-figured copulation, screaming and shouting as they playfully bit and pulled at each other in a dangerous and clamorous rollercoaster coil of sexually violent rotation with Eliza’s breasts barrel-rolled across Ezra’s howling mouth and the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation extenuating his excitement as it whacked and smacked its way into every muscle of Eliza’s body except for the otherwise central zone.”
Teleman Are Back With Taster of New Album Band Teleman have announced their follow-up to debut album ‘Breakfast’, an as yet unnamed sophomore release from which ‘Falls in Time’ is taken. The band have also announced a tour for April next year. facebook.com/Telemanmusic
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MUSIC NEWS
Travis Return with New Single Scottish band Travis return with a new song after a two year hiatus with a promise of a new album in 2016. ‘Everything At Once’ is a fast-paced, energetic new single with a fast delivery of vocals from Fran Healy and a really uptempo poppy vibe, and is well worth grabbing if you can. Fans of the band received a free download of it via their mailing list.
You can see the video below featuring the band and actor Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds, Rush) as a children’s television presenter as a televisual challenge goes wrong for the band... youtube.com/watch?v=D-2fYPEz2lo
Coldplay debut video for new single Coldplay have debuted the video for their new single ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ on Facebook. Taken from their upcoming album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ out on December 4th it features a motion captured gorilla dance team who may, or may not, resemble the band. youtube.com/watch?v=QtXby3twMmI
Spotify Considers Making Some Albums Premium Only Follow high profile artists like Taylor Swift and Adele removing or withholding music LPs from Spotify are considering offering hosting albums on the streaming site only on the premium version, where the returns to artists are higher.
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The Killers are Back with New Christmas Song The Killers have released their tenth Christmas song, continuing their annual tradition since 2006’s ‘A Great Big Sled’ of releasing a festive song annually. You can see the video below featuring Santa who seems to have given up his quest to kill lead singer Brandon Flowers...
The song itself is an eccletic mix of genres and styles in a mostly cohesive style: spoken word, rock and roll, Queen-esque verses and guitars mixed with sleigh bells. Our verdict? A good ‘un, though not toppling ‘A Great Big Sled’, ‘Joseph, Better You Than Me’ and ‘Joel The Lump of Coal’ as the best three. youtube.com/watch?v=QmGNp1gO1eg
Chirping Return
The Voice Moves to ITV ITV have confirmed that the Voice will move to their channel after the next and final series shown on BBC One.
They will also be showing a kids-based spin off.
Chirping, top Swedish band, release a new Christmas single called ‘Love, For Every Christmas I Miss You More’. Download it now or listen on their Souncloud on the link below.
soundcloud.com/chirping/love-for-every-christmas-i-miss-you-more
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Major Lazer and Drake Have 2015 Success
The Hotpots Return With New Song Fresh from seeing them live in Leeds and as the five-piece Northern comedyfolk band prepare their latest LP, The Lancashire Hotpots have debuted a new song on YouTube called ‘Lancashire’s For Me (Lancashire Day Song)’. See it below! With an 80s-synth sound (Erasure - A Little Respect anyone?), well written comedy lyrics, and a frankly brilliant spot-on Ceefax-inspired video (Great to see Channel 4’s Bamboozle making a cameo alongside television interference and blink-and-you’ll-miss-them news articles packed with jokes and northern terminology, even a Game of Thrones reference), this is a great new number from the band.
As a man from Yorkshire there’s much I don’t agree with in the song, but in terms of the lyrics and music it’s a brilliant new entry to their bulging canon of songs (steady!) and looks positive for their next album. youtube.com/watch?v=HPZZxQKV8zE
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Spotify have confirmed that Major Lazer’s Lean On was the most streamed song of the year, with Drake the most streamed artist of 2015. In similar news the video of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s See You Again is this year’s most viewed YouTube clip in the UK.
Ed Sheeran - v. Good
It has been confirmed that Ed Sheeran will appear in the third Bridget Jones’ film, due out in 2016.
Stone Temple Pilots Singer Passes Away
Scott Weiland, from Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, has died age 48.
DJ Earworm’s Latest Mash-Up Lands DJ Earworm has continued his tradition of annual mash-ups of the best selling songs of the year in the American Billboard chart with his latest - 2015 - entry, ‘50 Shades of Pop’. Listen to it at youtu.be/rfFEhd7mk7c
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Nigel Thomas Previews His New Album
The Wombats Release the B-Sides to their 2015 Album ‘Glitterbug’
Singer-songwriter Nigel Thomas has previewed his new album ‘Travelling Man’ on his Facebook page with the following status:
You can now purchase three new tracks from the Wombats plus a remix as part of a digital b-sides collection. “Right Click Save”, “21st Century Blues” and “Wired Differently” make up the new material, with a Bastille Remix of ‘Greek Tragedy’ completes the set.
“HERE IT IS! The artwork to my début album, ‘Travelling Man’! The vinyl pressings are under way and things are gearing up for the big release next year. Exciting times, thank you so much for your support everyone. Nigel. X” facebook.com/nigelsongs
X-Factor Winner Louisa Johnson Struggles with New Single This year’s X-Factor competition has been won by 17-year-old Louisa Johnson but her single, a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’, only debuted at number 9 in the music charts.
Though the change to the charting rules puts her at a disadvantage compared to previous years entrants, could this be the first single from the talent show not to reach the top spot?
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facebook.com/thewombatsuk
Oasis Reform Unlikely, Says Liam Gallagher Whilst giving evidence in a divorce settlement, Liam Gallagher has said he would like to continue in the music business but a reform of Oasis is unlikely after his split with his brother. Liam’s band ‘Beady Eye’ are no longer together, whilst his brother Noel is having success with his ‘High Flying Birds’ collaboration.
Thriller Hits 30m US Milestone
33 years after being released, Michael Jackson’s album ‘Thriller’ has become the first in US history to sell over 30m copies.
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ANYTHING BUT
Lauren, Rob and the two Johns are band Irene and the Disappointments. With their debut album out now we asked them about their career so far!
Irene and the Disappointments are a new group from Liverpool, made up of Lauren (vocalist, songwriter, guitarist), two Johns on bass and guitar and Rob on drums. Having seen them perform live at the University of Bradford at their first ever gig as a band and thoroughly enjoying their debut LP “About The Walls” KBPS chatted to the band as they gathered in the studio. The band describe themselves as follows. “If the Cocteau Twins, Pink Floyd and the White Stripes had a baby we’d be better than that baby. We’d adopt the baby and look after it, and nurture it. “That’s the official line.”
We began by asking them how they formed, and it was through Lauren posting random webcam videos on Facebook of her singing cover songs and original material. Lauren picks up the story. “John messaged me and said – get in the studio, we’re going to make something great, and we did and it turned out I had an endless supply of wondrous songs. John was like – we’re setting up a band and he got his brother Dom and friend Rob and created the band and that’s where we are today. “We started just recording stuff. John recording in the studio, we got all of the songs that I had and John said we’ve near enough got an album here, so why don’t we make an album, so I just wrote some more songs, they just fell out of me. John recorded them and we had an album and we started practicing and took it from there.”
Their debut LP ‘About the Wall’ is available to download now and Lauren was upfront about how the record came about lyrically.
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“It’s about my complete and utter mental breakdown and recover. It was like the end of University and the songs helped me not being insane any more, and John helped me too. It’s a personal album.” Lauren revealed she used the album as a tool to help her through a difficult time. “That’s the reason why I did it, it’s the way I can come home and have a little sing and I’m alright again.”
We asked the band what their favourite tracks were on the record. For Rob it was ‘Each Day’ – “It’s a beautiful song with the melody, and the bass work in it is just fabulous” – for John ‘Hugs’ - “The first single we did a music video for as well” – for Dom ‘Never’ – “I have a few favourite tracks, but I guess my favourite is ‘Never’, one of the first songs that John showed me [and the first song we recorded] – and for Lauren ‘Red Mist Down’ - it’s my favourite one to play as I get to get really angry, and it’s the heaviest and it makes me feel like a badass playing that! Normally when I write songs it’s [angelic] but on this one I’m going to be horrible – this one’s going to be dirty.” The band released ‘Hugs’ as their first major single and included a video for it. I asked them about the process in making that.
“It was pretty easy; we did it all in one day. We go for quite a DIY look with the videos. We’re definitely a DIY band. We didn’t want to do any Hollywood style production or anything so we think we’ve hit the mark with that, playing with our limitations!” Lauren, in response to that, confessed that the band have no limitations, something that seems to ring true with the creative
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energy flowing through them. I continued by asking them what Liverpool was like musically and for artists such as themselves.
“It’s going through a good period. I don’t know at the moment. It’s a very cliquey place to make music but Liverpool kind of has a tendency to live in the past a bit with their music – the Beatles. I think people make the assumption that Liverpool’s a bit of a magical realm but that’s not been my personal experience. It’s a bit stale sometime. There are a lot of bands around here at the moment (Lauren chimes in positively with a proud boast of ‘We’re the Best!’) but they’re kind of samey. But we don’t want to burn any bridges – we shouldn’t have said any of this!” The band, though, are confident in planning their future with their aims for 2016. Lauren is keen for a record deal but John was more vocal in his thoughts.
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“We want to be getting out there, playing. We haven’t done many gigs so far as we’ve kind of done things backwards, we recorded first and got the album together, so it’s getting out on the road now, and I think we’re looking forward to recording the next album and seeing what happens, as the first album sort of came into place – mostly me and Lauren – so it’s going to be interesting what comes out of the second album.”
Lauren chose to expand on this. “I want it to be more of a collaboration between the four of us, as they’re great musicians. I’m not really a great instrumentalist like these guys are, but I definitely want more input from my boys as they’re my boys and I love them dearly!” Having first met the band at their University of Bradford gig I was keen to know how they felt that had gone and also where they’d like to go from here.
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“We really enjoyed it! Really nice venue, really nice people. The best thing was about the people we met afterwards, everyone was really enthusiastic and it was nice to see that, as it’s important when you do a gig and everyone is too cool to say it’s good - it was nice to get some feedback and there were some nice down to earth people there. “When people feel like they can come and talk to you, that’s what we want, we want to be mates with everyone. We’re not like the coolest band, we’re a bit strange and a bit inappropriate all of the time, and that’s why we kind of work well together. People can come and have a laugh with us and say we’re not actually disappointments!”
The band were certainly in a positive mood, thanks to the public reaction to their music. “People have taken it well, steady sales on the album, really just surprised, Maybe not surprised, it’s kind of like shouting into a lot of noise when you release something as there are lots of things been released, but people seem to be taking to it, so we’re really happy.”
“We’ve got a few more singles coming out soon, and two videos to release. We’ve got a music single and video coming out on the 1st January (“You Must Know By Now”) and hopefully we’ll get a good response for that.”
Moving away from the band’s music I asked them what they do to unwind. John and Lauren confessed to watching lots of films, which also explains their love of making videos, whilst Lauren is active with a camera “Lauren likes making documentaries, so there might be something coming out like that next year! I’m in another couple of things as well – music is my main thing, Irene and the Disappointments is the main musical project I’m in.” Rob, however, was a little more grounded. “Me, and John and Dom, are working jobs! Working 9-5! We love it and I’m speaking for myself here but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
You can find out more about the band at ireneandthedisappointments.co.uk
I was also keen to know how the internet was helping them as a band, with each member tackling a different channel.
“It’s trying to reach that sort of critical mass stage at the moment. We’re one voice among many. We are all taken different aspects. Instagram is working better for us at the moment that Twitter.
The band were also keen to chat about playing future gigs in and around Liverpool as well as new singles.
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LIAM ANTHONY
Christmas Number Ones Christmas No. 1s tend to be a big deal with a lot of people, even those who might not be interested in what’s charting the rest of the year. Perhaps it’s something to do with the general ‘merriness’ that Christmas brings, and the collective cynicism of the modern music industry which a lot of people hold today, or perhaps people feel especially protective of it. The Christmas No. 1 should be a title which is earnt, but due to The X-Factor, it’s lost some of its special meaning. The X-Factor is specifically designed to get the winner’s single charting, and if it just so happens to be released around Christmas, then of course the millions of viewers will go off to buy it. As a way of promoting an artist, it’s amazingly clever. you promote them through a show for months before their single is released, you get people voting for them and making a dedicated fan-base, and when that single is finally released, the fans are so eager to buy it that they do, all at once. Other bands and musicians don’t have the same luxury. If they release a single or an album, then sure, their most dedicated fans will of course buy it, but other fans may just wait. There’s been no build up, no suspense to see what single will be released. There are very few musicians who would be able to legitimately claim the Christmas No. 1 over The X-Factor on their own, because The X-Factor is designed to get that Christmas No. 1, and people don’t like it.
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Back in 2009, the Christmas No. 1 was ‘Rage Against the Machine’ with ‘Killing in the Name”, a song originally released in 1992. This was due to a massive internet campaign to make sure that The X-Factor didn’t take the Christmas No. 1 for the fifth year in a row. Despite the popularity of The X-Factor it does only represent a small percentage of the UK population, and obviously enough people had decided that they we’re tired of seeing this manufactured set-up take the Christmas No. 1, and so the campaign spread quickly and it succeeded. Since then, each year has brought forward another campaign for another song to become Christmas No. 1, with mixed results each year.
Perhaps part of the problem is that due to the success of ‘Killing in the Name’, multiple campaigns are launched each year, all supporting a different song for people to get to Christmas Number 1. This leads to all the people who don’t want an X-Factor song at Christmas No. 1 splitting their votes between the different campaigns. The reason why The X-Factor worked is because everyone is buying the same single. The reason why ‘Killing in the Name’ worked was because everyone bought the same single. When one group begins to back different campaigns, they’re bound to fail, because the ones who vote for The X-Factor are a larger group than each of the small groups. It’s only when the small groups combine their efforts that their work pays off.
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Songs up for battle this year is X-Factor winner Louisa Johnson’s ‘Forever Young’ (a cover of the Bob Dylan song), John Williams’ ‘Star Wars Theme’, and The Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir with “A Bridge Over You”. Whilst I, as a self-confessed nerd, will be going with Star Wars, right now it’s just impossible to tell who will take the covet prize, although bookies do seem to be backing Louisa Johnson. It’s a shame really. Even with all this merry and festive atmosphere, we seem to forget the most important thing. A Christmas No 1 should be about Christmas, but this hasn’t been the case since 2004 with Band Aid 20. Even before then, Christmas No. 1s that were actually about Christmas was a rarity after the eighties, but perhaps there’s a reason why. Go grab your Christmas playlist. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.
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Got it? Good. Now, look through it. The majority of the songs are classics, like Fairytale of New York, Merry Christmas Everyone, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday and Merry Xmas Everybody. The fact is, Christmas songs just aren’t as popular as they use to be. Whilst more unpopular, bands and musicians are still releasing Christmas singles. Coldplay, Killers, Michael Buble, and more, have released Christmas songs, and although many of them have charted, none have really taken the crown that is the Christmas Number 1…
Will this change? Well it’s unlikely to this year but perhaps, maybe, I’ll be humming the Star Wars theme on the 25th December... Merry Christmas, Everyone!
You can follow Liam on Twitter @ThatLiamAnthony
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TOP 100 OF 2015
KBPS COMPILES ALL THE SONGS I’VE HEARD INTO MY FAVOURITE TOP ONEHUNDRED SONGS OF THIS YEAR
Each year I attempt to build up a list of my favourite 100 songs of each year. These aren’t necessarily the biggest 100 songs. They may not have charted, you may never have heard of some of them, but these are the ones that I think deserve to be heard.
So don’t expect the best selling 100; don’t expect the 100 artists you’ve read in the tabloids. My only rules are that they must have charted in 2015 and there can only be one track in per artist to give everyone a fair stab at the cherry.
A lot of great tracks naturally missed out so I would certainly go check the discography at the back of the magazine for more great picks! So without further ado, let’s start the countdown...
