the click of a light

Tumblr

2011-01-04T18:12:00.002Z

Yeah, Blogger is dead, long live Tumblr.

We've moved to theclickofalight.tumblr.com, and feature the same contributors (plus some new ones), and we're gonna be posting much more often.

See you there!

Geotic

2011-01-03T19:36:00.002Z

"Minimal / Ambient music project of Will Wiesenfeld" - who also records under the monikers of both Baths and [Post-foetus].

All his music is freely available from his official website and is well worth a listen.

The best albums you missed in 2010

2011-01-03T18:45:00.003Z

According to the BBC. Janelle Monae was criminally under-rated, Gonjasufi and These New Puritans over-rated. The Mount Kimbie album is well worth a listen as well, and I'll admit to not having heard the records from I Am Arrows or Steve Mason.

Top Ten Albums of 2010

2010-12-26T09:00:00.000Z

Another stellar year for music, full of innovation and fresh direction. My friends have been debating and discussing this for the past few weeks, and here are our intelligent conclusions on the best albums of 2010:

10) Wild Nothing – Gemini
Slightly fuzzy, kinda dreamy, very chilled-out shoegaze-garage pop from this one-man project. I've run out of genres to compare this record to, but trust me, this album is damn good.

9) Best Coast – Crazy For You
Having churned out handfuls of EPs and 7" singles over the past eighteen months, Best Coast managed to somehow step it up a gear in 2010 with their debut album, which is thirteen tracks of perfectly-crafted summer pop.

8) Gil Scott-Heron –
I'm New HereGil Scott-Heron triumphantly returned in 2010 with his first studio album in 16 years. Incredibly personal, the album interludes consist of Scott-Heron poetically and beautifully informing the listener with moving tales of his childhood and the grandmother who raised him, returning Scott-Heron to his roots as a spoken-word performer. Combine this with excellent covers of Robert Johnson and Bill Callahan, and you have a bloody fantastic record.

7) Deerhunter – Halycon Digest
Despite their prolific output, Deerhunter seem fresher than ever, effortlessly and expertly combining a number of very different musical styles - surf, punk, garage, 60s psychedelic pop, shoegaze and even ambient - into their best album to date.

6) Beach House – Teen Dream
Like the Wild Nothing album, I'm struggling to describe this album - words can't do it justice, you really have to listen to truly appreciate the dream pop excellence that is Teen Dream.

5) Janelle Monáe – The Archandroid
Ah, the flaws of democracy! This album should have placed higher, but a lot of my friends either missed out on the album when it first came out, or failed to recognise its brilliance. Yes, it's flawed, but what debut album isn't? Yes, it runs out of steam a little bit towards the end, but again, what albums truly don't? Ignore these minor errors, and you're left with an incredibly interesting, complex and innovative album that seamlessly moves between hip-hop and pop.

4) Four Tet – There Is Love In You
His best album yet, as Kieran Hebden finally manages to perfect his own brand of laid-back instrumental electronica. Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

3) Caribou – Swim
Moving firmly away from the glitchy electronica that he made under his 'Manitoba' moniker, Daniel Snaith has got himself a band and, with the fuller sound possibilities that this has given him, produced a complex abum that spans the genres of electronic and indie music, and also suits any mood - whether I'm wanting to party or just looking to relax, Caribou is more often-than-not the first thing I think of.

2) Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Further evidence of the flaws of democracy. Yes, it's a good album, but not one which will pass the test of time. I loved this album when it first came out, had the vinyl on repeat for days, but now I can't stand to listen to it. Newsom's vocals - extraordinarily beautiful on first listen - have become whiny, and that bloody harp just does my head in.

1) Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
By far the best album of 2010, Kanye's magnum opus (though watch this space for his 2011 collab with Jay-Z) grabs you by the throat on the very first play and just won't let go. His production is tighter than ever, his lyrics are both funny and poignant, and his choice of samples is sublime. Just a fucking incredible album that you need in your life NOW.

Top Five EPs of 2010

2010-12-25T10:00:00.000Z

As the internet continues its dominance of modern life, the concept of 'longevity' is fading - people want a quick thrill, and they want it now. As such, the EP is seeing something of a resurgence, and 2010 saw a collection of very fine examples - here are the top five, as voted for by you:

5) The Samps – The Samps
As the side-project of one of Ariel Pink's guitarists, big things were expected of The Samps, and they do not disappoint. Yes, we have the weird pop of Ariel Pink - this album sounds like the theme to an 80s cop movie, and that's no bad thing - but I also got a sense that these guys have been listening to as much Flying Lotus as they have their freak folk sensei.

4) British Sea Power – Zeus
To be honest, I'm pretty neutral when it comes to British Sea Power - I don't love them, I don't hate them, I just don't get them. Consequently, I've not even bothered to listen to this album; however, I've been reliably informed by friends who have that it's BSP at their very best.

3) James Blake – CMYK
Released while in his final year at the prestigious Goldsmiths in London (notable albumni include Blur and Damien Hirst), James Blake's second EP managed to seem fresh in a year that was aleady full of interesting and original electronic releases.

2) Tennis – BaltimoreA husband-and-wife dream team making summer pop songs. Imagine a more mature Best Coast and you'd be pretty much spot on.

1) James Blake – Klavierwerke
Could it have been anything else? This EP has dominated the ever-growing electronic scene this year, and shows a new direction for James Blake. Much more minimal and down-tempo that CMYK, Klavierwerke also introduces the prominent use of vocals, which sound like an auto-tuned Antony Hegarty, much to the album's credit.

The 100 Best Songs Of 2010

2010-12-24T16:22:00.079Z

Before we launch you into thousands of words of praise, here at TCOAL we’d like to do something we’re rather more comfortable with and, dare I say it, adept at: Bitchin’ & wailin’ on things that annoy us.

So, let’s have a quick sneer, a disgusted glance, at those that didn't make our definitive run-down. These are some artists that you’d think might have a place in the top 100 but, actually, don’t:

The National: Because wetting your pants and mumbling isn’t the same as poetry.

The Hold Steady: Because they’ve played their hand to death, and are in danger of turning ‘unfortunate epilogue’ into ‘embarrassing demise’.

Salem/Zola Jesus/OoOOo: Because every single thing about witch-house sucks.

Lone/ Curren$y/ The Tallest Man On Earth/ Julian Lynch/ No Age/Superchunk/Gonjasufi/Guido/Vampire Weekend/Woods/Glasser/The Samps/Rihanna: Would appear if this list was 113 places long.

Arcade Fire: They’re still rubbish.

Gorrilaz: They’re still boring.

Darkstar: They’re now boring.

Sufjan Stevens: He’s now rubbish.

Johnny Greenwood: The ‘Norwegian Wood’ score is really good, but inseparable into ‘songs’ really for this list.

Girl Talk: As above.

Agalloch/Swans/Metal in general: Of about 5 metal albums I’ve listened to this year, I’ve only really enjoyed Agalloch & Swans, and I just don’t know enough about metal to decide which songs are ‘good’.

Girls: Don’t get it.

Pinch: Don’t get it.

British Sea Power: Still don’t get it.

Toro Y Moi: Really don’t get it.

Gold Panda: Because it’s really, really bad fakestep for White Lies fans.

David Lynch: Because that songs gets unbearable from the, er, first time you listen to it.

OFF!/Male Bonding/Sleigh Bells/Sun Araw/Pocahaunted/Nite Jewel/Ducktails: Because I haven’t listened to them.

Titus Andronicus: This is probably quite good, but I’ve only listened once, and they were shit live.

Surfer Blood: Because I had a cigarette with the drummer outside their gig in Vancouver, and he was one of the biggest cunts I’ve ever met.

Broken Social Scene/The Radio Dept./Delorean/Crystal Castles/ Fang Island/Liars: Because I moved to Canada, didn’t have the ability to download music, and didn’t care enough about these bands to back-track upon my return.

So, one final note. This list was written by me, Dave Wingrave. It’s my list, comprised of music I’ve listened to this year. I’m just one man, I simply can’t listen to everything, no matter how much my latent autism tries to make me. Unlike the forthcoming album & E.P list, not a hint of democracy went in to it. The closest it got was when I asked Pip over facebook chat if there was anything he wanted to see in it. I duly ignored all of his suggestions. Oh, and one (really) final note. Each artist was limited to one song, to keep things all diverse and stuff. In a magical world where numbers weren't linear, and we could include more in one spot, the songs filed under 'Also' would appear roughly in the same chronological position, and come with equal reccomendation.

100. Alvy, Nacho Y Rubin ‘El Galan De La Paternal’

Of all the flash-in-the-pan, famous for fifteen ‘likes’ blog hits this year, this Spanish cover of The Magnetic Field’s ‘The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side’ was by far the most adorable.

Unreleased

99. Booka Shade ‘Regenerate’

After 2008s ‘The Sun & Neon Light’ flopped, Booka Shade were in danger of losing the whole swathe of usually dance music-wary indie converts they’d made with 2006’s ‘Movements’. I’d like to tell you they’d made the intelligent, cross-over comeback I’d hoped for, but that’d be telling a dirty, dirty lie. Nestled within the bland-house mess that is ‘More!’ however, is this cut; a basic, yet incredibly effective, build-and-break gargantuan that makes not nodding your head just an........ unthinkable......... option.

From ‘More’

98. How To Dress Well ‘Ready For The World’

A year ago, we’d all be saying ‘This is a boss chillwave song’. Now we’re all saying ‘This is a boss hypnagogic pop song’. The only thing that doesn’t change is the ‘Boss’. And the ‘This’, ‘is’, ‘a’ and ‘song’ I guess, but let’s not split hairs.

From ‘Love Remains’

97. Reading Rainbow ‘Wasting Time’

Will I like a garage pop song by a married, vegan couple, whom, when asked what their vices were, literally couldn’t think of anything? Yus. Personality ain’t everything, kidz!

From ‘Prism Eyes’

96. PJ Harvey ‘Written On The Forehead’

In which Polly heralds the apocalypse from behind a mask of Cocteau-Twins sonics and dub vocal samples. Bizzarely, it works.

Possibly from forthcoming album

95. Olof Arnalds ‘Innundir Skinni’

I would have thought we’d all be at Icelandic pixie saturation point by now. Room for one more at the back? Will we get confused by her name and song titles? Well, go on then.

From ‘Innundir Skinni’

94. Matthew Dear ‘Little People (Black City)
’

I really like Matthew Dear, but I don’t love him. Does anyone love Matthew Dear? Probably, I guess.

From ‘Black City’

93. The Books ‘A Cold, Freezin’ Night’

It’s The Books, right? Cue crap band name, weird-ass samples, great drums, disconcerting lack of cohesiveness, sudden ending. Standard. Brilliant.

From ‘The Way Out’

92. DJ Nate ‘Back Up Kid’

2010, the year Juke finally broke the mainstream. The mainstream for people who spend 8 hours a day reading music blogs.

From ‘Da Trak Genious’

91. Jaill- ‘She’s My Baby’

Right, class, let’s name some good things that come from Wisconsin. Cheese? Half a point. Anything else? Anyone? No? Ok.

Oh, nearly forgot this bunch of slack-jawed rrrrruckus-makers.

From ‘That’s How We Burn’

90. DM Stith ‘Gates Of Eden’

It’s a cover of that nice Dylan song, by some guy I know absolutely nothing about. He makes it sound like some Elephant 6 supergroup at their very best. Lovely.

From ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute To Dylan’s ‘Bringing it All Back Home’

Also: The Helio Sequence ‘Mr Tambourine Man’

89. Perfume Genius ‘Learning’

For me, this sounds like it was written from a faceless American suburb by a winsome and mawkish, yet impossible to hate teenager who has just watched Amelie and dreams of Europe, thinking, no, truly believing, it’s like the film depicts.

From ‘Learning’

Also: Mr Peterson

88. Diamond Rings- ‘All Yr Songs’

This only appeared properly on a release this year, so get your knickers out of that twist. I really like it, it’s very straightforward, very unassuming, just a well-written pop song. Strange, coming from the man who penned it.

From: ‘Special Affections’

87. Charlotte Gainsbourg ‘Heaven Can Wait’

Poor Charlotte Gainsbourg, not only does she have to deal with being unbelievably beautiful and rich and talented and really very beautiful, but now, because of IRM’s silly release date, the rather good album isn’t going to show up on best-of lists from 2009 or 2010. Dave’s here to save the day, though, and as ‘Heaven can wait’ was released as a single this year, he’ll look the other way. Production by Beck, but it’s hardly noticeable.....

From ‘IRM’

86. Shed ‘Keep Time’

Itchy itchy itchy itchy itchy. Berlin producer is really great at making compelling, interesting dance music. Call the fucking front page.

From ‘The Traveller’

85. Robyn ‘Call your Girlfriend’

No, you call YOUR girlfriend! I dunno what to write about Robyn man, gimme a break. Who actually doesn’t like the woman?

