The song at #84 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Royals“, the debut single by the amazing singer-songwriter Lorde. The New Zealand artist – born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor – stunned the world in 2013 with the release of her mesmerizing track, which had a totally new and unique sound unlike anything that had been done before. Only 16 years old at the time, she was the youngest artist to have a #1 song on the Billboard chart since Tiffany in 1987. Lorde wanted to write a song expressing her disapproval of the luxurious lifestyle of many contemporary artists, and reportedly penned the lyrics in half an hour.
The song has a minimalist sound, with instrumentation consisting of a deep synth bass groove set to a languid hip hop beat, and accompanied by finger snaps and percussion. The song title came to her after seeing a photo in the July 1976 edition of National Geographic of Kansas City Royals baseball player George Brett signing baseballs, with his team’s name ‘Royals’ emblazoned across his shirt.
I’ll admit that it took a couple of listens before I was able to get into it, but once I did, I loved it. “Royals” spent nine weeks at #1, and also topped the charts in Canada, New Zealand and the UK. It sold over 10 million units worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all-time, and was awarded Grammys for 2013 Song of the Year and Best Solo Pop Performance.
The cool video conveys the sense of ennui inferred in the lyrics, and shows Lorde singing the song, interspersed with scenes of two young guys looking bored and doing unremarkable stuff.
The song at #85 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the beautiful “Cleopatra” by American folk rock band The Lumineers. The Denver, Colorado based trio, consisting of Wesley Schultz, Jeremiah Fraites and Neyla Pekarek, first made a splash in 2012 with their massive breakthrough single “Ho Hey”. (Pekarek has since left the band in 2018, so The Lumineers are currently a duo).
“Cleopatra” is the title track and second single from their sophomore album Cleopatra, and my personal favorite of all their songs. I love songs that tell a compelling story, and “Cleopatra” certainly fills the bill. Schultz explained his inspiration for the song in a 2017 Facebook post: “It’s inspired by a true story about a female taxi driver who, when she was younger, was proposed to. But her father had just passed away, so she didn’t give her boyfriend an answer. So he left the village broken-hearted and rejected and never returned again. He was her great love and she wouldn’t wash the footprints off the floor after he had left.”
The toe-tapping rhythms, jangly strummed guitars and rousing piano are really wonderful and upbeat, providing a contrast to the rather bittersweet lyrics:
I was Cleopatra, I was young and an actress When you knelt by my mattress, and asked for my hand But I was sad you asked it, as I laid in a black dress With my father in a casket, I had no plans, yeah
And I left the footprints, the mud stained on the carpet And it hardened like my heart did when you left town But I must admit it, that I would marry you in an instant Damn your wife, I’d be your mistress just to have you around
But I was late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life And when I die alone, when I die alone, when I die I’ll be on time
While the church discouraged, any lust that burned within me Yes my flesh, it was my currency, but I held true So I drive a taxi, and the traffic distracts me From the strangers in my backseat, they remind me of you
But I was late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life And when I die alone, when I die alone, when I die I’ll be on time
And the only gifts from my Lord were a birth and a divorce But I’ve read this script and the costume fits, so I’ll play my part
I was Cleopatra, I was taller than the rafters But that’s all in the past love, gone with the wind Now a nurse in white shoes leads me back to my guestroom It’s a bed and a bathroom And a place for the end
I won’t be late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life And when I die alone, when I die alone, when I die I’ll be on time
This is a guest post by fellow blogger The Alternative Mixtapes, who has a terrific music blog https://thealternativemixtapes.com/. Based in the UK, he’s an excellent writer with great taste in music. Like me, he features a lot of talented indie and up-and-coming artists, so do check out his blog.
Could this be the most overlooked rock band ever?
Twenty years ago, finding new music was much harder than it is now. These days, between social media, great music blogs such as EclecticMusicLover, and AI-generated playlists based on your listening patterns, it is actually difficult to miss anything related to your favorite music genres. Back then, websites dedicated to alternative rock were scarce, streaming over dial up connections was a joke, and the closest thing to social media was, perhaps, MSN. MySpace wasn’t even a thing yet.
Believe it or not, Amazon was a pretty decent source of new music those years because it could recommend you albums bought by customers who had purchased something you liked. This was how I discovered Radford, who almost instantly became one of my favorite bands. I remember the first song I heard from them was “Closer To Myself”, and I immediately got hooked on Jonny Radford Mead’s voice and the song’s innovative –at the time– bridge. And yes, the band was named after the middle name of its frontman.
