2017 Festive Fifty Shortlist Vote!

As is the yearly tradition, here are the contents of an email the went out this morning. Please feel free to participate and get your friends, loved ones, and bitter enemies to participate as well :)

OK! We officially have a Longlist for the 2017 Festive Fifty. It seems like a pretty diverse list. Some old favorites, some new favorites.

So here's what you need to do next. Send me a list (to contrastians@gmail.com) of your 10 favorite songs from this list. In order from "Most Favorite (1)" to "10th Most Favorite (10)" by the end of Sunday, 11/19.

If you would like, you may cast a Negative Vote for one song that you really don't want to see on the Final Festive Fifty.

Here's the list. The links to the Spotify playlist and 75% of the songs that aren't on Spotify is below that. Happy Voting!

Airiel - Keep You

Alt-J - 3WW

Alt-J - Pleader

Amy Lee - Love Exists

Angelica Garcia - Orange Flower

Archaique Smile - Faraway Salvation

Audiolepsia - Rachel

Besnard Lakes - Laura Lee

Big Thief - Shark Smile

Bleachers - Don't Take the Money

Blink 182 - Parking Lot

Cat Palace - Cat Palace

Cat Pierce - Hard to Be A Woman

Church - Undersea

Depeche Mode - Where's the Revolution?

Dessa - Good Grief

Diet cig - Sixteen

Diet Cig - Tummy Ache

Drive-By Truckers - What It Means

Dutch Uncles - Big Balloon

ENTRANCE - Not Gonna Say Your Name

Everything Everything - Desire

Feist - Baby Be Simple

Fleet Foxes - Third of May

Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White - Look at What the Light Did Now

Flyte - Faithless

Flyte - Victoria Falls

Generationals - Turning the Screw

Girl Ray - Stupid Things

Gnod - Paper Error

Grandaddy - Way We Won't

Greta Van Fleet - Highway Tune

Grizzly Bear - Neighbors

Haim - Little of Your Love

HAIM - Want You Back

Halsey - 100 Letters

Halsey - Alone

Hamish Hawk - Goldenacre

Horrors - Something to Remember Me By

Humdrum Express - ePetition

Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzales - Trick Of The Light

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - If We Were Vampires

Jens Lekman - How We Met, The Long Version

Jens Lekman - To Know Your Mission

Jeremy Messersmith - Everybody Gets a Kitten

Jessie Ware - Alone

Jessie Ware - Midnight

Josh Ritter (feat. Bob Weir) - When Will I Be Changed

Juana Molina - Sin Dones

Julia Michaels - Issues

K.Flay - Blood In the Cut

Kamasi Washington - Knowledge

Kendrick Lamar - DNA

Kesha - Bastards

Kesha - Praying

Lana Del Ray, The Weeknd - Lust for Life

Land of Talk - This Time

LCD Soundsystem - Call the Police

Lorde - Liability

Lorde - Perfect Places

Luke Haines - Building For Britain in the Seventies

Luxembourg Signal - Blue Field

Mark Lanaghan Band - Beehive

Meursault - Klopfgeist

MGMT - Little Dark Age

Morrissey - Spent the Day in Bed

Mountain Goats - Andrew Eldritch is Moving Back to Leeds

National - Dark Side of the Gym

Neil Finn - More Than One of You

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree

Pains of Being Pure At Heart - My Only

POS - Faded

Public Service Broadcasting - They Gave Me a Lamp

Queens of the Stone Age - The Way You Used To Do

Real Estate - Darling

Regrettes - Seashore

Residente - Una Leyenda China

Robert Plant - Bluebirds Over the Mountain

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - French Press

Secret Meadow - Vexation

Silver Torches - If I Reach

Sleaford Mods - BHS

Slowdive - Star Roving

Smiths - The Queen is Dead (Full Version)

SPC ECO - Pearls

St. Vincent - New York

Strobes - Winder

Superorganism - Something For Your M.I.N.D.

Sweet Baboo - Pink Rainbow

Tash Sultana - Jungle

Tashaki Miyaki - Get It Right

Temples - I Wanna Be Your Mirror

This Is The Kit - Hotter Colder

This Makes Us Human - Apology For a Revolution

Tourist - Sleepwalking

Tourist - We Stayed Up All Night

War on Drugs - Strangest Thing

War on Drugs - Thinking of a Place

Warm Digits ft. Field Music - End Times

Wolf Alice - Don't Delete the Kisses

XX - Replica

Zara Larsson - Lush Life

ZZ Ward - Cannonball

THE 2017 FESTIVE FIFTY LONGLIST SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Archaique Smile - Faraway Salvation

Hamish Hawk - Goldenacre

The Humdrum Express - e-Petition

Luke Haines - Building For Britain in the 70s is not available anywhere that I can find it. If you can find it definitely let me know!