From ‘Body Talk’

Also: ‘Indestructible’, ‘Hang With Me’

84. El Guincho ‘Bombay’

My Spanish housemate told me of the people of Barcelona that ‘because of economic crisis, not much to do, so everybody is just watching El Guincho video for Bombay’. Sounds alright.

From ‘Pop Negro’

83. Andreya Triana ‘Draw The Stars’

Completely out of leftfield for me, this one. Reminds me slightly of that girl who sang ‘Put you records on’ or whatever it was called, then did absolutely nothing else even vaguely catchy. But, you know, good.

From ‘Lost Where I Belong’

82. Ikonika ‘Red Marker Pens (Happy Ending)’

The fact that songs on Ikonika’s debut are sub-titled after standard chronological events in arcade games (see: ‘Ikonklast (insert coin)’ and ‘Look (final boss stage)’) is almost reason enough for inclusion. When the music itself is this engaging and forward-looking, well, that’s just grand.

From ‘Contact, Love, Want, Have’

Also: ‘Yoshimitsu’

81. Jay Electronica ‘Shiny Suit Theory’ (Ft. Jay-Z)

Jay Electronica is well street. Like, really. The gravel-throated rapper lived homeless in loads of U.S cities for years before signing to that other, slightly more famous Jay’s Roc Nation imprint. Well street. Listening to him makes me pretty street. I’m pretty street anyway though.

Possibly from a forthcoming album

Also: ‘Exhibit C’

80. Pearson Sound ‘Blanked’

So insidious you barely have time to press play before it’s barged it, gotten comfy among your neurons, and drunk all the whisky.

From ‘Blanked 12”’

79. The Roots ‘Right On’ (Ft. Joanna Newsom & S.T.S)

After years & years of trying, The Roots.......have apparently given up even pretending they appeal to anyone but skinny white kids who’d so-o-o much rather stay at home reading than go to a genuine hip-hop club in Queens. Oh look! I’m one! I love The Roots.

From ‘How I Got Over’

78. Kendal Johansson ‘Blue Moon’

I was kinda sad when Alex Chilton died this year. Then I heard this and remembered that Big Star only wrote about 5 good songs and that ‘Blue Moon’ wasn’t really one. This is the earnest, soaring indie-pop version of Hendrix covering ‘All Along The Watchtower’

From ‘Blue Moon 7”’

77. Zinja Hlungwani ‘N’wagezani my love’

African new-wave dance music. I literally find it impossible to type any more description than that without sounding like a posh, white, dreadlock-afflicted blaxploitation film director pitching something set in Stoke Newington.

From ‘Shangaan Electro: New Wave Dance Music From South Africa’

76. Autre Ne Veut ‘Drama Cum Drama’

2010 was the year in which you could just buy* random albums released on Olde English Spelling Bee and you’d know they’d be amazing. Even ones by whiny-voiced, 80s prom-music obsessives.

From ‘Autre Ne Veut’

Also: ‘Two Days Of Rain’

75. Actress ‘Purrple Splazsh’

The most obvious comparison I guess would be Zomby, but Actress is so far off on his own, the weird kid pulling legs off ants in the playground, that even that feels a little disingenuous. Basically, in a hugely prolific post-dubstep (sorry) world, it’s getting harder and harder to tell who’s an innovator, and who’s an evolutionary dead end. Just not this time.

From ‘Splazsh’

Also: ‘Hubble’, ‘Maze’

74. Yeasayer ‘O.N.E’

Most people intrigued by the desert-psyche of Yeasayer’s debut were kinda pissed when their sophomore effort saw them pretending to be The Scissor Sisters. But the man who wants the world to remain the same does not want it to remain at all, like. It means we can probably look forward to another U-turn on their third, and in the meantime, enjoy some of the undeniably catchy pomp from Odd Blood.

From ‘Odd Blood’

Also: ‘Ambling Alp’

73. Magnetic Man ‘I Need Air’
Ft. Angela Hunte

It’s taken dubstep nearly 10 years to find its way into the vague mainstream, and a supergroup of pioneers to do it. In the final act, it’s lost much of what made the genre interesting, and yeah, the majority of Magnetic Man’s album is pointless, not-so-candid pandering to an audience who are just never going to be truly interested. That said, I dares anyone to listen to this song and not scan around for the nearest dancefloor. I just dares ya.

From ‘Magnetic Man’

72. Teengirl Fantasy ‘Cheaters’

Oh god, do we really need more proof that the internet has changed everything about everything. Ok fine, here’s some: The best house music this year came from a pair of yoofs messing around in a dorm somewhere.

From ‘7am’

71. Addison Groove ‘Footcrab’

If you’ve been to a half-decent London club in the last year, chances are that you’ve heard this one. It’s the one that goes ‘footcrabfootcrabfootcrabfootcrabfootcrab’. I haven’t, by the way. It’s all hearsay, my life.

From ‘Footcrab 12”’

70. Pill Wonder ‘Restless’

My friends know that I’m a nostalgic chappy. In fact, so in love with that bittersweet feeling am I that I coined the term ‘falsetalgia’- nostalgia for events that didn’t actually happen. When I first heard this song, I missed saying goodbye to my friends from high-school in California and the last few days with them before I went off to study at UVM.

From ‘Underwater Peoples Winter Review’

69. Avey Tare ‘Oliver Twist’

Man, would I hate to be Avey Tare. You’d be scanning these end of year lists and would always see your songs at around #69 next to some comment like ‘yeah, this is quite interesting, yeah, I guess I quite like it’ and you’d be like ‘Oh cool, people like my music, I must be a good music-guy!’. Then you’d look down the list and see where Panda Bear comes.

From ‘Down There’

68. Baths ‘Hall’

You should book Baths in for a future top ten slot in your ‘albums of the year’ list. His debut effort, ‘Cerulean’, was patchy in places but tracks like ‘Hall’ show that if he can focus his craft, he’s looking at the big league.

From ‘Cerulean’

Also: ‘Maximalist’

67. Freddie Gibbs ‘National Anthem (Fuck The World)’

Hip-hop isn’t dead, it’s just in a coma. The life-support isn’t about to be turned off though, ‘cos it’s just too money. While various hacks come and harvest the organs and transplant them into other bodies, brief flashes of life across the monitor like this give us a little hope it will wake up without too much brain damage.

From ‘Str8 killa E.P’

66. Guards ‘Resolution of One’

The vogue for dropping the definite article continues unabated as brat-rock enters it’s second year. Both trends are now, by modern standards, fucking ancient and Guards, who have only just released their debut E.P may represent one of the last good ‘uns. Boringly, fellow upstarts like Minks and Hurts seem to be following the noughties trend of moving a guitar genre ‘forward’ by deciding they like dance music too (wowzers) and issuing press-releases claiming new material will by ‘influenced by Aphex Twin’ (Yawn). You’d think they’d remember what happened to Bloc Party. Anyway, this is standard-issue rad.

From ‘Guards E.P’

65. Hype Williams ‘Untitled’ (B1)

Remember that time you got stuck with a load of really annoying cunts at a party and tried to zone out, but they were just too annoying and kept infiltrating the great music that was playing in your brain?

From ‘Untitled’

Also: ‘The Throning’ (from ‘Do ‘roids and kill e’rything’ E.P)

64. Sonny & The Sunsets ‘Too Young To Burn’

Sigh, if only Roy Orbison had fronted a lo-fi alt.country band. What? He did? Hooray!

From ‘Tomorrow Is Alright’

63. Fantastic Mr. Fox ‘Sketches’

Sketches?! Sounds more like someone let Charles Manson loose with a spirograph, a paintball gun and a ham radio.

From ‘Sketches E.P’

62. MF Borat ‘So Good To Me’

Just what the hell is this project? MF DOOM remixed by Sascha Baron-Cohen apparently. Doesn’t sound too probable. Really good E.P though, where this cut comes from, and, really, anything off it could slot in.

From ‘The Mask & The Moustache E.P’

Also: ‘Dedicated To Love’, ‘Tower Of Ears’

61. DJ Roc ‘They Can’t Fuck Wit Me’

Because I’m not from Chicago and, In fact, am a lanky white dork who can’t dance, I’m not sure I really ‘get’ most Juke music. There’s exceptions to every rule though, fanks Planet Mu!

From ‘The Crack Capone’

Also: ‘Let’s Get It Started’

60. Shabazz Palaces ‘32 Leaves…..’

Hip-hop just hasn’t sounded as visceral and acerbic as this since Clipse released ‘Lord Willin’’.

From ‘Shabazz Palaces’

Also: ‘Kill White T….’, ‘Blastit’

59. Drake ‘Find Your Love’

If you take 808’s & Heartbreak, and make that your whole schtik, rather than a divisive half-step, well, actually, you still become one of the most divisive artists of the year, but at least people can’t say ‘you’ve chaaaanged’.

From ‘Thank Me Later’

Also: ‘Forever’

58. The Thermals ‘I Don’t Believe You’

Maths tells us that The Thermals shouldn’t succeed. There just aren’t that many power chords, not that many combinations, it should have all been done by now, all the truly caustic hooks used up. The Thermals tell maths to fuck off, write a boss 3-chord pop jam about it, piss off back home and watch every other Portland band of the last 5 years suck math’s cock.

From ‘Personal life’

57. Ramadanman ‘Glut’

Well, it’s been David Kennedy’s year really hasn’t it? I don’t think any one man made more interesting dance music tracks than him in 2010. That will be all.

From ‘Glut 12”’

Also ‘Don’t Change For Me’, ‘I Beg You’, ‘Bleeper’

56. Salem ‘King Night’

Ok so I lied, sue me. Every single thing about witch-house sucks apart from this song.

From ‘King Night’

55. ceo ‘Illuminata’

As part of The Tough Alliance, Eric Berglund the Swede makes earnest, infectious pop with an electronic bent. As ceo, he’s striking out on his own, making, erm, earnest, infectious pop music with an electronic bent. It’s easy to be cynical about Berglund’s music at times, and it’s true that such a wide-eyed approach to songwriting can grate in the age of twitter, but when he gets it right, as on White Magic highlight ‘Illuminata’, it’s nigh-on impossible not to be swept away in such a flood of unflinching positivity. YEAH!

From ‘White Magic’

Also: ‘Come With Me’

54. JJ ‘You know’

I know what? That JJ were unfairly ignored this year for some bizarre reason, even though their album, the unimaginatively titled ‘JJno.3’ was far more cohesive that last years (sigh) ‘JJno.2’, but it just didn’t happen to also have that single ‘ecstasy’ on it? Yes, I do know that. I also know that they wrote a whole bunch of new songs, and that they were really good.

From: ‘JJno.3’

Also: ‘Let Go’

53. Mount Kimbie ‘Mayor’

I had to stop myself from flooding this list with post- (ahem) dubstep, but as it’s being written from Brighton, I feel it would be a disservice not to include these local beat-heads. Fractured vocals, desert soundscape, parched ambience, you know the drill, but not as well self-contained and downright re-playable as this you don’t.

From ‘Crooks & Lovers’

Also: ‘Carbonated’

52. M.I.A ‘XXXO’

It’s a soap-box stomper that for a brief, glorious moment makes you forget what an absolute let-down ‘MAYA’ is. Remembering her pop a.b.c’s fleetingly before launching into another baffling attack on the ginger dwarves that live in Youtube or something, it’s heartening to know M.I.A still has these in her. She’ll be back. Probs with power power.

From ‘MAYA’

51. Girl Unit ‘Wut’

The only people who think that this song is gonna bring Night Slugs to the general publics’ attention is FACT magazine. That doesn’t stop it being the first ‘big’ tune they’ve had though. And seriously, what a tune it is, welding itself onto the part of your brain usually reserved for everyday functions, I now find myself unable to perform basic tasks like making toast, and instead sit in a blissed-out daze murmuring ‘wut, wut!’.

From ‘Wut 12”’

Also: ‘IRL’ (From ‘IRL E.P’)

50. Lady Gaga ‘Telephone’(Ft. Beyonce)

Can we disassociate this song from the obviously-best-video-of-the-year? Should we? Is it pseudo-feminism? Is it post-post-feminism? Who even cares? Lady Gaga truly gets pop music, she’s learnt the most important lesson about it: It has nothing to do with the music.

From ‘The Fame Monster’

49. The-Dream ‘Yamaha’

It’s a little known fact that the artist formerly known as Prince goes home after a long, hard day of selling out arenas 8 billion nights in a row, slaps on a load of stem-cells and masquerades by night as the young artist currently known as The-Dream. None of that is true, but after listening to ‘Yamaha’, I almost believe my own fib.

From ‘The Love Game’

48. John Roberts ‘Navy Blue’

Backwards piano and strings, interesting jazz-bass, dance-structure but definitely not DJ material. So far, so IDM. But John Roberts has done the homework necessary to stand out because, let’s face it; I doubt anyone thinks creating ambient works is the most technically skilled area of music. After all, its very nature means there is just less to do. You have to be deft. There are literally thousands of self-proclaimed ‘bedroom composers’ floating around the web, but few arrive at the crux that Navy Blue does, 7 minutes of near uniform progression that leaves you wishing it was 70.

