Blogwatch
Congratulations...
Mike, whose Business Diary of his second week in Hangzhou made it onto page seven of Tuesday's Nottingham Evening Post. However, as he himself admits, it was the front page headline that probably captured the attention of most readers: "Burglar hid haul inside his false leg"...
Meanwhile...
Robin makes a welcome return to the blogging fray with a look back at the festive period chez Speaking As A Parent - "We had a truly non-partisan Christmas Day, starting with a New Labour morning featuring champagne and Marks and Spencer's truffles, balanced by a small, prudent bit of wealth redistribution from the richest in our family to some of the poorest. I think I got it about right and it seemed very popular. I may well be in office next Christmas too. My attempts to promote education were less well received though, and perhaps I will give less books next year, if re-elected. The highlight was our Tory Xmas dinner. With Brussels but not run by Brussels. We then drifted into a Lib Dem afternoon of not knowing quite what to do".
Elsewhere...
Dave announces his New Year's resolution - "to apply for a new job every day in January. Jobs I know I won't get, jobs I hope to get, jobs I'd be totally unsuitable doing and jobs no one wants. I thought I'd 'put myself out there' and see what doors open for me (or rather which doors get slammed in my face)".
Reluctant Nomad recounts a cautionary tale of why it can be perilous to leave certain foodstuffs lying around for the unsuspecting to chance upon - "The dope cake had been in the fridge for months so she’d have seen it before without trying it. Although it was heavily laden with cocoa and chocolate, the taste of it was unmistakeable to an aficionado. To an unsuspecting innocent like Patience, it would have tasted like lucerne heavily laced with chocolate".
Mish hatches a wicked but wickedly funny plot to confuse "our colonial cousins" - "Just drop in a few during ordinary conversation: 'Oxford Circus? No, this one goes to Narnia, you need the District Line on the next platform'".
Finally...
The moment you've all been waiting for (you just didn't know it): Phill reveals his Bus Routes Of 2005 - "16 - Birmingham - Hamstead (AKA The Polish Route) - Practice your conversational Polish whilst travelling through some of the dodgiest parts of North Birmingham. The ideal bus route to experience some of those classic Polish bus driver moments. Ask them any other question except 'How much is it?' and be prepared to be met by confusion, bewilderment, hostility, more confusion, or a beautiful smile and a shrug which conveys the message - 'I have no bloody idea what you are talking about, I'm from Gdansk'".
Sunday, January 15, 2006
(Well) behind the times
Guess which album is currently rocking the SWSL stereo? Yes, The Back Room by Editors, which was released a whole six months ago. My finger may have slipped from the pulse a bit, I fear - not that it's ever on it for very long, that is...
The early verdict? Very sound stuff, but not particularly stirring. I think I'd take their American forefathers Interpol ahead of them.
Perusal of the sleevenotes has revealed that the black-and-white live photos are the work of Ami Barwell, who also took the photos for the article that came out of my encounter with Pavement way back in October 1999. Her website showcases some of her work, including the liner photos for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Take Them On, On Your Own.
I picked The Back Room up during a spending spree in Selectadisc in Nottingham last week, the first for quite a while. My haul also included Cuts Across The Land by The Duke Spirit, Good Morning Spider by Sparklehorse and United By Fate by Rival Schools, as well as singles / EPs from Field Music, Amusement Parks On Fire and The Pipettes. All for a (very) grand total of just under £30. Brilliant.
The trip would, however, have been even better if they'd had Black Dice's Beaches & Canyons in stock. Even then, though, if I hadn't stopped to ask an assistant, I would have probably left the shop without hearing the album on the stereo, something by Bristol psycho-stoners The Heads. Very good it was, too. You don't get that with Amazon.
Guess which album is currently rocking the SWSL stereo? Yes, The Back Room by Editors, which was released a whole six months ago. My finger may have slipped from the pulse a bit, I fear - not that it's ever on it for very long, that is...
The early verdict? Very sound stuff, but not particularly stirring. I think I'd take their American forefathers Interpol ahead of them.
Perusal of the sleevenotes has revealed that the black-and-white live photos are the work of Ami Barwell, who also took the photos for the article that came out of my encounter with Pavement way back in October 1999. Her website showcases some of her work, including the liner photos for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Take Them On, On Your Own.
I picked The Back Room up during a spending spree in Selectadisc in Nottingham last week, the first for quite a while. My haul also included Cuts Across The Land by The Duke Spirit, Good Morning Spider by Sparklehorse and United By Fate by Rival Schools, as well as singles / EPs from Field Music, Amusement Parks On Fire and The Pipettes. All for a (very) grand total of just under £30. Brilliant.
The trip would, however, have been even better if they'd had Black Dice's Beaches & Canyons in stock. Even then, though, if I hadn't stopped to ask an assistant, I would have probably left the shop without hearing the album on the stereo, something by Bristol psycho-stoners The Heads. Very good it was, too. You don't get that with Amazon.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Craic strikes back
It's reassuring, isn't it, that even in the midst of the quick-moving modern world some things never change.
We went down to The Anchor on Monday for the first time in a while. Still populated by a smattering of real ale enthusiasts, old men poring over newspapers, and Andy. Still serving Thatchers Cheddar Valley, the evilly potent yet fatally alluring bright orange cider. And still somewhere you can pick up a copy of An Craic.
The latest issue is much the same as those that have gone before it, too - the cover dominated by a photo of a beaming bright-eyed young woman, presumably taken at a Lovely Girls contest on Craggy Island, and inside some of the most entertainingly bizarre news stories you'll ever have the good fortune to encounter:
"END OF THE ROAD FOR DOGGIE
Doggie the dog - who achieved notoriety for surviving a 60-mile journey wedged to the front of a car which hit him - has died after being knocked down in his own back yard".
All this in amongst the usual advertisements for the city's many Irish drinking establishments - the advertisement for Behan's in Hall Green, for instance, which is accompanied by a quote from the man after whom the place is named: "I am a drinker with writing problems". I know how you feel, Brendan, I know how you feel...
Unfortunately, the trip did mean that I missed out on seeing the excellent BBC2 double-whammy of 'Balderdash & Piffle' and 'The Thick Of It', though they were being shown on the pub TV with the sound off and the subtitles on. I just wish I'd properly seen the bit of the former programme in which the expression "Mackem" was being researched and discussed. Black-and-white shirted Geordies en route for St James's Park seemed to have plenty of choice things to say on the subject...
It's reassuring, isn't it, that even in the midst of the quick-moving modern world some things never change.
We went down to The Anchor on Monday for the first time in a while. Still populated by a smattering of real ale enthusiasts, old men poring over newspapers, and Andy. Still serving Thatchers Cheddar Valley, the evilly potent yet fatally alluring bright orange cider. And still somewhere you can pick up a copy of An Craic.
The latest issue is much the same as those that have gone before it, too - the cover dominated by a photo of a beaming bright-eyed young woman, presumably taken at a Lovely Girls contest on Craggy Island, and inside some of the most entertainingly bizarre news stories you'll ever have the good fortune to encounter:
"END OF THE ROAD FOR DOGGIE
Doggie the dog - who achieved notoriety for surviving a 60-mile journey wedged to the front of a car which hit him - has died after being knocked down in his own back yard".
All this in amongst the usual advertisements for the city's many Irish drinking establishments - the advertisement for Behan's in Hall Green, for instance, which is accompanied by a quote from the man after whom the place is named: "I am a drinker with writing problems". I know how you feel, Brendan, I know how you feel...
Unfortunately, the trip did mean that I missed out on seeing the excellent BBC2 double-whammy of 'Balderdash & Piffle' and 'The Thick Of It', though they were being shown on the pub TV with the sound off and the subtitles on. I just wish I'd properly seen the bit of the former programme in which the expression "Mackem" was being researched and discussed. Black-and-white shirted Geordies en route for St James's Park seemed to have plenty of choice things to say on the subject...
G whizz
The latest installment of the A-Z Of Music feature is up now on The Art Of Noise. There you'll find Goldie Lookin' Chain sandwiched between Glen Campbell and Woody Guthrie. Now there's a sentence I couldn't have imagined myself ever writing. It's the sort of thing that might appear in a particularly dubious piece of web fanfiction...
And while I'm busy indulging in some shameless self-promotion, can I also say thanks to Mike for nominating the recent Right To Reply feature on the change to the licensing laws for his Troubled Diva Post Of The Week Award. Of course, I can hardly take the credit, the contributions of others having made it what it was - the excerpt Mike's pulled out, for instance, was the work of a certain resident of rural Norfolk...
(Thanks to Damo for the post title.)
The latest installment of the A-Z Of Music feature is up now on The Art Of Noise. There you'll find Goldie Lookin' Chain sandwiched between Glen Campbell and Woody Guthrie. Now there's a sentence I couldn't have imagined myself ever writing. It's the sort of thing that might appear in a particularly dubious piece of web fanfiction...
And while I'm busy indulging in some shameless self-promotion, can I also say thanks to Mike for nominating the recent Right To Reply feature on the change to the licensing laws for his Troubled Diva Post Of The Week Award. Of course, I can hardly take the credit, the contributions of others having made it what it was - the excerpt Mike's pulled out, for instance, was the work of a certain resident of rural Norfolk...
(Thanks to Damo for the post title.)
They thought it was all over...
More end-of-year listy goodness courtesy of Skif and his team of contributors to Vanity Project can be found here. In keeping with the best traditions of the fanzine, the lists are an eclectic mix of the familiar and not-so-familiar (or should that be soon-to-be-familiar?).
Also well worth checking out: the Albums Of The Year according to Delete As Appropriate, a new blog on my radar and as such the newest addition to the SWSL blogroll.
More end-of-year listy goodness courtesy of Skif and his team of contributors to Vanity Project can be found here. In keeping with the best traditions of the fanzine, the lists are an eclectic mix of the familiar and not-so-familiar (or should that be soon-to-be-familiar?).
Also well worth checking out: the Albums Of The Year according to Delete As Appropriate, a new blog on my radar and as such the newest addition to the SWSL blogroll.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Living dangerously
The date: Friday 6th January
The mission: To tour some of Birmingham city centre's least salubrious public houses and enjoy a beverage in each one without being knifed, glassed or given a Chinese burn
The intrepid adventurers into the unknown: Adam, Jim, Robin, Tristan, Andy and myself
7.45pm
Jim, Robin and myself convene at Scruffy Murphys, Adam joining us soon afterwards. Situated at Dale End just round the corner from the Academy, Scruffys used to be an Oirish pub, but is now a haven for metallers and goths. I've been in a few times before. Last time I walked past there was a chap lying on his back outside as a couple argued furiously over his prostrate body.
7.50pm
The pub rapidly fills with police. They appear to be hunting for someone rather than on a stag do (as one of our number suggests), and a photo is shown to drinkers. A small group in the corner quietly rises and slips out of the door.
8.15pm
As we set foot inside the ground level door of B3, an underground pub of very dubious repute, some gold-bedecked Bacardi Breezer swigging chavettes stood outside attempt to warn us off. We pay them no attention, determined to stick rigidly to our mission, and, glancing only briefly at the shattered glass of the window, traipse down the stairs.
8.30pm
Andy arrives, bringing with him the bad news that our next scheduled calling point, Saramoons, is closed. Saramoons, situated beneath the Priory Market, is a low-ceilinged establishment with a sign on the door which bears the warning: "Drugs are not allowed on the premises". We're not going to get the opportunity to tell the proprietors that they aren't allowed elsewhere, either.
9pm
Costers, at the entrance to the Priory Market, is like Scruffy Murphys and B3 rolled into one - an underground (though surprisingly brightly lit) lair for the hairy and tattooed. We attract stares on our arrival.
9.05pm
An alcoholically refreshed patron kicks a stool in Andy's general direction. Nothing transpires, so we assume this was just playful tomfoolery rather than an expression of any malice.
9.15pm
Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' blasts out of the speakers. I venture to the toilets. The horror, the horror!
9.20pm
Tristan turns up, having deliberately waited until he could be sure to have missed out on the Saramoons experience.
9.40pm
One of the only surviving relics of the original Bull Ring development, The Bull Ring Tavern is caught in time, its thin red carpet and battered furniture long past their best. The shutters are pulled down over the doorway once we're inside. What if we need to make fast our escape?
10.10pm
We step back into the night, pulling down the shutter on our departure, and I reflect on the fact that the place probably won't see many more months, likely to be closed like the Royal George opposite and subsequently demolished as part of the regeneration of the Bullring's immediate environs. I spare a thought for the displaced locals, and then it's onwards to Digbeth and drunkenness.
10.20pm
Time being of the essence, we pay only a very brief visit to Hennesseys, conveniently located right opposite Digbeth Police Station. As a break from the relentless pints, it's shots of strawberry cheesecake flavoured vodka all round. The door staff are bemused at our exit barely minutes after we've arrived.
10.30pm
Andy heads back to Moseley, missing out on the delights of The Dubliner, next to Digbeth Coach Station. The pool table being effectively out of order ("There's no white ball, mate, so we've been using the black", I'm told), we take a seat at a table behind which there is painted on the wall a jovial leprechaun and a snarling truncheon-wielding copper.
10.40pm
A rose-seller enters, and Adam and Tristan consider buying a couple for the two ladies shaking their booty on the otherwise empty dancefloor, before deciding against it.
10.50pm
The trip to the toilet is made more entertaining by the enormous hall-of-mirrors-style mirror above the urinal. Or perhaps it's just my vision going.
11.05pm
Round the corner to The Anchor, where the lights are still on (though the curtains closed), the jukebox still playing, the glasses still clinking - but the doors are locked. Our hopes are dashed.
11.20pm
An unplanned stop at The Toad At The Bullring, opposite the long-closed-down club Zanzibar outside which a couple of friends once pulled a young lady and her mother. The Toad is like a downmarket Wetherspoons, but not particularly rough. One of the urinals is blocked, filled with a stagnant pool of piss and garnished liberally with a selection of different coloured pubic hairs. Instead of a condom vending machine, a vibrator dispensor hangs on the wall.
12midnight
Snobs, the natural end-point to the evening - a grotty, subterranean, dirt-cheap and quite spectacularly badly named club. Are double vodkas a good idea?
1.15am
Tequilas. Oh dear. Having ventured into some of the roughest pubs in the city and emerged unscathed, it seems we remain intent on having a near-death experience in some form or other.
2.30am
Which way's up?
The date: Friday 6th January
The mission: To tour some of Birmingham city centre's least salubrious public houses and enjoy a beverage in each one without being knifed, glassed or given a Chinese burn
The intrepid adventurers into the unknown: Adam, Jim, Robin, Tristan, Andy and myself
7.45pm
Jim, Robin and myself convene at Scruffy Murphys, Adam joining us soon afterwards. Situated at Dale End just round the corner from the Academy, Scruffys used to be an Oirish pub, but is now a haven for metallers and goths. I've been in a few times before. Last time I walked past there was a chap lying on his back outside as a couple argued furiously over his prostrate body.
7.50pm
The pub rapidly fills with police. They appear to be hunting for someone rather than on a stag do (as one of our number suggests), and a photo is shown to drinkers. A small group in the corner quietly rises and slips out of the door.
8.15pm
As we set foot inside the ground level door of B3, an underground pub of very dubious repute, some gold-bedecked Bacardi Breezer swigging chavettes stood outside attempt to warn us off. We pay them no attention, determined to stick rigidly to our mission, and, glancing only briefly at the shattered glass of the window, traipse down the stairs.
8.30pm
Andy arrives, bringing with him the bad news that our next scheduled calling point, Saramoons, is closed. Saramoons, situated beneath the Priory Market, is a low-ceilinged establishment with a sign on the door which bears the warning: "Drugs are not allowed on the premises". We're not going to get the opportunity to tell the proprietors that they aren't allowed elsewhere, either.
9pm
Costers, at the entrance to the Priory Market, is like Scruffy Murphys and B3 rolled into one - an underground (though surprisingly brightly lit) lair for the hairy and tattooed. We attract stares on our arrival.
9.05pm
An alcoholically refreshed patron kicks a stool in Andy's general direction. Nothing transpires, so we assume this was just playful tomfoolery rather than an expression of any malice.
9.15pm
Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' blasts out of the speakers. I venture to the toilets. The horror, the horror!
9.20pm
Tristan turns up, having deliberately waited until he could be sure to have missed out on the Saramoons experience.
9.40pm
One of the only surviving relics of the original Bull Ring development, The Bull Ring Tavern is caught in time, its thin red carpet and battered furniture long past their best. The shutters are pulled down over the doorway once we're inside. What if we need to make fast our escape?
10.10pm
We step back into the night, pulling down the shutter on our departure, and I reflect on the fact that the place probably won't see many more months, likely to be closed like the Royal George opposite and subsequently demolished as part of the regeneration of the Bullring's immediate environs. I spare a thought for the displaced locals, and then it's onwards to Digbeth and drunkenness.
10.20pm
Time being of the essence, we pay only a very brief visit to Hennesseys, conveniently located right opposite Digbeth Police Station. As a break from the relentless pints, it's shots of strawberry cheesecake flavoured vodka all round. The door staff are bemused at our exit barely minutes after we've arrived.
10.30pm
Andy heads back to Moseley, missing out on the delights of The Dubliner, next to Digbeth Coach Station. The pool table being effectively out of order ("There's no white ball, mate, so we've been using the black", I'm told), we take a seat at a table behind which there is painted on the wall a jovial leprechaun and a snarling truncheon-wielding copper.
10.40pm
A rose-seller enters, and Adam and Tristan consider buying a couple for the two ladies shaking their booty on the otherwise empty dancefloor, before deciding against it.
10.50pm
The trip to the toilet is made more entertaining by the enormous hall-of-mirrors-style mirror above the urinal. Or perhaps it's just my vision going.
11.05pm
Round the corner to The Anchor, where the lights are still on (though the curtains closed), the jukebox still playing, the glasses still clinking - but the doors are locked. Our hopes are dashed.
11.20pm
An unplanned stop at The Toad At The Bullring, opposite the long-closed-down club Zanzibar outside which a couple of friends once pulled a young lady and her mother. The Toad is like a downmarket Wetherspoons, but not particularly rough. One of the urinals is blocked, filled with a stagnant pool of piss and garnished liberally with a selection of different coloured pubic hairs. Instead of a condom vending machine, a vibrator dispensor hangs on the wall.
12midnight
Snobs, the natural end-point to the evening - a grotty, subterranean, dirt-cheap and quite spectacularly badly named club. Are double vodkas a good idea?