2015 Festive Fifty Shortlist Vote!

 It's that time of year again! Time to vote for the songs that will comprise the Festive Fifty for 2015!

Here are the songs (instructions are below):

Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight
Alabama Shakes - Future People
Arborist - Twisted Arrow
BC Camplight - Grim Cinema
BC Camplight - Thieves In Antigua
Beach House - PPP
Beirut - No no no
Ben Folds - Phone in the Pool
Björk - Lionsong
Blur - Ice Cream Man
Blushing Satellite - Arul
BORNS - Electric Love
Brandi Carlile - Wherever is Your Heart
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Dust (13th Floor Elevators cover)
Cairo Gang - Ice Fishing
Calexico - Falling From the Sky
Catfish & the Bottlemen - Kathleen
Catfish & the Bottlemen – Cocoon
Chvrches - Bury It
Chvrches - Leave a Trace
Courtney Barnett - Depreston
Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best
Daughter - Doing the Right Thing
Dawes - All Your Favorite Bands
Dawes - Things Happen
Decemberists - Make You Better
Decemberists - The Singer Addresses His Audience
Diet Cig - Dinner Date
Diet Cig - Sleep Talk
EL VY - Return To The Moon (Political Song for Didi Bloome to Sing, with Crescendo)
Elle King - Ex's and Oh's
Escondido - Heart is Black
Ezra Furman - Body Was Made
Fall Out Boy - Jet Pack Blues
Fall Out Boy - Novocaine
Father John Misty - Chataeu Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)
Fenne Lily - Stranger
Florence & the Machine - Ship to Wreck
Garden of Elks - This Morning We Are Astronauts
Girlpool - Before the World Was Big
Grimes - Flesh Without Blood
Grimes - Realti
Hamilton soundtrack - Wait For It
Helio Sequence - Leave or Be Yours
Hop Along - Waitress
Houndmouth - Sedona
Imelda Staunton - Everything's Coming Up Roses
Jamie XX - Stranger in a Room
Jason Isbell - 24 Frames
John Grant - Disappointing
Joywave - Tongues
Kacey Musgraves - Dime Store Cowgirl
Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material
Kendrick Lamar - i
Kendrick Lamar - King Kunta
Khruangbin - White Gloves
Kopecky - Talk to Me
Kurt Vile - Pretty Pimpin
Leftfield - Head & Shoulders
Legs - Top of the World
Leon Bridges - Coming Home
Leon Bridges - Smooth Sailin'
Lord Huron - Fool For Love
Low - What Part of Me
Major Lazer - Lean On
Marlon Williams - Strange Things
Matthew E White - Rock and Roll is Cold
Max Richter - Space 11 (invisible pages over)
Memory Tapes - House on Fire
Modest Mouse - Lampshades on Fire
Mumford & Sons - The Wolf
My Morning Jacket - Believe (Nobody Knows)
Mynabirds- All My Heart
Mynabirds- Believer
Naoise Roo - Sheets
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats - S.O.B.
New Basement Tapes - Kansas City
New Blue Death--Silo
New Order - Nothing But a Fool
Passion Pit - My Brother Taught Me How to Swim
Passion Pit - Where the Sky Hangs
Patrick Watson--Love Songs For Robots
Pierce Brothers - Mama Please
Pierce Brothers - Overdose
Protomartyr - Why Does It Shake
Public Service Broadcasting - Gagarin
Public Service Broadcasting - Go!
Rihanna, Kanye, Paul McCartney - Four Five Seconds
Rodney Cromwell - Barry Was an Arms Dealer
Roots Manuva - Don't Breathe Out
Shifters - Creggan Shops
Slaves - The Hunter
Sleater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends
Slug - Greasy Mind
Small Black - Boys Life
Speedy Ortiz - Raising the Skate
Sufjan Stevens - No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
Sufjan Stevens - Should Have Known Better
Tame Impala - Let It Happen
Tame Impala - The Less I Know The Better
Tobias Jesso Jr - How Could You Babe
Torche - Minions
TV On the Radio - Trouble
The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die – You Can’t Live There Forever
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love
Wave Pictures - Pea Green Coat
Weepies - No Trouble
Wilco - Random Name Generator
Wolf Alice - Moaning Lisa Smile
Yang Fan - Autumn in Your Town
Zun Zun Egui - African Tree

