Leading up to Xmas, music gets gradually more and more tedious and novelty, but there are still a few gems to be found from the past 30 days, including one that I am not proud of...
10.
"One Thing"
One Direction
I am so sorry. I am. I just can't help but think that 1D (oh lord, I've started abbreviation-endearment) aren't all that bad. Yes, they are all young and pretty and we should automatically hate them for this, and their first single had the hilarious hair-flip-overwhelmment lyric (obviously not written by someone who boasts English as first language), and their second single was limp-beyond-limp, this third release from their record is actually quite a charming piece of old school boyband audio-memorabilia.
9.
"Shake"
Little Boots
Hardly a mind-blowing comeback, more of a 'house DJ feat. Little Boots' but the coy, back to basics funky house of "Shake" is guaranteed to make Little Boots a hit on the dancefloor once more, perhaps more than ever.
8.
"Power of Persuasion"
Oneohtrix Point Never
Not the biggest fan of glitch music here, but the dizzy piano sampling of "Power of Persuasion" is downright gorgeous.
Oneohtrix point never - Power of Persuasion
7.
"Comin' Closer"
Korallreven
On an album where a track as jawdroppingly good as "Honey Mine" features, it's impressive for any other track to make an impact, so the shimmering 90s dance chords and triumphant bass of "Comin' Closer" do well to stand out alongside.
6.
"Anyway"
Cee Lo Green
Shameless Christmas re-issuing going on here with Cee Lo Green's 'Platinum' (what a load of bollocks) edition of his record "The Ladykiller" featuring only one extra track, but it has to be said that said track, "Anyway", is the most uplifting, somewhat silly track that Cee Lo has produced to date. Whilst obviously not matching the heights of modern classic "Fuck You", it does well to merge his tongue-in-cheek soul- pop with dancefloor beats, and it's as handbag a house track as you could have hoped for in 2006.
5.
"See Blind Through"
Canyons
Whilst most of Canyon's "Keep Your Dreams" record resembles a lazy, guitar-fond Metronomy, "See Blind Through" stands out a mile with it's fondness for Hercules & Love Affair style 90s house revival, and the band do it with surprising authenticity.
4.
"Te Amo"
Atlas Sound
The Deerhunter frontman's "Parallax" record meanders a lot through dazy beauty and daydream lyrics, but never so wonderously as on "Te Amo", in which Atlas Sound, otherwise known as Bradford Cox, gleefully cries "we'll go to sleep, and we'll have the same dream" as guitar and synth arpeggios form clouds of blissful sound to envelop and carry his delirious tones away. It's literally that lovely.
3.
"City Boy"
Donkeyboy
Oh how I've missed Donkeyboy. "City Boy" is more un-ashamedly 80s and Pet Shop Boys cheese than ever, but as a result, it encourages an onslaught of the replay button (although who has one of those these days) more than ever.
2.
"Over My Dead Body"
Drake
The gorgeous female vocal and piano part of this track is enough to warrant its placing this month, but Drake's opener to his remarkably emotional (for a rap record) "Take Care" album, features some of the most honest adjusting-to-fame lyrics heard from a superstar, and not in a self-indulgent, self-pitying Eminem or Tyler manner, but in a fearful way, an emotion that one imagines many stars feel, but very few admit to. "I was drinking at the Palms last night, and ended up losing everything that I came with..." See? They're just like us.
1.
"Marvin's Room"
Drake
"I'm just sayin' you can do better". If "OMDB" let loose Drake's insecurities about his fame, "Marvin's Room" at first seems to be his ode to love and fame, and how the two suit each other. But for all the lines about groupies and spending all his money drinking, you realise this is just a regular old drunk dial to an ex. "Fuck that n*gga that you love so much" he drawls drunkenly, and the woozy trip hop backing courtesy of producer 40 suits the mood perfectly. It's a surprisingly touching track about hitting rock bottom, whether famous and rich or broke and nobody, and one that only someone as talented and honest as Drake could've really expressed.
JoJo's response "Can't Do Better" is quite entertaining too.
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