THE SOUND OF 2016 : 1-25

And here we are, what you’ve been waiting for, to find out the best song of 2016. Not long to go until it is revealed. Are you ready? Are you ready?

Oh ok, I’ll shut up, here’s the Top 25.

1. The Strumbellas – Spirits
2. James – Nothing But Love
3. Iggy Pop – Gardenia
4. The Courteeners – No One Will Ever Replace Us
5. Christine and the Queens – Tilted
6. The Temper Trap – Fall Together
7. Chvrches ft Hayley Williams – Bury It
8. Clean Cut Kid – We Used To Be In Love
9. Sia – The Greatest
10. Oasis – D’You Know What I Mean? (NG’s 2016 Rethink)
11. Travis – Animals
12. Stone Roses – All For One
13. Bastille – Good Grief
14. Travis – Magnificent Time
15. Aurora – Conquerer
16. Biffy Clyro – Howl
17. Bastille – Send Them Off
18. The Lumineers – Ophelia
19. Grimes – California
20. Travis – 3 Miles High
21. Two Door Cinema Club – Are We Ready? (Wreck)
22. Blossoms – Getaway
23. KT Tunstall – Maybe It’s A Good Thing
24. Rose Elinor Dougall – Stellular
25. Clean Cut Kid – Make Believe

Thank you for your support over the past year and I’ll hope to bring you more Friday Fives and pointless themed charts throughout 2017.

Congratulations to The Strumbellas, who join Kasabian, Feist, Sons and Daughters, Little Boots, Marina and the Diamonds, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Taylor Swift, Haim, Jamie T and Blossoms in the Hall Of Fame.

Hopefully, over the past four weeks, i’ve helped you discover some songs you’ve never heard before.

If you haven’t heard the winning song, here it is ……

Want to get excited for music in 2017? Here’s four words for you – Liam. Gallagher. Solo. Album.

THE SOUND OF 2016 : 76-100

Well, 2016 is almost over and what a year of music it has been. Bowie died, Prince died, and Phil Collins announced a comeback. It hasn’t been all bad. There were some songs I liked, and I’ve put them into a chart.

There’s nothing scientific to it, I just cut and pasted Friday Fives and spent half an hour trying to put them into an order based on what I liked the most over the past year.

You may notice a few rerecordings and previously unreleased versions of songs that have already been released. Well, my chart, my rules.

So, who will join the list of previous winners? You’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out.

2006-2009 were done on Bebo, so the articles are sadly gone, but you can click on the links to previous countdowns. There are a few former winners in this year’s chart.

2015 Blossoms – Charlemagne
2014 Jamie T – Zombie
2013 Haim – The Wire
2012 Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
2011 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – AKA …… What A Life
2010 Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1, 2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabian – Empire

76. Wyvern Lingo – Letter To Willow
77. DNCE – Cake By The Ocean
78. Tegan and Sara – Faint Of Heart
79. Bruno Mars – 24k Magic
80. Frank Turner – Mittens
81. David Bowie – Killing A Little Time
82. Garbage – Empty
83. James – Dear John
84. Primal Scream and Sky Ferreira – When The Light Comes In
85. Travis – Everything At Once
86. Manic Street Preachers – Together Stronger
87. Laura Tesoro – What’s The Pressure?
88. Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz – Midnight Gold
89. Sergey Lazarev – You Are The Only One
90. KT Tunstall – Evil Eye
91. Tove Lo – True Disaster
92. Kings Of Leon – Waste A Moment
93. The Divine Comedy – How Can You Leave Me On My Own?
94. Bear’s Den – Dew On The Vine
95. Richard Ashcroft – Hold On
96. Izzy Bizu & the BBC Orchestra – La Foule
97. Travis – What Will Come
98. Madness – Herbert
99. Primal Scream – Mantra For A State Of Mind
100. Madness – Can’t Touch Us Now

THE SOUND OF 2015 : 1-25

So here we go, what you’ve been waiting for …….. The Top 25 songs of 2015. Enjoy.

