It's my first post of the new year and, though late to the game, I wanted to share my favourite music from last year. 2016 was a notoriously terrible year (not that this year is exactly peachy so far!), but thankfully the same can't be said of the music that came out last year. It was, to quote Lisa Simpson's insensitive future fiancé, like a flower that grew out of a pot of dirt. I feel spoiled by the amount and variety of quality music I've been enjoying from last year's offerings. There are the gorgeous vintage European pop sounds of The Yearning and Lia Pamina, the visionary retrofuturism of Adrian Younge, the moving, classic songwriting of Big Smoke, the raw garage rock of The Mystery Lights, some fresh takes on dream pop, and many outings in psychedelic-influenced, experimental pop. Some of these albums have quickly become all-time favourites, not just favourites of the year. Below is a playlist of songs from my most-loved releases of 2016, including albums, singles and EPs, in no particular order. A list of my top eleven albums (I could not narrow it down to ten!) of the year – again, in no specific order – follows it.

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If you prefer Spotify, listen here. Update: By request, now also on Deezer (but missing the Samara Lubelski song).

Tracklist:

A mix for Halloween featuring music from 70s European horror soundtracks, eerie vintage folk-pop, contemporary pop noir and more. Last year, I made a devil-themed mix drawing from a similar range of artists, but where that one was skin-crawlingly creepy, this is more softly unnerving, with undercurrents of romance and sensuality. It makes me vaguely picture an imaginary classic horror film where a beautiful heroine is lured into a haunted forest by an irresistible but diabolical lover. Amid the prettily haunting sounds, there are still some genuinely terrifying moments – Goblin's bloodcurdling 'Sighs', from Suspiria, for example – should this ominous realm start to feel too cosy. 

The mix image is Elsa Martinelli in Roger Vadim's 1960 vampire flick, Et mourir de plaisir (aka Blood and Roses).

Tracklist (Hide details)

1. François De Roubaix - Les Lèvres Rouges (1971)
   From the Les Lèvres Rouges (Daughters of Darkness) soundtrack.
2. Beautify Junkyards - Longo Amanhã (2015)
   From The Beast Shouted Love.
3. Ennio Morricone - Astratto IV (1971)
   From the Veruschka - poesia di una donna soundtrack.
4. Marianne Faithfull - Oh Look Around You (1965)
   From her self-titled debut album.
5. Daniela Casa - Ignoto (1975)
   From Società Malata, reissued on Penny Records in 2013, and again on Dagored this year.
6. Death and Vanilla - Shadow and Shape (2015)
   From To Where The Wild Things Are.
7. Comus - Bitten (1971)
   From First Utterance.
8. The Paradise Motel - Bad Light (1996)
   From Still Life.
9. Broadcast - The Sacred Marriage (2013)
   From the soundtrack to Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio.
10. Jenny Hval - In the Red (2016)
    From Blood Bitch.
11. Cat's Eyes - Pavane (2015)
    From the soundtrack to another Strickland film, The Duke of Burgundy.
12. Françoise Hardy - The Rose (1966)
    From Hardy's first English language album, In English.
13. Piero Umiliani - Nocturne (1973)
    From To-Day's Sound, reissued on Easy Tempo in 1997.
14. Ennio Morricone - Metamorfosi (1971)
    From the La classe operaia va in paradiso.
15. Laurence Vanay - Soleil Rouge (1974)
    From Galaxies, reissued on Lion Productions in 2013, and as a double LP this year.
16. Espers - Flowery Noontide (2005)
    From Espers.
17. Cat's Eyes - Black Madonna (2015)
    From The Duke of Burgundy.
18. Les Maledictus Sound - Heathcliff Y Cry Your Name (1968)
    From Attention (or arguably Les Maledictus Sound - I'm uncertain of the correct title), the only release by this band helmed by Jean-Pierre Massiera.
19. Keith Seatman - A Slight of Hand (2013)
    From Boxes Windows & Secret Hidey-Holes.
20. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - The False Husband (2006)
    From Ballad Of The Broken Seas.
21. Jane Weaver - Parade of Blood Red Sorrows (2013)
    From the 2015 compilation The Amber Light. Originally released on the Initiaani Kesä soundtrack. 
22. Belbury Poly - Pan's Garden (2006)
    From The Owl's Map.
23. Spirogyra - Old Boot Wine (1973)
    From the 2004 compilation Gather In The Mushrooms – The British Acid Folk Underground 1968-1974. Originally from the album Bells, Boots and Shambles.
24. Phillip Lambro / Orriel Smith - Hannah Emerges In the Night (1973)
    Originally from the Crypt of the Living Dead soundtrack, this was included as a bonus track on the 2011 digital issue of Smith's 1968 single, 'Tiffany Glass' (which was also written by Lambro).
25. Still Corners - Demons (2011)
    From Creatures of an Hour.
26. Acanthus - Sleeping Beauty (Samba Des Vampires) (1971)
    From the soundtrack to Jean Rollin's Le Frisson des vampires, released by Finders Keepers Records in 2010.
27. Emil Richards - Opal (October) (1966)
    From New Sound Element "Stones", reissued by The Omni Recording Corporation in 2012.
28. Lake Ruth - One Night As I Lay On My Bed (2016)
    From Actual Entity.
29. Colleen - Le Labyrinthe (2007)
    From Les Ondes Silencieuses.
30. Angelo Badalamenti - Laura's Dark Boogie (1990)
    From Twin Peaks: Season Two Music and More (2007).
31. Maxine Sullivan - Dark Eyes (1938)
    From the 1997 compilation The Chronological Classics: Maxine Sullivan 1937-1938.
32. Jean Prodromidès - Carmilla et Léopoldo (1960)
    From the Et mourir de plaisir (Blood and Roses) soundtrack.
33. Harmonic 33 - Long Shadow (2005)
    From Music For Film, Television & Radio, Volume 1.
34. Goblin - Sighs (1977)
    From the soundtrack to Dario Argento's Suspiria, reissued on Bella Casa's The Awakening box set in 2012.
35. Harper / Russe / St. George  - Nightwalker (1972)
    From Electrosonic, a library music record Don Harper, Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson (the latter two under pseudonyms) made for KPM, reissued by Glo-Spot in 2006.
36. Clara Rockmore - Rachmaninoff: Vocalise (1977)
    From The Art of the Theremin.
37. Ela Orleans - Nocturne (2012)
    From Tumult In Clouds.
38. Elysian Fields - Black Acres (2000) – Free download available from Epitonic.
    From Queen Of The Meadow.
39. Luboš Fišer - Blood Red Rose (1972)
    From the Morgiana soundtrack, released by Finders Keepers Records in 2013.
40. Mono In VCF - We Could've Owned The World (2008)
    From Mono In VCF.

