Goodbye 2016, hello 2017! What a year. A truly shitty year I might add. But you know, even in the most crappiest of times, one still has music to forget one’s reality for a while.
The beginning of December was a very stressful time for me, especially with school because my teachers tend to cram in a lot of exams and tests just before Christmas. So you can imagine how anti – “christmas spirit” I was this year. Don’t expect any cheery Christmas songs in this post or ever for that matter because those songs bore the hell out of me. Sorry 😉
PICKS OF THE MONTH:
FAVOURITE ARTIST + ABSOLUTE MONTHLY FAVOURITE
PICK OF THE MONTH:
I have been a fan of The Weeknd for a few years now, but let me tell you, the STARBOY album killed me in every right way. My favourite song by far is Stargirl Interlude.
Lana Del Rey is another artist I absolutely love, so seeing another collaboration was a dream come true for me. It has a very majestic feel to it, something outer worldly, something very timeless. As far as I know, you can only listen to it on Spotify or iTunes – platforms like Youtube will only have versions with the pitch changed. Definitely check the album out if you haven’t already; two other favourites of mine are Starboy and Party Monster.
MUSIC WITH A MESSAGE PICK OF THE MONTH:
We The People…. is a driving song about inequality, tolerance and fear. The song was released after Donald Trump stated that he would like to build a wall between the US and Mexico. Then came Trumps idea to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. All of these things must have troubled the Tribe greatly when they sat down to write this song. Tribe is a political rap group from New York and this is their last album.
To me, THIS is how rap should be done. It’s not always enough to rap with a catchy beat but with crappy lyrics. A message behind a song is so much more powerful and is something that modern day rappers should try to achieve. I believe music can inspire a whole generation and We The People is about a topic that we will hear a lot about in the future. Q-Tip is a legend just by himself and I miss Phife so much 😦 Dear rappers: Tribe had it right. Take an example and stop rapping about dumb-ass shit.
TOO GOOD NOT TO MENTION PICKS OF THE MONTH:
FAVOURITE BAND OF THE MONTH:
I found Rainbow Kitten Surprise randomly when I was browsing through Spotify and immediately fell in love with their song Wasted. Their songs are very upbeat and have catchy tunes. Very easy breezy, but still meaningful.
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PICK OF THE MONTH:
For this category I’m not going to limit my pick to one song, but rather a whole album because I love it so much and i couldn’t choose which song to feature.
Peach is Culture Abuse’s new album and let me tell you, it’s good. It’s better than good actually. I have danced to these tracks countless times and all of the tracks are very energetic, grungy, punky and just great to have fun with.
OLD BUT GOLD PICK OF THE MONTH:
I love me some Queen.
BEST VOICE OF THE MONTH:
I first stumbled upon Allan Rayman back in Spring, when I first heard Lucy The Tease; a song I have been listening to a lot again recently. His voice is very unique and strong. I have never really heard anything quite like it. This December I listened to three of his songs on repeat:
UNDERRATED ARTIST PICK OF THE MONTH:
Netherfriends is a man by the name of Shawn Rosenblatt. I discovered him by accident really, I clicked a wrong button and somehow ended up on his Spotify profile. I scrolled through his albums and let me tell you: WOW. This man releases albums like seahorses give birth (if you have never seen a see horse give birth, google it – it’s hilarious). I pretty much listened to all of his albums and was hooked. They’re actually really funny; the titles, the album names/”themes”. Definitely check him out because I think that his music is great. He also collaborates a lot with a man called Blake Rules, who is also someone to look out for. Here are just a few of the songs I’ve really been jamming out to:
Definitely check out his Spotify or this site to get an overview of his albums and music:
https://netherfriends.bandcamp.com
NEW ALBUM RELEASE PICK OF THE MONTH:
Who would I be if I didn’t mention the legendary J.Cole, one of my favourite artists out there? I was counting down the days for his new album, 4 Your Eyez Only, to drop and DAAAAAMN I wasn’t disappointed.
I love every.single.song.
RANDOM PICK OF THE MONTH:
Black Bear was recommended to me by Spotify in my “Discover Weekly” playlist so I gave it a listen and for some reason I immediately took to this song. This isn’t something I would normally listen to, it’s a little strange and kind of reminds me of a children’s song I used to listen to a lot as a kid. I don’t know how to even justify my liking this song, all I know is that I love to listen to it when I’m sitting in the car or when I’m going out for a walk. It has a catchy tune that stays with you after you’ve listened to it.
And because I can, here are other random picks I’ve been listening to this month:
Anyone watch 2 Broke Girls? Second Chance is a song they use in the series all the time! I didn’t know that but when I listened to it for the first time I was like “HEEEEEYYYYY I KNOW YOU!”
That's it with this Monthly Music. If you want to discover more tracks, just browse through the music section on this blog, or visit my Spotify account!
Say hi on Spotify: @imfionajessop
Check out my last Monthly Music post: Monthly Music: November Favourites
Monthly Music Question: Who's the most underrated artist you know?
Sticky Situation 
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