From ‘Glass Eights’

47. Tame Impala ‘It Is Not Meant To Be’

If The Beatles had lasted long enough to buy a few Cut Copy records, The White Album probably would have sounded a bit like this. Additional nomination for best solo.

From ‘Innerspeaker’

Also: ‘Desire Be, Desire Go’

46. Emeralds ‘Genetic’

Emeralds must have been pissed when Fuck Buttons garnered near-universal acclaim for their two albums of ten-minute noise-drone songs when they’d been doing the same thing for years, better. This, the last piece in the ‘biology’ triptych on ‘Does it look like I’m here’ forms the centrepiece of the album much like ‘Bro’s’ did on Person Pitch; nearly twice as long as every other song, it’s an album-within-an-album, a not-so-microcosm summation of all the ideas that are present throughout the work in more individual forms. Also, really good.

From ‘Does It Look Like I’m Here?’

Also: ‘Now You See Me’

45. Matthew Herbert ‘Leipzig’

‘Leipzig’ is the sleaziest thing you’re likely to hear this year. Leipzig WILL hit on your sister, then offer her drugs in the toilet of some slimy club. Leipzig will NOT be leaving alone tonight, and it’s not fussy. If it has organic origins, it passes Leipzig’s test. Some people were slightly surprised at the direction Matthew Herbert took with ‘One One’, but why? The guy is the archetypal iconoclast, if he wants to write a LCD-esque steam-of-consciousness dance tune, albeit sung by a probable rapist, rather than some tubby existentialist, he jolly well will. It’s like Lolita on ketamine.

From ‘One One’

44. Das Racist ‘hahahaha jk?’

‘We’re not joking/ just joking/ we are joking/ just joking/ we’re not joking’ drawls the wiseacre chorus of the most internet-friendly rap troupe ever. So-o-o-o, are they joking, actually, or not? Well, if you’d asked me just a few months ago, when they delighted every single blogger, ever, with the comedy-hop track ‘combination Taco Bell & Pizza Hut’, I’d have said ‘definitely yes’ and would not have been willing to bet any money whatsoever on their longevity. But now, to be honest, I don’t think they are. Want proof? ‘hahahaha jk?’ and its mother mixtape ‘Sit Down, Man’ are so much more than a lazy grab at the Brooklyn zeitgeist, it’s seriously impressive, intelligent hip-hop both deftly self-satirizing and complicit to the whims of the blog-riddled world they inhabit.

From ‘Sit Down, Man’ Mixtape

43. The Fresh & Onlys ‘Waterfall’

Unbelievably effective and evocative garage-esque tune about San Francisco or something probably. Nothing to do with waterfalls.

From ‘Play It Strange’

42. Solar Bears ‘Trans Waterfall’

Unbelievably effective and evocative glacial synth song about outer space or something probably. Nothing to do with waterfalls. Or transisis.

From ‘Inner Sunshine E.P’

Also: ‘Twin Stars (From ‘She Was Coloured In’)

41. Colleen Green ‘Worship You’

Fact 1: We shouldn’t let cute girls just do whatever they like because they have neat-o retro frames.

Fact 2: Of all the post-genres, post-grunge is the one that really, truly doesn’t exist.

Fact 3: ‘Worship You’ is a flawed masterpiece of a post-grunge anthem, but Colleen Green is a cute girl with neat-o retro frames so she can do whatever she likes.

From ‘Milo Goes To Compton’ Tape

40. Hyetal ‘Phoenix’

Of this whole ‘Purple-beat’ sound coming from Bristol, Guido might have had the first major album, but it’s Hyetal that have got the tune. Plus, I could never really get on board with that bass-brass thing that Guido do. Sax on the dance floor, still not cool. Ho Ho.

From ‘Phoenix 12”’

39. Jamie Woon ‘Night Air’

Apparently, Mr.Woon has been making music for about ten years, but nobody was listening or caring. He’s kinda had the exact same idea as what’s at the base of James Blake: Fuse dubstep, bass and IDM with the mannerisms of a singer-songwriter. They even have the same first name, really. Co-production by Burial.

From ‘Night Air 12”’

38. Frank (Just Frank) ‘Mr.Itagaki’

As indebted to cold wave as they are to The Cure, Frank (Just Frank) were one of my personal favourite surprises of 2010. Sung in both French and English, their trenchant synth-transfusions delighted your ears but froze the rest of your face off. Dancing in a place somewhere between a realisation of ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ and a glacier lit up with Christmas lights, they easily proved themselves both catchier and more aware of the need for multi-levelled longevity than their much-praised peers, all with a nonchalant coolness not seen since Tom Vek.

From ‘The Brutal Wave’

37. The Morning Benders ‘All Day Daylight’

In 15 years or so, it’s conceivable that The Morning Benders might end up being one of a new generation of Spoons or Yo La Tengos, one of those American ‘Big’ indie bands that consistently get great reviews from Pitchfork & Co., but leave us in the UK pretty nonplussed. The problem with those bands is there’s just too much to absorb now for all but the most dedicated completist, their write-ups time and again referencing cultural milestones that we over on this side of the pond just didn’t have; not many of us went to east-coast colleges in the late-90’s. We’ve got no red cups, dammit, so take your Modest Mouse and get out! Latch on to the Morning Benders now then, is the lesson we could learn, they’ve only got one (great) album, it’s still possible to heart them! ‘All Day Daylight’ is a good place to start. It’s a real old trick, a conventional rock song masquerading as experimental work, but that’s not to say it isn’t one of the catchiest, most bombastic yet ever so restrained songs of the year.

From ‘Big Echo’

Also : ‘Cold War’, ‘Stitches’, ‘Sleeping In’

36. Flying lotus ‘…..And the World Laughs with You….’
(Ft. Thom Yorke)

Look who made this song, look who provides vocals. It’s going to be boss isn’t it?

From ‘Cosmogramma’

Also: ‘MmmHmm (ft Thundercat)’, ‘Do The Astral Plane’

35. Warpaint ‘Undertow’

Four great-looking girls with guitars are always going to have fans. Four great-looking girls with guitars who can write these kind of Sleater-Kinney-esque jams, slow them down and give them a penetrating, passive-aggressive vibe are always going to have more.

From ‘The Fool’

34. Big Boi ‘Shutterbugg’

You can count the number of truly great hip-hop albums this year on one hand. Must we still rely on Outkast to provide the goods? It means I have to talk about the (always smaller) group of people who consistently rated Big Boi over Andre 3000 getting some major vindication points with ‘Sir Lucious….’, how the visionary fusion is still just as relevant, just as tight, how the lyrics are solid and perfectly formed, how the production is easily the equal of Stankonia, and really, everybody knows this all already.

From ‘Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty’

Also: ‘Daddy Fat Sax’

33. Sun Airway ‘Oh, Naoko’

It’s about time we got some bands whose names are actually reflected in their music. Every song by Sun Airway could conceivably be titled ‘Sun Airway’, it’s breezy, photon-saturated amorphous music, blurred at the edges but still with a sense of direction. It’s also about time someone other than River Cuomo wrote about being in love with random obsessive Japanese fans. So yeah, this works out pretty well really.

From ‘Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier’

32. Disclosure ‘Linstigator’

When I was about 17 I didn’t have a boss dubstep act, I had acne and A-levels. Now I’m 22 though, I have a good educat…..I mean, good career prospe…….I mean a beautiful girlfr……..I mean an internet connection so I can download dubstep tracks made by about 17-year-olds.

Unreleased

31. Ohneotrix Point Never ‘Returnal’
(Antony’s vocal version)

‘The internet...is a self-phantomizing machine’ What the bloody hell does that mean ?! When the words tumble oh so tremulously out of Antony’s mouth, however, I’m all like ‘Oh yeah! The internet totally is a self-phantomizing machine!’. Such is the stark fact that Hegarty’s voice, possibly the most unique, sublime new instrument of the last 10 years, remains as affecting as ever. In my opinion, it’s always worked better on other peoples’ records too, and in particular, those of electronic musicians. The contrast of his deceptively fragile gasps, quiveringly angelic, yet perhaps still the most human thing imaginable, on the inorganic mutterings of various circuits has provided us with some of the most beguiling, unclassifiable songs. This is certainly no exception.

From ‘Returnal 7”’

Also: ‘Describing Bodies’

30. Nicki Minaj ‘Roman’s Revenge’
(Ft. Eminem)

So far, Nicki Minaj has made a career of upstaging far more established rappers on their own songs. She even makes Kanye ‘I am not worthy enough to even mention his name’ West look like a wimp on ‘Monster’. When it came to putting together her own album though, it didn’t really gel. She’s so-o much better on the offensive that, bereft of foe, it came off a little on the wrong side of ridiculous. ‘Roman’s Revenge’, however, was the saving grace of ‘Pink Friday’. Back on familiar scathing territory, showing up Eminem to be the fool we all know he’s become and growling her way to all-or-nothing victory over that stark snare, it wasn’t hard to forgive the most exciting new talent in rap for her first shaky foray into the long-player. That pseudo-English accent has never sounded more devastatingly poisonous, either.

From ‘Pink Friday’

29. Teebs ‘Double Fifths’

Electronic music’s much scribed-about current paradoxical obsession; a fixation with creating ‘organic’ sounding beats, just wasn’t something anyone should be interested in before Teebs released his debut this year. Now, it all makes sense. You can hear the grass growing, the waterfalls falling, the microbiota bioting so clearly throughout the entire work that it brings back feelings of watching those old 70’s Attenborough films, even though this wasn’t the soundtrack. ‘Double fifths’ is the most perfect example of a sub-genre already so thoroughly conquered by one brilliant checkmate that we barely need to mention it again.

From ‘Ardour’

Also: ‘Arthur’s Birds’

28. Beach House ‘Norway’

When I started University nearly five years ago, Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear and Beach House were the three keycards you needed to be thought of as someone who liked esoteric music. Now, all three light up the Billboard top 200. Whatever that is. Similarly, all the criticism that was aimed at ‘us’ (I say it like we were some club) was basically that we only liked those bands because no-one had really heard of them. And I hate to admit it, but I do, at times, feel myself less in love with the triumvirate now that my mum listens to them on the way to work. It only takes a second though, a brief shake of the head, and a quick press of play, to listen to such ludicrously wonderful compositions such as ‘Norway’ and remember what I really fell in love with.

From ‘Teen Dream’

Also: ‘Silver Soul’, ‘Used To Be’, ’10 Mile Stereo’

27. Pantha Du Prince ‘Stick To My Side’ (Ft. Noah Lennox)

Techno’s poster boy meets Brooklyn deity, mixes his inimitable jam-jar sonics with that wistful beach-boy croon we’ve all come to associate with a flare-up of gushing internet write-ups and viola! Suddenly every man and his blog cares about Pantha Du Prince! ‘This Bliss’ was a better album, dorkaloids! Still, try as I might, I’m rendered fairly defenseless by this song. The masses are right! It’s really good! Bah!

From ‘Black Noise’

Also: ‘Lay In A Shimmer’

26. Beach Fossils ‘Vacation’

Of all those summer-punk jangle bands that graced our airwaves for about a day each this year, Beach Fossils were the only ones that seemed to truly believe their own pastel-coloured self-mythologizing. Consequently, so did everybody else and this song quickly became the BBQ outside-stereo jam of choice for those balmy august evenings. Well, if you live in San Francisco and cook mainly tofu sausages on barbies. I think we played it a few times too.

From ‘Beach Fossils’

25. Cee-Lo Green ‘Fuck You’

If I’m totally honest, the version of himself Cee-Lo presents on ‘The Ladykiller’ is far shinier than many, including myself, would have liked. Even ‘Fuck You’ (released as the toe-curling ‘Forget You’ as a radio single) leaves bruises far more like those from a friendly thump on the arm than a rival-suiter eliminating sucker punch. Still, if easy-listening aRt & B absolutely has to exist, I’d like it to sound like this, puhh-leeze.

From ‘The Ladykiller’

Also: ‘Wildflower’

24. Caribou ‘Odessa’

Have you heard this one?

From ‘Swim’

Also: ‘Kaili’, ‘Sun’

23. Joanna Newsom ‘Easy’

Right, the best song on the bloated ‘Have One On Me’ is NOT ‘Good Intentions Paving Company’. That song sucks! It’s boring! ‘Easy’, by contrast, is a wonderfully tuneful, oscillating meander through Joanna’s C.S Lewis-esque poetics.

From ‘Have One On Me’

22. Joy Orbison ‘The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow’

Sounds Shakespearean, actually a deceptively linear dissertation entitled ‘Why I, Joy Orbison, am the best producer of the last two years.’

