My most fabulous songs of 2023

My end of the year list goes live today with 100 songs by UK and Irish artists. It’s full of amazing music, and enough variety to suit all tastes, so click the link and get stuck in.

Irish artist CMAT makes a debut appearance at #1 with a track from an album that’s taken the music industry by storm in recent weeks.

“It’s easy to fall in love” sings the always wonderful Ego Ella May, who follows her #3 slot in 2022 with a #2 slot this year.

At #3 is an epic track from Lisa O’Neill, which opens with a quote from Patrick Kavanagh’s poem The Great Hunger – “Clay is the word and clay is the flesh, where the potato-gatherers like mechanized scarecrows move, along the side-fall of the hill.”

Jamie Webster (#3 in 2020, #10 in 2021 and #11 in 2022) is at #4 this time with a protest anthem for all to sing along to.

And at #5 is a song from Essex band Bilk’s first full length album. Sol Abrahams tells the story of how the band got its name – “My dad’s a London cab driver, and one day he came home from work and told me he had been bilked by a customer. I didn’t know what bilk meant so I asked him and he said it means when you run off from a taxi without paying the fare. I just thought it sounded cool, so we went with Bilk.”

Soundtrack for the summer

No summer party this year would be complete without these: from steamy chillout numbers to scorching hot drum & bass bangers, all hot off the mixing desk. Not to mention an insanely catchy tune by the K’s, who topped my 2022 year-end chart.

Amaria BB – Vibe

Azotix & T-Man – Take Me

Lizzie Berchie – I Hope

Break – Bury A Sound

Christine and the Queens – A day in the water

Denney – Catch The Heat (Frankey & Sandrino Remix)

Ezra Williams – Just Not

Jayme Silk – Be Sassy

The K’s – Landmines

Overmono – Good Lies

Sammy Virji x Flowdan – Stella Verse

The Sherlocks – People Like Me And You

The Snuts – Gloria

Swim School – Kill You

Zero T – The Underground

‘neath an Irish sky

For no particular reason, an Irish trad playlist.

When writing the chapter on Irish music in my book, I wanted to explore why the music was still so rich today –

According to Louise Mulcahy, “Irish traditional music has certainly gone from strength to strength over the years and is currently thriving.” There are, she says, many reasons for this : many universities now offer traditional music courses; there are several organisations set up to promote Irish traditional music; archival recordings are widely available; and Irish music festivals the world over provide exposure to the music. Few would argue with any of this. Fiddle ace Martin Hayes sees this though as anything but a simple natural progression. You can reproduce the tunes, he would say, but you can’t recreate the social and cultural context from whence they sprang. Traditional music “can no longer exist as a folk music, in the very pure sense of folk music rising out of the people.” So it has to find new ways of making itself relevant and new ways of evolving …

And here’s the evidence that it’s succeeding in renewing itself, because the quality of the tracks that I’ve chosen is nothing short of spectacular.

New and fabulous

Just some of the releases from the last few weeks that are making the world a sweeter place.

Bar Stool Preachers – Never Gonna Happen

Bdrmm – It’s Just A Bit Of Blood

Casual Drag – Something Good

Charli Brix – Be There

Chickasaw Mudd Puppies – Preacher

Devon Gilfillian – Love You Anyway

DJ Sofa – G Man

Ezra Williams – Until I’m Home

Fräulein – Brand New

Halogenix & Strategy – PTFD

Ist Ist – Stamp You Out

Kae Tempest – Love Harder

Memorials – Boudicaaa

Radikal Guru & Dubbing Sun – Good Ganja (feat Cheshire Cat & Vale)

Terri Walker – Fearless

For those who like their music loud (or mellow)

I have two brand new 12 song playlists for you: Noise Rock, and Mellow R&B.

Because I cater for all tastes on this website (all two of them).

Take your pick – and enjoy !

And my favourite song of 2022 is…

It’s that time of year again, so here are my top 80 songs of 2022 from British and Irish artists,

It’s packed with thrills, and there’s something for everyone (unless of course your name is Jacob Rees Mogg.)

It’s always a special joy to introduce a load of new artists. Such as Tamzene, a young singer from the Highlands who recently released her debut EP which includes the beautiful song Only an Ocean, #10 on my list. And sitting proudly at #1, four lads from Earlestown who’ve yet to release their debut album. Could the K’s be the next big thing to come out of Merseyside ?

Rebellious Jukebox: an alternative 1979 playlist

In 1979 I was just starting to listen regularly to the chart show. I was totally green. I wasn’t going to gigs, I’d yet to discover NME and fanzines and the John Peel show, so I didn’t know who any of these bands were or where they’d come from. Gradually over the next few years I built up my knowledge. Never again though would British music be so exciting as it was in 1979. Punk and New Wave were in their heyday. 2 Tone was just breaking, and I fell in love with it immediately. A band from my corner of the Wirral, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released a magical first single which would help to kick off a revolution in electronic music. Great music seemed to be around everywhere: there were more vinyl singles sold that year than in any year before or since, and so many of the bands starting out that year went on to have stellar careers.

In 1979 the charts meant something, and I don’t think it was just because I was young and naive. It wasn’t like it is today where record companies dictate our listening habits: alternative music thrived, and a chance appearance on Top of the Pops could propel a song up the chart. Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Buggles, and Tubeway Army, were among the more unlikely number ones that year. The rise of punk had been a catalyst for a lot of working class people to start making and recording their own music. It wasn’t just bands that were starting out: 1979 was pretty much Year Zero for many independent record labels – Factory, Rough Trade, Mute, Postcard, 4AD.

This week’s playlist is a bumper two hours instead of the usual one hour, as there’s so much that I wanted to include. I’ve focused on the various alternative scenes in the UK. As usual, there’s a mixture here of singles and album tracks.

Punky Party

I love the fact that punk music has never been fashionable. It was always yesterday’s thing, even when it was today’s thing. Music critics never got it. And it was at its best when it was its least commercial, when it wasn’t hidebound by rules or comventions, when artists just played for the love of it.

Forget the big festivals and the headline acts. This is real music with punch, energy and attitude. There are 24 songs here packed into 60 minutes, most of them releases from the last 12 months. If they want to believe that punk music is dead, let ’em believe it. These songs tell a different story.

North of the Border

No one does indie music better than the Scots, so I make no apologies whatsoever for bringing you an hour of banging sounds from north of the border, mostly stuff released in the last couple of years.

Tamzene, who closes the show, is from the Black Isle (not an island !), just north of Inverness. A former busker, this year she realised a dream of hers by supporting Adele at Hyde Park. “It means the world to me,” she said. “I feel like it’s a moment to share with everyone who’s helped me along the way. The outpour of messages has been overwhelming, nobody gets anywhere alone, so it makes me feel like it’s really worth pursuing what you love. I’m most excited to sing for fans of Adele, because she really is an artist who influenced me.”

Dig that rhythm

This week’s playlist has a distinctly retro feel, though the music’s very much of the 21st century, in fact a lot of it is from the last 12 months. It’s feelgood music, but don’t expect any nostalgia fest – this is also music that’s never less than razor sharp. The playlist weaves between old time soul, funky rhythms, blues rock and country rock.