1.15am
Tequilas. Oh dear. Having ventured into some of the roughest pubs in the city and emerged unscathed, it seems we remain intent on having a near-death experience in some form or other.
2.30am
Which way's up?
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Blogwatch: in brief
Welcome...
Cardiff Terrifies Me, which features headline sandwich boards for the South Wales Echo, my particular favourite being "Muslim pupils in sausage roll blunder" (via The Whole Wide World Of Fat Buddha!).
Happy birthday...
Girl With A One-Track Mind, two years old on New Year's Day.
Meanwhile...
Mike, spending Christmas and New Year working in Hangzhou, discovers that grunge has never gone out of fashion in China.
Elsewhere...
Swiss Toni sets up a new collaborative writing blog called Reader Meet Author.
Lady Muck also has a new blog, TV Scoop.
Jonathan reviews last year's comedy, like me finding 'Nathan Barley' brilliant and 'Extras' overrated and largely unfunny.
Welcome...
Cardiff Terrifies Me, which features headline sandwich boards for the South Wales Echo, my particular favourite being "Muslim pupils in sausage roll blunder" (via The Whole Wide World Of Fat Buddha!).
Happy birthday...
Girl With A One-Track Mind, two years old on New Year's Day.
Meanwhile...
Mike, spending Christmas and New Year working in Hangzhou, discovers that grunge has never gone out of fashion in China.
Elsewhere...
Swiss Toni sets up a new collaborative writing blog called Reader Meet Author.
Lady Muck also has a new blog, TV Scoop.
Jonathan reviews last year's comedy, like me finding 'Nathan Barley' brilliant and 'Extras' overrated and largely unfunny.
Word perfect
A new year, and a fantastic new six part series on the BBC. For someone with a fascination with language and who enjoyed Melvyn Bragg's 'The Adventure Of English', 'Balderdash & Piffle' was bound to appeal.
Presented by Victoria Coren (daughter of Alan of 'Call My Bluff' fame I think), the show sets out to look at a different letter of the alphabet each week. Last Monday's installment, the first of the series, focussed on the letter P. One aspect of the programme involves researching the origins of popular expressions and pitching both potential explanations and earlier recorded instances of their usage to those behind the Oxford English Dictionary. On Monday, the team were unimpressed by the findings relating to "pear-shaped", but accepted evidence confirming that the expression "Ploughman's lunch" originated as a marketing idea in the very early 1960s, thus entering popular parlance long before the OED's date of 1970.
Particularly interesting was playwright Mark Ravenhill's investigation of polari, a form of coded slang popular amongst sailors and adopted in the 1940s by gay men but which has to a large extent died out due to the legalisation of homosexuality and liberalisation of society. "Bevvy" and "carsey" are both polari expressions that have seeped into "mainstream" language, while it was amusing to discover that "naff" actually means "not available for fucking"...
Word of the show? Ian Hislop's choice, "popinjay". I've resolved to use it more often in conversation.
One other point of interest: one of the OED panel, Tania Styles, once tutored me in Old English. I recall she also had a stint in Dictionary Corner on 'Countdown', quite probably getting to sit alongside the likes of Giles Brandreth and Richard Stillgoe. Perhaps there was some kind of catfight with Suzie Dent and she had to move on?
A new year, and a fantastic new six part series on the BBC. For someone with a fascination with language and who enjoyed Melvyn Bragg's 'The Adventure Of English', 'Balderdash & Piffle' was bound to appeal.
Presented by Victoria Coren (daughter of Alan of 'Call My Bluff' fame I think), the show sets out to look at a different letter of the alphabet each week. Last Monday's installment, the first of the series, focussed on the letter P. One aspect of the programme involves researching the origins of popular expressions and pitching both potential explanations and earlier recorded instances of their usage to those behind the Oxford English Dictionary. On Monday, the team were unimpressed by the findings relating to "pear-shaped", but accepted evidence confirming that the expression "Ploughman's lunch" originated as a marketing idea in the very early 1960s, thus entering popular parlance long before the OED's date of 1970.
Particularly interesting was playwright Mark Ravenhill's investigation of polari, a form of coded slang popular amongst sailors and adopted in the 1940s by gay men but which has to a large extent died out due to the legalisation of homosexuality and liberalisation of society. "Bevvy" and "carsey" are both polari expressions that have seeped into "mainstream" language, while it was amusing to discover that "naff" actually means "not available for fucking"...
Word of the show? Ian Hislop's choice, "popinjay". I've resolved to use it more often in conversation.
One other point of interest: one of the OED panel, Tania Styles, once tutored me in Old English. I recall she also had a stint in Dictionary Corner on 'Countdown', quite probably getting to sit alongside the likes of Giles Brandreth and Richard Stillgoe. Perhaps there was some kind of catfight with Suzie Dent and she had to move on?
Career opportunities
So, Charles Kennedy has bowed to the pressure and resigned. If he's after a job for which alcoholism is not merely not prohibitive but actively encouraged, then he could do worse than get some pointers by watching BBC2. Yes, with the addition of a couple of strategically placed tattoos and the purchase of some judiciously selected gold jewellery, Kennedy could reinvent himself as a darts player. Champagne Charlie has a nice ring to it. Any suggestions as to what his entrance music would be?
So, Charles Kennedy has bowed to the pressure and resigned. If he's after a job for which alcoholism is not merely not prohibitive but actively encouraged, then he could do worse than get some pointers by watching BBC2. Yes, with the addition of a couple of strategically placed tattoos and the purchase of some judiciously selected gold jewellery, Kennedy could reinvent himself as a darts player. Champagne Charlie has a nice ring to it. Any suggestions as to what his entrance music would be?
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Feel good hits of the 7th January
1. 'You Could Decide' - Field Music
2. 'Love Me Like You' - The Magic Numbers
3. 'You Shook Me All Night Long' - AC/DC
4. 'Ironside' - Nine Black Alps
5. 'The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts' - Sufjan Stevens
6. 'Number 1' - Goldfrapp
7. 'Molly's Lips' - The Vaselines
8. 'Wake Up' - The Arcade Fire
9. 'Slow Hands' - Interpol
10. 'The Fallen' - Franz Ferdinand
1. 'You Could Decide' - Field Music
2. 'Love Me Like You' - The Magic Numbers
3. 'You Shook Me All Night Long' - AC/DC
4. 'Ironside' - Nine Black Alps
5. 'The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts' - Sufjan Stevens
6. 'Number 1' - Goldfrapp
7. 'Molly's Lips' - The Vaselines
8. 'Wake Up' - The Arcade Fire
9. 'Slow Hands' - Interpol
10. 'The Fallen' - Franz Ferdinand
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Oranges are not the only fruit
Or, the end-of-year lists you will find below this post are not the only ones in existence.
To wit:
Assistant Blog: Singles Of The Year 2005
The Bargain Basement: Top 20 Singles Of 2005
Casino Avenue: Top 3 Albums & Top 10 Singles Of The Year
Danger! High Postage: Top 50 Albums Of The Year / Chip Shop Of The Year
Delrico Bandito: Top 50 Singles Of The Year
Diamond Geezer: Top 3 Albums Of 2005
Expecting To Fly: Albums Of The Year Poll
Indie For Dummies: Top 100 Albums Of The Year (composite list)
Lex Scripta: Top 100 Singles Of The Year
One Louder: Rajeev's Top 12 Albums Of 2005 / Jeff's Top 10 Albums Of 2005 / Jason's Favourite Albums Of 2005
Parallax View: Albums Of The Year / Films Of The Year / Books Of The Year
Sweeping The Nation: Albums Of The Year / UK Albums Of 2005 Poll
Swiss Toni: Earworms Of The Year / The Complete Earworms Of 2005 List
Troubled Diva: Favourite Singles Of 2005 / Favourite Albums Of 2005
More to be added as and when I encounter them - if I've left you off, leave me a comment to point me in the right direction.
Or, the end-of-year lists you will find below this post are not the only ones in existence.
To wit:
Assistant Blog: Singles Of The Year 2005
The Bargain Basement: Top 20 Singles Of 2005
Casino Avenue: Top 3 Albums & Top 10 Singles Of The Year
Danger! High Postage: Top 50 Albums Of The Year / Chip Shop Of The Year
Delrico Bandito: Top 50 Singles Of The Year
Diamond Geezer: Top 3 Albums Of 2005
Expecting To Fly: Albums Of The Year Poll
Indie For Dummies: Top 100 Albums Of The Year (composite list)
Lex Scripta: Top 100 Singles Of The Year
One Louder: Rajeev's Top 12 Albums Of 2005 / Jeff's Top 10 Albums Of 2005 / Jason's Favourite Albums Of 2005
Parallax View: Albums Of The Year / Films Of The Year / Books Of The Year
Sweeping The Nation: Albums Of The Year / UK Albums Of 2005 Poll
Swiss Toni: Earworms Of The Year / The Complete Earworms Of 2005 List
Troubled Diva: Favourite Singles Of 2005 / Favourite Albums Of 2005
More to be added as and when I encounter them - if I've left you off, leave me a comment to point me in the right direction.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Effing hell
Not satisfied with the glut of music waffle below? Then head over to The Art Of Noise to take a peak at the latest installment of the A-Z feature, back after the festive break with pieces on The Fall, fans, Foo Fighters and Ella Fitzgerald amongst other things.
Not satisfied with the glut of music waffle below? Then head over to The Art Of Noise to take a peak at the latest installment of the A-Z feature, back after the festive break with pieces on The Fall, fans, Foo Fighters and Ella Fitzgerald amongst other things.
SWSL Top 10 Albums Of 2005
(aka Better Late Than Never, aka Wot No Kaiser Chiefs?)
First of all, the (as usual) shamefully long list of albums which I haven’t heard in their entirety if at all, but which if I had might potentially have impinged on the Top 10:
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS – I Am A Bird Now
ARAB STRAP – The Last Romance
ART BRUT – Bang Bang Rock ‘N’ Roll
BECK – Guero
BLACK DICE – Broken Ear Record
BLOC PARTY – Silent Alarm Remixed
BRIGHT EYES – I'm Wide Awake It’s Morning / Digital Ash In A Digital Urn
BRITISH SEA POWER – Open Season
BROADCAST - Tender Buttons
KATE BUSH – Aerial
THE DECEMBERISTS - Picaresque
DIRTY THREE – Cinder
DOVES – Some Cities
THE DUKE SPIRIT – Cuts Across The Land
EDITORS – The Back Room
ENGINEERS – Engineers
THE FALL – Fall Heads Roll
THE FIERY FURNACES – Rehearsing My Choir
FOO FIGHTERS – In Your Honour
HOT HOT HEAT - Elevator
JOY ZIPPER – The Heartlight Set
THE KILLS – No Wow
LADYTRON – Witching Hour
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – LCD Soundsystem
M83 – Before The Dawn Heals Us
MERCURY REV – The Secret Migration
MEW – And The Glass Handed Kites
MALCOLM MIDDLETON - Into The Woods
MODEY LEMON – Thunder + Lightning
MY MORNING JACKET – Z
THE NATIONAL - Alligator
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS - Twin Cinema
RILO KILEY – More Adventurous
STARS – Set Yourself On Fire
TEST ICICLES – For Screening Purposes Only
TOM VEK - We Have Sound
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – Want Two
THE WEDDING PRESENT – Take Fountain
THE WHITE STRIPES – Get Behind Me Satan
WILCO – Kicking Television
The worst of it is that there are almost certainly several records I’ve forgotten about…
Next, the honourable mentions:
… AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD – Worlds Apart
BLOOD ON THE WALL – Awesomer
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – B-Sides & Rarities
CLOR – Clor
THE CORAL – The Invisible Invasion
GOLDFRAPP – Supernature
THE GO! TEAM – Thunder Lightning Strike
HOCKEY NIGHT – Keep Guessin’
IDLEWILD – Warnings / Promises
THE MAGIC NUMBERS – The Magic Numbers
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS – Face The Truth
THE MARS VOLTA – Frances The Mute
NINE BLACK ALPS – Everything Is
SILVER JEWS – Tanglewood Numbers
SIX. BY SEVEN – Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves
SLEATER-KINNEY – The Woods
SONS & DAUGHTERS – The Repulsion Box
SUFJAN STEVENS – Illinois
Closest to sneaking into the Top 10? I’d say a four-way tie between The Go! Team, The Magic Numbers, Nine Black Alps and Sufjan Stevens.
And now for the Top 10 itself, which due to my tardiness may not come as much of a surprise to readers of Expecting To Fly and Sweeping The Nation…
10. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Lullabies To Paralyze
It was always going to be a tall order to better Songs For The Deaf, and Lullabies To Paralyze duly failed to do so, not least because it tails off disappointingly towards the end. But any record that can throw together a barnstorming single (‘Little Sister’), a delicate falsetto-vocalled gem (‘I Never Came’) and a seven minute long beast with a riff that wraps itself around your head like a boa constrictor (‘Someone’s In The Wolf’) deserves plenty of plaudits.
Key track: ‘Someone’s In The Wolf’
9. FIELD MUSIC – Field Music
The Surprise Late Gatecrasher Of The Year. The threesome may share links to North-Eastern brethren The Futureheads and Maximo Park, but they weren’t piggybacking on anyone’s success, their debut LP being a marvellous record in its own right – clever Sgt Pepper’s style orchestral pop as played by new wavers and garnished with helium-high-pitched vocals. I’m eternally grateful to Jonathan for giving me what I believe is referred to in young person’s parlance as “a heads-up”.
Key track: ‘If Only The Moon Were Up’
8. EELS – Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
It may have featured in SWSL’s Top 10 Albums Of 2003 list, but in retrospect, Shootenanny was something of a disappointment, a bit average. As such, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations was a sparkling return to form, as well as to the delicately simple melodies of Daisies Of The Galaxy. Modulating between the heartbreaking sadness of ‘Suicide Life’ and the heartwarming joie de vivre of ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’, the double LP has been hailed in some quarters as E’s finest hour – not here, but it certainly comes close.
Key track: ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’
7. FRANZ FERDINAND – You Could Have It So Much Better
You Could Have It So Much Better? Either unduly harsh self-criticism or arched-eyebrow irony. The latter, in all probability, but then with tracks like ‘The Fallen’ and ‘I’m Your Villain’ they earned the right to be smug. Much like last year’s debut, this was an instant hit, and one widely hailed as marking their discovery of the ballad (see ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Eleanor Put Your Boots On’, Alex Kapranos’s ode to girlfriend Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces). These are the weakest tracks, though, so it’s a relief that for the majority of the time the foursome stick to what they do best, and that’s hip-shimmying indie disco.
Key track: ‘The Fallen’
6. BLOC PARTY – Silent Alarm
Unlike the transcendent and expansive single ‘So Here We Are’ that prefaced its arrival on the shelves, Silent Alarm suffered something of a gradual decline in my estimation of it as the year went on – I’m not entirely sure why, except that Kele Okereke’s voice on tracks like ‘The Price Of Gas’ started to grate, and their po-faced earnestness in interviews made me realise that (‘So Here We Are’ aside) it’s a bit of a joyless affair. You simply can’t argue with the likes of opener ‘Like Broken Glass’ and ‘The Pioneers’, though, their tension and agitation created through the dynamic interplay of fabulous guitar and Matt Tong’s stunningly idiosyncratic drumming.
Key track: ‘So Here We Are’
5. THE RAVEONETTES – Pretty In Black
For those who felt themselves drowning in a sea of XTC and Gang Of Four obsessives (such as the bands flanking them in this Top 10), The Raveonettes were a rubber ring. Pretty In Black looked not to the post-punk era for inspiration, but to the Phil Spector produced girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Transparent perhaps – their covers of ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’ and ‘Everyday’, and employment of Ronnie Spector herself on ‘Ode To LA’ revealed they were under no illusions on that front – but no less charming for it. As I’d suspected, underneath all the feedback lay sultry, beguiling pop songs crafted out of breathy vocals, fluttering eyelashes, surf guitar twangings and lashings of tremolo.
Key track: ‘Ode To LA’
4. MAXIMO PARK – A Certain Trigger
Not so long ago, the musical heritage of my native North-East would have been very nearly enough to drive me to chuck myself off the Tyne Bridge in shame. Dire Straits, Sting, Lighthouse Family, Lindisfarne, Venom – utter wank, the lot of it. And then, all of a sudden, up pop The Futureheads from (of all godforsaken places) Sunderland and things go nuts. The Mackems’ former tourmates Maximo Park are at the vanguard, their debut LP A Certain Trigger sufficiently smart and sharp throughout (it’s about more than just the singles, as admittedly brilliant as they are) to elevate them above the pack. Literate, spiky new wave pop which administered an invaluable shot in the arm to local pride, but which articulated the universals admirably too.
Key track: ‘Apply Some Pressure’
3. SIGUR ROS – Takk
Barry White may have been the Walrus of Luuurrrve, but these four shy and retiring Icelanders have proven to be the ones seemingly intent on creating aphrodisiac music designed to soundtrack the sexual acts of a rather larger aquatic mammal, the blue whale. Quite astonishingly, this stuff appeared to possess a modicum of commercial appeal (and not just amongst blue whales, I might add). Who’d have thunk it, eh? Quite possibly their finest record to date – and Takk’s predecessors have hardly been shoddy.
Key track: ‘Glosoli’
2. LOW – The Great Destroyer
The early frontrunner for the top spot, The Great Destroyer was only eclipsed by a record that would have stormed it practically any year you care to mention. After the calm of previous albums, the storm. In truth, they’d hinted at a suppressed knowledge of powerchords before, but on The Great Destroyer that knowledge was given its freest expression yet. Low’s year may have ended on a sour note, Alan Sparhawk’s fragile mental health necessitating the cancellation of their autumn tour, but the album with which they kicked 2005 off was nothing short of a triumph and ‘Death Of A Salesman’ remained THE most affecting and arresting song of the year bar none. If it hadn’t have been for those pesky Canadians…
Key track: ‘Broadway (So Many People)’
1. THE ARCADE FIRE – Funeral
It was never in much doubt, was it? Any lingering scepticism about the volumes of gushing hype that had flooded over from Canada and the US was instantly dispelled the moment Funeral got its UK release. If A Silver Mt Zion ever stopped being so obtuse and engaged with the mainstream rather than ghettoising themselves at a safe distance from it, then they might perhaps have sounded something like this. Out of angry emotions and emotionally trying circumstances – The Arcade Fire’s choice of title wasn’t arbitrary, after all – had come affirmative action. “Something filled up my heart with nothing”, sang Wyn Butler on ‘Wake Up’, but Funeral filled those of its listeners with so much everything, not least hope. A stirring, impassioned masterpiece.
