Undertone. A blog about music.
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The best songs of 2020 – part 2
It’s time to wind up the best of the best songs of 2020.
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The best songs of 2020 – Part 1
Music hasn’t been so much a form of therapy for me in 2020 as it may have been in 2019 (Bodys will long be one of the most important songs I know), but instead it’s been a welcome, bitter sweet distraction. Rather than screaming out lyrics that resonated with me and dancing in my bedroom,…
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The 30 best Vulfpeck songs of all time
With the release of Vulfpeck’s fifth studio album, The Joy of Music, the Job of Real Estate, it’s time to look back at a newly revised list of the top 30 Vulfpeck songs of all time. The Michigan funk group are still yet to release a bad album (although 2020’s offering came close in some…
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Vulfpeck: The Joy of Music, The Job of Real Estate review – a disappointing Jekyll and Hyde
I’m tempted to say that it’s been a long two years since Vulfpeck’s last album, Hill Climber, but the truth is it really hasn’t. 2019 and 2020 have seen the Michigan funk legends take something of a hiatus, with a host of new albums from individuals.
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Snarky Puppy: Sylva review – a mind-blowing gem
Forget Oliver Tree, I’ve got another confession: I’ve never really liked classical music. I’m someone who needs a hook, a bass line, a groove and whilst classical music can have its moments, for me it’s always been too meandering and too inaccessible without a singer to guide me through. After all, what’s the point of…
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Oliver Tree: Ugly Is Beautiful review – an intriguing career showstopper
I’ll be honest with you: I hate Oliver Tree. It’s something I’ve realised since first hearing his boisterous, memorable hit single Hurt a year or two ago. Tree sits uncomfortably within the liminal space between comedic actor and reality, displaying an obnoxious, money-grabbing and at times absurd character to his large and increasingly devoted following.…
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Atta Boy: Big Heart Manners review – a demoaralising slump
I like to think of Atta Boy as one of indie pop’s greatest legends. I’m exaggerating of course, but that’s the impression I got when I looked at their Spotify page before the release of their new album, Big Heart Manners. Before last month, Atta Boy had released just one, 40-minute album back in 2012.…
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Parcels: Live Vol. 1 review – Magnificent, subtle reinvention
Parcels are not a raw, roughly-cut band. At least that’s what I thought before hearing Live Vol. 1. Their excellent 2018 self-titled debut album was full of creamy-smooth grooves and airy falsetto, with lyrics musing paradise and self-acceptance. They end up sounding like a Vulfpeck that’s taken a breather, calmed themselves down and grown up…
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Beach Bunny: Honeymoon review – slick and stylish indie pop in bitesize packages
It would have to take a particularly hotly-anticipated album to bring me back to Undertone, and Beach Bunny’s debut album, Honeymoon, is just that. The first I heard of the album (and indeed Lili Trifilio’s hugely successful project in Beach Bunny) was back in November, when they released the single Dream Boy. The song is…
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Undertone’s best songs of 2019
It’s been a while since I last wrote about music on Undertone but with the year drawing to a close, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to look back on my music listening throughout 2019 in special edition of Undertone reviews. Whether I’ll continue posting in the new year is undecided, but for now I’m just…
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Ida Maria’s 2000s belter and Phony Ppl’s enthralling debut full-length
Aside from a new Catfish and the Bottlemen song as well as an exciting new single from Rex Orange County after a two year break, there wasn’t much in the way of new releases from my favourite artists this month. Instead, I discovered a load of new artists, from electro-pop group BETWEEN FRIENDS to the…
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The walking meme making hit after hit
With the big releases of Vulfpeck’s Hill Climber and the scintillating Still Woozy single Habit filling my December listening, January has been a relatively quiet month in terms of new music discoveries. As with shows like ‘Bojack Horseman’, ‘Dear White People’ and ‘Easy’, Netflix has once again helped ease the new music drought by introducing…
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Undertone Best of 2018 – The Albums (Part 2)
With any great Netflix show comes some equally great songs. When Doc Robinson’s Break My Fall closed an episode of Bojack Horseman I was instantly sent on an urgent hunt for my phone and Shazam. Whilst proving to be a highlight of its album, the songs that accompany Break My Fall in Deep End are…
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Undertone Best of 2018 – The Albums (Part 1)
In many ways, 2018 was the year I discovered the album. As my love for music intensified, I realised that more often than not artists display their most meaningful messages in the scope of a 40 minute album, rather than a three minute song. With plenty of time to listen (especially during revision periods in…
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Undertone Best of 2018 – The EPs
With 2018 drawing to a close, it’s time to look back on all the incredible pieces of music that have filled my life this year. In the first episode of this year’s review, I’ll be looking at the very best short albums, or EPs, that I’ve discovered this year.
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