Author: Paul

This week, I had the absolute pleasure of listening to nothing but Brittany Howard, known for her work with Alabama Shakes, Thunderbitch and Bermuda Triangle. In 2018, the former announced a hiatus which spelt the arrival of a solo album, Jaime, which I had never heard before. It was therefore here that I turned my attention.

I first heard of Alabama Shakes through a TV appearance, which in my head was Jools Holland but a quick Google search shows I may be mistaken. From there, I quickly got into their debut album, Boys & Girls, a wonderful and deep soul rock record with something for everyone but especially me.

I was therefore very happy to include Howard in the mix for the Music Jar 2022, especially to learn that there was more output from her than I was aware of.

It’ll come as little surprise that Jaime is just as loaded with heart as anything else I’d heard from Brittany Howard and her hiatus band. Listening to Thunderbitch also gave me access to a darker side of her skillset and some deep 60s guitar and organ riffs that would only ever tick boxes.

If there’s one thing that comes through in every single song, it’s the power of her vocal. There’s really nobody like her and I was fascinated to watch any live footage I could find to see her absolute all in every performance. There’s no way to halfarse some of these songs and that passion is what makes it so special.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

This week I had the absolute joy of listening to British singer songwriter, Cleo Sol. I hadn’t heard of her before this project and really enjoyed her soulful albums and have tried to find out more about her.

There’s a certain romantic late night feel to both Rose in the Dark and Mother which was a departure from other artists I have listened to this year. It led me to check her social media and other links in search of more information but whether it is purposeful or not, she’s kept things fairly light. What I was able to see is that she cites Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott as influences and became a mother last year.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

Each week, I listen to a different artist, chosen at random from a pickle jar full of names.
This week was the turn of Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada.

It’ll come as little surprise that I wasn’t aware of Utada before this week. It was a pleasant surprise for me to enter a world of 90s pop music and journey forward from there. Utada was deemed “the most influential artist of the decade” in the Japanese music landscape and here I am listening to her for the first time.

There’s a romanticism to Hikaru Utada’s work, alongside the pop sensibilities and titles such as First Love, Find Love and One Last Kiss attest to this. It’s clear where her influences come from and what her intentions are. In this age where everything feels a lot more fraught, it was nice to bathe in Utada’s music, to feel that positivity and affection.

Thank you to my friend Mika for the recommendation.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

Each week, I listen to a different artist, the names drawn at random from a pickle jar. This week was the turn of Norwegian synth-pop star, Sigrid.

I knew nothing of Sigrid before the start of this week but am really pleased to have found a new favourite musician. Her only album, Sucker Punch, is full of verified electronica bangers. It’s been an album that I have been turning to when out on a run as well as something fun to have on in the background while I’m working or cooking.

For me, the go to songs on this new favourite album include Sucker Punch, Level Up and Strangers. There’s something familiar about her particular brand or style, with bits of Jessie Ware through to Bat For Lashes thrown into the mix.

Ultimately, it’s fun to hear something new/current that I enjoy as a curmudgeonly 30-something who is very much stuck in his own heyday. Go and listen now.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

Each week, I take a piece of paper from a pickle jar. On that pickle jar is the name of a musical artist. This week, I got to enjoy Kate Bush.

This, of course, was not the first time I had heard of KB. You’d have to have been living under a rock for the last forty years plus to have managed that. From what I can recall, there are two Kate Bush-y memories that I have from my formative years.
The first was when I went to see Placebo play at Brixton Academy in 2004 and there was a lot of talk about them doing Running Up That Hill – a song that much later I found out was by Kate Bush.

The second is slightly more puerile but totally Schiernecker at the same time. As a child, my dad used to say to me – “one in the hand is worth two in Kate’s bush”. As with a lot of his wisdom, it went over my head for a number of years but I’m laughing to myself as I think of it. It was around the same time that we had to walk home after a birthday meal out and he regaled me with the history of his sexual exploits.
“Anyway, 3, 2, 1, you’re back in the room…” as he would say in a nod to Little Britain, a show he’s never been able to free himself from the catchphrases of.
Kate Bush.

I knew a lot more Kate Bush songs than I would have figured. If it had come up on Pointless, I’m not sure I could get a Pointless answer (even after a week of listening) but there is a lot to be said for the way that Babushka, Running Up That Hill, Hounds of Love and Wuthering Heights entered my life like they’d always been there.
Just had an awful memory reemerge. Remember the height of lockdown when everyone was doing quizzes… Well, one of my friends started running Friday night home discos where she would play out requests over Zoom and we’d all get drunk in our lockdown quarters and dance like idiots. One night, after maybe a bottle of wine, she played Wuthering Heights and I threw a blanket around me and danced like I was possessed for four minutes and twenty eight seconds.

She’s an overlooked artists. She definitely has her fans, of which I know my friend Drew is a huge one, but I don’t think it’s possible to give Kate Bush the flowers she deserves for being a true original.

What a woman.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

This week, I have mostly been listening to, Cat Power – the stage name of American singer songwriter Charlyn Marie “Chan” Marshall.
Before this project started, my only exposure to Cat Power was her song Sea of Love, used to wonderful effect in Juno.
What I didn’t know is that there are eleven studio albums to get into, including two lots of covers.

There’s a certain DIY aesthetic to the early albums – Dear Sir (1995) and Myra Lee (1996) but the changes to Marshall’s sound and style is what made this week so wonderful. It feels like there is a Cat Power song for every situation. There’s a blues style to a lot of it but it’s so much more at the same time.