Here's the spotify playlist I made:
https://play.spotify.com/…/…/playlist/1z4I7kd14CO36lOJT3lIDK

And here are the leftovers:
Pierce Brothers - Overdose (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQhRKxRd4RE)
https://soundcloud.com/blushingsate…/blushing-satellite-arul
The Shifters - Creggan Shops (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXe-FxNWPJc)
https://soundcloud.com/fenne-lily/stranger
The Cairo Gang - Ice Fishing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd2z4EJBuLc)
https://newbluedeath.bandcamp.com/track/silo
https://genjingrecords.bandcamp.com/tra…/autumn-in-your-town
The one song I can't find anywhere is Pierce Brothers - Mama Please. If you can find a nice playable version, please post it in the comments

Send me (contrastians@gmail.com) your top 10 favorites (#1 being your favorite) and if you want, 1 song that you want to vote AGAINST! by midnight pacific time on Sunday 11/22/15.

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 3)

We did it! We got all three episodes published before the new year and I couldn't be more stoked. Thank you to everyone that contributed and voted and made all of this possible. I hope you've enjoyed these episodes and will decide to participate next year, too!

Hooray!

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 3)

17. King Creosote - Something to Believe In (Shaun)
16. The Amazing Snakeheads - Here It Comes Again (Kathy)
15. War on Drugs - The Ocean In Between the Waves (Nat)
14. Big Data featuring Joywave - Dangerous (Alan (Big Data))
13. FKA Twigs - Two Weeks (Rachel)
12. Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You) (Kev/Bella)
11. Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Andrew)
10. Tiny Ruins - Me at the Museum, You at the Wintergardens (Tim via James)
9. Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed (Marc)
8. St. Vincent - Prince Johnny (Katy)
7. Johnny Marr - Easy Money (Rob G)
6. War on Drugs - Red Eyes (Mad Mackerel)
5. First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining (Stuart)
4. Elbow - My Sad Captains (Robert Todd)
3. Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys (Rick)
2. Hozier - Take Me to Church (Jason)
1. St. Vincent - Digital Witness (Rob G)

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 2)

Here is Part 2 of the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty for 2014! It just gets weirder and weirder and I couldn't be happier! :)



Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 2)

33. Withered Hand - Horseshoe (Tricia)
32. Bastard Mountain - Drone Armatrading (Rory from Bastard Mountain)
31. Jenny Lewis - Late Bloomer (Marc)
30. Panda Bear - Mr. Noah (Kristen)
29. Hookworms - On Leaving (Eiron)
28. Jonnie Common - Shark (Jonnie Common)
27. Mary Lambert - Dear One (Victoria)
26. Real Estate - Talking Backwards (Jeremy)
25. Joan as Police Woman - Holy City (Brendan)
24. Caribou - Can't Do Without You (Shaun)
23. Caribou - Silver (Linda)
22. Elbow - Color Fields (Brendan)
21. Spoon - Knock Knock Knock (Jason)
20. Sharon van Etten - Every Time the Sun Comes Up (Jeremy)
19. Death Vessel - Mercury Dime (Linda)
18. Pharrell Williams - Happy (EJ)

Festive Fifty 2013 Top Ten

And this catches us up to last year! You can look at similar posts from the previous Festive Fifties, or listen to the new episodes for this year as they come out by clicking the Festive Fifty tag at the bottom of the page!

10. Josh Ritter - Joy to You Baby
9. The National - I Should Live in Salt
8. MS MR - Hurricane
7. Arcade Fire - Reflektor
6. Bastille - Pompeii
5. James Blake - Retrograde

4. Dessa - Skeleton Key

3. Dessa - Fighting Fish

2. Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky

 
1. Lorde - Royals

Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 1)

 Well, here it is! And on schedule! Enjoy and come back, ideally next week for Part 2!


Festive Fifty 2014 (Part 1)
(as always, I apologize for this not being available as a podcast on iTunes, but hopefully this will suffice)

Tracklist:

50. Fink - Looking Too Closely (Niels)
49. Bleachers - Rollercoaster (James)
48. Damien Rice - I Don't Want to Change You (Victoria via James)
47. Angel Haze - Black Synagogue (Pieter)
46. Vance Joy - Mess Is Mine (Nat)
45. Morrissey - Kiss Me a Lot (Tricia)
44. Milky Chance - Stolen Dance (Kathy)
43. Real Estate - Past Lives (EJ)
42. Sinéad O'Connor - Take Me to Church (Jeremy)
41. Stars - No One is Lost (Rachel)
40. Phantogram - Bill Murray (James)
39. Perfume Genius - Queen (Kristen)
38. Temples - Shelter Song (Kathy)
37. Beck - Blue Moon (Kev and Bella)
36. Wye Oak - Shriek (Linda)
35. Warpaint - Love is To Die (Linda)
34. Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me (Andrew)

Festive Fifty 2012 Top Ten

The new Festive Fifty will be out soon. Here's the top ten of the 2012 list to tide you over. Click the "Festive Fifty" tag to see previous years!

