27/18 - When The Snow Had Melted

Well, it's Christmas eve, and that's when us Swedes open our presents, so you're allowed to open this present too; five mood-setting, somehow seasonal songs that don't turn sickly like most Christmas music.

And if it ends too soon, Nils Frahm's xmas mix is, as every year, a top notch, peaceful choice for staving off Absolute Christmas.

Hannah Peel - Archid Orange Dwarf

Predictably I'm putting songs from a newly discovered album on two lists in a row, but this one actually has jingle bells, doesn't it? Plus, it's called Archid Orange Dwarf, and that's a reason all by itself.

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Winter Hunter

Old moody favourite, that I put on a xmas mix cd for my parents many years ago and thereby get reminded of each year.

Yngve Stoor - Sjömansjul på Hawaii

A lonely sailor celebrating the holiday on Hawaii and feeling homesick. Perfect recipe for an evergreen. Thanks Ankan, for the discovery.

Ariel Ramirez - Agnus Dei (Estilo Pampeano)

If you gotta go all religious to celebrate the birth of Christ, it's best to do so Latino-style. Hello Argentina!

Ravi Shankar & Philip Glass - Prashanti

Peace on earth! War is over if you want it! Shanti, shanti, shanti...

26/18 - I'll Comfort All Of You

Back in Sweden. Dad's hoovering, mum's baking christmas treats, and I'm contributing to the holiday feels by blasting experimental music from all around the world.

Hannah Peel - The Planet of Passed Souls

Only days before this year's best of-lists started to drop I finished trawling through last year's album list from the Quietus, and there, undeservedly hidden down at place #91, I found a new favourite. This record is unabashedly bombastic, ambitious, sentimental, and very very beautiful. It's the soundtrack for a future we could start building.

Laraaji - Enthusiasm

A noodling, doodling five minutes of warmth for embracing the domesticity of Christmas preparations to.

Mario Batkovic - Restrictus

One of the things I enjoy about doggedly keeping on with this silly blog is to sometimes put the archive on random and be reminded of stuff I discovered a while ago and have since forgotten about again. Saw Mario at Le Guess Who? in 2017. It was a fantastic gig, and revisiting his album now it almost sounds even more powerful. One instrument, extending and comprising the world.

serpentwithfeet - seedless

...And this guy I saw at Le Guess Who? this year. Didn't fit on the list dedicated to the festival a couple of weeks back, but sits very neatly here. How good are the backing vocals at 1:50? Just cute enough to prick the tense earnest membrane of this emotional drama and let something even more poignant seep out.

Bargou 08 - Wazzaa

Tunisian madness! Take a slightly annoying instrument, and then push it, push it, push it, down the throat of the listener, until he/she can't but capitulate, starts to groove, and eventually proclaims their love for that bloody relentless flute-thing!

25/18 - Just Lean Into The Crack

When the weather is at its worse, it's always a good idea to seek out long-time musical favourites and indulge in nostalgia. So here are five classics that I've lived with for decades now.

Sunset Rubdown - They Took A Vote And Said No

...as I'm posting this on the day that Teresa May got cold feet and cancelled tomorrow's vote, because she's an absolute embarrassment on every level. Corbyn for PM NOW!

Bright Eyes - Nothing Gets Crossed Out

On a particularly rainy and windy day out in North Clapham, I decided to revisit the magnum opus of teenage angst and misanthropy. This, its inertia-mapping crown jewel, can still lure me both in to, and then out of, self pity.

Pulp - I Spy

The best ever pop album about class politics.

It's more a case of haves against haven'ts

PJ Harvey - A Place Called Home

I think I could listen to this a hundred times in a row and the 1:20 falsetto "with love comes the day" would still give me tingles.

Björk - It's Not Up To You

What can you say? Absolute masterpiece. If you don't think this is a masterpiece, we are not kindred spirits. Wisdom, love, and exquisite craftmanship woven into a pick-me-up-composition for the ages. I love this album more than one or two of my limbs.

Unthinkable surprises
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