Key track: ‘Crown Of Love’
A reminder of the SWSL Top 10 Albums Of 2004:
1. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
2. THE FUTUREHEADS – The Futureheads
3. SONIC YOUTH – Sonic Nurse
4. FRANZ FERDINAND – Franz Ferdinand
5. THE FIERY FURNACES – Blueberry Boat
6. INTERPOL - Antics
7. THE ICARUS LINE – Penance Soiree
8. PJ HARVEY – Uh Huh Her
9. KELIS - Tasty
10. CLINIC – Winchester Cathedral
Links to my reviews of some of this year’s Top 10:
SWSL review of Queens Of The Stone Age's Lullabies To Paralyze
SWSL review of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm
Vanity Project review of The Raveonettes’ Pretty In Black
SWSL review of Maximo Park’s A Certain Trigger
Vanity Project review of Sigur Ros’s Takk
SWSL review of Low’s The Great Destroyer
SWSL review of The Arcade Fire’s Funeral
(aka Better Late Than Never, aka Wot No Kaiser Chiefs?)
First of all, the (as usual) shamefully long list of albums which I haven’t heard in their entirety if at all, but which if I had might potentially have impinged on the Top 10:
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS – I Am A Bird Now
ARAB STRAP – The Last Romance
ART BRUT – Bang Bang Rock ‘N’ Roll
BECK – Guero
BLACK DICE – Broken Ear Record
BLOC PARTY – Silent Alarm Remixed
BRIGHT EYES – I'm Wide Awake It’s Morning / Digital Ash In A Digital Urn
BRITISH SEA POWER – Open Season
BROADCAST - Tender Buttons
KATE BUSH – Aerial
THE DECEMBERISTS - Picaresque
DIRTY THREE – Cinder
DOVES – Some Cities
THE DUKE SPIRIT – Cuts Across The Land
EDITORS – The Back Room
ENGINEERS – Engineers
THE FALL – Fall Heads Roll
THE FIERY FURNACES – Rehearsing My Choir
FOO FIGHTERS – In Your Honour
HOT HOT HEAT - Elevator
JOY ZIPPER – The Heartlight Set
THE KILLS – No Wow
LADYTRON – Witching Hour
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – LCD Soundsystem
M83 – Before The Dawn Heals Us
MERCURY REV – The Secret Migration
MEW – And The Glass Handed Kites
MALCOLM MIDDLETON - Into The Woods
MODEY LEMON – Thunder + Lightning
MY MORNING JACKET – Z
THE NATIONAL - Alligator
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS - Twin Cinema
RILO KILEY – More Adventurous
STARS – Set Yourself On Fire
TEST ICICLES – For Screening Purposes Only
TOM VEK - We Have Sound
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – Want Two
THE WEDDING PRESENT – Take Fountain
THE WHITE STRIPES – Get Behind Me Satan
WILCO – Kicking Television
The worst of it is that there are almost certainly several records I’ve forgotten about…
Next, the honourable mentions:
… AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD – Worlds Apart
BLOOD ON THE WALL – Awesomer
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – B-Sides & Rarities
CLOR – Clor
THE CORAL – The Invisible Invasion
GOLDFRAPP – Supernature
THE GO! TEAM – Thunder Lightning Strike
HOCKEY NIGHT – Keep Guessin’
IDLEWILD – Warnings / Promises
THE MAGIC NUMBERS – The Magic Numbers
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS – Face The Truth
THE MARS VOLTA – Frances The Mute
NINE BLACK ALPS – Everything Is
SILVER JEWS – Tanglewood Numbers
SIX. BY SEVEN – Artists Cannibals Poets Thieves
SLEATER-KINNEY – The Woods
SONS & DAUGHTERS – The Repulsion Box
SUFJAN STEVENS – Illinois
Closest to sneaking into the Top 10? I’d say a four-way tie between The Go! Team, The Magic Numbers, Nine Black Alps and Sufjan Stevens.
And now for the Top 10 itself, which due to my tardiness may not come as much of a surprise to readers of Expecting To Fly and Sweeping The Nation…
10. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – Lullabies To Paralyze
It was always going to be a tall order to better Songs For The Deaf, and Lullabies To Paralyze duly failed to do so, not least because it tails off disappointingly towards the end. But any record that can throw together a barnstorming single (‘Little Sister’), a delicate falsetto-vocalled gem (‘I Never Came’) and a seven minute long beast with a riff that wraps itself around your head like a boa constrictor (‘Someone’s In The Wolf’) deserves plenty of plaudits.
Key track: ‘Someone’s In The Wolf’
9. FIELD MUSIC – Field Music
The Surprise Late Gatecrasher Of The Year. The threesome may share links to North-Eastern brethren The Futureheads and Maximo Park, but they weren’t piggybacking on anyone’s success, their debut LP being a marvellous record in its own right – clever Sgt Pepper’s style orchestral pop as played by new wavers and garnished with helium-high-pitched vocals. I’m eternally grateful to Jonathan for giving me what I believe is referred to in young person’s parlance as “a heads-up”.
Key track: ‘If Only The Moon Were Up’
8. EELS – Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
It may have featured in SWSL’s Top 10 Albums Of 2003 list, but in retrospect, Shootenanny was something of a disappointment, a bit average. As such, Blinking Lights And Other Revelations was a sparkling return to form, as well as to the delicately simple melodies of Daisies Of The Galaxy. Modulating between the heartbreaking sadness of ‘Suicide Life’ and the heartwarming joie de vivre of ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’, the double LP has been hailed in some quarters as E’s finest hour – not here, but it certainly comes close.
Key track: ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’
7. FRANZ FERDINAND – You Could Have It So Much Better
You Could Have It So Much Better? Either unduly harsh self-criticism or arched-eyebrow irony. The latter, in all probability, but then with tracks like ‘The Fallen’ and ‘I’m Your Villain’ they earned the right to be smug. Much like last year’s debut, this was an instant hit, and one widely hailed as marking their discovery of the ballad (see ‘Walk Away’ and ‘Eleanor Put Your Boots On’, Alex Kapranos’s ode to girlfriend Eleanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces). These are the weakest tracks, though, so it’s a relief that for the majority of the time the foursome stick to what they do best, and that’s hip-shimmying indie disco.
Key track: ‘The Fallen’
6. BLOC PARTY – Silent Alarm
Unlike the transcendent and expansive single ‘So Here We Are’ that prefaced its arrival on the shelves, Silent Alarm suffered something of a gradual decline in my estimation of it as the year went on – I’m not entirely sure why, except that Kele Okereke’s voice on tracks like ‘The Price Of Gas’ started to grate, and their po-faced earnestness in interviews made me realise that (‘So Here We Are’ aside) it’s a bit of a joyless affair. You simply can’t argue with the likes of opener ‘Like Broken Glass’ and ‘The Pioneers’, though, their tension and agitation created through the dynamic interplay of fabulous guitar and Matt Tong’s stunningly idiosyncratic drumming.
Key track: ‘So Here We Are’
5. THE RAVEONETTES – Pretty In Black
For those who felt themselves drowning in a sea of XTC and Gang Of Four obsessives (such as the bands flanking them in this Top 10), The Raveonettes were a rubber ring. Pretty In Black looked not to the post-punk era for inspiration, but to the Phil Spector produced girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Transparent perhaps – their covers of ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’ and ‘Everyday’, and employment of Ronnie Spector herself on ‘Ode To LA’ revealed they were under no illusions on that front – but no less charming for it. As I’d suspected, underneath all the feedback lay sultry, beguiling pop songs crafted out of breathy vocals, fluttering eyelashes, surf guitar twangings and lashings of tremolo.
Key track: ‘Ode To LA’
4. MAXIMO PARK – A Certain Trigger
Not so long ago, the musical heritage of my native North-East would have been very nearly enough to drive me to chuck myself off the Tyne Bridge in shame. Dire Straits, Sting, Lighthouse Family, Lindisfarne, Venom – utter wank, the lot of it. And then, all of a sudden, up pop The Futureheads from (of all godforsaken places) Sunderland and things go nuts. The Mackems’ former tourmates Maximo Park are at the vanguard, their debut LP A Certain Trigger sufficiently smart and sharp throughout (it’s about more than just the singles, as admittedly brilliant as they are) to elevate them above the pack. Literate, spiky new wave pop which administered an invaluable shot in the arm to local pride, but which articulated the universals admirably too.
Key track: ‘Apply Some Pressure’
3. SIGUR ROS – Takk
Barry White may have been the Walrus of Luuurrrve, but these four shy and retiring Icelanders have proven to be the ones seemingly intent on creating aphrodisiac music designed to soundtrack the sexual acts of a rather larger aquatic mammal, the blue whale. Quite astonishingly, this stuff appeared to possess a modicum of commercial appeal (and not just amongst blue whales, I might add). Who’d have thunk it, eh? Quite possibly their finest record to date – and Takk’s predecessors have hardly been shoddy.
Key track: ‘Glosoli’
2. LOW – The Great Destroyer
The early frontrunner for the top spot, The Great Destroyer was only eclipsed by a record that would have stormed it practically any year you care to mention. After the calm of previous albums, the storm. In truth, they’d hinted at a suppressed knowledge of powerchords before, but on The Great Destroyer that knowledge was given its freest expression yet. Low’s year may have ended on a sour note, Alan Sparhawk’s fragile mental health necessitating the cancellation of their autumn tour, but the album with which they kicked 2005 off was nothing short of a triumph and ‘Death Of A Salesman’ remained THE most affecting and arresting song of the year bar none. If it hadn’t have been for those pesky Canadians…
Key track: ‘Broadway (So Many People)’
1. THE ARCADE FIRE – Funeral
It was never in much doubt, was it? Any lingering scepticism about the volumes of gushing hype that had flooded over from Canada and the US was instantly dispelled the moment Funeral got its UK release. If A Silver Mt Zion ever stopped being so obtuse and engaged with the mainstream rather than ghettoising themselves at a safe distance from it, then they might perhaps have sounded something like this. Out of angry emotions and emotionally trying circumstances – The Arcade Fire’s choice of title wasn’t arbitrary, after all – had come affirmative action. “Something filled up my heart with nothing”, sang Wyn Butler on ‘Wake Up’, but Funeral filled those of its listeners with so much everything, not least hope. A stirring, impassioned masterpiece.
Key track: ‘Crown Of Love’
A reminder of the SWSL Top 10 Albums Of 2004:
1. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus
2. THE FUTUREHEADS – The Futureheads
3. SONIC YOUTH – Sonic Nurse
4. FRANZ FERDINAND – Franz Ferdinand
5. THE FIERY FURNACES – Blueberry Boat
6. INTERPOL - Antics
7. THE ICARUS LINE – Penance Soiree
8. PJ HARVEY – Uh Huh Her
9. KELIS - Tasty
10. CLINIC – Winchester Cathedral
Links to my reviews of some of this year’s Top 10:
SWSL review of Queens Of The Stone Age's Lullabies To Paralyze
SWSL review of Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm
Vanity Project review of The Raveonettes’ Pretty In Black
SWSL review of Maximo Park’s A Certain Trigger
Vanity Project review of Sigur Ros’s Takk
SWSL review of Low’s The Great Destroyer
SWSL review of The Arcade Fire’s Funeral
Friday, December 30, 2005
SWSL Top 20 Singles Of 2005
Was it just me, or was it not quite as hot a year for singles as 2004? That said, quality still abounded.
The honourable mentions:
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS – ‘You Are My Sister’ / ‘Hope There’s Someone’
ART BRUT – ‘Emily Kane’ / ‘Good Weekend’
BLOC PARTY - ‘Banquet’ / 'The Pioneers'
KATE BUSH – ‘King Of The Mountain’
CLOR – ‘Good Stuff’ / ‘Outlines’
THE CORAL – ‘In The Morning’ / ‘Something Inside Of Me’
DOVES – ‘Black And White Town’
THE DUKE SPIRIT – ‘Love Is An Unfamiliar Name’
EDITORS – ‘Bullets’ / ‘Munich’
FIELD MUSIC – ‘If Only The Moon Were Up’ / ‘You Can Decide’
FOO FIGHTERS – ‘Best Of You’
FRANZ FERDINAND - ‘Walk Away’
THE FUTUREHEADS - ‘Area’
GIRLS ALOUD – ‘Long Hot Summer’
GOLDFRAPP – ‘Number 1’
THE GO! TEAM – ‘Bottle Rocket’
HOOD – ‘The Negatives’
IDLEWILD – ‘Love Steals Us From Loneliness’ / ‘I Understand It’
INTERPOL - ‘C’mere’
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – ‘Tribulations’
THE MAGIC NUMBERS – ‘Forever Lost’ / ‘Love Is Just A Game’
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - 'C'mon Baby'
MAXIMO PARK - ‘Going Missing’
MERCURY REV – ‘Across Yer Ocean’
NINE BLACK ALPS – ‘Shot Down’
NINE INCH NAILS – ‘Only’
SONS & DAUGHTERS – ‘Dance Me In’ / 'Taste The Last Girl'
SUFJAN STEVENS – ‘Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois’
TEST ICICLES – ‘Circle. Square. Triangle’
THE WHITE STRIPES – ‘Blue Orchid’ / ‘My Doorbell’
Now, down to the real business…
20. NINE BLACK ALPS – ‘Not Everyone’
Very tricky, shooting yourself in the mouth with a shotgun, you know. No wonder Kur(d)t Cobain missed, fled Seattle, arrived in Manchester, had facial surgery and formed Nine Black Alps. Amazing the lengths someone will go to to get away from Courtney Love. The disappearing-and-reappearing act has borne thrilling fruit in the form of an album, Everyone Is, and its best single, ‘Not Everyone’.
19. SIGUR ROS – ‘Hoppipolla’
Not only did the Icelanders deign to give titles to the tracks on Takk, unlike on its predecessor ( ), they even went so far as to release a single from it. Thankfully the delicate piano-led tune that was chosen was itself not a concession to convention, just another haunting melody.
18. EELS – ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’
E at his best, looking on the bright side of life even when everything in his garden isn’t totally rosy, as hands clap and horns parp. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and a scowl on Sufjan Stevens’s when he realises he’s been trumped.
17. THE RAVEONETTES – ‘Love In A Trashcan’
Because “The jukebox playing songs about sex / C’mon baby, you’re my best bet” is a great couplet. And because it’s got a marvellous surf guitar solo.
16. BLOC PARTY – ‘Two More Years’
What initially seemed a bit too neat has in time come to sound like a sharp, sleek distillation of all that was good about Silent Alarm. A sign of things to come?
15. THE MAGIC NUMBERS – ‘Love Me Like You’
Brian Wilson ruled my Glastonbury hands down, so it was appropriate that a Wilson-approved band released the summer’s best single. The album might be clogged up with too many lethargic torch-songs, but lethargy is the last thing that springs to mind here, where downbeat lyrics are conjoined to an upbeat melody for bittersweet pop perfection. And it features lots of ooh-ing. Which is nice.
14. THE DELGADOS – ‘Girls Of Valour’
I once asked Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap whether he was concerned that cheering up might curtail his band’s career. “I’m actually quite worried about that”, he replied, “There’s a possibility of me being very happy in the future and having a girlfriend I get on with and like, so that might be a problem”. When their label bosses The Delgados belatedly discovered happiness, it proved to be the end of the line – but at least they left us with this fabulous swansong from last year’s underrated Universal Audio LP.
13. LOW – ‘California’
Well, there aren’t many bands who would contemplate releasing a comeback single about their singer’s mother having to sell her farm, are there? Sublime, but then that’s par for the course with Low. Loud enough to not only drown out conversation but annoy the neighbours? That’s not.
12. MAXIMO PARK – ‘Graffiti’
You’ve heard of art, right? And you’ve heard of punk? Well, this is where the two collide: “I’ll do graffiti if you sing to me in French”. Halfway between the gutter and the stars you’ll find Maximo Park.
11. FRANZ FERDINAND – ‘Do You Want To’
The answer to the titular question posed by this stomping slice of indie-disco delirium from Glasgow’s finest? A whooping, joyous “Hell yeah!” Peacock strut present and correct.
10. GOLDFRAPP – ‘Ooh La Laa’
I don’t want to out myself as a potential fan of sadomasochism, but this is rather like being used as a catwalk by a leather-catsuit-and-stilettos-clad dominatrix. Electro meets glam meets ‘Spirit In The Sky’. Like ‘Number 1’ but better, it was certainly no number two.
9. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – ‘Little Sister’
Nick Oliveri might have departed, but the lead single from Lullabies To Paralyze emphatically confirmed that QOTSA’s powers hadn’t deserted them, motoring along on a piledriving riff that bores its way into your head like a supercharged weevil. The title and dubious lyrical content underlined the fact that they remain defiantly on the wrong side of the tracks.
8. INTERPOL – ‘Evil’
Quite probably overlooked in many end-of-year polls, but not here. Oh no. This one was earmarked for Top Tendom from the moment I heard of its imminent release late last year. One of the very finest moments of a very fine second album.
7. SUGABABES – ‘Push The Button’
What kind of an album title is Taller In More Ways?! But I suppose Keisha, Heidi and the recently departed Mutya can be forgiven nearly anything by virtue of the LP’s lead single, another splendid pop gem that certainly, ahem, pushes my button. And the video features the trio gyrating seductively in a lift. Sometimes the simple ideas are the best. One in the eye for Ms Stevens!
6. THE ARCADE FIRE – ‘Rebellion (Lies)’
Rallying cries don’t come much better than this. “Sleeping is giving in / So lift your heavy eyelids”, they insist. And yet ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ is not just an uplifting rabble-rouser – it’s laden with menace and agitation, and possesses the same insistent rhythm as classics like ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ and ‘Waiting For My Man’. Any song that can make ‘Later With Jools Holland’ positively thrilling must be a bit special.
5. MAXIMO PARK – ‘Apply Some Pressure’
Only a few re-released singles are good enough to actually merit it, and this one was. ‘Apply Some Pressure’ brilliantly showcases Maximo Park’s propulsive and energetic new wave, its earworm status merely cemented by one of the only lyrical hooks to compete with The Arcade Fire this year – “What happens when you lose everything? / You just start again, YOU START ALL OVER AGAIN!”
