Top 1 album of 2023.

It’s been long overdue, but here it is. Short, and sweet. My favourite album from last year, 2023, that is.

It came out of nowhere, from a long hiatus of music releases from the band. I wasn’t sure that they would ever release new music, since 11 years passed from their latest studio release, before the release of this album.

Alright, that’s enough beating around the bush. My favourite album of 2023 is The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons by The Hives. As written above, the album was released 11 years after Lex Hives was released.

The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is a classic, and a perfect The Hives album. I want to preface this with saying that i’ve loved The Hives since i was a child, and i’ve had the great fortune of seeing them play live twice. Once in 2014, and another time in 2022. I still refer to the 2014 Hives-gig as the best concert i’ve been to – and i’ve been to atleast over a hundred shows by now.

So, when i saw that The Hives was releasing new music, i was excited, but also a bit scared, since it’s been so long since they released new studio music. Time passed, the album was released and i saw that the swedish music magazine Gaffa gave the new The Hives album a perfect score, 6/6, and that surprised me, and reinforced my scare of the new album – as me and Gaffa does not very often see eye to eye on new releases.

A bit worried, i decided to give the new album, The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons a chance. And i was blown away. It was a perfect The Hives album. I listened to it like four times, back to back, to try and find something wrong. But i couldn’t find it.

The album is 12 song long and spans 31 minutes and 32 seconds. And it contains all the elements that makes a Hives album, a Hives album. From punk that feels like shoving your face into a brick wall, to the gentler parts, that build up to the crescendo of the tracks.

Seeing people posting their top 10 album of the year-lists, and music magazine making their lists, made me realize that i do listen to a lot of music – but i rarely listen to new releases. It’s something that i need to improve, and that is something i am going to try and do this year.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 40:2022.

Friday was upon us, yesterday! And that, means that we got another bunch of steaming hot new releases from our current, or soon to be favourite artists.

I will, like i always do, pick my three favourite tracks from this weeks Release Radar playlist on Spotify, without any particular order.

The first track off of this weeks Release Radar is 90 Proof (with J. Cole) by Smino, J. Cole. I’ve had J. Cole on heavy rotation for years, the man rarely, if ever, miss with his releases. This is my first encounter with Smino, but i do enjoy what i hear and i will be sure to check out more of his work. The J. Cole Feature caught my attention at first, but they deliver a very good track, that is easy to listen to.

The second track this week is Sun & Moon – Blastoyz Remix by Above & Beyond. This is one of those timeless classic electronic tracks that always brings a smile to my face whenever i hear it. And since it’s release in 2011, we’ve gotten a plethora of remixes, and this Blastoyz Remix hits very hard, and is one of the remixes that stand out a bit.

The last track of this weeks Release Radar playlist is Chasing Rainbows by Lxst Boy, Kiano, Spencer Hunt. There’s very little at all to be found online about Lxst Boy. This usually isn’t my cup of tea. But this is some groovy pop with a catchy instrumental, combined with voices that grows with the help of the instrumentals. This is going straight into my daily rotation.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 39:2022.

On fridays we get a batch of steaming fresh tracks on our Release Radar playlists from Spotify, and this last friday was no exception! I will list my three favourite tracks down below, without any particual order.

The first track this week is Baianá by Nia Archives. I first fell upon Nia Archives in a reddit thread in the subreddit called ElectronicMusic, where a user was asking for electronic music by women. One user made a big list containing of artists, and one of those was Nia Archives. I got very interested because if the variety of different sounds Nia uses in her tracks, some tracks sound very much like classic jungle, and some tracks have heavy jazz/hiphop/soul influences.

The second track this week is Fossora by Björk, Kasimyn. Sometimes i get a feeling that the icelandic prodigy Björk can do nothing wrong in the musical sphere. This song shares the same name as Björks new album, that was released the 30th of September, 2022, an album i will be sure to check out. However this track is a hard hitting song with some almost hardcore electronic vibes towards the end of it. I find it interesting, and i’m intrigued to hear how the rest of the album sounds, if it follows in the same footsteps as this single.

The third and final track from this weeks Release Radar is Darby Crashing Your Party by NOFX. The veteran and legendary punk band NOFX has been putting out music for decades, and this single is on point. It sounds like NOFX, the familiar voice from Fat Mike, combined with the quick and heavy instrumentals from the rest of the band, mixed with lyrics that often puts the tip of the finger of the issues in the world.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 38:2022.

