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| The Paper Kites, OKENYO, Kendrick Lamar + Emily Wurramara! |
#50. PRAY FOR ME
by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar
I'm always ready for a war again
Go down that road again, it's all the same.
Ah, all the films I’m yet to see, all soundtracks I like. I’ll get to the moving images when I stop loving the music so much, which pretty much means never, sorry films. It pretty much wouldn’t be the latter half of this decade without The Weeknd or Kendrik Lamar appearing somewhere in the countdown. In the future they won’t mention these years without mentioning one of these artists, and in years and years to come they’ll be sampled in other songs and the kids will say who was this by and the old people will talk about the way things used to be, and how good films were back in the day and then the kids will be like oy vey, I’m going to listen to The Wknd, pronounced the weekend, because by then we won’t need any e’s in the alphabet anymore. Or something like that. Great song. (Jo Michelmore)
WAKANDA FOREVER! Kendrick Lamar put together an incredible soundtrack for Black Panther aka the highest grossing movie of the year in the United States (beating out the global champ, Avengers: Infinity War). Like an old fashioned superhero team up, Lamar and The Weeknd work their magic on 'Pray For Me', with a fist pumping intro from the latter leading into the former pulling off a verse that features the word fight about a million times. Now that's a heroic feat. (Matt Bond)
#49. LIKE THEY DO ON THE TV
by Kimbra
I'm older now, but I feel my time
Start to begin.
For any younger readers, I’d like to give you a small history lesson and introduce you to the TV. You see, once long before you watched your favourite shows and things in the palm of your hand while lying in bed/on the train/walking the streets (please be aware of your surroundings young and old readers alike), the moving images used to appear on glass fronted boxes, much like the one that appears in Kimbra’s clip. Who is Kimbra you ask kids? She’s an incredibly talented pop singer who appeared on a song that was super popular all over the world about seven years ago, and now she makes excellent pop songs, just like this one, full and bouncy and fun and imaginative. Her audience may be smaller than it was seven years ago, but we’re a very appreciative one. (Jo Michelmore)
#48. FLASHES
by The Paper Kites
Wait, you're gonna feel something
You're gonna feel something, one day.
You know what, dear reader? You are going to feel something one day and that day is today or any day you choose to listen to The Paper Kites because they were born in a field of feels and have chosen to share those feels with you through the feel-y magic of song. 'Flashes' will give you all of the feels and that includes feels you didn't even know you could feel. It's a four minute, emotional rollercoaster of feelings that will have you reflecting on all the good times, the bad times, the sad times and those times that are any combination of the thre. If you'd like to have your heart broken and put back together in the most truly amazing way, let this be the soundtrack to get you through it. (Matt Bond)
#47. NGARRIKWUJEYINAMA
by Emily Wurramara
Ngogudlangwa enena Angalya
(We all belong to this land)
As soulful as it is peaceful, Emily Wurramara's 'Ngarrikwujeyinama' is the most beautiful protest song you're ever going to hear. The lead single from Wurramara's incredible debut album, Milyakburra, is performed entirely in the Anindilyakwa language. In her own words, the song, "talks about how we all come from the sea and how it's our duty to protect and cherish her, and the pain we cause when we don't." Originally written as Wurramara's response to seabed mining on Groote Eylandt (off the coast of the Northern Territory), it stands as a pointed reminder that there is both an impact and cost to the way we treat our environment. 'Ngarrikwujeyinama' transcends language barriers in its beauty to ensure the message is certainly not lost in translation. Absolutely stunning work from one of the country's most stunning young artists. (Matt Bond)
#46. THE MESS WE'RE IN
by The Kite String Tangle
There's beauty in total breakdown
There's life behind each shadow...
So I may have got lost in a PJ Harvey/Thom Yorke time tunnel for a minute there when I first searched for this song, but I’m not going to complain about anyone who takes me to that song of the same name, so thank you TKST. Luckily this version is quite good too, so many layered sounds, so much fullness and a crescendo deserving of a soundtrack to a dramatic scene in a Netflix series, it’s very easy to get lost in the world of Danny Harley. I’ve still not figured out the difference between an album and a mini album, but whatever he likes to call it, I’m happy to listen when the music is this easy to get involved in. (Jo Michelmore)
#45. GET OUT
by Chvrches
I left myself behind
Never knowing what I wanted.
