BarryGruff Albums of the Year (2015)

BGs Albums of the year 2015So it is that time of year again, lists, lists and more lists. Well, not be out done, here are my 41 (yes 41, and yes it’s a weird number) albums of 2015.

It has been such a good year for new albums, probably the best since I started the blog back in 2010. So much so that there is very little difference between the top 5, top 10, top 15 and so on. So without further ado, here are my favourite records from 2015:

There is also a Spotify playlist of the Top 20 albums, to save you time and hassle (it’s here).

41. Only Real – Jerk At The End of the Line’

40. Rozi Plain – ‘Friend’

39. Wildling – ‘Molecules To Moon’

38. The School – ‘Wasting Away And Wondering’

37. Sweet Baboo – ‘Boombox Ballads’

36. The Stammer – ‘Days In Between’

35. SexWitch – Sex Witch’

34. Faith Healer – ‘Cosmic Troubles’

33. Girl Band – ‘Holding Hands With Jamie’

32. Joanna Gruesome – ‘Peanut Butter’

31. Fort Romeau – ‘Insides

30. Soft Serve – ‘S/t’

29. Applescal – ‘For’

28. Zefur Wolves – ‘Zefur Wolves’

27. Hot Chip – ‘Why Make Sense?’

26. Drenge – ‘Undertow’

25. The Charlatans – ‘Modern Nature’

24. Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’

23. Bill Ryder-Jones – ‘West Kirby County Primary’

22. Drinks – ‘Hermits on Holiday’

21. The Expert – Dynamic Drift

20. Boxed In – ‘Boxed In’

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Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #5

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Delighted to once again to share a brand new episode of ‘Millions Like Us’, a music podcast with myself & Justin Beats, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

A bi-weekly digest of music from metro Vancouver and beyond, the fifth installment has the usual chatter and top tunes, comprised from an eclectic mix of styles and genres. There’s also a chance of winning tickets to see the excellent Joanna Gruesome, in The Cobalt, Vancouver on November 15th – tune into the show and then email your name to millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com – winners be notified before 5pm, Friday, November 13th.

That’s about that then, we hope you enjoy episode #5. You can read more on it here and listen to episode #5 below, and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump. You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find them on Facebook & Twitter.

Hopefully you enjoy our curated pickings, here’s to good listening.

Episode #5:
Unalaska – ‘Air Transylvania’
Kyross – ‘Fragments’
Queen of Jeans – ‘Dance (Get Off Your Ass)’
Big Harp – ‘Diev’
The Statics – ‘Fake Sorrow’
Soft Serve – ‘Better Off When You’re Gone’
Hippies Vs Ghosts – ‘Three Shadows’
Joanna Gruesome – ‘Psykick Espionage’
White Poppy – ‘Sublimity Form Natural Phenomena’
Avid Walker – ‘Who’s Your Lover’
Soft Haze – ‘Love Song’
Super Furry Animals – ‘Slow Life

 

 

BarryGruff’s Albums of 2015 So Far……

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I’m not exactly the best at keeping you and the site up-to-date with album reviews, to be honest, it’s the old enemy time. Discovering the hours to scribble some thoughts about this album or that has become rather elusive, but thankfully finding time to listen to albums, and music in general, is less of an issue.

Here are a list of my most listened and loved records of 2015 so far with Spotify links and playlists for overall albums of 2015. There are plenty of playlists on Spotify and Soundcloud and on the blog too. Oh, and with regards to albums *cough, cough*, you can still download GruffWuff, a 19 track compilation celebrating 5 years of BarryGruff, for FREE from bandcamp, *cough, cough*.

Top 24 albums of 2015 so far…

01. Czarface – ‘Every Hero Needs A Villain’

02. H. Hawkline – ‘In The Pink Of Condition’

03. Villagers – ‘Darling Arithmetic

04. Blur – ‘The Magic Whip’

05. Ghost Culture – ‘Ghost Culture’

06. Boxed In – ‘Boxed In’

07. Django Django – ‘Born Under Saturn’

08. Girlpool – ‘Before The World Was Big’

09. Stealing Sheep – ‘Not Real’

10. The Charlatans – ‘Modern Nature’

11. Courtney Barnett – ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’

12. Gaz Coombes – ‘Matador’

13. Hot Chip – ‘Why Make Sense?’

14. Applescal – ‘For’

15. Public Service Broadcasting – ‘The Race For Space’

16. Jamie xx – ‘In Colour’

17. Sen Segur – ‘Films’

18. Zefur Wolves – ‘Zefur Wolves’

19. Faith Healer – ‘Cosmic Troubles’

20. Mowbird – ‘One-Offs’

21. Joanna Gruesome – ‘Peanut Butter’

22. Fort Romeau – ‘Insides’

23. Rozi Plain – ‘Friend’

24. Pale Honey – ‘Pale Honey’

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BarryGruff’s Playlist February 2015

