"You Think Too Much..."

A preoccupation that weighs on me when I think, write and talk about music is whether or not I'm thinking about it too much. I think about my whole blog and desired career path being about the sharing, publication and analysis of music and wonder if I'm just sort of talking to myself and a few sparse others in the wind. First of all, how many people really care? I'm thoroughly different from a lot of my friends, even some of the closest, and I love them all hugely. But so many just don't really seem that bothered about the music I listen to, or the way I think about the music we all listen to. For a lot of people I know it doesn't really go beyond what they just enjoy hearing on the radio. And I often find myself wondering, shouldn't that just be how it is? Music made, goes in your ear, you enjoy, will listen to again, end of story. Shouldn't it all be that simple?

"And everything I had to know
I heard it on my radio"
- Queen, Radio GaGa

All my blog posts, my desire to pick apart everything about an artist, my distinction between music that's objectively good and music that I enjoy, my obsession with genre names, my increasing tendency to hunt for the influences on a track/album/artists - is it all just a bit too much? Sometimes I do feel like it is.

I know that a lot of the faithful readers of my blog are familiar with the music review website Pitchfork. If you're not, I'll provide a brief explanation. It's a highly reputable online source of musical criticism, publishing extensive album and track reviews, interview, articles and more. It's one of my personal favourite sources of new music, but I'm fully aware of some of its flaws; flaws that other people take in a much less positive way than I do. Pitchfork is, by and large, taken in two ways. It's either the irrefutable Holy Grail of musical criticism, the overlord of good taste and musical divinity, or the height of pretentious, intentionally "indie" balls that strives to sound intelligent and perceptive but is actually vacuous and self important. And I can fully understand why people take the second reading, though it's one that I disagree with.

Pitchfork assign decimal ratings to every album reviewed. A few popular recent albums and their scores:

The Fame Monster by Lady GaGa: 7.8
The Suburbs by Arcade Fire: 8.6
Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon: 3.6
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West: 10.0

Now, as you might expect, such specific scores are accompanied by (mostly) extensive, in depth, detailed, highly analytic reviews. I read the vast amount that are published now and they highly inform my own writing and analysis. But sometimes I sit there, reading, and part of me thinks "is this too much? I mean this is just a new album, right? Is there really this much to say? Surely this guy is reading too much into this?"

People of a more hostile and deriding nature than myself published a parody of Pithfork a while back called Rich Dork Media. Sadly the parody site doesn't seem to be available any longer, but there are a few quotes from actual Pitchfork reviews which were used as "justification" for the parody, examples of the kind of supposedly pretentious, overwrought criticism that people dislike about the site. The choicest one for me is one from the review of Radiohead's Kid A - regarded by Pitchfork as the greatest album of the last decade. It reads:

"The experience and emotions tied to listening to Kid A are like witnessing the stillborn birth of a child while simultaneously having the opportunity to see her play in the afterlife on Imax. It's an album of sparking paradox. It's cacophonous yet tranquil, experimental yet familiar, foreign yet womb-like, spacious yet visceral, textured yet vaporous, awakening yet dreamlike, infinite yet 48 minutes. It will cleanse your brain of those little crustaceans of worries and inferior albums clinging inside the fold of your gray matter. The harrowing sounds hit from unseen angles and emanate with inhuman genesis. When the headphones peel off, and it occurs that six men (Nigel Godrich included) created this, it's clear that Radiohead must be the greatest band alive, if not the best since you know who."

Now I read that and just have so many conflicting voices flaring up inside me. I think how that might seem to different people I know. To many it may just seem like senseless babble. To others it might be extremely eloquent prose. Another, the perfect expression of their own feelings about the record. As someone who has listened to Kid A plenty of times now, I agree with what the reviewer is saying. And I love how he expresses it. I think that review is brilliant. I agree wholeheartedly. Yet I fully understand why someone would deride that writing. And I just can't help but wonder - am I thinking too much?

