Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)

The past few weeks have seen releases from a CYHSY side project, as well as a solo effort from frontman Alec Ounsworth, but neither compare to this album, which was self-released back in 2005. In fact, even CYHSY have yet to produce anything half as good as their debut. I'm listening to this album properly for the first time in a long while, and it still hasn't lost it's immediate impact to astound and amaze. Ounsworth's vocals - he slurs like a drunk stroke victim throughout the album - add to CYSHY's unique sound, and the cherry on top of this tasty little cake is 'The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth' which is, dare I suggest it, perfect.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)

The Hold Steady – Boys & Girls In America (2006)

Oh my fucking Jesus - this is the epitome of BOSS! I cannot put into words how good this album is - other than saying that it is the soundtrack of fat guys in their 30s getting drunk and trying to party with hot girls in their 20s - and so instead I will regale you with an anecdote which I hope will convey my feelings. Last December, me & Douchey Dave went to go see the Hold Steady play live in Manchester. After an epic train journey, we were met by my housemate's boyfriend (good lad; he's called Robert E. Lee, and has a cool little beard, and is an Americana DJ who runs his own night) who was putting up for the night. He escorted us to his house and, after spending about an hour offering to cook us soup, me & Dave headed into town to start drinking. We went to a pub that used to be a gent's toilet, and then some little bar where we drunk Apple Mojitos, before heading to the venue. After a few pairs of pints, we wormed our way into the overwhemingly male, early middle-aged crowd to get a good position, not remembering the effect that alcohol has on bladders. Desperately needing a slash, but not wanting to lose our place, we did what any one in our position would do - subtly piss into out empty pint glasses. Job done, we placed the full pint glasses on the floor, and continued rocking. A few minutes later we wondered why our feet were wet, only to realise the horrible truth. But we actually didn't care - if anything, it added to the moment - as we were already covered in sweat and beer. People often say "that was the best gig ever!" after every bloody gig, but when we said it after this one, we both genuinely meant it - it has yet to be beaten for pure, simple enjoyment. Oh, and the lead singer Craig Finn-Lad said to the entire crowd something along the lines of "we aren't just the Hold Steady, YOU are all the Hold Steady as well" - but he was just talking to me & Dave, honest, and so we're both offically members of the band, but me more than Dave. After the gig we got a pack of beers, went back to Rob's house, and drunk until the early morning, while listening to Venetian-future-disco. That's the kind of crazy shit this album does to you. Enjoy.

The Hold Steady – Boys & Girls In America (2006)

Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances (2008)

BOSS! This is a fantastic album that I never really appreciated until relatively recently, and I'm making up for lost time - this is on my iPod round the clock. It is the perfect soundtrack for this economic crisis (is it still happening? yawn), and immediately conjures images in my mind of the docks and industrial landscape of this band's native New Jersey; desolate areas whose best years are long gone, yet manage to maintain some pride. The album sounds like that to me - melancholic yet optimistic, replete with with fuzzy guitars and emotive vocals. There is also a slight Celtic-punk vibe going through - when I first heard it, it kinda reminded me of the Dropkicks, but much, much, much better. Enjoy.

Titus Andronicus – The Airing of Grievances (2008)

Weezer – Weezer (1994)

Classic BOSS! This band could have been so much better, but Rivers Cuomo has crumpled under his own genius over the past 15 years, If you haven't heard this album (seriously?!) don't let that put you off; this record is just so bloody good! Every song is amazing. Here's a fact about this album for you - I dislocated my knee dancing to 'Buddy Holly' drunk once, which painful and annoying for me but which my friends (including Douchey Dave) found hilarious, especially my drunken phone call to a nurse. Anyways, such is the power of this album that it hasn't put me off it one little bit. Enjoy.

LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST

The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine (2006)

BOSS! This album is just immense, it really is, and reminds me of better times back in my student days, sitting in Dave's kitchen in a haze of smoke, drinking beer. It's a Sub Pop release, and is a concept album about Christianity taking over America, so for both those reasons you need to download this bad boy. We saw the Thermals live once - such a gig! - and we tried to start a proper old-school circle pit but no-one else in the crowd would play. We were all battered and I kept on shouting "I love you Kathy" at the bassist after every song; she gave me a nervous little smile in return. I think she was into me. Enjoy.