In this clip from Show Tom Jones, which aired on French television on July 30 1966, Serge Gainsbourg performs his marvellous 'Qui est "In" qui est "Out". The show was a one-off special hosted by Tom Jones and mostly features performances by him, but some French artists show up as well, including Françoise Hardy, Eric Charden, Zouzou and Pussy Cat. There are a mix of live and lip-synched performances – Gainsbourg's here being the latter, though he is as charismatic as ever.

Who needs fancy effects when you have Gainsbourg, a razor blade and some large paper signs? I enjoy his manner here, a mix of his natural shyness and an amusingly affected disinterest. This is one of my favourite Gainsbourg songs – it has that groovy organ, great guitar and a relentless stomping beat, and there's the nerdly satisfaction of the way the first two lines of each verse end with "in" or "out" syllables. And nothing beats upbeat cynicism in pop, of which Gainsbourg is of course the master. But amidst the thick cynicism here – which I think you can feel even if you don't understand the lyrics – there is something about the melody I find oddly moving. I get strangely emotional when I hear this song, both because of that quality and just because I find the song so overwhelmingly good.

Though Gainsbourg's appeal and a sense of emotional connection to his songs transcend language, there is something key those of us who don't speak French miss out on. Luckily, there are some resources that help bridge that gap. My Own Role is an excellent collection of English translations of Gainsbourg's songs, but sadly 'Qui est "in" qui est "out"' is not there. But there is a good translation on the blog French One Song At A Time, though it's worth noting "le Cashbox" in the lyrics actually refers to the music charts magazine Cashbox. There's also Mick Harvey's English cover 'Who Is "In" Who Is "Out"' from 1997's Pink Elephants. I love Harvey's versions – the translations are faithful while being carefully adjusted to suit the English language and to preserve rhyming schemes. Happily, he has just released a new album of Gainsbourg covers, Delirium Tremens.

I have a couple more clips from this show up on Youtube: Marianne Faithfull singing 'Si demain', and Françoise Hardy performing 'La Maison ou j'ai grandi' & 'Il est des choses', briefly chatting with Tom Jones between songs. 

I'm feeling spoiled this year thanks to all the quality Christmas music I've found online that the artists have generously made available for free download. Below is my list of finds. Got any more to add?

There are plenty of Go-Betweens mp3s on the sites posted below for the uninitiated, or anyone whose CD collection has mysteriously whittled down over time. I do prefer the originals, but these covers are a little more in line with what I usually post:

Ivy - Streets Of Your Town (2002)

Souvenir - Spring Rain (2001)

To me, a sign of flawless pop is that it can stand up to various interpretations. Interesting to hear how easily these tracks lend themselves to this style - chic, gentle pop with femme vocals. My hope would be that, for those of you who would not normally be drawn to The Go-Betweens' style of music, hearing these could serve as a bridge to appreciating it. There is much prettiness to these, but to me, more beauty in the originals.

'Spring Rain' is actually a Robert Forster song, but I thought it would be nice to include Spanish band Souvenir's cover (in French), to show how far and wide love for them has spread over the years. And because I know you guys are suckers for the French stuff.

Buy: Souvenir - Points de Suspension: Shelflife Records, Jabalina Música, Bandcamp. The Go-Betweens - 16 Lovers Lane, Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, 5 Album Set.