We’ve done quite a few visits to the Blue Lamp since, but yesterday we managed a brief stop off at Edinburgh’s The Jazz Bar. It is more like a movie jazz club and a very cool place indeed.
The Jazz Bar Edinburgh
Christmas Book Haul
Genuinely so happy when I’d already unwrapped a load of books and then unwrapped Addie LaRue. Also really looking forward to Butter - that wasn’t on my list but looks great. Will take me awhile to get through these though. Quotes incoming.
LINK: My Music Picks Of The Year
Highlights of the highlights? Could I pick a top ten? I doubt it. Right now that Divorce track is stuck in my head, plus I’m loving the Honeyglaze Ghost song (which I overlooked when I first listened to the album as I was so distracted by the brilliance of Pretty Girls), but this playlist sways from Ariana Grande to Architects so it really depends on my mood. There is some great stuff on here.
The craziest thing though is, that despite there being almost six hours of tracks here, I know there will have been songs that I will love that have completely passed me by.
Looking forward to next year.
Spotify Wrapped
No surprise about the top artist and top three songs and as it should be considering I called it as my album of the year in March. I listed to it again (twice in a row) recently and wondered if I was still right, but it just cemented my opinion - it’s so beautifully layered. I love it.
Genuinely surprised by Real Estate’s Water Underground being at number four. I obviously like it and it is in my “Picks of 2024” playlist, but it doesn’t feel like I’ve played it that much. I do wonder if my top songs are actually pretty close? I started building that “Picks of 2024” list in January and Real Estate’s album was out in February so it has had a lot of opportunity to be played when I listen to that playlist on shuffle, but then there were tracks I added in Janurary - Bullion and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Rare at number 5 for instance. Anyway, I’ll be publishing that list at the end of the month.
November Noise
But a lot from October.
- OneDa: Formula OneDa. I was hoping for an album full of Set It Off, but didn’t quite get it. That track remains my favourite.
- Charli XCX: Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat. Mean Girls, which I over-looked on Brat, is heads and shoulders above everything else on here. It’s fantastic.
- Confidence Man: 3AM (LA LA LA). I’d somehow missed the release of Control as a single, but that is great. It would be fantastic live or in a club.
- Martha Hill: Football Heid. Not quite reaching the heights of Grilled Cheese for me. Lizard boy and Football are the ones I like best.
- SPINN: Oh My God… I’m so alone. SPINN remain ridiculously underrated. I Would Call You (But I Never Know What To Say) and Shakshuka are indie bangers.
- Amyl and the Sniffers: Cartoon Darkness. Chewing Gum is the one I like best. Big dreams is chilled but really good. It’s Mine is pure moshpit madness. U Should Not Be Doing That is probably second to Chewing Gum.
- Laura Marling: Patterns in Repeat. Patterns is my clear favourite.
- Two Shell: Two Shell. Gimme it is my favourite which was out earlier in the year.
- Hinds: Viva Hinds. I listened to this when I wasn’t really in the mood for it, but I ended up enjoying it. Boom Boom Back is the obvious standout. And then maybe Stranger next.
- Swim School: Seeing It Now. Another underrated band. Give Me A Reason Why remains awesome since it was released right at the start of the year and should be way more popular than it is.
- Man/Women/Chainsaw: Easy Peasy. One of my favourite band names ever. A bunch of too-cool-for-school youngsters. The Boss could quite easily end up being iconic.
- Housewife: Divorce. An EP, but superb. I Lied had already made it to my Picks of 2024, but I’m probably going to add Life Of The Party too. And maybe the whole EP? There is nothing rubbish on here.
- Fcukers: Baggy $$. Another EP. I’d heard the Confidence Man remix of Bon Bon, but the original is actually really good. That, Homie Don’t Shake and UMPA are the best.
The Shovel Was Almost As Tall As She Was
"The shovel was almost as tall as she was. A few days shy of her thirteenth birthday, and even for twelve and eleven twelfths, Sydney Clarke was small. She had always been on the short side, but it certainly didn't help that she had barely grown an inch since the day she'd died."
I’ve got The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue on my reading list, but they had this in the library so I thought I’d read it instead. It’s great! Sucks you right in. Will have to read more than just this and The Invisible Life now.
A Short List Of Countries Committing Or Complicit In Genocide
- Israel
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Germany
A follow-up to last year’s post. Utterly depressing. Maybe one day Benjamin Netanyahu, Keir Starmer*, Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz will be prosecuted by the ICC for genocide and war crimes. Probably not though.
