Tag: Julie Byrne

Posted in Album of the Month, podcast

Podcast Episode 37 | Julie Byrne | The Greater Wings

Posted on by misterstory

EP. 63 | Our Top 10 Albums of 2025 – This Is Not Happening – An Album Of The Month Podcast

Festive Greetings from This Is Not Happening and welcome to our year-end, 2025 wrap-up episode. As always we split the pod into Part 1 and Part 2.Part 1 features our Top 10 favourite albums of 2025. We use a proprietary algorithm to create our list our collective favourite albums, we're talking nascent data-science excellence! Every year it throws up some surprises as our tastes are so different (and in some ways so similar.Part 2 features a festive Spin It or Bin It. We each bring a candidate for track of the year and ask the age old question 'Spin It or Bin It' … will anyone really bin anyone elses Track of the Year? Probably.To retain the tension, I won't share any spoilers here … other than to share a 40 track playlist of some of our favourite 2025 tracks … here.Whatever you do at this time of year, who ever you do it with … have a good one.Please join us in January where we will go back to the usual format of Album of the Month + Spin It or Bin It.We've been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/
  1. EP. 63 | Our Top 10 Albums of 2025
  2. EP. 62 | Juniper | Joy Crookes
  3. EP.61 | Blood Orange | Essex Honey
  4. EP.60 | Wet Leg | Moisturizer
  5. EP.59 | Little Simz | Lotus

Welcome to Episode 37 of This is Not Happening. An Album of the Month Podcast where in Part 1 we deep dive into an Album that one of us has chosen and in Part 2 we play ‘Spin it or Bin it’.  This is where we pick a theme and each select a song that represents that theme. We judge each others selections by asking the question ‘Spin It or Bin It’? This month, we get pretty emotional about Julie Byrne’s latest album ‘The Greater Wings’ in Part 1. In Part 2, Spin it or Bin it theme is ‘no human sounds’. All will be explained …

Part 1 | Julie Byrne | The Greater Wings

It’s Joey’s choice this month and for the 2nd time in This is Not Happening history he chooses a beautiful album by Julie Byrne. We’re in the indie-folk-ambience hinterlands from a stylist perspective. From an emotional perspective we’re right at the intersection of beauty, grief, loss, hope and reflection. We talk about what this album is, how there’s more than one way to experience it, our favourite tracks and what it means to us.

  • Visit Julie Byrne’s websitehere
  • Listen to this stunning album here
  • Buy some of Julie’s stuff here

Here are a few links for some background;

Part 2 | Spin It or Bin It | ‘No Human Sounds’

This one was way harder than it sounded at first. The theme this month is ‘No Human Sounds’. We started with no vocals, then decided no human sounds at all, then we added that it couldn’t be ‘dance music’. Joey suggested we define ‘dance music’, he got laughed at … then we got into an argument about all of Guys choices being dance music. 

We all chose a track that fits the theme then ask the others a simple question ‘spin it or bin it?’

In order to select our tracks we shortlist 4 each and create a 16 track playlist that can be found here.

*** Enjoy the Episode ***

We’ve been writing the blog for years come and have a look – https://thisisnothappening.net/

Posted in Music chat

2017, I think it was good?

Posted on by nolankane706

What must have been 6 or 7 years ago brother Joseph and I went out for a few Christmas beers one afternoon and amongst the conversation was the idea of what became the early beginnings of this collaboration of music sharing and discussion. The blog in its’ own right in 5 years old.. so good on us for sticking to it!

Looking back we have had some great albums, and this year is no exception. For me 2017 has been a strong year for new artists whilst it has also welcomed back a few that were due some fantastic new material. I found myself buying allot more albums this year, and looking at what is due in 2018 I hope it continues.

I always struggle with lists, but off the top my head here are my highlights for this year (songs and albums) in no particular order. Like last year, I left off top songs that are on albums that are in my top 10.

 

Top Songs

Jay-Z – The Story of O.J.

Tom Rosenthal – Soon Goodbye Now Love

Masta Ace – Young Black Intelligent (feat. Pav Bundy, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble & Chuck D)

Evidene – Jim Dean

Daphni – Face to Face

Whitesquare – Definition of Anticipation

Home – Joe Goddard

Rapsody – Power ft. Kendrick Lamar, Lance Skiiiwalker

Sampha – (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano

Julia Byrne – Follow My Voice

 

Top Albums

Aesop Rock – The Impossible Kid

LCD Soundsystem – American Dream

Bicep – Bicep

Auldus Harding – Party

Agnes Obel – Citizen Of Glass

Loyle Carner – Yesterday’s Gone

Four Tet – New Energy

Nick Mulvey – Wake Up Now

Kendrick Lemar – Damn

Run The Jewels – Run The Jewelz 3

 

 

Posted in Album of the Month

Not Even Happiness – Julie Byrne

Posted on by misterstory

Happy (just about) June Brothers. I am going to stick with the tradition of starting my AOTM post by apologising. I have been under-active on our little blog and I am very late to the June AOTM party. The reasons are the same as usual. Life is too hectic and I am poor at managing it. I have taken steps, I am currently working my notice period and changing jobs with the aim of a longer term better quality of life. Another change that I have made this year is that I have not let me love of music suffer at the hands of a hectic life. My escape into music this year has focused mostly on calm and ‘therapeutic’ additions to my new-music folders. ‘Not Even Happiness’ is no exception to this trend.

I would like to present what I consider to be, a thing of beauty. It’s probably filed under ‘Folk’ of some sort but Guy, please don’t let that put you off. For me this is irrelevant as this works on so many levels and for so many environments. I listen to this all the time. It’s been a universal constant in my life since it was released earlier in the year. Back in the cold of Feb and March it felt like a warm winter blanket. In April and May it felt like shoots springing-up through new ground. Now it feels like a cold beer on a sticky evening, chilling out on the decking. There few albums that can pull off this trick.

I won’t go track by track on this one as I could make a strong claim for each one to be my favourite or my ‘stand-out’ track from the album. The instrumentation is simple, sparse basic. Her voice is immaculate and the production of her voice matches this perfection. Her range is impressive but she never feels the need to make a show of it. There are no fancy, show-off vocal embellishments, there is no need. Her finger picking is beautiful. I think its interesting that she chooses to use an electric guitar rather than an acoustic guitar on some tracks. The guitar is paired with a small and varied number of other instruments through out the album, few tracks have more than 2 or 3 instruments and I think I am write to say that there is no percussion on the whole album?

The result is a hauntingly beautiful collection of songs that merge and sway into one another like clothes on a line. This album brings out the best in me. It makes me smile, and loving, and grateful, and thankful. It makes me kiss my wife and ruffle my kids hair. I am a happier person for this album being in my life. I hope that you enjoy it and I hope it makes a similar emotional dent in your life.

Happy listening. As always, if you can give it a run through on headphones you won’t be disappointed.