1. Blossoms – Charlemagne
2. The Strypes – Get Into It
3. Chvrches – Leave A Trace
4. Muse – Revolt
5. Chemical Brothers – Go
6. Muse – Mercy
7. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Ballad Of The Mighty I
8. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
9. Florence and the Machine – Queen Of Peace
10. Everything Everything – Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread
11. Calvin Harris ft Haim – Pray To God
12. Mumford and Sons – The Wolf
13. The 1975 – Love Me
14. Little Mix – Black Magic
15. Taylor Swift – Style
16. Mini Mansions – Death Is A Girl
17. Florence and the Machine – Ship To Wreck
18. Muse – Dead Inside
19. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats – SOB
20. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – You Know We Can’t Go Back
21. FFS – Piss Off
22. John Newman – Come And Get It
23. Everything Everything – Regret
24. Soak – Sea Creatures
25. Paul Weller – Saturn’s Pattern

So, congratulations to Blossoms. I bet they didn’t think that supporting Paul Weller and The Charlatans on tour could be topped, but it has.

If you haven’t heard the song before, here you go …..

They join an illustrious list of winners. Sadly, Bebo has wiped their archive, so I can’t link you 2006-2008.

THE SOUND OF …… PAST WINNERS

2014 Jamie T – Zombie
2013 Haim – The Wire
2012 Taylor Swift – We Are Never Getting Back Together
2011 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – AKA …. What A Life
2010 Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1,2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabian – Empire

THE SOUND OF 2015 : 76-100

So, it’s that time of year to look back at the twelve months just past, and this blog is no different.

Totally unscientific and totally guesswork, time to present to you the Top 100 Songs Of 2015, to see who will join Kasabian, Feist, Sons and Daughters, Little Boots, Marina and the Diamonds, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Taylor Swift, Haim and Jamie T on the honours list.

Spoiler alert. There are four former winners in the Top 100, and there are two acts who appear on it who also have a cover of one of their songs in the countdown.

I’ll let you guess them, and the winner. Here’s the first 25 to get you going. Another 25 will appear every Thursday for the next three weeks.

76. Hidden Cities ft Tim Halperin – Hungry Like The Wolf
77. The Libertines – Gunga Din
78. Coasts – Modern Love
79. The Charlatans – Come Home Baby
80. Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance
81. Mans Zelmerlow – Heroes
82. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Lock All The Doors
83. The Vaccines – Give Me A Sign
84. Marina and the Diamonds – Blue
85. Bear’s Den – Agape
86. Gun – Every 1’s A Winner
87. Years and Years – Desire
88. Muse – Lies
89. Olly Murs – Kiss Me
90. Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You
91. Miguel – Waves
92. Seasick Steve – Summertime Boy
93. Jason Derulo – Want To Want Me
94. The Courteeners – Has The Told You That He Loves You Yet
95. The Maccabees – Marks To Prove It
96. James Taylor – Montana
97. Coldplay – Adventure Of A Lifetime
98. Brandon Flowers – I Can Change
99. The Charlatans – Let The Good Times Be Never Ending
100. Years and Years – Shine

THE SOUND OF 2012 : 76-100

It’s December, which can only mean one thing …… time to look back at the year just past. As is tradition on this blog, the best 100 songs of the year, in a four part series over the next three Thursdays, and then on Christmas Eve.

If you need a refresher, the list of former winners are :

2011 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – AKA …… What A Life.
2010 Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1, 2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabien – Empire

Curiously, four of the last five winners have been solo artists.

Anyway, less chat, more chart. Here’s the first 25.

76. The Killers – Miss Atomic Bomb
77. Newton Faulkner – Write It On Your Skin
78. Rudimental – Not Giving In
79. Ladyhawke – Sunday Drive
80. Devlin ft Ed Sheeran – Watchtower
81. Katie Melua – Moonshine
82. Rita Ora – How We Do
83. Stooshe – Waterfalls
84. Stereophonics – In A Moment
85. Girls Aloud – Beautiful Because You Love Me
86. Lana Del Ray – Born To Die
87. Chiddy Bang – Ray Charles
88. Little Mix – DNA
89. Sleigh Bells – Comeback Kid
90. Ben Howard – Only Love
91. Paul Weller – Dragonfly
92. Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Brendan’s Death Song
93. Jake Bugg – Two Fingers
94. Everything Everything – Cough Cough
95. Maroon 5 – Payphone
96. Marina and the Diamonds – Primadonna
97. Ed Sheeran – Small Bump
98. Naughty Boy ft Emeli Sande – Wonder
99. Josh Osho – Redemption Days
100. Foster The People – Don’t Stop

Sound Of 2011

Sound Of 2010

Sound Of 2009

Sound Of 2008

Sound Of 2007

Sound Of 2006

THE SOUND OF 2011 : 81-100

So, here it is, that time of year when we look back at the year just past.