10. First Aid Kit - Emmylou
9. The Lumineers - Ho Hey
8. Jack White - I'm Shakin'
7. Adele - Skyfall
6. Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
5. Alabama Shakes - Hold On

4. Gotye featuring Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know

3. Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

2. Tame Impala - Elephant

1. fun. - Some Nights

2014 Festive Fifty Shortlist!

Here's an email I sent yesterday. I think you'll find it VERY interesting :)

Alright everyone! Here's the shortlist. We're 1/3 of the way there and the steps only get easier!
Here's what's next:
1. From the list below, pick your 10 favorite songs
2. Arrange them in order from 1-10 with 1 being your most favorite.
3. If you choose to, you can give a negative vote to any one song.
4. Share the list! Get more people to vote! Facebook! Blog! Twitter! Tumblr!

Please do all of the above by midnight Pacific on 11/25 (3 am 11/25 Eastern, 8 am 25/11 in the UK)
Also, yes, there are 106 choices. And yes, Bleachers has three songs to choose from. There was a tie, so I just included both of the songs in the tie.

Here's the Spotify playlist that is being made for this list. As usual, not all the songs are available on Spotify, and if you see a song that isn't on there but IS on Spotify, please add it! http://open.spotify.com/.../playlist/0Bn1IwRLfrP7s6V10Cy1KK

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues
Ages and Ages - Divisionary (Do The Right Thing)
alt-j - Left Hand Free
Alvvays - Archie, Marry Me
Amazing Snakeheads - Here It Comes Again
Amazing Snakeheads - Where Is My Knife
Angel Haze - Black Synagogue
Bastard Mountain - Drone Armatrading
Beck – Blue Moon
Big Data - Dangerous
Black Keys - Gotta Get Away
Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
Bleachers - Reckless Love
Bleachers - Rollercoaster
Caribou - Can't Do Without You
Caribou - Silver
Coldplay - Magic
Conor Oberst - Double Life
Damien Rice - I Don't Want to Change You
Death Vessel - Mercury Dime
Dirty Elvis - I Hate Being Bipolar, It's Awesome!
Elbow - My Sad Captains
Elbow – Colour Fields
Fink - Looking Too Closely
First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining
First Aid Kit - Stay Gold
FKA Twigs - Two Weeks
Flying Lotus - Never Catch Me
Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting on You)
Gavin Clark - Bermondsey Stutter
Gavin Clark - Low Are the Punches
Griswolds - Beware the Dog
Haley Bonar - Kill the Fun
Hookworms - On leaving
Hozier - Take Me to Church
Iggy Azaelea - Fancy
Interpol - My Desire
J Mascis - Me Again
Jack White - Lazaretto
Jamie T - Zombie
Jennifer Nettles - That Girl
Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys
Jenny Lewis - Late Bloomer
Joan as Police Woman - Holy City
Johnny Marr - Easy Money
Jonnie Common - Shark
Kate Tempest - Circles
King Creosote - Something to believe in
Kitten Pyramid - Uh Oh
KONGOS - Come With Me Now
Lana Del Rey - West Coast
LORN - THERE AIN'T NOTHING IT'S JUST PAIN AND THEN YER GONE
Mary Lambert: Dear One
Milky Chance - Stolen Dance
Mimicking Birds - Bloodlines
Morrissey - Kiss Me a Lot
Nathaniel Rateliff - Still Trying (Daytrotter Session, Daytrotter Studio, 4/19/2014)
New Pornographers - Champions of Red Wine
Panda Bear - Mr. Noah
Perfume Genius - Queen
Phantogram - Bill Murray
Phantogram - Fall In Love
Pharrell Williams - Happy
Pierces – Creation
Pierces – Kings
Pink Floyd - Things Left Unsaid
Pink Mountaintops - North Hollywood Microwaves
Pretty Reckless - Heaven Knows
Ray LaMontagne - Drive in Movies
Ray LaMontagne - Lavender
Real Estate - Past Lives
Real Estate - Talking Backwards
Rebel Light - Strangers
Roseanne Cash - When the Master Calls the Roll
Royal Blood - Figure It Out
School Of Language – A Smile Cracks
Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed
Sharon Van Etten - Every Time The Sun Comes Up
Shearwater - An Insular Life
Shilohs - Palm Readers (Daytrotter Session, Studio Paradiso, 2/28/2014)
Sinead O'Connor - Take Me To Church
Spoon - Knock Knock Knock
St. Vincent - Digital Witness
St. Vincent - Prince Johnny
Stars - No Better Place
Stars - No One is Lost
Sun Kil Moon - Carissa
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
Temples - Shelter Song
Thom Yorke - A Brain In A Bottle
Thom Yorke - The Mother Lode
Tiny Ruins - Me at the Museum, You at the Winter Gardens
Ty Segall - Feel
Ty Segall - Manipulator
Typhoon - IJswater
U2 - Raised By Wolves
Vance Joy - Mess is Mine
Vance Joy - Riptide
War on Drugs - An Ocean Between the Waves
War on Drugs - Red Eyes
Warpaint - Love Is To Die
Water Liars - Swannanoa
Wild Beasts - Mecca
Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos VII
Withered Hand - Horseshoe
Wye Oak - Shriek