4. THE ARCADE FIRE – ‘Wake Up’
If there was a song with a bigger, more jaw-droppingly bombastic opening than ‘Wake Up’ released all year, then I didn’t hear it. It out-Flaming-Lips The Flaming Lips themselves, both ‘The Gash’ and ‘Do You Realize??’ relegated to the shadows by its dazzling brilliance. And then towards the end it suddenly turns into ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’. And yet still not their finest single of the year – that honour goes to…
3. THE ARCADE FIRE – ‘Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)’
Sitting in the dark without the wherewithal to listen to music or boil a kettle, all the while knowing you’re missing ‘Coronation Street’. I’ve never thought much of power cuts. But then without them this song wouldn’t exist. And, appropriately enough, it introduced The Arcade Fire to the UK in electrifying fashion. All together now: “YOU AIN’T FOOLIN’ NO-ONE!”
2. THE FUTUREHEADS – ‘Hounds Of Love’
Given that Kate Bush returned to the limelight after a twelve year absence with an ambitious and critically acclaimed double LP, it’s strange to think that the re-ascendancy of her star had less to do with her own output than it did with a cover of the title track of her 1985 album by four scruffy XTC fans from The Dark Place. A truly inspired reimagining, The Futureheads’ take on ‘Hounds Of Love’ is kept off the top spot only because I had hoped it might remain a best-kept-secret album track.
1. BLOC PARTY – ‘So Here We Are’
So here we are, as the sun sets on 2005, celebrating the song that marked the year’s dawning in such glorious fashion. While Silent Alarm is in the main a seething mass of tightly wound claustrophobically neurotic rock songs, the shift in pace and tone signalled by ‘So Here We Are’ ensured it was the clear stand-out. A perfect marriage of post-punk and post-rock, the song builds gently to the hairs-standing-on-the-back-of-the-neck headrush climax, Kele Okereke joyously proclaiming “I figured it out!” to anyone who’ll listen. I would – and did many, many times.
A reminder of the SWSL Top 20 Singles Of 2004:
1. FRANZ FERDINAND – ‘Take Me Out’
2. BRITNEY SPEARS – ‘Toxic’
3. KELIS – ‘Trick Me’
4. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – ‘Breathless’ / ‘There She Goes, My Beautiful World’
5. THE ICARUS LINE – ‘Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers’
6. MORRISSEY – ‘First Of The Gang To Die’
7. INTERPOL – ‘Slow Hands’
8. RACHEL STEVENS – ‘Some Girls’
9. GRAHAM COXON – ‘Freakin Out’
10. THE RADIO DEPT – ‘Why Won’t You Talk About It?’
11. THE WALKMEN – ‘The Rat’
12. THE FIERY FURNACES – ‘Single Again’
13. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – ‘Nature Boy’
14. KELIS – ‘Milkshake’
15. THE LIBERTINES – ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’
16. THE STREETS – ‘Blinded By The Lights’
17. PJ HARVEY – ‘The Letter’
18. FRANZ FERDINAND – ‘Michael’
19. THE FUTUREHEADS – ‘Decent Days And Nights’
20. SCISSOR SISTERS – ‘Comfortably Numb’
Was it just me, or was it not quite as hot a year for singles as 2004? That said, quality still abounded.
The honourable mentions:
ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS – ‘You Are My Sister’ / ‘Hope There’s Someone’
ART BRUT – ‘Emily Kane’ / ‘Good Weekend’
BLOC PARTY - ‘Banquet’ / 'The Pioneers'
KATE BUSH – ‘King Of The Mountain’
CLOR – ‘Good Stuff’ / ‘Outlines’
THE CORAL – ‘In The Morning’ / ‘Something Inside Of Me’
DOVES – ‘Black And White Town’
THE DUKE SPIRIT – ‘Love Is An Unfamiliar Name’
EDITORS – ‘Bullets’ / ‘Munich’
FIELD MUSIC – ‘If Only The Moon Were Up’ / ‘You Can Decide’
FOO FIGHTERS – ‘Best Of You’
FRANZ FERDINAND - ‘Walk Away’
THE FUTUREHEADS - ‘Area’
GIRLS ALOUD – ‘Long Hot Summer’
GOLDFRAPP – ‘Number 1’
THE GO! TEAM – ‘Bottle Rocket’
HOOD – ‘The Negatives’
IDLEWILD – ‘Love Steals Us From Loneliness’ / ‘I Understand It’
INTERPOL - ‘C’mere’
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – ‘Tribulations’
THE MAGIC NUMBERS – ‘Forever Lost’ / ‘Love Is Just A Game’
STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - 'C'mon Baby'
MAXIMO PARK - ‘Going Missing’
MERCURY REV – ‘Across Yer Ocean’
NINE BLACK ALPS – ‘Shot Down’
NINE INCH NAILS – ‘Only’
SONS & DAUGHTERS – ‘Dance Me In’ / 'Taste The Last Girl'
SUFJAN STEVENS – ‘Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois’
TEST ICICLES – ‘Circle. Square. Triangle’
THE WHITE STRIPES – ‘Blue Orchid’ / ‘My Doorbell’
Now, down to the real business…
20. NINE BLACK ALPS – ‘Not Everyone’
Very tricky, shooting yourself in the mouth with a shotgun, you know. No wonder Kur(d)t Cobain missed, fled Seattle, arrived in Manchester, had facial surgery and formed Nine Black Alps. Amazing the lengths someone will go to to get away from Courtney Love. The disappearing-and-reappearing act has borne thrilling fruit in the form of an album, Everyone Is, and its best single, ‘Not Everyone’.
19. SIGUR ROS – ‘Hoppipolla’
Not only did the Icelanders deign to give titles to the tracks on Takk, unlike on its predecessor ( ), they even went so far as to release a single from it. Thankfully the delicate piano-led tune that was chosen was itself not a concession to convention, just another haunting melody.
18. EELS – ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’
E at his best, looking on the bright side of life even when everything in his garden isn’t totally rosy, as hands clap and horns parp. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and a scowl on Sufjan Stevens’s when he realises he’s been trumped.
17. THE RAVEONETTES – ‘Love In A Trashcan’
Because “The jukebox playing songs about sex / C’mon baby, you’re my best bet” is a great couplet. And because it’s got a marvellous surf guitar solo.
16. BLOC PARTY – ‘Two More Years’
What initially seemed a bit too neat has in time come to sound like a sharp, sleek distillation of all that was good about Silent Alarm. A sign of things to come?
15. THE MAGIC NUMBERS – ‘Love Me Like You’
Brian Wilson ruled my Glastonbury hands down, so it was appropriate that a Wilson-approved band released the summer’s best single. The album might be clogged up with too many lethargic torch-songs, but lethargy is the last thing that springs to mind here, where downbeat lyrics are conjoined to an upbeat melody for bittersweet pop perfection. And it features lots of ooh-ing. Which is nice.
14. THE DELGADOS – ‘Girls Of Valour’
I once asked Aidan Moffat of Arab Strap whether he was concerned that cheering up might curtail his band’s career. “I’m actually quite worried about that”, he replied, “There’s a possibility of me being very happy in the future and having a girlfriend I get on with and like, so that might be a problem”. When their label bosses The Delgados belatedly discovered happiness, it proved to be the end of the line – but at least they left us with this fabulous swansong from last year’s underrated Universal Audio LP.
13. LOW – ‘California’
Well, there aren’t many bands who would contemplate releasing a comeback single about their singer’s mother having to sell her farm, are there? Sublime, but then that’s par for the course with Low. Loud enough to not only drown out conversation but annoy the neighbours? That’s not.
12. MAXIMO PARK – ‘Graffiti’
You’ve heard of art, right? And you’ve heard of punk? Well, this is where the two collide: “I’ll do graffiti if you sing to me in French”. Halfway between the gutter and the stars you’ll find Maximo Park.
11. FRANZ FERDINAND – ‘Do You Want To’
The answer to the titular question posed by this stomping slice of indie-disco delirium from Glasgow’s finest? A whooping, joyous “Hell yeah!” Peacock strut present and correct.
10. GOLDFRAPP – ‘Ooh La Laa’
I don’t want to out myself as a potential fan of sadomasochism, but this is rather like being used as a catwalk by a leather-catsuit-and-stilettos-clad dominatrix. Electro meets glam meets ‘Spirit In The Sky’. Like ‘Number 1’ but better, it was certainly no number two.
9. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – ‘Little Sister’
Nick Oliveri might have departed, but the lead single from Lullabies To Paralyze emphatically confirmed that QOTSA’s powers hadn’t deserted them, motoring along on a piledriving riff that bores its way into your head like a supercharged weevil. The title and dubious lyrical content underlined the fact that they remain defiantly on the wrong side of the tracks.
8. INTERPOL – ‘Evil’
Quite probably overlooked in many end-of-year polls, but not here. Oh no. This one was earmarked for Top Tendom from the moment I heard of its imminent release late last year. One of the very finest moments of a very fine second album.
7. SUGABABES – ‘Push The Button’
What kind of an album title is Taller In More Ways?! But I suppose Keisha, Heidi and the recently departed Mutya can be forgiven nearly anything by virtue of the LP’s lead single, another splendid pop gem that certainly, ahem, pushes my button. And the video features the trio gyrating seductively in a lift. Sometimes the simple ideas are the best. One in the eye for Ms Stevens!
6. THE ARCADE FIRE – ‘Rebellion (Lies)’
Rallying cries don’t come much better than this. “Sleeping is giving in / So lift your heavy eyelids”, they insist. And yet ‘Rebellion (Lies)’ is not just an uplifting rabble-rouser – it’s laden with menace and agitation, and possesses the same insistent rhythm as classics like ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ and ‘Waiting For My Man’. Any song that can make ‘Later With Jools Holland’ positively thrilling must be a bit special.
5. MAXIMO PARK – ‘Apply Some Pressure’
Only a few re-released singles are good enough to actually merit it, and this one was. ‘Apply Some Pressure’ brilliantly showcases Maximo Park’s propulsive and energetic new wave, its earworm status merely cemented by one of the only lyrical hooks to compete with The Arcade Fire this year – “What happens when you lose everything? / You just start again, YOU START ALL OVER AGAIN!”
4. THE ARCADE FIRE – ‘Wake Up’
If there was a song with a bigger, more jaw-droppingly bombastic opening than ‘Wake Up’ released all year, then I didn’t hear it. It out-Flaming-Lips The Flaming Lips themselves, both ‘The Gash’ and ‘Do You Realize??’ relegated to the shadows by its dazzling brilliance. And then towards the end it suddenly turns into ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’. And yet still not their finest single of the year – that honour goes to…
3. THE ARCADE FIRE – ‘Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)’
Sitting in the dark without the wherewithal to listen to music or boil a kettle, all the while knowing you’re missing ‘Coronation Street’. I’ve never thought much of power cuts. But then without them this song wouldn’t exist. And, appropriately enough, it introduced The Arcade Fire to the UK in electrifying fashion. All together now: “YOU AIN’T FOOLIN’ NO-ONE!”
2. THE FUTUREHEADS – ‘Hounds Of Love’
Given that Kate Bush returned to the limelight after a twelve year absence with an ambitious and critically acclaimed double LP, it’s strange to think that the re-ascendancy of her star had less to do with her own output than it did with a cover of the title track of her 1985 album by four scruffy XTC fans from The Dark Place. A truly inspired reimagining, The Futureheads’ take on ‘Hounds Of Love’ is kept off the top spot only because I had hoped it might remain a best-kept-secret album track.
1. BLOC PARTY – ‘So Here We Are’
So here we are, as the sun sets on 2005, celebrating the song that marked the year’s dawning in such glorious fashion. While Silent Alarm is in the main a seething mass of tightly wound claustrophobically neurotic rock songs, the shift in pace and tone signalled by ‘So Here We Are’ ensured it was the clear stand-out. A perfect marriage of post-punk and post-rock, the song builds gently to the hairs-standing-on-the-back-of-the-neck headrush climax, Kele Okereke joyously proclaiming “I figured it out!” to anyone who’ll listen. I would – and did many, many times.
A reminder of the SWSL Top 20 Singles Of 2004:
1. FRANZ FERDINAND – ‘Take Me Out’
2. BRITNEY SPEARS – ‘Toxic’
3. KELIS – ‘Trick Me’
4. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – ‘Breathless’ / ‘There She Goes, My Beautiful World’
5. THE ICARUS LINE – ‘Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers’
6. MORRISSEY – ‘First Of The Gang To Die’
7. INTERPOL – ‘Slow Hands’
8. RACHEL STEVENS – ‘Some Girls’
9. GRAHAM COXON – ‘Freakin Out’
10. THE RADIO DEPT – ‘Why Won’t You Talk About It?’
11. THE WALKMEN – ‘The Rat’
12. THE FIERY FURNACES – ‘Single Again’
13. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – ‘Nature Boy’
14. KELIS – ‘Milkshake’
15. THE LIBERTINES – ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’
16. THE STREETS – ‘Blinded By The Lights’
17. PJ HARVEY – ‘The Letter’
18. FRANZ FERDINAND – ‘Michael’
19. THE FUTUREHEADS – ‘Decent Days And Nights’
20. SCISSOR SISTERS – ‘Comfortably Numb’
Sunday, December 25, 2005
A very British Christmas wish
From last Sunday's Observer:
"The euphoric hopes for peace and freedom brought by the end of the Second World War were dead by Christmas 1948. The Iron Curtain had fallen across Eastern Europe trapping tens of millions behind it. Stalin clung to life and his purges rolled across Eurasia from the Mongolian steppe to the German plain.
In China, Chairman Mao was preparing to seize power and inflict a terror to match Stalin's. In India, hundreds of thousands had died in violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Anti-colonial movements in Africa and Southeast Asia began the long wars against imperial powers.
Worse than conflict was the fear of nuclear war. The mushroom cloud from the Hiroshima bomb hung over the age.
In 'The Diplomats', the historian Geoffrey Moorhouse tells how a reporter on Washington DC radio responded to the crisis by phoning ambassadors in the American capital and asking what each would like for Christmas. He recorded their replies for a special programme on the future of the human race.
'Peace throughout the world', the French Ambassador demanded. 'Freedom for all people enslaved by imperialism', his Soviet counterpart countered.
And so it went on. Ambassadors asked for democracy for Christmas, an end to poverty, the banning of the atom bomb until at last the reporter reached Sir Oliver Franks, His Brittanic Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America.
'What do you want for Christmas, Sir Oliver?'
'It's very kind of you to ask', a polite voice replied. 'I'd quite like a box of crystallized fruit'".
And on that note, happy Christmas.
From last Sunday's Observer:
"The euphoric hopes for peace and freedom brought by the end of the Second World War were dead by Christmas 1948. The Iron Curtain had fallen across Eastern Europe trapping tens of millions behind it. Stalin clung to life and his purges rolled across Eurasia from the Mongolian steppe to the German plain.
In China, Chairman Mao was preparing to seize power and inflict a terror to match Stalin's. In India, hundreds of thousands had died in violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Anti-colonial movements in Africa and Southeast Asia began the long wars against imperial powers.
Worse than conflict was the fear of nuclear war. The mushroom cloud from the Hiroshima bomb hung over the age.
In 'The Diplomats', the historian Geoffrey Moorhouse tells how a reporter on Washington DC radio responded to the crisis by phoning ambassadors in the American capital and asking what each would like for Christmas. He recorded their replies for a special programme on the future of the human race.
'Peace throughout the world', the French Ambassador demanded. 'Freedom for all people enslaved by imperialism', his Soviet counterpart countered.
And so it went on. Ambassadors asked for democracy for Christmas, an end to poverty, the banning of the atom bomb until at last the reporter reached Sir Oliver Franks, His Brittanic Majesty's Ambassador to the United States of America.
'What do you want for Christmas, Sir Oliver?'
'It's very kind of you to ask', a polite voice replied. 'I'd quite like a box of crystallized fruit'".
And on that note, happy Christmas.
Not At All Festive Feel Good Hits Of The 25th December
1. 'Not Everyone' - Nine Black Alps
2. 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' - The Arcade Fire
3. 'Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)' - Eels
4. 'Two More Years' - Bloc Party
5. 'When I Go Deaf' - Low
6. 'Getting Bright At Night' - The Icarus Line
7. 'Ode To LA' - The Raveonettes with Ronnie Spector
8. 'Available' - Moving Units
9. 'Aus' - Fennesz
10. 'Hypnotize' - System Of A Down
1. 'Not Everyone' - Nine Black Alps
2. 'Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)' - The Arcade Fire
3. 'Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)' - Eels
4. 'Two More Years' - Bloc Party
5. 'When I Go Deaf' - Low
6. 'Getting Bright At Night' - The Icarus Line
7. 'Ode To LA' - The Raveonettes with Ronnie Spector
8. 'Available' - Moving Units
9. 'Aus' - Fennesz
10. 'Hypnotize' - System Of A Down
Thursday, December 22, 2005
E's are good
Up now on The Art Of Noise, after an unanticipated week's hiatus: the E installment of the A-Z Of Music feature, which includes me wittering about emo, Alison waxing lyrical about Eels, Damo forced into writing about The Shamen and Jez unburdening himself of some vitriol in a piece about The Eurythmics.
Incidentally, apologies for the delay in the appearance of the additional SWSL end-of-year lists - they are on their way, I promise...
Up now on The Art Of Noise, after an unanticipated week's hiatus: the E installment of the A-Z Of Music feature, which includes me wittering about emo, Alison waxing lyrical about Eels, Damo forced into writing about The Shamen and Jez unburdening himself of some vitriol in a piece about The Eurythmics.
Incidentally, apologies for the delay in the appearance of the additional SWSL end-of-year lists - they are on their way, I promise...
Sunday, December 18, 2005
SWSL Top 10 Live Performances Of 2005
Loads of gigs and a marvellous festival - and yet I'm still rueing the one that got away: The Arcade Fire, Birmingham Academy, 6th May. Curse my reticence.
Special thanks this year must go to Phill and Kate for helping to expose me to some of the best local bands that Birmingham has to offer (and thanks also to fellow Brummie gig-goers Kenny, Andy and Pete for their company).
10. MERCURY REV, Birmingham Academy, 11th March
"The set is at first heavy with tracks from new album The Secret Migration, latest single ‘Across Yer Ocean’ particularly impressive, with older tracks like ‘Tides Of The Moon’ sprinkled in, and, as with the songs themselves, it takes time for momentum to build. But build it does, and penultimate song ‘Goddess On A Hiway’ is incredible, more than enough to compensate for the absence of ‘The Dark Is Rising’ and ‘Chains’. A three song encore concludes with ‘Spiders & Flies’, and then it’s 10pm and everybody out".