If it succeeds in only getting through one epidermal layer, that’s because it was designed to do so, just because it’s sluicing around at surface-level doesn’t mean it’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. As maddeningly addictive as anyone can hope for from a down-tempo dance scene designed to operate on the periphery.

From ‘The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow’ E.P

21. Twin Shadow ‘Tyrant Destroyed’

The fact that I’m a little lost for something to say about this other than ‘Err…it’s boss’ is testament to the considerable skill of George Lewis Jnr, a.k.a Twin Shadow, in carving himself an original niche in a landscape chocka-block with 80’s new wave revivalists. Sure, all the familiar cultural touchstones are there in small print; Echo & The Bunnymen, Depeche Mode etc etc, but they always feel little more than necessary ancestors, rather than constricting family elders. Just like how I’m nothing like my bitch gran, but without her I wouldn’t be alive.

From ‘Forget’

Also: ‘Slow’

20. Gil Scott-Heron ‘New York Is Killing Me’

Kind of hard to believe this kind of statement, when, 16 years after his last studio album, Gil comes back all reinvigorated and releases a long-player that puts most of todays young ragamuffins to shame.

Appearing first to be a seriously damning appraisal of the Big Apple, it only takes a few listens to hear the humour behind the track, to see that he’s still not taking himself too seriously, rather, he’s finally comfortable in his own skin, at terms with where his life has taken him. No smoking? Vegan cafes? Fuuuuck that whippersnapper, sit down here and ol’ sandpaper throat’ll give you some perspective.

From ‘I’m New Here’

Also ‘Me And The Devil’

19. James Ferraro ‘Last American Hero’

Every time I try to think of something to say about this (30-minute) song, I think of the frankly rather verbose review I read somewhere on teh interwebz, and have a little chuckle to myself. So I’ll just quote that instead.

'More than anything, it’s [a track] which lives up to its evocative title, placing the listener behind the eyes of a dissolute, aviator-wearing, Marlboro-smoking neo-cowboy speeding 100kph away from, or perhaps into, certain ruin’

Thanks for that.

From ‘Last American hero’

, certain ruin.'

18. Tennis ‘Marathon’

Basically, imagine if Beach House had just one more songwriting gold coin, and Vampire Weekend weren’t so in-your-face lawn shorts.

Don’t you hate it when people write about music and they just say stupid stuff like ‘If band A had a baby with Band B’ blah blah blah. Lazy. But honestly, that’s what this song sounds like!

Loads of bands at the moment sound quite a lot like each, or, at least, it’s easy to link them to a sphere. Tennis, though, are better than all the acts you’re thinking about now after you read that last sentence.

From ‘Baltimore E.P’

Also: ‘Baltimore’, ‘Cape Dory’

17. Max Richter ‘Infra 5’

From the opening strings, you know you’re in for something special. Those rising, insistent minor swells, somehow all at once urgent, pleading, languid and resigned.

Neo classical gets bad press. And so it should. For the most part it’s for pretentious pricks who consider sophistication to be a black & white profile photo for an album cover, replete with liner notes that diss Beethoven. For the most part. Sometimes, in the hands of a skilled artificer, it makes everything else look like the crude racket of a reasonless mob. Oh yeah, and this is one of those times.

From ‘Infra’

16. Deerhunter ‘Helicopter’

Few people realize years of promise.

Strangely, as this list has accelerated towards #1, I’ve found it harder to write about the songs, not easier. I have far more emotional connection to this than, say, whatever’s at #97, but the words won’t come, crystallizing my neurons into text is beyond me. Maybe it’s about doing justice, maybe my prowess with the English language is just not what I, in my ego-centric manner, believe it to be. Whatever.

Few bands are doing it as well as these guys.

From ‘Halcyon Digest’

Also: ‘Desire Lines’, ‘Revival’

15. Best Coast ‘The End’

I have no idea why I tolerate this. It’s probably because sometimes you read Wittgenstein, and sometimes you listen to three chords.

From ‘Crazy For You’

Also: ‘Boyfriend’, ‘When I’m With You’ (From When I’m With You 7”)

14. Skream ‘How Real’ (Ft. Freckles)

Skream doesn’t make dubstep anymore, Ok? Let’s show that elephant to the door, it’s boring, and an unnecessary debate. This has far more in common with straight-up house music, and even trance than his moodier beginnings.

It’s his treatment of Freckles’ confetti vocals, warping them into, I hate to say it, a euphoric chorus-verse-chorus progression, that lets us know that he may have moved on, stylistically, from the recession-generation rallying cry we’re used to, but that he’s still the dance music figurehead we’ve all come to think of as ‘ours’.

From ‘Outside The Box’

Also: ‘Perforated’

13. Four Tet ‘Angel Echoes’

Four Tet barely permeates my consciousness nowadays, then I start writing these lists and I’m like ‘waaait a minute! How did Four Tet get to no.13? I have no memory of putting him there, I’ll just move it.’ Then when I re-open the document a day later, it’s back at #13. It seems it cannot be avoided- Four Tet is a boring-as-hell choice, but he’s just so good, just so obviously better than the competition, that my actually willful decision has relatively little impact on reality. Ho-hum.

From ‘there Is Love In you’

Also: ‘Love Cry’, ‘Circling’

12. Kanye West ‘Monster’
It would be a waste of time to say anything about Kanye. I will clear up a few things, though.

Firstly, the choice of ‘Monster’ is entirely arbitrary, it’s just the one that showcases best both Kanye’s obvious (and entertaining) total paranoia, and his craftsmanship as a pure pop writer. Anything on the alum would do.

Secondly, Only #12? Yeah, well Kanye’s albums true strength lies in the consistency, about the many, many 9/10 songs all piled on top of each other, squawking for your attention. Remove any one of them and look at them in isolation, and the shine comes off a little. Just a little.

From ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’

Also: Rest Of The Album

11. Forest Swords ‘Rattling Cage’

This is the quantum mechanics of songwriting. Try and measure it and it becomes something different, squirming through your grasping hands. Drone? Kinda. Dubstep? Sorta. Folk song? A bit. Innovative, quicksilver brilliance, from the bloody Wirral of all places? Oh, hellz yeah.

That’s about all that should be said, you need to listen for yourselves.

From ‘Dagger Paths’- Expanded U.K Edition

Also: ‘Miarches’, ‘Hjurt’

10. Aloe Blacc ‘I Need A Dollar’

Aloe Blacc is a filter through which 70’s soul can access YOUR world. All your music sucks, 70’s soul was totally well better, he’s not taking no for an answer, not accepting any progression, not acknowledging anything that’s happened in the last forty years, and you’re gonna sit there, you’re gonna listen and you’re gonna agree with him. And, funnily enough, after four minutes or so, you’re not even gonna need to be coerced to do so.

From ‘Good things’

9. Wild Nothing ‘Live In Dreams’

Right, I’m 8,000 words into this project, I cannot physically type the words ‘bedroom artist’, ‘the 80’s’ or any of the ‘distortion/fuzz/lo-fi’ set anymore. I CAN’T DO IT.

Wild Nothing was always the best of that bunch, considered, affecting and yet never mawkish. You never feel like you’re just aurally re-living his childhood for the sake of it, it’s still always about the song.

Nostalgia works, it’s a valid hook, especially in the times we’re living through, but it fails when the future is sacrificed. With Wild Nothing, it’s a cursory glance behind, not a homage to that girl you’re still in love with from 12 years ago, and it’s so-o-o much better for it that you wouldn’t believe. Beautiful, adaptable and never, ever pathetic.

From ‘Gemini’

Also: ‘Summer Holiday’, ‘Chinatown’, ‘Golden Haze’ (From ‘Evertide’ E.P)

8. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti ‘Round & Round’

‘Round & Round’ is Ariel Pink. For a lot of it, you merely get the meandering, bubbling echo of pop genius that might have been, and then, suddenly, you’re hit with the most perfect chorus. He’s an inconsistent man, alright, but shouts of ‘Hire an editor!’ are better directed at, say, J.K Rowling. Part of the joy of listening to Ariel pink is bumbling along the not-unpleasant but uninspiring prairie, only to turn the corner and suddenly descent into a lush and fragrant valley of unimaginable beauty. When he gets it right, he gets it right.

From ‘Before Today’

7. James Blake ‘CYMK’

Dubstep is music for the recession. Compare it to the pomp and grandeur of the early noughties, or even, the blissful accent-ridden poverty of ’06-’08 and a bleak picture builds up. CYMK, the most isolation-able song from a trio of stellar E.Ps, forms our first national anthem from a time the banks forgot.

‘Look I Found Her….Damn…….Red Coat’. The broken vocals disassociate us from any narrative there might be, yet we can still see, we can still dance, just. It’s about survival, haunted melody, filling in the gaps ourselves. After all, there’s no way we can get a grant for that kind of thing nowadays.

In Dubstep’s first bona fide superstar, an entire generation might just find solace.

From ‘CYMK’ E.P

Also: ‘Limit To Your Love’ (From ‘Limit To Your Love 7”’) ‘I Only Know What I Know Now’, ‘Don’t You Think I Do’ (Both From ‘Klavierwerke’ E.P)

6. Hot Chip ‘I Feel Better’

You know those awful ‘Keep Calm & Carry On’ shirts? Well, if they were an against all-odds interesting electronic-pop band, they’d be Hot Chip. When four flaming horsemen streak over the sky, they’ll still be churning these anthems out, and, despite all notions of taste, we’ll be sold again. Pop music elevated beyond itself.

From ‘One Life Stand’

Also: ‘Thieves In The Night’, ‘Hand Me Down Your Love’, ‘One Life Stand’, ‘Brothers’

5. LCD Soundsystem ‘Dance Yrself Clean’

Although this is #5, it’s the last piece I’m writing, and I’m gone. It's Christmas Eve, My brain’s melted. I have no idea why I did this to myself, it’s taken about 10,000 words and loads of effort for no real reason. Really autistic, too.

This is another really good song that came out in 2010, one of the very best. I think someone probably wrote something about it on the internet, if you want to find some stuff out about it, I’d Google it.

From ‘This Is Happening’

4. Panda Bear ‘Slow Motion’

What do you do when the entire world is watching, and expecting something approaching near-biblical levels of aural salvation? A: Just carry on as ever, and hope that everyone realises that all you do is make beat-orientated Beach-Boys re-imaginings.

Ones that herald the second coming! Oh yeah! All bow, our master is here! The one true king is some bloke that lives in Portugal! Bring on the feasting!

From ‘Tomboy 7”’

Also: ‘Tomboy’, ‘Alsation Darn’ (From ‘You Can Count On Me’ 7”)

3. Wavves ‘King Of The Beach’

Well, who’d have thought Wavves would be bulletproof? After all the terrible shit that he was part of after ‘Wavvves’ came out, I’d written him off as a casualty of personality eclipsing music. Then a friend chucked this on, and from the moment those two fuzzed-up chords crunch in, all was forgiven. There was simply NOTHING better to drunkenly fist-pump like a champ to in 2010.

From ‘King Of The Beach’

Also: ‘Super Soaker’, ‘Post-Acid’, ‘Baby Say Goodbye’

2. Janelle Monae ‘Cold War’

So close, and yet so far. Janelle Monae makes my #2 in both albums and songs, which actually makes sense. She’s got more vision, more ambition, more talent than half this list combined, but she’s so young. At the moment, everything she touches turns to cracked gold, flawed perfection. She’s so almost there, so nearly the most accomplished artist to emerge from Outkast’s considerably long shadow that it almost makes you weep when she misses by a hair’s breadth.

So, OK, The Archandroid’ is a peak-and-valley masterpiece. If we isolate those high points however, who can truly say that they weren’t completely inspired, completely bowled over by a flourishing of sensibility, experimentation and dedication? Who can deny that ‘Cold War’ takes aim at your emotional centre and refuses any talk of a ceasefire? Who can say there haven’t been times that you feel like bawling as much as she does? If she isn’t elevated to the levels she deserves in the next few years, the world has more wrong with it that we fear even now.

From ‘The Archandroid’

Also: ‘Tightrope’ (Ft. Big Boi)

1. His Clancyness ‘Summer Majestic’

Note: I had to get really smashed in order to be able to write this. My sober self is just too cynical and self-conscious to get down with all the sincere fawning I needed to do over this song.

This is easily my favourite song, not just of 2010, but of the last ten years. I guarantee, however, that your reaction upon first hearing it will much the same as mine was; that it’s a nice song, but hardly list-topping material. By listen five, though, you might agree it deserves a top ten slot. By listen fifty, you may just be in the same position as me: willing to extol its virtues to anyone and everyone and anyone who’ll listen, and everybody else besides.

Another interesting thing is that all other His Clancyness songs suck. It’s almost as if it doesn’t really belong to him, that it existed, fully-formed, drifting in the ether somewhere and really, it was just a fluke that some random Italian-Canadian dream-fuzz musician discovered it. It could have been anyone.