100-81
100 - Zara Larsson - Uncover (Alt Version) - 13th May, DNC 99 - Travis - Everything At Once 4th December, DNC 98 - Young Guns – Daylight 8th June - DNC 97 - Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weather 30th March, DNC 96 - Freddie Dickson – Speculate 12th April, DNC 95 - Nerina Pallot – Rousseau 29th July, DNC 94 - Robin Schulz - Sugar feat. Francesco Yates) - 25th September, #28 93 - Petite Meller - Baby Love 5th July, DNC 92 - The Blossoms - Charlemagne 30th October, DNC 91 The Weeknd - Feel My Face 8th June, #1
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90 - Waka Flocka Flame feat Good Charlotte - Game On - 9th June, DNC 89 - Seafret - Oceans - 21st January, DNC 88 - ElectroVelvet – Still in Love With You 30th March, #63 87 - Gabrielle Aplin - Sweet Nothing 7th August, DNC 86 - Madcon feat. Ray Dalton Don’t Worry - 21st August, #54 85 Mika - All She Wants - 22nd June, DNC 84 - Adele - When We Were Young 20th November, DNC 83 - Alle Farben feat. Graham Candy She Moves - 25th January, DNC 82 - Kacey Musgraves - High Time 23rd June, DNC 81 - KDA feat. Tinie Tempah and Katy BTurn The Music Louder (Rumble) 16th October, #1
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80 - Little Mix - Black Magic 10th July #1 79 - Madyx - Some Kisses 25th February, DNC 78 - Naughty Boy feat. Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin - Runnin’ (Lose It All) 18th September, #4 77 - Rae Morris - Under The Shadows 11th January, #53 Also check out ‘Don’t Go’ 76 - Train - Bulletproof Picasso 26th January, DNC 75 - Maroon 5 – Sugar 13th January, #7 74 - Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin’ 18th January #2 73 - ZZ Ward - Love 3x - 31st May, DNC 72 - Take That - Get Ready For It 12th January, DNC 71 - Sheppard – Geronimo 8th March #36
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70 - Enya - Echoes In Rain 8th October, DNC 69 - Kaiser Chiefs - Falling Awake 28th January, DNC 68 - Leona Lewis - Fire Under My Feet 7th June, #51 Also check out ‘I Am’ and ‘Thunder’ 67 - John Newman - Come And Get It 1st June, #5 66 Fall Out Boy - Uma Thurman 14th April #71 65 - Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do 7th January #1 64 - Sam Smith - Writings On The Wall 25th September #1 63 - Taylor Swift – Style 9th February #21 See also ‘Wildest Dreams’ and ‘Bad Blood’ 62 - Major Lazer - Lean On (feat. MO & DJ Snake) - 2nd March #2 61 Frankie Davies – Shivers 2nd June, DNC
60-41
60 - Nell Bryden – Waves 24th May, DNC 59 - Beck – Dreams - 17th June, DNC 58 - Nothing but Thieves - Trip Switch 18th June, DNC 57 - Rixton - We All Want The Same Thing 7th July #21 56 - Lawson – Roads - 31st May, DNC 55 - Andreya Triana - Playing With Fire 21st August, DNC 54 - Bryan Adams - You Belong To Me 10th August, DNC 53 - Elton John - Looking Up 16th November, DNC 52 - Halsey - New Americana 10th July, DNC
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51 - Ivy Levan – Biscuit 13th January, DNC 50 - Jamie Lawson - Wasnt Expecting That - 3rd April #40 49 - Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat Song 12th January #7 48 - Zac Brown Band - Holiday Road 24th July, DNC 47 - Wolf Alice - Freazy 23rd November, DNC 46 - Seinabo Sey – Younger 10th May, DNC 45 - Rachel Platten - Fight Song 21st August #1 44 - Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott Heatongrad - 23rd October, DNC 43 - Laura Bell Bundy - I Am What I Am 15th June, DNC 42 - Brandon Flowers - I Can Change 5th May #52 41 - Cam - My Mistake - 31st March, DNC
The TOp Forty And as we enter the top forty here are some of my thoughts on the upper most tracks in the countdown! 40 - Hozier - Someone New 11th May, #19
This incredibly catchy love song is actually better than his breakthrough song ‘Take Me To Church’.
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39 - Kylie - Every Day’s Like Christmas 2nd December, DNC
33 - Kerri Watt – You 27th Aptil, DNC
It’s not every year I’d put such a seasonal song in the top forty, but this Chris Martinpenned song is a brilliant, catchy, festive number.
As well as later single ‘Long Way Home’, Kerri Watt has had a great year which began with the emotional ‘You’.
38 - Longfellow – Medic 12th January, DNC
This piano-led ballad gives way to a catchy, anthemic chorus that still sticks in my head almost a year on. 37 - A-Ha - Forest Fire 15th September, DNC
Continuing to prove that well established bands can still produce great new music, this recent single from ‘A-Ha’ mixes energy and some very memorable lyrics. 36 - Will Young - Love Revolution 27th March, DNC
This adaptation of two versions of the same song was an inspired choice by the singer who has blossomed since leaving his talent show background. 35 - Ward Thomas – Guest List 17th July, DNC
One of the most exciting new country acts of recent times, this bonus track to their latest album summed up everything that’s great about the sister duo. 34 - Findlay – Wolfback 20th April, DNC
From its ‘Bang Bang’ opening this fastpaced song is poppy, catchy and very listenable.
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32 - Lucy May – Whirlwind 2nd June, DNC
Familiar with Lucy May from a few years ago she came back with this huge song earlier in the year. 31 Andy Grammer - Honey, I’m Good 13th July, DNC
An immediate ear-worm, try listening to this without singing along. See? You can’t. 30 - The Veronicas - If You Love Someone - 1st March, #98
A powerful breakthrough song from the group. Love it! 29 - The Heydaze – Dumb 23rd June, DNC
Unashamedly poppy this catchy punky number got me singing along in the middle of the year.
28 - Sia - Elastic Heart - 9th January, #10 Sia can always be relied on for a great song and alongside 2015’s ‘Fire Meets Gasoline’ this re-recording of an earlier song was a great start to the year. 27 - Bipolar Sunshine – Daydreamer 8th February, DNC
A calming, clock-ticking smooth number that leads into a much more powerful and memorable chorus.
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26 - Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better 28th June, DNC This distorted electro-pop number boasts a very big chorus that will win you over.
25 - Charli XCX - Doing It (feat. Rita Ora) 6th February, #8 As well as the equally great ‘Famous’, Charli XCX’s collaboration with Rita Ora was a great start to 2015 for her. 24 - Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You 2nd March #3 Jepsen knows how to write a great pop song and this hit, featuring Tom Hanks in the music video, is no exception! 23 - Chvrches - Leave A Trace 16th July, DNC
I really enjoyed the group’s first album and their second one improves on it, led by this first single. 22 - Electric Six - Take Another Shape 13th November, DNC This track from the Detroit band’s latest album was a surprising delight near the end of the record.
21 - Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck - 8th April, #27 Though I used to not be a huge fan of Florence, this song was a further one to win me over. Very catchy.
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The TOp Twenty 20 - Kodaline – Ready 9th February, DNC Kodaline have had a succession of fun singles and this is the highlight. The driving verses lead into a very quirky and catchy chorus. 19 - Lunchmoney Lewis – Bills 5th February #2
One of those songs that was played practically to the point of obsession earlier in the year it’s difficult to deny now it’s had a few months off that was a great pop-jazzrnb crossover number. 18 - Ryan Adams - Bad Blood 21st September, DNC
Many people have had their songs covered but not a whole album. Ryan Adams did an entire cover album of Taylor Swift’s 1989 LP and this Oasis-sounding take on ‘Bad Blood’ is a wonder. 17 - Sizarr – Timesick 19th February, DNC
From its sudden opening to its sauntering instrumentals, there’s just something about this track that stays with me ten months on.
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16 - The Chemical Brothers – Go 5th May #46 With Q-Tip on guest vocals, this is a return to form for the Chemical Brothers from its dark bass-filled electronic opening to its powerful choruses delivered by the rapper. 15 - Public Service Broadcasting - Go! 23rd February, DNC
Honestly not intending to have two songs with the same title after each other, this quirky mash-up of NASA recorded audio and electronic music shouldn’t work on paper, but somehow does! 14 - Passion Pit - Lifted Up (1985) 16th February, DNC
This pop-electronic number led by the falsetto-sounding lead singer is still on my playlist now. 13 - Magalie - Love Criminal 4th May, DNC
It’s a shame this Rita Ora-a-like didn’t do better in the charts as this is one of the best radio-friendly pop-rnb songs of the year. 12 - Only The Young - I Do 7th August, DNC
Quite poppy even for my standards, the balance of male and female lead vocals and foot-stamping drums makes this record. Great song! 11 - Natalie Imbruglia - Instant Crush 29th June, DNC,
As part of her covers album, Australian singer / actress Imbruglia covers this Daft
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Punk album track, replaces its autotune with her delicious vocals and makes it her own. Beautiful. 10 - Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime 6th November, #9 The first cut from their latest album, this tribal sounding record is as catchy as anything they’ve ever done. 9 - The Shires - Friday Night (Jeremy Wheatley Single Mix) 16th January, DNC
Another one of our greatest country acts of the year, this late-on single from the Shires really captures their uptempo and friendly fusion of styles. 8 - FFS - Johnny Delusional 13th April, DNC
As a big fan of both Franz Ferdinand and Sparks I was hoping for much from their joint album, and with this first single they didn’t disappoint. Mixing up the best elements of both bands, this is a favourite. 7 - Florrie - Too Young To Remember 8th March, DNC
A very under-rated pop song, it’s a shame we didn’t get anything more from young singer-songwriter Florrie in 2015 as this was an almost perfect pre-summer pop classic. 6 - Giorgio Moroder feat. Sia - Déjà vu 18th April, #194
From his 2015 collaborations album, this is a great, bouncy, singable pop hit delivered with vocals only Sia could provide.
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5 - Walk The Moon - Shut Up and Dance 7th July, #4 Forget about the haircut in the video (!) this is one of the catchiest pop songs of the year. 4 - The Wombats – Give Me A Try 13th April, DNC
Though not the lead single from their latest album, this building song from ‘The Wombats’ is up there as one of my favourite songs by them of all time. 3 - Oh Wonder - All We Do 4th September, DNC
Featured as the title track of a recent television show, this is beautifully written, sung and produced ballad. 2 - Everything Everything Spring Sun Winter Dread 22nd June, DNC
An eccletic song split into two rather eccentric parts, it’s perfectly produced and put together and one of the few unskippable songs when it comes up on my phone. 1 - Marina & The Diamonds – I’m A Ruin 22nd March, #164
There could only really be one song topping the charts. This is a touching, beautifully sung song from one of the best artists of the current generation.
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Top 10 Albums Though I’ve not heard - comparatively - as many albums (about 40 this year), here is my pick of the top ten from 2015! 10 Spector - Moth Boys 21st August 2015 09 Ward Thomas - From Where We Stand 2nd March 2015 08 Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material 22nd June 2015 07 Hudson Taylor - Singing For Strangers 30th March 2015 06 Jeff Lynne’s ELO - Alone In The Universe 13th November 2015 05 The Wombats - Glitterbug 13th April 2015 04 Marina and the Diamonds - Froot 16th March 2015 03 Brandon Flowers - The Desired Effect 18th May 2015 02 Chvrches - Every Open Eye 25th September 2015 01 Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott Wisdom, Laughter And Lines 23rd October 2015
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We speak to Swedish musician Steve Future who has had huge success with his new single Brand New Day
FUTURE PROOF
Swedish born Steve Future has spent over thirty years making music and KBPS spoke to him as he took some well needed time off by playing ice-hockey, something he’s done since he was twelve years old and continues to do when he’s not making music, as new single Brand New Day continued to ride high in the Swedish charts.
Describing himself as a blues-rock performer, his sound is dominated by his voice and harmonica, and when playing live he uses that instrument as his starting point. “I play harmonica to get into it; I don’t like too much talking [on stage] before [the] action!” His new single ‘Brand New Day’ was inspired by an accident many years ago. Future talked to me about it.
“It’s been a long story to make [Brand New Day]! The lyrics are special – I call it crossover blues-rock song. It’s a piece of art – you never do that in one time, but over three or four times. We worked on the harmonica when I was in New York in September so the song has been growing for a couple of years.” The song was inspired by an incident that happened to Future when he was nineteen, when his car suffered from aqua-planning on a rainy road, a memory that came back to him when his New York producer apologised for being late due to traffic, the conversation triggering memories that formed the basis of the song.
“That’s where the Brand New Day thing comes in – I’m still alive! I was on the side of the angels!”
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The song has had some big successes in Sweden. I asked him about how that came about.
“Maybe it’s down to our magical producer and fantastic manager! Every time I came into the room something happened – it was the feeling I got. I knew what I should do. When you go to New York it’s a crazy town anyway but I had fun all the time - maybe that’s how the song turned out so good! There was no planning around it, things just happened.”
With his eyes on next year, Steve told me he has material for a potential album and will hopefully be reaching out to people to help him with that. He has been very positive so far about his experience recording the single. “This work felt great so why not do some more?” In the meantime he’s mostly looking forward to performing live.
“We are planning doing something with Leslie West so maybe we can do some more songs with him. That’s what we’re planning to do but we’re not yet. Maybe we’ll also come to England!”
With music running in his family from his father to himself and his brother, his hopes for 2016 are equally musical. Having played harmonica for groups in small clubs he hopes to come to London next year and has dreams of meeting one particular musician. “I don’t know [Ozzy Osbourne] but I like his singing and the songs he’s written. I don’t know if he’ll be there, that would be more like a dream! I think he’s the most fantastic singer and writer of songs I’ve heard!” To find out more about Steve Future visit facebook.com/SteveFuture-307792172661270
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ALISTAIR PROUDMAN
2015 In Review The return of Blur with a first album as a four piece in over a decade, The Prodigy returning with a first album in six years, Bruce Dickinson throwing off ill-health to put out one of Iron Maiden’s most ambitious pieces of work yet, the sudden re-emergence of British punk with Slaves… 2015 has been a spectacular year for music, and while 2016 promises a lot, particularly with the new announcement of a second Last Shadow Puppets album, it wouldn’t hurt to glance back at a few highlights from the last 12 months. So, another album of the year list anyone?
8. Forget Your Ghosts – Phoenix Calling Perhaps overshadowed by Mallory Knox and Lonely the Brave, this other alt-rock band from Cambridgeshire went under the radar somewhat despite putting together an incredibly strong album, only placing this low due to some of the quality that has been put out around it. There’s little here that wouldn’t be out of place on a stadium tour, with fist-to-the-air anthems back to back. It says a lot about this album that I could talk about it for days and not touch on the lead singles.
9. #ApeQuest – Professor Elemental Eccentric steampunk act Professor Elemental has long been one of my favourite artists, and his concept album about finding his orangutan butler Geoffrey topped everything he’s done before. Victorian era sci-fi in hip-hop form is quite a challenge on the face of it, but the good professor manages to weave a thrilling narrative through this 24 track epic, complete with plenty of little nods to time travel popculture in a very cohesive album.
6. Bad Magic – Motörhead Lemmy and crew simply cannot make a bad album, it’s just not possible. While Bad Magic may mostly be the same old song and dance for Motörhead, that’s only a problem if they can’t stay at their imperious best, and on this showing they certainly can, while taking things a few shades darker and more vicious. Despite that, the stand out tracks are the Rolling Stones cover, and the introspective Till The End, a track which would form the perfect coda to any artists career.
10. Electric Blood – Biters One of a number of debut artists in this list, 2015 being a fantastic year for the breakthroughs. The Atlantan rabble-rousers put together one of the best rock albums I’ve heard in many a year, a cocksure arrogance tempered with snarling riffs and fist to the air solos the order of the day as they tear along like a hurricane.
