What's Spinning

Cross post from the Feb Challenge Thread:

Day 17 - Presidential

Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer (#Merky Records, 2017 First Pressing)


I will go with Stormzy and his fantastic album 'Gang Signs & Prayer'. It was the first grime album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart and won British Album of the Year at the 2018 Brit Awards.

The reason I personally like Stormzy so much is that he doesn't particularly care about living up to the typical gangster image. He's like a big kid who pays tribute to people other musicians that grime artists would never dare to (he's regularly declared his love for the likes of Adele and Ed Sheeran for example). He also pushes changes for the good of others. At the Brit Awards in 2018 he performed a freestyle that called out Theresa May for not responding during the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the next day 10 Downing street issued an official statement. He also launched the Stormzy scholarship which paid for several students course and maintenance fees to allow them to attend Cambridge University. Basically, he seems like a great guy!

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Twenty One Pilots - Trench (2018)

I didn't like Blurryface when it came out. Still don't. So I wrote this band off as being a modern "emo" one hit wonder. Then they released Jumpsuit. Easily one of the best hard rock tracks in recent years. Next thing you know, this album made my top 10 of 2018. Hope they can recreate this magic again 🍻
 
Townes Van Zandt - Our Mother The Mountain (Fat Possum, 2019 VMP Exclusive Pressing on 'Fuego' Vinyl)

I went from never hearing of Townes Van Zandt to listening to every one of his songs twice, amassing a decent collection of records, and reading his biography (which is thicker than a brick) all in the space of a year or so. Cant get enough and this record is absolutely fantastic!

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