Festive Fifty 2014

So I sent this email out on Friday. If you didn't get it, consider this blog post your formal invitation to participate!

Hey Everyone!!!

Well, it's nearing the end of October and so that means it's time to start constructing the Festive Fifty for this year! 


And now...the rules :)

1. Choose up to 50 (yes fifty) songs that were released in 2014 that you like. If you can only think of 10 (or even just one!) .. don’t worry .. We'd still like to know what they are.

2. Our resident 'statman' James has agreed to do the adding up, so please send your list to him at janderson716@gmail.com 

starting with your favorite track first. (I could have changed this, but i always like thinking of myself as "statman")

3. Do this by Sunday 9th November (Midnight Pacific Time (so, 3 am Monday on the East Coast and 8 am Monday in England) at the latest .. and try to get other people to vote too .. please!! (Share it on Facebook!)

4. I will compile a short list of the top 100 songs which we will vote on to be in the top 50 and then we'll start inviting people to record introductions.

5. Any questions? .... good ... get thinking!!!

Looking forward to your lists,

James

Festive Fifty Tips: The Longlist

This is going to be one of a series of probably two posts about the Festive Fifty which is a series of three podcasts that I put together in association with the Contrast Podcast every year idealistically publishing it over the last three weeks of the year (though usually it's in the first month or two of the new year)

Basically, you send in a list of 50 songs from the current year ranked from 1 to 50 (the "longlist") and then I tabulate all of those votes into a list of 100 songs (the "shortlist"). You will then vote on your favorite 10 songs from that list (with the option to "downvote" one song in addition to your list of 10). I compile those votes into a list of Fifty songs. Then I ask people to introduce a song or two. Then I make it into three podcasts and we all enjoy it!

I often hear about people who feel like they didn't get any songs they liked on the Festive Fifty. Usually, it's that none of the 50 songs they submitted made the 100 song shortlist. So I decided to let you in on some of the behind-the-scenes stuff and the kinds of things I see when I'm tabulating results to maybe help you "game the system" as it were. I am not sure if the system will change if everyone tries to game it, but I suppose we shall see.

1) Song Ranking

In a perfect world, you'd make your long list of 50 songs in order of preference. #1 would be your favorite song of the year and #50 would be your 50th favorite song of the year.  But what usually happens is that 5 or 6 songs get LOTS of votes and the rest get one or two people voting for them.

My first recommendation for getting your songs on the Festive Fifty is to put the songs that you feel like everyone might vote for below songs that you think you might be in the minority of liking. So, for instance, I really liked KONGOS's song "Come With Me Now" this year, but I have a feeling I'm not alone in this. So I will put that song in the teens or even 20's (depending on how popular I think the song is) and I'll put more obscure songs above it.

Now, there are problems with this. You're risking being wrong about the popularity of a song and having a song you love not make the list.

There's also the issue of having a list of 50 songs that are ALL obscure. To those people, I would just offer my best wishes and point out that people following my advice might level the playing field a little and make it more feasible for your songs to make the shortlist!

2) Artist Limit

One of the rules that I implemented a couple years ago is the Artist Limit rule. If, for example, St. Vincent has 4 songs that are in the Top 100 songs from the Longlist Votes, only the top 2 will make the Shortlist. The other 2 will be cut and the songs below them will be moved up.