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7. Are You Satisfied? – Slaves Well worth the Mercury Prize nomination, this album is a maelstrom of noise and an excellent throwback to punks heyday, breakneck riffs and drumming, snarled aggression in the vocals, some deliberate lo-fi effects… but there’s enough in here to suggest more than one string to their bow – a fun romp on first listen, provoking upon repetition.
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5. Get to Heaven – Everything Everything Since the teenage dream art-pop band that appeared on the scene with Man Alive, Everything Everything have swung around and proven impossible to nail down – something that continues on Get To Heaven, with enough variance in style across the entire album to suggest we’re not done figuring the Mancunians out. Despite that, it feels like a last big stand from the band, and there’s enough here to keep anyone occupied for weeks. 4. Nothing But Thieves – Nothing But Thieves Teased in 2014 with the EP Graveyard Whistling, the Southend five-piece finally broke the wait for their debut with this eponymous LP. For such a young band, they’re so assured in their delivery, sounding more like old horses than fresh young firebrands, and yet their style is so bombastic and impressive you can’t help but be blown away by it; they’re showing to all what alt-rock is supposed to sound like
3. The Day is My Enemy – The Prodigy For 6 years The Prodigy have been promising a dirty sounding album, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t deliver it. This is the industrial dance that the boys from Essex have peddled so well for 2 decades stepped up a notch, the sort of songs that if they were people would give you a good kicking to make sure you paid attention (and in the case of Rokweiler, would probably rip out your spine if you looked at it funny) – it’s a battering assault of primal aggression, and
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there’s little more need be said than that.
2. The Mindsweep – Enter Shikari One of the most obviously politically charged bands out there at the moment, Enter Shikari have long established themselves as a diverse range of sounds with a common socially conscious narrative flowing throughout it, and they’ve kept that up here, while intensifying the attack. The triple prong of pre-release singles Anaesthetist, Last Garrison and Never Let Go of the Microscope are a fantastic insight, with the attack against NHS privatisation contained in Anaesthetist possibly the most powerful thing they’ve ever done – this is the sound of a band swaggering to the top of their game
1. The Book Of Souls – Iron Maiden There was never a contest from the moment this album was released. For all Bruce Dickinson’s troubles with throat cancer, this was a triumphant return to the top with a few pleasing twists. While I have said in the past that some songs on here could have done with a bit more being left on the cutting room floor, it is still a tremendous album that should be the staple of everyone’s collection – the classic Maiden sound is still there by the bucket-load, but it’s accompanied now by a grandeur akin to Pink Floyd at their loftiest peaks, never more evident than on the spectacular Empire of the Clouds, which is easily song of the year as well.
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CHEF AND MUSICIAN REOLE HAS COMBINED MUSIC AND FOOD INTO HIS NEW ARTISTIC PROJECT. WE FIND OUT FROM HIM WHAT’S COOKING...
IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE
Got Your Back Girl is the new single from musician and cooking maestro Reole whose new album ‘What’s Cookin’?’ combines music and cookery in an exciting combination. KBPS spoke to Edinburghborn Reole, Simon Roberts, about this exciting culinary and musical project.
you’re like I like that part – add a bit more in there – it’s just an amazing result what comes out at the end.
“Some of the instrumentation we do is like adding a bit more spice food to the food. Adding more spice is like adding extra drums or snares, or different sounds to the music, so it really relates. It’s like what JRR Tolkien said: If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world!”
Reole’s new single is called Got Your Back Girl and mixes his recognisable music with the vocals of Sophie Mendoza, who also appears in the video.
“I’ve always cooked and I’ve always made music. After working with all the guys for a while – they’d come and record with us for the weekend - I would cook up loads of food [and] the food was inspiring the music we were making.
With the fusion of music and cooking such an intriguing combination we asked Reole how he came up with the idea.
“It’s all ingredients, in music and in food. Everytime I do stuff, the recipes have [the general] idea of what you want to cook but it never turns out the same. It’s a bit like music. You have all your ingredients in the cupboard and you’re cooking it up, and it’s the same as having instrumentation. You’ve got your bass guitar, guitars, brass – it’s like taking them out of the cupboard. “You have them all laid out on the workbench and you’re like what are we going to do with this? You’ve got to plan for it. This isn’t where I’m going to go with it, but you are adding something – oh that’s nice. It’s like food – ooh a bit more pepper. In music you’re doing the same thing – and
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“And if you’ve just had some nice food, and then you’re going into the studio to produce, it’s like the best feeling in the world! It all comes together, and you’re actually getting all five senses. Instead of just listening to music, you can feel it, you can hear it, but when you have the food and music together you’re hitting all five senses, so everything’s more threedimensional.”
“[That song came about] because I was working with quite a lot of girls and other musicians were coming in and they were talking about the whole ‘Sex and the City’ thing and I was hearing all these stories I was lucky to hear being I guy so I learnt quite a lot. And that whole track had this feel, and Sophie was like “This just reminds of last week when I was in New York walking down Manhattan”
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“[The video] was pretty cool. I was only there for a day but it took a few days. Sophie was over in Cyprus so none of us were actually in it, as we used the whole Sex in the City concept – three girls walking around New York and it was pretty well filmed. “It’s a nice video, quite homily, quite wholesome, it’s not offensive, it’s not aggressive, it’s just nice, and that’s the kind of vibe of what [we wanted]. It’s family – let’s cook some food! “[Almost the] first words [in the song] are ‘New York’ – it’s not New Orleans or London – and we didn’t think of that until we said we’d do a video and I went “Well we’ve got a problem here. The [song talks about] New York we can’t film that anywhere else.”
‘So that put a bit of pressure on us! It’s just a nice track. A lot of people liked the story to it – got your back girl – people looking after their friends and family!’ Keen to learn more about Reole’s inspirations I asked him what he enjoyed listening to when he was cooking.
“There’s loads! I love straight funk because it makes me bop around the place with my pots and pans. Singing wise, it’s not really much singing, it’s more instrumentation, like reggae or classic. Sometimes when you’re cooking you’re not listening to the music, you can hear different sounds. It’s just like the track Got Your Back Girl. “The intro to that is a lot of hi-hats and crashing and smashing, and I got that idea from dropping all my knives and forks. When I dropped all this stuff off the counter I just heard this sound – it was a
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rhythm. Straight away I went to program all these hi-hats and drum sounds. To me it was like the crashing of the pot and pans – it was bizarre! This person did a food blog on me and they actually picked up on the same thing, and I was thinking that’s crazy as that’s what happened! “I think it myself and the people I work with can hear it and understand where I’m coming from but it’s cool hearing other people picking up bits. We all have the passion. Everyone in the world likes food, and everyone in the world likes music. It’s all down to your taste what the menu is; what kind of menu you pick in the restaurant, or what menu of music you play off your iPad or CD or whatever.”
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Reole was born in Edinburgh but grew up in New Orleans. I was keen to learn if this upbringing influenced his music and his cooking.
Outside of his work as a musician, Reole used to do pirate radio in the UK, Europe and Africa, which he did with DJ Ritchie Ruftone.
Aside from the music, Reole’s album, though available on the usual providers as a digital download, comes with a cookery book on his own site. “A lot of people want to get hold of the whole package, not just the digital download because when you get the actual cook book and the CD, and people just want to hang onto an actual product”.
With the promise of many interesting stories from this time but ones not suitable for publicity just yet (!) I asked him about his hobbies of American Football and vinyl records.
“Yeah both. I started playing music over [in New Orleans] in Mardi Gras and my high schools. It’s all around you, music and food. It’s more when you get back home you missed what you had. You don’t know what you’ve got till you gone. Try to get your own identity, what you’re about.”
I asked him how he picked on the recipes for it.
“They’re mine, but everything’s been reincarnated like music! They’re mine, that’s my touch. The book itself even explains at the beginning it’s down to you to be creative. I’ve had people on blogs and they’ve played with the recipes, and I like to inspire people to be creative.
“There are seven recipes, one for each day, it’s a nice touch. The whole idea is to listen to the album and cook away, and I hope someone enjoys it as there’s guaranteed to be something you either like to taste or listen to.”
Reole’s favourite recipe from the collection is the muffuletta, a large sandwich. “That’s the one that everyone goes crazy about,” he told me. “It’s [now]expected when people come over!”
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“That was amazing. I was doing it a long time when I came back to Scotland. I was doing it with Ritchie and I’ve just come back to Poland with him. He’s the IDA World Scratch champion, he was UK champion, so we were over for the IDA world championship. I spent a lot of years with him turning up and setting things up and playing music, and being little rascals!”
“I used to play [American Football] in high-school. I’m a big fan. I grew up playing it, it was my sport, but I don’t play it any more. I watch it. I was back out there after Katrina when the saints won the superbowl. They’re my team, it’s just what I love watching. It inspires me. Even on the album, the last track – this is my third album – the last tracks always reference ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ but played in a different jazz way. It means a lot. “[With vinyl myself and Ritchie] have got our own label called ‘Turntable Training Wax’. We’re shipping out things from the UK over to the States, Australia, stuff to all the scratch kids who go into the tournaments. It’s quite a small underground scene it’s realsly vibrant what’s going on right now in that world. We’ve done a little 7’’, it’s all about these portable turntables and the kids are just loving it, there’s some really good talent out there!”
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With Christmas around the corner, a time well known for its food and music, I asked Reole what his plans were for the season.
“I was talking about this to my brother. My mum is away in New Zealand just now so we’re a bit stuck not sure what to do. And he said why don’t we just chill out and get one of those hard hats in which you can put in six cans of beers and have a Pot Noodle, because everything has all been about the cooking and music. Why don’t we just kick pack, go out and buy a Playstation and play some games, some of the stuff I’ve not even done this year! “To be honest what I might do this Christmas is not do anything as the whole year has been crazy – I might just sit down and chew the fat.”
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But Reole isn’t an artist who doesn’t want to sit still. He already has big plans for next year.
“I’m already half-way through a new album so I just need to get the programming done and start bringing in the guys and start working on the basslines and get some stuff working, so maybe April or May next year we can start recording and then get another album out – the fourth in four years, they always come out at the same time. “I’ve got to keep pushing the gospel out, keep getting the stuff out there and hopefully people pick up on it. Cooking food and making music is something to share with people!”
You can find out more abour Reole and order the package of What’s Cooking at reolemusic.com.
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ROB BEEZLEY
The Top Forty Column Hello all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and welcome to my article here at KBPS! I’m Rob, an avid lover of all genres of music. However my forte is Top 40 and new releases, I’ll be bringing to you the best in upcoming music!
Well it’s Xmas: I’m looking forward to opening my presents, watching repeats on TV and eating till I pop with both Xmas dinner and chocolate! Firstly, however, let’s get through this month’s new music including covering the Christmas number one!
Obviously the only place we can begin is with 21 year old sensation Justin Bieber who has no fewer than 4 songs in the top 40... yes FOUR: He dominates the top 3 with both number 1 and number 2 with his
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hits Love Yourself and Sorry! This also sets a new record of 4 weeks at both 1 and 2 in the charts!
Looking for the prestige Christmas number one this year however we have: Justin Bieber - Love Yourself He’s been there for what seems like forever. However it’s a strong possibility that “Bieb” could be number one for Xmas with this song which refuses to move!
Louisa Johnson - Forever Young I’m not a fan of The X Factor. However I did see a few episodes and I’ve also heard this on the radio, Louisa has a very varied and wonderful voice and has a very bright future! My choice for Xmas number one.
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The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS - A Bridge Over You A cover of the Simon and Garfunkel Classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. A typical Choir type song but still rather good and currently number one in the updates. This has the backing of a lot of people, me included, however I’ve gone for Louisa based on the fact The X Factor rarely misses out.
The Pogues and Kirsty MacCollFairytale of New York It wouldn’t be an Xmas article without this little one being included. This is personally my all time favourite Xmas song and if I had my way it would be number one every single year which is why i’m not put in charge the charts clearly! :p Carly Rae Jepsen - Last Christmas A cover of the Wham classic “Last Christmas”, Carly has put her own new and modern twist on this and I really like it, although not as much as the original! Grace - You Don’t Own Me I couldn’t go the entire article without mentioning this song, Not so much a Christmas candidate as a chart sticker. Having heard it a few times it is more and
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more catchy the more you hear it so, you know, keep listening to it!
So that’s it for this month, Finally a month where I actually like most the songs in the article, which has made for a refreshing change really so thank you for reading and supporting KBPS. We really do appreciate it and I appreciate you taking the time to read my article! I’m going to end with a little teaser of next month’s article!
We need to look out for songs from KSI. Normally I avoid the grime and underground scene but having heard this today this could well be a dark horse come January so watch this space. Also Will Young with What The World Needs Now Is Love is backed by the WWF as their campaign song for their upcoming advert. This cover is really well made and actually makes you think what we are doing to our world.
Also if anybody would like to meet the face behind the words I now have a regular gig down at Queen’s Court In Leeds every Saturday from 11pm-4am so why not come down and say “hi!”. Many Thanks, Rob
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The Ultimate
Christmas Playlist
The newbies
!Si Cranstoun - A k c i p s ’ l i h P Christmas Twist
Kylie - Every Day’s Like Christmas
Janet Devlin - December Daze
The Rubettes - Plastic Christmas
Jessie James Decker - This Christmas
Our look at the new singles out this year!
Jessie J - Man With the Bag
Shakin’ Stevens - Echoes of Merry Christmas
Everyone
LeAnn Rimes with Gavin DeGraw - Celebrate Me Home
Sparks - Christmas Without A Prayer
The Killers - Dirt Sledding The Braxtons - Mary, Did You Know?
Elliphant - North Star (Bloody Christmas)
The Darkness - I Am Santa
Carly Rae Jepsen - Last Christmas
LeAnn Rhymes - Today is Christmas
Phoenix - Alone on Christmas Day
Train - Merry Christmas Everybody
Smoke Fairies - Christmas Without A Kiss
Blake and Dame Shirley Bassey - The Christmas Song
Sabrina Carpenter Christmas the Whole Year Round
Scouting For Girls Christmas In The Air (Tonight)
Military Wives Choir I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - Walking Home for Christmas
The Courteeners - Winter Wonderland
Palma Violets - Last Christmas on Planet Earth
Chirping - Love, For Every Christmas I Miss You More
Plus get the party started with the latest Beat-A-Maxx mash-up .facebook.com/beatamaxx.tv/ videos/1108413452516638/
The Ultimate
Christmas Playlist
The Biggest and Best 75 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Aled Jones-Walking in the Air Alejandro Fernandez Holt - Christmas Time Andy Abraham - December Brings Me Back To You Aqua - Spin Me A Christmas Avid Merrion - Proper Chrimbo Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas? Bellowhead - Christmas Bells Bianca Nicholas - A Christmas Wish Billy Mack - Christmas Is All Around Bing Crosby - White Christmas Boney M - Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree Britney Spears - My Only Wish (This Year) Chris De Burgh - A Spaceman Came Travelling Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas Cliff Difford and the Decorations - Let's Not Fight This Christmas Cliff Richard - Mistletoe And Wine Coldplay - Christmas Lights David Essex - A Winter's Tale Destiny's Child - 8 Days of Christmas Electric Six - You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch Elton John - Step Into Christmas Fall On Your Sword feat. Dick Valentine - Last Christmas Frankie Goes to Hollywood - The Power of Love George Michael - December Song Geraldine McQueen - Once Upon A Christmas Greg Lake - I Believe in Father Christmas Hot Pantz - (I'd Like To Give You) One 4 Xmas Houghton Weavers - What's Christmas Without A Brass Band Janet Devlin - December Daze Jessie James Decker - Baby! It's Christmas Jive Bunny - Let's Party John Lennon - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born
Play it online bit.ly/1lks7Jz
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Kelly Clarkson - Underneath the Tree Kenny Chesney - Christmas in Blue Chair Bay Kylie - Every Day’s Like Christmas LeAnn Rimes - I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas Leona Lewis - One More Sleep Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You Mick Hucknall - Happy This Christmas Mickey's Christmas Carol - Oh What A Merry Christmas Day Mike Oldfield - In Dulce Jubilo Mud - Lonely This Christmas Nathan Carter - Christmas Stuff Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You) Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime Perry Como - Winter Wonderland Puppini Sisters - Jingle Bells Queen - Thank God It's Christmas Ricky Tomlinson - Christmas My Arse Sam Smith - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone Si Cranstoun - A Christmas Twist Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody Squeeze - Christmas Day Status Quo - It's Christmas Time Steel Eye Span - Gaudete Straight No Chaser feat. Kirsten Bell - Text Me Merry Christmas The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick The Cheeky Girls - Have A Cheeky Christmas Time The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) The Feeling - Feels Like Christmas The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa The Killers feat. Elton John and Neil Tennant - Joseph, Better You Than Me The Killers feat. Toni Halliday - Great Big Sled The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York The Retrobot - Christmas Robot The Wombats - Is This Christmas? Victoria Hart - Santa Baby Wham - Last Christmas Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Play it online bit.ly/1lks7Jz
From presenting on television to being an X-Factor contestant, to performing at the Royal Albert Hall, singer-songwriter Roberta Howett’s star is rising...
