Well done West Riding

Congratulations to West Riding on winning the ChallengeFest Starmaker competition!
They’ll be performing at Myrtle Park in 2024.
Also, well done to Sooner Or Later and the other bands chosen to play at Saltaire Festival.

It’s the 2022 Christmas Countdown!

It’s been a really strong year but we’ve managed to whittle down the best releases of the last 12 months to these 20 stunners:

1 Heslop and Stringer – Barghest
2 Jesca Hoop – Hatred Has A Mother
3 Newtown Aces – Song For The Gone
4 Julia Jacklin – Lydia Wears A Cross
5 Deep Throat Choir – Witches
6 Bug Club – It’s Art
7 Johnny Flynn – Through The Misty
8 Black Angels – El Jardin
9 Mush – Group of Death
10 45 – It’s All A Dance
11 Montparnasse Musique – Bonjour
12 The 1975 – Part of the Band
13 The Wombats – I Think My Mind Has Made Up Its Mind
14 Apollo Junction – Perfect Plan
15 Ural Thomas and the Pain – Gimme Some Ice Cream
16 Belle and Sebastian – Unnecessary Drama
17 Nick Toczek and Signia Alpha – Another Shoreline
18 Dropkick Murphys – Two Sixes Upside Down
19 Egon and Thies – Uber Nacht
20 First Ones – Falling Backwards

Christmas Countdown for 2021

Here’s the full Christmas Countdown for 2021:

  1. Montparnasse Musique – Bitumba
  2. Tuneyards – Hold Yourself
  3. Wet Leg – Chaise Longue
  4. Spencer – Genesis
  5. Loose Articles – Buses
  6. Alt-J – U&Me
  7. Lost Horizons – n Quiet Moments
  8. Yard Act – The Overload
  9. Jungle – Truth
  10. Jim Bower – Shut Up About Your Girlfriend
  11. Mush – Hazmat Suits
  12. Radiohead – Follow Me Around
  13. Deep Throat Choir – Camille
  14. BC Camplight – I’m Alright In The World
  15. LUMP – We Cannot Resist
  16. This Is the Kit – Was Magician (live)
  17. Paul Weller – Cosmic Fringes
  18. Newtown Aces – Take Back The Streets
  19. Warmduscher – Wild Flowers
  20. Parquet Courts – Walking At A Downtown Pace

Christmas Countdown 2021 – part 1

We’ve unveiled the first part of our annual chart of the top 20 tracks of the year.

Here’s what we played on this week’s show, including numbers 20 to 16:

Staple Singers – Who Took The Merry Out of Christmas?
Damon Albarn – Combustion
Deep Throat Choir – Picturing
Jim Bower – When David Bowie Died
Colin Moulding – The Hardest Battle

Christmas Countdown – part 1:
20 – Parquet Courts – Walking At A Downtown Pace
19 – Warmduscher – Wild Flowers
18 – Newtown Aces – Take Back The Streets
17 – Paul Weller – Cosmic Fringes
16 – This Is the Kit – Was Magician (live)

Radiohead – Follow Me Around
Nell and the Flaming Lips – Red Right Hand
Marsicans – Your Eyes
Mattiel – Jeff Goldblum
The Wombles – Wombling Merry Christmas

Listen again to the show here: https://www.mixcloud.com/BradfordBeat/bradford-beat-2-december-2021/ 

That all-important chart in full

Here’s a recap of our 2020 Christmas Countdown – our favourite 20 tracks of the year:

1 Yard Act – Fixer Upper
2 Deep Throat Choir – Like A Mountain
3 Mura Masa featuring Slowthai – Deal Wiv It
4 Fontaines DC – Televised Mind
5 Mush – Fruits of the Happening
6 BC Camplight – Back To Work
7 Fiona Apple – Shameika
8 Mark Lanegan – Burying Ground
9 Andy Shauf – Thirteen Hours
10 Tina – Golden Rope
11 Talkboy – Over Under
12 Laura Marling – Strange Girl
13 Hotel Lux – Loneliness of The Stage Performer
14 Goa Express – Be My Friend
15 Songhoy Blues – Worry
16 Nick Toczek – Absalom to Zedekiah
17 Pillow Queens – Brothers
18 The Strangerz – Straight Gay Brother
19 Sports Team – Here’s the Thing
20 Maya Kally – Chose To Stay

