JMG Top Ten For 2014

For the second year in a row, my favorite track of the year is by out and openly HIV+ singer/songwriter John Grant, whose collaboration with Hercules & Love Affair spawned a gorgeous modern dance video interpretation of Grant's tale of coming out positive to a lover. Culled from my Spotify playlists, here's my top ten for 2014.

1. John Grant - I Try To Talk To You
2. The 2 Bears - Not This Time
3. Duke Dumont - I Got U
4. Perfume Genius - Queen
5. Royksopp & Robyn - Monument
6. SBTRKT - New Dorp, New York
7. Clean Bandit - Rather Be
8. Dave Aude w/Andy Bell - Aftermath
9. Le1f - Boom
10. Bright Light Bright Light - I Believe

My 2013 list is here, my 2012 list is here. Let us know what your favorites for 2014 have been.

MORE FAVORITES:
Sufjan Stevens - A Little Lost
Erasure - Elevation
Aphex Twin - Minipops 67

BRITAIN: Alison Goldfrapp & John Grant Cover Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood

Synthpop artist Alison Goldfrapp and gay singer/songwriter John Grant (Pale Green Ghosts) teamed up at Royal Albert Hall last night to perform a cover of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's strange and dark 1968 classic, Some Velvet Morning, which in 2003 was ranked by the Telegraph as the best duet in British pop chart history. Hazlewood's line "some velvet morning when I'm straight, I'm gonna open up your gate," might take on a less drug-drenched meaning when sung by Grant.


(Tipped by JMG reader Peg)

John Grant - I Try To Talk To You

Gay singer/songwriter John Grant, whose 2013 hit Pale Green Ghosts topped my year-end list of favorites, has joined up with Hercules & Love Affair, whom you may know from their huge 2008 smash Blind. Great track, lovely vocals, gorgeous dancing.

UPDATE: Hercules & Love Affair's Andy Butler speaks about the lyrics: "I asked John to dig deep with his lyrical contribution. I had no idea he would dig so deep. He tackled the story of becoming HIV positive, and while I mentioned to him that he did not need to go there if he was not comfortable, in that beautifully punky, spirited and courageous way he has about him, he told me that was what the song was going to be about. What came of it is an elegant song featuring John pouring his heart out."

John Grant - Glacier

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that John Grant's Pale Green Ghosts was my favorite track of 2013. Today Grant released a video for his follow-up single. Via press release:

John Grant is proud to share his unflinching and moving new video for "Glacier," off his 2013 album Pale Green Ghosts. The song's lyrics tackle the experience of suffering from struggles associated with homophobia (John is publicly out and HIV positive) -- but they are universal in how they tackle all types of oppression -- and are ultimately uplifting and empowering. The video juxtaposes these themes with footage from various moments in LGBT history. From news footage during WWII and Wizard of Oz, all the way through Stonewall and Harvey Milk, culminating with the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, the legalization of gay marriage, and Blue Is The Warmest Color.

Don't you pay them fuckers as they say no never mind
They don't give two shits about you 
It's the blind leading the blind
What they want is commonly referred to as theocracy
And what that boils down to is referred as hypocrisy

Definitely watch the final three minutes. Get it here.

JMG Top Ten Tracks For 2013

Culled from my Spotify favorites playlist, here's my annual roundup of the tracks that got the most play this year at Casa JMG. Some of them appeared here during the year, some did not.

1. John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts
(Openly gay, openly HIV+, very Dead Can Dance.)
2. Boy George - King Of Everything
(One of his loveliest ballads ever.)
3. The Knife - Full Of Fire
("Liberals giving me the nerve itch.")
4. David Bowie - Love Is Lost
(Hello Steve Riech Mix by James Murphy.)
5.  Nine Inch Nails - Copy Of A
(And the title track from Came Back Haunted.)
6. Brandon Maclean - Stupid
(Plus the Stereogamous remix on Spotify!)
7. Holy Ghost! - Dumb Disco Ideas
(Delicious nu-disco out of Brooklyn.)
8. Young Galaxy - Pretty Boy
(The Peaking Lights remix is very New Order-y.)
9. BT - Skylarking
(Glorious trance that evokes the mid-90s.)
10.  Lindstrøm - Lanzarote
(Instrumental retro Italo featuring Todd Terje.)

MORE FAVORITES:
FKA Twigs - Water Me
Bright Light Bright Light - In Your Care 
Purple Crush - Thirsty
Chicane - One Thousand Suns

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the Karpel Group, today's Swag Tuesday prize is Pale Green Ghosts, the new album by openly gay and openly HIV+ artist John Grant. Pale Green Ghosts is now on sale.   From the review on Pitchfork:

Grant's regal baritone makes his sadness and his anger sound that much more serious-- but throughout the album there's some delight mixed in with all the spite, a sadistic little smirk lodged in the flesh-ripping sarcasm. On "GMF", he flips between braggadocio ("But I am the greatest motherfucker that you’re ever going to meet") and backhands ("You think I hate myself but it’s you I hate"). "Remember how we used to fuck all night long?" he asks on "You Don't Have To", only to answer, "Neither do I." It's eviscerating and almost funny, but maybe not ha-ha funny. On the chorus of "Vietnam" he extends the metaphor of just how his ex has laid his life to waste, but the real decimation comes with the outro: "And the only thing that brings me any comfort/ Is the knowledge that no matter who you’re with/ You’ll always be alone." Grant is plummeting to the depths, and exacting payback through incisive emotional terror as he goes down.

We have three copies of Pale Green Ghosts to give away. Enter to win by commenting on this post. Only enter once and please remember to leave an email address. Entries close at midnight on Thursday, west coast time. Publicists: If you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.

John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts

The Irish Times writes today about openly HIV+ singer and songwriter John Grant:

There are confessional songwriters, and then there is John Grant. The Michigan-born, Colorado-raised musician had been celebrated as a lyricist throughout his tenure with The Czars, the band he fronted for 10 years until their split in 2004. Yet it was the release of his astounding solo debut, Queen of Denmark, in 2010 that brought brought his music – and his propensity for pouring out his heart in it – to a wider audience. Queen of Denmark laid Grant’s soul bare, and three years later it’s still buck-naked and trembling with cold on Pale Green Ghosts, the follow-up to that inordinately successful record. In real life, Grant is just as open and honest as his songs would suggest; so much so, that our 75-minute-long interview seems to resemble a therapy session at times.

Anybody else getting a Dead Can Dance vibe?

(Tipped by JMG reader Kevin)