On fridays we get a fresh batch of tracks on our Release Radar playlists from Spotify. And as the weeks before, i will pick my three favourites from this weeks Release Radar.

The first track on this weeks Best of Release Radar is Eddie by Red Hot Chili Peppers. This single was released the other day, and will be featured on RHCP’s upcoming album, that is being set to release the 14th of October. I read that Eddie is a song about Eddie Van Halen that passed away in 2020. This track sounds very much like a RHCP track, and i do enjoy that. And as always, i am a sucker for songs that sound a bit melancholic, which this track surely does, you get that undertone.

The second track this week is Love On The Run by Broken Bells. I read on Genius that Broken Bells is the love child of the front man from The Shins and Danger Mouse. Two artists and groups that i thoroughly enjoy, and this combined project of theirs is no different. I think this is very good. You have a beautiful voice that sings, combined with some easy listening instrumentals with influences from blues, jazz and rock. This is a fabolous track that will go straight into my regular rotation! Be sure to check out The Shins and Danger Mouse’s individual work, aswell!

The third and last track this week is Diarabi by Vieux Farka Touré, Khruangbin. This is a fantastic song, but i had to do some looking around to make sense of what was it was. This song is a single from the newly released album Ali, that’s a collaboration between the Texas based psychadelic rock band Khruangbin and the Malian artist Vieux Farka Touré. Khruangbin is a band that i’ve been listening to before, and i love what they do in musical way, their instrumental sound combined with the voice of the singer, is just fantastic. Diarabi is a sound that features Vieux on song, and Khruangbin on intstrumentals, with some backup singing. And it got a bit of that classic Khruangbin-sound, combined with some, i assume, malian influences from Vieux. It’s a match made in heaven. Alexis Petridis at The Guardian wrote a review of the album here. Give it a read!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 37:2022

This week we had some interesting tunes in the Release Radar playlist from Spotify. And as usual, i will pick three songs that i enjoyed, and i will present them in no particual order!

This weeks first track is Take Me High by Kx5, deadmau5, Kaskade. I’d say that you attribute this track to ”Kx5”, which is a collaboration between Kaskade and deadmau5. This is a very good electronic dance track. All around interesting, with some easy lyrics, heavy bass, and with some features that makes it harder not to move your body together with the music, than not do dance along. I’ve been following both deadmau5 and Kaskade for many years now, and whenever they team up together, and collaborate on something, magic tends to be made.

The second tune from this weeks Release Radar-playlist is All Along (Kaytranda Remix) by Rochelle Jordan, KAYTRANDA. I’m familiar with both KAYTRANDA & Rochelle Jordan, however i don’t know much about them, other than this is a very danceable, yet easy listening remix of a somewhat souly-RnB-track. I really like this song, and i believe that it’s going into my regular rotation of tracks!

This weeks last track is DRAIN STORY by Bladee. The swedish draingang prodigy keeps on delivering interesting and unique tracks. He’s been on a roll lately and this is yet another hit in the right direction. When i first heard of, and about Bladee, his tracks confused me, and i didn’t really enjoy it. But with time, and Bladee’s effort to keep on evolving and putting out music consistently, so has my interest for him and his what he touches in musical way, risen.

This week was a fun week, i had a wide variety of tracks, in a wide variety of genres. I hope that you also had some good music that will enter into your new rotation!

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 36:2022.

This weeks three picks from my Release Radar playlist from Spotify is as follows:

The first track that i pick this week is Atopos by Björk. The icelandic musical prodigy Björk has finally released some new music. This new single of hers is very interesting and gives me great hope for the future of Björk!

The second track of this week is Tonight (feat. Ezra Koenig) by Phoenix & Ezra Koenig. I have no prior knowledge about Ezra Koenig, but i’m going to look him up and see what else he has been involved with. Phoenix and i go way back, and i’ve been listening to their music for quiet a while now – and it always brings me big joy whenever these french musicians release new music. Looking forward to see what they have been brewing together inside of the studio.

The last track from this weeks Release Radar-playlist is Rocksteady by Built To Spill. I am not sure really how to motivate this song other than i thought that it is a nice track that’s rather easy to listen to! I have very little prior knowledge about Built To Spill, so i will be sure to check them out.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 35:2022

The three picks from my Release Radar-playlist week 35 on Spotify is as follows, without any particular order!