FROM DUBLIN TO THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Roberta Howett is an Irish singersongwriter who has had an active career including being part of girl group Fanfair, television work on MTV and being part of the first series of X-Factor. KBPS spoke to her as she released her latest single Water to Fire after she had performed at a series of dates around Scotland.
“I always think a Scottish crowd is so nice, they’re just really fun and they got really into it, so it was great and went really well,” she told us. “Our base was in Glasgow which is a pretty interesting place, it’s got a great soul about it. I actually managed to squeeze in a gig while I was there in with Randy Newman. He was playing in the Concert Hall on the Friday night so it was pretty cool!” Her single Water to Fire came out in late October and has been well received. We asked her what it was about.
“Water to Fire is about a relationship which is not the right one, it’s not the one you’re going to end up with, but for some reason it makes you feel alive, and that’s what it keeps you there, basically turning you from water to fire. It’s a pop tune! “People seem to really like it. It’s probably because I usually write ballads, so even though is this is a ballad with a beat I think they’re excited that it’s more uptempo than my usual material!
“I sing with a lot of different acts and write for a lot of people, so I do vary it up in other ways, but when I write for myself and release my own music
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I kind of stick to the same format, maybe because I write on a piano. It was nice to do something different on this occasion!” As well as her solo work Roberta was also part of the four-piece girlband Fanfair. How did that differ from her solo work? “Different things have different advantages. I loved being in the band, just because there were four of us. You get to share the experience and the excitement with other people. And we had so much fun, and the girls are still really close friends of mine.
“But then at the same time there are musical compromises you make in a band as you’re one part of it, and you have to share that and make sure everyone is considered but as a soloist you can make those decisions for yourself.” Alongside singing Howett has had experience in television presenting (“I guess I like chatting to people, but naturally I’m more comfortable singing but it was fun to do”) but her heart is in music, and her hopes are for new music in the new year. “I think I’ll do another single next, aiming around January time. All the while building towards an album, and I’m hoping that’ll naturally come about maybe next year! I constantly have ideas floating around my head or topics I’d like to sing about.”
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Howett appeared in the first series of the X Factor and found it a good experience.
“At the time nobody knew it was going to take off and be as big as it was the first of its kind, and didn’t know how it was going to be received. I met such interesting people. Especially now with where the industry has gone you don’t know where your next opportunity is going to come from so if it feels if it’s something that could be beneficial to you I’d suggest you take the chance. “It’s the first step, you have to still put in the hard work but it gives you a really good idea of how the industry works and what’s involved and it was fun as well!”
With her single out I asked Howett what her hopes are for 2016? “My real aspiration is to take a holiday and get to some sunshine – anywhere with sun, like 3-degree heat, somewhere with a beach, that would be a dream! But in all seriousness just to keep going, release some more music, get an album out and hopefully continue to meet more people in the industry that inspire me.” You can find out more about the singer on her website at robertahowett.com.
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REVIEWS
Electric Six - Live at Fibbers
With Yip Deceiver and Black Night Crash, Fibbers, York, 30th November 2015 As November came to an end it was time for my annual visit to see Electric Six live, in their first visit to York in a couple of years to the re-positioned Fibbers.
The six-piece Detroit band, with Keith Thompson replaced by a new bassist for this tour, were supported in York by two acts, their main support Yip Deceiver and one-off support Black Night Crash.
In a questionable decision, Yip Deceiver started their set just after the advertised door opening time, which meant I missed their first song, but found the rest of their energetic set to be a fun mix of synths, singing and guitar work, with a selection of very catchy songs displayed. I very much enjoyed their thirty-minute set, which included songs ‘Party Line’ and ‘Red Line’ and picked up their EP in response. It
was a shame, though, that we didn’t get a roll out of their Fleetwood Mac cover ‘Everywhere’ they did as part of the recent Electric Six Kickstarter.
Second support Black Night Crash weren’t really my cup of tea with their harder rock sound and I’m not sure why they were put here instead of opening the night. There was nothing to really fault about their halfan-hour set but after the unique energy of Yip Deceiver they felt too unremarkable and their music didn’t really grab me. Onto the main act and we got an impressive twenty-one songs from the band over the space of eighty minutes and though there wasn’t much variety in song selections from the previous nights it was pretty hard to fault the set-list as it was pretty much a perfect collection of songs, or as perfect as it can be when the band has such a huge discography now to pick from.
start a night with, but it got the crowd going, with Valentine’s trademark waving engaging the crowd. ‘Karate Lips’ and ‘It’s Horseshit!’ followed as a double-act from ‘Human Zoo’ and were both well received, and ‘Down at McDonnellzzz’ was as fun as always, now seemingly a little bit faster and more like the studio version than the usually slower live take. ‘Roulette’ was the first new song out of the gates and this was just as fun live. ‘The New Shampoo’ soon followed with its sexy swagger, before the double-act of ‘Gay Bar’ and its name-checking follow-up from ‘Flashy’ kept the crowd doing, Nash on top form for the first half. ‘She White’ continued the flow of songs before ‘Body Shot’ got a welcome round of cheers.
The live version of ‘Dime Dime Penny Dime’ from the new album impressed with its country vibe but was much slowed down here, whilst ‘Future Is In The Future’ delivered the goods though the mid-song monologue felt more forced than usual. ‘Improper Dancing’ was nice to hear again, with the high energy ‘(Who The Hell Just) Call My Phone?’ sitting brilliant between the ‘stop’ and ‘continue’. ‘Danger! High
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Voltage’ naturally made an appearance here before ‘Adam Levine’ and ‘Hello! I See You’ kept up the energy, with live favourites ‘Dance Epidemic’ and ‘I Buy The Drugs’ wrapping up the set in a positive way. The band retuned on stage for two more songs, a welcome re-appearance for ‘After Hours’ and a closer of ‘Dance Commander’ which sits as weirdly at the close of the show as ‘Synthesizer’ did at the start.
The band’s appearance at Fibbers wasn’t the best I’ve seen them – the chats between songs were few and far between and the sound felt a little muted in parts, especially when it came to backing vocals. But there were definitely lots of positives – and not just Tait’s Nicholas Cage shirt. The set-list, including at least one song from each album, was pretty flawless, the vibe from the crowd was positive, and the energy stayed with the band. The new bassist seemed to fit in well, occasionally interacting with Nash and Da Ve during solos, and Valentine seemed in good spirits. A great night!
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Janet Devlin December Daze Though I never knew her through the X Factor on which she appeared (it’s a show I don’t watch) I have since fallen in love with the voice of young singer-songwriter Janet Devlin, whose cover EP ‘Duvet Daze’ included four beautiful covers alongside her single ‘Creatures of the Night’. Having enjoyed those releases I recently supported her pledged EP ‘December Daze’ including five festive-themed songs. The titular track that starts the release is a beautiful, mid-tempo, smooth number, mixing Devlin’s sweet and emotive voice with a simple emotive backing tune, the mixture of Christmas-themed lyrics and subtle production that doesn’t resort to expected clichés really working well. It’s a sadder number that really captures the dark, winter-like spirit with some nice lyrics woven into the theme.
Second original track ‘River’ starts with an interpolation of ‘Jingle Bells’ but otherwise is less overtly festive, but still pulls on the same heart-strings of the first track, the simple piano backing and Devlin’s vocals all that are needed to make the track.
Moving into the first classic song, Devlin’s take on ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ is built around the concept of a music box, from the winding introduction to the building up of tempo against the gentle whirring sound of a motor, once more the production beautiful in its minimalism with nothing but her voice and a piano track themed around the music box. Devlin’s sweet, breathy vocals capture
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the style of the song and it’s a familiar, but great, take on the classic track.
Track four is ‘Happy Holidays’, another original, and more upbeat than the previous tracks with more obvious Christmas production vibes from sleigh bells to a xylophone riff and familiar lyrics. The quick-lyriced punchy chorus lifts the spirits and makes for a buzzing bouncy number, especially when the crowdfocussed spelt-out bridge kicks in. The ‘December Daze’ EP wraps up with Devlin’s take on ‘Silent Night’, an acapella number that allows her recognisable voice to echo out with no intrusion from any backing.
Overall this EP from the young singer is a strong collection of five songs, with three well written, sung and produced originals and two great covers of traditional songs. ‘December Daze’ is well worth picking up if you didn’t pledge. (8/10)
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Marina and the Diamonds Live in Manchester
O2 Ritz, Manchester, Monday 23rd November 2015 with RIVRS Yesterday I finally ticked off seeing one of my favourite artists of all time, Marina and the Diamonds. It’s not often I can say that I’ve loved all the albums by one artist so much, but Marina’s trio of LPs are three unmissable entries in my music collection, each home to some incredible pop songs. So grabbing a ticket to what would turn out to be a sold out show in Manchester, as part of a small UK tour, was a no brainer for me.
Supporting Marina and the Diamonds was Chvrches-esque trio ‘RIVRS’ from London. Their perky thirty minute set of songs were a great start to the gig, their electronic tunes of synth, drums and vocals delivering the goods. With a large sound and a fun lead singer, there were many
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hooks during the songs to be enjoyed even on first listen, including a great ending song in what I imagine is called ‘You’re Trouble’. They even threw in a Fleetwood Mac cover of ‘The Chain’ (though sans the famous Top Gear ending). With some fun dance moves in from lead singer Charlotte and a crisp, electropop sound from the trio, these are definitely a band to look out for. But it was, of course, Marina and the Diamonds that had sold out the venue and for an artist that is big, but not a huge charting act recently, the anticipation and reaction from the crowd was incredible. Though mostly teenage and upward girls, there was a healthy mix of all ages around the venue, who were keen to sing and move along to the music. For this gig Marina had chosen to group the set into three acts, one for each of the
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albums. For the five songs from ‘The Family Jewels’ she emerged on in a metallic red top with mickey-ears and delivered the best of the three sets, both through the songs given a much rockier tone to on the album and the mixture of visuals. Credit should go, alongside Marina who was bouncy, bubbly and great on stage, to the band, whose energetic drummer and keen bassist in particular gave the songs more power than on the LP, and the visual artist whose background images really cemented these first few songs. Mowgli’s Road was a hoot to start against a jungle background; the emotion of ‘I Am Not A Robot’ transformed into a power-ballad complete with well-matched robotic visuals and ‘Obsessions’, for which a keyboard was placed centre-stage for Marina, emotional. Act one concluded with two personal favourites, ‘Oh No!’, complete with very well realised emoji backing visuals, and breakthrough single ‘Hollywood’, here in its shorter form, once more with great imagery including tinder-inspired pop art. Though not necessarily my favourite of the three albums this first set was the best showcase of rockier songs, crowd energy and absolutely visually incredible background images. As Marina left the stage the visuals slowly transformed over a live musical background into the album cover of ‘Electra Heart’ with a very technically realised transference, with a few interesting twists such as a brief stab and visual accompaniment of Britney’s ‘Toxic’. In this set we got almost the best five songs off the album as Marina returned in a rather tight and leaves-nothing-to-theimagination pink jump suit. ‘Bubblegum Bitch’ was an energetic as the album, bonus track ‘How To Be A Heartbreaker’ a fresh treat, ‘Primadonna’ an expected
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delight, and ‘Teen Idle’ which certainly got the crowd singing along. With her “pet dog” from the previous tour re-appearing during the middle song briefly, it was up to ‘Lies’, given a strong electronic make-over with trippy lights, to wrap up this chapter.
Act three was the longest, the show concentrating as you’d expect on the latest album. Now dressed in a blue fruit-themed number we got eight songs out of twelve from her latest LP. The titular track opened up, a fun number on the record but not quite as fun live. ‘Savages’, a personal favourite, was much better, as was her best song on the album ‘I’m A Ruin’, which was maybe less emotionally-charged live but still a great listen.
‘Can’t Pin Me Down’ was bigger in a live environment, as was ‘Forget’, the synched visuals – though not as elaborate as the first act, helping to lift up the songs. The slow ballad ‘Immortal’ tied up the show, in quite a downbeat ending, with first encore song ‘Happy’ keeping the mood low. Thankfully ‘Blue’, with visuals lifted from its promo video, wrapped up the gig on more positive notes. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Marina and the Diamonds live but what I got was a great experience. Marina herself was in good spirits both in crowd banter and singing, with the energy of her live band really giving the songs a much bigger sound than even the album and songs like ‘Hollywood’ and ‘I Am Not A Robot’ were somehow just better live. There were plenty of times for the crowd to sing-along alongside backing recorded vocals to support her. What really made the show for me, alongside the music of course, was the visuals and though they were far more expressive in the first act, really
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complimented the music, the synced up visuals and style really suiting each and every song.
I really have very little to complain about from the set. The three-act structure was a brave decision and mostly worked even though it threatened putting some of the bigger hits clumped together, though the bias towards the most recent album near the end didn’t quite fill me up with excitement as much as the earlier sets, and
I’d have rather seen something pulled from the pool of ‘Shampain’, ‘Homewrecker’, ‘Power and Control’, ‘Living Dead’, ‘Sex Yeah’ or ‘Lonely Hearts Club’ rather than the more subdued ‘Immortal’ or ‘Happy’ but that’s down to personal preference and are minor quibbles as the performance, visuals, music and song selection all worked together to make this one of the best gigs I’ve been to, with a crowd very receptive to Marina’s talents as both a singer and a songwriter. (8/10)
The Lancashire Hotpots Live in Leeds
Supported by the Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican, Brudenell Social Club, Saturday 21st November 2015
It’s been two years since I last saw the Hotpots, a five-piece comedy band from Lancashire specialising in folk-tunes satirising modern life with distinctly oldfashioned tunes, having potted-myself and my friend out with seeing them three times
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in two weeks. But, returning to see them at the Brudenell Social Club was a wise idea as their impressively lengthy one-hourand-forty-five minute set packed out the venue’s main room with a performance that rivals their appearance at Bingley Music Live a few years ago as their best ever. Before the Hotpots got on stage, though,
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we were treated to forty minutes of more straight-up parodies from Barnsley’s ‘The Bar-Steward Sons of Val Doonican’, a fourpiece knitted-jumper wearing comedy band who delivered seven songs, mostly taken from their most recent album ‘The Tarn Machine’ but with a couple picked from older LPs.
Though things got off to a rickety start with a few sound issues, the band soon delivered the goods with a selection of very funny parodies, from the Police-sampling ‘Massage In A Brothel’ to Thin Lizzy’s 1973 hit ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ becoming a track about donating sperm to IVF, the songs were well recreated on stage and funny to listen to. Abba’s Fernando was twisted into a song of complaint about a famous chicken restaurant chain, whilst Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’ became about a girl from Dodworth. Probably their best song on offer outside of the massagethemed opener was ‘The Winner Takes It All’ becoming a painful reminder about being careless with a man’s fly. Their set ended with a send-up of ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ but now about their home town, and a spirited version of House of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’. Both really got the crowd going and the band were having as much fun too, though both songs were less about the funny lyrics which didn’t feel as much changed and more about the performance, featuring a mixture of guitar, accordion and a variety of home-made looking instruments. It’s also a long time since I’ve seen a lead singer in a wooly-pully and wig being crowd-surfed across the venue and to the bar, and then back again. Overall, a very fun support with some very laugh-out-loud songs and a very party ending, and also the only time in my life I’ve had to tell a man
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wearing a similarly themed cardigan that I actually didn’t want to dance with him. After a short break it was time for the Hotpots and if there was any doubt they were ready to rock Leeds’ Saturday that was put to rest with an incredible and lengthy set encompassing twenty songs from across their discography, which couldn’t fail to please the fans and casual listeners alongside.