We clearly like all the music that’s appeared in this countdown, but I feel like I should just set the tone for a minute here and let anyone reading know that I love this band and you’re only going to get words that glow about them from me, so get out if you’re not a fan. Well don’t really, but just accept my bias now and we’ll be friends. It’s just so freakin contagious, it only took one listen before I was chanting “get out, get out, get get out of here…” and it only took two listens before I wanted to do that weird arm dancing that the best electronic music causes. Chvrches are a band I go to when I need to get happy/angry/sad/excited and all of the others. And that’s why they’re so freakin good. (Jo Michelmore)
#44. ARMS
by The Paper Kites
What can I give that is all for you?
These arms are all I have.
"But I'll hold you like I do love you." Creating a bittersweet sound is nothing new for The Paper Kites. They've been doing it from the first and I hope they do it until the last, which I'm wanting to be a long, long way off. Because when they can make a song like 'Arms', a song that can be interpreted a hundred way and dissected word by word for the true meaning behind what Sam Bentley is singing, you're never going to want to stop listening. From the nineteen songs released across two albums in 2018, it's hard to pick a favourite, but 'Arms' was the song I came back to the most. Perfectly crafted and performed in every single way. (Matt Bond)
#43. ISO
by OKENYO
Looking for the light, now I found it
I think I'll stay and shout it out loud.
OKENYO showed no signs of slowing down the development of her sound this year, pushing it further and further with the release of The Wave EP. Songs like 'Iso' felt incredibly fresh in the way they blended R'n'B/pop and electronic influences into something addictive, exciting and unlike anything else you would be likely to here out there in the music world right now. The way 'Iso' builds up from a tender mystery into an explosive jam when OKENYO finds that illusive light she's searching for provides one of the finest music experiences of 2018. (Matt Bond)
#42. FIGHTING
by Machine Age
Don't want to be here breaking apart
Until I know what I'm fighting for.
I always love the bedroom production sounds of Machine Age and his ability to experiment with his sound, even though he probably makes his music somewhere much more exciting than his bedroom. Who am I to say how exciting his bedroom is? This has gone somewhere I wasn’t planning to go. Good song. Moving on. (Jo Michelmore)
Brisbane's own Machine Age, the Adrian Mauro-led electronic/indie outfit has been drip-feeding us their musical brilliance at the rate of approximately one song a year since 2015. 'Chivalry', 'Don't Look' and now 'Fighting' have all shown slightly different sides of Machine Age, all have been top notch and all have left us wanting to hear a whole album of songs just like them so... all we want for Christmas is news of a Machine Age album that's coming in 2019. We've been pretty/fairly/sort of good this year so can someone (namely Machine Age) make this happen please? 'Fighting' offers the first big singalong chorus from Machine Age that will have you screaming along to Mauro not wanting to be heeeeeere anymore and we want to be screaming along to more and more from Machine Age real soon. If you get a chance, check out the Unplugged clip too, because that Mauro fella can sing yeah? Yeah. (Matt Bond)
#41. SINK IN
by Amy Shark
That I'm weighed down by your beautiful
Collapsing underneath your perfect.
I probably should have seen that Love, Simon film considering how much I like so many of the songs on the soundtrack, but if I saw all the films that had all the good soundtracks, how would I ever get the time to listen to all the soundtracks? Now answer that riddle for me. Another riddle; how does Amy Shark always make creepy kinda stalky lyrics sound so sweet and relatable? “Everywhere I go I’m reminded of you, like the bed, the bathroom floor the bar downstairs at 2am” I guess it’s because she tells the truths that are so familiar, and yes, sometimes the floor has reminded me of someone which maybe says more about me or that person than the floor itself, but there’s something really creepy about saying that but really engaging about actually admitting that to music. Mix those thoughts in with words about being weighed down by someone’s beautiful and you got that sweet balance of creepy and kind. She does it so well, and that’s a sincere compliment. (Jo Michelmore)
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