Every Thursday night between now and December 22nd, i’m going to give you the definitive list of the 100 Best Songs Of 2011. This week is 81-100

Why Thursday I hear you ask? Well, when I blogged on Bebo, Thursaday was the day I posted my Top 5 songs that week, so I might as well keep it going on WordPress, even though I now blog my Top 5 songs of the week on a Friday morning, purely because ‘The Friday Five’ sounds better than ‘The Thursday Five’

For those needing a refresher, the previous winners are

2010 Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1, 2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabien – Empire

So, who will win in 2011?

He’s 81-100

81. Adele – Set Fire To The Rain
82. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Stranded On The Wrong Beach
83. Two Door Cinema Club – Undercover Martyn
84. Ed Sheeran – Lego House
85. Beady Eye – Four Letter Word
86. Noah and the Whale – Life Is Life
87. Take That – Kidz
88. Yasmin – Finish Line
89. Noah and the Whale – Tonight’s The Kind Of Night
90. Rihanna – We Found Love
91. The Kooks – Is It Me?
92. Nikki Minaj ft Rihanna – Fly
93. Arctic Monkeys – The Hellcat Spangled Shalala
94. Talay Riley – Make You Mine
95. Calvin Harris ft Kelis – Bounce
96. Marina and the Diamonds – Radioactive
97. Rizzle Kicks – Down With The Trumpets
98. White Lies – Better Than Us
99. Hard-Fi – Good For Nothing
100. Nikki Minaj : Supperbass

Sound Of 2010

Sound Of 2009

Sound Of 2008

Sound Of 2007

Sound Of 2006

SOUND OF 2010 : 81-100

With 2010 coming to an end, it’s time for those tedious end of the year lists, and this blog is no different.

When I hosted a blog on Bebo, I used to post a weekly Top 5 of the songs I was listening to that week, and then at the end of the year, drip feed a Top 100 of the year just past.

I’m going to drip feed 20 songs each week between now and December 23rd, each Thursday night.

Why Thursday?

Well, that was the night I always upadted my blog on Bebo.

I don’t know how or why it became Thursday night, it just did, so I thought i’d just keep that little tradition going.

I always seemed to notice that when I posted my Top 5, one of the videos would end up in somebody’s flashbox. Hopefully, over the next five weeks, you will be introduced to some new songs you won’t have heard, and will come to love.

Previous ‘Sound Of’ winners are : Kasabien (2006) Fiest (2007) Sons and Daughters (2008) and Little Boots (2009)

And now rules. Lady Ga Ga fans might be in for a bit of a shock with no ‘Alejandro’, because it featured in last year’s chart.

Jona Lewie will feature because it’s a re-recording. But apart from that – my chart, my rules.

Sound Of 2006

Sound Of 2007

Sound Of 2008

Sound Of 2009

81. Robyn – Hang With Me
82. Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
83. Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill
84. Vampire Weekend – Holiday
85. Kid British – Winner
86. Uber Glitterati – Armour
87. Diana Vickers – Once
88. The Wanted – Heart Remedy
89. Jason Derulo – In My Head
90. Daisy Dares You ft Chipmunk – Number One Enemy
91. Ellie Goulding – Your Song
92. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Bittersweet
93. Eliza Doolittle – Rollerblades
94. Jason De Rulo – What If
95. Eminem ft Rihanna – Love The Way You Lie
96. Cheryl Cole – Parachute
97. B.O.B ft Rivers Cuomo – Magic
98. Alphabeat – DJ
99. Arcade Fire – Ready To Start
100. N.E.R.D – Hot n Fun