Whatever the epistemological speculation on its origins, none fully ingesting this song can disagree it has something almost too perfect about it. It is construction and conventionality elevated to the highest plateau. i.e, it’s a 3 minute pop song. Within that though, the range of influences and allusions is vast: new-wave, punk, post-punk, rock, noise, drone, cold wave, etc etc. But in the end, it’s still more song than history lesson. If Summer Majestic is indebted to countless tunes that have come before, it isn’t trying to hide it, or even bothered that people will point it out, more, it seems like the natural conclusion to the last three decades of western music. That it’s an unreleased song available really only to those with more than a passing interest in music blogs, is more telling still.

I’m now rambling, so I should get to the point. ‘Summer Majestic’ is the most perfect representation of youth I have ever heard. It’s pretentious, naïve, tuneful, mawkish, prematurely nostalgic, beautiful, care-free, transient, it’s everything that’s absolutely brilliant about being young.

It’s a song for summer, for wide-eyed lovers, it’s a song that doesn’t balk at using ‘majestic’ in its title, one so totally unaware of, yet ultimately devoted to, the constraints of the world it inhabits that it achieves the impossible: true representation. If someone asked me to teach them about music in the age we live in, I would point them to Summer Majestic.

So no, it doesn’t belong to His Clancyness, It belongs to us, it’s our ‘Blowing In The Wind’. We’re de-politicized, struggling for identity, exploited, disenfranchised, fragmented and signed up to Twitter, but we’re still the youth of the noughties, we’re still alive, and for us to ignore this song would be nothing short of criminal.

Unreleased

By David Wingrave

Chris Breuer - Haunted By Day (2010)

2010-12-22T16:54:00.003Z

A fresh mix from Chris Breuer, described by the big man himself as "a little mix for the christmas season - slightly more downbeat and reflective than usual." Stellar stuff.

SoundCloud

Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk (1967)

2010-12-17T18:00:00.000Z

RIP Don Van Vliet AKA Captain Beefheart, who died today at the age of 69. Hugely talented artist, fantastic record - if you've never heard any Beefheart before expect surreal blues. This is a great place to start, as it's his debut album, and my personal favourite.

Captain Beefheart - Safe As Milk (1967)

Hype Williams - Untitled (2010)

2010-12-11T19:51:00.004Z

Amazing hypnogogic pop on Carnival. Like James Ferraro, possibly less accomplished, but reaches higher highs when they nail it. The super limited vinyl sold out in some amount of time so small that only the large hadron collider could measure or whatever, so get your fill here.

Hype Williams - Untitled (2010)

The Neat - In Youth Is Pleasure

2010-12-02T14:12:00.000Z

Woah, a new guitar band that I'm actually excited about...

YouTube

NME's Top Ten of 2010

2010-12-01T15:35:00.002Z

So out of touch with modern British music it's not even funny. It's almost as if the dubstep/electronic music explosion over the past few years never even happened, and we're stuck back in 2007.

Read it and weep. Literally.

End of year extravaganza

2010-11-27T16:05:00.002Z

It's just over a month away, and so I'm starting to get into gear for our infamous 'Best Of Year' lists. I'm a democratic kinda chap so if anyone wants to comment/e-mail me (theclickofalight@gmail.com) a list of your 10 favourite albums and/or 5 favourite EPS then please feel free to. Two rules that my friends who have been doing this for me seem to ignore - it has to be from 2010 (obviously) and NO REISSUES. Anything else goes though - live, demo, compilations, whatever.

Pip x

Indiana Jones Theme Song

2010-11-26T15:23:00.002Z

Don't ask.

Also, I genuinely think Short Round is an amazing character:

"Hey, lady! You call him Dr. Jones!"
"Hang on lady, we going for a ride!"
"He no nuts, he's crazy!"
"I keep telling you, you listen to me more, you live longer!"

See, he's such a bad-ass!

Cobson - Cobson (2010)

2010-11-25T16:58:00.003Z

French band Cobson may only use two guitars and a drum kit (with a piano sometimes used in place of a bass guitar) but their music is anything but simplistic. True, it's certainly not innovative or groundbreaking, but it's very enjoyable - absorbing influence from a number of post-punk bands from the past 20 years, they almost sound like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; having a female singer who oozes sex, talent and passion will certainly not help with the comparisons.

MySpace

American Football - American Football (1999)

2010-11-19T13:25:00.003Z

The only album from this Chicago trio, who counted Cap'n Jazz, Joan of Arc and The One Up Downstairs among their former bands. Lead singer Mike Kinsella, now of Owen, would later form Owls, whose album I posted a few weeks ago; if you liked that you'll love this - just really nice chilled-out perfect math-rock pop songs.

American Football - American Football (1999)

William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops (2002-2003)

2010-11-12T15:15:00.004Z

During the summer of 2001, prolific ambient composer Basinski attempted to transfer recordings he had made in the 1980s from magnetic tape to digital; as they slowly crumbled in the machine, he recorded what came out, and it's bloody (albeit accidental) brilliance. Basinski claims to have finished the project on the morning of 9/11, and he sat listening to the material on the roof of his NY apartment building with friends as the Towers collapsed around him. Whether you believe this story or not is a moot point; just listen to four albums worth of absolute pleasure.

The Disintegration Loops I
The Disintegration Loops II
The Disintegration Loops III
The Disintegration Loops IV

Masta Ace - Disposable Arts (2001)

2010-11-06T20:49:00.003Z

Masta Ace's second solo album, his first in six years, which managed to cement his place as one of hip shop's greatest ever MCs. Disposable Arts is a concept album about a man being released from prison. The production is tight, the rhymes are sick, and the abum is just an absolute treat from start to end.

Masta Ace - Disposable Arts (2001)

Beirut - The Joys Of Losing Weight (2001)

2010-11-02T19:59:00.004Z

An early demo album, self-produced by the then fifteen-year-old Zach Condon. Fans of his earlier folky work will be surprised - hopefully pleasantly, as I was - by the electronic elements of this album.

Beirut - The Joys Of Losing Weight (2001)

The Final Solution - Brotherman OST (1974)

2010-10-30T15:44:00.003+01:00

Despite their name, The Final Solution were't a white power band - they were a Chicago-based fivesome who recorded a soul & funk infused soundtrack for a Blaxpoitation film that was never released. Consequently, the band and the album faded into obscurity before being resurrected in 2008 by the impeccable Soul Jazz Records.

The Final Solution - Brotherman OST (1974)

The Slits - Cut (1979)

2010-10-24T10:16:00.000+01:00

The Slits were an all-female punk group based in London. Lead singer Ari Up, who tragically died last week at the age of just 48, was the step-daughter of Johnny Rotten, and was only 17 when this album was recorded. It has reggae/dub influences as well as the obvious punk we all know and love, and is highly recommended.

The Slits - Cut (1979)

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Rural Routes No. 2 (2010)

2010-10-23T16:48:00.003+01:00

Combining elements of drone with neo-classical, New York-based Canadian composer Kyle Bobby Dunn manages to craft an extremely interesting little album. Clocking in at just over 20 minutes long, it always leaves you wanting more. Oh, and he's only two years older than me - fuck my life!

Kyle Bobby Dunn - Rural Routes No. 2 (2010)

Teebs - Ardour

2010-10-22T21:18:00.003+01:00

This happy chappy is Teebs. Teebs made me a happy chappy in turn last night, when I caught him supporting Daedelus and The Gaslamp Killer. Really chilled out beats, L.A. producer so he's basically like Flying Lotus or whatever bla bla bla, but he had a nice sound, and his CD, which he gave me for free cus I guessed his age correctly (23 by the way), is real swell too. If you were North American, you'd say that this was excellent music to 'kick it and blaze it' to. You'd never catch me saying that though.

I would encourage everyone to check out his myspace and if you're feeling naughty, you could pinch his music from here, just to give the whole album a listen, before definitely going out and buying a copy. Or you could bump into him, say 'hey you're 23', and, because he seemed like a fucking nice bloke, he'd probably whip one of his CDs out from somewhere and say 'Good job, have my CD'.

Wighead

2010-10-19T13:04:00.001+01:00

Hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, this band describe their music as "heavily influenced by bands like The Barbara's, Beach Boys, Magic Kids, Phil Spector, Box Elder's and The Flaming Lips." They're not far wrong, and you can download their stuff for free from Bandcamp.

Discography - FabricLive

2010-10-15T13:06:00.005+01:00

Some hero has put each and every FabricLive compilation online for your listening pleasure.

Clicky click

Discography - Pocahaunted

2010-10-09T18:47:00.002+01:00

Pocahaunted were boss. Unfortunately they're probably most famous because the lead singer from Best Coast formed this band. Don't let that fact make you expect summery indie pop - Pocahaunted played psychedelic dubby goodness. Highly reccomended.

Get it while it's hot!

Owls - Owls (2001)

2010-10-03T20:41:00.003+01:00

A one-off supergroup from the Chicago indie/math-rock scene, consisting of brothers Tim "Cap'n Jazz" Kinsella and Mike "Owen" Kinsella, as well as the guitarists from Ghosts & Vodka. If any of those bands tickle your fancy, then this is for you. If not, then try it anyway - this album is truly spectacular.

Owls - Owls (2001)

Chris Breuer - Outcomes Mix (2010)

2010-09-21T13:54:00.003+01:00

Everyone has a German house DJ mate living in Edinburgh, right? You don't?! For shame.

Clocking in at 68 minutes long, I can confirm I've not heard of any of the artists featured, so you know that this latest mix is going to be sick.

Soundcloud

Aix Em Klemm - Aix Em Klemm (2000)

2010-09-18T12:00:00.000+01:00

Hey kids, I know the weekend's here, but are you ready for some fun musical maths? Good.

Q: ½ of Stars Of The Lid + ⅓ Labradford = what?

A: Droney goodness that you need in your life NOW.

Aix Em Klemm - Aix Em Klemm (2000)

From Monument To Masses - On Little Known Frequencies (2009)

2010-09-16T13:28:00.002+01:00

Politically charged post-rock from San Francisco. As well as creating soaring guitar-scapes, this trio use samples from TV and film to get their vitally important pro-liberty message across.

From Monument To Masses - On Little Known Frequencies (2009)

A. Armada - Anam Cara (2008)

2010-09-14T12:47:00.003+01:00

Epic post-rock with a slightly darker edge. This band hail from Athens, Georgia so you know they're gonna be good.

A. Armada - Anam Cara (2008)

Update

2010-09-13T12:52:00.001+01:00

I've finally got around to sorting out my hard-drive, which had like 400gb of music on it. The majority was utter shite, but I've found some old gems, and I'll be posting them over the next couple of days/weeks/months/years.

Pip x

Twin Shadow - Slow

2010-09-12T12:55:00.001+01:00

Great video, great song, great moustache.

YouTube

Tinie Tempah - Pass Out (Fog's Blokka Remix)

2010-09-10T00:37:00.005+01:00

So about a fortnight back I went out in Hull for my cousin's leaving party (she's moved to Shanghai for a year), and ended up at one of those shitty clubs I hate so very much. Luckily the DJ played this amazing song - a remix of Tinie Tempah by a dubstep producer from Dublin called Fog (check out his SoundCloud for more of his stuff) - which not only saved me from throwing myself out of the window, but is about infinity times better than the original, which is well shite.

Play it so loud your ears bleed

Mercury Music Prize 2010

2010-09-08T23:02:00.003+01:00

Congrats to the XX for winning this award last night - almost as prestigious as coming 7th in TCOAL's Best of 2009, but not quite. Don't get me wrong, it is a great album (go buy it, cos I'm sick of uploading it and it getting deleted), but to be honest it was a pretty shit batch of albums nominated - yeah, Mumford & Sons made a good record, and yeah Foals were interesting (but nowhere near as good as their first record, quelle surprise), and yeah Dizzee Rascal made THE anthem of the decade, but none of the albums were groundbreakingly amazing, and most were a proper load of bollocks. For shame.

Bad Dimension

2010-08-22T20:53:00.003+01:00

A kick-ass new club night in London run by my dear friend Chev (of 'Best of 2009' fame), a guy who has such an eclectic and expansive music taste it makes me weep with jealousy.

The first night is on Saturday 28th August 2010, at The Horatia on Holloway Road, and features live music from The Oscillation .

Oh, and did I mention it's FREE?! You have no excuse not to go now...

Check out their website for more info and a taste of the music they'll be playing.

Ross & The Wrongens

2010-08-14T11:11:00.000+01:00

My cousin's band. He's the lad with a circle round his little face. He plays guitar. My Dad even managed to get my Gran to go on their MySpace page to check them out. I wasn't there (too hungover, in no fit state to see my eldest living relative for the first time in eight months) but I wish I had been now...

In other news, I'm going to a music festival held at a farm about five minutes from my house. It's probably gonna be shit but I'm gonna get drunk with my mates in a field (always boss) and see a mate's band play, and see Male Bonding and Errors. And maybe get my dub on to Joker. Even better, to quote Clipse, I "got it for cheap" - aforementioned mate got me mate's rates. Review to follow after the weekend...

