And just like that, we’ve reached the end of October!
Here’s what I’ve been loving over the past month. These blog posts take me a couple of hours, so I appreciate every click, scan, visit and read.
Hope you might find something new that you love!
Marc
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Reading Time: 3 minutes
Hey Hey!
I’m back with my final Mixtape of the year. Sorry I’m late (as always!) – life’s been busy.
A short but sweet one from me for November, therefore there’s no ‘Essential 5’ in this post. Lots of songs on repeat but these were my standouts.
I’ll be posting music still but have something different planned for December… (watch this space!)
As always, I really appreciate every visit and read so thanks for being here, and let’s dive in!
Read More » Reading Time: 9 minutes
Me again! A weird bunch of songs, these, but it’s been a weird time.
Still, I’m happy to share these with you and I truly appreciate every read!
Hope you enjoy reading and maybe even find something new which you enjoy.
As always, there’s a streamlined version at the top featuring my Top 5.
Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutes
It’s official. Disco-Pop is COOL again.
When Sophie Ellis-Bextor released iconic pop gem ‘Murder on the Dancefloor‘ in the early noughties, would she have thought it would be a smash again 22 years later? Probably not. Yet, whilst always being a Pop staple in the midst of many Spotify playlists and still being played on radio from time to time, the song naturally faded somewhat from the public’s conciousness. That was until the release of black comedy psychological thriller ‘Saltburn’ at the tail end of 2023.
Read More »Here in the UK, it’s a bank holiday (albeit a rainy one…) yay!
Here’s a playlist to celebrate. We’ve gone with a predominantly Brit-Pop/90’s Indie theme with a few garage & R&B tracks thrown into the mix. Enjoy!
George’s forte as a musician was to create brilliant, memorable dance-pop or sincere, aching ballads. This song falls into the former and is a plea for sexual activity, utilising a spoken clip from 1967 film ‘The Graduate’.
George once said the following about his second solo single: “I think you can tell that ‘A Different Corner’ is genuinely the sound of a man who’s heart’s been broken. I was 19 and the best critique I ever heard of that song was from a friend of mine who said, ‘It’s beautiful, pathetic, but beautiful.'”
A brilliantly written jazz song which Michael revealed to be about a bizarre love triangle in which a woman was in love with him whilst he was in love with a man.
It takes courage and a belter of a vocal to come anywhere near those of soul diva Aretha Franklin but thankfully George rose to the challenge to sing with one of his idols. A brilliant, powerful track with a killer chorus.
One of the best pop tracks from the 90’s, this was one of the more uptempo moments from the overall melancholic and brooding nature of ‘Older’. It is unusual in that it has no conventional chorus but its utilisation of hip-hop beats, brass instruments and lyrics about sexual desire make it one of Michael’s stand out tracks of his career and this was a huge hit in 1996.
A sweet acoustic guitar-driven track which refreshingly used elements of acid-jazz and dance-pop. A testament to his partner of the time Kenny Goss, this piece of pop perfection was a hit single from George’s final album of all new material ‘Patience’.
A filthy electropop track which utilises multiple samples from a variety of pop & hip hop tracks to formulate its expensive-sounding production. The video is pretty sexy too…
An all time classic which George famously performed at the London 2012 Olympics. The video is also noteworthy due to the absence of George and instead it featuring five supermodels lipsynching its lyrics.
One of George’s most underrated works. A jazz-pop track which utilises brass instruments and a funky bass line over hip-hop beats, this track depicts the worry of a lover whose partner is sexually promiscuous during an age where AIDS was newly discovered and prevalent in the West.
Another of George’s most underrated works. This psychadelic Pop track documents a character who awakes from a coma to find many iconic singers have died. Slightly eerie now, considering George himself has joined them.
A stunning ballad from George’s final album of original material ‘Patience’. Utilising little more than strings and meticulously programmed synthesizers, this desperate ballad presents a man worn down by life and pushed to the edge.
