Tag: Double J

Replied to The 50 best albums of 2021 (Double J)

The 50 best albums of the year, as voted by the Double J team

I am always intrigued by looking through lists of best albums, what albums did I also gel with? What albums did I seemingly miss? The albums that made my list were:

  • James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart
  • Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over The Country Club
  • Julia Stone – Sixty Summers
  • Tropical Fuck Storm – Deep States
  • Courtney Barnett – Things Take Time, Take Time
  • Shihad – Old Gods
  • For Those I Love – For Those I Love
  • The War On Drugs – I Don’t Live Here Anymore
  • Fred again.. – Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020)
  • The Avalanches – We Will Always Love You (wasn’t that 2020?)

However, there are quite a few I have clearly overlooked.

More importantly, I am left intrigued by the albums not included. I cannot find Damian Cowell’s album mentioned anywhere online, a part from a random Rolling Stones article. I am not sure if it is the medium or what it is, but definitely leaves me wondering if there is a list of albums out that there simply lay dormant, seemingly excluded from the clubhouse?

Bookmarked Convert Almost Any Webpage Into RSS Feed With Inoreader’s Web Feeds by Inoreader (inoreader.com)

So, you wanted to follow this nice website for new content, but it doesn’t have an RSS feed yet? Don’t worry, because Inoreader got you covered, again! Introducing Web feeds
Whenever you see a web page with a series of updates, be it news articles, blog posts, classifieds, product updates, weath…

Inoreader provide the means to turn any website into a RSS feed. My only concern with this is the dependancy on Inoreader, but it does make the process a lot easier. I created a feed for Double J. What disappoints me thought is that a site like www.abc.net.au used to fully embrace RSS. I do not get why they walked away from this?
Bookmarked The 50 Best Debut Singles (Double J)

The best debut singles don’t just offer us more great music for our playlists, they excite and energise us. They give us a thrill that, at its best, feels positively life-affirming.

It was interesting listening and thinking about how many of the artists would still play their ‘best debut singles‘. For example, when Kate Bush performed live a few years ago, there was no Wuthering Heights, while the only time it would seem that Radiohead perform Creep is as a haunting remix.
Listened The 50 Best Australian Debut Albums from Double J

Hearing a brilliant new artist for the first time may be the purest musical experience we have. Hearing their life to this point – musical and otherwise – distilled onto their first album is like meeting a new friend for the first time.

This was great listening and so much music to dive back into.
Listened Did Double J inspire this Vampire Weekend song? from Double J

The Vampire Weekend frontman comes clean on his idea for ‘Sunflower’.

Ezra Koenig shares talks with Dylan Lewis about music, Australian bushfires and the album, Father of the Bride.

The job of the album is to create a world. That’s when you know when an album feels right.

Listened Jon Hopkins raves on from Double J

The UK producer and pianist talks to Dylan Lewis about his massive Australian rave dates.

Dylan Lewis speaks with Jon Hopkins. They discuss Hopkins’ cross-over between classical and electronic music. Asked about this, Hopkins suggests that his particular interest in electronic music is the ability to layer sounds. Although he has worked with many artists, Hopkins says that the one artist he would like to work with is Thom Yorke. Lewis also talks about meditation and his wish to listen to Hopkins’ music when they open the first hotel in space.
Bookmarked Why is Paul Dempsey so good at playing covers? (Double J)

But what makes Dempsey’s way with a cover so good?

Firstly, his understanding of what makes a song tick; he’s the brains behind one of the most underrated songbooks in Australia, after all. Both as a solo artist and fronting Something For Kate, he’s written music that’s affecting, anthemic, and deceptively complex yet affably accessible. It’s given him the toolset required to efficiently analyse and reproduce the ins-and-outs of songwriting.

Secondly, and more simply: that voice. Coming up with SFK during the late ‘90s landscape of post-grunge and emo, his singing ploughed with the emotional intensity and urgency of both scenes. His pipes have also proven to age like a fine wine, the gruffer edge of his grain now benefiting from a more refined and flexible falsetto. Just compare the larynx-busting yearning of ‘Captain’ to the quiet resolve and dynamics of ‘Idiot Oracle’.

This post from Double J discusses Paul Dempsey’s perchance for covers.