The Last 5 Years, #100 - 91

Faves: Phebe Starr, Daft Punk, Chvrches + Mia Dyson!

It's strange to think that It's My Kind of Scene has been around for five years now. Oh, we probably should have started with something like... HEY, IT'S OUR 5th BIRTHDAY TODAY!! But really... it's strange to think that we've been around for five years. Five is quite old for a music blog started on a whim with no clear direction. But here we are, still writing about all the music we love and still loving it... generally with no clear direction and writing whenever we have a spare moment. We might not have as much time to do it as we'd like, but we want to say thank you to all of our lovely readers who have stuck with us from the beginning, those who are joining us for the first time and everyone in the middle. If you're here, you're probably a big music fan too... so hey, high-fives to you! Jo and Matt were thinking of how best to celebrate and there's nothing we love more than a countdown... so we thought we'd take a look back at our Top 100 Songs of the last five years aka the It's My Kind of Scene years. We hope you have as much fun taking a look back into the kinda-recent past as we did. And as always... enjoy!

THE LAST 5 YEARS:

 

#100. THE MOTHER WE SHARE

by Chvrches

And the mother we share will never keep our cold hearts from calling.

I am so glad the 100 songs we have chosen as our faves from the last five years have kicked off with this song, because it means I’m gonna love the song that sits at number one just as much as I love the song that sits here at number 100. Considering Matt and I came up with the list, that’s kind of a given, but that’s a technicality. I actually do remember the first time I heard this song, because I stumbled upon them through another band who’ll appear later in this 100 and those first sounds, as are the first sounds on Chvrches debut album, were as exciting then in 2012 as they are now. I loved everything about all of the beats and synths and voices and very quickly learned to love everything about the band that made them. Seeing them live and dancing, some would say bouncing, for 40 minutes straight, as well as screaming the words to this song at the top of my lungs (which had something to do with my love and something to do with trying to avoid a confrontation with the unusual patron beside me) confirmed my love. I think I’m going to love this countdown too. (Jo Michelmore)

#99. WISE UP

by Ruby Boots

Shut your mouth, you've said too much already now

Think about, what lies ahead if you keep on, keep on going on...

Since we first heard 'Wise Up', we've had a lot of time for Perth's Ruby Boots. The musical project of Bex Chilcott, Ruby Boots has consistently shown that an Australian act can do Americana just as good, if not better, than her stateside counterparts. With a gorgeous vocal performance from Chilcott, lyrics that you can't get out of your head and a killer music video (literally), it's no surprise we're still loving 'Wise Up' just as much today as we did in 2012. The track was our introduction to an act that we've wanted to hear more and more from over the past couple of years and we're lucky enough to get to hear a whole lot more this month, when we get to hear the debut album Solitude... out April 24! (Matt Bond)
  

#98. WON'T CRY OVER YOU

by The Blackwater Fever

'Cause you're colder than the Arctic snow

And it hurts like you'll never know.

Over the last five years one of my favourite things about writing on this blog is some of the awesome artists I have discovered through one way or another by writing words and putting them on the internet. When those artists come from my home town, it’s even better. I’ve been lucky enough to see The Blackwater Fever numerous times over the past five years, and this song, with its driving bass and bluesy guitars was definitely always a live highlight. A little research tells me the three band members have been writing and recording again recently, so here’s hoping we hear a little more from them over the next five years. (Jo Michelmore)

#97. PISTOL

by Mia Dyson

Use this pistol on my heart

Take me out before it starts.

Preemptive heartbreak has never sounded so good. I mean, Mia Dyson wants you to use that pistol on her heart before it even starts. One of Australia's most gifted music makers and storytellers, Dyson broke our hearts and put them back together again just a a few times on her 2012 album, The Moment. 'Pistol' lands firmly in the former category with a bluesy jam that works as a masterclass in how to make a song that's equal parts passion and pain. That pause before the chorus lines still has me holding my breath today. (Matt Bond)

#96. BATTLE IN ME

by Garbage

Let's see which one of us is going to last the night.