* - This may seem a bit unfair since he’s not been “in charge” for long, but it’s long enough to be complicit.
She Went To Him
"She went to him. She adjusted, became a quieter more subdued person. She didn't kill, but she seemed to die a little."
Re-reading from many years ago. Even though it’s set in the seventies (kind of) it feels really modern. I wondered why no film had ever been made of it and then discovered someone did make a series pretty recently, but it was cancelled after one season so I’m not sure if I want to watch it when you don’t get to see the whole story.
No One Played Songs Here
"No one played songs here. No one listened to music or told stories. They didn't even realise not doing those things made them bad people."
Been on my reading list for awhile and managed to get a large print edition (the only option) out of the library. The large print, coupled with the opening chapter being from the point of view of an eight year old, made it feel like I was reading a children’s book… but it’s definitely not a kid’s book. It’s a really great, but brutal, story with two converging timelines. There’s Māori sprinkled throughout which I didn’t understand, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying nor understanding the book - I only realised as I finished that there was a glossary at the back of the book!
September Sounds
Quickly, before the month ends, here’s what I’ve actually listened to in September (even if it wasn’t released in September - although I think a lot was) as far as albums and EPs go:
- Fatdog: Woof. Pretty anticipated by me since right at the start of the year, but on the listens I’ve had so far the preceding singles, King of the Slugs (did this get released as a single? It got a lot of airplay), All the Same, and Running are the highlights. Love a thirty minute album though.
- DEADLETTER: Hysterical strength. Hotly anticipated by me, but why no Snitching Hour or Madge’s Declaration? It’s a balancing act I suppose - you don’t want your best tracks on the album to be singles that have been out for ages, but it’s a shame not to include at least one of them.
- The Dare: What’s Wrong With New York? Picking up the LCD Soundsystem baton.
- Keato: INTRO. Ok, so DEADLETTER skipped previous singles and the album felt less to me because of it, but Keato doesn’t include No Body nor Don’t Ask and still drops a strong album. CARRY YOU and YOMM are my favourites, but I love it all. It opens beautifully. Possibly my album of the year if I hadn’t of already picked.
- Clipz: Inner Unlimited. New with Chy Cartier hooked me, but I think I actually prefer Say Less with Obi Franky; Did send me on a mission to listen to Chy Cartier though and I really like Like Magic.
- Honeyglaze: Real Deal. It’s all about Pretty Girls which is great. If I was a teenager now I’m pretty sure this would still be stuck in my head thirty years later.
- Raye: Live at Montreux Jazz Festival. She is, arguably, best live with an orchestra.
- Doecchii: Alligator Bites Never Heal. I overhead Boiled Peanuts on the radio - I was cooking and it was on in the background, but I heard enough to know that it was good and worth checking out. Bullfrog, Boiled Peanuts and Denial is a River is a ridiculously strong start. Slapping your skateboard against the coping in appreciation kind of good. It lost me a bit after these (but it is supposedly a mixtape as opposed to an album and mixes rapping and singing), but then, out of nowhere, comes Beverley Hills which just blew my mind and continues to do so. I’ve listened to this song on repeat so many times.
- Jamie XX: In Waves. Nostalgia filled, but to me personally not that exciting. Baddy on the Floor is the obvious highlight.
- Fred Again: Ten Days. For me, similar vibes to JamieXX. Places to Be is great, but the rest hasn’t stuck.
- Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk. I like the title more than the album. Probably not really quite my thing - I need to give it another listen. Death & Romance is my favourite on first pass.
- Rab Spitz: Loose Cannon. Scotland’s Kneecap. Kind of? For Aberdeen though, wow. Overture is a great opener. After that I like Split Decision and All In. This is a hell of a lot better than the acknowledgment this is going to get.
- Yxng STUNNA: My Turn. Another Aberdeen one. I think I’m too old really for anyone called Yxng anything. Want It is the one I like the most.
- Becky Sikasa: The Writings and The Pictures And The Songs. Very chilled. The opener, Hard to Love, and then Wait Up are my favourites.
And some of the other albums I’ve been listening to since last time include these fine folk: Berwyn, Bashy, Vibe chemistry, Corto alto, Beth Gibbons, Lava La Rue (I love LOVEBITES), Clairo (Sexy to Someone is superb).
These are the ten most recent posts, for older posts see the Archive.