This is where I'm torn. I could advise you to therefore limit your votes to only two songs per artist so that you aren't diluting your vote among many songs. But I could also advise you to put as many songs as you'd like by an artist into your longlist, so that any songs that anyone else voted for will get a boost from your vote. I'm not sure which way is better, so that'll have to be up to you.

So that's my advice for the longlist vote. It's not much, but hopefully it can help you when you're constructing your longlist! When we get closer to Shortlist Voting time, I'll post some tips for that!

Festive Fifty 2013 Shortlist Vote!

An email I just sent...

Alright everyone! Here's the shortlist. We're 1/3 of the way there and the steps only get easier!

Here's what's next:

1. From the list below, pick your 10 favorite songs
2. Arrange them in order from 1-10 with 1 being your most favorite.
3. If you choose to, you can give a negative vote to any one song.
4. Share the list! Get more people to vote! Facebook! Blog! Twitter! Tumblr!

Please do all of the above by midnight Pacific on 11/24 (3 am 11/25 Eastern, 8 am 25/11 in the UK)

A$AP Rocky - 1Train
Alice Boman - Waiting
Allison Crowe - Words
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
Arcade Fire – It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know
Atoms For Peace - Before Your Very Eyes
Atoms For Peace - Dropped
Bahamas - Please Forgive My Heart
Bastille - Pompeii
Baths - No Eyes
Capital Cities - Safe and Sound
Chance the Rapper - Interlude (That's Love)
Charlotte Church - Glitterbombed
Chrvches - The Mother We Share
Chvrches - Recover
Cuddly Shark - Broken Arm
Daft Punk - Doin' it Right
Daft Punk - Get Lucky
David Bowie - Valentine's Day
David Bowie - Where Are We Now
Dawes - From a Window Seat
Deerhunter - Back to the middle
Dessa - Fighting Fish
Dessa - Skeleton Key
Eels - Kinda Fuzzy
Elvis Costello & The Roots - Walk Us Uptown
Escondido - Black Roses
Fe - She Came
Fitz and the Tantrums - 6AM
Fitz and the Tantrums - Out of My League
Foals - Late Night
Foxygen - San Francisco
Frank Turner - Recovery
Frightened Rabbit - Dead Now
Half Moon Run - Full Circle
Here Is Your Temple - So High
High Highs - Open Season
Hive Bent - The Observer
Internet Forever - Cover The Walls (Dreamtrak Diamond Sound)
James Blake - Retrograde
James Vincent McMorrow - Cavalier
Janelle Monae - Dance Apocalyptic
Janelle Monae - Q.U.E.E.N.
Jason Isbell - Cover Me Up
Jason Isbell - Songs That She Sang in the Shower
John Grant - Black Belt
John Grant - GMF
Johnny Marr - The Messenger
Joseph Arthur - Saint of Impossible Causes
Josh Ritter - Joy To You Baby
Josh Ritter - New lover
Kanye West - Blood on the Leaves
Kanye West - Bound 2
Katie Herzig - Nothing! Shhhhhhhhhhhh
Kopecky Family Band - Wandering Eyes
Kurt Vile - Wakin On a Pretty Day
Lana Del Rey - Ride
Lana Del Rey - Young And Beautiful
Laura Mvula - Make Me Lovely
London Grammar - Strong
Lorde - Royals
Lorde - Tennis Court
Luke Haines - Rock & Roll Animals
Man Man - Head on
Mavis Staples - I like the things about me
Midlake - Antiphon
Moby - Almost Home
MS MR - Hurricane
New Politics - Harlem
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Jubilee Street
Nine Inch Nails - Copy of A
Olafur Arnalds - So Close
OMD - Helen of Troy
Phosphorescent - A Song For Zula
Pixies - Bagboy
Pixies - Indie Cindy
Possessed by Paul James - Songs We Used To Sing
Public Service Broadcasting - London Can Take It
Run the Jewels - Get It
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels
Sam Baker - Isn't Love Great
San Fermin - Sonsick
Savages - Husbands
Sigur Ros - Isjaki
Sigur Ros - Kveikur
Smallpools - Dreaming
Sparrow & The Workshop - Shock Shock
Speedy Ortiz - Tiger Tank
Steve Adamyk Band - Had a Heartattack
Steve Mason - Oh My Lord
Superhuman Happiness - Baby can I hold you tonight
Teleman - Steam Train Girl
The Boxer Rebellion - Diamonds
The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build a Home
The Civil Wars - The One That Got Away
The Head and the Heart - Shake
The Joy Formidable - Silent Treatment
The National - Don't Swallow the Cap
The National - I Should Live in Salt
Tiny Ruins - Cold Comfort
Tom Odell - Another Love
Tricky - Nothing's Changed
Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
Vampire Weekend - Ya Hey
Vanilla - Fancy Clown Re-flip
Vienna Teng - The Hymn of Acxiom
Volcano Choir - Comrade
Youngblood Hawke - We Come Running

2013 Festive Fifty Longlist Vote!!!!

I sent out this email on Thursday and am just getting around to posting it here. Hopefully it won't cripple your list construction!

