A Best of 2015 on The Moon

It has not been a great year politically, nationally or internationally and a poor year for sport in the UK, bar the Murray brothers and another home Ashes triumph. However, it has been a great year for music, and we are also living through a golden age for film and TV, and all of it provides great escapism from the realities of life.

And so A Best of 2015 is 88 tracks from 87 artists, which trumps the 81 artists from 2014. As with last year, we start with Part 2, and it follows on with Part 1, first published in the summer. Part 2 is as diverse as ever, the first part is particularly poptastic, but then it gets a bit more rock n' roll, psychedelic, Copian and epic, before ending with a great slice of "alternative hip hop".

As ever, thanks must go to the God Is In The TV, The VPME, The Finest Kiss and the AV Club Music blogs, along with BBC 6Music and Uncut Magazine.

Below the playlist is the usual extra info/musings on each track/artist.

Check it out via Spotify below, or on Deezer (Sadly minus The Unthanks)

Part 2

1. Wilco - Where do I Begin? 

The Blur album was a great and unexpected pleasure, but this was even more of a surprise, as it came out of the blue and was initially free to download just as Apple music was launched, which was interesting. Like the Blur record, its main driver may have been just to have some new songs to play on tour. Song wise it is not their finest set but it is very consistent, rather like Sky Blue Sky, but sound wise it is their most interesting since A Ghost is Born. It is quite hard to choose a highlight, but this track makes a great opener and is also very poignant. Check out A Best of Wilco on The Moon

2. Georgia - Move Systems 

A great track from a very promising LP preceded by a couple of EPs with a couple of great extra tracks. It is quite hard to find much info on her, but thankfully GIITTV did manage to figure out she is the daughter of Neil Barnes from Leftfield which explains how it sounds rather like a collaboration between them and FKA Twigs.

3. Mitski - Townie

A cracker of a track from one of the albums of the year from a US based internationalists. Check it out on The Moon 

4. Tender Prey - The Tequila Worm

A great debut of Cardiff Sleazy Blues also featured on The Moon

Tender Prey is Laura Bryon, who also features on:

5. Sweet Baboo  - You Got Me Timekeeping

Another great album from Wales also featured on The Moon and a step up from his previous efforts. It ought to float the boat of anyone yearning for a new Divine Comedy record as should:

6. Lana Del Rey - Terrence Loves You 

On A Best of 2013 on The Moon, I featured the excellent Carmen, from the otherwise rather compromised Born to Die album, and I said it was a song that Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy would be acclaimed for, and asked for more like it. What we then got was Ultraviolence, which was brilliant, but bar some great lyrics was not very like Carmen. However, this track along with the likes of the title track are, and if Mr Hannon had written them the critics would be rightly lauding them, but sadly Miss Grant has to contend with articles in the Daily Muck about being in an airport in a white top with a black bra - it is no wonder she is blowing up helicopters in her video for High By the Beach.

The music press/reviewers have been far more supportive in recent times. UNCUT magazine stated that "It is her first record that could be a classic rather than just name-checking a bunch of them."

She has also released a quite stunning version of Daniel Johnston's Some Things Last a Long Time for the film Hi, How Are You, Daniel Johnston? And she donated $10k to the Kickstarter campaign.

Find lots more Lana on The Moon

7. Lianne Havas - Grow 

A highlight from her second LP that is quite a departure from her debut featured on The Moon. That album had great songs but overall was a bit coffee table. This album has a lot more colour and is more diverse, but the great album she could make would be a best of both.

8. FKA Twigs - Glass & Patron 

From another surprise release -  a five track EP that suddenly appeared on Ubend. Her debut album was great, but it could also be described as a little coffee table, but this EP contains some great tracks and also a bolder sound - a bit more Leftfield in fact. Her two pre-album EPs are also very interesting, and so altogether they form a pretty impressive body of work.

9. Deradorian - Beautiful Woman

This track is from the first solo LP from the former member of the highly lauded Dirty Projectors, but when I checked them out it was her contributions that stood out, but they were sadly few and far between.

On this album, there are obviously no such problems. This track kicks off the record and it is easily the most accessible and upbeat, but the rest are very good.

10. Owl and Mouse - Basic Economics 

From a pretty impressive indie-folk debut. It could do with more of the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwood, Isobel Campbell/ Mark Lanegan-like duets with great lyrics like this track and a bit more diversity such as the too short title track. There is also a fine debut EP, and together they make a great playlist.