The original, of course is a country ballad by Bonnie Raitt. George covered this for his ‘MTV Unplugged’ session and performed perhaps the best version. His vocals are aching with sincerity and it is by far one of the most emotional and pure versions of this beautiful song.
Stunning, space-y track which was previously unreleased prior to its inclusion on George’s 25 greatest hits album. George has said this track is a follow up to Wham! classic ‘Everything She Wants’ but is far more melancholic and sincere in nature.
Another classic, this soul-infused Pop track reportedly began life as a dance track until Michael removed the percussion and realised it worked better at a slower tempo.
Gorgeous, heartbreaking ballad which George wrote in tribute to his Brazillian lover Anselmo Feleppa who died of AIDS in 1993. Utilising Bossa Nova music (a genre of Brazillian music which fuses samba and jazz music together), George apparently suffered severe writer’s block following Feleppa’s death but eventually wrote this track in under an hour. Following George’s death, Dame Esther Rantzen, founder of charity Childline revealed that Michael had secretly donated all of the song’s royalties to the charity.
Another little-known tracks by George which was originally written by Irish singer-songwriter Toby Bourke. Bourke was signed to Michael’s label and Michael reportedly loved the song so much, he ended up featuring on and co-producing the gorgeous ballad.
Brilliant, funky disco-track which parodies the infamous 1998 toilet incident in which Michael was arrested in a Beverly Hills lavatory for engaging in a lewd act. George handled the incident brilliantly, talking openly and frankly on many talk shows after the incident and this song and its accompanying video is a self-deprecating, humorous version of events.
One of George’s best known/well-loved tracks which was written in a rock and roll style.
A great track which lyrically tells of a collection of self-destructing individuals. The production on this is particularly brilliant – the glitchy finish was way ahead of its time (this seems to litter much current pop music) and the meticulously programmed/layered track adds to its brilliance.
We all know and love ‘Last Christmas’, of course. George was always critical of much of the material he wrote in Wham! and it’s likely this effort was written as an attempt to write a festive song with more credibility. It never quite achieved the same status as ‘Last Christmas’ but each are brilliant in their own way. This song was written with long-time writing partner David Austin and was initially released as a free download on George’s official website before finally being released a few years later. It’s a dark, melancholic and dreamy song but it’s George at his best and is not dissimilar from much of his best work on ‘Older’.
We’ve reached August which can only mean one thing… here’s the August mixtape!
This month’s is a hybrid of Pop and R&B with a few curveballs… enjoy!
It’s been over two years since Shura’s ‘Touch‘ became an internet sensation for its gentle, airy tones and simple, yet endearing video which featured her and her friends kissing, regardless of gender. Follow up tracks ‘Indecision‘ and ‘2Shy‘ simply amplified the buzz which resulted in Shura (real name Alexandra Denton) being longlisted in the BBC’s Sound of 2015 poll and extensive airplay on Radio 1. It’s probably fair to say that demand for further material escalated quicker than Shura’s musical output which resulted in sporadic single releases and an eagerly awaited debut album. Finally, ‘Nothing’s Real’ has catapulted onto the music scene, however and brilliant it is too.
Musically, it’s fun and uplifting, mimicking 80’s synthpop yet its lyrics are more introspective and darker than the sugary melodies and uptempo tracks let on. Reviews consistently compare her work to ’80’s Madonna but it is unfair to box her into the confinements of this comparison. There are also moments of Janet Jackson, Blood Orange, Prince, Haim & Phil Collins scattered throughout but the album provides enough scope for her own distinct sound to shine through.
It’s undoubtedly Pop music, yet it’s not Pop music as that defined by global superstars such as Taylor Swift & Katy Perry. It’s more an off-centre, awkward Pop tinged with electro elements and far greater sincerity in its lyrical content than any Pop superstar could ever achieve.