Much love x

Apologies...

2010-08-12T19:43:00.002+01:00

...for not posting sooner. Reasons:

My seventeen year old sister stole my laptop when I was travelling and refuses to give it back. The bitch. And the shitty netbook thing I bought in Canada doesn't have a disk drive so the CDs bands have sent me lay in a pile on my desk...reviews soon, I promise.
I'm working on a new political blog - it's the tits, check it out.
I'm getting FAR too many DMCA notifications and I'm all fright-edy.

Much love, chat soon. xx

Adam Haworth Stephens

2010-07-23T21:29:00.000+01:00

The lead singer from Two Gallants, everyone's favourite alt-country-indie band, is going solo for a wee bit. His album We Live On Cliffs is out at the end of September on Saddle Creek, but in the meantime you can download a taster track (for FREE!) from his official website. Also, check out his MySpace for August tour dates and more info.

The Darkness - Permission To Land (2003)

2010-07-22T12:00:00.000+01:00

Fuck you, this album fucking owns. They were the first band I ever saw live, and Justin Hawkins rode around the arena on a giant white tiger. Fucking boss.

The Darkness - Permission To Land (2003)

Pretty Birds That Kill

2010-07-21T12:00:00.000+01:00

I've only ever met one Alaskan. She was my friend Meghan's housemate and when she wasn't spending all day snowboarding or being ridiculously cool and unbelievably hot, she was also super nice. This garage electro band are pretty much like that (apart from the snowboarding bit, which I can neither confirm nor deny). They are currently touring the lower 48 states until October, so check out their MySpace to find a show near you!

ANNE

2010-07-20T12:00:00.000+01:00

ANNE hail from Portland, Oregon, that amazingly creativly that has also produced Le Tigre and The Thermals, and also houses a number of American and British bands-in-exile such as Gossip and The Cribs. They blur the boundaries of shoegaze and new wave (shoe wave?!) and their recently released demo is freely available from the band. Also check out their MySpace for more info, and to see if they're hittin' up your hood in the near future.

Kepler - Fuck Fight Fail (2000)

2010-07-17T12:00:00.000+01:00

Here endeth the Canadian lessons for now. Over the next couple of days expect a pair of artist request profiles - if you want to be profiled yourself, send me an e-mail! Anyways, Kepler were an Ontario-based band who played a genre called slowcore - think of bands like Low, Codeine and Akron/Family. Jeremy "Arcade Fire's drummer" Gara played guitars and keyboards on this record which is fucking A. Even if you've never heard of slowcore or any of the bands I have just so unceremoniously namedropped, but you have a vague interest in the Explosions In The Sky-brand of post-rock. Enjoy.

Kepler - Fuck Fight Fail (2000)

KC Accidental - Captured Anthems For An Empty Bathtub (1998)

2010-07-16T12:00:00.000+01:00

The first KC Accidental album. This is a jazzier affair. Personally, I prefer the second one, but whatever. It's still good. Enjoy.

KC Accidental - Captured Anthems For An Empty Bathtub (1998)

KC Accidental - Anthems For The Could've Bin Pills (2000)

2010-07-13T12:00:00.002+01:00

As I approach the end of my seven-month stay in Canada, a trip which I have come to realise has been a bit of a mistake, I want to find some positives to say about a country which just annoys me. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to visit (if you can afford the alcohol prices...) but living here was a major error. Anyways, I am going to post some Canadian bands I have been listening to since I moved here over the next couple of days, beginning with KC Accidental's second album. They broke up soon after this and formed a new band called Broken Social Scene, which is the only Canadian band most people outside of the worst-half of North America have heard of. Enjoy.

KC Accidental - Anthems For The Could've Bin Pills (2000)

Monday Mixtape #10

2010-07-12T12:00:00.000+01:00

Another random collection of songs I'm listening to at the minute. Enjoy.

Monday Mixtape #10

Nas & Damian Marley - As We Enter (2010)

Lil Wayne - President (2007)

Diplo - 200 (2009)

RZA - Ode To O-Ren Ishii (2003)

Benga - Zero M2 (2008)

The Maccabees - Precious Time (2007)

Beck - Bad Cartridge (E-Pro - Paza Rahm Remix) (2005)

Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push (2006)

Jamie T - Ike & Tina (2007)

Fungi Girls - Pacifica Nostalgia (2009)

Good Shoes - Wait (2007)

Booka Shade - Body Language (Interpretation) (2006)

The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton (1979)

Idlewild - A Modern Way Of Letting Go (2002)

Bill Withers - Use Me (2007)

Tayo - FabricLive.32 (2007)

2010-06-28T12:00:00.001+01:00

I can't be fucked to make a mix this week, so enjoy this instead. I've been listening to a lot of dubstep recently and this is always first on my iPod. Even if you're not a fan of the genre, I think you'll be able to still appreciate it. Enjoy.

LINK REMOVED BY REQUEST

Splice

2010-06-27T16:03:00.003+01:00

This is oficially the worst film ever. The entire plot boils down to this:

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are lovers/scientists who splice (hey, that's the name of the film!) animal and human DNA, resulting in a creature called Dren (hey, that's 'nerd' backwards!). Brody fucks Dren, she dies, then comes back to life as a male (somehow), and rapes Polley, who becomes preggers.

It therefore should have been 5 minutes long, not 2 hours. Fuck.

Scumbag Philosopher

2010-06-26T12:00:00.001+01:00

This band were nice enough to e-mail me, and I'm nice enough to post a video of them, so here it is. To me they sound like a cross between The Fall and Art Brut - the genre of post-art-punk? I'm quite digging this song, the lyrics are hilarious.

Embedding didn't work so just click here instead.

Official website is here, MyFace is here, support the artist, blah blah blah. But seriously, buy a single or something, mmkay?

!!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It? (2010)

2010-06-25T12:00:00.005+01:00

I have never posted newly-leaked albums before, but my friend Chev (of Top Ten of 2009 fame) uploaded it for me, and it'll be a waste to not share it...or something. I've not even heard it yet - too caught up in the thrill of the leak - but Chev had this to say about it:

erm got it a few days ago its a beast, loving Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass

Nuff said. Enjoy.

!!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It? (2010)

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)

2010-06-23T12:00:00.000+01:00

The Stones' compilation Forty Licks is one of the few albums I can remember actually buying - I was sixteen, on a Univeristy open day in Cambridge (yeah, that turned out well...), and bought it from a Woolworths while exploring the city. Is this the Stones' best album? Debatable; they have so many great records. But this offering is nothing but amazing psychedelic rock. Enjoy.

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request (1967)

Monday Mixtape #9

2010-06-21T12:00:00.001+01:00

I don't have the time or energy to bother with a theme for this week's resurrected Monday Mixtape (you're creaming your pants in anticipation, aren't you?) so here's just a random selection of songs/bands/albums/genres I'm listening to at the moment:

Monday Mixtape #9

1) Black Moth Super Rainbow – Colourful Nickels (2010)
2) Emeralds – Candy Shoppe (2010)
3) Aesop Rock – Daylight (2001)
4) Flying Lotus – 1983 (Daedalus Odd Dance Party Remix) (2006)
5) HEALTH – Die Slow (2009)
6) Charlotte Gainsbourg – Greenwich Mean Time (2009)
7) Hot Chip – I Feel Better (2010)
8) Explode Into Colors – Eyes Hand Mouth (2010)
9) Jamie T – Earth Wind & Fire (2009)
10) Lil Wayne – President (2007)
11) The Notwist – Boneless (2008)
12) Wale – W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. (2007)
13) Surfer Blood – Twin Peaks (2009)
14) Fang Island – Careful Crossers (2010)
15) Four Tet – She Just Likes To Fight (2010)
16) Pens – I Sing This For You (2009)
17) Caribou – Odessa (2010)
18) Busta Rhymes – Whoo Ha (Jay Dee Remix) (2009)

MF DOOM - The Mouse & The Moustache EP (2010)

2010-06-18T12:00:00.001+01:00

Some guy calling himself MF Borat (apparently Sacha Baron Cohen & Daniel Dumile, but I have my doubts) has remixed/reproduced or whatever a couple of MF DOOM tracks. Whatever the truth behind the story, this record is fucking incredible and that's all you need to know. I'm not patient enough to wait until the end-of-year Top Ten, so I'm sharing it with you now. Appreciate and enjoy.

MF DOOM - The Mouse & The Moustache EP (2010)

Mediafire

2010-05-22T23:43:00.003+01:00

It's being gay and won't let me upload anything. Be patient, I've got some good shit planned.

Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do (2009)

2010-05-17T00:28:00.004+01:00

An album that, somehow, only just missed making our Top Ten of 2009 list back in December, and another Coachella reminiscence. Seeing Major Lazer was perhaps the most fun I have EVER had EVER, and while Fever Ray was the best overall show I've ever seen, this was a very close second. Anyways, this is a collaboration by Diplo and Switch, a concept album about a Jamaican commando who had his arm ripped off by a zombie in the 80s and replaced with a lazer. It's fucking amazing and you have to get it NOW. Enjoy.

Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do (2009)

Oni Ayhun - OAR EPs (2008-2009)

2010-05-14T21:29:00.005+01:00

I'm getting Coachella withdrawal again. It fucking sucks. It was one of the best festivals I've ever been to - pissed in the Californian desert for 4 days, surrounded by close friends and hot Cali girls. Sigh. Anyways, the best act I saw there (and ever, for that matter) was Fever Ray, who was beyond incredible. Fever Ray is, of course, the solo project of Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife; but did you know that the other half of The Knife, her younger brother Olof Dreijer, also has his own solo project? He has released three vinyl-only EPs under the name Oni Ayhun, with another two planned for later this year. While not as good as The Knife or even Fever Ray, these five tracks (one got corrupted, boo hoo) are still worth a listen. Enjoy.

Oni Ayhun - OAR EPs (2008-2009)

Johann Johannsson, The Biltmore, 11th May 2010

2010-05-14T02:49:00.010+01:00

Last time I looked in at the Biltmore, I was greeted by the fetid odour of record nerd sweat stench. I witnessed as tattooed punks hung from the rafters; and I ducked and dodged as not-so-empty cans, missiles of piss, lager, or both, flew past me and dropped their contents on unsuspecting audience members. Pretty typical gig really.

So what the hell, Biltmore? Tables? Candles? Mood lighting? A civilised audience that drank wine? Wine! Wine at a gig, well who'd have thought it?

Don't worry Biltmore, I'm just giving you friendly jest. It shows that I like you. You and your mood lighting really made the Johann Johannsson gig a special evening. The gentle chamber music you were playing as I walked in made me feel civilised, which is pretty rare, and the mature audience (some of whom wore shirts rather than 4-day-old t-shirts!) you filled the place with only added to the effect.

It's very rare that neo-classical composers, such as Iceland's Mr Johannsson, put on shows. Probably because they're often overlooked: their works/soundtracks lack that 3-minuteness that most listeners desire, that quick musical fix that grabs you, gives you a high, then is gone. They require concentration, so that you notice their subtle nuances: the way the violin parts flirt with each other, the way that 'power' is built gradually, delicately, and the way the electronic components potter about doing their own thing, come see what the 'classical' instruments are up to, and respect, rather than overpower them. It is a genre which mixes classical influences with modern computerised sounds and innovative recording techniques. When done badly, it is instantly forgettable of course, but when carried out by someone of great talent, it can be sublime.

Here I'm talking in particular about the music of Johann Johannsson, who is my personal favourite in this fluid, ever-shifting genre. Johannsson's works are, for the most part, built around concepts -eg. the failed Brazilian rubber plant 'Fordlandia' established by Henry Ford, or an old IBM computer Johannson's dad used back in the days when computers were as big as houses. Concepts of technological change, human endeavour, nostalgia and much more - thrilling works that have given me much pleasure, and which I share with everyone I can.

The show itself was remarkably enjoyable. An incredibly polished performance, sonically speaking perfect, and accompanied with beautifully photographed scenes to supplement the images created by the music itself. I wont go on, I just wanted to say that it was an event, in a way that all those sweaty shouty guitar gigs struggle to be.

The Wake - Harmony (1982)

2010-05-13T21:01:00.004+01:00

An influential but often-overloooked post-punk band from the early 80s who were signed to Factory Records. Hailing from Glasgow, this was Bobby Gillespie's first band - he would gain fame a few years later for his work with The Jesus & Mary Chain, and later still Primal Scream. If that's not whetting your tastebuds already then there's no hope for you. Enjoy.

The Wake - Harmony (1982)

Girlfriends - Girlfriends (2009)

2010-04-25T18:08:00.003+01:00

Some of you may know, most of you won't care, but I've been travelling around North America for the past 4 months, hence the lack of posts. However, this album is SOOO good that it has impelled me to share it with y'all. It's one I missed from last year and I must thanks my dear friend Chev for suggesting it. Apparently it is self-released (someone give them a deal, please!) and it is just amazing electronic math rock, sort of like Errors (whose new album is also the tits, go and buy it. Maybe I'll post it in the infamous TCOAL end-of-year bonanza if it makes it. But don't take the risk.) Even if you don't like any of what I've described, get it anyways - I guarantee you'll like it, and even if you don't, that just means you have no soul. Enjoy.