11. Hooton Tennis Club -  Standing Knees 

Some great rock n' roll from Merseyside, produced by the very talented Mr Bill Ryder-Jones of The Coral fame (see below). They are not very Mersey beat and very much more Lemonheady slacker, but with a bit of extra energy from Coxen like guitar action. As often is the case, a few of the best tracks were pre-released on "singles" but they have not pretended they have a whole album as consistently as good, and so they are on the album - including this track, the B-side from the first single.

12. Blossoms -Blown Rose 

This band does sound very Mersey beat, but they are from Manchester and have managed to combine the sound of The Coral with a bit of yoofull energy and an extra dash of The Divine Comedy, as evidenced in the chorus on this track.

13. Mutado Pintado - Flight 151

The demo version of The Tick from this album featured on A Best of 14 part 1 although later it had to be replaced by Carbon Copies on the Deezer version as The Tick demo was removed, but it is still on Spotify. The version of The Tick on the LP is not quite as good, and this album was a bit of a let down after the promise of the singles. It slipped out in January, but I only found out about it due to a GIITTV one that got away post.

The main disappointment is that there are just two proper new songs, but when they are good, they are very good like this track. Also, the new version of Blue is an improvement on the single version, and by adding a couple of previously released tracks not included, you can make a great playlist.

On A Best of 14, I said it could be a collaboration between Julian Cope and Damon Albarn, but on tracks like Blue, it also sounds like it could be Michael Hutchence successfully getting all Copian. So I do hope there is more Mutado Pintado the future. He does also feature on a number of tracks on the Paranoid London LP from this year.

14. The Phoenix Foundation - Bob Lennon John Dylan

This is one of the most poptastic songs of the year and probably the most Pulp like song not recorded by Pulp. It does stand out on the album, that is otherwise rather interesting electro dream pop. They are from New Zealand, and this is their sixth LP, all of which can be checked out in the usual places.

15. Low - Spanish Translation

Their last album, produced by Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, was gorgeous and highlighted Mimi Parker's voice, which is one of Good Lord's most wonderful creations. Just Make it Stop from that album was a highlight on A Best of 2013 on The Moon

This album retreats somewhat to their early harsher sound but retains the grandeur and great songs - like this track, on which Alan Sparhawk takes the lead but with stunning backing vocals from Ms Parker.

16. Blank Realm - No Views 

This band also featured on A Best of 14 part 1. They have released a number of mini LPs/EPs since 2007, but there was a bit of a wait for this album. It does have nine tracks and it is more varied and consistent than Grassed Inn from Jan 2014. This blistering opener is just as great as Falling Down the Stairs as featured on A Best of 14, and a few others come close.

17. Dianne Coffee - Everyday

It is hard not to believe that the chorus to this track had not been written before. It is from a great album from the Foxygen drummer that reminds me of Queen in their 70's pop attempting to do classic 70s soul and being weirdly, but remarkably successful. Check out the album on The Moon

18. Sunflower Bean - I Hear Voices 

A great slice of Psychedelic Prog Punk from this great new band from Brooklyn New York. An album, that will not include this track or its brilliant flipside The Stalker, will be released early next year. It will include a probably new version of 2013, a track from their 2014 5 track EP - a highlight of which is Tame Impala, which is better than anything I have heard from the band of the same name.

Check it all out on their Bandcamp page.

19. Stanley Brinks and The Wave Pictures - Berlin

Multiple Moon offenders get their second entry into a Best of 15, and it is from an album better than the excellent second album they released with Mr Brinks only last year. Check it out on The Moon 

20. Shannon and The Clams - Corvette 

A sublime track from a great album of "Etta James, backed up by the 13th Floor Elevators singing Shangri La's tunes".

Top line: "I love the leather on my bum." Check it out on The Moon

21. Mercury Rev - Central Park East

A great track from a legendary band form an album that is the nearest they have come to the mainstream. Some of it is a bit overblown without the counterbalance of a bit of strangeness, but the latter half does get notably poptastic.

22. Des Ark - You Pregnant Motherfucker 

From a fine album of folky songs with some great lyrics. So it is not as challenging as the song titles suggest, but this track is the most instantly gettable and the rest reveal themselves after a couple of listens.