For the most part, the album utilises gated percussion, shimmering synths and funk-influenced bass lines to mirror some of the best, catchiest Pop music of the ’80’s. This is the case on tracks such as ‘Indecision‘ (Shura’s ‘Holiday‘) and absolutely brilliant ‘Tongue Tied‘ (one of two tracks worked on by Pop mastermind Greg Kurstin and a track on which Patrice Rushen’s influence is clear) and rather space-y, sci-fi-influenced closing track ‘White Light‘. It’s deceptively catchy, however. Opening track ‘Nothing’s Real‘ could almost be placed in disco territory with its clinking percussion, strong riffs and catchy melodies, yet on closer inspection, the lyrics detail the more intimate matter of a panic attack. Much of the album follows suit – its uptempo music at odds with its awkward, realistic and relatable lyrical content detailing matters such as the end of a relationship, high school crushes and coming of age.
The uptempo fun continues on one of the 2016’s best Pop releases ‘What’s It Gonna Be‘? the other collaboration with Kurstin which still sounds as fresh and uplifting as on its first listen. Whilst mention of it fitting perfectly on a John Hughes movie soundtrack is becoming something of a cliche, this is certainly the case.
Elsewhere, the album is given time to breathe on gentler tracks. The analogue synthesizer sound present on ‘Touch‘ still forms part of its appeal with its breathy vocals and simple chord transition whilst the moody ‘Make It Up‘ feels as though it belongs on a Cyndi Lauper album. Then there’s the shimmering, summery ‘2Shy‘ which remains one of Shura’s best tracks. The awkwardness and shyness of the track (“Maybe I’m just 2Shy to say it, we could be more than friends…”) is somehow perfectly captured in its fizzy production and sweet vocals.
The album’s best track, however, is the gorgeous synthpop ballad ‘Kidz ‘N’ Stuff‘ which is reminiscent of Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’s best work circa ‘Rhythm Nation’. ‘How can I not be everything you need?’ her syrupy, whispered vocals pine over twinkling synths, moody guitars and crashing percussion. It’s tender, it’s relatable and it’s a golden moment on the album which surprisingly escalates into an incredible, spine-tingling electro interlude into the Pop perfection of ‘Indecision‘.
The album employs the use of spaced-out-synths in other areas too. Eerie, psychedelic interludes, blanketed with audio clips lifted from private home movies [(I) and (II)] punctuate the album perfectly. Indeed, the album finishes in this manner on the gorgeous, de-tuned ‘311215‘. It’s an additional reminder of how personal the album is whilst also touching on one of its key themes – time.
Another of the album’s highlights is the new-wave influenced ‘What Happened To Us?’ which somehow straddles Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Gypsy‘ and Don Henley’s ‘Boys of Summer‘ simultaneously. It is perhaps the one song on the album which breaks from the programmed instrumentation and instead utilises a full band with wailing guitars, fierce percussion and a triumphant chorus. “I’m no child but I don’t feel grown up” Shura almost growls over its fierce instrumentation.
It’s an album unconfined by fillers or impersonal production by superstar producers where Shura herself is responsible for the album’s concept, creation and curation, often assisted by Athlete’s Joel Pott. Every track is killer and its production is tight yet captivating.
One of the the must-have albums of 2016.
Highlights: What’s It Gonna Be?, Touch, Kidz ‘N’ Stuff, Indecision, What Happened To Us?, 2Shy
Rating: 5/5
‘Nothing’s Real’ is available now on Polydor Records.
If the Pop world is clear on just one thing right now, it’s that nostalgia is 100% in. Old Pop hits have been recycled and re-worked into bouncy house tracks, Rick Astley has just flown into Number 1 in the UK album chart and a massive 80’s revival is underway in which contemporary artists attempt to mimic the magic and production of ’80’s hits. Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, HAIM and The 1975 are just some of the artists to take the world by storm with catchy hooks which belong on the soundtracks of John Hughes movies. MUNA are the latest addition to this list.
A female trio based in LA, MUNA is comprised of Katie Gavin (lead vocals/production), Naomi McPherson (production/rhythm guitar/synths/vocals), and Josette Maskin (lead guitar/vocals). Their sound is that of dark Pop, echoing the likes of Fleetwood Mac and HAIM whilst maintaining a contemporary Pop sound through slick, electronic production. The band are the epitome of self-sufficiency, writing, producing and performing their own material which has so far been recorded in bedrooms.
