Music 101 contributors and friends list their top five musical treats from 2015:
Emma Smith – Presenter/Co-Producer Music 101
Top five moody road trip soundtracks
Micachu and the Shapes – Good Sad Happy Bad
Chastity Belt – Time to Go Home
Melody Thomas – Presenter/Co-Producer Summer Music 101
Top five summer jams for my imaginary boat party DJ set
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’
Nick Bollinger – The Sampler
Top five albums I’ll still be listening to a year from now
Tiny Ruins and Hamish Kilgour – Hurtling Through
Bob Dylan – The Cutting Edge 1965-66: Bootleg Series No. 12
Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express – Junun
Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly
Jesse Mulligan – 1–4pm
Top five NZ Live sessions
Zac Arnold – Music Features Producer Music 101
Top five ‘I seen it with my own eyes!’ live performances
Connan Mockasin Sundae Session
The Rocket Jocks at Norty Or Nice
Instant Fantasy at the Audio Foundation
Sam Wicks – Senior RNZ Music Producer
Top five future-shocked Future Hendrix cuts
‘F**k Up Some Commas’ (DS2)
‘Diamonds Dancing feat. Drake’ (What a Time to Be Alive)
‘March Madness’ (56 Nights)
Oooooh feat. Young Scooter (Beast Mode)
Peacoat (Beast Mode)
Hussein Moses – Content Producer, The Wireless
Top five haaaaan’s
French Montana feat. Chinx and N.O.R.E – ‘Off the Rip’
Ty Dolla $ign feat. French Montana and A$AP Ferg – ‘Blasé (Remix)’
Post Malone feat. French Montana and Rae Sremmurd – ‘White Iverson (Remix)’
Puff Daddy feat. French Montana – ‘Money Ain’t A Problem’
French Montana feat. Chris Brown and Migos – ‘Moses’
Kirsten Johnstone – Music Features Producer Music 101
Top five songs to mollify mothers (and sometimes the kids too)
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell
UMO – Multi-Love
Joanna Newsom – Divers
Marlon Williams – Marlon Williams
Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn – Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn
Yadana Saw – Music Features Producer Music 101
Top five (imaginary) Back to Mine cuts
Petite Noir feat. Baloji – ‘La Vie Est Belle/Life is Beautiful’
EWH feat. Deva Mahal – ‘March’
Erykah Badu – ‘Hotline Bling’
The Internet – ‘Special Affair’
Ta-ku feat. Jordan Rakei – ‘Sunrise/Beautiful’
John Pilley – RNZ National Music Production Manager
Top five album keepers
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
Ryley Walker – Primrose Green
St Germain – St Germain
Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin – Lost Time
Israel Nash – Israel Nash’s Silver Season
Trevor Reekie – Hidden Treasures
Releases that rattled my cage
Fave track: New Order – ‘Plastic’
Fave album: Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba – Ba Power
Fave book: How Bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the song that stormed the world
Fave comeback: David Bowie – ‘Blackstar’
Fave re-release: Darcy Clay – Jesus I was Evil
Kate Mead RNZ Concert Production Manager, Sound Lounge
Top five sounds from the lounge
Nils Frahm (maybe a disciple of Conlon Nancarrow)
Jack Body, immortalised in ‘The Street Where I Live’
The cinematic rise of Tane Upjohn Beatson
Norman Meehan, Bill Manhire and Hannah Griffin – Rehearsing the Choir’
Jeremy Tait – Music Producer, Saturday Night; Music Library Assistant
RIP Sean Price (the Brownsville bar-barian)
Duncan Greive – Editor, The Spinoff
Top five mainstream country songs I listened to a lot in 2015, most of which came out in 2014
Sam Hunt – ‘Breakup in a Small Town’
Florida Georgia Line – ‘Dirt’
Carrie Underwood – ‘What I Never Knew I Always Wanted’
Jason Aldean – ‘Burnin’ It Dow’
Cole Swindell – ‘Ain’t Worth the Whiskey’
Mava Moayyed – Journalist, The Wireless
Top 5 Korean bangers
Diplo x CL x RiFF RAFF x OG Maco - Doctor Pepper
Jay Park - 몸매 (MOMMAE) Video NSFW
Jeremy Ansell – RNZ Auckland Operations Team Leader
Top five vinyl rekkid purchases
Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Naturally
Public Service Broadcasting – Inform-Educate-Entertain
Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear
Tony Stamp – Broadcaster/RNZ Studio Operator
Top five club to the couch cuts
Young Fathers – White Men Are Black Men Too
Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
Jim Pinckney – DJ, The Sampler reviewer
Top five far-flung outernational favourites
Los Gaiteros De San Jacinto – Dub De Gaita Volumes II & III
Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa
Various Artists – Future Nuggets 2: Sounds of the Unheard from Romania Volume 2
Various – Green Door All Stars
Kiran Dass – Music Journalist
Top five favourite subterranean releases
Ork Records – New York, New York
Martyn Pepperell – Freelance Writer, Broadcaster, DJ
Top five cassette tape releases
Various Artists – Godmode Presents: You've Been Sweating Wrong Your Whole Life
Various Artists – Pekak! Indonesian Noise 1995-2015: 20 Years of Experimental Music from Indonesia
Samuel Scott – The Phoenix Foundation, Summer Music 101
Finest better-than-terrible good songs
D’Angelo – ‘Back To the Future (Part 1)’
Drake – ‘Hotline Bling’
Yo La Tengo – ‘Friday I’m In Love’
Van Morrison – ‘Beside You’ (alternate take from the Astral Weeks deluxe reissue)
Randa – ‘Ranger’
Ellen Falconer – RNZ Digital Features Producer
Top five singles released by artists managed by Scooter Braun
Jack U feat. Justin Bieber – ‘Where Are U Now’
Carly Rae Jepsen – ‘Run Away With Me’
Gemma Syme – Content Manager, RDU Christchurch
Top 5 most played releases by NZ female musicians
Rachel Morton – Ex-RDU Christchurch, Public Programmes Manager at Canterbury Museum
Top five albums from 2015 to listen to when in transit
Kurt Vile – B’Lieve I’m Going Down
Girlpool – Before the World Was Big
Dylan C – Base FM Programme Director
Top five local EPs that deserve more recognition
Eno x Dirty – Easter Eggs & Good Sportsmanship
Simon Wallace – Music Director, Radio One 91fm, Dunedin
Top five short and sweet and on repeat
Womb – Womb EP
Tropic Of Cancer – Stop Suffering
Miles Buckingham – Radio Active Music Director
Five from Africa
Thione Seck and Son Ensemble – ‘Bamba’
Prince Nico M'barga feat. Louisana Tilda – ‘Stay For Ever’
Aby Ngana Diop – ‘Dieuleul-Dieuleul’
Louis Wasson – ‘Give Us Heavy Sound’
David Stevens – Station Manager, Radio Control 99.4FM Palmerston North
Five tracks that made me...
Want to move: Nxworries (Knxwledge and Anderson Paak) – ‘Suede’
Want to start an emo band: Diet Cig – ‘Harvard’
Made me proud to be from Palmerston North: Given Names – ‘Oats’
Smile a lot: Lianne La Havas – ‘What You Don't Do’
Shed a tear: Sufjan Stevens – ‘No Shade In The Shadow of the Cross’
