Johnny Marr & Maxine Peake – The Priest (Not On Label)
Johnny Marr directed a short film about homelessness in central Manchester. The words are a first hand account written by a homeless man in Edinburgh.The combination of Marr’s music & Maxine Peake’s delivery of the words is extremely powerful. Essential viewing & listening.
Sissy feat Radie Peat – Sail & Rail (Not On Label)
I couldn’t put any actual Enya in this because its 2017 so what better substitute than an Enya riff covered by a punk band, with pro choice lyrics & tin whistle provided by Radie Peat (of Lynched/Lankum). I had the honour of premiering the 2017 remaster of this song on DDR in September. You can buy it from Sissy’s bandcamp page , all the money from the sales go to Need Abortion Ireland to support their vital work.
IDLES – Mother (Balley Records)
From the album Brutalism, which is a refreshing bit of shouty guitar noise. I’ve picked the track “Mother” as my number 2 track of 2017 because of the lyrics “The best way to scare a Tory is to read and get rich” and “sexual violence doesn’t start & end with rape, it starts in our books & behind our school gates. Men are scared women will laugh in their face, whereas women are scared it’s their lives men will take”
Drab Majesty – Cold Souls (Dais Records)
Let yourself be carried away with this Tears For Fears/Cocteau Twins-esque track. It is 80s ethereal goth for 2017 ears. “Cold Souls” recalls the best of an older sound and makes it modern and new and relevant. I played this a couple of times on my show this year because I love everything about it, including the aesthetics – Drab Majesty’s front person is Deb Demure, a 6 foot 4 gothic vision in white, recalling a new romantic/ Bowie kind of commitment to looking like your music sounds.
The Rhythm Method – Party Politics (Fnord Communications)
So technically this came out in June 2016 but I didn’t have this platform last year and I really love this song.The Rhythm Method are a dance pop duo from South London. This is the pro Europe/anti Brexit song to stick on at your Christmas party. Dance pop, the catchiest drums and gently political spoken word lyrics. Have a dance to it & think about the young people of Britain who have to suffer Brexit.
Shite song of the year: Morrissey – Spent the Day in Bed (Étienne)
Awful stuff. He needs to be stopped before he destroys the Smiths’ legacy. I’d suggest we all ignore him and he might go away, but that probably won’t work. The more you ignore him, the closer he gets.