Girlfriends - Girlfriends (2009)

Titus Andronicus, 917 Main, Vancouver, April 1st

2010-04-03T03:27:00.003+01:00

Boy, do I love Titus Andronicus. The bit where the evil bitch mother eats her spoilt-rotten children in a delicious meat pie is, well, delicious. And the bit where the virginal Lavinia (was that her name? Sounds pretty Shakespeare to me...) gets raped, then has her hands cut off and her tongue cut out, well that bit is pretty gory too. I love gore - not enough 'art' has fake blood by the gallon if you ask me. No, at the end of the day it probably isn't the most subtle of Billy Boy's plays, but it's a damned good spectacle to go witness.

But that doesn't really help you gauge whether Titus Andronicus, the band that Shakespeare named his first play after, were any good when I saw them last night. Ah man, you're putting me on the spot here - were they any good? 'I dunno' I cry, close to tears now, 'I can hardly remember the set!' I remember the lead singer going on a rant about something, I think it was about the American/Canadian border control giving him a hard time cus they asked him to empty all the goods out of his massive beard. Anyway, it left a slightly bitter taste in the mouth, and seemed to retard the set a bit. Apart from this passage, the show flowed pretty well, mixing new and old tracks, with an emphasis on the new album tracks. This seemed to please a fair few in the ground, cus almost everything was received hand-jiggling enthusiasm, but if you want my honest opinion (look at you, of course you do...), I prefer the first album, The Airing of Grievances, because it's more gritty and punky than the new one, and because it allows me to reminisce about all those times it got played in my house at university, and how being drunk and shouty is boss. And for me, that's when Titus are at their peak, when they're shouty and I'm drunky. Fortunately they have a decent front man for this - really he was the only person on that stage who drew the eye, loads of fidgety energy and frantic little guitar solos. Oh, and they were a pretty tight band. And they have some pretty cool songs.

So did I enjoy the set? Yeah, I spose I did a bit, but all these positive factors somehow don't add up to a 'great' show. It isn't going to live on in the memory as Shakespeare's blood-and-guts-fest does years after I read it. The Titus Andronicus the band that I'm going to remember down the line will be the one on their tasty anthemic debut album, the one that we foghorned out in our dingy student flat and which gave us such cheap thrills.

Devendra Banhart at The Commodore, Vancouver, 18/3/10

2010-03-21T17:10:00.004Z

Call me old fashioned, but I always assumed that you payed to see a gig, in this case upwards of $30, if you liked the artist, enjoyed some of the albums they'd put out, and fancied seeing how their recordings translated to the live arena. Well, I'm gonna get on my high horse for just a sec, and am gonna proclaim that half the people in the crowd at the Devendra Banhart show the other night were nitwits - they spent so much time chatting boisterously to each other that they clearly couldn't have given two shits about who they were seeing. Why pay to see someone if you're then going to proceed to try and drown their sound out with your own brand of mind-numbing witticisms and dead-as-a-dog flirtations?

I felt a bit sorry for Devendra actually. When he walked on the stage he was greeted with decent applause, but later then when he did the solo part of the set - just his guitar, his lush voice, and his exquisite lyrics - the audience got bored and started chatting amongst themselves. Getting his hopes up, egging him on, and then dropping him with a heavy bump - you're worse than my ex... Why would you wanna play an honest, hard-working musician like that Vancouver?

I can't understand it myself, as the solo stuff was easily the best - that was the Devendra you heard in the earlier records, and the Devendra you wished to see in a wooded glade in late summer whilst you swigged away at an organic cider, and had someone plait various summer flowers into your Old-Testament-sized beard. The Commodore is not the venue for Devendra, it lacks the intimacy that his lo-fi folk thrives upon, and he would have done a lot better to have done 2 or 3 nights in a smaller venue, perhaps The Biltmore.

So, the crowd didn't appreciate the solo set. They did enjoy the main chunk of the show, where Devendra's backing band, The Grogs, gave the set depth, energy, and enough amplified sound to drown up the rude bastards at the back. People were clapping, waving lighters, cheering - all the signs that tell an artist that people are enjoying the show: just to confuse Devendra a wee bit more I presume. Paradoxically, I thought that this section was a bit run-of-the-mill, the band were tight yeah, but they didn't really offer me anything innovative, and certainly nothing worth the $30. When you go to see Devendra Banhart, you go to see him, as he's the unique the musician.

As it was, I didn't feel he was very unique on the night. I was left with very few memories of the show, and overall a sense of being cheated out of a cracking gig because the crowd didn't give the artist the respect he deserves. To all those people after the show complaining of Devendra not playing an encore - I tell you, it's your own damned fault.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow @ The Media Club, Vancouver, 7 March

2010-03-10T05:44:00.006Z

Less a glowing review, more a glaring one. It gave me sun spots. No more solar-powered puns, I promise.

This was the first gig we've seen since the almighty HEALTH in the far-from-almighty Edmonton, in our epic traversing of the Canadian continent. We've made it folks, we're in sometimes-sunny-sometimes-drizzly Vancouver, the home of cheap sushi and records, and expensive everything else.

K. So, first off were some band who played 'baroque pop', or 'moody nothingness'. As if you were trying to recall some moment from your past with the assurance that you will never retrieve it, vaguely think of Beach House, or perchance Grizzly Bear, but then swap their musical inventiveness for a grating cello, and exchange all the other things that make these guys so refreshing for stagnant, maudlin melodies that never go anywhere. What a dud way to start off a night - a similar effect to how our job center out here only plays the most depressive Radiohead tracks to cheer up the unemployed. Counter-productive mate.

Second band. Could have been called Solar, or Solarus, or Solar Shite or something. I think they were only picked cus their name is about the same hot blob as A.S.D.I.G.'s. Drone done terribly. How the heck do you do drone badly? There was this passage where they had this carefully controlled feedback whipping away at the patrons' ears which I kinda liked, mainly cus it was ha ha seeing people wincing away, but then I got bored and my pint got empty.

A Sunny Day in Glasgow. I've never been there, but I used to read Inspector Rebus books about carving-knife-castrations or what have you in Edinburgh, and Glasgow is supposedly like 10 times rougher than there, so it's gonna suck ballz hard now isn't it. Maybe they're trying to be ironic. Maybe they should try to be more entertaining.

This band managed what the other 2 didn't, in that they kept my attention for 3 songs, maybe 4 at a stretch. But then again they lacked both the stage presence and the musical range to put up a fight. For such a large group, half a dozen of them on a smallish stage, they seemed flat, timid, and, the blokes in particular, spectral. The two girls have nicely contrasting voices, one low and gravely, the other high and smooth, and these work really well together (although the blond lass was a bit flat for most of the night), especially when harmonising. And the chaps were decent enough musicians, the drummer knew his ass from his elbow which is normally a lot to ask of a sticks man, and the guitarists held their guitars the right way up, so that was a plus. But nobody said anything. They hardly looked at each other. They could have all been playing in separate booths in a studio for all the charisma they displayed. And they needed charisma, because their tracks seemed to melt into each other, and there was very little to differentiate the opening three from the final three. And the crowd recognised this - there was little more praise than a polite round of applause after each song, no call for an encore, and certainly no jubilant heckling.

People tell me that the album is really good, and yeah it may be. But that's so far from being enough that A.S.D.I.G. should be a bit ashamed that they squander their recent media attention, and their obvious talent, with such a bland performance.

HEALTH @ New City Suburbs, Edmonton - 6th Feb

2010-02-09T22:00:00.005Z

New City Suburbs is a weird place. It's some kind of goth bar, full of skeletons in dresses hanging from the ceiling, and every light is a UV one, which showed up a frightening number of white marks on my newly-bought pair of trousers...anyways, the doors didn't open till 9, so we went to an 'English' pub called the Sherlock Holmes. It was an experience I do not wish to remember. When we rocked up to the venue, the drinks were so expensive that we left again to head to the Jekyll & Hyde pub, which is in the basement of the GO! Hostel we had spent one night in a few days back. Pitchers were cheap, and the music was immense - some kind of weird covers band that had a Viz-reading Mark Lamarr on guitar, his dad or someone on keyboards, and an anonymous drummer. Anyways, when we went back to New City Suburbs a few hours and many pitchers later, the second support band were only just coming on. They were immensely shit. HEALTH more than made up for them though. All I remember is shouting 'Motherfucking HEALTH!' and moshing. Then somehow we were on a bus home, and then we were in a 24 hour McDonalds getting free burgers from a lovely little worker with a cheeky smile who Dave wanted to 'liberate'. All in all it was a boss evening.

Vic Chesnutt - Skitter On Take-off (2009)

2010-01-02T07:46:00.005Z

It's the day before I join the feckless threesome in Montreal, and I'm all jittery cus I still haven't done all my visa stuff, my bank stuff, my buying warm clothing stuff and saying goodbye to friends stuff. Yawn. And I've woken up at 6 in the shitting morning as my bodyclock is still residing 5 hours in the future. More yawn.

Also, I've just read that Vic Chesnutt died on Christmas Day. Bummer. Major bummer. Yet another musician I have failed to see live - the closest I got was missing him play Newcastle a few months ago. Way to go me.

Skitter On Take-0ff is, I guess therefore, is Vic's last album. Thank God it's a good one.

Skitter on Take-off (2009)

I'll see you when I see you, Blizz

Bon voyage

2009-12-26T19:35:00.003Z

That's right kids, I will be in Canada for a year as of less than 48 hours time (or something, I don't get time zones but we arrive 17:30 local time on Monday) so this blog is going on a bit of a break. I will post as much as I can whenever I can, but in the meantime me and my travel buddies have put together another blog, called Four Play In Canada in which we will post our thoughts on that mighty nation. Enjoy, keep safe, word. xx

The Alternative Top Ten of 2009

2009-12-26T12:42:00.003Z

I'm not going to wish you a Merry Christmas, because I am in a Scroogish mode currently. You see, as one of the contributors to The Click of a Light I was asked for my opinions on the top ten albums of 2009 - opinions which were then cruelly cast out in favour of those deemed more acceptable. Because this is alternative, it doesn't include download links and isn't in reverse order (ooooh ALTERNATIVE!!~!). So consider this the Ahmadinejad to Pip Copley's Queen, in the spirit of Christmas...

1. Katy Perry – One for the Boys
FUCK YOU. This wasn’t released in 2009 but I do not care because 2009 was the year of Perry for me. Even the taint of Russell Brand can’t sour my thoughts on the Perry – she produces perfectly amazing pop music and anyone that disagrees has been lobotomised by their own cool Converse.

I spent a lot of the summer driving around with a friend of mine called Fraz and we listened to the Wu-tang Clan and this, and until you’ve paced it down Osborne Road with the windows down and Hot N’ Cold blaring out the stereo, you’ve not lived. There’s even a car-dance move that goes with it, which is the manly fist pump. You do it to the thumping drumbeat as you sing along to the ridiculously high “someone call a doctor/got a case of love bi-polar” line” and you feel like the sun won’t ever set and the summer won’t ever end. Of course it does, but that’s what you’ve got the slower songs for. Shut up. It’s the best album of the year.

2. Katy Perry – MTV Unplugged
I haven’t listened to this but I’m sure it’s good because it’s Katy Perry, and I’m not entirely convinced Pip won’t disqualify One for the Boys because of his stupid rules that the year begins in January. What if I want to live my life by the Julian Calendar instead of the Gregorian one? No Papal Decree can make me. FUCK YOU.

3. Jamie T – Kings & Queens
Pip doesn’t like this. Pip is stupid. I dislike the chipmunk voice on 368 because it reminds me of that stupid ‘I’m So Lonely’ song and something done by D12 (which in my mind only brings up images of Eminem on Top of the Pops dancing around a bottle of salsa), but Sticks N’ Stones, The Man’s Machine and British Intelligence are what people seem to call “banging”. My disinterested-in-music girlfriend likes Jamie T which is good because it’s acceptable rap as opposed to…

4. Wu-tang Clan – Enter the Wu-tang (36 Chambers)
Summer of Wu-tang. I was sitting on some grass listening to ‘Protect Ya Neck’ next to Fraz and was this close to making a move, so perfect is this album. Apparently girls don’t like it when you slap on some Wu-tang in the car. Who knew.

5. Pure Reason Revolution – Amor Vincit Omnia
I haven’t listened to this album, but I looked at the list of albums released in 2009 on Wikipedia and this stood out because I wrote a short story in year 11 with the same title that was about a couple breaking up in a New York townhouse. I cribbed the setting of it from Home Alone, where Macaulay Culkin is avoiding the criminals in Central Park and goes to his uncle’s house but it’s abandoned because they went on holiday because it’s Christmas and no-one should be alone over the holidays. I love Home Alone; it’s such a seminal Christmas film.