23. Yak - Smile 

Another great prospect for 2016, they are also pretty Copian and rather like The Fat White Family, especially as their A-sides have been their most uninteresting tracks so far. This track was their second release, but is also a b-side on the Plastic People single, so it might well be on the album. The other b-side Distortion is also quite brilliant.

24. Richard Hawley - I Still Want You 

Seek it featured on A Best of 2012 on The Moon from his excellent last album of more modern rock n' roll. This album is different again, as he has not retreated to the easy listening of his earlier records - it is somewhere in-between, which in this case is a pretty good place to be. This track sounds like what I would expect Johnny Cash might have sounded like if backed by The Arctic Monkeys. If the thought of that does not float your boat then you are dammed.

Check it out on The Moon

25. Drape - My Friend the Scientist

A stunning track from a very impressive album of a Boo Radley-like fusion of Revolver-era Beatles and My Bloody Valentine. Check it out on The Moon

26. Roadside Graves - Donna (Reno)

A great track from a great and diverse album that combines the best parts of early Wilco with Fisherman's Blues era Waterboys. Check it out on The Moon

27. Houdini Dax - Found Love in the Dole Office 

A cracking new single from a band that should have been on A Best of 2013. Their debut album is a great mix of The Arctic Monkeys and Jake Bugg but with a bit of extra blues. This track points to a more poptastic sound, but it is brilliant, with not just one, but three great chorus lines.

28. My Autumn Empire  - Death Song 

A cheery number from a new album that came out recently to very little fanfare. It would be better described as a mini-album with only 6 actual songs and all in a similar style to this one. So, quite different from his last LP, as featured on The Moon which I described as  "Martin Carr recording Boo Radley songs on his own at home and so is therefore very similar to his post Boo project Brave Captain, but with added ELO". The latest is more Martin Carr at his most introverted and therefore great -  obviously.

29. The Big Moon - Nothing Without You

A great name and another great prospect for 2016. Their most poptastic track of the four impressive tracks currently available from the usual places.

30. Avers   -Don't Wanna Lose You

Well the second album to did not appear this year, but they do get their second appearance on A Best of 15 thanks to the release of their five-track Wasted Tracks EP. Hopefully, they were not considered good enough for the new LP - which would be a very good sign indeed.

Check out their brilliant 2014 album on The Moon

31. Billy Ryder Jones - Satellites 

One of the songs of the year from one of the albums of the year. My fave musical talent to come out of Merseyside since Martin Carr and this track is appropriately Lazarus-like.

Check out the album on The Moon 

32. The Sorry Kisses - Turned into a Ghost 

From one that got away, as it was released back in Feb. Every song on the album is very good to great, and it is pretty varied but mostly American sounding, reminding me of Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis, but they are in fact from the very heart of God's Own County. Though Wine and Flowers would also fit well on The Tender Prey LP and I'll Never Know has a brilliantly Beatlesque melody.

They were brought to my attention by an ever excellent Andy Von Pip podcast via the VPME and it is their fourth LP so further investigation will be necessary.

33. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Most of What of Like

From my discovery of 2014, and from their second release of 2015. The first was an album-long EP of four tracks that is up for a Jazz award. This track is from a mostly acoustic album of great Kinksian ditties. As usual, the two of the weakest and least serious tracks were chosen as the singles, but the rest of the album is very good if not quite matching up to their 2014 output. They are apparently recording a proper rock opus for next year and it will hopefully be the classic they are quite capable of producing.

34. Weyes Blood - Maybe Love

This is an artist who I mysteriously found on Deezer, I think I thought it was someone else, but I am glad I did discover her. She released an album in 2014, but the EP from this year is a bit of a step up.

35. Lanterns On the Lake  - Through the Cellar Door

More epic later period Delgados like gorgeousness from this band from the north east of The North. It came out in November and again, I only got to know about it thanks to a Deezer alert. It is their most radio-unfriendly LP, but it will reveal its brilliance given a bit of time. Check out more from them on The Moon

36. My Name is Ian  -  In the Best Case Scenario, we'd Die at the Same Time

Another great discovery thanks to a GIITTV track of the day. This last and title track is a standout, but the album is great, just let down a bit by some basic production. It is the first album to feature a full band, but they have released quite a lot of lo-fi bedroom recordings since 2011, that are all available at Bandcamp. However, you might be best starting with a compilation released on the usual streaming services.

37. Lizzo - Aint I 

A great opening track from an album only recently released. It is very much floating my boat.

