Lets Update Nature's Best: 2014-2019
Lorde is back - but Marlon Williams, Tami Neilson, The Beths, Benee and Aldous Harding are here this week ...
If you want to catch up on the Nature’s Best story so far, here are the posts so far: Introduction | 2001-2002 | 2003-2004 | 2005-2006 | 2007-2009 | 2010-2013
Before we get start on the last decade …
2010-2013 reconsidered …
Based on last week’s voting:
It seems like I was the only one who thought The Naked And Famous should be as low as they were, so I’ve bumped “Young Blood” from #114 to #88.
A slight majority of you thought #8 was too high for Six60’s “Don’t Forget Your Roots”, so I’ve bumped it down to #18.
You thought Home Brew’s “Alcoholic” should be higher up the list and I have listened; I’ve bumped it from #80 to #62.
Lastly, a majority thought Troy Kingi’s “True Love” should be lower than #39, so I’ve dropped it down to #53.
The rest can stay where they are, I reckon. On to the newbies!
> Broods - "Bridges"
Nelson siblings Georgia and Caleb Nott had their big break after both dropped out of university and started collaborating with Joel Little, the mastermind behind Lorde’s ascension. An immediate sensation, the group landed on the ARIA charts in Australia, and on the Alternative charts in the US, and this song was nominated for Single Of The Year. Broods didn’t pan out the way Lorde did, but they are worth commemorating. I’m feeling #103 for “Bridges”.
> Tami Neilson - "Walk (Back To Your Arms)"
Tami Neilson is one of my favourite Kiwi performers, and her debut single landed at #5 on the NZ Artist charts, on its way to winning the APRA Silver Scroll in 2014 (her debut album Dynamite! won Best Country Album in 2015). Neilson has gone on to worldwide acclaim, establishing herself as a dynamic songwriter - she has been shortlisted for the Taite Music Prize three times, nominated for a Silver Scroll three times (winning once for this track), and winning 8 Aotearoa Music Awards (out of 18 total nominations) - and more recently collaborating on a song with Willie Nelson. A rare and one of a kind Kiwi talent who I think deserves to be in the top 50; I’ve popped her at #46.
> Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "Multi-Love"
Multi-Love - the third album from Unknown Mortal Orchestra - won an APRA Silver Scroll (Best Alternative Album), hit #44 on the UK albums chart, #98 on the US albums chart, and was named on The Guardian, NME, Uncut and Consequence Of Sound’s best of 2015 lists. “Multi-Love”, the title track and single, was A-listed at BBC 6 Music, and was nominated for Single Of The Year. I’m feeling #58 for this one, but maybe that is too high?
> Kings - "Don’t Worry Bout’ It"
One thing I love about Kings - its a cool rap name, and its his actual name (short for Kingdon). The second thing I love: the longest running #1 on the NZ Artist Singles chart is this song - it was the best selling single by a NZ artist for 33 straight weeks, winning Kings a Breakthrough Artist Of The Year award in 2016, then Best Selling NZ Single and Radio Airplay Record Of The Year in 2017. I’m feeling #100 for this track, though I could be talked into putting it higher.
> Aaradhna - "Brown Girl"
A fun bit of Aotearoa Music Awards lore: Aaradhna’s album Brown Girl was nominated for four awards in 2016, and won two: Best Female Solo Artist and Best Urban/Hiphop Album … but when she was given the award, she abruptly (and rightly) announced that she felt her R&B album was only in the category for race-motivated reasons, and gave the award to SWIDT instead. “Brown Girl” is worth including for that reason alone. Let’s pop it at #114.
> Lorde - “Green Light”
Count me among those who think Lorde’s second album Melodrama is better than her first album (Pure Heroine). “Green Light” peaked at #1 in NZ, #4 in Australia, #9 in Canada, #19 in the US and #20 in the UK, and was listed on the Best Songs Of 2017 lists of over 20 different publications worldwide. It also won a Single Of The Year award at the Aotearoa Music Awards.
Look, Lorde is a once in a generation musical success. We’ve already got “Royals” at #1. I reckon “Green Light” should be #29.
> Marlon Williams - "Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore"
Marlon Williams is another one of those artists that is beloved by everyone who knows about him, but somehow floats under the radar. This song is a late album highlight from his second album Make Way For Love featuring a guest appearance from Aldous Harding (we’ll come back to her in a moment). The song won an APRA Silver Scroll, while the album won Album Of The Year and Best Solo Artist at the Aotearoa Music Awards. I’m feeling #49 for this one.
> The Beths - "Future Me Hates Me"
How good are The Beths? They released their debut album Future Me Hates Me in the second half of 2018, and by the middle of 2019 they were literally touring the UK with Death Cab For Cutie. Future Me Hates Me launched their career in a huge way; they remind me of Garageland back in the 1990s. This song is brilliant and I reckon it should sit at #69.
> L.A.B. - "In The Air"
L.A.B. have released six albums to date: L.A.B., L.A.B. II, L.A.B. III, L.A.B. IV, L.A.B. V and L.A.B. VI. I know I’ve said I don’t like this kind of music, but L.A.B. have been a massive success. “In The Air” is an undeniably catchy track, and was their first #1 single. I don’t even know how many Aotearoa Music Awards they’ve won; lets just say “all of them, I think” and pop this at #135.
> Benee - "Supalonely"
> Benee - "Glitter"
Here is the thing: “Supalonely” is arguably the more popular track (peaked at #2 on the NZ chart, won Single of the Year at the Aotearoa Music Awards), but “Glitter” is the better song of the two, winning a Silver Scroll and placing on the Triple J Hottest 100. Another excellent pop export from this country who is thriving in Australia and Europe, I reckon both tracks deserve to be on the list so I’m putting “Supalonely” at #122 and “Glitter” at #80.
> Aldous Harding - "The Barrel"
I’m going to tell you now, the video for “The Barrel” is one of the weirdest I’ve posted here. But don’t let that put you off: “The Barrel” is a gorgeous song, an APRA Silver Scroll winning track that anchors her 2019 album Designer, an album that was cited as one of the best of 2019 in Billboard and Rolling Stone. I reckon Aldous deserves to be on the list, so I’m placing her at #93.
Okay, we’re almost done - just one more batch of tracks to consider. Including today, we’ve got 159 songs in total - here is the updated playlist:
Kia ora e te whanau - thanks for reading!
And please make sure you vote and share and all that good stuff.
See you later in the week,
Chris