The Bacon Review

An annual Top 31 countdown of the best albums of the year

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#28 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Jungle

January 04, 2019 by Royal Stuart

For Ever by Jungle

Disco is most certainly not dead. Or maybe there’s just a long, drawn-out resurgence happening, as indicated by last year’s #3 album, Everything Now by Arcade Fire. Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson, otherwise known as Jungle, are carrying the disco torch, dancing their way onto the Top 31 here at #28.

Josh and Tom, friends since they were nine and living next door to each other in London, have been making music as Jungle since 2013. While their self-titled debut album didn’t make the 2014 Top 31, their video for “Time” did make an appearance on the Bacon Review. Fast forward a few years and the duo has been able to put together solid collection of fantastically danceable songs that you need to hear.

The duo is known for putting themselves in the background, letting the music and dancers take the fore whenever possible. This makes the band feel more “alive” to me, as the music doesn’t sound like the result of two men pecking away at their laptops.

For Ever is solid from start to finish. Be sure to watch and pay attention to the above video, for the song “Cherry”. I don’t want to give anything away, but you really need to watch the video — it’s brilliant. “Cherry” is less disco than a lot of the other songs on the album, but it was the best video, and therefore it gets featured. The band has put out four other videos from this album, and they all fall in the same, pleasing genre: well-choreographed dancers moving to the sounds of the band. Simple and elegant. You should watch and enjoy them all:

  • “House in LA”
  • “Happy Man” and “Happy Man” (Director’s Cut) where the dancer shown briefly on the TV in the first video takes center stange and dances throughout the entire video.
  • “Heavy, California”

And really, watch the video featured above closely. You won’t be disappointed.

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29. Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz
30. Remain in Light by Angélique Kidjo
31. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet by Moonface

Subscribe to the 2018 Bacon Top 31 Apple Music playlist
2009-2017 Top 31s

January 04, 2019 /Royal Stuart
2018, advented, jungle, arcade fire
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