The first song is We are the Children by Fat Soul, Prop Dylan. This is a nice track from Fat Soul with help from Prop Dylan. Easy listening, indie pop rock with some good instrumentals and what sounds like a usage of the organ.

The second song is Another Broken Heart by Tove Styrke. Tove Styrke has been a roll, dropping excellent tracks lately in the form of singles and EPs. Another Broken Heart is a track from her newly released album HARD. Another Broken Heart is a beatiful, and danceable popsong with electronic influences – combined with Tove Styrkes angelic voice. You can not go wrong with this track. I’ll be sure to look into this new album of hers.

The third and last song from this weeks Release Radar is Hidden Land by Ninajirachi, Raj Mahal. I’m not sure how to describe this track. It’s a song with a heavy hitting bass, quick features and dope singing. It intrigued me in a way, and that’s why it made this weeks list.

Honorable mention as this weeks worst track. It’s We Are Fucking Fucked by Muse. I mean guys, what happened here? I love Muse, but holy geez, this new album is out there.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT.

Best of Release Radar – Week 34 – 2022.

Spotify features this thing called Release Radar, which consists of 30 songs that are newly released. The description of the playlist is, rougly translated from swedish to english, as follows: ”Listen to the newest music from artists that you follow, and also new singles that has been chosen for you. Updated every friday.”.

And i figured that this could be a fun part of the Laces Shoes & Funky Tunes website could be a consistent update. Every week, i pick my three favourite tracks from my Release Radar Playlist. I will however preface that many tracks on my Release Radar Playlist is remixes of older songs, that has been released a long time ago, and already has been remixed several times – but sometimes, these mixes are golden. An example of this would be that i this week have gotten a remix of Avicii’s track Malo, a track that was released back in 2011. So, it’s always rather fun to go through and see what’s been released lately. I assume that these remixes mostly connects to the artists that i follow, and the rest of the tracks on Release Radar can be whatever Spotify imagines that i would enjoy. I do want to preface this list with, that some weeks you get 10 absolute bangers that go into your regular rotation on Spotify, but some weeks it’s a struggle to even find one track that sticks out.

I will list the three songs that i pick, without any special order. If they’ve been picked, i enjoyed them.

The first track that i will mention on this weeks Best of Release Radar is the track called Let It Breathe by the rapper Joey Bada$$. This track was released as a single that features on his new album called 2000. I must admit that i have a somewhat of a soft spot for Joey, i’ve been listening to him for a long time and i think that most of his releases are very good. I was bumping his 2017 album ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADA$$ so much when it was released, and i still come back to it regularly.
I enjoy the sound of Let It Breathe, it’s hard to describe closer what it is, but there’s something in it that speaks to me. And i’m always fascinated by the flow and lyrics of Joey and his tracks.

The second track that i will mention on this weeks Best of Release Radar is a track called Before You and its by BCee, Charlotte Haining and Emba. This is some sort of electronic, possibly a liquid house track – let’s say that it is. I always find these kinds of songs hard to put in a genre of sorts. The track is rather soothing and it has this strong female lead voice, that a lot of songs in this genre has. However i feel like the singer, who i assume is Charlotte Haining, complements the track in a good way. I believe that Before You will go into my regular rotation of songs.

The last track that i will mention on this weeks Best of Release Radar is a track called ‘Til Dawn by Rebecca & Fiona, Chinaski. I’ve been a fan of Rebecca & Fiona for years, and i do enjoy the path and direction that they’re taking with their new music. I get the feeling that they’re not afraid to try something new and different from what they’ve done before. I have no prior knowledge of Chinaski, however i am going to dwell deeper into Chinaski and see what kinds of music has been produced by them before. ‘Til dawn gives me a feeling that i am driving in Miami in the mid 1980’s on your way to a cool party, and i enjoy it. It sounds nice and comforting. Like the world lies before your feet.

Honorable mention as the worst track that i got on this weeks Release Radar is You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween by Muse. This is, i don’t even really know how to describe it. Give it a listen. I feel like there are no redeeming qualities to this track. Which had me rather surprised as i do enjoy Muse a lot, and i’ve seen them live in concert once. However, this time they are completely off the rails

It seems as this was one of those weeks when the tracks on the playlist is rather weak. I had some trouble picking the three tracks that i enjoyed the most. I hope that you have an easier time picking out your favourites from this weeks Release Radar playlist.

Until next time, take care.
SLQT