With the five-piece on top form with bantering with the crowd, we got a doubleopener of drinking songs in ‘Let’s Get Leathered’ and ‘Bitter, Lager, Cider, Ale, Stout’ and the audience were already up and dancing following the conclusion to the support act. These two songs were followed by personal favourite ‘I Fear IKEA’ (complete with lead singer Bernard Thresher in an apparently itchy branded hat) before ‘I Met A Girl On MySpace’ was dusted off and made a very welcome reappearance after many years. The set continued with a whole range of their hits, all well performed and going down well with the crowd. Bob Wriggles had a turn on the lead vocals with ‘I’m Going to Poundland’ whilst Pirate Bernard, the lead singer in a more piratey-guise, brought us personal favourite ‘Cinema Smugglers’ and ‘The Perfect Pint’, arguably one of their best crowd-engaging live songs.
The set had a bit of a weaker middle with ‘Thirsty Thursday’ and ‘Last Man Standing’ both weaker songs to pick for a live environment (The brilliant song ‘Mek Us A Brew’ could have been better placed here) but that’s just my opinion and minor quibbles in what was otherwise a solid set.
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The main section finished on crowd pleaser ‘Chippy Tea’ whilst the encore brought us the building, semi-acoustic starting ‘Mum’s For Tea’ and sing-along favourite ‘Shopmobility Scooter’ mixed in with the Beatles-riffing ‘Hey Jean’. And though packing my festival glasses and hi-vis was in vain as we didn’t get, for the first time ever live the ‘Bang Bang Thumpy Dance Megamix’ (Dickie Ticker had employed his earlier, alongside stripping on-stage, for the now-familiar ‘A Lancashire DJ’ conga) we did get a very funny parody of the Mark Ronson song ‘Uptown Funk’ which was a cracking end to a very strong set.
It’s difficult to say whether this was the best set from the Lancashire comedy band I’ve seen but it’s certainly up there: a great selection of songs as part of a considerably long set, the band on top form both musically and comically, and an engaged crowd all made for an absolutely brilliant night. Plus, as announced on stage, we have another album to look forward to... (Also thumbs up to the venue whose pint of warm apple cider went down very well on a cold night pre-gig!)
Jeff Lynne’s ELO – Alone In The Universe returning, like Enya, knows its sound and sticks with it. Long-time fans of the band will lap this up with ‘Alone In The Universe’ fitting in with the band’s established sound quite comfortably.
Fourteen years after their last LP ‘Zoom’ and now under the tweaked name of ‘Jeff Lynne’s ELO’, which smacks of either contractual obligation or ego massaging, of my favourite ‘classic’ bands of all time is back. ‘Alone In The Universe’ is a ten-track album coming in at a sprightly and slightly cheap 32-minutes and like other acts
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Lead single and well played track ‘When I Was A Boy’ is certainly classic ELO, mixing in a sense of nostalgia (captured by the band’s recognisable UFO motif) with the thick heavy synths and vocoder work so much associated with the band. ‘Love and Rain’ is a darker, almost Gorillaz-like, number, its thumping bass drum and Lynne’s gloomy vocals next to backing vocals combining to form a very atmospheric number. ‘Dirty to the Bone’ is one of my favourite numbers on the album, and the one that sounds most like old ELO, the up-tempo bridges and choruses and fun ploppy synths delivering well.
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‘When the Night Comes’, the second single, is another one of the highlights of the record, the rising inflexion of the title running through the vocoder quickly memorable, powered by a strong string backing. ‘The Sun Will Shine on You’ is a slower number, more emotive in its delivery, whilst ‘Ain’t It A Drag’ goes a little rock-a-billy and is another personal highlight for me.
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott Wisdom, Laughter And Lines
‘All My Life’ and ‘I’m Leaving You’ keep the theme of the album moving along, but aren’t the most memorable tracks, whilst the faster ‘One Step At A Time’ at least lifts the pace up a little and the multi-layered catchy chorus and guitar riffs make this a better follow-up. The album wraps up with the titular track, a slow, evocative number that feels like the LP has come full circle to tie things up, proving to be a strong sendoff for the latest record.
‘Alone In The Universe’ doesn’t do anything that surprising – it’s quite clearly an ELO record from Lynne’s famous vocals to the vocoder work to the infusion of strings – but the fans will be happy with that. It’s a warm, inviting, nostalgic record, perfect for this time of year and one I really enjoyed. It’s just a shame that you only get 32-minutes of music for your money, the more up-tempo numbers ELO used to be known for are mostly missing, and that the artist billing tells a lot of tales: this is a Jeff Lynne solo record with a strong ELO sound. But it’s an album I still enjoyed and holds its head high in their canon of records.
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I was quite late to the game in listening to the former Beautiful South singer’s first duo album, 2014’s ‘What Have We Become?’ but I was familiar with the clutch of singles and really enjoyed it. This time around, with their second release, I felt I should be more on the ball and plunge into the album pretty early on, and that was a wise decision on my behalf as ‘Wisdom, Laughter and Lines’ is an incredible fifteen-one minute album with many songs that could easily be singles. Based loosely around a theme of austerity – name checked in the first single from the album – and the ups and down of life, the pair’s second LP together is a joy from start to finish.
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The poppy ‘(Man Is) The Biggest Bitch Of All’ starts the album, a jaunty ode to a cheating lover, the bounce of the record at odds with the lyrical content. Mixing in a catchy chorus and bridge, plus a mid-song breakdown from Paul, this is a real hit with some great lyrical imagery and rhyming. Single ‘The Austerity of Love’ follows and it once more nails that catchy pop-vibe with a folky-feeling, mixing in some loose political commentary with some smooth metaphors and certainly feels like a very radio-friendly single.
‘I Don’t See Them’ has a sixties vibe to the record with alternative choruses sung by the pairing and it’s a song dripping with positivity and the duo’s strong lyrics. ‘Heatongrad’ as track four is less sweet, the song surprisingly explicit for the pairing, the words and marching drum pattern working together to create quite an angry, gutsy record mixed with a countryfeel. My favourite song of the album, its political commentary, production values and punchy sounds really pull together and even when the tempo slows down dramatically it still succeeds. ‘Sundial in the Shade’ is a much more gentle affairs, Abbot’s vocals over an airy backing track make for some smooth verses, but it’s the singable harmonic choruses that really cement this track as the fifth strong track out of five and holds your attention even as it pushes seven minutes long.
Taking us up half-way, ‘Lonesome and Sad Millionaire’ is Heaton’s turn for a smoother number and though the verses are not my favourite, the skiffle-sounding verses and memorable chorus with the titular hook work. ‘The Queen Of Soho’ ups the tempo again and though it has some similarities
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with earlier numbers on the record it’s punchy political notes about prejudice, hate and being different again succeed in combination with the catchy music.
‘The Horse and Groom’ has one of the most memorable opening riffs on the album, the rocky almost-Morrissey-like vibe giving it a more distinct sound. Though the music and build-up doesn’t perhaps get the pay-off you’d expect, this is still an accomplished track. ‘When Love For Woman Stops’, a slower six-minute opus, appears at track nine and is a subtle, string-focussed ballad with its heart in all the right places. Entering the final third ‘No One Wants To Stay’ is another bouncy song with a series of catchy rhymes and hooks whilst ‘Wives 1, 2 &3’ goes a little more rockcountry again as it tells a tale of multiple romances and the Elvis-sound works, but it’s a little too similar sounding to earlier, better numbers. The record concludes with ‘You, The Mountain and Me’, tying things up nicely, with a Trumpton-sounding keyboard riff and a musical styling, and feels like an ideal way to end the record, it’s music sweeping and swaying like some dancers bringing a show to an end. It’s difficult to truly find fault with the album. It might tail away a little near the end on a couple of the tracks but this is a minor fault on an album with, at the very least, six or seven truly solid singles or radio-friendly tracks. Mixing up a range of styles, some beautiful harmonies from the pair and some surprisingly political bite, I loved practically every moment of the record and it arrives definitely in my top ten releases of the year. Magical. (8/10)
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Jess and the Bandits with the Rising and Fitzwallace - Live in Leeds
Brudenell, Social Club, Leeds, Thursday 29th October 2015 It was an exciting opportunity to be able to see one of my favourite singers – Jessica Clemmons, here with the Bandits band – on my doorstep, alongside another band – The Rising – whom I’d recently interviewed – and so it was with anticipation that I headed to Leeds to the intimate venue which allowed the twothirds full audience a chance to get up and close with the strong bill.
Local University-based five-piece ‘Fitzwallace’ opened and their self-written songs and talent immediately belied their
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ages, their sound mixing country with the vibe of singers from the fifties or sixties. With some tight harmonies from lead singers Joe and Flo, a very friendly stage presence and some quickly catchy songs – in particular the incredible ‘Ballad of a Star’ that also opens their new EP which was available on the merchandise counter – they are definitely a band that you need to watch out for. Main support ‘The Rising’ followed and their seven-song set was a little bit different than I expected – it was far rockier and louder than what preceded it or followed – but I really enjoyed the selection of well-written, quickly catchy
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songs such as ‘Calling You’, ‘City By The Sea’ and ‘Break the Chains’, each with a memorable chorus. Lead singer Tristan was a very jovial frontman, his between song chats friendly and welcoming, and really invoked a warmth towards the band. Throwing in a superb cover of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ before finishing with their own music of ‘Dreaming and Scheming’, a personal favourite of mind from the set, ‘Highway to the Lost and Found’ and ‘Still Coming Home To You’. They may have been a little more rock than country but I enjoyed their buzzing and powerful set and the songs they showcased definitely felt like a strong incentive to buy their new album. After a quick break the main act arrived on stage, ‘Jess and the Bandits’. It was immediate from the offset it was going to be a fun set, the band making light of the interesting choice of Irish folk tunes piped in before them, before Jessica Clemmons arrived on stage, an incredibly bubbly and confident lead singer whose powerful voice was matched only by her strong portrayal of the songs through gesture and smiles. The double opening header of ‘Ready Set’ and ‘Single Tonight’ was an incredibly powerful and upbeat start to the hourlong-plus set and really set the pace going, with ‘She Ain’t Me’, not from the album, a very strong ballad. ‘Love Like That’ was every bit as good and catchy as the album version, and ‘Getting Into Something’ continued the strong set, before a cover of ‘Take Another Little Piece of my Heart’, tweaked into a slower, more jazzy piece, won me and the crowd over. I feared at this point with such big numbers early on in the set the power would fizzle out, but I
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was wrong, and the set continued to throw up big numbers until the end. ‘My Name Is Trouble’ kicked up the pace again and showcased Clemmons’ powerful voice and the musically strong Bandits, with ‘You Can’t Stop Me’ and ‘What If’ both great.
Their take on Three Dog Night’s ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’ was slower than the original but the duet style and swagger suited it, with ‘Drunk On Me’ and ‘Nitty Gritty’ from the album continuing the strong performances, with very little to say negatively about any of it. ‘If You Can’t Be Mine’, Bryan Adams cover ‘Rock Steady’ and their beautiful heartwrenching take on the Glen Campbell classic ‘Wichita Lineman’ brought the main set to a close, before a two song encore of Dixie Chicks cover ‘Some Days You Gotta Dance’ and album song ‘Wanted Man’ wrapped things up with aplomb, completing a set list that covered all but one song from the album (weirdly the album’s title track) and a strong selection of covers.
I was hoping for good things in seeing The Rising and Jess and the Bandits and I wasn’t disappointed. Local support Fitzwallace were a surprising joy, The Rising were great even in their heavier sound compared to the main act, and Jess and the Bandits delivered their album with excellence thanks to the powerful voice and compelling performance of their feisty lead singer and the fun and energy from the band, and very rarely have I seen a group so tight and confident in their performances. It may have been a small venue but it was definitely the place to have been on that Thursday night. (8.5/10)
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Sam Way – Architect (EP) pounds, its atmospheric simplicity having a hidden power behind it, the emotion of the lyrics matched by the music.
Third track ‘Tiger Love’ is another slowly building, well-built song that plays with tempo and layering, whilst fourth number ‘More Than A Memory’ is possibly my least favourite of the five but it’s title-quoting chorus hits all the right buttons.
I recently had the pleasure of doing a radio interview with Sam Way, singer-songwriter from Devon, about his new EP, and playing song ‘Goliath’, and following that I got to listen to the record as a whole. The Architect EP is a collection of five slowburning emotionally-charged songs starting with the title track and ending with the aforementioned ‘Goliath’. The first track is a slow, echoey, atmospheric number that gives room for the smooth and sensual vocals of Way to breathe, the song stripped back to its basic elements, with the slow building of the strings allowing the track to build to a strong conclusion. ‘Stargazer’ is of a similar sound from a production stand about but it employs a more determined starting point, Sam much more forthright in his delivery whilst the piano remains gentle in the background. The chorus kicks in at the one minute
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Concluding song ‘Goliath’ is definitely the highlight of the piece, the four minutes pretty much a perfect ballad mixing in a steady build up from verse to chorus with the thunderous drums making the piece as the elements slowly build.
‘The Architect’ is an EP that suits the colder weather, and comes across as the emotional soundtrack to a night in in front of the fire. With the smooth and sultry vocals of Way, mixed with stripped back but well layered elements from piano, to drums, to strings, this is a beautiful, emotive and relaxing listen with moments of high power and drama to weave some tension into its gentleness, moving from the quieter opener to the energy of the final number. (7.5/10)
For more information of Sam Way visit https://www.facebook.com/iamsamway. The Architect EP is out on iTunes on 2nd November
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Kacey Musgraves - Live in Manchester
Having discovered a seeming love of country music over the last few months through artists such as Ward Thomas and the Shires and others, it was with two hands that I grabbed an opportunity to see Kacey Musgraves live in Manchester as part of her European tour, landing in the city and performing at the venue adapted from an old church, a beautiful looking building decked in blue and red lights, the latter causing a little trouble for the staff who couldn’t confirm if the wine they’d pick up for my order was indeed white or not.
Musgraves was supported by ‘Sugar and the Hi Lows’ who delivered a swift thirtyminute support set but one that delivered the goods, including closer ‘High Roller’, a track I’d previously downloaded by the band well prior to knowing I’d see them on the night. With Brandon Flowers look-a-
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like Trent Dabbs suited up and Amy Stroup in a provocative long shirt and hot pants, their stylish look matched their songs and they were a great band to warm up the night, their collection of tunes easily suggesting it would be worth picking up their album from the merch stand. With two major label albums under her belt, both of which I’ve heard and loved, Kacey Musgraves and her band of pinksuited men complete with flashing fairy lights, arrived on a stage decked out in lit-up stars and long pink strands of fabric, recreating the cover of her most recent album ‘Pageant Material’ in a very fancy fashion.
Delivering a set of over one-hour and fortyminutes, Musgraves certainly delivered value for money, kicking off with the titular second album track and the lead
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single from the same ‘Biscuits’, both well performed, her voice on strong form and the songs well emphasised by one of the best and most atmospheric lighting shows I’ve seen at a gig which mixed moving heads and mirror balls, and a sound level that was comfortable without being distorted.