9. THE PUBIC FRINGE, Birmingham Flapper & Firkin, 6th December
"The Pubic Fringe are personal favourites of eccentric curmudgeon Mark E Smith of The Fall, with whom they've toured, and approximately thirty seconds into their set they're one of mine too. Immaculately abrasive yet extraordinarily tight, they're a brutal psychobilly covers band roughly (and that's the operative word here) in the mould of The Cramps with nods and winks in the direction of The Birthday Party and The Stooges.
They sound like they've forgotten to take their medication. Like there's other people's skin under their fingernails. Like if they weren't on stage they'd be in the gutter eating dog-ends.
Vocalist Nazi Sinatra is the inevitable focal point. Clad in a tasselled cowboy shirt, he lurches back and forth apparently using the mic stand for support and chainsmoking, a fact which immediately explains his extraordinary rasping growl.
The set careers through a series of stomping three-minute songs before reaching its peak with a much longer number about "old-time religion" which might be what The Doors would have sounded like (criminally lame rock hack cliche alert!) had they experimented with ketamine rather than LSD and spent their days chewing their own arms off.
Under the circumstances, for me to stand tapping my foot and nodding my head is akin to saying "Excuse me, would you mind leaving me alone - there's a good chap" while being savaged by a rabid pitbull. This music demands a rather less restrained and polite reaction. Curse that English reserve".
8. DRESDEN DOLLS, Glastonbury Festival, 26th June
"About this time yesterday I was watching The Rakes. I’ve forgotten everything about them except the fact that they were instantly forgettable. The same cannot be said of The Dresden Dolls. "Brechtian punk cabaret" they label themselves, and who am I to disagree? I’m still desperately struggling to get my bearings, confronted with a sultry gothed-up singer / keyboard player (Amanda Palmer) and a drummer done up like a mime artist who attacks his kit with more ferocity than anyone I’ve seen for a long time (Brian Viglione). Their cover of ‘War Pigs’, the second of the weekend after Hayseed Dixie yesterday, is extraordinary, and ‘Coin-Operated Boy’ is equally striking, not least the section during which they play as though the record has stuck. I’ve never seen anything quite like this before".
7. THE WHITE STRIPES, Glastonbury Festival, 24th June
"Fuck me if Jack White doesn’t look ridiculous with his Mexican pimp ‘tache. And Meg still can’t sing. And we REALLY don’t need marimbas. But when the duo avoid material from Get Behind Me Satan (‘Blue Orchid’ aside, which I hear for the very first time tonight), there’s no doubting they’re electric. The set is a procession of fantastic songs, starting with ‘Dead Leaves And The Dusty Ground’ and taking in ‘Hotel Yorba’, ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’, ‘I Smell A Rat’ and the brilliant ‘Ball And Biscuit’ (split into sections and dispersed) before coming to a close, predictably enough, with ‘Seven Nation Army’".
6. DIRTY THREE, Birmingham Academy, 21st November
"I've never heard Dirty Three before, let alone seen them in the flesh, but they really are something quite special. Call them post-rock if you must (an inevitability, really, given their vocalless songs), but they draw upon folk, jazz and avant garde traditions, live up to their name by leaving you feeling as though you've got dirt under your fingernails and are perhaps first and foremost a punk band - at how many Godspeed! You Black Emperor gigs would you expect to see a fistfight break out immediately behind you, as does tonight?
That said, unassuming guitarist Mick Turner never once threatens to become animated, while drummer Jim White - whose percussive invention behind the kit, even down to carefully and repeatedly dropping a drumstick to send it skittering across the snare, is amazing to behold - is a picture of concentration, only rarely breaking into a smile.
Nearly all of the energy comes from Ellis, who, though stood in the main with his back to the audience, is a magnetic presence. His frequently furious style owes much to The Velvet Underground and particularly 'The Black Angel's Death Song', and he attacks his violin with such gusto that several bowstrings snap each song while flailing his right leg out as if possessed. At some points he plucks the violin like a guitar, and at others shouts into the strings".
5. MAXIMO PARK, Glastonbury Festival, 24th June
"The first stupendously good set of the festival, and it comes courtesy of the first half of a Geordie double bill, Maximo Park. A fledgling outfit they may be, but they’ve got fantastic new-wave tunes coming out of their ears - from ‘Apply Some Pressure’ to ‘Now I’m All Over The Shop’, from ‘The Coast Is Always Changing’ to forthcoming single and set closer ‘Going Missing’. And that’s without even mentioning the crowning glory of ‘Graffiti’. Paul Smith is a magnetic figurehead, scissor-kicking around the stage only to stop occasionally and read his lyrics from a book, but in keyboard player Lukas Wooller Maximo Park effectively boast a second frontman - when he’s not hunched over his instrument Wooller hops around chopping the air robotically like a short-circuiting member of Kraftwerk. Lively doesn’t really do this performance justice".
4. SIGUR ROS, Birmingham Academy, 14th November
"As the band walk out onto the stage, the curtain edges across once more and they launch into 'Untitled #8', the final track from 2002's ( ). Eight minutes it takes to build to its explosive climax, all restraint now abandoned in spectacular fashion as the drummer, freed from the straitjacket of the main set, attacks his kit with violent relish and a strobed flurry of projected images strikes the curtain. It's a fireworks display a week and a half too late. It's the sort of all-out sensual assault that would put Mogwai and Spiritualized in the shade. And it's an awesome conclusion to a very fine gig.
Guilty of taking themselves too seriously? Yes. Pretentious? Probably. Mindblowing? Too damn right"
3. THE FUTUREHEADS, Glastonbury Festival, 25th June
"This band just doesn’t do disappointment. The set starts slowly enough with ‘Le Garage’ and ‘The City Is Here For You To Use’ before gathering pace and climaxing in style with ‘Carnival Kids’, ‘Hounds Of Love’ (for which the crowd are split in half to sing the two vocal parts), ‘Man Ray’ and ‘Piece Of Crap’. Of their eponymous debut, only ‘Trying Not To Think About Time’ doesn’t get an airing – we’re even treated to a rare appearance of the a capella ‘Danger Of The Water’, in addition to The Television Personalities’ ‘A Picture Of Dorian Gray’ and new song ‘Area’. The band’s front three Barry Hyde, Ross Millard and bassist Jaff have always combined to create some stunning vocal harmonies to overlay their jerky XTC style new wave punk, but over time they’ve developed a real comic repartee, to the extent that they almost come across as a music hall act. As much as I enjoyed them two years ago in the New Bands Tent, they’ve come a long way – from kings of the toilet circuit to stadium rock showmen".
2. LOW, Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall, 19th February
"They might be living up to the billing as a bona fide rock band these days, but that doesn't stop Sparhawk introducing new single 'California' as being about his mother. Although the band seem jovial on stage - they laugh about Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker's kid dancing around to the first Napalm Death record in the empty venue earlier in the evening - the reflective and heart-meltingly sad moments are still there, buried in the middle of singalong set-closer 'Broadway (So Many People)' in the enigmatic line "Where is the laughter?".
They also still have that uncanny knack of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand stiff to attention. Sparhawk's nakedly solo rendition of 'Death Of A Salesman' is something truly special, but Parker is not to be outdone and her astonishingly clear vocals make the hushed 'Laser Beam' one of the night's highlights, along with 'When I Go Deaf', which begins in near-silence before exploding into life with squalling guitar to die for".
1. BRIAN WILSON, Glastonbury Festival, 26th June
"JESUS H CHRIST THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING! The overlapping vocals of ‘God Only Knows’ (message to The Futureheads: nice try boys, love Brian), the plaintive downbeat beauty of ‘In My Room’ (Martin: "I’ve always wanted to write the alter ego to this song – ‘In My Attic’"), the soaring verse vocal of ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ and the splendid incongruity of ‘Little Saint Nick’ (unlike Swiss Toni I don’t have a Santa hat to hand), all wrapped up with ‘California Girls’ and, better still, ‘Good Vibrations’. Throughout it all the legend himself sits there, calm and composed while all around him are losing their heads".
Every other band or artist I've enjoyed / endured this year:
Amina / Art Brut / Augustine / Autons / Beats Capri / Bellydance Superstars & The Desert Roses / Bloc Party / Bright Eyes / Chester Road / Clor / The Coral / Elvis Costello / The Duke Spirit / Editors / 51 Breaks / Goldie Lookin Chain / The Go! Team / The Graham Parsip Liquidiser Torture Think-Tank (Project) / Hayseed Dixie / Jools Holland / I Am Zeitgeist / The International Karate Plus / Interpol / Jetlag / Kid Dakota / The Killers / LCD Soundsystem / The Light Era / The Magic Numbers (x2) / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Maria Szyrtisz & The Pyramids Of Mars / M83 / Midas / Modey Lemon / Motorcycle Stunts / Needless Alley / New Order / Nine Black Alps / Josh Pearson / Chris Perrin / The Pipettes / The Rakes / Sinistra (x2) / Sons And Daughters / StrangeTime (x4) / Ruth Theodore / 2 Many DJs / Trash Fashion / Chris T-T / Rufus Wainwright / Josie Watts / When Bears Attack / Yourcodenameis:milo
A reminder of SWSL Top 10 Live Performances Of 2004:
1. SONIC YOUTH, Brixton Academy
2. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, Wolverhampton Civic Hall
3. THE FUTUREHEADS, Birmingham Academy
4. SPIRITUALIZED, Nottingham Rock City
5. MOGWAI, Nottingham Rock City
6. THE FIERY FURNACES, Nottingham Stealth
7. THE ICARUS LINE, Nottingham Rock City
8. PJ HARVEY, Glastonbury Festival
9. FRANZ FERDINAND, Birmingham Academy
10. MUSE, Glastonbury Festival
Loads of gigs and a marvellous festival - and yet I'm still rueing the one that got away: The Arcade Fire, Birmingham Academy, 6th May. Curse my reticence.
Special thanks this year must go to Phill and Kate for helping to expose me to some of the best local bands that Birmingham has to offer (and thanks also to fellow Brummie gig-goers Kenny, Andy and Pete for their company).
10. MERCURY REV, Birmingham Academy, 11th March
"The set is at first heavy with tracks from new album The Secret Migration, latest single ‘Across Yer Ocean’ particularly impressive, with older tracks like ‘Tides Of The Moon’ sprinkled in, and, as with the songs themselves, it takes time for momentum to build. But build it does, and penultimate song ‘Goddess On A Hiway’ is incredible, more than enough to compensate for the absence of ‘The Dark Is Rising’ and ‘Chains’. A three song encore concludes with ‘Spiders & Flies’, and then it’s 10pm and everybody out".
9. THE PUBIC FRINGE, Birmingham Flapper & Firkin, 6th December
"The Pubic Fringe are personal favourites of eccentric curmudgeon Mark E Smith of The Fall, with whom they've toured, and approximately thirty seconds into their set they're one of mine too. Immaculately abrasive yet extraordinarily tight, they're a brutal psychobilly covers band roughly (and that's the operative word here) in the mould of The Cramps with nods and winks in the direction of The Birthday Party and The Stooges.
They sound like they've forgotten to take their medication. Like there's other people's skin under their fingernails. Like if they weren't on stage they'd be in the gutter eating dog-ends.
Vocalist Nazi Sinatra is the inevitable focal point. Clad in a tasselled cowboy shirt, he lurches back and forth apparently using the mic stand for support and chainsmoking, a fact which immediately explains his extraordinary rasping growl.
The set careers through a series of stomping three-minute songs before reaching its peak with a much longer number about "old-time religion" which might be what The Doors would have sounded like (criminally lame rock hack cliche alert!) had they experimented with ketamine rather than LSD and spent their days chewing their own arms off.
Under the circumstances, for me to stand tapping my foot and nodding my head is akin to saying "Excuse me, would you mind leaving me alone - there's a good chap" while being savaged by a rabid pitbull. This music demands a rather less restrained and polite reaction. Curse that English reserve".
8. DRESDEN DOLLS, Glastonbury Festival, 26th June
"About this time yesterday I was watching The Rakes. I’ve forgotten everything about them except the fact that they were instantly forgettable. The same cannot be said of The Dresden Dolls. "Brechtian punk cabaret" they label themselves, and who am I to disagree? I’m still desperately struggling to get my bearings, confronted with a sultry gothed-up singer / keyboard player (Amanda Palmer) and a drummer done up like a mime artist who attacks his kit with more ferocity than anyone I’ve seen for a long time (Brian Viglione). Their cover of ‘War Pigs’, the second of the weekend after Hayseed Dixie yesterday, is extraordinary, and ‘Coin-Operated Boy’ is equally striking, not least the section during which they play as though the record has stuck. I’ve never seen anything quite like this before".
7. THE WHITE STRIPES, Glastonbury Festival, 24th June
"Fuck me if Jack White doesn’t look ridiculous with his Mexican pimp ‘tache. And Meg still can’t sing. And we REALLY don’t need marimbas. But when the duo avoid material from Get Behind Me Satan (‘Blue Orchid’ aside, which I hear for the very first time tonight), there’s no doubting they’re electric. The set is a procession of fantastic songs, starting with ‘Dead Leaves And The Dusty Ground’ and taking in ‘Hotel Yorba’, ‘I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’, ‘I Smell A Rat’ and the brilliant ‘Ball And Biscuit’ (split into sections and dispersed) before coming to a close, predictably enough, with ‘Seven Nation Army’".
6. DIRTY THREE, Birmingham Academy, 21st November
"I've never heard Dirty Three before, let alone seen them in the flesh, but they really are something quite special. Call them post-rock if you must (an inevitability, really, given their vocalless songs), but they draw upon folk, jazz and avant garde traditions, live up to their name by leaving you feeling as though you've got dirt under your fingernails and are perhaps first and foremost a punk band - at how many Godspeed! You Black Emperor gigs would you expect to see a fistfight break out immediately behind you, as does tonight?
That said, unassuming guitarist Mick Turner never once threatens to become animated, while drummer Jim White - whose percussive invention behind the kit, even down to carefully and repeatedly dropping a drumstick to send it skittering across the snare, is amazing to behold - is a picture of concentration, only rarely breaking into a smile.
Nearly all of the energy comes from Ellis, who, though stood in the main with his back to the audience, is a magnetic presence. His frequently furious style owes much to The Velvet Underground and particularly 'The Black Angel's Death Song', and he attacks his violin with such gusto that several bowstrings snap each song while flailing his right leg out as if possessed. At some points he plucks the violin like a guitar, and at others shouts into the strings".
5. MAXIMO PARK, Glastonbury Festival, 24th June
"The first stupendously good set of the festival, and it comes courtesy of the first half of a Geordie double bill, Maximo Park. A fledgling outfit they may be, but they’ve got fantastic new-wave tunes coming out of their ears - from ‘Apply Some Pressure’ to ‘Now I’m All Over The Shop’, from ‘The Coast Is Always Changing’ to forthcoming single and set closer ‘Going Missing’. And that’s without even mentioning the crowning glory of ‘Graffiti’. Paul Smith is a magnetic figurehead, scissor-kicking around the stage only to stop occasionally and read his lyrics from a book, but in keyboard player Lukas Wooller Maximo Park effectively boast a second frontman - when he’s not hunched over his instrument Wooller hops around chopping the air robotically like a short-circuiting member of Kraftwerk. Lively doesn’t really do this performance justice".
4. SIGUR ROS, Birmingham Academy, 14th November
"As the band walk out onto the stage, the curtain edges across once more and they launch into 'Untitled #8', the final track from 2002's ( ). Eight minutes it takes to build to its explosive climax, all restraint now abandoned in spectacular fashion as the drummer, freed from the straitjacket of the main set, attacks his kit with violent relish and a strobed flurry of projected images strikes the curtain. It's a fireworks display a week and a half too late. It's the sort of all-out sensual assault that would put Mogwai and Spiritualized in the shade. And it's an awesome conclusion to a very fine gig.
Guilty of taking themselves too seriously? Yes. Pretentious? Probably. Mindblowing? Too damn right"
3. THE FUTUREHEADS, Glastonbury Festival, 25th June
"This band just doesn’t do disappointment. The set starts slowly enough with ‘Le Garage’ and ‘The City Is Here For You To Use’ before gathering pace and climaxing in style with ‘Carnival Kids’, ‘Hounds Of Love’ (for which the crowd are split in half to sing the two vocal parts), ‘Man Ray’ and ‘Piece Of Crap’. Of their eponymous debut, only ‘Trying Not To Think About Time’ doesn’t get an airing – we’re even treated to a rare appearance of the a capella ‘Danger Of The Water’, in addition to The Television Personalities’ ‘A Picture Of Dorian Gray’ and new song ‘Area’. The band’s front three Barry Hyde, Ross Millard and bassist Jaff have always combined to create some stunning vocal harmonies to overlay their jerky XTC style new wave punk, but over time they’ve developed a real comic repartee, to the extent that they almost come across as a music hall act. As much as I enjoyed them two years ago in the New Bands Tent, they’ve come a long way – from kings of the toilet circuit to stadium rock showmen".
2. LOW, Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall, 19th February
"They might be living up to the billing as a bona fide rock band these days, but that doesn't stop Sparhawk introducing new single 'California' as being about his mother. Although the band seem jovial on stage - they laugh about Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker's kid dancing around to the first Napalm Death record in the empty venue earlier in the evening - the reflective and heart-meltingly sad moments are still there, buried in the middle of singalong set-closer 'Broadway (So Many People)' in the enigmatic line "Where is the laughter?".
They also still have that uncanny knack of making the hairs on the back of your neck stand stiff to attention. Sparhawk's nakedly solo rendition of 'Death Of A Salesman' is something truly special, but Parker is not to be outdone and her astonishingly clear vocals make the hushed 'Laser Beam' one of the night's highlights, along with 'When I Go Deaf', which begins in near-silence before exploding into life with squalling guitar to die for".
1. BRIAN WILSON, Glastonbury Festival, 26th June
"JESUS H CHRIST THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING! The overlapping vocals of ‘God Only Knows’ (message to The Futureheads: nice try boys, love Brian), the plaintive downbeat beauty of ‘In My Room’ (Martin: "I’ve always wanted to write the alter ego to this song – ‘In My Attic’"), the soaring verse vocal of ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ and the splendid incongruity of ‘Little Saint Nick’ (unlike Swiss Toni I don’t have a Santa hat to hand), all wrapped up with ‘California Girls’ and, better still, ‘Good Vibrations’. Throughout it all the legend himself sits there, calm and composed while all around him are losing their heads".