BarryGruff Feb Playlist 2015

A new monthly feature to the blog, a nice, neat and handy playlist of tracks featured during the month.

It was a pretty good month to be fair. There was the return of Joanna Gruesome, Novella, Coves and Akala, with new tracks ahead of their respective albums, and new singles from Du Blonde, Foreign/National, Freedom Fry & Rozi Plain. Not to forget the huge news of a new album from Blur and last but not least, the return of Super Furry Animals. Also featuring on the playlist are: Public Service Broadcasting, TRWBADOR, The Courtneys, SALES, The Earth & Benihana.

Listen to BarryGruff’s February 2015 playlist below. The full track listing is after the jump.

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Joanna Gruesome – ‘Last Year’ + New Album Announced

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Cardiff garage-punk rockers Joanna Gruesome have unveiled ‘Last Year’ as the scorching lead single from their forthcoming new album Peanut Butter, the follow-up to their superb 2013 debut Weird Sister.

‘Last Year’ opens with a blistering burst of coiled up, highly charged punk-rock before the yelps and hard-charged riffs give way to the beautifully hazy noise pop halfway through. It’s aggressive, angry and sweetly melodic simultaneously; trademark Joanna Gruesome if you will but with a tad more control or focus. This is a dizzying display of what makes this Welsh five-piece so fantastic and why the new record is such an exciting proposition. The new album also includes the excellent Psykick Espionage, which featured on a split release with Perfect Pussy last year.

While we have a bit of time to wait until Peanut Butter is released, you can stream ‘Last Year’ below now. The album is out in the UK on May 11th through Fortuna Pop! Turnstile and on June 2nd in North America via Slumberland).

Joanna Gruesome – ‘Psykick Espionage’

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This autumn, Welsh garage-punk rockers Joanna Gruesome are teaming up with Perfect Pussy for a special split 7”, which brings forth a combo of previously unheard tracks and covers.

‘Psykick Espionage’ captures the sheer brilliance of the Cardiff 5-piece’s noisy, distorted garage/punk in just over two minutes. It is a short, sharp blast of youthful exuberance, as they pound through violently at break-neck speed. Where the true joy of this lies, and Joanna Gruesome in general, is that they can seamlessly flit between ferocity and harmoniousness, never skimping on the melody or a catchy hook to eek out the sweet spot between disorder and harmony. It is yet another infectious, invigorating and exciting release from Joanna Gruesome, and a word to the wise, you should definitely check out their 2013 debut, Weird Sister. Back to the split, it is released via Slumberland/Captured Tracks/Fortuna Pop, comes alongside a comic book, designed by Phil McAndrew (brother of Perfect Pussy guitarist Ray McAndrew, in celebration of the two band’s joint tour hits the States this August, the dates are here.

You can check out both ‘Psykick Espionage’ and Perfect Pussy’s cover of The Sugarcubes’ ‘Leash Called Love’, below.

Phoenix 48 Radiothon: 2 Hours w/ BarryGruff + The Boozey Swine

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A few weeks back, myself and The Boozey Swine, sandwich maker to the stars, took to the airwaves as part of Phoenix FM‘s 48 hour Radiothon.

The Radiothon was to raise funds for the station and to support the continued work it does in the Dublin 15 community, and it was an absolute pleasure to be part of. It was pretty nerve racking but after Boozey said a few prayers to the patron saint of radio, Larry Gogan, we we’re on our way and it was loads of fun. Sure what’s more enjoyable than taking over a studio to play loads of your favourite music? You can listen to the full two hour show in all it’s glory below and the tracklist is after the jump. We’d quite like to do something similar in the future but we shall see, maybe those prayers Boozey was rattling off will come through for us.

Before that, a massive thanks to Boozey for being part of the show, and everyone who donated a few quid and all the sound people at Phoenix FM, we thank you. Enjoy!

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