The set through together a great selection of songs including nine of the fourteen from her most recent LP, seven of twelve from ‘Same Trailer, Different Park’ and five impressive covers, including a very fun countried version of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’, a thoroughly touching adaption of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ and a two-song encore that began with a punchy cover of ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’ complete with flashing boots and concluded with a six-way acapella of Roy Rogers’ ‘Happy Trails’. Further highlights of the set included a very emotional solo version of the nursery rhyme sampling ‘Merry Go ‘Round’, a strong sing-a-long to personal favourite and first track heard by Musgraves ‘Follow Your Arrow’ and the power of ‘High Time’. In between songs Musgraves and her band entertained with a range of ‘Got Talent’-style parlour tracks, some funny observations on the Mancunian dialect (Kacey, it’s Man-chest-uhhh), some snatches of explanation behind the songs – in particular for ‘Dime Store Cowgirl’, recollections of high-fiving royalty and a few moments where recent current affairs events were directly referred to with Musgraves punchy and upbeat about refusing to cancel the tour in the wake of events in Paris. Musgraves’ set was perhaps less energetic than I thought it would be but perhaps that was down to the stoic crowd who
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mostly observed and listened rather than necessarily danced but it was difficult not to be embraced by the strong collection of songs Musgraves has pulled together so quickly, with the set delivered with her powerful voice, strong band and enough variety to keep things interesting, combined with good sound, impressive lighting and a generally happy atmosphere.
Oh Wonder - Oh Wonder
Built around the close harmonies of singers Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West over some rather warming, wintery, piano riffs, Oh Wonder’s self-titled album is a snug, comforting fifteen track debut. Built up over a year from tracks released on their Soundcloud page, you could possibly accuse the band of being a little bit of a one-tricky pony with all the songs very similar thematically, but when the songs are as good as this it’s difficult to not enjoy the pony.
Opener ‘Livewire’, with its stripped back production, smooth harmonies and quickly memorable chorus sets the bar for the
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album. ‘Body Gold’, the first song I heard from them, feels like it has been inspired by Royksopp with a vocoder-esque vinylhissed production style, with a solid rnb swagger flowing through its verses. ‘Technicolour Beat’ is an electronic tingednumber, whilst ‘Drive’ with its ‘loving you’ riff in the chorus makes it one of the most memorable and well-structured tracks on the album.
‘Lose It’ with its finger-clicks and repeated chorus works well and ‘Landslide’ impresses with its synthetic sounds in the breaks. ‘White Blood’ is a nice and gentle number with some well written lyrics making up quite a subdued chorus; and ‘Without You’ becomes the nearest the album comes up to an upbeat number with the vocals of the two singers lifted up a level and a tambourine giving a bit more energy to proceedings.
piano sound and Ultravox-feel at points; and ‘Plans’ with its ethereal conclusion.
This album is not one you’re going to put on and listen to with your full attention, it’s certainly more of a soundtrack to the evenings as they get darker and shorter. The solid, gentle, touching harmonies from the duo are beautiful and make the record, and though the majority of the tracks blend into each other with a lack of distinction between them, it’s a smooth progressive piece, with ‘All We Do’ the standout track of what is a warming, life-affirming piece of production. (7/10)
Squeeze - Cradle to the Grave
‘The Rain’ is a much more stripped back number with a fun sway whilst ‘Dazzle’ returns to the electro-rnb-Royksopp style sound and its tempo shifts make it stand out from many other tracks on the record.
‘All We Do’, as heard on the recent television show ‘Unforgotten’ is definitely the stand-out track on the album, its heartwrenching piano, emotional delivery of the lyrics and building up structure, set against the distant sound of crashing waves make for a very emotional song. A beautiful number and touching and sing-able in equal measures. Oh Wonder’s album wraps up with a distinct drum-and-clap bit holding ‘Midnight Moon’ together as a more midtempo based number; ‘Shark’ with its stronger piano focus and sampled sound effects; ‘Heart Hope’ with a more lighter
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The thirteenth studio album by rock band Squeeze packs in twelve bouncy numbers into its three-quarters of an hour. The album begins with the up-tempo title track that makes what could we quite a dark concept in talking about life and death into a foot-tapping jaunty pop number with the central catchy title-based chorus. ‘Cradle to the Grave’ with its distinctive piano sound and choral effects makes for a very positive start.
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‘Nirvana’ begins with the threat of a lawsuit from Bob Geldof – ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ anyone? – before switching into a song that feels surprisingly flat against its synth-y undertones; it’s perky but something doesn’t quite gel for me. ‘Beautiful Game’, with its Gizmo-sounding like electronic sampling, also feels lacking in direction. Thankfully first cut from the album ‘Happy Days’ is much better, its ‘Boo Radleys’ positive sound and catchy chorus picks up the baton from the opening track and well and truly runs with it, its sunny optimism winning over anyone.
a fun, cheerful pop record it all works well together and there’s certainly plenty of life left in the band as they too head onwards from the cradle. (6.5/10)
Miss 600 Swing Ting
Track five ‘Open’ is a pleasant enough distraction whilst sixth ‘Only 15’ is a much better, poppier number that lifts the style up. Into the second half of the album and ‘Top of the Form’ continues the school theme and has a Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott vibe, its tempo-shifts and retrocalling backs working well. ‘Sunny’, with its classical / ELO / Eleanor Rigby style opener is a more distinct number on the record and its production decisions make for a fun piece. ‘Haywire’, with a countrytinged sway, continues the album in a fun fashion.
‘Honeytrap’ mixes up indie guitars with soundscapes that you’d expect from the BBC Radiophonic’s workshop and keeps the energy, whilst the slower ‘Everything’ is less impressive. The album ends on ‘Snap, Crackle and Pop’, a pleasing anthemic end that ties up the themes of the album. Overall I enjoyed Squeeze’s latest album. There are two or three standout numbers that are worth downloading if you don’t want to invest in the whole album, but as
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For those of you who enjoyed this year’s Eurovision entry and wanted to hear more will love this second album from Miss 600, beginning with the uptempo, danceable, very catchy titular track that sets out the duo’s stall before the retro-sounding tango-enthused second track ‘Vanishing Act’ delivers a very convincing thirties sound over its swishy-drums and brass sections.
‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ quickly employs some very bassy-swagger and its bouncy beat makes for a very catchy and footstomping track, and makes for one of the big highlights on the album. ‘Moonlight Blue’ takes things down a notch to a more slower, sultry number whilst ‘Open’ is a sexier number that captures the sex appeal of a particularly smooth and sexy dance. ‘Ladies Do (What Ladies Do)’ delivers
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more on the ElectroSwing with a quickly memorable chorus.
Taking us up to the halfway point of the album is ‘Your Dance’, with its acousticstyle guitar, feels like the first track to leave behind the swing of the title, which isn’t necessarily a bad things as this more rnbstyle suits the lead’s voice. ‘Yours To Keep’ stays in similar territory with good effect, whilst ‘Unspoken’ goes even more laidback, and is a nice little ballad. ‘Ruby Red’ picks up where the album left off before the middle three tracks, landing firmly back into ElectroPop territory, and its uptempo dance-vibe works. ‘Matter of
Opinion’ continues the pace and style and ‘Give You The Life’ tweaks it slightly again with a return to the rnb style, but here a little faster.
The album calls it a day with the sirentinged streetscapes of ‘(I Hope You) Love Your Life’ and the much slower ‘Superlove’, being the touching conclusion, though I can’t help feeling a more fitting faster style would have worked well. ‘Swing Ting’ is a great album for fans of ElectroSwing who also like a bit of gentler rnb numbers scattered amongst the more bouncier numbers. It’s an unusual mix but one that works, and this is a solid, enjoyable album of eclectic styles. (7/10)
DISC-OGRAPHY
Every song on these pages has been listened to, liked and rated so you can take our assurance that every song on here is worth buying. Each song gets a three-note rating, with the cream of the crop given three notes. It also shows the date of release, chart position and a YouTube link. ‘DNC’ means ‘Did Not Chart’ and may mean that the data doesn’t exist or it’s not yet been released
January
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1NcaBAN
Olly Murs feat. Demi Lovato – Up (4th, #4, TTT) Kid Rock - First Kiss (6th, DNC, T) Texas - Start A Family (6th, DNC, TT) Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (7th, #1, TTT) Elina Born & Stig Rästa - Goodbye to Yesterday (8th, DNC, TTT) Sia - Elastic Heart (9th, #10, TTT) Gwen Stefani - Baby Don’t Lie (11th, DNC, T) Rae Morris - Under The Shadows (11th, #53, TTT) Gregory Porter feat. Laura Mvula - Water Under Bridges (12th, DNC, T) Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat Song (12th, #7, TTT) Longfellow – Medic (12th, DNC, TTT) The Prodigy – Nasty (12th, #98, T) All Time Low - Something’s Gotta Give (13th, DNC, TT) Ivy Levan – Biscuit (13th, DNC, TTT) Maroon 5 – Sugar (13th, #7, TTT)
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Take That - Get Ready For It (12th, DNC, TTT) First Aid Kit - Master Pretender (12th, DNC, T) Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Ballad Of The Mighty I (13th, #54, TT) Lonely The Brave - Trick of the Light (14th, DNC, T) The Wombats – Greek Tragedy (14th, DNC, TT) The Shires - Friday Night (Jeremy Wheatley Single Mix) (16th, DNC, TTT) Hannah Jane Lewis - Run With Me (18th, DNC, T) Holly Johnson - Heaven’s Eyes (18th, DNC, TT) Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin’ (18th, #2, TTT) Anushka – Kisses (19th, DNC, TT) Blossoms, The - Cut Me and I’ll Bleed (19th, DNC, TT) The Waterboys - November Tale (19th, DNC, TTT) The Hearts – Lips (19th, DNC, TT) Giorgio Moroder feat. Kylie Minogue - Right Here, Right Now (20th, #125, TT) Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Little Boys with Shiny Toys (20th, DNC, TT) Seafret – Oceans (21st, DNC, TTT)
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Gretchen Peters - When All You Got Is A Hammer (Radio Edit) (23rd, DNC, TT) Alle Farben feat. Graham Candy - She Moves (25th, DNC, TTT) Chris Lorenzo and Hannah Wants – Rhymes (25th, DNC, TT) Dreadzone - Fire in the Dark (25th, DNC, T) Fergie - L.A.Love (La La) (25th, #3, T) Karen Harding - Those Girls (25th, DNC, T) Selena Gomez - The Heart Wants What It Wants (25th, #15, T) Madeon feat. Kyan - You’re On (26th, DNC, T) Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend - Like I’m Gonna Lose You (26th, DNC, TT) MisterWives - Our Own House (26th, DNC, T) Sheppard - Let Me Down Easy (26th, DNC, TTT) Train - Bulletproof Picasso (26th, DNC, TTT) The Score - Oh My Love (27th, DNC, T) Kaiser Chiefs - Falling Awake (28th, DNC, TTT) Bryan Ferry – Driving Me Wild (30th, DNC, Thttp:// bit.ly/1FXK73E)
February
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1KUL0vT Kodaline – Honest (1st, #39, TTT) Mike Mago & Dragonette - Outlines (Radio Edit) (1st, #8, T) Youth Club – Breathe (1st, DNC, T) Youth Club – People (1st, DNC, TTT) All We Are - Keep Me Alive (2nd, DNC, T) Gavin DeGraw – Fire (2nd, DNC, TTT) Sam and the Womp – Zeppelin (2nd, DNC, T) Shake Shake Go - England Skies (2nd. DNC. T) Hayley Kiyoko - Girls Like Girls (3rd, DNC, T) Lunchmoney Lewis – Bills (5th, #2, TTT) Charli XCX - Doing It (feat. Rita Ora) (6th, #8, TTT) Say Lou Lou - Nothing but a Heartbeat (6th, DNC, TT) Lady Antebellum - Long Stretch of Love (7th, DNC, TT) Ady Suleiman - So Lost (8th, DNC, T) Bakermat - Teach Me (8th, #22, T) Bipolar Sunshine – Daydreamer (8th, DNC, TTT) DJ Fresh feat. Ella Eyre – Gravity (8th, #4, TT) Jack Savoretti - Written In Scars (8th, DNC, TT) Ne-Yo - Coming With You (8th, #14, TT) JD McPherson - Let The Good Times Roll (9th, DNC, TT) Kodaline – Ready (9th, DNC, TTT) Taylor Swift – Style (9th, #21, TTT) Ariana Grande - One Last Time (10th, #24, TT) Soak - B a nobody (12th, DNC, T)