It's interesting that the indie community nowadays, convinced of its own impeachable nature and the deplorable nature of mainstream shallowness and spite, is in fact full of more factions and feuds than the mainstream pop universe. And as someone who - thanks to lots of normal, down to earth friends - finds himself firmly surrounded by indie music and the depths of obscure internet blogs as well as the comings and going of the Top 40, I end up feeling torn between all of these different groups and ideas. I want to be analytical, thoughtful and respectful to an artists work; and I also want to be able to unreservedly and simply enjoy a great pop song, yelling out a massive choon with my friends. Maybe it comes down to a fear of being myself. And I don't know why. My friends who have no interest in the supposedly pretentious realms of Pitchfork and its ilk are hardly going to think less of me. My other friends who read Pitchfork (FYI: I don't want this to seem like I'm ripping on Pitchfork. A lot of the blogs on the right of this screen put me in a similar position) are pretty much all as aware of things like this as I am, and either take it ironically or don't seem bothered. It's hardly as if I'm a professionally published critic, open to the derision of a paying readership, other critics or my boss. And even if I were - so what?

So at times when I feel like the weight of the musical world, with all its avenues and alleyways, is weighing down on my overloaded teenage mind, I cast my eye around, considering the value of everything I write in this blog.

And my faith is restored.

I see some artists, some bands, some albums, that comfort me. They reassure me. Not to say that my identity consists in all of this - far from it, I'm a Christian and my whole identity begins and end in Jesus. It just happens to take music in along the way, under his jurisdiction. A few immediately obvious things just reassure me. Let me know that I'm not thinking about this too much. Why? Because the artists who made the music put months, maybe years into their music. They thought out every detail. Lyrically, musically, visually. They put it all there, they spent their time thinking about it, probably a hell of a lot more than I'll ever do.

Like I probably will will all pop music now and forever more, I looked at the whole thing through the screen of Lady GaGa. There has never been a popstar who has had things more thought out than Lady GaGa. Perhaps slightly ironically, here's a quote from the Pitchfork review of her album The Fame Monster:

"...between the VMAs and "Paparazzi", she came into her own. And on "Bad Romance", the lead single from The Fame Monster, she became kind of awesome."

This set up for the next quote, from later in the article:

"I'd say once she became hideously popular Gaga was able to take more control of her career, the early result being 'Bad Romance'"

Taking her as a specific example. Lady GaGa HAD to have a master plan. Her ascent into pop's highest heights had to have been drawn out in every details and every phenomenally gargantuan action. As soon as she gained popularity from a fairly standard pop debut, she launched the first true offensive. Every outfit, every interview, every performance, every variation, every song, every video is strategically designed, thought out, staged and released by GaGa and her squad, The House of GaGa. It's brilliant. The amount of time (and money) put into it by a woman who is inarguably one of pop music's greatest geniuses is astonishing. And when she puts that much thought and effort into it, it is only reasonable and only fair that you and I should think about it. Should talk about it. We should be asking "why has she done that? Why is she wearing that? Why is this video like this?"

Now part of GaGa's assault on pop culture has been the rejection of the over familiarisation of the popstar and our increasing fascination with a Heat magazine culture that insists of rifling through the bins and underwear drawers of celebrities. And that attitude ironically (yet knowingly so, of course) draws waves of analysis and speculation.

Lady GaGa is just one example. Kanye is of course another, though is massively on the other side of the coin at the same time. Other recent examples would the Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs, which is probably one of the greatest cohesive wholes ever recorded. Crystal Castles with their effortless and terrifying mystique. These New Puritans who released Hidden earlier this year, an album that can't be listened to just once. The list goes on.

I will doubtless encounter the inner conflict I've described again and again throughout my life. Probably again before the week is out. But when I sit back (really far back) and look at the music that I love and the artists I appreciate, I slip into a wonderful place. A place where I can freely voice all of my thoughts about some music, listing the assocations, stimulations, images, links and reminscences it triggers in my mind. I can rant about it, wax lyrical about it or lay into it because I know that the artist has likely put time and energy into it that is deserving of such analysis. Sure, there is definitely going to be SOME point where you're just talking fluff, but that's probably quite far down the line. And when an "artist" or group hasn't put thought into what they do, then there's plenty of cutting criticism and bitter blogging to be done there too!

