Walking home after picking Sol up from school today, he said “You like writing about music and I want to review more songs!”, so I have decided to do a post of honourable mentions for last year. Some songs I listen to a lot but they don’t get counted as they only exist in my VLC player, because they’re mp3s I have saved from YouTube or such. Also on the way home, Sol quizzed me about which veg I liked, and also told me he likes kazoos. Let’s get on with it.

First up is Mitch Murder and Palmer’s Arcade.

I really love this guys work and this is my fave so far. Chilled out, pleasant, and with samples of talking over the top, it’s truly great. Not sure what the talking is from yet, I’ll maybe try and get an answer on that one day.

Sol says “I like the beat”. I told him he couldn’t just like the beat of every single song. “There’s not enough singing” he added. 5/10.

Next we have Rainey Haynes and Old Enough To Rock And Roll.

I first fell in love with this song in about 1988 when Iron Eagle came out on video and I heard it for the first time. It soundtracks the scene where they run the snake. If you don’t know what running the snake is, you’re not cool. Go home, you loser. I always use it when I can for soundtracking racing games I play. It’s very much on my “Stuff The Stig Would Listen To” mental playlist.

Sol says 2/10. “I don’t like this”. I asked him why, he said “I don’t know”.

Next up is Ukiyo with My Eyes.

I really like this style of music and this is the first of a few tracks of a similar ilk we’re about to talk about. Modern techniques meet old sounding music. It’s clever. I use this sort of thing for background music. I often have something on like this when I’m not paying attention to what I’m listening to.

Sol says… He didn’t speak and just shrugged his shoulders.

Onto Futurejames and Life Could Be A Dream.

Here’s another of what we were just talking about. A solid go to for me when I want something easy on that can help me feel motivated but I can kind of ignore.

Sol says… He didn’t speak and just put his thumb down.

Next is Dyalla Swain with Mine.

I’ve spoken about these songs before, I’m aware. This is the last of the songs in this style that made my honourable mentions list.

Sol says… “wasn’t that the same song”. No. “Was it by the same person”. No. Shook his head again.

Next up we have Nothing But Thieves and their cover of What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out?

This is one of the best covers anyone has ever done. We’re not gonna focus on that though, instead we’re going to focus on how shit Australia is at naming shit. This is taken from a feature on Triple J radio that is essentially just a lift of Radio 1’s Live Lounge, where people come on, play some live stuff and then cover another artists song. They went with “Like A Version”. *sigh*. Countdown in Australia is called Letters and Numbers. Get it together, lads!

Sol says… “I don’t want to do this anymore!”

Ed Sheeran next with his live solo recording of You Need Me, I Don’t Need You.

Say what you want about Ed Sheeran, this is brilliant.

Sol says… “I’m not reacting!”.

Next is Coyote Shivers and Sugarhigh.

Taken from the soundtrack for Empire Records this has long been a fave of mine. The only thing better than this, is the version they used in the film which had Renee Zellerweggerlegs singing on it. Amazing, right, that improved it!

Sol says… “I’M NOT…” he shouted and then made a face like he was going to cry.