The Big Indie Playlist: Curated by Home Counties
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(Credits: Far Out / Home Counties)
As the nights draw in and the length of every journey is extended by the need for de-icing, there can be no mistaking that winter is well and truly upon us, and that means two things: Christmas is just around the corner, and The Big Indie Playlist is here to quell your winter woes.
If you have had the displeasure of visiting any city centre or retail establishment in the past month or so, you will have already been alerted to the fact that Christmas music is already out in full swing. You can scarcely walk a hundred metres without being assaulted by a sonic blend of Slade, Mariah Carey, and The Pogues.
Far from us to cry ‘bah, humbug’, though, we have recruited London-based six-piece Home Counties to run down a selection of their favourite festive anthems, in support of their own addition to the musical landscape of the holiday period, newly-released single ‘Better Last Year’.
Fear not, though, if you aren’t yet ready to immerse yourself in the festive spirit, for this week also brings a deluge of incredible new releases from across the musical world, stretching from Scandinavian indie to the incredible sounds emanating from a rather chilly Leeds. As with every edition of this wonderful playlist, there is truly something for everybody.
So, sink yourself into a suitably comfortable chair, discreetly (and prematurely) crack open a box of Quality Street, and hit play on a mix of this week’s finest releases, preceded by some festive vibes courtesy of Home Counties.
Must-hear Christmas tracks: Curated by Home Counties
FEET – ‘Vegetarian Christmas’: Our band BFF’s massive tune from a few years back. I don’t think any of them are vegetarian anymore, but any song which mentions Linda McCartney sausages is a winner for me.
The Staves – ‘Home Alone, Too’: It’s funny and sweet. Mainly love for the ‘Home Alone 2, too’ pun – simple but joyous. Has the added benefit of being listenable outside of December.
The Pogues – ‘Fairytale of New York’: Not a hot take, but undeniably the best Christmas song ever. We’ve covered every year since we were at secondary school together, and continue to love it. A perfect balance of anti-Christmas and deep sentimentality, which we were inspired to channel on our own Christmas effort this year.
Aled Jones – ‘Walking In The Air’, into Rage Against the Machine – ‘Killing In The Name’: Two excellent songs on their own, which somehow work best straight into each other. We first realised this playing on Christmas Eve in our local pub years back, with Conor taking falsetto duties in his near-perfect rendition of Alex Jones’s classic before erupting into the rap-rock masterpiece. Forever entangled in our minds now.
Paul McCartney – ‘Wonderful Christmastime’: It gets a lot of hate, I feel unfairly, as it’s definitely one of my favourites. Generally think McCartney II is a classic too, with Temporary Secretary being in my top 10 all-time songs. I love the pure cheese of the synths, something we’ve definitely tried to capture in HC.
The best new music of the week:
Home Counties – ‘Better Last Year (Home Counties For Christmas)’: In addition to providing us all with a suitably festive Christmas anthem, Home Counties have also unveiled their own contribution to the cause, in the form of this painfully relatable yet incredibly catchy tale of returning to your hometown for the festive period. [3.5/5]
Gladboy – ‘Doin’ Art Badly’: One of the ultimate highlights of this week’s musical output comes from Leeds-based garage masters and self-professed ‘flop group for hire’, Gladboy, and their ode to the rough-and-ready euphoria of DIY and outsider art. It would appear that Christmas has, indeed, come early. [4.5/5]
Flat Moon – ‘Ndujathinkhesaurus’: Another point on the board for the city of Leeds, this time from endearingly chaotic punk-funk outfit Flat Moon and their infectious debut album, aptly called Cookin’ Up A Groove. ‘Ndujathinkhesaurus’ is one of multiple stand-outs on that debut, providing you with enough funk groove to last you right through to the new year. [4/5]
Florian Pellissier Quintet & Iggy Pop – ‘Only Fan’: What does the godfather of punk do in his twilight years? In the case of Iggy Pop, it seems he is dedicating his time to appearing on a wealth of collaborative efforts, and ‘Only Fan’ from the Parisian jazz masters the Florian Pellissier Quintet is particularly enjoyable. [4/5]
Devon Thompson – ‘Hunger’: LA singer-songwriter Devon Thompson closes out the year with this laid-back, retro-infused indie effort, which could have easily been lifted from the airwaves of the early 1990s, were it not for the modern production values sprinkled in there. [3.5/5]
Xui Xui – ‘Cherry Bomb’: California’s premier provocateurs Xui Xui are gearing up for the release of their cover album, Xiu Mutha Fuckin’ Xiu, in January, and this endearingly offbeat version of The Runaways’ classic ‘Cherry Bomb’ certainly provides a lot of promise for what is still to come. [4/5]
Sloe Noon – ‘Principle I’: Anna Olivia Böke unveils the opening track of her upcoming EP, bookending a rather busy year for the genre-spanning German singer-songwriter with a sense of indie and alternative escapism. [4/5]
The Style Council – ‘The Big Boss Groove (Alternate Version)’: Building anticipation for the expanded edition of their seminal Café Bleu album, due early next year, 1980s soul-pop icons The Style Council unleash an alternate, distinctly more understated take of the blues-soaked ‘The Big Boss Groove’ which – if nothing else – just goes to show how beautifully their material has aged. [4.5/5]
Squeeze – ‘Trixies (Part Two)’: Continuing the trend of beloved legacy acts unveiling new material, Squeeze have returned with the second part of ‘Trixies’, suggesting that their songwriting power has not waned in the decades since their golden age back in the 1970s and 1980s. [4/5]
Off The Beaten Track – Left-field sounds:
Mårten Lärka & emligheten – ‘Det mest rebelliska’: Swedish indie minimalist Mårten Lärka returns at long last with the five-track EP 19 minuter, and its dark, gothic introduction is ‘Det mest rebelliska’, a track which perfectly suits the dark, icy tundra of a winter wasteland. [3.5/5]
The Wee Four – ‘Weird’: Germany’s Perfect Toy Records reaffirm themselves among the most generous of garage reissue labels, this time reissuing a long-lost garage gem from Rochester outfit The Wee Four, the off-kilter proto-punk earworm ‘Weird’. [4/5]
Oby Onyioha – ‘Enjoy Your Life’: Soundway Records make a lot of Christmas wishes come true, by issuing Oby Onyioha’s Nigerian disco classic ‘Enjoy Your Life’ on shiny seven-inch vinyl for the very first time, making it a shoo-in for any upcoming Christmas parties in need of a dancefloor boost. [4/5]
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