‘The Loudspeaker EP’ is triumphant from start to finish, utilising catchy hooks, robust vocals, funky bass lines, gated percussion and reverberating guitar riffs to mimic the classic ’80’s sound. Opening track ‘Loudspeaker‘ launches the EP spectacularly with a buoyant energy. Lyrically, it explores darker themes of rape and oppression but in a fashion which empowers those affected. It’s a bold and brilliant track with a bass line which strays dangerously close to The 1975’s ‘Heart Out’ but it’s one which deserves far greater recognition.
The rest of the EP follows suit with elements of Stevie Nicks, Prince, Cyndi Lauper and INXS scattered throughout. ‘So Special‘ chronicles the narrator’s flaws and behaviour whilst ‘Winterbreak‘ conveys an icy quality which reflects its lyrical content and title.
Grand finale ‘Promise‘ is arguably the band’s second best track on which the narrator laments how her acts of passion have in fact pushed her lover aside as opposed to being perceived as acts of love. Its tinny guitar riffs reverberate infinitely into the spacey production whilst the hook brilliantly channels Tears for Fears in their heyday.
It’s a delicious yet intoxicating debut which leaves the listener eagerly anticipating future records.
A fearless introduction into the pop world.
Rating: 5/5
Highlights: ‘Loudspeaker’, ‘Promise’.
Musical comebacks are always a tricky business. Since Take That’s immensely successful reformation in 2005, every defunct 90’s pop group imaginable has sprung back out of obscurity, aiming to cash in on a nostalgia-fuelled society; some with more success than others. For All Saints, the risk was even greater after an unsuccessful reunion in 2006 when comeback album ‘Studio 1’ barely dented the UK top 40.
Fast forward another decade, however and All Saints have delivered an explosive, fierce and brilliant pop album which has achieved the success it deserves, reaching the top 5 of the UK album chart.
‘Red Flag’ is a bold statement from start to finish which affirms the comeback of one of the UK’s best girl groups. No doubt greatly aided by Nicole Appleton’s divorce from Liam Gallagher, it’s an album which screams girl-power but one which shows greater depth and maturity than any of the band’s previous albums. ‘One Strike‘ was right to be selected as the lead single and the album’s opener. Its pulsating beats, distorted synths and reverberating melodies make it one of the band’s best works; a triumphant pop record.
The rest of the album follows suit, abundant with meticulously programmed percussion, sweeping strings, impressive harmonies and jittery synthesizers. ‘One Woman Man‘ features a memorable string riff whilst the moody ‘Make U Love Me‘ draws upon rock influences, utilising brooding guitars and rich vocals. Then there’s ‘Summer Rain‘ – a more mature take on ‘Pure Shores‘ which works well.
The ballads on the album are not to be overlooked, however. ‘Who Hurt Who‘ is a delicate and pretty piano ballad which strips back the production and programming the rest of the album is plastered with. It’s a gorgeous moment on which the girls’ voices are really showcased. The track is later eclipsed by the eerie and ghostly ‘Fear‘, however. Opening with fragile piano chords, tribal percussion soon steers the track in a different direction, evolving into a glistening and powerful chorus. It has The Invisible Men written all over it; their reverberating elements and minimalist production forming half of the track’s endearment.
The album only falls on its face once on the shape-shifting ‘Ratchet Behaviour‘, a bizarre dancehall-reggae track which leads to nowhere and is coated mawkishly in auto-tune. Still, the remainder of the album – three tracks which utilise tribal drums, fluttering synthesizers, hazy harmonies and butterscotch melodies – is strong enough to compensate for this ‘miss’ moment.
A powerful record, bristling with maturity, fierce harmonies and polished production.
Rating: 4/5
Highlights: ‘One Strike’, ‘Make U Love Me, ‘Who Hurt Who’, ‘Fear’, ‘Red Flag’, ‘Tribal’.
‘Red Flag’ is available now on Mercury Records.
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