Every other band or artist I've enjoyed / endured this year:
Amina / Art Brut / Augustine / Autons / Beats Capri / Bellydance Superstars & The Desert Roses / Bloc Party / Bright Eyes / Chester Road / Clor / The Coral / Elvis Costello / The Duke Spirit / Editors / 51 Breaks / Goldie Lookin Chain / The Go! Team / The Graham Parsip Liquidiser Torture Think-Tank (Project) / Hayseed Dixie / Jools Holland / I Am Zeitgeist / The International Karate Plus / Interpol / Jetlag / Kid Dakota / The Killers / LCD Soundsystem / The Light Era / The Magic Numbers (x2) / Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Maria Szyrtisz & The Pyramids Of Mars / M83 / Midas / Modey Lemon / Motorcycle Stunts / Needless Alley / New Order / Nine Black Alps / Josh Pearson / Chris Perrin / The Pipettes / The Rakes / Sinistra (x2) / Sons And Daughters / StrangeTime (x4) / Ruth Theodore / 2 Many DJs / Trash Fashion / Chris T-T / Rufus Wainwright / Josie Watts / When Bears Attack / Yourcodenameis:milo
A reminder of SWSL Top 10 Live Performances Of 2004:
1. SONIC YOUTH, Brixton Academy
2. NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, Wolverhampton Civic Hall
3. THE FUTUREHEADS, Birmingham Academy
4. SPIRITUALIZED, Nottingham Rock City
5. MOGWAI, Nottingham Rock City
6. THE FIERY FURNACES, Nottingham Stealth
7. THE ICARUS LINE, Nottingham Rock City
8. PJ HARVEY, Glastonbury Festival
9. FRANZ FERDINAND, Birmingham Academy
10. MUSE, Glastonbury Festival
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Right To Reply #6
The (long-awaited?) return of the feature which sees a number of bloggers (anyone got any good suggestions for a collective noun?) get together to comment and offer their thoughts on a vaguely topical subject. The debate doesn’t stop with the published post – feel free to carry it on in the comments box.
The subject: the change to the English licensing laws
The participants:
Ben - your host
Dave of London Calling
Girl of Girl With A One Track Mind
Inspector Sands of Casino Avenue
JonnyB of Jonny B’s Private Secret Diary
Pete of Expecting To Fly
Swiss Toni of Swiss Toni’s Place
Has the change affected many pubs / clubs near you? Has it had a noticeable impact on the area in which you live?
Swiss Toni: Lots of the main bars and clubs in Nottingham (and elsewhere) already had late licenses in place for the weekend, so from that point of view it has made very little difference.
Pete: Locally (Winchester), it's been hard to detect a change so far, especially as the pubs have been mysteriously empty over the last few weekends. Pubs are slightly more lenient on when it's comes to last orders, but that's about it.
Inspector Sands: As far as I can tell, not a lot, although I'm not a town centre drinker by habit anyway. My local's not opted for extended hours, although I did sneak a drink until 1am at a neighbouring boozer last weekend. But most places have either got licenses but aren't using them, or aren't shouting from the rooftops about their extended hours, so it'll take a long while to get a feel for what's happening. Christmas should be interesting.
Ben: Given how centrally we live, and the proximity of a Yates Wine Lodge (a misnomer if ever I heard one – it’s the sort of place that if you were caught supping on a glass of Chardonnay you’d get a pool cue in the face), our part of Birmingham has always seemed strangely quiet, and the change in the licensing law doesn’t appear to have made any discernible difference. Venture to the neon-lit sick-paved Broad Street – on a Friday night every bit the Daily Mail reader’s nightmare – and it’s likely to be a different story. I wouldn’t know for certain, though, as I do my best to steer clear.
Girl: I am now kept awake from drunken people singing loudly at 12am, 1am and 2am, rather than just around 11pm. They sound like felines on a caterwauling mating call; knowing the lads round here, it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't far off what they were doing.
JonnyB: There's only one pub for miles. It hasn't applied for a new license. We locals are worried that it will ruin the secret illicit enjoyment of sitting in the dark after hours. Not that we do that. Never.
Dave: I haven't a clue if any of my locals have changed their opening hours. I rarely drink or go to pubs. I can't say I've noticed if later opening hours has affected my area as I'm usually fast asleep by 11pm.
Swiss Toni: Actually, the one thing that the council did that HAS made a difference to the town centre is when they decided to fill in the subways. If you had the misfortune to walk through one of these around closing time on a Friday night, you would find that they were awash with piss. Filling them in hasn’t stopped people from pissing in the street, but at least the smell doesn’t stay with you in quite the same way…
To what extent will it change personal drinking habits?
Dave: I think binge drinking will subside as we get used to longer hours. Folk will stop going out at 6pm (like in Newcastle) and will spread their evenings and alcohol consumption over a greater time period.
Inspector Sands: I was out with someone the other day who ordered his customary three pints at the 11pm bell, then we went off somewhere else, and at the 1am bell, he got another three pints in...
JonnyB: The example always given is the “post theatre” drinks, and I guess I'll be going for a couple of pints after the cinema etc. But there are lots of, for example, shift workers in the factories of King's Lynn. They would possibly like to go for a pint after work, at 5am. Whether catering for them would be economical for a publican, I'm doubtful.
Ben: It’s very true that the law may have changed but that for it to have any discernible impact on drinking habits there has to be a relatively widespread uptake of later licenses by publicans. At present only a minority of pubs and bars seem to have applied, and many of those that have are only trialling a late license to see how it works out – ultimately, as Jonny suggests, it’s a question of economics.
Swiss Toni: At a little after 11pm one Monday night a few weeks ago, I spilled out of a Franz Ferdinand gig at the Nottingham Arena and decided to look for somewhere to have a quick pint before heading home. The law had just changed, so I thought it would be simple. Wrong. I walked through town and forlornly peered through pub windows only to see that all the lights were switched off and the chairs were all stacked up on the tables. When I did finally find somewhere that was open though, it was great: there was a nice relaxed atmosphere, and I was able to enjoy a quiet pint to let the car park rush subside before heading home about midnight. This is how it should be.
Ben: The weekend before last, after having a meal with my parents, we all retired to The Old Fox in the city centre. The bar stayed open until 1.30am, and it made for a very pleasant and quiet late night drink (once the post-theatre crowd had left), a far cry from the raucous bars of the Arcadian, barely a stone’s throw away. It was in essence a whole new experience, and one that I can imagine will (re)introduce those who have felt alienated from social drinking for whatever reason (loud music, cramped bars, massive bar queues, being forced to stand) to its pleasures.
To what extent has it changed your own drinking habits?
Inspector Sands: Not a lot – although I'm lucky to drink somewhere that was never somewhere in a rush to throw you out at 11.20pm anyway. Where I go out is still going to be governed more by whether I like the place rather than whether it opens until 4am.
Pete: My drinking habits haven't changed much. If anything, they've reverted to the ones I had when I lived in Berlin and Prague: out more often, but drinking less ie "a cheeky pint in the evening".
Girl: It hasn't changed my drinking habits (yet) since I am sadly too busy to actually have a social life. But I am looking forward to going to my local and having a civilised pint sometime around midnight in a few weeks’ time.
Does the “European café culture” that we in Britain are supposedly aspiring to even exist on the continent?
Dave: I think the “European cafe culture” does exist but it's mainly for Europeans who are on holiday in other European countries. You may see Spanish folk sitting outside a Madrid city centre bar enjoying a drink at 3am but you won't see it in the suburbs of Madrid (I know this for a fact). I think we like to think that the French, Spanish and Italians are sophisticated drinkers because we've seen them when we're on holiday without realising that they are on holiday too. Late hours drinking has existed in Germany for years and you see some nasty violence on their streets at 5am.
Girl: From my experience being abroad, there most definitely is a "cafe culture", in that entire families go out no earlier than 10pm and drink until the late hours. The difference in other European countries is that their working hours are totally different to the UK's: they start earlier, have a break in the middle of the day, and then continue until late in the evening. So really, the whole going out later as a family thing is probably more to do with work schedules than anything particularly “cultural”.
Will we ever arrive at that sort of “culture”?
JonnyB: [We] might. But I doubt it. The idea that a basically administrative measure will change our national characteristics seems a bit bizarre to me.
Inspector Sands: Doubt it. We may end up starting our nights out a little later, though - good news for Friday nights, where the shit / shave / shower (or judicious application of lippy) can be undertaken in a more relaxed atmosphere. I was lucky enough to spend a Sunday night in Helsinki a couple of weeks back - bar open until 4am, most people starting their nights at around 10pm, starting to go home around 1am.
Swiss Toni: Liberalising the licensing laws may change the timings of a typical night out, but I would be surprised if it changes the way that people drink to any great extent.
Girl: I would hope that [“café culture”] might be possible in the UK too - as long as we can learn to be civilised with alcohol and not only drink it to get drunk. (I doubt it, but I have hope).
Swiss Toni: It’s not about the cafés, it’s about the way that people drink. In countries like France and Italy, drinking is part of the culture, but they don’t drink solely to get drunk. You might have a glass of wine with your lunch, or an aperitif in the evening after work, but the drink is not an end to itself. In this country (and to be fair, in some other countries in Europe, especially in Scandinavia), we drink to get drunk. This might change over time, but it might not.
Pete: We are highly unlikely to see a move to the café culture of Europe within the next decade. In any case, this idea has always been a bit of a misnomer, as plenty of Europeans drink themselves silly on a regular basis. Nevertheless, they somehow manage to do so without the consequences for policing (and in some cases health) that accompany many nights out in the UK. Perhaps it's a question of mentality and society. In the UK, Friday night is seen as an opportunity to go out and get wrecked. In fact, for some people the night has been wasted if they're not drunkenly spewing outside a kebab shop by midnight. Whereas in Europe, Friday is usually used as an opportunity to socialise and alcohol is merely one part of this.
What are the health implications of the change?
Girl: I imagine there will be quite a steep rise initially in alcohol-related incapacitation and accidents as a result of over-indulgence, but I would think these would be relatively temporary as the novelty of late-night drinking wears off in the coming months / years. As for long-term effects – well, I don't expect to see any decline in alcohol-related illnesses, put it that way.
Ben: As someone who certainly enjoys a drink and broadly welcomes the law change, one of my concerns is the fact that Scotland (where the licensing laws have been more liberal for years) has the least healthy population in Europe. There are undoubtedly numerous contributory factors to this, including diet and lifestyle, but it does make me wonder whether liberalisation was necessarily such a good move in England. Time will tell, of course – it’s far too early to say.
Swiss Toni: I don’t believe that it will mean we will have a sudden increase in the number of cases of cirrhosis, if that’s what you mean... I don’t think it will ultimately make much difference to the amount of booze that people drink, but hopefully it will be spread out over a longer period of time. Perhaps the A&E departments of our hospitals will see less of a rush around midnight and have the load better spread across the night?
Dave: Hospitals will hopefully now not be inundated with drunken injuries between 11 and 12pm.
Inspector Sands: Well, if you create a society of miserable wage slaves in debt up to their eyeballs, they're going to look for ways to escape it. I don't think the drinking hours themselves have that much to do with it - it's why people feel the need to get regularly legless, to continue their teenage habits into their 30s, that needs attention. Over the civilised dining tables of Islington and Notting Hill, I doubt it's much of a concern, though.
What are the implications of the change for policing?
Dave: More police will be needed for the first few years but I think this will settle down.
Swiss Toni: The big problem with the old British licensing laws are that they force everyone out into the street at the same time. British town centres are horrible after closing time; packs of drunks stagger about shouting, singing, pissing and throwing up. Changing the licensing laws may not reduce the total number of these drunks, but hopefully it will spread them out across the night, which has got to make it easier to police, hasn’t it?
Girl: Initially I think the police force may be put under some strain if the potential increase in public disorder overwhelms them. But overall I think staggered closing times for pubs and bars will see an end to “turfing-out time” and no longer will we have thousands of drunken people all on the streets at one time – which clearly was a recipe for disaster for all involved.
JonnyB: I'm not sure about the change, but soon we will find the police having even more massive recruitment problems. If police work becomes more and more “Saturday night being sworn at and hit by drunken yobs” then I can't see anything other than a big exodus of good people who joined up to help society by catching burglars.
Inspector Sands: More pissed-off and over-stretched police officers. Of course, we're a society that's taught you can always do things on the cheap, so naturally we forgot to make sure there's the coppers to police the change. Just like we forgot to make sure there's the buses home etc.
Ben: This is another of my concerns. If there is a major uptake of the new later licenses, then is there going to be a corresponding investment in the whole infrastructure surrounding the drinks industry? It’s unclear whether alcohol-fuelled disturbances will increase (the staggered closing times may help, but if they don’t the police already claim to be stretched to breaking point in terms of manpower and resources), but what is certain is that public transport links need to run later to cater for those who can’t afford a night out and an expensive taxi at the end of it. This additional money shouldn’t necessarily come from the public purse – the drinks industry is phenomenally profitable, and should foot more of the bill for policing and transport.
Is the Government sending out mixed messages by relaxing the licensing laws at the same time as it seeks to clamp down on binge drinking and anti-social behaviour?
Swiss Toni: No. People have got to take personal responsibility for the amount that they drink and the way that they behave. Government legislation is hardly likely to help. The Government should not be able to tell me when I can start drinking and when I can stop drinking. The old licensing laws were antiquated and needed to be changed. By all means inform people about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, but we don’t need a nanny state.
Inspector Sands: Not really, it always needs something to wring its hands about and avoid responsibility for. Changing the licensing laws was long overdue and something the Tories would surely have done if they'd have got in again in 1997. Binge drinking and anti-social behaviour are wider ills that'll never be cured under our current system.
Girl: Ambiguity is nothing new for governments – especially this Labour one. Seriously though, I don't think it’s a mixed message: English people need to learn to drink responsibly and stop behaving like morons and with staggered closing times meaning a smaller concentration of drunken people on the streets at any one time, I think it'll be less likely that there'll be fights.
Ben: As has been implied above, the relaxation of the licensing laws and the crackdown on / stigmatization of binge drinking needn’t be seen as contradictory measures. If people know bars are open later, then they’re less likely to feel the need to chuck as much lager as they possibly can down their neck in a short space of time.
Pete: I think a great deal of the UK's problems are down to the people behind the bar. There was a good report in the Observer a few weeks ago, describing how irresponsible many bar staff are when they serve people dangerous levels of alcohol. It is perhaps telling that the UK is the only country in Europe where so many high streets are full of "chain" pubs and bars such as Wetherspoons, Yates, JD Edwards etc whose main business objective is to sell as much alcohol as possible.
JonnyB: Not sure about “mixed messages” but it's a feeble way to go about things in isolation. Had they at the same time confronted the breweries by setting strict rules about factors like seating in pubs (as I understand it, there's strong evidence that this reduces unthinking consumption as people don't have to hold their pint all the time), the promotion of larger measures etc, then there might have been a little less cynicism. All sorts of things are relevant: pubs that want to put on live music are faced with nothing but legal obstruction rather than given the incentives that they should be – regardless of artistic reasons, they're providing a night out where you can have a few beers but that drinking isn't the “point” of the evening. There are all sorts of little things that could be done that would contribute, but nobody seems interested in tackling them.
Dave: I hate kids so kids in “family pubs” should be banned (while we're on this subject let’s ban them from supermarkets and cinemas too).
Pete: Ultimately, I think the Government has made a step in the right direction, but the desired results won’t occur with the space of a few weeks. It’s worth considering that there is still one step that the UK is yet to take. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece and others allow drinking (wine and beer) at 16; Switzerland's minimum age is 14, while Poland and Portugal have no minimum drinking age. It would be interesting to see what the Government (and the public) would think of this option.
* * * * *
Thanks to Dave, Girl, Inspector Sands, JonnyB, Pete and Swiss Toni for their thoughts. Go ahead and add yours in the comments box.
The (long-awaited?) return of the feature which sees a number of bloggers (anyone got any good suggestions for a collective noun?) get together to comment and offer their thoughts on a vaguely topical subject. The debate doesn’t stop with the published post – feel free to carry it on in the comments box.
The subject: the change to the English licensing laws
The participants:
Ben - your host
Dave of London Calling
Girl of Girl With A One Track Mind
Inspector Sands of Casino Avenue
JonnyB of Jonny B’s Private Secret Diary
Pete of Expecting To Fly
Swiss Toni of Swiss Toni’s Place
Has the change affected many pubs / clubs near you? Has it had a noticeable impact on the area in which you live?
Swiss Toni: Lots of the main bars and clubs in Nottingham (and elsewhere) already had late licenses in place for the weekend, so from that point of view it has made very little difference.
Pete: Locally (Winchester), it's been hard to detect a change so far, especially as the pubs have been mysteriously empty over the last few weekends. Pubs are slightly more lenient on when it's comes to last orders, but that's about it.
Inspector Sands: As far as I can tell, not a lot, although I'm not a town centre drinker by habit anyway. My local's not opted for extended hours, although I did sneak a drink until 1am at a neighbouring boozer last weekend. But most places have either got licenses but aren't using them, or aren't shouting from the rooftops about their extended hours, so it'll take a long while to get a feel for what's happening. Christmas should be interesting.
Ben: Given how centrally we live, and the proximity of a Yates Wine Lodge (a misnomer if ever I heard one – it’s the sort of place that if you were caught supping on a glass of Chardonnay you’d get a pool cue in the face), our part of Birmingham has always seemed strangely quiet, and the change in the licensing law doesn’t appear to have made any discernible difference. Venture to the neon-lit sick-paved Broad Street – on a Friday night every bit the Daily Mail reader’s nightmare – and it’s likely to be a different story. I wouldn’t know for certain, though, as I do my best to steer clear.
Girl: I am now kept awake from drunken people singing loudly at 12am, 1am and 2am, rather than just around 11pm. They sound like felines on a caterwauling mating call; knowing the lads round here, it wouldn't surprise me if that wasn't far off what they were doing.
JonnyB: There's only one pub for miles. It hasn't applied for a new license. We locals are worried that it will ruin the secret illicit enjoyment of sitting in the dark after hours. Not that we do that. Never.
Dave: I haven't a clue if any of my locals have changed their opening hours. I rarely drink or go to pubs. I can't say I've noticed if later opening hours has affected my area as I'm usually fast asleep by 11pm.