BBC Sound of 2011: Rest in Peace

I'm mad about "Best of..." lists, so December is really when my ship comes in. I'm not entirely sure why. I'm not generally a meticulous, obsessive compulsive kind of person, I just love ranking things in lists. You might have guessed this from my own Top 20 Tracks and Top 12 Albums of 2010 lists.

But soon after we've forgotten the beloved entries into the "Best of the Year" lists and polls we launch into the divisive realms of polls entitled things like "Ones2Watch", "Sound of the Year", "The Future of Music" etc. Some of these lists are derided the moment they're published - and nearly all of them end up being derided 12 months later.

The worst and most criminal of the bunch is the BBC "Sound of..." poll, which is about as cursed as the Defence Against the Dark Arts staffing position at Hogwarts. The poll endeavours to dictate to us the illustrious role call of artists and musicians who will come to define the coming year musically. The winners have almost invariably paled into startling mediocrity, failing to stretch beyond their respective years, and often even failing to see that year out. Key victims/culprits here would be The Bravery, Little Boots, Keane, Corinne Bailey, Rae, Mika, Adele and, most recently, Ellie sodding Goulding. The only one to really escape the curse was the first winner in 2003, 50 Cent. And look what he's become.



Aside from the "winners", the number of bands lower down the poll who fall into the category of mind numbing filler, utterly vanished from memory now, is laughable. The Twang? Sadie Ama? Ghosts? Marcos Hernandez? Audio Bullys? The Dears? The Dead 60s? The Datsuns? Tali? Gemma Fox? Joss Stone? Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong? The Rumble Strips? Just Jack? Kubb? VV Brown? Delphic? The Thrills? Care to name me a song anyone? Any of the band members? No? Heck, most of them didn't even make any kind of impression in their respective years, yet alone do enough to remain in our minds for 2010. I would like to personally point out that I said this time last year that Delphic and Ellie Goulding were gut wrenchingly mundane and would flop, and thus, I have been vindicated!

Then there's the acts who may hang around in our memories slightly more but either because of one unusually popular hit (The Ting Tings, Black Kids) OR because they've been hyped elsewhere, but end up being as anti-climactic as The Phantom Menace(The Drums, KT Tunstall, Kaiser Cheifs, Razorlight)

The acts championed by the poll are almost invariably overly radio-friendly pop acts or supermarket landfill "indie" bands who look like the kind of Topshop boys your mother would be relatively indifferent to if you brought them home. They produce one vaguely hummable hit single in their given year and then bugger off with disappointing album sales and a terminated record contract.

As well as championing bands who have all the staying power of an old woman's fart in a gale, when the poll DOES pick a quality act, they place them criminally low in the list!

2003- Yeah Yeah Yeahs only reach 3rd, Dizzee Rascal only reaches 5th.
2005- Bloc Party inexlpicably lose out to The Bravery for 1st place.
2007- Klaxons only reach 3rd- beaten my Mika and The Twang.
2008- Vampire Weekend only reach 6th and MGMT only reach 9th.
2009- Lady GaGa wasn't first. That is all you need to know.
2010- Marina and the Diamond are robbed of 1st place by Ellie Goulding (whose picture appears in the dictionary next to "underwhelming"), whose biggest contribution to 2010 has been a dreary cover of 'Your Song' in a John Lewis advert, which didn't appear until December.

This year doesn't look that great either sadly - though there are worryingly a couple of acts in there who I'm currently quite fond of, so here's hoping they'll do a Marina & The Diamonds and buck the trend. Either way. The BBC "Sound of..." poll is almost invariably a pathetic, horrendously white middle class, radio friendly advertisement for the Radio 1 January playlist.

I'm not going to compile a list of upcoming new bands that you should watch out for. Who knows what will happen, when they'll release material, whether they'll alter their sounds. I love "Best of..." lists, as I've said, but these lists predicting the rise of new stars often seen to create a touchwood situation. So here's just a few things I'm excited about from already established artists. It's been an awesome year musically, at least as far as my tastes go. What does 2011 have to offer?


