Top 10 Favourite Albums of 2020

 Hi Everyone!

Hope you're all doing well! 2020 has been a very strange year for every single one of us.

One of the positives to come out of this year that's helped me get through is the really excellent music that has been released throughout. Some artists used lockdown as an oppurtunity to get creative! 

Even I re-arranged and re-recorded an old song of mine which you can stream here (or download here) 😉

Anyway, here is a list of my Top 10 favourite albums of 2020:

10. Serpentine Prison by Matt Berninger

The debut solo album from Matt of The National. 
Not too disimilar from his work with The National but this appears to take more influence from some of the great singer-songwriters of the late 60's/early 70's (think Bob Dylan, Neil Young, etc).

Standout Tracks: Serpentine Prison, Loved So Little, One More Second

9. Unfollow The Rules by Rufus Wainwright

This is Rufus doing what he does best, writing beautifully crafted songs.
Reminds me stylistically of his 2007 'Release The Stars' album.

Standout Tracks: Peaceful Afternoon, Alone Time, Early Morning Madness 

8. How I'm Feeling Now by Charli XCX

A totally unexpected lockdown album entirely created in just a few weeks!
One of Charli's more experimental (and personal) creations that also features some bangers!

Standout Tracks: I Finally Understand, Visions, Enemy 

The Flame (2020)

Hey everyone,
Hope you're all well and staying safe safe!

I'm sure you don't need me to go into details so... lets just say there's a lot going on in the world right now and the safest place for us to be at the moment is in our homes. Hopefully things will start to look up sooner rather than later but, in the meantime, many of us (myself included) have suddenly found ourselves with a lot of extra time on our hands.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that a chunk of that time hasn't been spent binge-watching Netflix & YouTube whilst getting fat on quarantine snacks, however, I have also been spending time being productive (believe it or not)😉

And, as a result of that time spent, I present to you... The Flame (2020)! 🥳

LISTEN & DOWNLOAD HERE!

This is an arrangement based on my original acoustic version that I've been gradually developing for a while with the intentions of possibly using it for live performance. 

I was 18 when I wrote The Flame and it's been quite a few years since I released it (eek 😬) and I feel like The Flame (2020) is the most mature version of the song. Unfortunately, due to social distancing rules, Poppy couldn't be featured on this version but hopefully one day we'll get to play it together!

It's also worth noting that this arrangement features the extra verse at the end, which I (inexplicably) didn't include in the original acoustic version despite it being my favourite part of the whole song!

The mix of this is track pretty "bare bones" (if that makes sense) and I've mentioned in the past that the reason I haven't been so prolific lately is because I'm kind of limited in terms of recording resources at the moment whilst saving for some new equipment, so I'm taking time out to focus on writing so that I can come back with something I hope you'll truly love!

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share this with you! I know a few of you seem to particularly enjoy the original versions of this song and I hope you love this new arrangement too!

Like most of my music, this song is available to download at a no minimum "name your price" (if you want it for free, you can have it for free!) from http://joshstarmer.bandcamp.com or  https://soundcloud.com/joshstarmermusic

If you like what I do, I would really appreciate it if you like and share this song with your friends and family! Your support means the world ❤️
Also, if anybody fancies making a remix or cover of this, please get in touch! I'd love to hear 'em!

Thank you for listening! Now it's time to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I can do next 🤪

Stay home and stay safe 😇

Top 10 Favourite Albums of 2019

Hi everyone!

Yes, I know... once again I'm very late to this (but I'm slightly earlier than last year 😉) but here's a list of my top 10 favourite albums of 2019!

Also, as we've just said goodbye to the 2010's, I complied a small selection of some my favourite albums of the decade on my Instagram - click here to take a look 😀

Anyway, lets get on with the list...

10. Clarity by Kim Petras

A debut album of modern day pop done right!
Kim is iconic and the whole world will soon be saying "woo-ah!" 💙

Favourite Tracks: Icy, Got My Number, Personal Hell

9. Love + Fear by Marina

It's no secret that I've been a huge fan of Marina since before 'The Family Jewels' was released but, I must admit, I was a little underwhelmed by this album upon early listens.
However, I grew to appreciate the growth and maturity Marina shows on this album, and while it's still not her best imho, I feel like some of her best songs are on here. 

I feel like 'Love + Fear' is Marina's answer to Kate Bush's 'The Sensual World'.

Favourite Tracks: Handmade Heaven, Emotional Machine, Karma, True

8. A Bath Full Of Ecstasy by Hot Chip

A brilliant synthpop album with some house influences thrown in.
Plenty of 80's references without ever sounding dated.
I think it's safe to say by now that Hot Chip will never make a bad album.  