Swiss Toni: Actually, the one thing that the council did that HAS made a difference to the town centre is when they decided to fill in the subways. If you had the misfortune to walk through one of these around closing time on a Friday night, you would find that they were awash with piss. Filling them in hasn’t stopped people from pissing in the street, but at least the smell doesn’t stay with you in quite the same way…
To what extent will it change personal drinking habits?
Dave: I think binge drinking will subside as we get used to longer hours. Folk will stop going out at 6pm (like in Newcastle) and will spread their evenings and alcohol consumption over a greater time period.
Inspector Sands: I was out with someone the other day who ordered his customary three pints at the 11pm bell, then we went off somewhere else, and at the 1am bell, he got another three pints in...
JonnyB: The example always given is the “post theatre” drinks, and I guess I'll be going for a couple of pints after the cinema etc. But there are lots of, for example, shift workers in the factories of King's Lynn. They would possibly like to go for a pint after work, at 5am. Whether catering for them would be economical for a publican, I'm doubtful.
Ben: It’s very true that the law may have changed but that for it to have any discernible impact on drinking habits there has to be a relatively widespread uptake of later licenses by publicans. At present only a minority of pubs and bars seem to have applied, and many of those that have are only trialling a late license to see how it works out – ultimately, as Jonny suggests, it’s a question of economics.
Swiss Toni: At a little after 11pm one Monday night a few weeks ago, I spilled out of a Franz Ferdinand gig at the Nottingham Arena and decided to look for somewhere to have a quick pint before heading home. The law had just changed, so I thought it would be simple. Wrong. I walked through town and forlornly peered through pub windows only to see that all the lights were switched off and the chairs were all stacked up on the tables. When I did finally find somewhere that was open though, it was great: there was a nice relaxed atmosphere, and I was able to enjoy a quiet pint to let the car park rush subside before heading home about midnight. This is how it should be.
Ben: The weekend before last, after having a meal with my parents, we all retired to The Old Fox in the city centre. The bar stayed open until 1.30am, and it made for a very pleasant and quiet late night drink (once the post-theatre crowd had left), a far cry from the raucous bars of the Arcadian, barely a stone’s throw away. It was in essence a whole new experience, and one that I can imagine will (re)introduce those who have felt alienated from social drinking for whatever reason (loud music, cramped bars, massive bar queues, being forced to stand) to its pleasures.
To what extent has it changed your own drinking habits?
Inspector Sands: Not a lot – although I'm lucky to drink somewhere that was never somewhere in a rush to throw you out at 11.20pm anyway. Where I go out is still going to be governed more by whether I like the place rather than whether it opens until 4am.
Pete: My drinking habits haven't changed much. If anything, they've reverted to the ones I had when I lived in Berlin and Prague: out more often, but drinking less ie "a cheeky pint in the evening".
Girl: It hasn't changed my drinking habits (yet) since I am sadly too busy to actually have a social life. But I am looking forward to going to my local and having a civilised pint sometime around midnight in a few weeks’ time.
Does the “European café culture” that we in Britain are supposedly aspiring to even exist on the continent?
Dave: I think the “European cafe culture” does exist but it's mainly for Europeans who are on holiday in other European countries. You may see Spanish folk sitting outside a Madrid city centre bar enjoying a drink at 3am but you won't see it in the suburbs of Madrid (I know this for a fact). I think we like to think that the French, Spanish and Italians are sophisticated drinkers because we've seen them when we're on holiday without realising that they are on holiday too. Late hours drinking has existed in Germany for years and you see some nasty violence on their streets at 5am.
Girl: From my experience being abroad, there most definitely is a "cafe culture", in that entire families go out no earlier than 10pm and drink until the late hours. The difference in other European countries is that their working hours are totally different to the UK's: they start earlier, have a break in the middle of the day, and then continue until late in the evening. So really, the whole going out later as a family thing is probably more to do with work schedules than anything particularly “cultural”.
Will we ever arrive at that sort of “culture”?
JonnyB: [We] might. But I doubt it. The idea that a basically administrative measure will change our national characteristics seems a bit bizarre to me.
Inspector Sands: Doubt it. We may end up starting our nights out a little later, though - good news for Friday nights, where the shit / shave / shower (or judicious application of lippy) can be undertaken in a more relaxed atmosphere. I was lucky enough to spend a Sunday night in Helsinki a couple of weeks back - bar open until 4am, most people starting their nights at around 10pm, starting to go home around 1am.
Swiss Toni: Liberalising the licensing laws may change the timings of a typical night out, but I would be surprised if it changes the way that people drink to any great extent.
Girl: I would hope that [“café culture”] might be possible in the UK too - as long as we can learn to be civilised with alcohol and not only drink it to get drunk. (I doubt it, but I have hope).
Swiss Toni: It’s not about the cafés, it’s about the way that people drink. In countries like France and Italy, drinking is part of the culture, but they don’t drink solely to get drunk. You might have a glass of wine with your lunch, or an aperitif in the evening after work, but the drink is not an end to itself. In this country (and to be fair, in some other countries in Europe, especially in Scandinavia), we drink to get drunk. This might change over time, but it might not.
Pete: We are highly unlikely to see a move to the café culture of Europe within the next decade. In any case, this idea has always been a bit of a misnomer, as plenty of Europeans drink themselves silly on a regular basis. Nevertheless, they somehow manage to do so without the consequences for policing (and in some cases health) that accompany many nights out in the UK. Perhaps it's a question of mentality and society. In the UK, Friday night is seen as an opportunity to go out and get wrecked. In fact, for some people the night has been wasted if they're not drunkenly spewing outside a kebab shop by midnight. Whereas in Europe, Friday is usually used as an opportunity to socialise and alcohol is merely one part of this.
What are the health implications of the change?
Girl: I imagine there will be quite a steep rise initially in alcohol-related incapacitation and accidents as a result of over-indulgence, but I would think these would be relatively temporary as the novelty of late-night drinking wears off in the coming months / years. As for long-term effects – well, I don't expect to see any decline in alcohol-related illnesses, put it that way.
Ben: As someone who certainly enjoys a drink and broadly welcomes the law change, one of my concerns is the fact that Scotland (where the licensing laws have been more liberal for years) has the least healthy population in Europe. There are undoubtedly numerous contributory factors to this, including diet and lifestyle, but it does make me wonder whether liberalisation was necessarily such a good move in England. Time will tell, of course – it’s far too early to say.
Swiss Toni: I don’t believe that it will mean we will have a sudden increase in the number of cases of cirrhosis, if that’s what you mean... I don’t think it will ultimately make much difference to the amount of booze that people drink, but hopefully it will be spread out over a longer period of time. Perhaps the A&E departments of our hospitals will see less of a rush around midnight and have the load better spread across the night?
Dave: Hospitals will hopefully now not be inundated with drunken injuries between 11 and 12pm.
Inspector Sands: Well, if you create a society of miserable wage slaves in debt up to their eyeballs, they're going to look for ways to escape it. I don't think the drinking hours themselves have that much to do with it - it's why people feel the need to get regularly legless, to continue their teenage habits into their 30s, that needs attention. Over the civilised dining tables of Islington and Notting Hill, I doubt it's much of a concern, though.
What are the implications of the change for policing?
Dave: More police will be needed for the first few years but I think this will settle down.
Swiss Toni: The big problem with the old British licensing laws are that they force everyone out into the street at the same time. British town centres are horrible after closing time; packs of drunks stagger about shouting, singing, pissing and throwing up. Changing the licensing laws may not reduce the total number of these drunks, but hopefully it will spread them out across the night, which has got to make it easier to police, hasn’t it?
Girl: Initially I think the police force may be put under some strain if the potential increase in public disorder overwhelms them. But overall I think staggered closing times for pubs and bars will see an end to “turfing-out time” and no longer will we have thousands of drunken people all on the streets at one time – which clearly was a recipe for disaster for all involved.
JonnyB: I'm not sure about the change, but soon we will find the police having even more massive recruitment problems. If police work becomes more and more “Saturday night being sworn at and hit by drunken yobs” then I can't see anything other than a big exodus of good people who joined up to help society by catching burglars.
Inspector Sands: More pissed-off and over-stretched police officers. Of course, we're a society that's taught you can always do things on the cheap, so naturally we forgot to make sure there's the coppers to police the change. Just like we forgot to make sure there's the buses home etc.
Ben: This is another of my concerns. If there is a major uptake of the new later licenses, then is there going to be a corresponding investment in the whole infrastructure surrounding the drinks industry? It’s unclear whether alcohol-fuelled disturbances will increase (the staggered closing times may help, but if they don’t the police already claim to be stretched to breaking point in terms of manpower and resources), but what is certain is that public transport links need to run later to cater for those who can’t afford a night out and an expensive taxi at the end of it. This additional money shouldn’t necessarily come from the public purse – the drinks industry is phenomenally profitable, and should foot more of the bill for policing and transport.
Is the Government sending out mixed messages by relaxing the licensing laws at the same time as it seeks to clamp down on binge drinking and anti-social behaviour?
Swiss Toni: No. People have got to take personal responsibility for the amount that they drink and the way that they behave. Government legislation is hardly likely to help. The Government should not be able to tell me when I can start drinking and when I can stop drinking. The old licensing laws were antiquated and needed to be changed. By all means inform people about the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption, but we don’t need a nanny state.
Inspector Sands: Not really, it always needs something to wring its hands about and avoid responsibility for. Changing the licensing laws was long overdue and something the Tories would surely have done if they'd have got in again in 1997. Binge drinking and anti-social behaviour are wider ills that'll never be cured under our current system.
Girl: Ambiguity is nothing new for governments – especially this Labour one. Seriously though, I don't think it’s a mixed message: English people need to learn to drink responsibly and stop behaving like morons and with staggered closing times meaning a smaller concentration of drunken people on the streets at any one time, I think it'll be less likely that there'll be fights.
Ben: As has been implied above, the relaxation of the licensing laws and the crackdown on / stigmatization of binge drinking needn’t be seen as contradictory measures. If people know bars are open later, then they’re less likely to feel the need to chuck as much lager as they possibly can down their neck in a short space of time.
Pete: I think a great deal of the UK's problems are down to the people behind the bar. There was a good report in the Observer a few weeks ago, describing how irresponsible many bar staff are when they serve people dangerous levels of alcohol. It is perhaps telling that the UK is the only country in Europe where so many high streets are full of "chain" pubs and bars such as Wetherspoons, Yates, JD Edwards etc whose main business objective is to sell as much alcohol as possible.
JonnyB: Not sure about “mixed messages” but it's a feeble way to go about things in isolation. Had they at the same time confronted the breweries by setting strict rules about factors like seating in pubs (as I understand it, there's strong evidence that this reduces unthinking consumption as people don't have to hold their pint all the time), the promotion of larger measures etc, then there might have been a little less cynicism. All sorts of things are relevant: pubs that want to put on live music are faced with nothing but legal obstruction rather than given the incentives that they should be – regardless of artistic reasons, they're providing a night out where you can have a few beers but that drinking isn't the “point” of the evening. There are all sorts of little things that could be done that would contribute, but nobody seems interested in tackling them.
Dave: I hate kids so kids in “family pubs” should be banned (while we're on this subject let’s ban them from supermarkets and cinemas too).
Pete: Ultimately, I think the Government has made a step in the right direction, but the desired results won’t occur with the space of a few weeks. It’s worth considering that there is still one step that the UK is yet to take. Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Greece and others allow drinking (wine and beer) at 16; Switzerland's minimum age is 14, while Poland and Portugal have no minimum drinking age. It would be interesting to see what the Government (and the public) would think of this option.
* * * * *
Thanks to Dave, Girl, Inspector Sands, JonnyB, Pete and Swiss Toni for their thoughts. Go ahead and add yours in the comments box.
Blogwatch
Welcome...
What's New, Pussycat? is the home of an Aussie lady living in Edinburgh, and comes personally recommended by Jonathan (whose own site is a must-visit).
Meanwhile...
Pete discovers that not every band (and their fans) can shrug off a critical review penned by an enthusiastic gig-goer determined to expose himself to as much of the local music scene as he can in the space of a fortnight. No prizes for guessing who comes off looking rather foolish.
Elsewhere...
Dave rounds up his pick of the year's albums.
The Girl admires "the shape of the lead singer of Maximo Park’s arse".
Mike's Post Of The Week feature continues to throw up gems that would otherwise have passed me by - this week, this tale of coitus interruptus spectaculus from Acephalous (BTW best wishes for China, Mike!).
Inspector Sands recounts the time he went along to a school reunion - "Unfortunately, the undynamic duo who organised the night actually only had one motive in mind - to meet a woman they'd both fancied the arse off while we were at school".
Betty pleads for sanity and a victory for The Pop Group on the ITV's 'Record Of The Year', where they were up against such songs as "'Walking Through Town Is Quite SCAREY, A Man In A Tracksuit APPROACHED Me'" by The Kaiser Chiefs and "'You Climb Me Up The Highest Mountain'" by Westlife.
Bytheseashore guest edits Swiss Toni's Earworms Of The Week feature, his list featuring Franz Ferdinand, The Wedding Present, an imaginary bootleg of The Datsuns' 'Harmonic Generator' and The Beach Boys' 'Do It Again' and, er, Mariah Carey.
And finally...
Jonny B finally admits defeat and bases a post on the sort of event that would have the rest of us itching to get at the computer, rather than working his usual magic on anecdotes about moving tables in pubs. More blog posts should begin with the line: "...which is the piece of skin between the vagina and the bumhole"...
Welcome...
What's New, Pussycat? is the home of an Aussie lady living in Edinburgh, and comes personally recommended by Jonathan (whose own site is a must-visit).
Meanwhile...
Pete discovers that not every band (and their fans) can shrug off a critical review penned by an enthusiastic gig-goer determined to expose himself to as much of the local music scene as he can in the space of a fortnight. No prizes for guessing who comes off looking rather foolish.
Elsewhere...
Dave rounds up his pick of the year's albums.
The Girl admires "the shape of the lead singer of Maximo Park’s arse".
Mike's Post Of The Week feature continues to throw up gems that would otherwise have passed me by - this week, this tale of coitus interruptus spectaculus from Acephalous (BTW best wishes for China, Mike!).
Inspector Sands recounts the time he went along to a school reunion - "Unfortunately, the undynamic duo who organised the night actually only had one motive in mind - to meet a woman they'd both fancied the arse off while we were at school".
Betty pleads for sanity and a victory for The Pop Group on the ITV's 'Record Of The Year', where they were up against such songs as "'Walking Through Town Is Quite SCAREY, A Man In A Tracksuit APPROACHED Me'" by The Kaiser Chiefs and "'You Climb Me Up The Highest Mountain'" by Westlife.
Bytheseashore guest edits Swiss Toni's Earworms Of The Week feature, his list featuring Franz Ferdinand, The Wedding Present, an imaginary bootleg of The Datsuns' 'Harmonic Generator' and The Beach Boys' 'Do It Again' and, er, Mariah Carey.
And finally...
Jonny B finally admits defeat and bases a post on the sort of event that would have the rest of us itching to get at the computer, rather than working his usual magic on anecdotes about moving tables in pubs. More blog posts should begin with the line: "...which is the piece of skin between the vagina and the bumhole"...
A black and white and red and white Christmas
Jingle those bells! Joyous news! Barry Hyde and Jaff of The Futureheads and the brothers Brewis of Field Music have teamed up along with an assortment of other North Easterners including This Ain't Vegas, The Golden Virgins, Kathryn Williams and ex-members of Kenickie to record a cover of 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas'. It's due for release on Monday, but as it's limited edition and likely to be sold out, you're probably best off going here to hear it.
And the best thing about it? The collective are calling themselves The Joseph & Mary Chain.
As the website says: "Even if you aren't bothered about the charity, you should still buy the record because it's mint". And I can assure you that that, in the North Eastern vernacular, is the highest form of praise.
(Thanks to Simon for the links.)
Jingle those bells! Joyous news! Barry Hyde and Jaff of The Futureheads and the brothers Brewis of Field Music have teamed up along with an assortment of other North Easterners including This Ain't Vegas, The Golden Virgins, Kathryn Williams and ex-members of Kenickie to record a cover of 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas'. It's due for release on Monday, but as it's limited edition and likely to be sold out, you're probably best off going here to hear it.
And the best thing about it? The collective are calling themselves The Joseph & Mary Chain.
As the website says: "Even if you aren't bothered about the charity, you should still buy the record because it's mint". And I can assure you that that, in the North Eastern vernacular, is the highest form of praise.
(Thanks to Simon for the links.)
'Tis the season...
... of lists and mellow fruitfulness. Stylus's Top 50 Singles Of 2005 is the popist antidote to my forthcoming and inevitably rockist selection, and features comments and voting contributions by Mike and Ian. You'll not read a better assessment of the joys of The Futureheads' 'Hounds Of Love' than the one penned by Paul Scott - certainly not here in the next couple of weeks, anyway.
Incidentally, 'tis also the season for Meg and Anna's 'Tis The Season, the festive blog which this year features contributions from Jonny B.
... of lists and mellow fruitfulness. Stylus's Top 50 Singles Of 2005 is the popist antidote to my forthcoming and inevitably rockist selection, and features comments and voting contributions by Mike and Ian. You'll not read a better assessment of the joys of The Futureheads' 'Hounds Of Love' than the one penned by Paul Scott - certainly not here in the next couple of weeks, anyway.
Incidentally, 'tis also the season for Meg and Anna's 'Tis The Season, the festive blog which this year features contributions from Jonny B.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Animal magic
That esteemed unofficial organ of the Birmingham tourist industry, Birmingham: It's Not Shit, has recently held its vote for Brummie Of The Year.
Baggies supporting 'Match Of The Day 2' and 'Working Lunch' presenter Adrian Chiles came out third with 83 votes, while West Midlands rock survivor Dave Kusworth amassed 226 votes but was narrowly pipped in second place.
The winner, by an extraordinarily slender margin of just five votes? Babu the red panda, whose escape from Birmingham Nature Centre made the national news just over a month ago. Personally speaking, I think calling yourself a panda when you're really a rusty overgrown ferret is a bit rich, but then who am I to begrudge the award to a creature that managed to survive in the wilds of the city for four days before being found?
I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of an acceptance speech, mind. Surely Babu could have mustered something, even if it was the usual platitudinous tripe about thanking God, Allah, his parents and Birmingham Nature Centre's Keeper of Pandas.
(Thanks to Alison for the link.)