The band was formed around 1998 in Los Angeles after Jonny emigrated there from Oxford, UK, and met guitarist Chris Hower, bassist Bobby Stefano, and eventually drummer Kane McGee. After signing with RCA records, they released their self-titled debut album in the year 2000, which in addition to “Closer To Myself”, featured other great tunes such as “Don’t Stop”, “Fly”, “How Does It Feel?” and “Fall At Your Feet”. The album had moderate success with some of the songs being featured in movie soundtracks (“Closer To Myself” was featured in Clubland and Never Been Kissed, and “Fall At Your Feet” in Teaching Mrs. Tingle). “Don’t Stop” even peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.
Unfortunately, RCA went through some restructuring and Radford got dropped from the label, causing them to go on hiatus. Luckily for us, in 2004 the band returned with a sophomore album Sleepwalker, released by Universal Records. It was even better than the previous album, but due to a lack of promotion by the label, it sold poorly. The highlight of the album to me was “Fake a Smile”, a beautiful song with really outstanding lyrics, but the album had other gems such as “Dead Heart”, “Out of the Dark” and “Anything”.
After another hiatus, the band returned in 2006 with a digital-only 5-track EP called “Black Out Of The Sun”. The only defect this EP had was that it was like 10 songs too short. The first track “Stay With Me” is in the running for Radford’s best song, but other great tracks on this EP are “Open Your Eyes” and “Now It’s Over”. Unfortunately, these were the last songs Radford ever released, at least so far.
Jonny Mead Radford has a music studio in L.A. today and he is a member of two bands today: The Blind Love and Princess Princess, but he’s taken the backseat in both of them, so it doesn’t scratch the itch of wanting new Radford music. To make things worse, Radford’s discography is not available in any of the major streaming platforms, so unless you own the albums, it’s not easy to listen to them today.
I run a music blog in which I recommend songs and add them to my “mixtapes” (playlists) in one of those streaming platforms. I’ve been dying to include Radford in any of them but I’m unable to do so because their songs are not available (although their album Sleepwalker seems to be available only in the U.S. on Spotify and Apple Music). Fortunately, Jeff gave me the opportunity to talk about Radford here on this great website and I’m thankful for that.
Without a doubt, Radford was and still is one of the greatest overlooked bands. I wish they had been more successful at the time, maybe they would have released more albums had that been the case. In any case, I hope you enjoy their music as much as I do.
The song at #86 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Loading Zones” by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Kurt Vile. With that wild mane of curly hair and his distinctive drawl, he just might be one of the coolest musicians in the business. I became a fan of his when I fell in love with his wonderful song “Pretty Pimpin’,” which ended up at #19 on my Top 100 of 2016. He followed up in 2018 with the outstanding “Loading Zones”, which I love even more. The song is from his eighth album Bottle It In. His intricate layered guitar work is phenomenal, and those talkboxy wah-wah riffs are so damn good. He’s also quite the clever wordsmith.
Vile sings of driving around his “dirty little town” of Philadelphia, running errands and parking for free in loading zones as he tries to stay one step ahead of the parking meter police, humorously played by actor Kevin Corrigan and Matt Korvette of the band Pissed Jeans in the entertaining video. He defiantly declares “I park for free! One-stop shop life for the quick fix / before you get a ticket / That’s the way I live my life” – leaving little doubt he’s the coolest musician around today.
The song at #87 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Chlorine” by twenty one pilots. For those who’ve been living under a rock, twenty one pilots is a duo consisting of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tyler Joseph and drummer Josh Dun, and as far as I’m concerned, they can do no wrong when it comes to making music. I love every one of their songs, and they’re one of my favorite bands of all time. This is the first (or last, actually) of their six songs on this list, the most of any artist.
“Chlorine” is the third single from their monumental fifth album Trench, and was released in January 2019. Trench is a concept album that tells the saga of the fictional evil city of Dema ruled by nine bishops, referred to as “Nico and the Niners”. The song was co-written by Joseph and MUTEMATH front man Paul Meany, who produced Trench, and whose voice we hear in the opening lines. Like many of the tracks on Trench, the song has a complex melodic structure, and shows a growing maturity in twenty one pilots’ sound and music style. I love the sweeping, spacey synths, Dun’s sharp percussion and Joseph’s haunting layered vocals. The wonderful little twinkling piano riff adds a somewhat menacing vibe to the track.
The lyrics address how creativity can cleanse dark impulses, but also cause pain. The small, white alien-like creature in the video is “Ned”, who the band stated represents “this idea of creativity and trying to take care of it and trying to please it… or appease it.” It’s a dark and stunning song, and Joseph’s plaintive vocals in the final chorus are exquisite as he laments “I’m so sorry I forgot you. Let me catch you up to speed. I’ve been tested like the ends of a weathered flag that’s by the sea. Can you build my house with pieces? I’m just a chemical.”