Part 1

1. Bentcousin -Bentpaperboy

Taken from a great five track EP released last year. The other tracks are more rock n' roll with boy/girl shared vocals. They have released two singles since. Hopefully an album will follow soon.

2. Sara Lowes - I Find You

Based to the north west of The North but from north east of The North. This track was released as part of an EP last year, but it is also on the album released this year that appeared on The Moon eventually...

3. Primetime - Tied Down

This was also released as part of an EP last year but was only made available on Spotify etc. recently. They are a bunch of ladies from London, and this is a classic and standout from the EP. I do hope that they can match it a couple of times for an album.

4. The Unthanks - Magpie (Spotify only)

A band from and very much based north east of The North, who featured on my best of 2009 but who's last album proper, called Last, rather passed me by, but this new release is a worthy progression from their 2009 LP Here's the Tender Coming. I tend to like their own compositions best, but I do love this version of an 18th-century nursery rhyme. For some reason, the new album is not on Deezer, or Xbox Music (Groove) or even fully downloadable from Google Play.

5, Ha Ha Tonka - Arabella

Now we are going back to 2013, but to a band that only came to my attention through the release of a video for the album title track last December. This is another great track that is far superior to the Arctic Monkeys tune of the same name, released about the same time, although it is one of the few Arctic tunes I don't think is up to much. Check out the album on the Moon.

6. Natalie Prass - Why Don't You Believe in Me

On to 2015 at last and a great track from a fine album from a member of the band of the exceedingly talented Jenny Lewis. Check it out on the Moon

7. Father John Misty - The Ideal Husband

Another great record and a second appearance on a Moon Best of for Mr Tillman. Check it out on the Moon

8. Unlikely Friends - Stupid Game

A joyous two minutes from a great LP. Check it out on the Moon

9. Avers - Mercy

Back to 2014 and from one of the albums of that year that was sadly not on A Best of 14. This is one of many great and diverse tracks from a band made up of members from various other Richmond, Virginia bands. They have proved the old adage that a whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Another album is due this year, and so they should also feature on part 2. In the meantime check out them out the Moon

10. Twerps -Shoulders

Another great Aussie band and this is one of many standouts from a great album - check it out on the Moon

11. The Wave Pictures -  We Fell Asleep in the Blue Tent

Another year and another great Wave Pictures LP. It is their third appearance on a Moon Best Of. It was quite hard to pick one track as most are this great - check it out on the Moon

12. The Paranoid Style - Master Jack

Taken from a great EP. A couple of other great tracks can be found on the interweb and are also brilliant. So I am very much looking forward to an LP.

13. Belle and Sebastian - The Everlasting Muse

One of many great tracks from one of their best LPs, with just the bad Pet Shop Boys like Enter Sylvia Plath, not quite working. Sadly not available to Deezer Orange/EE mobile subscribers.

14. The Staves - Make it Holy

The Staves are now repeat offenders on the Moon Best Ofs. Although, nothing on the new LP could quite match the brilliance of Wisley & Slow from their debut, it is a solid second with some great tracks like this one. However, they could do with a bit more diversity and letting their hair down a bit.

15. Ghostpoet - Yes I helped You Pack

One of many great tracks from a brilliant album with many great guest appearances such as this one from Etta Bond and two brilliant vocal contributions from....

16. Nadine Shah - The Gin One

Another great album from Ms Shah and another great female artist from the north east of The North. It all sounds rather serious but can, like on this track, be pretty amusing.

17. Sufjan Stevens - No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross

A gorgeous track from a fine LP. It is the kind of album many of his fans will have been willing him to make, but I hope he continues to confound expectations.

18. Laura Marling - Short Movie

A brilliant and ambitious track from an album that reignited my appreciation after a period of repeating herself a bit.

19. Zebra Hunt - Half Right

A great slice of indie jangle from a band unsurprisingly championed by A Finest Kiss. It is a fine album with a number of other highlights.

20. Happyness - Pumpkin Noir

From a very impressive debut from a London band that seem to be mostly influenced by a Ghost is Born era Wilco - which is, of course, great.

21. Lonelady - Groove it Out

The highlight from a fine album from a lady from the north west of The North, who has combined the best electronic heritage from her hometown with the best bits of Prince.

22. Morton Valence - Old Love Letters

A band who featured on the Moon last year and who have released another fine album of Cockney Country Noir.