 

Christmas Countdown 2020 – part 4

Here’s the full track listing for our Christmas special, including the top 5 tracks in our Christmas Countdown:

Three Wise Men – Thanks For Christmas
Maria Helena – Autochrome Days
Caro – Form A Line

Christmas Countdown – part 4
5 – Mush – Fruits of the Happening
4 – Fontaines DC – Televised Mind
3 – Mura Masa featuring Slowthai – Deal Wiv It
2 – Deep Throat Choir – Like A Mountain
1 – Yard Act – Fixer Upper

Julia Jacklin – Baby Jesus is Nobody’s Baby Now
Laura Groves – Faking It
Idles – Kill Them With Kindness
Big Big Train – Merry Christmas
Bombay Bicyle Club – Always Like This
Nick Toczek and Thies Marsen – Exit

Listen again to the show here: https://www.mixcloud.com/BradfordBeat/bradford-beat-24-december-2020/

Christmas Countdown 2020 – part 3

It was into the top 10 in our Christmas Countdown this week

Here’s what we played on this week’s show:

Laura Groves – Foolish Game
Arctic Monkeys – 505
Maria Helena – Electrocrime
Goat Girl – The Crack
The Staves – Good Woman

Christmas Countdown – part 3
10 – Tina – Golden Rope
9 – Andy Shauf – Thirteen Hours
8 – Mark Lanegan – Burying Ground
7 – -Fiona Apple – Shameika
6 – BC Camplight – Back To Work

Mush – Blunt Instruments
Buzzcocks – Raison D’Etre
Nick Toczek and Thies Marsen – A Prayer For The Living
Lost Horizons – Every Beat That Passed

Listen again to the show here: https://www.mixcloud.com/BradfordBeat/bradford-beat-17-december-2020/

Christmas Countdown 2020 – part 2

This week saw 5 more song revealed in our chart of the top 20 tracks of the year:

15 Worry – Songhoy Blues
14 Be My Friend – Goa Express
13 Loneliness of The Stage Performer – Hotel Lux
12 Strange Girl – Laura Marling
11 Over Under – Talkboy

And the rest of the tracks we played were:

The Right To Be Forgotten – Memory Drawings
Arabella – Arctic Monkeys
Drei Bruder aus Irland – Thies Marsen
Farewell – Hen Ogledd
Searching For The Stars – Laura Groves
Then Again – Nick Toczek and Thies Marsen
Free Today – Albertine Sarges
Island Mentality – Mush

Christmas Countdown 2020 – part 1

Tonight, we revealed the first 5 tracks in our annual chart of the best 20 tracks of the year.

Announced so far are:

16 Nick Toczek and Thies Marsen – Absalom to Zedekiah
17 Pillow Queens – Brothers
18 The Strangerz – Straight Gay Brother
19 Sports Team – Here’s the Thing
20 Maya Kally – Chose To Stay

Numbers 11 to 15 will be unveiled on Thursday 10 December between 8pm and 9pm.

But this week’s show was also tinged with sadness following the announcement by the Leeds band Mush about the death of founder member Steve Tyson.

Here are the rest of the tracks we played this week:

Mush – Blunt Instruments
Terrorvision – Our Christmas Song
Robert Wyatt – I’m A Believer
Maria Helena – My Skin Is A Map
Songhoy Blues – Assadja
Laura Groves – Sunset
Dirty Projectors – Overlord
Thies Marsen – Da Virus Geht Um
Fontaines DC – You Said
Working Men’s Club – Teeth

We upload Bradford Beat each week to https://www.mixcloud.com/BradfordBeat/