Flying On Clipped Wings

Well, 2018. It was a year. Honestly whether it was a good or bad one depends what lens you're looking at it through but it was definitely a year that'll be etched into the history books. Fortunately it did produce quite a bit of good music, which I'll document here in the form of my favourite tracks released. Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa: One Kiss Calvin Harris makes his return to more traditional dance music with this silky smooth cut. Dua Lipa continues to exude the effortless cool that's become her trademark of sorts, the instrumental has some lovely 90's house vibes I'm a sucker for, the true big song of the summer. Vein: Virus//:Vibrance Vein are one of the hottest bands in hardcore at the minute, and this song is more than sufficient justification for that. They've taken the white-hot aggression of their early EPs, and teased it out more into an almost sickeningly forceful groove, losing none of the power but far more refined. It's as catchy a...

I'm a sad person a lot of the time, but there's a few songs out there that make me very happy indeed, and I'm going to share them with all you lovely readers here. They may not be your typical example of a "happy song", but they do make me smile at times when it feels like my facial muscles can't contort themselves into that shape. 1: tricot: Omotenashi First off we have Japanese all girl math rock quartet tricot, purveyors of the most lovely, warm, technical, beautiful, comfy yet powerful math-pop-rock in existence, This is a track off both an EP and their debut record,  T.H.E. , and honestly picking just one song is a difficult task, but it's a more straightforward cut, my first introduction to the band, and it packs such a punch. 2: Crossfaith: Wildfire Staying in Japan for this next song, we have Japanese electro-metalcore warriors Crossfaith. Despite how that genre description might sound, they do have a grasp of how to write songs, and pr...

Ah yes, Placebo. Of all the bands to emerge from the British rock scene in the 1990s, they’re one of the most unique and indeed long lasting. Their sound was unlike the Blur and Oasis acolytes surrounding them, combining the abrasion of the American underground with a European sophistication. The secret ingredient is a gritty, darkly sexual touch that had a long and storied history in British music, from glam rock to Soft Cell and Depeche Mode but was almost forgotten at that stage. They’ve 7 studio albums recorded, covering a variety of sounds and styles, but still unmistakably them. Though their influence is widely observable, from the dramatics of the goth leaning punk of AFI and My Chemical Romance to a number of the post punk revival acts, there is still no band out there quite like them. (Originally published https://www.theodysseyonline.com/placebo-discography-guide)   Studio Albums    Placebo (1996) Their debut album is their scrappiest a...

I’ve loved music since a fairly young age, though perhaps a good arbitrary starting point is the age I first got my mam’s Walkman, yes the one that plays cassettes, and there was a mixtape made of all the songs I loved at the time, some Green Day, some punk, a lot of The Smiths and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!. My music tastes have gone through various iterations throughout my life, from getting into all the indie and punk my parents loved growing up, to becoming a proper metalhead in secondary school, to diving into hip hop thanks to Odd Future, NWA, Lil B, Chief Keef and Gucci Mane, diving back into indie when I wanted to be able to talk about music I liked to people I knew, and the weird collision of various conflicting sounds at my current age. Here are my 10 favourite albums, all listened to at various stages throughout my life, all great records. 1: Counterparts: The Difference Between Hell And Home I first heard Counterparts on a compilation CD when I was a tender 17 yea...