23. Asaf Avidan - The Jail that Sets You Free

A unique artist who featured on the Moon in 2014 and this year. This track is Mr Avidan at his most poptastic, the rest of the album, like his previous, is more Amy Winehouse sounding like a serious Dame Shirley Bassey.

24. Stealing Sheep - Greed

Some more top pop from some ladies from the Republic of Liverpool. One of a few highlights from a fine album.

25. The Leisure Society - I am a Setting Sun

From their 4th and most understated album, inspired by a death of a friend. It does come alive half way through - which means they have secured another entry on a Moon Best Of, but they are still to make the stunning album they should be capable of.

26. Courtney Barnett - Small Poppies

An epic from a great new album and a double offender on the Moon already.

27. Blur - Ong Ong

The greatest unexpected pleasure of the year. It is not one of their greatest albums but it is a very interesting return, and this track is one of Mr Albarn's finest and most poptastic moments. Find lots more Blur on the Moon

28. Django Django - Break the Glass

A great track from the near the end and the best part of their 2nd LP. From the band who made the album the Beta Band never managed. I did wonder how they could follow it up. They have made their sound a bit different by replacing guitar with synth sounds, but it could do with a bit more variation - rather like the last album from the Beta Bands Steve Mason....

29. The Lovely Eggs - Magic Onion

The single of the year so far from a great DIY group from Lancaster in Northern England. It is their 3rd LP, and they have produced videos with John Shuttleworth and so how I had not heard of them until this year is a bit mysterious.

This track and the album is a bit of a step up, and I was all set to do a Moon post in the week of the album release - just post the election result, with a link to their excellent website, but though the album is there on Spotify and Deezer in Blighty, only the Magic Onion single is streamable, which is a shame.

The Magic Onion is the best track, but it is a great album. You can also sign up to their excellent newsletter and "Let the Hot Goss Roll".

30. The Young'uns feat Bob Fox - Brewster & Wagner

More great new folk from the north east of the North and rather like The Unthanks they are at their best when doing their own songs - such as this track, with a fantastic last line delivered brilliantly by Bob Fox, and it is a candidate for song of the year. That said the album does have a fantastic cover of Billy Bragg's wonderful Between the Wars.

31. Lorelle Meets The Obsolete  - What's Holding You?

An album that has been withheld from Deezer*, but not from Spotify for some reason. You can check it out, and more on their Bandcamp page and their previous two albums are on Deezer along with this track that opens the latest album, as it was also a single back in 2013. It is the highlight of the album, but the rest is very good and it the most too cool for school album of the year so far. The songs all sound great, but I would just like the vocals to be a bit clearer.

* It is now on Deezer.

32. TORRES - Ferris Wheel

From a great and diverse album that kicks off like PJ Harvey at her most rocktastic, then diverges into more electronic strangeness with Cowboy Guilt and then has this epic that could be a highlight from Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence. Check it out on the Moon

33. Misty Miller - Happy

Ms Miller featured on a Best of 2013 on the Moon with the very impressive Little Drummer from one of the two excellent EPs she released that year. Since then we have had no album and just two singles, and she has lost a band and had to find a new one. One of the singles was part of an EP with three other demos that sounded promising, and one is Happy - which has since been recorded with her new band and released as the first single from the soon to be released album. Happily the band version of Happy is fantastic and even better is the new version of Next to You, which is now on Ubend. Those two early EPs are no longer streamable, though most of the tracks, including Little Drummer, are on the recently released Chronicles EP. Hopefully, the other tracks will be on the album...

34. Admiral Fallow - Happened in the Fall

A band I think did feature on my A Best of 2009 on Spotify from before the Moon and they were also on A Best of 12. Their debut album does keep coming off and then back on Spotify and Deezer for some reason, it is a classic that their two subsequent LPs have failed to match.

I described their debut as like Malcolm Middleton fronting The Delgados, but their second LP was more polished, a bit too polished, into being a to be a bit like Snow Patrol. The new LP is similar but is a bit more later Delgados like than Snow Patrol. I would like them to go further in this direction and just be a be looser, more folky, more diverse and stranger. That said, like the second LP, it is another fine album that reveals itself after a few listens.

35. Kid Wave - Honey

From a fine debut album that you can improve a bit with a couple of tracks from the pre-album releases. Sounding effortlessly cool, but with good tunes, it was not such a surprise to hear that the lead singer had not heard of some of the too cool for school/style over substance bands her band has been compared to and instead said she loved Abba and Wilco.

