Howdy. I’m quite late again, aren’t I? Sorry. Life is busy but I love doing this!
From now on, I’ll be trying to keep the mixtape to 20 songs dissected, but other stuff I’ve enjoyed this month are at the bottom in the complete playlist.
Short on time? My Essential 5 are featured at the top!
As always, I really appreciate every read, scan or visit and hope you find some new music you love.
Californian indie-pop trio Hotel Apache have returned after what turned out to be a three year unannounced hiatus with the dreamy ‘Till The End Of Time‘.
It’s been a while! Some of you may know this as ‘Current Faves‘, which I posted regularly on the Instagram Stories on my music acount for 4 years. I’ve rebranded back to what I used to do here on the blog and call them my Monthly Mixtapes.
The idea? I love music (if you hadn’t already figured), especially discovering and sharing new finds. So on the last weekend of each month (late this time due to ill health), I’ll be posting a selection of songs I’ve been devouring that month. A selection of old and new. Some stuff will be commercial and some won’t. There are no rules, just songs which speak to me.
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.
Every Friday, we are adding three tracks to our Feel-Good Friday Spotify playlist. The aim? To create a definitive playlist featuring the best uplifting, feel-good tracks in the world!
Check here every Friday to check any additions!
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As 2015 comes to a close, we wanted to (as always) look back at the year in music. So with no further ado, here’s The Music Box’s official guide to the best music of 2015.
SONG OF THE YEAR:
Little Mix – Black Magic
Whilst eventually played to death, this song is easily one of the catchiest pop tracks of 2015. A 21st century of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, it’s fierce, fun and memorable. The perfect pop hit.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
Carly Rae Jepsen – Emotion
One of the most underrated pop albums from 2015. ‘Emotion’ draws upon 80’s synthpop in a similar way to Taylor Swift on ‘1989’ but with superior production. Every beat is meticulously placed and the focus is more on the songs rather than vocal performance. The entire album contains a naivety lacking from most pop albums and it’s a whole lot of fun from start to finish.
RADIO 1 LIVE LOUNGE OF THE YEAR:
Rixton – Where are U Now (Justin Bieber Cover)
Boyband Rixton transform this jittery EDM hit into a gentle 90’s R&B track with gorgeous chords, lush harmonies and an element of Soul lacking in the original.
BAND OF THE YEAR:
Circa Waves
British Indie-rock band Circa Waves launched onto the scene this year with brilliant single ‘Fossils’. Their début album ‘Young Chasers’ was released in March to positive response and the band have subsequently been touring the world.
ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Carly Rae Jepsen
One of the most underrated female pop stars, Carly Rae Jepsen avoids controversy and instead keeps her track record solely focussed on music. Whilst many may be put off by undeniably catchy but somewhat irritating hits ‘Call Me Maybe’ and ‘I Really Like You’, 2015 album ‘Emotion’ demonstrated a new side to Jepsen which resulted in the album’s critical acclaim.
NEW BAND OF THE YEAR:
Nothing But Thieves
Nothing But Thieves have seemingly sprung from no-where this year with singles ‘Itch’, ‘Trip-Switch’ and ‘Wake Up Call’ all receiving extensive airplay on radio. Their self-titled début album is haunting, eerie and bold, resembling some of Jeff Buckley’s best work.
NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
Shura
Shura has risen to prominence in the last year with huge hit, the Janet Jackson circa 1986 influenced ‘2Shy’ in addition to catchy dance hit ‘White Light’ and the gentle analog driven ‘Touch’. With her highly anticipated début album due in 2016, we are expecting big things from Shura.
UP & COMING ARTIST OF THE YEAR:
The Japanese House
Amber Bain, better known as The Japanese House has won the admiration of many this year with her spaced-out and hazy material. Aided by The 1975’s Matt Healy & George Daniel in production, The Japanese House’s two EPs have been cinematic, bold and impressive.
ONE TO WATCH:
Troye Sivan
YouTuber Troye Sivan already had a huge profile before entering the music industry this year. Debut album ‘Blue Neighbourhood’ has been critically acclaimed for its bold and unique sound and sincere lyrical themes.
LIVE ACT OF THE YEAR:
Take That
Take That proved they’ve still got it in a series of triumphant sold-out shoes in various arenas over the UK this year. Featuring a large ensemble of dancers, an abundance of multi-coloured confetti, walls of flame and a flying bike, 2015’s tour proved to be their best yet.
I set The Music Box up in 2013 after numerous other failed attempts at blogging. This year, we became solely a music blog with all other posts exported to an additional personal blog.
2015 has seen The Music Box go from strength to strength. We have received hundreds of likes and shares and our review of Markus Feehily’s ‘Fire’ album was tweeted by the man himself . We are hoping for this success to continue throughout 2016 and wanted to share some of our new developments with you for the next year.
Music Monday
To date, Music Monday has involved a selection of ten songs, both old and new that we have been enjoying immensely in the past week. They are usually accompanied by a short excerpt on why we love them here at the Music Box.
From 2016 onwards, this will be changed to ten new or current songs which we consider to be the hottest records in the world.
*NEW!* Feel Good Friday
Every Friday, we will be adding five tracks to our Feel Good Friday Spotify Playlist. There will be opportunities for suggestions too.
*NEW!* Artist Feature
Artist Features will be pieces dedicated to an artist. Generally to promote little-known or up and coming acts, these are to raise the profile of genuinely talented artists.
Themed Playlists
These will continue as usual.
Album Reviews and Live Gig Reviews
These will continue as usual.
Thank you so much for all of the follows, likes and shares of our posts and for the support this year. Please continue to share our posts and blog to help us out!
We don’t earn any money from this and do it purely for our love of music.