Every month our co-founder Rich puts together a banging list of top notch tunes to make your day sound a little brighter... 

"So here we are at the end of 2019 and what a 365 days! In a year that started with me finishing a Master's and ends with me in a campervan in New Zealand, its time for this Goose to reflect on some of the music that has made our 2019...

A little disclaimer, this list isn't necessarily made up of our definitive favourite tracks (like I always forget some genuine corkers till they come up on some algorithm based music provider then you play it again to death) but these tracks are from some of our favourite EPs, albums or even singles from some of our fave bands or new gems we've discovered this year.

We kick things off with The Murder Capital, the second best band we've seen this year. We caught them at Truck festival in the summer a bit boozed up on luke warm tinnies and something stuck. Fast forward to October and The Murder Capital were one of my last gigs in the UK before scampering off and they blew me away. A brilliant debut album and a great way to start this month's playlist!

I don't want to go through everything song by song but next up is Idles. Admittedly released in 2018, the fact it was up for the Mercury Prize this year means it sneaks in on a technicality. This is the best album of the last maybe 5 years. It's the best live band I've seen in maybe the last 2 years. And are a band who are fast developing a cult status with a message that seeks to address toxic masculinity, the British political situation and immigration.

Basically Idles are an embodiment of everything that has gone wrong through austerity, the emergence of a 'hard right' and the fuckfest being created by a Conservative government. In short, the album and them themselves are a band that are fast becoming a modern day national treasure.

Alright, hyperbole over! I'll come off my soapbox and be a little more concise and brief...

Fontains DC released a cracking album and on my list to check out asap when I come back! Willie J Healey is back with a gem of an EP on Yala! and Songs for Johanna is brilliant little track and hints at a great 2020 for our fellow Oxfordian!

I'm not even taking credit for unearthing Julia Jacklin (that goes to Tess - my girlfriend for all out of the loop) whose already made a recent appearence with her cover of The Strokes 'Someday'. 'Crushin' is a lovely album and I've got my fingers crossed the Australian makes her way back to Somerset next summer for Glastonbury!

Two albums we cannot wait to drop already for next year are from Tame Impala and Caribou. The sensible ones of you would have already secured your All Points East tickets for May when you've got both bands playing in some joyous early summer day of chilled out greatness. The Caribou track in particular is a lovely piece of music and sees a welcome return for Dan Snaith.

Gotta quickly mention the UK contingent coming to the fore towards the back end of this list! This Michael Kiwanuka track is a geeeeem of an album opener.Little Simz killed with her 'Grey' album release with 'Selfish' being a standout track in my eyes!And Loyle Carner returned with a beauty of an album and with the nights drawing in in the UK, his collab with Jorja Smith for 'Loose Ends' seems a perfect way to draw a line under 2019.

It's been a year since we started throwing these playlists together and whilst they may not have been on the regular like we wanted, we've tried to bring a little a bit of musical joy direct to ya inbox every few weeks and hopefully this will '10 of the Best' will be no different!

So 2k20, bring it on!

And hope you all had a lovely a Christmas and NYE ✌️

Rich x 

Co-founder of Goose Studios