- New Radiohead album at some point
- The Strokes FINALLY set to release a new album. This is make or break for possibly the most important band of the last 10 years.
- Kanye and Jay-Z releasing an EP entitled Watch The Throne. Doesn't get much bigger does it?
- System of a Down set to reunite, at least for live shows.
- Elbow set to release new album and your. After their breakthrough with the last album, this should be interesting.
- Lady GaGa has a new album ready to unleash uponm the world. Where is there left to go for her?!
- Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds set to record new album. Judging by Nick Cave's side project Grinderman releasing another album this year, he's still on top form.
- Pulp reforming for live shows... MUST seeeeee thiiiiiiiisssssssss...
- Blur recording new album in January...

Those are jsut a few of the should-be-amazing musical events coming up in 2011... we'll just have to wait and see...

Any tips for 2011?

Elbow - "Lippy Kids"

I received some rather nice gifts over Christmas and I hope you did to. However, possibly the best thing I've received from anyone over the past 72 hours has been the unveiling of a new track from one of the world's greatest bands - Elbow.

I was sat on the sofa, late Boxing Day morning, in my pants and dressing gown, twiddling my thumbs whilst cleaning up went on around me when I decided to check on t'internet to see if anything had been going on in the musical world, and I literally squeaked a little bit when I saw that Elbow had unveiled the first song from their recently named upcoming album Build A Rocket Boys! - the follow up to 2008's massive crossover success The Seldom Seen Kid. The song is titled "Lippy Kids" and well, here it is:



Now if you don't find that stunningly beautiful then either:
a) listen to it again, or
b) ask Santa for a soul next Christmas

Having become a massive fan of the whole of Elbow's back catalogue (I'll admit I hadn't heard of them until they released "Grounds for Divorce" as a single, but I investigated and fell in love with them before they rose to success, so my indie cred it kept in tact folks) I was incredibly worried that after the massive success they experienced with The Seldom Seen Kid, they would compromise their sound somehow. When they stated recently that they'd written this album with big venues in mind, my insides became a little more wary. But I kept faith. And I was right to do so.

Gosh this song is beautiful. Lyrically, it's classic Guy Garvey. Eloquent yet colloquial, wise yet human, restrained yet emotional. "Lippy Kids" finds Garvey watching a bunch of youths messing around on street corners and, rather than criticise or have a go like many others would, or delve into his remembered teenage fears and try to warn the kids a la Arcade Fire on The Suburbs, he just stands and admires them from afar, as someone who clearly lived the exact same way years ago. He wonders mildly "do they know those days are golden?", putting him at a mature and wistful adult distance, and then lovingly and with a sly grin in his voice imparts a golden pearl of wisdom - "build a rocket boys".

That's such a beautiful lyric. It's Guy Garvey, of course it bloody is, but still. "Build a rocket boys". He's telling these kids to live beautiful, aspirational lives. And that last word "boys" just brings him so close to them, let's you know that Garvey is singing as a greying, aging man of experience.

Musically, one could argue that it's not exactly the "arena sound" that they'd mentioned. It's only one song, and the rest of the album could sound different, but I think this could fit in an arena. Or a pub. A phonebox. A street corner, seeing as that's where it's set. The music never runs away and crescendos, escalating into a massive chorus - but you don't have to be singing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" to fill an arena. This song's an exercise in restraint. Garvey never runs up to these kids and tells them what he thinks. He maintains a respectful distance, but the feeling swells in his chest, huge and beautiful like a pair of wings, one of those beautiful things that remains forever unsaid. It's similar in a way to Arcade Fire on The Suburbs - lyrically but also musically. There's a tendency among indie fans to love bands who make music that sounds majestic and massive, but to then recoil when that music is put into a massive venue like Wembley or the O2. But that's pure indie snobbery. I saw Elbow at Wembley in March 2008, at the height of their new popularity. They were stunning and when I reflect on that gig, it made me realise something. That's a massive venue and it was pretty much full. And yet it was such a personal experience for me as I got to see a band I had fallen in love with. Their music possesses a quality that is the key to great pop music - it has universal appeal but at the same time strikes a personal chord which makes that music immediately becomes yours.

Elbow are a band for Wembley Arena as well as dirty suburban street corners in Bury. And hopefully they'll prove that again in 2011.

Build a Rocket Boys!

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - She & Him duet with Conan O'Brien

You may or not be aware of She & Him, the band comprised of folk musician M Ward and Zooey Deschanel - the gorgeous one from Elf, Yes Man, 500 Days of Summer etc. They make gentle, warm acoustic folk music where simplicity is the buzz word.