It’s only while writing this that I recall seeing Cat Power at BST three years ago. She was on early, before Neil Young played his greatest hits and Bob Dylan refused to. Somehow, I have no recollection of watching her or Sam Fender who was also on the bill. Must do better.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

Here we go. Each week, I take the name of an artist or band from a pickle jar, listen to them and try not to be quite as ignorant to the work of female musicians.
This week was the turn of New Zealand singer-songwriter, Aldous Harding. My thanks to Jamie for the recommendation.

I wasn’t familiar with Harding’s work before this project, which is obviously what it is all about. Having listened to her this week, there’s something haunting about her folk style that reminded me of Laura Marling, one of my favourites. There are also elements of Frou Frou and Joni Mitchell in there too.

The first track I came across was The Barrel and despite listening to her three albums (with a forth due for release later this year), it was this track that stuck. There’s something so melancholic about it that I couldn’t help but be won over.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.

A new year means a new jar. I’ve got an actual pickle jar from Katz Deli this time around. The aim is to introduce myself to new music, specifically music made my women. Each week, I’ll take one of 52 pieces of paper from the jar and listen to the artist featured.

This week was the turn of American friends, Sammy Rae & The Friends, as suggested by my good friend Benjy Adams.

I’d never heard of Sammy Rae or her friends, so this was a new one on me. I can always rely on Benj to bring me the goods.
Sammy Rae & The Friends have a jazz pop angle to their numerous EPs. It’s the kind of thing you can imagine being very well suited to an indie romcom playlist, simultaneously giving you joy while breaking your heart.
They are yet to release an album but have a number of Extended Plays (from 2018 to 2021) which I did enjoy. There’s also a storming cover of Everybody Wants To Rule The World that is in danger of making it onto a number of my other playlists.

Great recommendation Benjy.

I’ll be putting my favourite song by each artist into a playlist if you’re interested to see how this shapes up.

In 2020, I stole the concept of using a music jar to expand the music I listened to by putting the names of 52 musical artists or bands in a pickle jar, taking one out a week and listening to them, learning about bands I hadn’t taken the time with before. It happened to coincide with a little pandemic we had around the world which meant a lot more time indoors and at home to listen to those artists.

Following the results of my Spotify Wrapped 2021, I was shocked to discover there were only two female artists who had made it into my Top 100. It’ll come as no surprise that Edith Piaf and Mariah Carey were those lucky ladies.
As a result, I took to Instagram and asked for recommendations for female artists to listen to each week in 2022. I received so many recommendations that I had to cut a list of over seventy down. It’s an eclectic mix including Carole King, Self Esteem and Lil Simz so I’m looking forward to giving each of them a listen and letting you know my thoughts. I’ve also recorded who made each recommendation so I can thank or punish them in turn.

Here’s to 2022.
Girl power!

My Spotify Wrapped 2021:

Not flying anywhere
As clichéd as it may be, I am guilty of having previously listed “wanderlust” in my Instagram bio. Given everything that’s happened (or not) this year, it’s no surprise that I have not flown. I’m trying to think of the last year that went by prior to 2021 where I didn’t get away from this plagued island for a little bit. I understand this is coming from a position of enormous privilege and that traveling is pretty bad for my carbon footprint but it is something I get a lot from and that I have missed as I didn’t feel comfortable doing it when everything felt so understandably fraught with actual danger as well as red tape.
I’ll be sure to get back to it when it’s the right time for me.
We were able to spend a few days in the Forest of Dean which was wonderful, and I got to visit Edinburgh for a long weekend. If that’s what happens in 2022 then I’m all for it. There’s enough to see here too.

Buying a house
While the ball was rolling before 2021, it would continue to roll for another three months before we got into our house in March. Since then, we’ve had a myriad of work done and are continuing to look at ways to create our little calm place in the world, which apparently means more cushions. Again, it’s one from a position of huge privilege but the last two years (now) have shown how important being comfortable in your location is. If we’re locked down again then I feel fortunate to have a roof over my head and food in my belly.

The pandemic continuing to be a thing
Not really a personal thing but more of a situation we’ve all had to deal with and something that has polarised massively. I didn’t think I would be arguing with people about whether vaccines were a good idea or not but here we are.

Putting on weight on purpose
I’ve had real issues with food, more so as an adult than when I was younger, which from my understanding is the time period when such problems are likely to come to a head. As I got into my mid-to-late twenties, a number of different obsessive attitudes towards food appeared. While I recognise them and this helps me better deal with them, it’s still not ultimately healthy or ideal to punish yourself for eating, to feel guilt or to be obsessive or incredibly restrictive. It’s also something that men don’t talk about enough so here I am.

I’ve had gym memberships before but in the last quarter of 2021, my dedication to gym time stepped up. As such, I’ve taken advice from real GYM BROS and have started bulking. This involves putting 3,600 calories away a day and going to the gym at least four times a week. I’m doing exercises I’ve never faced before and stepped foot in the scary bit of the gym where the broad people lift up and put down the heavy things. While putting away that much food at Christmas is fairly standard, watching my macros at the same time has become another thing to obsess over. The other day the metal clasp on my belt exploded when I sat down. I’m trying to recognise this is part of the journey to building my Marvel body but wow, it’s a lot to shut down the voices that tell me I’m a fat shit.

Working on a project continuously
This year I released an album and wrote a novel and a half but there was one project that it is fair to say has been on my mind throughout the year. The Counterfeiter has been consuming my thoughts since I wrote the first draft in April 2020 but the last year has seen it change drastically under some really important guidance. I’m currently on version four and am excited to see where it gets me. Ordinarily, once I’ve finished something up, it’s done and it’s there. This is the first thing I can think of where it’s gone back and forth for so long and with the stakes being so high. I owe my thanks to James for our numerous phone calls regarding it as well as anyone who has dared ask how my writing is going. It’s a lot to contend with but it is so exciting.

I don’t know what will happen in 2022 but I’m taking to it with my usual blind optimism.