36. Novella - Blue Swallows

A band who have released a fine album but one that did not quite live up to the promise of the EPs and singles that preceded it, but if you add all their tracks together, then you do get a very impressive whole. This epic track features on the excellent Murmurs EP from last year and on the album.

37. Mikal Cronin - Gold

From a very ambitious new album and the second entry in a Moon best of for this Ty Segall collaborator. He is matching his more celebrated colleague with some great tunes.

38. Christopher Owens - Music of My Heart

Another album that was an unexpected surprise and a return to what he does best, after a rather OTT country soul LP from last year. It is an album with many lovely tracks like this one. Check it out on the Moon

39. Skinny Lister - Trouble on Oxford Street

No Mumford and Sons on this A Best of despite featuring twice previously as sadly they have metamorphosised into Coldplay gone wrong. This band is a great replacement with Billy Bragg style politics thrown in. Check it out on the Moon

40. Sharon Van Etten - I Don't Want to Let You Down

The lead track from an excellent five track EP that was a very unexpected pleasure from an artist who produced one of the albums of 2014.

41. Black Honey - Spinning Wheel

A promising new band who emerged late last year and currently have six tracks streamable. Hopefully, the album will live up to expectations.

42. Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat - Street Pastor Colloquy, 3 AM

Like his excellent 2009 solo LP, this is from another very fine, more song based LP from Mr Moffat ably assisted by Mr Wells. This is one of many highlights. Check it out on the Moon

43. Bhi Bhiman - Moving to Brussels

The irresistible opening track from one of the albums of the year. Check it out on the Moon

44. Sarah Cracknell featuring Nicky Wire

A cracking country-tinged lead single from the kind of album that those of us who liked the more folky moments of the first Saint Etienne albums would have hoped they would go on to make. It does not quite work on one overtly pop moment and on a track where she rocks very politely. Folkish country/60's pop like Nancy and Lee/ Isobel and Mark best suit her wonderful voice.

45. Ezra Furman - Lousy Connection

One of the singles of the year from his third straight great album. Check it out on the Moon and also find the brilliant A Best of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons on the Moon

46. Vienna Ditto - A Wheel Within a Wheel

The best new track from another debut LP that did not quite match the promise of the EPs and singles previously released. Added altogether they make a quite brilliant whole - check it out on the Moon

This track showcases their more psychedelic electro-pop side, but they also do great voodoo electro blues.

47. Wolf Alice - Freazy

Another LP that did not quite match pre-release expectations, but, again, with all the pre-releases, you can make a brilliant playlist. Sadly the record company has been messing about a bit, taking the original (superior version) of the Bros single and B-side off streaming services plus the Fluffy single and B-side from Spotify, but not the hidden track on the album that you can't stream on Deezer....

The album was an ambitious attempt at grunge pop, but it does not all quite work  -  Your Loves Whore  sounds like Taylor Swift trying to rawk. This track works well just as great pop as they had already shown with tracks such as Heavenly Creatures.

Overall, they do remind me of the great Rilo Kiley at their most pop on their last album and at their most rock on their finest LP - The Execution of All Things. Their first album did not match expectations formed by excellent EP releases either, but they went on to great things and then lead singer Jenny Lewis went on to greater things.

48. Crocodiles - Hard

Another fine album with a great opening track though it is not as great as I Like it in the Dark - the opener from their last album featured on A Best of 2013, but the album is more interesting as a whole, with more highlights such as this one and it is just as too cool for school...

49. Mirel Wagner - What Love Looks Like

One of a few great tracks from a lovely sounding but a bit disturbing, acoustic folk album from an Ethiopian-born Finnish citizen.

50. Evans the Death - Enabler

From a fine second LP of indie rock n' roll with depth from this London-based band.

51. Du Blonde - After the Show

This is from the best album that I have come across that has not had Moon post. Du Blonde is the new incarnation of Beth Jeans-Houghton, another very talented lady from the north east of The North. With her Hooves of Destiny, she produced a fine LP back in 2012, and the brilliant Lilliput featured on A Best of 2012.

With the Hooves, she had a great folk indie sound but with Du Blonde, she has relocated to LA and to a new sound that is rather like a stranger, disturbed version of TORRES. So more PJ Harvey influence on the likes of Black Flag and then tracks like this one that are rather Lana Del Rey gone bonkers and so would be right at home on A Best of the Rest of Lana Del Rey Part 3