THE ANTI-HIT LIST

AN ALTERNATIVE TOP 10

10. DAMON ALBARN “The Marvelous Dream” On which the Blur/gorillaz founder serves up the first taste of an album inspired by the life of John Dee, an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I who was also an occultist. Recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, this gentle preview falls into the “pastoral folk” slot of an album reportedly also influenced by pop and African music. (From out May 8, bit.ly/ damondee)

Dr. Dee,

9. GRANDPA WAS A LION

“Strawberry Fields Forever” This dazed, chillwave take on the John Lennon/beatles sonic masterpiece is the beneficiary of a kind of implied elaboration: You can’t help but hear the aurally extravagant original unspooling in your head while this Brooklyn four-piece strums away on its glassy, unadorned version (bit.ly/lionfields)

8. DEEP SEA ARCADE

“Girls” There’s only one way to capture the sound of a genre without being in the middle of the scene, and that’s being as far away from it as possible. Clearly this Aussie outfit has an abiding affection for mid-’90s Britpop — they recently opened for Noel Gallagher — but their physical and temporal distance also means they’ve had to figure out how that music works by a method other than osmosis. The result is a detailed, almost formal evocation that gets inside the sound the way only outsiders could. (From

bit.ly/seagirls)

Outlands,

7. DAVID BOWIE VS. GEORGE MICHAEL

“Put on Your Red Shoes and Dance Naked with Dad” This left-field mash-up has the audacity to pair two hit singles that have absolutely nothing in common beyond a shared de- Dot Rotten’s clever grime creation is “Overload.” cade: the former’s big ’80s commercial play, “Let’s Dance,” and the latter’s emotionally naked ballad “Father Figure.” Other than overcrowding on the chorus, the combination has the effect of bleeding out whatever exuberance exists in the music and allowing the song’s anxietyridden lyrics (“Let’s dance for fear your grace should fall”) to find a more natural habitat. (bit.ly/davidgeorge)

6. GARBAGE

“Battle in Me” The bassline in the intro sounds like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” — not exactly a promising start for the comeback single from Shirley Manson & Co.’s first album in seven years. But then something unexpected happens in the chorus: five one-second blackouts, during which the music suddenly drops out, as though someone keeps accidentally hitting the pause button. Not many acts can con-

5. DOT ROTTEN

struct a song in which the most anticipated element is a repeated absence of sound. (From Not Your Kind of

People, out May 15, bit.ly/garbattle) “Overload” Were it not for his chosen genre, 24-year-old South Londoner Joseph Ellis might have a shot at the title of Next Big British Export. Given the rude welcome that grime luminaries such as Dizzee Rascal, Wiley and Tinie Tempeh (the last two of whom Ellis has worked) have received on this continent, however, we wouldn’t bet on it. Which is a shame, since this on-the-verge new single makes particularly effective use of a sample from Robert Miles’ haunting 1996 instrumental “Children” (bit.ly/mileskid), creating an unusual brand of rhythmic melancholy in the process. (bit.ly/dotload)

4. THE ELWINS & LUKE LALONDE

“Countdown” It’s hard to make something the butt of a joke when you have to concentrate too hard to tell it. Beyoncé’s distractingly twitchy single from last year arguably boasts more chord changes, odd meters, tempo shifts, and flat-out musical challenges than much of the fare typically performed by Born Ruffians’ frontman Lalonde and the pride of Keswick, Ont., The Elwins. To their collective credit, they’re more than up to the task, navigating through the song’s sharp turns without once breaking into a sweat — or a sneer. (bit.ly/elwindown)

3. BEATRICE ELI

“The Conqueror” This week’s ridiculously high-quality Swedish entry comes courtesy of a singer-songwriter who sounds alternately vulnerable and threatening, often within the space of a single couplet. While the atmospheric synth washes deepen the song’s rainy-despair aspect, Eli gets her point across just as effectively on the solo-piano version, also available at the URL that follows. (bit.ly/elitunes)

2. MADONNA VS. M VS. GERSHON KINGSLEY

“Make You Popcorn” By surrounding Madonna’s last truly great single, 2000’s “Music,” with a trailblazing novelty from the late-’60s and a surprisingly enduring synth-pop hit from the late-’70s, mash-up mastermind GR3ST has given her something we didn’t know she could even use: historical context. Moog pioneer Kingsley is represented here by “Popcorn,” later turned into a hit by Hot Butter, while one-hit wonder M contributes “Pop Muzik.” Toss in a few bits of Diplo & Don Diablo’s more contemporary “Make You Pop,” and you end up with one sharp, self-referential simultaneous medley. Or, to quote the immortal Mr. M, “La la la la la la la la lahh.” (bit.ly/madgeup)

1. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

“Sweater Weather” “It’s too cold for you here and now/ So let me hold both your hands/ In the holes of my sweater.” While this Ventura County band’s first single, “Female Robbery,” (bit.ly/femrob) was as much atmosphere as melody, this follow-up is sharper. This time, you can sing easily along with the ambience. Written from the point of view of a man but sung by a woman, the lyrics exploit that gender reversal to invest a passing reference such as “You in those little high-waisted shorts” with a jolt it might not otherwise have. Despite the band’s California roots, they seem destined to break first in the U.K., which, for Brit-enamoured Canadian music fans, just makes them that much more appealing. (thenbhd.com) For this and previous Anti-hit Lists, bookmark this link: bit.ly/antihit

jsakamoto@thestar.ca