BEST XI: THE M.A. PLAYLIST

What’s been on the speakers at M.A. HQ? Dive into 11 tracks we’ve been digging lately. Like all the best teams, this one’s a mix of complementary characters, a fine balance of youth and experience. Forgotten Britpop gems, garage ravers, young indie upstarts, UK hip-hop from Blackburn – it’s got the lot. Enjoy.

Ride – Twisterella

This was meant to be the song that took Ride into the big time. It didn’t quite happen, but in an alternate universe Twisterella was a massive hit, Ride became huge and Andy Bell never had to join Oasis – the Gallaghers were begging to be in his band. Bell’s co-frontman Mark Gardener serves up a melodic, mildly melancholic wonder here that also feels like a bittersweet just-before-Britpop time capsule. Soon after, Ride were overtaken by a certain Mancunian mob signed to the same label, Creation Records, and eclipsed by the wider shift towards less sensitive-sounding guitar music. But for these three-and-a-half minutes, they rule the world.

The Crooks – Carry On

Chesterfield legends The Crooks have gone all Champagne Supernova in the best possible way on their latest, turning in a slow-burning ode to fortitude in the face of self-doubt. The track was produced by Richard McNamara of Embrace and we’re catching echoes of his band’s most anthemic moments in the massive chorus here. A proper tune, made to be heard blasting from the main stage as the sun goes down – and again in your headphones on the long journey home.

Perfume – Lover

Not to be confused with the Japanese girl band, this Perfume were a swaggering set of Leicester lads primed to conquer the world, or at least the indie charts, in the mid-90s. Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley couldn’t get enough of their early singles (released on scented vinyl, of course),
but they split after their debut album One came out in 1997. Lover is the sparkliest of lost gems (at last check, it’s not available on streaming services), a majestic jangle topped with sweeping strings and a knockout melody that makes everything in life momentarily make sense. Play it once and you’ll be singing “I couldn’t even if i wanted to…” every five minutes for the next week. Should have been number one, but life’s not fair. Give it a sniff.

The Slates – Calling Up

Calling Up, the latest calling card from Yorkshire’s The Slates, shows a band already hitting a rich vein of form while barely out of their teens. This one’s an infectious banger streaked with emotional honesty, as frontman Louis Barnes turns an experience of social disconnection into festival- ready gold. There’s a hint of classic Two-Door Cinema Club about it and that’s no bad thing. It’s sounds like a breakthrough. More please.

Verve – All in the Mind

Five years before Bittersweet Symphony and his moody walk down Hoxton Street, Richard Ashcroft had longer hair, no “The” in his band name, and a belting debut single. We wouldn’t normally advocate using the word cosmic to describe music, but here it’s totally justified.
Urban Hymns-era Verve is great, but it’s thrilling to remember how they started: pure hypnotic bangers like All in the Mind. Ashcroft does a kind of mystic Wigan shaman thing, Nick McCabe’s guitar opens up another dimension. The original b-sides, One Way to Go and A Man Called Sun, go even deeper into the spacey grooves. Like we said, cosmic.

Rolla – Beautiful Lie

A highlight from their recent hometown gig at New Century Hall in Manchester, the band’s biggest headline show to date, Beautiful Lie crystallises everything you love about Rolla – sharp lyrics, soaring chorus, epic guitar work. But there’s something else going on as well, the sound of a band growing into their skin, working out how to absorb their influences and create something that’s uniquely them. Keep ‘em coming lads.

Bill Shakes – I Remember When Freddo’s Used to be 5p

30p for a Freddo, what’s the world coming to? Blackburn rapper Bill Shakes takes aim at inflation on his latest gritty banger, produced by
Sly Moon and stacked with unruly one-liners delivered in an unmistakably East Lancs fashion. It’s probably our favourite moment yet from an underground career littered with casual gems. Shakes has been at it for years as part of the always reliable Blah Records stable, and his pen’s only getting sharper. Check the video as well, for what must be the first Freddo armed robbery ever caught on film.

Teenage Fanclub – Sparky’s Dream

Kurt Cobain once claimed Teenage Fanclub were the best band in the world. We’d bet at least £10 he’d just listened to Sparky’s Dream when he said it. A supreme sugar rush of a tune that could be a straight-up love song or a tale of infatuation gone wrong, it’s so perfect that writing about it actually seems pointless because no words can match its magnificence. “She painted pictures that never dried.” Long live the Fannies.

Good Health Good Wealth – Full Circle

GHGW’s Bruce Breakey wanders the British high street, or what’s left of it, with wry bemusement on Full Circle. Mike Skinner lurks below the surface, but Breakey’s voice is all his own. A mix of deadpan jokes, pop culture references and surreal imagery, his words feel like sifting through modern life’s rubbish for scraps worth holding on to.
It can’t be long before GHGW graduate from being ones to watch to leading the UK indie/alternative scene. Check out the videos for earlier tunes like Guinness and Eating Good too, which help to reveal the cinematic influence at play in their music. Makes sense, as Breakey’s also an actor. Talented geezer.

Terry Hall – Sense

A song with two equally brilliant versions. Written by Hall and Ian Broudie, Sense first appeared on the Lightning Seeds album of the same name in 1992. The former Special then released a re-recorded take two years later as part of his debut solo record Home. They’re both ace but Hall’s version just takes it for us (even without the harmonica solo – you can’t have everything). His unaffected style is just perfect for this kind of thing, an honest love song with a bittersweet twist. Beautiful work from a legend of British music.

Resident – We’re Out

London-based newcomer Resident takes us out on a messy one with his latest single, blending a smooth garage beat and a cheeky flow embellished with some choice footy references. This lad’s definitely one to keep an eye on. Sounds a bit like brushing off a hangover with a few cans on the Tube, or going out for a quick drink with the work lot and ending up at the afters. Perfect!