CHILDISH GAMBINO
Redbone ★★★★
Glassnote
So, what did you accomplish in 2016? Actor and rapper Donald Glover wrote, pr,oduced and starred in a 10-part TV show that, even in the golden age of television, still competed favourably with the likes of Game of Thrones, Narcos and Stranger Things, as one of the critics' favourite shows of the year. For most industry types – hell, for most any type – any one of those accolades alone would be cause enough to celebrate.
But in December, he dropped an additional surprise, a critically acclaimed album in which he eschewed rap and made his bones as a psychedelic funk singer. And in this live performance on Jimmy Fallon before Christmas, he proved that insane falsetto he showcased on the album wasn't the product of studio trickery. It was legit. If anyone reading this needs to feel less inadequate, I will offer this morsel of comfort: for a guy performing shirtless on TV, Glover really isn't that ripped. Yeah, it's a crumb. But, it's really all we've got.
CABBAGE
Dinner Lady ★★
Play and Record Records
One of the contenders for the BBC's Sound of 2017 is "socially conscious" Manchester five-piece Cabbage, who describe their music as an "idiosyncratic, satirical attack in the form of discordant neo post-punk". Dinner Lady is their most popular song. It's about a male dinner lady at a posh school who protests the privilege inherent in the British class system by having a "wank in the quiche". Top, top satire, guys – as Jamie Redknapp might say. I haven't seen social commentary as incisive since The Sultans of Ping FC's seminal Where's Me Jumper? stirred the conscience of a generation a quarter century ago.
BASTILLE
Blame ★★
Virgin
The third video from the English indie band's second studio album opens with a quote from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It ends with them converting asylum inmates to their cause. God is dead, folks. There's really no other explanation...