Favourite Tracks: Spell, Hungry Child, Melody Of Love

Morality EP Update!

Hey everyone! 😁

If you follow me on social media, you may have seen I made a small announcement recently regarding my 2013 'Morality' and 'Immorality' EPs. I've decided to remove the original releases from my bandcamp discography and replace it with a singular "streamlined" Morality EP, which features a small selection of tracks from each of the original releases compiled as one EP. 

In this blog post, I want to talk about what this EP means to me six years down the line and explain why I've decided to do this...

April 2019 - Monthly Favourites!

Hi everyone!

I know I'm a little late with this post but I thought I'd do a round up of some of my favourite things I either acquired or started using often during the month of April 😀

Also, brilliant little thing to point out... everything in this list is cruelty-free!!! 😍

Favourite Album

Outer Peace by Toro Y Moi

Toro Y Moi is a recent discovery for me but, after being gifted a copy of his latest album for my birthday at the start of the month, I've fallen in love with Chaz's music and I'm keen to delve into his previous records. Outer Peace is straight-up futuristic electropop that's just funky as hell! You can definitely hear inspiration from bands like LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk. Outer Peace is a very fun record with few slower R&B influenced tracks thrown in the mix, but it never takes itself too seriously and that's what makes it so enjoyable.

It also needs to be pointed out that Chaz Bear is a fashion icon! The king of looking cozy whilst still looking stylish AF! 👌👌👌

Fashion Favourites

WIK Belt Bag in Grey by Matt & Nat

Yaaaasss!!! The 90's are back, henny! I'd been on the hunt for the perfect cruelty free bum bag/fanny pack (whatever you wanna call it) when the trend started to rub off on me and I knew when I saw Matt & Nat's nylon WIK belt bag that I had found the one. Admittedly, this purchase has been met with polarising opinions from my family and friends hahaha, but I love it so who cares?! 🙌

I was initially intending to purchase a faux leather bag but Matt & Nat's new Oam collection is made from a really interesting textured nylon that's incredibly lightweight, making it a great choice for the upcoming summer months. In this selfie, I've teamed it with my beloved Ernie & Bert sweatshirt from Uniqlo's KAWS X SESAME STREET collection.

This is also my first nylon fabric Matt & Nat bag and I'm very impressed with the quality of it so far, feels like it will be just as hard-wearing as their faux leather items and, just like those, this bag also features a lining made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. I would presume that the outer nylon material is also recycled, however, I can't seem to find anything to confirm this. If you have any info, please let me know!

A Beginner's Guide: St. Vincent

Hi everyone!

I'm starting a new series on this blog!!! 😃
Lemme explain... every music nerd has been here, you hear talk of an artist/band, maybe you've even heard a couple songs, you wanna delve into their discography but have no clue where to begin. Well... hopefully my guides can help you 😉

Quite a few years ago (on my Tumblr page) I made a post explaining that I really wanted to explore St. Vincent's back catalogue. At the time, I was only familiar with her David Byrne collaboration, Love This Giant, and I didn't have a clue where to begin. A few users kindly sent me recommendations and now, several years later, I've become a huge fan of her work and like to consider myself well-versed in her discography.

View this post on Instagram

New York Isn't New York Without You, Love. Dir. Alex Da Corte.

A post shared by St. Vincent (@st_vincent) on Aug 31, 2017 at 6:00am PDT

So... whether you're in the same position I was a few years ago, just wanna discover some new music or a hardcore fan of Annie and are a little curious what my picks are, this guide is for you!

Top 10 Favourite Albums of 2018

Hi everyone 😃

Hope you've all had a fantastic holiday season and didn't get too drunk celebrating the start of 2019! 😝
Some really great albums came out in 2018 and I'd like to share my 10 favourites of the year with you. Yes... I know I'm late to this, but nevermind! 💁

Tell me what your favourite albums of the year were and maybe this list will encourage you to listen to some albums you may have missed.

10. KOD by J. Cole

Cole doing what he does best, conscious hip hop. 

Cole tackles themes of addiction and his production style takes on a trap influence.

Favourite Tracks: KOD, Kevin's Heart, 1985 (Intro to The Fall Off) 

9. Hunter by Anna Calvi

Anna's best album to date in my opinion. 
A powerful record exploring themes of gender that proves rock music is still very much alive

Favourite Tracks: Alpha, As A Man, Away. 

8. Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino by Arctic Monkeys

An album that's truly divided fans and is like no other album in the band's discography

A Bowie/Gainsbourg inspired concept record about a hotel on the moon that features the band's most experimental and imaginative songs.

  Favourite Tracks: One Point Perspective, Star Treatment, The Ultracheese