Everybody loves a list. In the absence of nights out in this part of 2020, James and Matt got together (at a safe distance – Manchester to New York is far enough, right?) to talk about nights out instead.
10. 50 Cent – In Da Club
It’s ya burfday. Bacardi is horrid though.
9. Earth, Wind and Fire – Boogie Wonderland
A classic that double delivers. Not only is it about dancing the night away to forget your worries, it’s a song to which you can do exactly that.
8. Young Knives – Up All Night
Is anyone actually having a good time? Up all night for the sake of it, again. At least I smell nice, so come on and breathe me in.
7. Andrew W.K. – Party Hard
I partied hard into an antique cabinet to this at a house party in about 2003. Apologies to whoever’s parents that belonged to.
6. LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk is Playing At My House
Night in for him, night out for everyone else. See also ‘All My Friends’ for the pre-party.
5. Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Ok she’s having a shit time on this night out but what a belter of a tune. The archetypal sad banger. I like to imagine Robyn chuckling at the thought of people dancing to it, together. Calum Scott can fuck off.
4. Warren G ft. Nate Dogg – Regulate
The activities in this night out are at best reprehensible and at worst highly illegal. It’s still great to enter an image of this g-funk lifestyle that most will never experience, if only for a short time.
3. Arctic Monkeys – all of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
From Alex Turner the arch-observer of nights out in northern cities in the early 00s. An album bursting with classic lines (far too many to include here) that will induce the warm feeling of nostalgia in many a 30-something.
2. The Streets – Blinded By The Lights
Only Mike Skinner could pen an account this honest. The good and the bad parts of the night are inseparable parts of the experience, all wrapped up in a simple arrangement of his unique narrative, sparse beat and dubstep style triplet hook.
1. Pulp – Sorted for Es and Wizz
Even if you’ve never been to/were too young for a “proper” illegal rave then this song still sums up a an element of the festival experience for many. Contains the immortal lines ‘and you want to call your mother and say: “mother, I can never come home because I’ve left an important part of my brain somewhere, somewhere in a field in Hampshire, alright’.
Picky Bastards 