There's a lot of crap spouted about She & Him. Overly twee, sickeningly sweet, forced, are just a few of the judgements passed on them and their music. Poor Zooey draws a lot of the abuse as well from snobbish indie types who say she embodies a fake idea of what an "indie" girl in "indie" films and "indie" music is, due to the roles she picks and because she's so doe-eyed, stop dead in your tracks beautiful.

But I think those kind of insults and such totally miss the point and show an inability for snobbish indie types to let their guards down and just enjoy music that is simple, sweet, heartfelt and organic. And in this festive season, She & Him have allowed their wonderfully disarming sweetness to shine through in a private duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" which they performed with US talk show host Conan O'Brien in his dressing room when they visited his show.

The performance is sweet, open, cosy, friendly, warm and Christmassy. I just wanted to share it in the hope of injecting some warm Christmas cheer into your day :) It makes me feel like I'm watching Elf all over again...

Summer Camp - "Christmas Wrapping"

First of all, sorry it's been a good while since my last post! A mixture of end of year business and laziness has been responsible I'm afraid. I'd been planning a run of Christmas related posts and it's a bit more short notice and slap-dash than I'd have liked sadly, but oh well. Onwards!

Summer Camp have quietly grown into one of my favourite new acts of 2010, and they haven't even released an album yet. Their song "Veronica Sawyer" kicked off my Top 20 Tracks of 2010, and it's the perfect showcase for their echoey, melancholy yet heartwarmingly twee indie-pop. Now they've recorded a cover of The Waitresses' mildly popular festive hit "Christmas Wrapping" as part of a Moshi Moshi Christmas compilation entitled A Christmas Gift For You - available for purchase here.

It's fairly faithful to the original but has definitely been reworked with their trademark bouncy synth mannerisms, with chiming Christmas synths that sound just like the ones in "Last Christmas". Elizabeth Sankey's vocal delivery is as warm and natural as ever. The whole thing feels like warm cuddles with the one you love by the fire, under the mistletoe, wearing ghastly Christmas jumpers but not really caring because, hey, it's Christmas.

Click here to download it on Pitchfork. Hopefully should have a few more Christmas posts over the next couple of days!

Simon Cowell Thinks You're An Idiot

Simon Cowell does not like you. Simon Cowell does not care about you. He does not care about you as a person. Simon Cowell does not want to make your life better. He does not want to make you think, grow, rejoice or change in anyway.

Simon Cowell thinks you are stupid.
Simon Cowell thinks you are weak.
Simon Cowell thinks you are easily pleased.
Simon Cowell thinks you have no taste.
Simon Cowell thinks you have low expectations.
Simon Cowell thinks you don't have a brain in your head or a soul in your chest.
Simon Cowell thinks you have the memory span of a goldfish.

To Simon Cowell you are not a person.

Simon Cowell only cares about your money. Via the whole X Factor brand, every year, Simon Cowell and his massive gang of producers spend all of their time and energy working out how to get as much money as they can out of your pockets as possible.

Every year, a dozen or so vaguely "talented" people are trotted out onto our TV screens on Saturday nights for live performances for eight weeks or so. On their way there, they are hyped up everywhere - radio, TV, posters, magazines, newspapers - so that you are fully aware, fully prepped and informed for their arrival. All of it is an attempt to draw you in, to make you feel as if you have to be involved in this, you have to be informed, you have to have a say in how it all pans out.

PLEASE think about it. How many X Factor contestants from the live shows can you remember? Half a dozen at most. Nearly EVERY X Factor contestant is painfully, heartbreakingly AVERAGE. There are a million and one backing singers, musical theatre performers, cruise ship entertainers and more, all around the world, who can sing just as well and probably better than the dull, mediocre zombies who are slapped in Topshop gear week after week and shoved into your face. And because they're so average, and Simon Cowell KNOWS that they are average, what does he do?

He puts on the biggest, most absurdly over the top stage shows he can afford. He advertises them everywhere he can. He underscores every moment of the contestants backstories with Take That hits to tug at your heart strings. Why?