6. Shakira – She Wolf
You’re all wrong – this rules. The title track is amazing (and not just for the video – it has HOWLS in it) and the album track ‘Gypsy’ is like some sort of Romany party in musical form. “I’m a gypsy/are you coming with me?/I’ll take your clothes and wear them if they fit me/I never make agreements/because I’m a gypsy”. Truer words have never been spoken.

7. Dear Landlord – Our Wings Are Fluttering in the Nest
Dear Landlord is my friend, but it’s okay because Pip’s heard him and says he’s really good. This got us onto a conversation about how my school is better than his and his Latin school motto was stolen from Nike. In all seriousness though, Dear Landlord’s songs are ridiculously impressive, charming and deserve a listen, even if you disagree with everything I’ve said up to now. He’s at http://www.myspace.com/deadlandlordsings.

8. Brian Wilson – Smile
I like Brian Wilson a lot. This is the best album that’s ever been released, and as such deserves to be put on every list of the best albums, regardless of the year.

9. The Hold Steady – A Positive Rage
I’m bringing the Perry Rule back into action for this. Pip’s already ridden the ego of the Hold Steady into sweet sweet oblivion in an earlier post but I’m an even bigger fan and this is a live album of some of their best songs but is really just an excuse to tell you to listen to them. Listen to them!

10. The Time of My Life – Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi
Audiobooks can be classed as albums right? People forget Patrick Swayze because 2009 was the year of Michael Jackson dying. I haven’t read or listened to this, but with a title like that and the fact that Dirty Dancing is committed to celluloid for eternity you can’t help but win.

Top Ten of 2009

2009-12-24T11:15:00.016Z

Merry fucking Christmas! Yep, time to jump on the end-of-year-best-albums-of-the-year bandwagon. I've got some of the contributors to the blog, as well as some other mates, to vote, and using a complicated points system - so complex it'd make Stephen Hawkin piss himself in fear - I have come up with a final ten. One album, a chairty record, isn't getting posted - I do have some morals!:

10) Fever Ray – Fever Ray
A solo album from The Knife's frontwoman that somehow manages to live up to expectations and match anything that Sweden's favourite electropoppers have produced so far in their career. – Pip

Fever Ray – Fever Ray

9) Dark Was The Night
Has there ever been a release as 'indie' as this compilation? This is free-market economics trading unfettered in the biggest, hippest names around; 31 tracks of pure bloggers' delight. And as we have seen to devastating effect in the real world this year, there is absolutely no fucking way this model can regulate itself.
So yes, it's a sprawling edifice of odd covers, runaway B-sides and wanton self-indulgence, but before you turn away in disgust and proclaim your little brother hitting a pot with a stick as purer music than this bunch of jumped-up posers, it's worth bearing one thing in mind. These artists became the biggest, the hippest names on the back of some serious songs. The royal bank of alt. rock's main currency may well be names, but it would still collapse without tunes, and this 2xLP set is awash with them.
Undeniable highlights include "Knotty Pine", the result, I can only assume, of David Byrne telling Dirty Projectors to man up and write a proper pop song and Sufjan Steven's grandiose cover of Castanet's "You Are The Blood", which is a bit embarrassing to play aloud, but lots of fun to pump through headphones at max volume. – Dave

8) The Horrors – Primary Colours
When the Horrors first burst onto the scene back in 2006/2007, I wrote them off as a bunch of southern posh-boy scenesters who found a Sonics LP in a Southend charity shop and bought it because it looked "alternative"; and thought they should form a band to get girls to talk to them, even though they looked like freaks. I still think this, but thanks to this fantastic second album, I know realise that they actually have talent and musical knowledge and all the rest of it. – Pip

The Horrors – Primary Colours

7) The xx – xx
This album just came out of nowhere; it sounds like nothing else around at the moment, and by golly is that a good thing! These kids (I can call them that, they're younger than me - and how depressing is that?!), who went to the same school as Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet, have made a breathtaking debut album, that was self-produced and recorded at night, hence the whispery nature of the record. – Pip

The xx – xx

6) The Field – Yesterday & Today
When I have cheese dreams where I am running through the Arctic tundra for no reason this album is the soundtrack. – Chev

The Field – Yesterday & Today

5) The Thermals – Now We Can See
OK, so when I first heard The Blood, The Body, The Machine by this band - an album which I posted a few weeks ago, if you remember - I thought the band had reached their musical peak, and could never better it, which bummed me out a bit, and left me with low expectations for this record. However, the band have produced an album that is more complete, more whole, than any of their previous offerings. I think The Blood... is still my favourite, but this is a close second. – Pip

The Thermals – Now We Can See

4) Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
Still keeping the coke nice and fluffy and basically dicking on anything done by any other members of Wu-Tang in the last 10 years. – Chev

Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II

3) Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
To be honest, this is the only surprise addition to the list. I don't particularly like this album, but some of my mates clearly do. I mean, it's not bad or anything, but it's just not the third best album of the year. Yes, they've done well to produce a second decent album so soon after the first, but so what - for truly talented musicians, that shouldn't be a problem! – Pip

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

2) Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion
Animal Collective lend themselves perfectly to a certain branch of obsessive musical geekery. As such, the propensity of many musical publications has been to over-analyse this record to a degree where it almost feels like less than the sum of its parts.
We're not going to fall into that, mainly because we're far too lazy. This is a fucking boss psychedelic pop album, the culmination of a career of eccentricities and Brian Wilson worship. That they preserved themselves and still broke the Billboard Top 20 is so totally not a reason to get all snobby and say that you preferred it when they couldn’t write anything memorable. – Dave

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion

1) Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Many said it was rubbish and no Yellow House but what the hell does the fickle general indie population know? It thinks La Roux is actually music. A couple of months later those same people were all over this like a pigeon on a chip lapping up that humble pie. I am glad this band is finally getting the mainstream recognition they deserve. – Chev

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

Monday Mixtape #8

2009-12-21T10:47:00.003Z

The last Monday Mixtape for a looooong time, sob sob, so I hope you enjoy it. With events coming up this week we could only have one theme:

Week 8: Christmas

Yes, 30 of the best alternative Christmas-and-winter-themed songs, as well as a couple of cheesy ones that are hilarious. Over the net couple of days I'm going to produce the Click's official end-of-year Top Ten; I'm sure you're creaming yourselves in anticipation. Enjoy.

Monday Mixtape #8

1. Captain Elmo McKenzie & The Roosters – Home On Christmas Day
2. The Raveonettes – The Christmas Song
3. The Sonics – Don’t Believe In Christmas
4. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – Cold White Christmas
5. The Pogues – Fairytale Of New York
6. Eels – Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
7. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Skating
8. De La Soul – Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa
9. The Polyphonic Spree – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
10. Band Of Horses – The First Song
11. James Brown – Go Power At Christmas Time
12. A.R. Kane – Snow Joke
13. Blockhead – The First Snowfall
14. Brendan Canning – Snowballs & Icicles
15. Mice Parade – Snows
16. Woody Guthrie – Snow Deer
17. The Sonics – Santa Claus
18. Fucked Up – Do They Know It’s Christmas?
19. Frank Zappa – Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow
20. Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Let's Boogey To The Elf Dance!
21. Electric Jungle – Funky Funky Christmas
22. Badly Drawn Boy – Donna & Blitzen
23. Snoop Dogg – A Pimp's Christmas Song
24. Elliott Smith – Angel In The Snow
25. Weezer – O Come All Ye Faithful
26. The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)
27. The Fall – No Xmas For John Quays
28. Akim & The Teddy Vann Production Company – Santa Claus Is A Black Man
29. Eric Cartman – O Holy Night
30. Mogwai – Christmassteps

Toe – The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety (2005)

2009-12-20T14:06:00.002Z

I just LOVE Japanese bands who try and write English - what the hell does 'The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety' even mean?! Regardless of the ridiculous title, this is actually a phenomenal album - primo Japanese post-rock at its very best. Enjoy.

Toe – The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety (2005)

The Mountain Goats – Satanic Messiah EP (2008)

2009-12-20T14:03:00.002Z

John Darnielle at his very best. This is a tasty little four-track EP that is the perfect starting place for anyone wanting to explore the discography of the Mountain Goats, who have been kickining around for nearly twenty years. Enjoy.

The Mountain Goats – Satanic Messiah EP (2008)

Mice Parade – Mice Parade (2007)

2009-12-20T13:57:00.002Z

Wow, 2007 was actually such a boss year for music. I'm getting tired and bored of posting now, and I don't really know how to describe this album other than laid-back, drum heavy goodness. This album just reminds me of sitting in my back garden in the summer with a beer. Enjoy.

Mice Parade – Mice Parade (2007)

Future Of The Left – Curses! (2007)

2009-12-20T13:50:00.004Z

If you enjoyed the Les Savy Fav album I posted a few weeks back then you'll absolutely love this. Rising from the ashes of mclusky and Jarcrew like some kind of kick-ass Welsh phoenix, this album is just outstanding. Not a single dud track to be found. If you get the opportunity to catch FOTL live then do - the banter is just as good as the musicm if not better, and they normally chuck sweets into the audience. Enjoy.

Future Of The Left – Curses! (2007)

Film School – Hideout (2007)

2009-12-20T13:44:00.004Z

This is the shite I wrote about this album for my Uni paper when it first came out back in September 2007:

The third album from San Francisco-based Film School is a great mix of early 90s alt-rock (think Sonic Youth and Pavement) and 21st Century indie, most notably Interpol, whose influence can be seen throughout standout track 'Two Kinds'. Written after a year of loss and heartbreak, which included the entirety of the band's equipment being stolen and 3/5s of the band leaving, this album is actually strangely uplifting: songwriter Greg Bertens concerns himself with overcoming his problems, not drowning in them. Overall, this is a great antidote to all that is wrong with music nowadays.

LOLZ. Enjoy.

Film School – Hideout (2007)

Fionn Regan – The End Of History (2006)

2009-12-20T12:23:00.004Z

So I did some very bad things on Friday night after a helluvalot of home-made vodka - to summarise, I ended up with a broken toe, a black eye, no shoes and some shit-stained pants - and spent all day yesterday in bed recovering. So today as a treat to myself and you guys I am going to do a superpost of albums that I had already zipped but not yet found time to post. I begin with Fionn Regan's exceptional 2006 debut, which somehow lost the Mercury Prize to the fucking Klaxons. This album is just the most beautiful example of modern folk songwriting, and is an absolute essential. Enjoy.

Fionn Regan – The End Of History (2006)

Holy Fuck – LP (2007)

2009-12-18T12:03:00.004Z

So there's these two blokes, right, who make lo-fi electronica - all improvised - using equipment such as toys and a film synchronizer. Sounds mental and it is, but it's also phenomenal. I saw them live maybe two years ago now - when they performed with a kick-ass drummer and some kind of guitar man - and they just blew me away. So I bought their 'Lovely Allen' 12" single and it was immense, and I bought this album which was even better. Between then and now think I have managed to get everything these guys have produced, and it's been a wise investment. Enjoy.

Holy Fuck – LP (2007)

Death From Above 1979 – You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine (2004)

2009-12-17T12:16:00.004Z

An album I did get when it first came out, +10000 indie points for me thankyouverymuch. This is just so boss. Me and my mate Dave (not Dave of this blog fame, a different one. My Dave is Scottish and has a chode) used to drive around country roads with this album on full blast. It reminds me of being 17 and driving to parties, then driving back at 9 the next morning still over the limit. One time we were stuck behind a police car, and I took great fun in faux-screaming at Dave that he was going to get arrested and sodomised. Enjoy.

Death From Above 1979 – You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine (2004)

The Organ – Grab That Gun (2004)

2009-12-17T11:52:00.004Z

I got into The Organ long after the Vancouver-based band had self-imploded; I was going through a phase of listening to an English band called Electrelane who sound pretty much identical when The Organ released a posthumous EP las year. I got it, loved it, and bought their 2004 album, which I loved even more. It opens with an absolute blinder - 'Brother' appears on a playlist me and Dave made for a pub called The Trent in Newcastle, which was one of our favourite places until the owner had to sell it. Enjoy.

The Organ – Grab That Gun (2004)

Arcade Fire – Arcade Fire EP (2003)

2009-12-15T11:59:00.003Z

Apparently this is an EP, but it's seven songs and over half -an-hour long, so it kinda falls in between being an EP and an LP. Anyways, regardless of its classification, this great little album is an essential for any Arcade Fire fan. Recorded in a barn in August 2002 and released the next year, it contains a demo version of 'No Cars Go', which was re-recorded for eternally disappointing second album Neon Bible in 2007, and is, if you pay attention to the lyrics, the inspration for the title of this little blog of mine. Enjoy.

Arcade Fire – Arcade Fire EP (2003)