I’m going to be completely honest about number 96, which is to say, this isn’t my favourite Garbage song, but it represents a band I have loved for fifteen years longer than this blog has been around, and I know Matt has a small adoration for a lot of their work as well. So much so, we did a Garbage countdown in 2012 and declared our love for twenty of their songs, therefore, it felt right to include this release from what was their fifth album Not Your Kind Of People, in our countdown. Hearing this song again has made me remember why I have liked them so much, because in tracks like this, Shirley is as strong and as alluring as ever and Butch, Duke and Steve pull the whole thing together with stops and starts and sounds just as awesome as they ever were. When Shirley repeats “shake it off” over and over at the end I can’t help but hope they can shake off the cynics that didn’t love their 2012 return and hope they’ll be back for some more Garbage magic, soon. (Jo Michelmore)

#95. BIG JET PLANE

by Angus and Julia Stone

She said, "hello mister, pleased to meet ya."

First things first, the video for 'Big Jet Plane' is perfect. Everything about it was so well done. I was working in retail when I first watched the clip and was like, "girl... I know you're pain." Anyway, I love the video. Almost as much as I love the song, which made Angus and Julia Stone the biggest act in Australian music for their ARIA award winning Down the Way era. It was a Hottest 100 #1. And one of the really good ones, if not a slightly unexpected one. Not in a bad way though. There's a lot of people that describe this type of music as Aussie bore-folk and I really don't get it. When the music is this serene and the words are so well written, I'm never going to find it boring. And I'm happy to report a whole bunch of people feel the same way, if the continued success of the Stone siblings is anything to go by. (Matt Bond)

#94. GET LUCKY

by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams

We've come too far to give up who we are

So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars.

Ah Daft Punk, those crazy helmet wearing Frenchmen. I saw them on the internets the other day hanging out with Jay-Z and his buddies to launch Tidal, and while that music streaming service is a whole other conversation, I couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the two helmets shaking hands and attempting to talk about the importance of streaming music online. Do you think they screamed their opinions through the helmets at Chris Martin? Here’s hoping they head-butted him….I digress. This song, co-written with disco legend Nile Rodgers, screams everything disco did; funk, soul, pop, a heap of bass and a whole lot of 70s dance moves. It’s no wonder it sat at number 2 in our top 113 songs of 2013, because there’s something so catchy about that bass and still something that makes me want to move whenever I hear those robotic voices talking about getting lucky. Yes. (Jo Michelmore)

#93. MOMMA'S PLACE

by Roisin Murphy

So you think you know it all

But that's just the arrogance of youth.

How can you listen to this and not want to dance? Or jump around, waving your hands in the air 'like you just don't care' style. When it came out (or was leaked, whatever) all the way back in January 2010, it seemed like the electronic music world would be Murphy's for the taking. But then we never really got a follow-up and Murphy would disappear from the mainstream (?) until her reemergence at the start of this year. It was a shame, because 'Momma's Place' was flat out fantastic and left fans wanting so much more. Maybe it was so good that a five year break was in order to truly appreciate it's awesomeness. Jokes, you can't help but appreciate it's awesomeness straight away. "You think you invented being bad?" Nay. That was all Roisin. (Matt Bond)

#92. ALONE WITH YOU

by Phebe Starr

And your whispers they gently show me I belong next to you.

I will love this song forever. While I may not listen to it on repeat all day everyday, like I did in 2012, I still come back to 'Alone With You' every couple of months for a quick reminder of just how much I love it. Sometimes it will just show up in my head and I've got to listen to it ASAP. Those are always good times and there aren't a lot of songs I can write something like that about, so it really is easy to say I will love this song forever. And I have Phebe Starr to thank for that, one of It's My Kind of Scene's favourite acts. (Matt Bond)

#91. SAY YOU LOVE ME

by Jessie Ware

'Cause I don't wanna fall in love if you don't wanna try

But all that I've been thinking of is maybe that you might.

There’s not much that Jessie Ware can do that I don’t love. Let me re-phrase that. I’m yet to know of anything Jessie Ware has done that I don’t love. When she started this song with the words “say you love me, to my face” it was obvious it was a song I was going to adore. Matt called it the love ballad of the year in our end of year countdown in 2014 and he was probably right. The desperation in Jessie’s voice is indefinable, indescribable and so very heartbreaking. These are all things that should be included in every good ballad. ‘Say You Love Me’ has all of those things AND a choir, so that’s it then, I’ll say I STILL love you Jessie Ware, six months later and I probably will for a long time yet. (Jo Michelmore)


Stick around... we'll be back with more of our favourite tracks from the past five years throughout April!