Because all he wants is your money. And Simon Cowell think that you are so stupid, so weak minded, so uninspired, that you will be willing to watch, pay to watch a dozen painfully average, unoriginal, uninspiring, uniteresting individuals "perform" a narrow group of pop songs every week just because he's battered you round the head with flashing lights and media coverage.

Simon Cowell thinks that you don't deserve good music. That's why he insists on putting on a TV program that has produced a tiny amount of sub-average pop "stars". That's why he gets his contestants to perform covers of songs that are ALREADY in the charts so that you then go and buy those songs which are put out by record labels which he has shares in.

Simon Cowell doesn't want you to start thinking independently about the music you listen to. He doesn't want you to develop your own tastes which could stray away from the charts and his own label. He wants to numb all of your musical tastes so that you only end up recognising and listening to the songs and "artists" that he puts out. He doesn't care about making music that can stir your soul, make your overjoyed, make you really dance like your feet are on fire, make you leap and jump around like you don't care because you're so happy, make you roll down your car windows and belt your voice out with your friends because that song on the radio is so awesome. Simon Cowell doesn't care about any of that. He wants to control you, and what you like and what you buy. Most of them time, when a person votes for someone on the X Factor, it's not really their choice. It's not them controlling the program. It's Simon Cowell and his whole empire controlling them.

Simon Cowell thinks you're so stupid that he's changed the name Matt Cardle's dire cover of Bify Clyro's "Many of Horror" to "When We Collide", so that the title matches the chorus. Because that's what the kind of uninspired, reproduced, cheap pop songs that he puts out do. He didn't think you were clever enough to handle a song that had a title that wasn't related to the first few words of the chorus. He thinks you are that stupid. To him you are a big, throbbing wallet which he just wants to take money from. His view of you is no better than a mugger's, a con artists, or any other devious little criminal you can name. To him you are a big, fat cow that he's doped up to the eyes with tranquillisers, and he's viciously and deviously squeezing your tired, weary and bruised udders.



People who slag off the X Factor nowadays are normally fobbed off as indie/rock/metal/whatever snobs, and called old misery guts who just can't switch off and enjoy some pop music. But this shouldn't be what pop music is like. Pop music shouldn't be something that treats you stupidly. "Pop" comes from "popular" - music of the people. But it's not popular if it's not really chosen by the people. It isn't. It's chosen for you by a bunch of greedy, selfish businessmen who want to batter you down and make you submit to their own selfish plans. Plans which involve creating "music" that is easy to replicate, control, reproduce, digest and cover in cheap gloss. "Music" that disappears within weeks and leaves no real imprint on your life - just an empty space in your wallet.

Please, don't give Simon Cowell the satisfaction this year. Don't buy Matt Cardle's appalling, soulless cover. He'll vanish overnight, and next year some other talentless bloke or blokette will find themself in the same position. Don't let Simon Cowell and his money grabbing empire get the better of you. That really is what it will be and I'm not exaggerating. Simon Cowell wants to make you a dumb little zombie who is entertained by whatever he decides you will be entertained by. Because he wants your money.

I don't vastly care if you join one of the various "Get such and such to Christmas #1" campaigns. Just don't let Simon Cowell con you out of your money. Because that's what the whole thing is.

A filthy con.

My Personal Favourite 20 Songs of 2010 1

Honourable Mentions
'All of the Lights' by Kanye West
'Hollywood' by Marina & The Diamonds
'Heartbreaker' by Girls
'Romance is Boring' by Los Campesinos!
'Sea Talk' by Zola Jesus
'Giving Up The Gun' by Vampire Weekend
'A More Perfect Union' by Titus Andronicus
'If You Wanna' by The Vaccines
‘Walk in the Park’ by Beach House
‘O.N.E.’ by Yeasayer
'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains' by Arcade Fire
'Hologram' by These New Puritans
'Butterfly House' by The Coral
'Blackberry Stone' by Laura Marling
'Goodbye England, Covered In Snow' by Laura Marling
'The Calm Before the Sword' by Captain Ahab
'Summerblow' by Chief Black Cloud
'Have a Heart' by Lonely Galaxy
'The Withering Giant' by Ghosthorse

20. 'Veronica Sawyer' by Summer Camp
Summer Camp are a band to watch in 2011, and their Young EP from this year shows why. This standout track is a melancholy, slightly twee indie pop number that has one of the most addictive choruses I’ve heard all year. It’s a detailed, engrossing account of teen loneliness, bittersweet in lyric and melody. There’s a very individual sound to this song and the band as a whole, and a convenient opening in the indie pop market.