I’m sent so much new music each week that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with it all, let alone write about every single, EP or album that enters my inbox or various social media messaging platforms. With that in mind, I’ve decided to try posting a weekly digest containing several new tracks, so that I can feature more artists. For my first such post, I’m including some fantastic new songs by (in alphabetical order) Blue Vines, Oli Barton & the Movement, Tobisonics and Vanity Fear. All four tracks are timely and topical, addressing issues relating to politics, sexual harassment and the pandemic.
“Disavow” by Blue Vines
Blue Vines is the music project of New York City-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nick Gonzalez, who makes innovative indie music with punk-rock elements. In August 2019, he released his wonderful debut EP Fever Dreamy, which I reviewed. He’s just dropped a terrific new single “Disavow” that was inspired by his contempt for Donald Trump and those who enable his unrelenting mendacity and lies – a sentiment I strongly share. With a fervent sense of frustration, Nick laments “Do I need special glasses for your alternate reality, or just adjust my moral compass? Cause it’s this lack of character that knows just how to make me scream. All at once cowardly and pompous.” The track has a bouncy, mid-tempo vibe with some pretty cool jangly guitar work.
“Get Out” by Oli Barton & the Movement
London-based Oli Barton & the Movement are a favorite of this blog; I’ve written about them numerous times since first featuring them in May 2017, and their brilliant songs “Kinky” and “44” both ended up on my 100 Best Songs of 2018 list. The band is headed by singer-songwriter Oli Barton, and includes Ryan Wilson on lead guitar, Jamal Lagoon on rhythm guitar, Marco Paone on Bass, and Josh Needham on drums. With a winning combination of talent, creativity and personality, their eccentric style of alternative rock is a crazy-good mix of post-punk and psychedelia, fortified with touches of funk, grunge and pop.
Their latest single “Get Out” is a deliriously catchy pop-rock song with a decidedly darker message. The song addresses sexual harassment and assault against women within the music industry, and seeks to raise awareness of this issue that Barton and the band feel quite strongly about. All proceeds from streaming during the first month after its release will go to the charity organization Women In Music. “Get Out” is the lead single from their long-awaited forthcoming album pipe dreams, and it’s a fantastic banger with a driving dance beat so irresistible, it’ll have even the most committed wallflower up and moving! I love Barton’s colorful vocals, and he’s in fine form here as he belts out the lyrics urging women to get themselves out of abusive situations. I love it!
“Military Industrial Complex” by Tobisonics
Tobisonics is a longtime alternative electro-pop artist, composer, songwriter and music producer based in Luxembourg. I’ve previously featured him twice on this blog, most recently this past March when I reviewed his single “All These Things”. Now he returns with a powerful new single “Military Industrial Complex“, a politically-charged electronic track featuring important speeches by Presidents Eisenhower and Trump.
Like Blue Vines, Tobisonics was angered by recent actions of President Trump, namely his incendiary Rose Garden speech on June 1st in reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests. Here, he juxtaposes Trump’s speech with Eisenhower’s 1961 Farewell Address warning of the need for perpetual vigilance to safeguard the liberties of the American people against the military industrial complex. Tobisonics explains: “I’d finished the production back in July and was looking for the right artist to add vocals, but then I remembered Eisenhower’s Farewell Address. The contrast between the dignified, nuanced, and hopeful tone of his speech and the macho, antagonistic and fatalistic language of Trump’s speech was so striking, I knew I had to put them together.” The result is an immensely compelling track featuring a dramatic and pulsating groove that magnifies the chilling words contained in the speeches.
“Virus” by Vanity Fear
Vanity Fear is an outstanding cinematic rock band based in Columbus, Georgia that I recently learned about when they followed me on Twitter, and I have to say their music was a revelation at first listen. Drawing on influences ranging from alt rock and metal to pop and hip hop, their music is dramatic, sweeping and harshly beautiful in ways that call to mind such bands as Evanescence, Pink Floyd, Dream Theater and Linkin Park. Vanity Fear was founded in May 2019, and consists of husband and wife Brandon Diaz and Heather Gevonovich, Matt Hardy, Jeff Cobb and Kyle Netherland. In their brief existence, the prolific band has already dropped two full albums Vanity and Fear in 2019, an EP Faith this past June, and several singles, the latest of which is “Virus“. It’s the first single from their forthcoming EP Optophobia, and it’s magnificent. I love this song more with each listen!