The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine (2006)

Monday Mixtape #1

Me & new writer Dave (the Hudson Mohawke douche) have decided on a new idea for the blog - think of a theme, and then have a week's worth of albums on that theme - a mixtape we make on a Monday, and then four albums Tuesday-Friday. We'll post any old shit at the weekend. This week's theme is:

Week 1: BOSS!

I've not had much time to sort myself out so this is just a collection of great tunes I'm listening to on repeat at the minute. The next four albums are gonna be so epic though. Enjoy.

Monday Mixtape #1

1. Best Friends Forever – 24
2. Cut Off Your Hands – Turn Cold
3. Asobi Seksu – Familiar Light (Twins Remix)
4. Born Ruffians – Coldness Hot
5. Cat Killer – Tree Limbs Together
6. Good Shoes – The Way My Heart Beats
7. Bromheads Jacket – Poppy Bird
8. Errors – Still Game
9. Oskar Ohlson – Schon Wieder Kontros
10. Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
11. Dark Captain Light Captain – Mid-Session Interval
12. Blonde Redhead – Misery Is A Butterfly
13. Art In Manila – The Abomination
14. Micah P. Hinson – Slow & Steady
15. Jeffrey Lewis – I Ain’t Thick, It’s A Trick (Daytrotter Session)
16. Björk – Triumph Of A Heart
17. Exlovers – Phonebooth
18. St. Vincent – Paris Is Burning
19. Willy Mason – We Can Be Strong (Daytrotter Session
20. Devendra Banhart – At The Hop (Live)

Baxter Dury – Floorshow (2005)

Something a bit livelier than yesterday's album. I don't have much to say becuase I'm tired and hungry, but this album is just great for so many reasons:
1) There's a naked woman on the cover.
2) Baxter is Ian Dury's son, and he has his own son called Cosmo. Respec'
3) The music's not bad either - seriously, this album is a true hidden gem. The track 'Cocaine Man', for instance, is just an absolute blinder.
Enjoy.

Baxter Dury – Floorshow (2005)

Eluvium – Copia (2007)

This guy supported EITS in the live album from yesterday (listen carefully to the introduction of the opening track, he gets a shout out), and so I thought I'd post him. Eluvium is just one guy called Matthew Cooper who lives in Portland, Oregon (where else?!?) This is great droney ambienty goodness; it's not ideal to get the party started, but it's near-perfect for having on in the backgound while you work. Oh, and Santa, if you're listening, please get me Life Through Bombardment for Christmas. It is the most beautiful boxset which contains his entire discography on vinyl, complete with artwork and posters andother treats. I NEED IT! Anyways, until Santa pulls his finger out, or until I become a cash money millionaire, this will more than suffice in the meantime. Enjoy.

Eluvium – Copia (2007)

Explosions In The Sky – Live At The Grey Eagle (2007)

Another live album, and another bootleg to boot (pun kinda intended). This is from a gig Explosions In The Sky played in Asheville, North Carolina back in March 2007, at a little venue called The Grey Eagle. It features heavily from their album All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, a personal favourite of mine, but it also features occasional classics from earlier EITS offerings. Even if you're not a post-rock or EITS fan, it doesn't matter, get it anyway, this album is simply breathtaking. Opening track 'First Breath After Coma' is remarkably emotional, especially for an instrumental track, and this album is always a pleasure to listen to. Enjoy.

Explosions In The Sky – Live At The Grey Eagle (2007)

Hudson Mohawke – Butter (2009)

Yay, my first request! Shame it's from a douchey mate of mine, as opposed to an actual reader. Sigh. Anyway, this is, according to said friend, "elctro-krautrock from the future" - not to my personal taste, but whatever. If anything, you should get this just cos of the boss cover - more animals should have kick-ass haircuts. Oh, and the guy apparently named himself after a screenplay Bruce Willis wrote that was so God-awful it was laughed out of the film studio. Enjoy.

LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST

Pixies – Subbacultcha (1991)

So I had to get up super-early this morning because some hoover-repair guys are coming round. They haven't turned up yet, and probably won't until sometime next week. Whatever. I need something to cheer me up, and there's nothing greater than the Pixies live. I've had the privilege of seeing them live in the past and they are unbelievably good. This is a live bootleg from 1991 that is just so damn sweet that it has become semi-official, with its own cover art and everything. Put simply, this album is guaranteed to brighten up your day. Enjoy.