Clean Bandit – Stronger (13th, #4, TT) Chic feat. Nile Rodgers - I’ll Be There (14th, DNC, TT) Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life (16th, #27, T) Passion Pit - Lifted Up (1985) (16th, DNC, TTT) Texas - Are You Ready (16th, DNC, TT) Cris Cab – Fables (16th, DNC, T) Brian Wilson - The Right Time [feat. David Marks] (17th, DNC, TT)3R) Everything Everything - Distant Past (18th, DNC, TT) The Prides – Messiah (18th, DNC, TT) Fall Out Boy - Irresistible (19th, #70, TT) Sizarr – Timesick (19th, DNC, TTT) Krista Siegfrids - On & Off (20th, DNC, T) David Guetta - What I did for Love (feat. Emeli Sandé) (22nd, #6, TT)4S0) Black Star Riders - The Killer Instinct (23rd, DNC, TT) I Am Harlequin - Kill the Night (23rd, DNC, T) Longfellow - Where I Belong (23rd, DNC, TT) Public Service Broadcasting - Go! (23rd, DNC, TTT) Swiss Lips – Books (23rd, DNC, TTT) Charles Perry - Stranger To Love (24th, DNC, T) Iggy Azalea - Trouble [feat. Jennifer Hudson] (24th, #7, TTT) Connell Cruise - Into The Wild (25th, DNC, T) Madonna - Living For Love (25th) Madyx - Some Kisses (25th, DNC, TTT) Take That - Let In The Sun (25th, DNC. TT) Sonus – Fascination (26th, DNC, T) Years & Years – King (27th, #1, TTT) Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes (28th, #11, TT)
March
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1OoFyjW
Alex Adair - Make Me Feel Better (1st, #13, T) Marlon Roudette - When the Beat Drops Out (1st, #7, TT) The Veronicas - If You Love Someone (1st, #98, TTT) Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You (2nd, #3, TTT) Major Lazer - Lean On (feat. MO & DJ Snake) (2nd, #2, TTT) The Overtones - Something Good (2nd, DNC, TT,) Conrad Sewell - Hold Me Up (3rd, DNC, TT) Deorro x Chris Brown - Five More Hours (3rd, #4, T) Urban Cone - Come Back To Me [feat Tove Lo] (3rd, DNC, TT) Mumford & Sons – Ditmas (4th, DNC, 1) X Ambassadors – Renegades (3rd, DNC, TT) Nickelback – She Keeps Me Up (4th, DNC, TT) Conchita Wurst - You Are Unstoppable (5th, DNC, TTT) CHVRCHES and Eric Prydz - Tether (Eric Prydz Vs. Chvrches) (Radio Edit) (8th, DNC, T) Flo Rida feat. Sage the Gemini and Lookas – GDFR (8th, #3, TT) Florrie - Too Young To Remember (8th, DNC, TTT) The Vaccines - Handsome (Single Edit) (8th, #74, T,) Sheppard – Geronimo (8th, #36, TTT) Blue - King of the World (9th, DNC, T) Cold War Kids – First (9th, DNC, TTT) Doda - Not Over You (9th, DNC, T) High Tyde - Feel It (9th, DNC, T) Jason Derulo - Want To Want Me (9th, #1, TT) Nova Rockafeller - Made In Gold (10th, DNC, T) Thea Gilmore - Live out Loud (11th, DNC, TTT) We Are The Ocean - Good For You (11th, DNC, T) Madonna – Ghosttown (13th, #65, TT) Tough Love - So Freakin’ Tight (13th, #11, T) Young Kato - Children Of The Stars (13th, DNC, TTT) Becky G - Can’t Stop Dancin’ (15th, DNC, TT) The Script – Man On A Wire (15th, DNC, T) David Guetta - Hey Mama (feat Nicki Minaj & Afrojack) (16th, #9, T) Kacey Musgraves – Biscuits (16th, DNC, TT) Mark Knopfler – Beryl (16th, DNC, Tf) Sykes - Best Thing (16th, DNC, TT) Van Morrison and Clare Teal - Carrying A Torch (16th, DNC, TT)
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Enrique Iglesias - Let Me Be Your Lover [feat Pitbull] (17th, DNC, T) Wiz Khalifa - See You Again (feat Charlie Puth) (17th, #1, T) Sage the Gemini - Good Thing (18th, DNC, T) Clairity - Sharks In The Swimming Pool (19th, DNC, T) Cheryl - Only Human (22nd, #70, T) Lost Frequencies feat. Janieck Devy - Reality (Radio Edit) (22nd, DNC, TTT) Marina & The Diamonds – Ruin (22nd, #164, TTT) James Bay - If You Ever Want To Be In Love (23rd, T) Krewella - Somewhere to Run (23rd, DNC, T) Kygo feat Parson James - Stole the Show (23rd, #24, TTT) Mini Mansions - Mirror Mountain (23rd, DNC, T) Striking Matches - Missing You Tonight (23rd, DNC, TT) All Time Low – Runaways (24th, DNC, T) Brandon Flowers - Can’t Deny My Love (24th, #60, TT) Sheppard - Let Me Down Easy (25th, DNC, TT) SKIP&DIE - Burning Bridges (27th, DNC, T) Will Young - Love Revolution (27th, DNC, TTT) Mr. Probz - Nothing Really Matters (29th, #72, T) Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weather (30th, DNC, TTT) ElectroVelvet – Still in Love With You (30th, #63, TTT) Hoodie Allen – Dumb For You (30th, DNC, T) Joy Williams - Woman (Oh Mama) (30th, DNC, T) Cam - My Mistake (31st, DNC, TTT) Coasts - Modern Love (31st, DNC, T) Flo Rida - I Dont Like It, I Love It (feat Robin Thicke & Verdine White) (31st, #7, TT) Hollywood Undead - Usual Suspects (31st, DNC, T) Nathan Carter - Wagon Wheel (31st, DNC, T)
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April
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1ISezsf
FFS - Piss Off (2nd, DNC, TT) Whilk & Misky - Burn With Me (2nd, DNC, T) Jamie Lawson - Wasnt Expecting That (3rd, #40, TTT) Robin Schulz feat. Ilsey - Headlights (3rd, #96, T) Bear’s Den – Agape (6th, DNC, T) Heymous Molly - Lifes A Beach (7th, DNC, TTT) Thomas Rhett - Crash And Burn (7th, DNC, T) Guy Sebastian - Tonight Again (7th, #178, TT) Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck (8th, #27, TTT) Blonde - All Cried Out (feat Alex Newell) (10th, #4, T) Freddie Dickson – Speculate (12th, DNC, TTT) Lucy Spraggan – Unsinkable (12th, DNC, T) Shayne Ward - My Heart Would Take You Back (12th, #166, T) Brandon Flowers - Still Want You (13th, DNC, TTT) Beth Hart - The Mood That I’m In (13th, DNC, T) FFS - Johnny Delusional (13th, DNC, TTT) The Wombats – Give Me A Try (13th, DNC, TTT) Fall Out Boy - Uma Thurman (14th, #71, TTT) Halsey – Ghost (14th, DNC, T) Purity Ring – Bodyache (15th, DNC, TTT) Andreya Triana - Thats Alright With Me (16th, DNC, TTT) Avril Lavigne – Fly (16th, DNC, T) Chloe Howl - Bad Dream (17th, DNC, T) Giorgio Moroder feat. Sia - Déjà vu (18th, #194, TTT) Conor Maynard - Talking About (19th, DNC, TT) Markus Feehily - Love Is a Drug (19th, DNC, TT) Michael Calfan - Treasured Soul (19th, DNC, T) Findlay – Wolfback (20th, DNC, TTT) FM - Shape Im In (20th, DNC, TT) Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas - Caught Up (20th, DNC, T) Lower Than Atlantis - Words Don’t Come So Easily (20th, DNC, T) Adam Lambert - Ghost Town (21st, #71, TT) Simply Red - Shine On (21st, DNC, TT) Jessie J – Flashlight (23rd, #13, TT) Blur - Lonesome Street (27th, DNC, T) Blur - Ong Ong (27th, DNC, TT) Caro Emerald – Quicksand (27th, DNC, TT) Kerri Watt – You (27th, DNC, TTT) Tori Kelly - Unbreakable Smile (27th, DNC, T) Asa – Eyo (28th, DNC, TTT)
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Seether - Nobody Praying For Me (28th, DNC, T) Tessa Rose Jackson - The Pretender (28th, DNC, TT) BØRNS - Electric Love (29th, DNC, T) Everything Everything – Regret (29th, DNC, T)
May
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1NWytKd Beau - C’mon Please (3rd, DNC, TTT) Etienne de Crécy – You (3rd, DNC, T) Magalie - Love Criminal (4th, DNC, TTT) Oliver Heldens - Melody (Radio Edit) (4th, DNC, T) Sia - Big Girls Cry (4th, #77, TT) Mumford and Sons – Ditmas (4th, DNC, T) Zac Brown Band - Loving You Easy (4th, DNC, TT) Brandon Flowers - I Can Change (5th, #52, TTT) The Chemical Brothers – Go (5th, #46, TTT,) Shawn Mendes - Stitches (5th, #41, TTT,) Walk The Moon - Different Colors (5th, DNC, TT) Charli XCX – Famous (10th, #176, TTT) Seinabo Sey – Younger (10th, DNC, TTT) Walking On Cars - Catch Me If You Can (10th, DNC, T) Ed Sheeran – Photograph (11th, #15, TT) Hozier - Someone New (11th, #19, TTT) Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds – Riverman (11th, DNC, TT) Stereophonics - Cest La Vie (11th, DNC, TT) We Are The Ocean - Good For You (11th, DNC, T) Billy Idol - Save Me Now (12th, DNC, T) Sia - California Dreamin (12th, #92, T) Steven Tyler - Love Is Your Name (13th, DNC, TT) Zara Larsson - Uncover (Alt Version) (13th, DNC, TT) Zedd - Beautiful Now (13th, DNC, TT) Ella Eyre – Together (17th, #12, TT) MiC LOWRY - Bad Intentions (17th, DNC, T) Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern (17th, DNC, T) Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar - Bad Blood (17th, #4, TT) Thea Gilmore - Coming Back to You (17th, DNC, TT) A-Trak feat Andrew Wyatt – Push (18th, DNC, T) Hunter Hunted – Blindside (18th, DNC, TT) Muse – Mercy (18th, DNC, TT) Kelly Clarkson – Invincible (18th, #141, TTT) Romans - Uh Huh (18th, DNC, T) The Vaccines - Dream Lover (18th, #155, TTT)
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Terri Walker - Already Told Ya (18th, DNC, T) Gabrielle Aplin - Light Up The Dark (18th, DNC, TTT) Bean – Wildfire (19th, DNC, T) Omi - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix Radio Edit) (19th, #1. TTT) Hunter Hayes – 21 (21st, DNC, TT) Avicii - Waiting For Love (22nd, #6, TT) Nell Bryden – Waves (24th, DNC, TTT) Port Isla - ALIVE (24th, DNC, T) Ivy Levan - Who Can You Trust (25th, DNC, T) Kids on Bridges feat. Shea Seger- When the Needle Drops (Radio Edit) (25th, DNC, T) Will Young - Thank You (25th, DNC, TT) Charles Hamilton feat. Rita Ora – New York Raining (26th, DNC, T) Katharine McPhee - Lick My Lips (26th, DNC, TT) Simply Red - Love Gave Me More (30th, DNC, TT) Lawson – Roads (31st, DNC, TTT) ZZ Ward - Love 3x (31st, DNC, TTT)
June
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1i6lpoW
Florence + The Machine - Queen of Peace & Long and Lost (1st, DNC, TT) HOLYCHILD - Money All Around (1st, DNC, TT) John Newman - Come And Get It (1st, #5, TTT) Sam Hunt - House Party (1st, DNC, T) Simply Red - The Ghost Of Love (1st, DNC, TT) Callaghan - We Don’t Have to Change the World (2nd, DNC, TT,) Clean Cut Kid - Vitamin C (2nd, DNC, T) Frankie Davies – Shivers (2nd, DNC, TTT) Lucy May – Whirlwind (2nd, DNC, TTT) MKTO - Bad Girls (2nd, DNC, TT) Parade of Lights - Feeling Electric (2nd, DNC, Pop Evil – Footsteps (2nd, DNC, T) Sundara Karma – Flame (4th, DNC, T) Hermitage Green – Jenny (5th, DNC, TT) Leona Lewis - Fire Under My Feet (7th, #51, TTT) Misty Miller – Happy (7th, DNC, TT) Robin Schulz feat. Jasmine Thompson - Sun Goes Down (7th, #94, T) The Weeknd - Feel My Face (8th, #1, TTT) Young Guns – Daylight (8th, DNC, TTT) Young Guns - Rising Up (8th, DNC, TT) BØRNS - 10,000 Emerald Pools (9th, DNC, TT) Waka Flocka Flame feat Good Charlotte - Game On (9th, DNC, TTT) Axwell and Ingrosso - Sun Is Shining (12th, DNC,
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TTT) Of Monsters and Men - Human (12th, DNC, TT) Olly Murs - Beautiful to Me (14th, DNC, TT) Sinead Harnett - She Aint Me (14th, DNC, TT) Laura Bell Bundy - I Am What I Am (15th, DNC, TTT) Taylor-Ann – Collide (15th, DNC, TT) Beck – Dreams (17th, DNC, TTT) Nothing but Thieves - Trip Switch (18th, DNC, TTT) Alesha Dixon - The Way We Are (19th, DNC, TT) Sia - Fire Meet Gasoline (19th, #193, TTT) Tinie Tempah feat. Jess Glynne - Not Letting Go (19th, #1, TT) Don Broco – Automatic (21st, DNC, T) Stereo Kicks - Love Me So (21st, #31, T) Compny - Gently Let You Down (22nd, DNC, T) Everything Everything - Spring Sun Winter Dread (22nd, DNC, TTT) Hilary Duff – Tattoo (22nd, DNC, T) Mika - All She Wants (22nd, DNC, TTT) Mika - Talk About You (22nd, DNC, TTT) Selena Gomez - Good For You [feat. A$AP Rocky] (22nd, #23, T) Christian Burghardt & Cady Groves - Whiskey and Wine (23rd, DNC, T) Kacey Musgraves - High Time (23rd, DNC, TTT) Kacey Musgraves - This Town (23rd, DNC, T) Rod Stewart - Love Is (23rd, DNC, TT) The Heydaze – Dumb (23rd, DNC, TTT) Sugar & The Hi Lows - High Roller (23rd, DNC, T) Nickelback – Satellite (25, DNC, TTT,) Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better (28th, DNC, TTT) Lauren Housley - Ghost Town Blues (29th, DNC, TT) Natalie Imbruglia - Instant Crush (Radio Edit) (29th, DNC, TTT) Nicky Romero - Lighthouse (29th, DNC, T) Zella Day – Hypnotic (29th, DNC, T) Bonnie McKee – Bombastic (30th, DNC, TTT) George Ezra - Barcelona (30th, DNC, T) Pharrell Williams – Freedom (30th, #36, T) Seafret - Be There (30th, DNC, TT)
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July Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1Fu011I Austin Mahone - Dirty Work (1st, DNC, T) Kwabs - Fight For Love (2nd, DNC, TT) Years & Years – Shine (3rd, #2, TT) Nathan Sykes - Kiss Me Quick (5th, DNC, T) Netsky feat. Digital Farm Animals – Rio (5th, DNC, T) Petite Meller - Baby Love (5th, DNC, TTT) Rhodes - Close Your Eyes (5th, DNC, T) Saint Raymond - Young Blood (5th, DNC, TT) Bleachers - Rollercoaster (6th, DNC, TTT) Lucy Rose - Like an Arrow (6th, DNC, TTT) Lucy Rose - Our Eyes (6th, DNC, TTT) The Strypes - A Good Nights Sleep And A Cab Fare Home (6th, DNC, T) Rixton - We All Want The Same Thing (7th, #21, TTT) Walk The Moon - Shut Up and Dance (7th, #4, TTT) Jessica Ridley - One Of Those Days (8th, DNC, T) Conor Maynard – Royalty (10th, DNC, TT) Fuse ODG – Only (10th, DNC, TT) Halsey - New Americana (10th, DNC, TTT) Ill Blu - Lonely People [feat James Morrison] (10th, DNC, TT) Jim Adkins - I Will Go (10th, DNC, T) Kerri Watt - Long Way Home (10th, DNC, TTT) Little Mix - Black Magic (10th, #1, TTT) Mikky Ekko - Watch Me Rise (10th, DNC, T) Owl City feat. Hanson - Unbelievable (10th, DNC, T) The Prides - Little Danger (10th, DNC, T) Sam Feldt - Show Me Love [feat. Kimberly Anne] (10th, DNC, T T) Eminem feat. Gwen Stefani - Kings Never Die (11th, #82, T) Andy Grammer - Honey, I’m Good (13th, DNC, TTT) Duran Duran feat. Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers Pressure Off (14th, DNC, TTT) Jungle – Julia (14th, DNC, T) Chvrches - Leave A Trace (16th, DNC, TTT) Lethal Bizzle - Playground ft. Shakka (16th, DNC, T) Vitamin - Giving It Up (16th, DNC, T) Will Joseph Cook - A Minute of Your Time (16th, DNC,T) Eliot Sumner - Firewood (17th, DNC, T) 5 Seconds of Summer - Shes Kinda Hot (17th, #18, TT)
KBPS