That esteemed unofficial organ of the Birmingham tourist industry, Birmingham: It's Not Shit, has recently held its vote for Brummie Of The Year.
Baggies supporting 'Match Of The Day 2' and 'Working Lunch' presenter Adrian Chiles came out third with 83 votes, while West Midlands rock survivor Dave Kusworth amassed 226 votes but was narrowly pipped in second place.
The winner, by an extraordinarily slender margin of just five votes? Babu the red panda, whose escape from Birmingham Nature Centre made the national news just over a month ago. Personally speaking, I think calling yourself a panda when you're really a rusty overgrown ferret is a bit rich, but then who am I to begrudge the award to a creature that managed to survive in the wilds of the city for four days before being found?
I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of an acceptance speech, mind. Surely Babu could have mustered something, even if it was the usual platitudinous tripe about thanking God, Allah, his parents and Birmingham Nature Centre's Keeper of Pandas.
(Thanks to Alison for the link.)
Quote of the day
"When I pass protestors every day at Downing Street, and believe me, you name it, they protest against it, I may not like what they call me, but I thank God they can. That's called freedom".
Tony Blair, 7th April 2002.
Thanks to Our World Our Say for highlighting Blair's unequivocal defence of freedom of speech in a week during which a woman was convicted of reading out a list of names of British soldiers killed in service in Iraq by the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
"When I pass protestors every day at Downing Street, and believe me, you name it, they protest against it, I may not like what they call me, but I thank God they can. That's called freedom".
Tony Blair, 7th April 2002.
Thanks to Our World Our Say for highlighting Blair's unequivocal defence of freedom of speech in a week during which a woman was convicted of reading out a list of names of British soldiers killed in service in Iraq by the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Hair's apparent
TRASH FASHION / THE PUBIC FRINGE / MOTORCYCLE STUNTS, BIRMINGHAM FLAPPER & FIRKIN, 6TH DECEMBER 2005
The Different Kettle Of Fish Super Special Christmas Fandango - and quite possibly the last ever ADKOF night - doesn't get off to the best of starts.
First of all, on entry we're confronted with a sign which reads: "Due to bad illness Hooker will not be playing". They are one of the main reasons I've come - and this is the second time they've dropped out and left ADKOF impressario Phill in a bit of a pickle. He's done his best to ascertain the validity of the aforementioned "bad illness" - apparently the drummer has an abcessed tooth and sounded dreadful on the phone - even going so far as to research the condition online.
Second of all, Motorcycle Stunts. An indication of what they're all about: stool-perching and furrowed brows feature heavily. There are the occasional glimpses of something more promising, and the vocalist's voice is not without power (though his lyrics are), but sadly for the most part it's over-serious, over-emotive, under-written and under-imagined stodge. And to lay claim to a band name that connotes excitement and daring - you familiar with the Trades Descriptions Act, lads?
A tad harsh? Well, perhaps. Because as it turns out, they're the perfect opening act for what follows. And what follows is quite remarkable.
The Pubic Fringe are personal favourites of eccentric curmudgeon Mark E Smith of The Fall, with whom they've toured, and approximately thirty seconds into their set they're one of mine too. Immaculately abrasive yet extraordinarily tight, they're a brutal psychobilly covers band roughly (and that's the operative word here) in the mould of The Cramps with nods and winks in the direction of The Birthday Party and The Stooges.
They sound like they've forgotten to take their medication. Like there's other people's skin under their fingernails. Like if they weren't on stage they'd be in the gutter eating dog-ends.
Vocalist Nazi Sinatra is the inevitable focal point. Clad in a tasselled cowboy shirt, he lurches back and forth apparently using the mic stand for support and chainsmoking, a fact which immediately explains his extraordinary rasping growl.
The set careers through a series of stomping three-minute songs before reaching its peak with a much longer number about "old-time religion" which might be what The Doors would have sounded like (criminally lame rock hack cliche alert!) had they experimented with ketamine rather than LSD and spent their days chewing their own arms off.
Under the circumstances, for me to stand tapping my foot and nodding my head is akin to saying "Excuse me, would you mind leaving me alone - there's a good chap" while being savaged by a rabid pitbull. This music demands a rather less restrained and polite reaction. Curse that English reserve.
A remarkable band, then. And, perhaps most remarkably, they're from Stourbridge.
And then from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Trash Fashion left Birmingham for London seeking fame and fortune like modern day Dick Whittingtons, and their homecoming has enticed a number of "the Custerati" (copyright Phill) to stray from their spiritual home and into the sort of grotty venue they'd normally avoid at all costs. And that means assymmetrical haircuts and unusual and colourful mix 'n' match clothing. Of course, they only appear from upstairs once The Pubic Fringe have exited stage right. What a shame - it would have been entertaining to have watched them getting a new arsehole torn.
When Trash Fashion appear, they too are quite something visually. A guitarist with a bizarre ponytail-meets-Kajagoogoo haircut, a single dangly earring and a bright orange jumpsuit. A vocalist wearing a black hat, a skeleton mask, a pair of shades and a long black mac, soon discarded to reveal nothing but a pair of black 80s football shorts. And, er, a drummer with a mohawk.
And when they start playing, my first thought is of EMF gone cock rock.
My next thought is that they're the band Dan Ashcroft would unequivocally slate in Sugarape only for the Nathan Barleys of this world to read the piece, take it as an ironic commentary and flock to their gigs for fear of missing out on the hippest thing going. The idiots.
To be fair to Trash Fashion, they're not exactly serious, singing about "meat and two veg" and ditching the guitars mid-set and coming over like an electro Goldie Lookin Chain for a song about rave culture.
It's about this point when my interest is at its peak (though even then I'm viewing them with detachment if not suspicion from the back of the room), but it soon goes downhill again, and the utterly rubbish encore is an awful mistake.
The moral of the evening's tale? Beware the tide of fashion - it's often more honourable and infinitely more dignified to be washed up on the shore than to strive to stay at the crest of the wave.
To mark the death of ADKOF, on leaving the venue Phill ceremoniously launches a leftover mince pie into the canal (oh sorry, did I forget to mention that you missed out on food too?). Its silver foil tray glints in the moonlight as the baked goods arc towards the water. We laugh (though internally several tears are shed) and walk off into the night.
Who knows what happened next. I like to think that the pie rose Excalibur-like from the depths, and that ADKOF will live on - though not like some freakish Frankenstein's monster that runs amok out of the control of its creator, obviously...
TRASH FASHION / THE PUBIC FRINGE / MOTORCYCLE STUNTS, BIRMINGHAM FLAPPER & FIRKIN, 6TH DECEMBER 2005
The Different Kettle Of Fish Super Special Christmas Fandango - and quite possibly the last ever ADKOF night - doesn't get off to the best of starts.
First of all, on entry we're confronted with a sign which reads: "Due to bad illness Hooker will not be playing". They are one of the main reasons I've come - and this is the second time they've dropped out and left ADKOF impressario Phill in a bit of a pickle. He's done his best to ascertain the validity of the aforementioned "bad illness" - apparently the drummer has an abcessed tooth and sounded dreadful on the phone - even going so far as to research the condition online.
Second of all, Motorcycle Stunts. An indication of what they're all about: stool-perching and furrowed brows feature heavily. There are the occasional glimpses of something more promising, and the vocalist's voice is not without power (though his lyrics are), but sadly for the most part it's over-serious, over-emotive, under-written and under-imagined stodge. And to lay claim to a band name that connotes excitement and daring - you familiar with the Trades Descriptions Act, lads?
A tad harsh? Well, perhaps. Because as it turns out, they're the perfect opening act for what follows. And what follows is quite remarkable.
The Pubic Fringe are personal favourites of eccentric curmudgeon Mark E Smith of The Fall, with whom they've toured, and approximately thirty seconds into their set they're one of mine too. Immaculately abrasive yet extraordinarily tight, they're a brutal psychobilly covers band roughly (and that's the operative word here) in the mould of The Cramps with nods and winks in the direction of The Birthday Party and The Stooges.
They sound like they've forgotten to take their medication. Like there's other people's skin under their fingernails. Like if they weren't on stage they'd be in the gutter eating dog-ends.
Vocalist Nazi Sinatra is the inevitable focal point. Clad in a tasselled cowboy shirt, he lurches back and forth apparently using the mic stand for support and chainsmoking, a fact which immediately explains his extraordinary rasping growl.
The set careers through a series of stomping three-minute songs before reaching its peak with a much longer number about "old-time religion" which might be what The Doors would have sounded like (criminally lame rock hack cliche alert!) had they experimented with ketamine rather than LSD and spent their days chewing their own arms off.
Under the circumstances, for me to stand tapping my foot and nodding my head is akin to saying "Excuse me, would you mind leaving me alone - there's a good chap" while being savaged by a rabid pitbull. This music demands a rather less restrained and polite reaction. Curse that English reserve.
A remarkable band, then. And, perhaps most remarkably, they're from Stourbridge.
And then from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Trash Fashion left Birmingham for London seeking fame and fortune like modern day Dick Whittingtons, and their homecoming has enticed a number of "the Custerati" (copyright Phill) to stray from their spiritual home and into the sort of grotty venue they'd normally avoid at all costs. And that means assymmetrical haircuts and unusual and colourful mix 'n' match clothing. Of course, they only appear from upstairs once The Pubic Fringe have exited stage right. What a shame - it would have been entertaining to have watched them getting a new arsehole torn.
When Trash Fashion appear, they too are quite something visually. A guitarist with a bizarre ponytail-meets-Kajagoogoo haircut, a single dangly earring and a bright orange jumpsuit. A vocalist wearing a black hat, a skeleton mask, a pair of shades and a long black mac, soon discarded to reveal nothing but a pair of black 80s football shorts. And, er, a drummer with a mohawk.
And when they start playing, my first thought is of EMF gone cock rock.
My next thought is that they're the band Dan Ashcroft would unequivocally slate in Sugarape only for the Nathan Barleys of this world to read the piece, take it as an ironic commentary and flock to their gigs for fear of missing out on the hippest thing going. The idiots.
To be fair to Trash Fashion, they're not exactly serious, singing about "meat and two veg" and ditching the guitars mid-set and coming over like an electro Goldie Lookin Chain for a song about rave culture.
It's about this point when my interest is at its peak (though even then I'm viewing them with detachment if not suspicion from the back of the room), but it soon goes downhill again, and the utterly rubbish encore is an awful mistake.
The moral of the evening's tale? Beware the tide of fashion - it's often more honourable and infinitely more dignified to be washed up on the shore than to strive to stay at the crest of the wave.
To mark the death of ADKOF, on leaving the venue Phill ceremoniously launches a leftover mince pie into the canal (oh sorry, did I forget to mention that you missed out on food too?). Its silver foil tray glints in the moonlight as the baked goods arc towards the water. We laugh (though internally several tears are shed) and walk off into the night.
Who knows what happened next. I like to think that the pie rose Excalibur-like from the depths, and that ADKOF will live on - though not like some freakish Frankenstein's monster that runs amok out of the control of its creator, obviously...
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Reasons To Be Cheerful #13
(If you're wondering what this is all about, click here.)
The Actress & Bishop
No, not the beginning to the sort of joke you might find on a saucy postcard on the seafront at Blackpool, but the name of a very fine public house / gig venue.
Situated on Ludgate Hill just off the picturesque St Paul's Square and opposite an intriguing Mongolian restaurant, The Actress & Bishop has several things going for it - not least its reasonable bar prices, unfussy decor and friendly atmosphere, all of which compare favourably (at least personally) to trendier and more upmarket neighbours like The Tarnished Halo.
Of a weekend, the downstairs pub area is packed with punters relaxing to the voluminous output of a couple of DJs (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs appear to be a particular favourite). Upstairs, meanwhile, is a small room with a bar, stage and remarkably impressive sound system, which is cosy rather than cramped and in which at least some of the rudimentary lighting is provided by a curious tassel-fringed standard lamp perched on a dividing wall to the side of the stage.
Not surprisingly, the place has a long list of regulars, perhaps the most entertaining of whom is the grey-bearded West Indian gentleman who once, when showing off his collection of whistles, claimed that his son was Howard from the Halifax adverts and proceeded to repeatedly exclaim "Extra! Extra!" and laughing loudly.
The Actress & Bishop's "characters" aren't confined to the punters, though. Special mention must be reserved for the upstairs venue's resident soundman, who has that receding hairline / long hair combination that makes it look as though his toupee's slipping backwards and who appears to have a strange obsession with early Prince records. Fair play to him, though - every band that appears on his stage sounds fantastic.
(If you're wondering what this is all about, click here.)
The Actress & Bishop
No, not the beginning to the sort of joke you might find on a saucy postcard on the seafront at Blackpool, but the name of a very fine public house / gig venue.
Situated on Ludgate Hill just off the picturesque St Paul's Square and opposite an intriguing Mongolian restaurant, The Actress & Bishop has several things going for it - not least its reasonable bar prices, unfussy decor and friendly atmosphere, all of which compare favourably (at least personally) to trendier and more upmarket neighbours like The Tarnished Halo.
Of a weekend, the downstairs pub area is packed with punters relaxing to the voluminous output of a couple of DJs (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs appear to be a particular favourite). Upstairs, meanwhile, is a small room with a bar, stage and remarkably impressive sound system, which is cosy rather than cramped and in which at least some of the rudimentary lighting is provided by a curious tassel-fringed standard lamp perched on a dividing wall to the side of the stage.
Not surprisingly, the place has a long list of regulars, perhaps the most entertaining of whom is the grey-bearded West Indian gentleman who once, when showing off his collection of whistles, claimed that his son was Howard from the Halifax adverts and proceeded to repeatedly exclaim "Extra! Extra!" and laughing loudly.
The Actress & Bishop's "characters" aren't confined to the punters, though. Special mention must be reserved for the upstairs venue's resident soundman, who has that receding hairline / long hair combination that makes it look as though his toupee's slipping backwards and who appears to have a strange obsession with early Prince records. Fair play to him, though - every band that appears on his stage sounds fantastic.
D-Day
It's D-Day over on The Art Of Noise, where you'll find (amongst others) me chuntering about 'Dancing Queen', Damo lauding Domino Records, new boy Del celebrating Daft Punk and Jez pondering whether he's been deceived by dry ice.
It's D-Day over on The Art Of Noise, where you'll find (amongst others) me chuntering about 'Dancing Queen', Damo lauding Domino Records, new boy Del celebrating Daft Punk and Jez pondering whether he's been deceived by dry ice.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Christmas come early
‘Tis the season when the thoughts of anally retentive music-obsessed bloggers like myself begin to turn towards the task of compiling end-of-year lists.
This year is no different. As has become as traditional round these ‘ere parts as mince pies, mistletoe and drink-driving are amongst the general populace, I’ll be posting the SWSL Top 10 Albums Of The Year and Top 10 Gigs Of The Year shortly – I’m still undecided as to whether there’ll be a Top 20 Singles Of The Year this time around, though.
Before that happens though (and expect it a bit closer to Christmas), I thought I’d get in the charitable festive spirit by way of thanking you for reading. Allow me to explain further…
A few weeks back, Jonathan of that fine fount of online entertainment Crinklybee began posting the sleeve notes he made for an indiepop mixtape put together for a friend (the posts have also appeared on The Art Of Noise). I expressed an interest in getting hold of a copy, and Jonathan kindly did it all over again for my benefit.
In return, I put together a compilation of some of my favourite singles and album tracks of the year – as much as I could fit on a 60 minute cassette. None of that new-fangled CD or MP3 shit here, my friends – this was old school. The tracklisting ran as follows:
Side A
1. The Go! Team – ‘Ladyflash’
2. Eels – ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’
3. Franz Ferdinand – ‘I’m Your Villain’
4. Maximo Park – ‘Apply Some Pressure’
5. Idlewild – ‘I Understand It’
6. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – ‘Mama’
7. Queens Of The Stone Age – ‘I Never Came’
8. The Raveonettes with Ronnie Spector – ‘Ode To LA’
Side B
1. Bloc Party – ‘So Here We Are’
2. Sufjan Stevens – ‘Chicago’
3. The Arcade Fire – ‘Crown Of Love’
4. Sigur Ros – ‘Milano’
5. Low – ‘Death Of A Salesman’
So here’s the rub: if you’d like a copy and you don’t mind being patient and receiving a cassette (or, more to the point, you still have the means to play a cassette), then ask me nicely in an email to silentwordsspeakloudestAThotmail.com and I’ll see what I can do. Can’t say fairer than that, eh?
‘Tis the season when the thoughts of anally retentive music-obsessed bloggers like myself begin to turn towards the task of compiling end-of-year lists.
This year is no different. As has become as traditional round these ‘ere parts as mince pies, mistletoe and drink-driving are amongst the general populace, I’ll be posting the SWSL Top 10 Albums Of The Year and Top 10 Gigs Of The Year shortly – I’m still undecided as to whether there’ll be a Top 20 Singles Of The Year this time around, though.
Before that happens though (and expect it a bit closer to Christmas), I thought I’d get in the charitable festive spirit by way of thanking you for reading. Allow me to explain further…
A few weeks back, Jonathan of that fine fount of online entertainment Crinklybee began posting the sleeve notes he made for an indiepop mixtape put together for a friend (the posts have also appeared on The Art Of Noise). I expressed an interest in getting hold of a copy, and Jonathan kindly did it all over again for my benefit.
In return, I put together a compilation of some of my favourite singles and album tracks of the year – as much as I could fit on a 60 minute cassette. None of that new-fangled CD or MP3 shit here, my friends – this was old school. The tracklisting ran as follows:
Side A
1. The Go! Team – ‘Ladyflash’
2. Eels – ‘Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)’
3. Franz Ferdinand – ‘I’m Your Villain’
4. Maximo Park – ‘Apply Some Pressure’
5. Idlewild – ‘I Understand It’
6. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – ‘Mama’
7. Queens Of The Stone Age – ‘I Never Came’
8. The Raveonettes with Ronnie Spector – ‘Ode To LA’
Side B
1. Bloc Party – ‘So Here We Are’
2. Sufjan Stevens – ‘Chicago’
3. The Arcade Fire – ‘Crown Of Love’
4. Sigur Ros – ‘Milano’
5. Low – ‘Death Of A Salesman’
So here’s the rub: if you’d like a copy and you don’t mind being patient and receiving a cassette (or, more to the point, you still have the means to play a cassette), then ask me nicely in an email to silentwordsspeakloudestAThotmail.com and I’ll see what I can do. Can’t say fairer than that, eh?
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