The Red Hot Chili Peppers are #1 for the 4th week, Blink-182 climb to #2, and twenty one pilots’ “Heathens” leaps 13 spots to #6.
1. DARK NECESSITIES – Red Hot Chili Peppers (1)
2. BORED TO DEATH – Blink-182 (4)
3. ONE DANCE – Drake, Wiz Kid, Kyla (3)
4. WAY DOWN WE GO – Kaleo (5)
5. OFF THE GROUND – The Record Company (2)
6. HEATHENS – twenty øne piløts (19)
7. TROUBLE – Cage The Elephant (10)
8. KISS THIS – The Struts (9)
9. FIRE – Barns Courtney (13)
10. RIDE – twenty øne piløts (6)
11. TAKE IT FROM ME – KONGOS (12)
12. AIN’T NO MAN – The Avett Brothers (14)
13. JUST LIKE FIRE – P!nk (15)
14. SOUNDCHECK – Catfish and the Bottlemen (16)
15. DESTRUCTION – Joywave (11)
16. SEND MY LOVE (TO YOUR NEW LOVER) – Adele (18)
17. BURN THE WITCH – Radiohead (20)
18. HAPPY SONG – Bring Me The Horizon (7)
19. OPHELIA – The Lumineers (8)
20. CLOSE – Nick Jonas & Tove Lo (N)
I seem to be writing about a lot of international music artists recently, and Australian rock band New Nobility is the latest. Formed in 2005 by Sead Trnka (who plays bass guitar), the three-member band is originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but relocated to Sydney in 2008. The other two members are Josh Maekowsky (vocals and guitar) and Zoran Krga (keyboard). Their sound is rather eclectic, ranging from metal rock to catchy dance-pop to sweeping ballads with a message of hope and peace. Whatever type of music they’re playing, one thing’s for certain: it’s always exhilarating, with shredded guitars, strong percussion and dynamic, soaring vocals.
One of the band’s earliest hit songs is the high-energy metal-rock anthem “Galactic Love.” The song’s video begins with the lighting of a match, perfect imagery to convey the way the song ignites into an inferno of thunderous scratchy guitars and pulse-pounding drums. Maekowsky’s assertive vocals on this and their other hard rock songs remind me a bit of Rise Against lead singer Tim McIlrath. All in all, a thoroughly satisfying track.
The band’s lighter side shows up in the infectious dance-pop tune “Paradise.” The song opens with plucky guitar and a catchy hook that quickly grab hold and take you on a fun ride. Maekowsky’s vocals alternately smolder and soar to falsetto heights as he sings with abandon, making for a really exciting number that will have you dancing around the room.
A recent track, the lovely anthemic ballad “Fly Over (United We Are),” is an emotional plea for peace, love and world harmony. The piano takes the starring role here, accompanied by some fine guitar and Maekowsky’s impassioned vocals. At nearly seven minutes, the song is a long one, gradually building to a climax, with Maekowsky singing in his native language.
I love Radiohead’s new single “Burn the Witch” from their latest album A Moon Shaped Pool, released in May 2016. The song’s dark lyrics, hauntingly sung by Thom Yorke’s beautiful falsetto, sharply contrast with the gorgeous arrangement by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and lush strings performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra.
So too with the clever, cartoonish video, as Radiohead wanted it to contast with the song’s darker meaning. Directed by Chris Hopewell, the video uses stop-motion animation in the style of the 1960s English children’s television Trumpton Trilogy programs. It pays homage to the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man. (Wikipedia) An inspector is greeted by a town official and invited to see a series of unsettling sights, culminating in the unveiling of a huge wicker man. The official urges the inspector to climb into the wicker man, whereupon he is locked inside and the wicker man is set on fire. As the flames build, the townspeople turn their backs to the burning wicker man. After the song ends, the inspector appears to have escaped, with birds chirping happily among the trees.
Pitchfork writer Marc Hogan suggested that the use of the Trumpton Trilogy style, which portrays an idyllic, crime-free rural Britain, is intended to satirize the rhetoric of family values used by right-wing politicians such as Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and members of the UK Independence Party.
As a footnote, according to an article in The Guardian, the son-in-law of Trumpton creator Gordon Murray stated that the family had not been asked permission to use the style for the video, and saw it as a “tarnishing of the brand.” He added that they would not have allowed its use, considered it a breach of copyright, and were “deciding what to do next.”
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 