Carly Rae Jepen - Run Away With Me (17th, DNC, T) Don Henley - Take A Picture Of This (17th, DNC, T) Emma Stevens - Never Gonna Change (17th, DNC, TT) Gin Wigmore - Written In The Water (17th, DNC, TT) Hey Violet - I Can Feel It (17th, DNC, TT) Hometown - Where I Belong (17th, DNC, TT) Magic! - #SundayFunday (17th, DNC, TT) Maverick Sabre - Walk Into The Sun (Radio Edit) (17th, DNC) Samantha Jade feat. Pitbull - Shake That (17th, DNC, TT) Ward Thomas – Guest List (17th, DNC, TTT) Stereophonics - I Wanna Get Lost With You (20th, DNC, TT) Foals - Mountain At My Gates (21st, DNC, T) The View - Under the Rug (21st, DNC, T) Raleigh Ritchie - Bloodsport ‘15 (23rd, DNC, TT) Sunset Sons - She Wants (23rd, DNC, TT) Avril Lavigne – Fly (24th, DNC, T) Delta Goodrem - Wings (24th, DNC, T) Hurts - Some Kind of Heaven (24th, DNC, TTT) Izzy Bizu - Give Me Love (24th, DNC, T) Jax Jones - Yeah Yeah Yeah (24th, DNC, T) Leona Lewis - I Am (24th, DNC, TTT) Mendoza - Love Druggie (Addict) (24th, DNC, TT) Foxes - Body Talk (24th, #25, TTT) R. City - Locked Away ft. Adam Levine (24th, DNC, TT) Sigma feat. Ella Henderson - Glitterball (24th, #4, TT) Zac Brown Band - Holiday Road (24th, DNC, TTT) Stornoway - The Only Way Is Up (27th, DNC, TT) Ten Fé - Make Me Better (27th, DNC, T) Nerina Pallot – Rousseau (29th, DNC, TTT) New Order – Restless (29th, DNC, T) The Blossoms - Blown Rose (31st, DNC, T) Bon Jovi - Saturday Night Gave Me Sunday Morning (31st, DNC, TTT) Duke Dumont - Ocean Drive (31st, #42, T) The Honey Ants - The Sound of You (31st, DNC, T) Level 3 feat. Martika LA - Feeling Your Love (LaaDeeDaa) (31st, DNC, T) The Maccabees - Something Like Happiness (31st, DNC, T)
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August
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1IUfZSW
Jupe - Rocket (3rd, DNC, TT) Luke Sital-Singh - Still (3rd, DNC, T) Lion Babe – Impossible (4th, DNC, T) Magic! - No Way No (4th, DNC, TT) Reverend and the Makers - Black Widow (5th, DNC, T) David Gilmour - Rattle That Lock (6th, DNC, TT) Alex Adair - Heaven (7th, DNC, T) Charlie Puth - Marvin Gaye (feat Meghan Trainor) (7th, #1, TTT) Dan Owen – Fall Like A Feather (7th, DNC, TT) Frank Turner - Josephine (7th, DNC, T) Gabrielle Aplin - Sweet Nothing (7th, DNC, TTT) Kylie Minogue - Absolutely Anything and Anything At All (7th, DNC, TT) Lianne La Havas - What You Dont Do (7th, DNC, TTT) Only The Young - I Do (7th, DNC, TTT) Rita Ora feat. Chris Brown - Body on Me (7th, #23, T) Sarah Harding – Threads (7th, DNC, T) SoulCircuit feat. Maverick Sabre - Rolling With Me (I Got Love) (7th, DNC, T) Becky Hill and TAI and Watermät - All My Love (10th, DNC, T) Bryan Adams - You Belong To Me (10th, DNC, TTT) Leona Lewis - Thunder (13th, DNC, TTT) Abi Alton – Souvenirs (14th, DNC, T) Blonde - Feel Good (It’s Alright) [feat. Karen Harding] (14th, #76, T) Jess Glynne - Dont Be So Hard On Yourself (14th, #1, TTT) Ludovico Einaudi - Night (14th, DNC, T) Maroon 5 - This Summer (14th, #40, TT) Nelly feat. Jeremih - The Fix (14th, DNC, TT) Vintage Trouble - Doin’ What You Were Doin’ (14th, DNC, T) Young Empires Uncover Your Eyes (14th, DNC, T) Brian McFadden - Call On Me Brother (16th, DNC, T) Cliff Richard - Golden (16th, DNC, T) Laura Mvula - You Work for Me (17th, DNC,
TT) a-ha - Under The Makeup (21st, DNC, TTT) Andreya Triana - Playing With Fire (21st, DNC, TTT) Carrie Underwood - Smoke Break (21st, DNC, T) Ella Eyre - Good Times (21st, DNC, TT) The Fratellis - Impostors (Little By Little) (21st, DNC, T) Longfellow – Choose (21st, DNC, T) Madcon feat. Ray Dalton - Don’t Worry (21st, #54, TTT) Nimmo - Dilute This (21st, DNC, T) Pentatonix – Cheerleader (21st, DNC, TT) Rachel Platten - Fight Song (21st, #1, TTT) Scouting For Girls - Life’s Too Short (21st, DNC, TTT) The Six - (Don’t Go) Running (21st, DNC, TTT) Flyte - Please Eloise (24th, DNC, T) Markus Feehily – Butterfly (24th, DNC, T) Reverend and the Makers - Makin’ Babies (Radio Edit) (24th, DNC, T) John Newman - Tiring Game ft. Charlie Wilson (26th, DNC, TT) Jack Savoretti - Back Where I Belong (27th, DNC, TTT) Avicii - For A Better Day (28th, DNC, TT) Callaghan - We Don’t Have To Change The World (28th, DNC, TT) CAZZETTE – Genius (28th, DNC, T) DJ Cassidy feat. Chromeo - Future Is Mine (28th, DNC, TTT) Elle King - Ex’s & Oh’s (28th, DNC, TT) Jason Derulo - Cheyenne (28th, DNC, T) Justin Bieber - What Do You Mean? (28th, #1, T) Katie Melua - Wonderful Life (28th, DNC, TT) Rae Morris - Don’t Go (28th, DNC, TTT) Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams (31st. #42, TTT) Will Young - Joy (31st, DNC, TTT)
September
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1EL0vWn
Rod Stewart - Please (2nd, DNC, T) Clean Cut Kid - Runaway (3rd, DNC, T) A-ha - The Wake (4th, DNC, TTT) Claire Richards - A Deeper Shade of Blue (4th, DNC, TTT) FIDLAR - Drone (4th, DNC, TT) FIDLAR - West Coast (4th, DNC, T) Oh Wonder - All We Do (4th, DNC, TTT) Oh Wonder - Body Gold (4th, DNC, T) Sage The Gemini - Good Thing ft. Nick Jonas (4th, Not Released, T) Sigala - Easy Love (4th, Not Released, TT) Angel - Leyla ft. Fuse ODG (10th, DNC, T) American Authors - Go Big Or Go Home (11th, DNC TT) BIRDY + RHODES - Let It All Go (11th, #58, TT) The Libertines - You’re My Waterloo (11th, DNC, T) Nero - Two Minds (11th, #27, T) Tony Momrelle - Pick Me Up (11th, DNC, T) A-Ha - Forest Fire (15th, DNC, TTT) Causes - To The River (16th, DNC, T) Machine Gun Kelly feat. Victoria Money - A Little More (17th, DNC, T) Hayden James - Something About You (18th, DNC, TT) Hermitage Green - Quicksand (18th, DNC, T) Melissa Steel - You Love Me? feat. Wretch 32 (18th, DNC, TT) Naughty Boy feat. Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin Runnin’ (Lose It All) (18th, #4, TTT) Syron - Talkin’ Crazy (18th, DNC, TT) Ryan Adams - Bad Blood (21st, DNC, TTT) Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott - The Austerity Of Love (22nd, DNC, TTT) Petite Meller - Barbaric (22nd, DNC, T) ELO - When I Was A Boy (23rd, DNC, TTT) Team Me - June (24th, DNC, T) Don Henley - Words Can Break Your Heart (25th, DNC, T)* Emin feat. Nile Rodgers - Boomerang (25th, DNC, TT) Little Mix - Love Me Like You (25th, #13, TT) Paloma Faith - The Crazy Ones (25th, DNC, T) Robin Schulz - Sugar (feat. Francesco Yates) (25th, #28, TTT) Sam Smith - Writings On The Wall (25th, #1, TTT) Shane Filan - Me And The Moon (25th, DNC, TT) Beau nyc. - C’mon Please (28th, DNC, T)
KBPS
Tor Miller - Carter & Cash (28th, DNC, T) Anastacia - Take This Chance (30th, DNC, T) Vant - Parking Lot (30th, DNC, T) *Not available to watch at time of press
October
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1EL0z8N
Ciaran McMeeken - City (1st, DNC, T) Bxnjamin & Chanele McGuinness (2nd, DNC, T) Klingande feat. Broken Back – RIVA (2nd, DNC, T) KStewart - Ain’t Nobody (2nd, #86, T) Natalie La Rose feat. Fetty Wap - Around The World (2nd, 14th, TTT) Rudimental - Lay It All On Me feat. Ed Sheeran (2nd, DNC, T) Squeeze - Cradle To The Grave (2nd, DNC, TT) Squeeze - Happy Days (2nd, DNC, TTT) Blossoms - Charlemagne (5th, DNC, T) Fickle Friends - Say No More (6th, DNC, TT) Mavrick - Remedy (7th, DNC, TT) Enya - Echoes In Rain (8th, DNC, TTT) Alesha Dixon - Do It For Love (9th, DNC, TT) 5 Seconds of Summer - Hey Everybody! (9th, #49, TT) Hurts - Lights (9th, DNC, T) Lemar - The Letter (9th, DNC, TTT) Peter Andre - Mysterious Swing (9th, DNC, TT) R. City feat. Chloe Angelides - Make Up (9th, DNC, T) Tom Jones and Imelda May - Honey, Honey (9th, DNC, T) Laurence Fox - Headlong (13th, DNC, T) The Vamps - Cheater (13th, DNC, TT) Stereophonics - Song For The Summer (15th, DNC, TTT) Tori Kelly - Should’ve Been Us (15th, DNC, TT) Alesha Dixon - Tallest Girl (16th, DNC, TT) Ben Haenow feat. Kelly Clarkson- Second Hand Heart (Official Video) (16th, #21, TTT) Izzy Bizu - White Tiger (16th, DNC, TT) KDA feat. Tinie Tempah and Katy B- Turn The Music Louder (Rumble) (16th, #1, TTT) One Direction - Perfect (16th, #2, TTT) Take That - Hey Boy (16th, #56, TTT) Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love (17th, #2, TT) Hot Chip - Dancing In The Dark (19th, DNC, T) Lemar - Higher Love (19th, DNC, T) Gwen Stefani - Used To Love You (20th, #157, T) Zibra - Wasted Days (20th, DNC, TT)
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Danny L Harle - Forever (21st, DNC, TT) Adele - Hello (23rd, #1, TTT) Lady Lykez - Chat 2 Your Man (23rd, Not Released, TT) Meghan Trainor - Better When I’m Dancin’ (23rd, DNC, TT) Rod Stewart - Way Back Home (23rd, DNC, T) Weezer - Thank God for Girls (26th, DNC, T) ELO - One Step at a Time (29th, DNC, TTT) The Blossoms - Charlemagne (30th, DNC, TTT) The Braxtons - Mary, Did You Know? (30th, DNC, T) David Guetta feat. Sia & Fetty Wap - Bang My Head (30th, #58, T) Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Burning Love (30th, DNC, TTT) James Morrison - Stay Like This (30th, DNC, T) Kacey Musgraves - A Spoonful of Sugar (30th, DNC, TTT) Tom Zanetti - Darlin’ (30th, DNC, T)
November
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1MtpUBr
Maddie & Tae - Shut Up And Fish (2nd, DNC, TT) Jess Glynne - Take Me Home (3rd, #6, T) Mabel - My Boy My Town (4th, DNC, TT) Anastacia - Army of Me (6th, DNC, T) AURORA - Half The World Away (6th, #11, TTT) CeeLo Green - Music To My Soul (6th, DNC, TT) Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime (6th, #9, TTT) Little Mix - Hair (6th, DNC, T) MS MR - Criminals (6th, DNC, T) Oliver Heldens & Shaun Frank - Shades Of Grey (6th, DNC, T) Olly Murs - Kiss Me (6th, #11, T) One Direction - History (6th, DNC, TTT) Seal - Every Time I’m With You (6th, DNC, T) Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP - Soul Makossa (Money) (6th, DNC, TT) Jessie J - Man with the Bag (8th, DNC, TT) Kylie Minogue and James Corden - Only You (9th, DNC, TT) Nigel Thomas - Fever (9th, DNC, T) Coasts - You (11th, DNC, T) Lucia Nicole - Feels Like Love (13th, DNC, TT) Natalie McCool - Cardiac Arrest (13th, DNC, T) Tara Priya - Who That (13th, DNC, TT) Tigress - Future (13th, DNC, T) Train - Merry Christmas Everybody (13th, DNC, T) Sabrina Carpenter - Christmas the Whole Year Round (14th, DNC, TT)
KBPS
Elton John - Looking Up (16th, DNC, TTT) Courteeners - Winter Wonderland (17th, DNC, T) Justin Bieber - Sorry (17th, #1, TTT) The Weeknd - In The Night (17th, #140, T) HomeTown - The Night We Met (19th, DNC, T) Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece (19th, DNC, T) Adele - When We Were Young (20th, DNC, TTT) Carly Rae Jepsen - Last Christmas (20th, DNC, TT) The Darkness - I Am Santa (20th, DNC, T) Nathan Sykes - Over And Over Again (20th, #8, T) Scouting For Girls - Christmas in the Air Tonight (20th, DNC, TT) Norma Jean Martine - Animals (20th, DNC, T) Walking On Cars - Speeding Cars (23rd, DNC, T) Wolf Alice - Freazy (23rd, DNC, TTT) The Corrs - Bring On The Night (27th, DNC, TTT) Craig David x Big Narstie - When The Bassline Drops (27th, #43, T) The Killers - Dirt Sledding ft. Ryan Pardey, Richard Dreyfuss (27th, DNC, TT) The Lancashire Hotpots - Lancashire’s For Me (27th, DNC, TT) Sandi Thom - Earthquake (27th, DNC, TTT) Sarah Cracknell - Take the Silver (27th, DNC, TT) Shakin’ Stevens - Echoes of Merry Christmas Everyone (27th, DNC, TTT) The Vamps - Rest Your Love (27th, DNC, T) Will Young - What The World Needs Now Is Love (27th, DNC, T) Carrie Underwood - Heartbeat (30th, DNC, TT) Michael Buble - The More You Give (The More You’ll Have) (30th, DNC, TT)
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December Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1MaevFU
A Christmas Twist - Si Cranstoun (1st, DNC, TTT) Kylie - Every Day’s Like Christmas (2nd, DNC, TTT) LeAnn Rimes - Today Is Christmas (2nd, DNC, TT) Jodie Abacus - Hot Kitchen (3rd, DNC, TTT) Adam Lambert - Another Lonely Night (4th, DNC, TTT) Allie X - Sanctuary (4th, DNC, TTT) Bette Midler - (Talk To Me Of) Mendocino (4th, DNC, T) Breakbot - Get Lost (4th, DNC, T) Chet Faker, Marcus Marr - The Trouble With Us (4th, DNC, TT) The Clear - Love Internationale (4th, DNC, TT) Eliza And The Bear - It Gets Cold (4th, DNC, TT) Elliphant - North Star (Bloody Christmas) (4th, DNC, TT) Jessie James Decker - This Christmas (4th, DNC, TT) Kygo - Stay ft. Maty Noyes (4th, #53, TT) Lunchmoney Lewis (4th, DNC, TT) Martin Solveig feat. Sam White - +1 (4th, #51, TT) Phoenix - Alone on Christmas Day (4th, DNC, T) Secret Company - Picture (4th, DNC, T) Sigala - Sweet Lovin’ (4th, #3, TT) Sparks - Christmas Without A Prayer (4th, DNC, T) Travis - Everything At Once (4th, DNC, TTT) Flo Rida - Dirty Mind ft. Sam Martin (5th, DNC, TT)
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Charles Bradley - Changes, (7th, DNC, TT) Justin Bieber - Love Yourself (7th, #1, TT) The Military Wives Choir - I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) - Walking Home for Christmas (8th, DNC, TT) Sia - Alive (8th, #30, T) American Authors - Pride (11th, DNC, TT) Kwabs - Cheating On Me (11th, DNC, TT) Mahalia - Never Change (11th, DNC, T) Mr. Oizo feat. Charli XCX - Hand In The Fire (11th, DNC, T) Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - The Dying Of The Light (11th, DNC, TT) Olly Murs - Stevie Knows (11th, DNC, TTT) Rumer - Love Is The Answer |(11th, DNC, TT) Wretch 32 - Alright With Me (11th, DNC, TT) Blake and Dame Shirley Bassey - The Christmas Song (18th, Not Yet Released, TT)
January
Watch all the videos: http://bit.ly/1I1dBk8
The Dø - Trustful Hands (9th, Not Yet Released, T) Stooshe - Lock Down (15th, Not Yet Released, TT)
Pick up the next edition of
KBPS
The music magazine
Available Online from mid-January Continue the issue online: twitter.com/KBPSmag/lists/kbps4
Previous Interviews: Rae Morris Fryars Dave Fidler Lucy May The Actions Paddy Clegg Chris Pope Jazz Mino Young Kato Chelsea Lane Daphne & Celeste Inego Ward Thomas Flower Fellow Youth Club Makala Cheung Matinee Lady Lykez Jacob and Goliath Frogbelly and Symphony Symmetry Ben Williams Wings of Pegasus Nizlopi Steed Nova Heart Franklin Lake Callaghan Steve North Jupe Symon The Mars Patrol K-Syran Ticking Tree G.E.M. Eric McGrath Nigel Thomas Sam Way Callaghan Warme Affairs Lucia Nicole Don Laka The Clear Tom Clay
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