The track starts off tentatively, with spooky synths and an arresting drumbeat, then gradually builds into a gorgeous soundscape of glittery synths, haunting piano keys, skittering percussion and sweeping strings. The band has three great vocalists – Heather, Brandon and Matt – each of them contributing their own unique vocal textures to the mix. Heather and Brandon’s vocal harmonies are wonderful, while Matt’s impressive rapping/screaming later in the song adds drama and tension that takes things to a whole new level. The song’s lyrics speak to the uncertainties of life and our feelings of helplessness and vulnerability that have been laid bare by the pandemic: “Everything we thought was right is wrong. Yeah it’s all broken / Everyone’s talking, nobody knows.”
The song at #88 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is the wonderful “Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)” by American baroque pop-rock band Panic! At the Disco. It may be one of their lesser-known hits, but I absolutely love this song. It’s my second-favorite Panic! At the Disco song after “I Write Sins Not Tragedies.”
Released in 2011, it’s from their third album Vices & Virtues, and shockingly, it charted only in Australia! It’s such a euphoric, celebratory song about casting aside self-doubts and negativity that’s holding you back and living life to the fullest. The sweeping and lush, almost whimsical orchestration and Spencer Smith’s explosive power drums, accompanied by Panic! front man Brendon Urie’s delightfully exuberant vocals, make for an electrifying song. It’s a fine example of the band’s theatricality and musical creativity, and just makes me happy to be alive when I hear it! The charming video shows the band re-enacting old musical films such as Grease, Mary Poppins and Singin’ In The Rain. Ever the showman, Urie is too damned charming for his own good!
Singer/songwriter Attalie has one of the most amazing and distinctive vocal styles of any artist I’ve come across. Using her colorfully expressive and soulful voice almost like a musical instrument, she produces exquisite vocal sounds and textures with incredible depth and emotional range. In December 2018, she released her marvelous debut EP Polluted, featuring three excellent songs drawing from soul, jazz, Latin and African music influences, then followed up in April 2019 with a wonderful medley of the three tracks, “Polluted: The Medley“, which I reviewed.
Now Attalie returns with a mesmerizing new single “Homeless“, the lead single from her forthcoming second EP Sigh, due out November 5. The track was co-produced by Attalie and Tshepang Ramoba, and mixed by Kudzie Mutizira. Together, they’ve created a bewitching musical arrangement with soulful piano, guitar and percussion, and highlighted by well-placed flourishes of jazzy trumpet. It’s an utterly captivating backdrop for Attalie’s rich and deeply emotive vocals.
About the song’s meaning, Attalie explains: “‘Homeless’ represents the loss of direction one faces when confronted with an unexpected turn of events. This can disrupt the comfortability associated with one’s space, further accentuating lack of direction.” Her smoky vocals beautifully capture this agonizing sense of loss and aimlessness, practically ripping at our heartstrings as she painfully laments:
It doesn’t feel like home anymore It just doesn’t feel like home anymore
A stranger at home, have I become? A stranger at home, am I? Homeless, have I become, hey? Homeless? Am I? Disconnected, I feel so, disconnected
The song at #89 on my list of 100 Best Songs of the 2010s is “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The first time I heard this song I hated it, but after a couple listens, damn if it didn’t hook me in with it’s irresistible hip hop beat and hilarious lyrics. Now it’s a guilty pleasure! With added vocals by rapper Wanz, Macklemore (born Ben Haggerty) freestyles about saving money by buying cool second hand shit at a thrift shop, rather than overpaying for expensive status symbols like a lot of rappers: “I hit the party and they stop in that motherfucker. They be like, ‘Oh, that Gucci. That’s hella tight.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, that’s fifty dollars for a T-shirt.’ Limited edition, let’s do some simple addition. Fifty dollars for a T-shirt – that’s just some ignorant bitch. Shit. I call that getting swindled and pimped. Shit. I call that getting tricked by a business.”
As indicated in the preceding lyrics, the song is filled with explicit language as well as a couple of rather obscene inferences: “Probably shoulda washed this, smells like R. Kelly’s sheets – Pissss” or when he sings about buying a ‘skeet blanket’, which is slang for a blanket a man uses to jack off into. I think Macklemore gets away with this because of his strong likeability, humor and charisma.
The fourth single from their debut album The Heist, “Thrift Shop” was a massive worldwide hit, reaching #1 not only in the U.S, but also the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. The song was named by Billboard as the #1 song of 2013. The hilarious video, which has been viewed nearly 1.5 billion times, was filmed at several thrift shops in Macklemore’s home town of Seattle.
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 