It's
been a weird year in all kinds of ways and music has not always been
there for me as a constant the way it has in the past. Nevertheless we
made it through, and here are my highlights of the year - music, but
other stuff too.
INTERNATIONAL MUSIC - TOP 30
1. IDLES - Joy as an Act of Resistance
IDLES
have been the winners of 2018; a band I fully discovered at Primavera
Sound this year and then managed to see live two more times over the
course of the year. Joy as an Act of Resistance has it all: the best
title of the year - a motto, really - the massive guitars, the catchy
riffs, the punchy lyrics, and the social and political activism that
comes from a place of struggle and is backed by concrete actions done by
wonderful people. While music is never apolitical, it often ends up
being more of a commentary on the negatives than anything else; Joy, on
the other hand, sounds more like a call to arms that finds its goal in
unity, in positive resistance through the celebration of what it means
to be human and welcoming and caring for others - this "other" being the
key to the message as my friend Simone pointed out: Joy - as
exemplified in Danny Nedelko - looks outwards rather than inwards,
because change lies in the hands of the many.