Pixies – Subbacultcha (1991)

TV On The Radio – OK Calculator (2002)

Another album I spent aaaaaages searching for on the interweb. This is a demo album that Tunde Adebimpe and Dave Sitek recorded in someone's bedroom on a little four-track recorder back in 2002, way before forming a fully-fledged band and becoming the alternative heavyweights they are. If you are expecting something similar to their current sound, you'll be dissapointed - entirely a cappella, this album is as basic as they come, as can be seen in the 'artwork' they have so lovingly created. However, there do begin to explore some elements that woukd become their trademark sound on later albums, and is a must for any TVOTR fan. Enjoy.

TV On The Radio – OK Calculator (2002)

Kanye West – Can't Tell Me Nothing (2007)

So I suppose my first album better be the one that inspired this sudden musical motivation. It's a mixtape by Kanye West, and I spent hours looking for it the other day. I eventually found it, but thought to myself, "if only someone with my taste in music had a blog. Oh wait, I do!" It's good, and definitely worth a download, seeing as it features the likes of hip-hop heavyweights Common and Talib Kweli, as well as appearances and collaborations with Pimp C and Lil Wayne. Kanye also appears with some remixed material from Graduation, as well as some new songs, including stand-out track 'Young Folks', which samples Peter Bjorn & John and is just generally boss. I'll admit, it's not quite as good as I was hoping after three hours or whatever it was of searching, but for you guys it's a simple click! Oh, and apparently it won Mixtape of the Year at the 2007 Vibe Awards. That means nothing to me but it may to you. Enjoy.

Kanye West – Can't Tell Me Nothing (2007)

Yo ho ho and a bottle of Smirnoff

If anyone out there other than my mum reads this blog (well not even my mum actually, she's scared of technology), you’ll have noticed I haven’t posted anything for a long time, since April in fact. Partly due to laziness, partly due to having my finals, to use yet another Americanism that pollutes our beautiful language. But I've graduated now (yay!) but am currently unemployed (nay!), so I have the time to post more frequently. But I'm gonna mix it up a little – no longer will I post my shitty little reviews (I've deleted my old posts for a fesh start); no, now I intend to post full blown albums of bands I like, and stuff I'm listening to, plus any other crap I want. I'm going travelling in December, so I'll probably do one of those travel blog thingys at some point. But don't worry, it'll be mainly boss albums. That's right, I have taken my first steps into musical piracy! But musical piracy is such a load of shite anyway, it's just a natural step in the evolution of music. You’ll notice it's only greedy little fuckers like James Blunt (who has brought so many new dimensions to the definition of dullness that it has left out top scientists completely bamboozled) and Lily Allen (having BOTH parents in the entertainment industry didn't help her career our one iota, no siree) – acts who managed to gain commercial success with their first album; no, their first single – who have been complaining. You won't see any acts who have struggled and grafted for ten years without a single break putting their lack of success down to a small ring of online musical geeks recommending each other good bands to get in to. Human nature is such that if we like a band, we will always want to see said band live in concert, and wear their t-shirt, and buy their limited edition 180 gram gatefold 12". All musical piracy is doing is stopping people buying overpriced CDs, while at the same time giving bands a bigger audience than they could ever have wished for. Anyways, with all the hullabaloo about musical piracy at the moment, here are some 'rules' I would like everyone to abide by:

The listener – if you like an album, great. But please, please, please support the band by seeing a show, buying a t-shirt, or even forking out for a CD or record. If you have a request for anything, or any comments, then e-mail me on theclickofalight@gmail.com

The band – if you're down with having your music here, cool. I'm always eager for new music, so e-mail me at with MP3s or whatever if you want me to post it. If you DON'T want your music here, then that's also fine. I don't want to bankrupt you or get your mansion or fifteen cars repossessed, I just want to give you some love! So just send me an e-mail to this address and I'll take it down straightaway, and won’t upload it ever again (I promise!) But please don't send any legal threats or any of that bollocks, that’s not cool for anyone involved.

Cheers!