twenty-five hundred

So, this blog has 2,500 views as of Sunday! Yay, right? I will now create a classic top ten list to ommemorate this special event. Enjoy.

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My Top Ten Songs of 2015 In No Particular Order (So Far) Or MTTS2INPO (SF).

1. Search Party- Sam Bruno

I just blogged about Sam Bruno and it was evident that I love this song, so there isn't much to be said. Just go here to read that article and understand why.

2. Here- Alessia Cara

Listening to Alessia Cara is a quite the treat so I'll let you learn for yourselves just how awesome she is. Listen to the song and then go read my 'discover' article on her to learn more.

3. Careless- Alex Winston

Alex Winston is one of those alt-pop singers who can readily spin out a radio-ready track and Careless is musical proof of that. It's an awesome song that is more of an inner self-search than most of her previous work from her as yet untitled LP and is made all the more awesome by the fact that she overcame a throat infection in order to record said LP. So listen and marvel at alt-pop perfection.

4. Gold- Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons released their sophomore album Smoke and Mirrors in February and I obsessed for a bit (refer here and here). I loved the album, as any fan would. It showed that Imagine Dragons could go beyond what they were known for (alt-rock) and try new things, which is a vital trait in any musician. Gold is a song about being successful...and the bad side of the success, I guess. I love it.

5. Mercy- Muse

Muse has always been a champion of the people and the freedom of said people, but their last album, The 2nd Law, explored other themes. However, with Drones, they are back to dealing with pertinent issues, which are in this case, freedom. Mercy is perhaps the theme song to the whole soundtrack as it states its ambitions most clearly: show me mercy/from the powers that be/show me mercy/can someone rescue me and it is the most unapologetic in its showing that we are indeed becoming puppets in the hands of...something (society? technology, most likely). The accompanying video is terrifying mostly because the concept is not all that out there. It depicts a sentient machine fighting for freedom from its "handlers". Scary because it could actually happen.

6. Crystals-  Of Monsters and Men

OMAM has always done creepy-indie really well (see Little Talks, Mountain Sound, and their plethora of songs) and the video for Crystals, the first track of their album Beneath the Skin is concrete proof if you didn't really get it with Little Talks, this should do it for you. My favourite part of the song is the chorus: cover your crystal eyes/and feel the tones that tremble down you spine/cover your crystal eyes/and let your colours bleed and blend with mine. It is perhaps the most beautiful song off the album although I Of The Storm is a close contender.

7. Hallelujah- Panic! At The Disco

This single is perhaps my favourite P!ATD song (which I say a lot but whatever). Its' a song about knowing you're a sinner and owning up to that, and I can relate to that, the being able to admit that you do the wrong thing sometimes. It's the band's first song since Spencer Smith left the band and it is amazing, so obviously, the music has not been affected.

8. Pierre- Ryn Weaver

Pierre is perhaps the most flippant, poppy track on Ryn Weaver's The Fool and it is of course, my favourite. I discovered OctaHate a few months ago and ended up listening to it obsessively for a few weeks and then passing it on to my friends who in turn obsessed over it. It is a song about past lovers and one lover that is still going strong. It showcases Ryn's vocals beautifully and I still can't get past the bridge when I'm karaoke-ing to it.

9. Heavydirtysoul- Twenty One Pilots

Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface is a testament to how much they've evolved over the past few years. All their albums are symbolic for different points and situations in my life and I have never been more grateful to be part of the fanbase of a band before. Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph are two goofy geniuses and every bit of hype this album had, it deserved. Heavydirtysoul is track number one and the lead into the chorus still gets me every time: gangsters don't cry there, therefore I'm/Mr. Misty-Eye/therefore I'm. You'll love it.

10. Be Your Shadow- The Wombats

This song is track number four on The Wombats' new album, Glitterbug and it is one of my favourites. The lyrics read like an ode to obsession with a new flame. However, the video tells a different story and you should watch it, it's fascinating (and funny). The chorus has been stuck in my head for months and it will definitely get stuck in yours.

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These songs have been on most of my playlists so far this year and they deserve every little bit of my affection. I hope you like them too.

Tammy O.

album review: the wombats, 'glitterbug'

The Wombats are back!

The name "The Wombats" is so freaking weird!

I like exclamation marks!

Okay, so the Wombats, right? There was  A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation in 2007 and This Modern Glitch in 2011. These albums were indie rock, fun and dancey, post-punky goodness being thrown around with tracks like Let's Dance To Joy Division (which I adore by the way) and Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves), silliness in Tales of Boys, Girls and Marsupials, and generally the usual thing you would expect from bands like them.

However, they have now released Glitterbug. And the first thing to come to mind is...damn. I first heard Greek Tragedy on 8tracks which was what honestly spurred me to do my research and get their first two albums and the Britishness of their pop culture references and guitar riffs was not lost on me. I loved it. So, Glitterbug has been a serious anticipation of mine since I heard of it.

In the process of listening, I was thrilled to hear tracks like Your Body Is A Weapon, Greek Tragedy and Give Me A Try which I had already heard before, but in terms of newness, I adored The English Summer and Isabel. Reading reviews from other websites, it was pointed out that the album chronicled the relationship between an English Boy and California girl, albeit vaguely which provided a new outlook on the album. Greek Tragedy lyrically talks about an apparently extremely hot girl that "hits like ecstasy", Give Me A Try explores the dating scene of the current tech generation. There's a lot of sex talk, most of it not even masked but that isn't really new, is it?

In general, the whole album is filled with sick hooks that have their veritable hooks in me (no pun intended) and they remain stuck in my head after each track. They have their indie-rock, post-punk thing still going, but this album is significantly better than the other two, which is saying something. It is also darker than the other albums which had an air of disco silliness about them.

Suffice to say, I love it, although there is more pop on this than there was on the other two and they kind of left behind the indie disco thing they had going on, but pop is not a bad thing. It ties the album together, makes it pretty.

Check out their Soundcloud for peeks into the album and go to iTunes to download the album.

Listen to Greek Tragedy below and in the sidebar.