music to die for

All the lists on this site are my personal selections (though I’d be quite happy to host lists drawn up by others, following the same general format - contact me if you’d be interested in this). So they showcase some of my favourite songs, but I have also striven to ensure that each list is properly researched and genuinely representative of the subject genre. Each time that I do this, I discover a whole host of great songs that I’d never heard before, so that I’m constantly expanding my musical knowledge ! Every song selected has a link to a music video, and I hope that as many of you as possible will click on some of the links and maybe discover a few gems yourself.

In March I posted my 50 Greatest Alternative Hip Hop Tracks. This is a wonderful collection of some really diverse and interesting music. Many of the lyrics have real depth and power, and the skill of the djs and the mcs is something to be admired.

This was followed in April by my all time top 100. I then spent much of May listening to Irish music, the fruits of which now appear in 50 of Ireland’s finest. The choices were quite personal, and not surprisingly they’ve proven to be a little controversial. I feel I’m on safer ground with my latest list : a selection of 10 outstanding tracks that have influenced punk music from its early days.

Coming soon : 10 drum & bass classics.

Band of the month

JULY 2008

Me, I’m a creator / Thrill is to make it up / The rules I break got me a place/ Up on the radar.

Santogold is certainly on the radar. After an apprenticeship which included work as lead singer for the Philadelphia based punk rock/ska band Stiffed, her debut solo album was released a couple of months back to general acclaim - Rolling Stone gave it 4 stars, saying that Santogold “mixes dub, electronic and indie rock for one of the year’s most unique debuts”. Her appearance at Glastonbury is to be followed by a whirlwind summer, supporting Coldplay on their North American tour, squeezed between dates in Europe and Japan, followed by a series of UK festivals in August / September.

For once the hype is justified. This is thrilling genre crossing music which shows a fascinating range of influences and defies categorisation. Each one of these songs is likely to remain a favourite with me for many years to come :

Creator
Shove it
You’ll find a way
Say Aha

Band of the month

JUNE 2008

It’s purely coincidental that The Rascals hail from my home patch of the Wirral. The 3 piece band have been knocking together some blisteringly tight rock tunes and fully deserve to be my first BOTM. Currently on tour in the UK, their debut album Rascalize is scheduled for release later this month. This recent Guardian weekly music podcast leads with an interview with the band and concludes with an acoustic track. Apparently “if you’re from the Wirral and you’re in a band, you have to have a certain kind of haircut, and you have to be cheeky” ! The album contains “loads of seedy stories”. The single Suspicious Wit is not included, but these three tracks are :

Freakbeat Phantom
Bond Girl
Out of Dreams