Hey Everyone!!!

Well, it's nearing the end of October and so that means it's time to start constructing the Festive Fifty for this year!

And now...the rules

1. Choose up to 50 (yes fifty) songs that were released in 2013 that you like. If you can only think of 10 (or even just one!) .. don’t worry .. We'd still like to know what they are.

2. Our resident 'statman' James has agreed to do the adding up, so please send your list to him at janderson716@gmail.com
starting with your favorite track first. (I could have changed this, but i always like thinking of myself as "statman")

3. Do this by Sunday 10th November (Midnight Pacific Time (so, 3 am Monday on the East Coast and 8 am Monday in England) at the latest .. and try to get other people to vote too .. please!! (Share it on Facebook!)

4. I will compile a short list of the top 100 songs which we will vote on to be in the top 50 and then we'll start inviting people to record introductions.

5. Any questions? .... good ... get thinking!!!

Looking forward to your lists,

James

P.S. Hint, hint .... the songs you put at the top of your list are more likely to get into the shortlist, and there is a good chance that if you put something first in your list (and it gets into the final 50) I will ask you to introduce it.

Festive Fifty 2011 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

The big drama of last year was the battle for the #1 spot between the HUGE POP HIT and the underground indie rocker. It worked out the way these things usually do, but it was so close for most of the voting period. We have something similar going on this year. It's a real nailbiter. :)

You can listen to the 2011 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Wilco - I Might
9. M83 - Midnight City
8. Half Man Half Biscuit - Fun Day in the Park
7. Wooden Shjips - Lazy Bones
6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

5. Dawes - A Little Bit of Everything

4. Radiohead - Lotus Flower

3. Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks

2. The Lovely Eggs - Don't Look at Me (I Don't Like It)

1. Adele - Rolling in the Deep

Festive Fifty 2010 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

This was a big year for me. It was the first year that I assumed my role as "Statman". I was so stoked to do this one and it came out pretty well. It's absolutely a coincidence that both of the years that I've done the stats, the winner has been a mainstream pop hit... :-D Seriously, though. It's a coincidence.

Oh! Also, definitely listen to the intro for #1. It's, in my mind, a CP classic.

You can listen to the 2010 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Caribou - Odessa
9. Broken Bells - The High Road
8. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
7. Kings of Leon - Radioactive
6. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Home

5. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

4. Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land

3. Arcade Fire - Ready to Start

2. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

1. Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You

Festive Fifty 2009 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

The 3rd year was the first year where I had a guess for what would be #1. My pick made it to #4 and I got to introduce it! This was also the beginning of the several years where there were lots of songs from 1 or 2 albums. Oh! And my wife made her CP debut introducing #10!

You can listen to the 2009 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Lily Allen - The Fear
9. Phoenix - 1901
8. Morrissey - Something Is Squeezing My Skull
7. Fanfarlo - I'm a Pilot
6. Meursault - William Henry Miller, Part 1

5. Camera Obscura - French Navy

4. The Decemberists - The Rake's Song

3. Withered Hand - Religious Songs

2. Animal Collective - My Girls

1. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

Festive Fifty 2008 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!


By the 2nd year of the Festive Fifty, I was ready. I had my list set to go before the call came for submissions and I even knew a lot of the songs on the shortlist! This was the year when I actually found new bands to love having only heard them on the Festive Fifty. I'm thinking specifically of Frightened Rabbit.


You can listen to the 2008 Festive Fifty here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Portishead - The Rip
9. MGMT - Electric Feel
8. British Sea Power - No Lucifer
7. Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
6. British Sea Power - Waving Flags

5. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

4. Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines

3. Elbow - Grounds for Divorce

2. MGMT - Time to Pretend

1. Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

Festive Fifty 2007 Top Ten

Each day this week, in anticipation of the deadline for voting on the Festive Fifty 2012 Shortlist, I'll be listening to the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifties of yore (2012's will be the 6th!) and trying to track down the videos of the Top 5!

