Ever since I went back to work a few weeks ago, I've been mining my
music collection for inspirational tunes to kick me swiftly into gear. I rediscovered Hamilton Bohannon's Let's Start the
Dance, an infectious disco dazzler repeated almost to ad nauseum, well at least for my neighbour. Grooving seventies sounds soothe with Joe Tex's Congratulations, Abba's I'm a Marionette and Henri Schwartz's take on Womack and Womack's Conscious of my Conscience. Grace Jones pops up with Breakdown, Patsy Cline takes things briefly back to the 1950s with Ain't No
Wheels on this Ship while Ghoul's Lodum (Rising) is as close to the current year as I get with this
Mixtape. The dancing continues with Zoot Woman's bouncy Seven Days and Echo and the Bunnymen's The Cutter, but after Nina Hagen's Atomic Flash De Luxe, the pace begins to slow, sort of. Two acts that never disappoint are Queens of the Stone Age and Aimee Mann, both slated to have new albums this year. The stunning Make it Wit Chu and the superb Superball, Queens and Aimee respectively, easily make this playlist. Which leaves
Jenny Wilson's fabulous Bad Waters from Hardships! though the version I'm loving this
time round is the reworking found on Blazing 1. And lastly, German band The Notwist with Pilot, a beautiful slice of melancholic electronica. So there it is, a set of strong and inspirational tracks for what's going to be a tremendous year.