My snapshot impression of this inaugural edition of the Festive Fifty was that I hadn't paid ANY attention to what had come out in 2007 and I was also very unfamiliar with a lot of the nominees on the shortlist, so I just voted for names I knew! Oh, how times have changed....sort of. ;-)

You can listen to the 2007 Festive Fifty Here: (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

10. Bjork - Earth Intruders
9. Wilco - Impossible Germany
8. Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
7. Arcade Fire - Intervention
6. Iron & Wine - Boy With a Coin

5. PJ Harvey - When Under Ether

4. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

3. The National - Fake Empire

2. Spoon - The Underdog

1. Los Campesinos! - You, Me, Dancing!

Festive Fifty Shortlist Voting

It's that time of year again. Time to vote for the Contrast Podcast Festive Fifty!!! Rather than trying to find new words to explain what to do, here's an email I sent out last night:

Alright everyone! Here's the shortlist. We're 1/3 of the way there and the steps only get easier! 

Here's what's next:

1. From the list below, pick your 10 favorite songs

2. Arrange them in order from 1-10 with 1 being your most favorite.

3. If you choose to, you can give a negative vote to any one song.

4. Share the list! Get more people to vote! Facebook! Blog! Twitter! Tumblr!

Please do all of the above by Sunday, November 25th

Thanks,

Happy Voting!

James

A.C. Newman - I'm Not Talking

Adele - Skyfall

Alabama Shakes - Be Mine

Alabama Shakes - Hold On

Amy Cook - Getting to You

Anais Mitchell - Young Man in America

Antlers - Drift Dive

Bat For Lashes - Laura

Beach House - Myth

Beach House - Other People

Ben Folds Five - Do It Anyway

Bill Fay - Cosmic Concerto

Bright Light Bright Light - Cry at Films

Brother Ali - Mourning in America

Bruce Springsteen - Land of Hope & Dreams

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe

Cat Power - Ruin

Chromatics - Kill For Love

Chuck Prophet - Play That Song Again

Crocodiles - Endless Flowers

Curtis Stigers - Things Have Changed

Daughter - Candles

David Byrne & St. Vincent - Who

Dexy's - Free

Dexy's - Nowhere is Home

Divine Fits - Would That Not Be Nice

Django Django - Default

Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetary Sings

Field Music - A New Town

Fiona Apple - Every Single Night

First Aid Kit - Emmylou

First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar

Frank Ocean - Thinkin Bout You

fun. - Some Nights

fun. - We Are Young

Giant Giant Sand - Forever and a Day

Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Never Go Back

Grimes - Genesis

Grimes - Oblivion

Grizzly Bear - Sleeping Ute

Grizzly Bear - Yet Again

Harmed Brothers - A Letter to Lisa

Isaiah Toothtaker - LA Nights

Jack White - I'm Shakin

Japandroids - Continuous Thunder

Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built

Jason Lytle - Department of Disappearance

Kanye West et al - Clique

Kendrick Lamar - Backseat Freestyle

Killers - Runaways

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Linden - If I Had Wings

Lumineers - Ho Hey

Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag

Metric - Breathing Underwater

METZ - Wet Blanket

Meursault - Flittin'

Meursault - Settling

Muse - Madness

Muse - Survival

Mynabirds - Generals

North Sea Scrolls - Witches in the Water

Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

Offspring - Secrets From the Underground

Offspring - The Future is Now

P.O.S - Fuck Your Stuff

P.O.S - Get Down

Passion Pit - Constant Conversations

Perfume Genius - Hood

Phantom Limb - The Pines

Ponderosa - For Here I Am Born

Psyched - Cut the Chord

Purity Ring - Fineshrine

Purity Ring - Obedear

Raul Midon - Sunshine "I can fly" (Live)

Richard Hawley - Leave Your Body Behind You

Santigold - Disparate Youth

School of Seven Bells - The Night

Sharon Van Etten - Serpents

Shearwater - Dread Sovereign

Shins - Simple Song

Sigur Ros - Ekki Mukk

Sigur Ros - Varud

Tallest Man on Earth - 1904

Tame Impala - Elephant

Tender Trap - Love is Hard Enough

Ting Tings - Hit Me Down Sonny

TNGHT - Higher Ground

Trampled By Turtles - Alone

Triggerfinger - I Will Follow (live)

Twilight Sad - Another Bed

Underworld - And I Will Kiss

Very Best - We Ok

Vespers - Better Now

Walkmen - Heaven

Wedding Present - Deer Caught in the Headlights

White Rabbits - Heavy Metal

xx - Angels