19. 'This Orient' by Foals
For me this was immediately the standout track of Foals brilliant album, and still is. I love “Spanish Sahara”, but this blows it out of the water as far as I’m concerned. A spliced, breathless info gives way to an inspired mix of guitar, bass, drums and vocals that sweeps you away into a cinematic journey of a song, with a massive chorus, boasting one of the most romantically grandiose lyrics I’ve heard “It’s your heart that gives me this Western feeling”.



18. 'Undertow' by Warpaint
When this one his the internet blogs, there was a little bit of an online orgasm. And rightly so. This song from my favourite new band of the year is captivating and alluring on absurd levels. It boasts a chorus that worms its way into your head, ingeniously hijacking a Nirvana melody, laced with sultry, slinking bass and echoing guitar lines. The gorgeous female vocals croon about ensnaring a lover, and ensnaring is certainly what this song does.



17. ‘We Want War’ by These New Puritans
Often toted as the prime example of the brilliance of my album of the year, We Want War is a sublime piece of music. It bursts open with a massive drum beat, freaky synths and terrifying bass drone. It splices epic percussion with dark, entrancing vocals. It sounds like its tital- looming, violent, aggressive, huge and brilliant.



16. 'The Wild Hunt' by The Tallest Man on Earth
The opener of my #3 album of the year, this is just a fantastically written folk song. It whisks you away in a world of evocative images, earnest vocals and warm, embracing acoustic guitar. Kristian Matsson’s voice leaps and strains upwards then drops down in pitch and delivery for brief moments to beautiful, emotional effect. It's a lyric about wonderfully carefree resignation to the inevitabilities of life, surrendering the pointless things and seizing life by it's gorgeous throat. Oh this song just overflows with life in every possible way!



15. 'Not In Love' by Crystal Castles ft. Robert Smith
This song had “BRILLIANT” written all over it from the moment the very idea was conceived. This icy synth pop song was so good that it made us all forget that a) it was a cover and b) there was a Smith-less version on Crystal Castles album. This song is massive, uplifting, emotional. It feels like your heart beating inside your chest at a moment of emotional fear and anticipation, perched delicately between euphoria and despair. Masterful.



14. 'The Oh So Protective One' by Girls
Girls made the song “Heartbreaker” available for free from their “Broken Dreams Club” EP and, again, the blogs went crazy (as did I!) But for me, this is the strongest song on the EP. Lead singer Christopher Owens somehow manages to sing and write from the point of view of a loverlorn teenage girl and make it sound tear jerkingly genuine and emotional. Musically its pure 50s guitar band, like The Shadows or something. But its superb indie guitar music, and lyrically brilliant. It makes me feel warm inside.



13. ‘I Want the World to Stop’ by Belle & Sebastian
I wrote a post on why I love Belle & Sebastian and their new album a while ago, and so it only makes sense for a track from it to make this list- but fairly so. This song is absurdly addictive, the melody genuinely intoxicating. The chord progression is just sensational, a genius piece of songwriting, and the contrast between chorus and verse inspired. Lyrically, it’s a fantastically human account of modern alienation and loneliness, yet still manages to be captivating indie pop. It’s just lovely everyone.



12. 'Alley Cats' by Hot Chip
Hot Chip’s album One Life Stand hasn’t quite made the cut across lots of end of year lists, and I can see why in part, but its full of some brilliant songs, a lot of them tender and emotional and- for me- none more so than this. Simple keyboard and drum open up the track, and Alexis Taylor’s distinctively light voice is so soft and tender that I can’t help but give myself over to it. The whole thing is comfy, warm and affectionate and just makes me think of home.



11. 'Power' by Kanye West
The first big indication that Kanye was soon going to the rule the whole damn world. This distils a lot of what his new album is about. It’s Kanye rapping about being Kanye. Its huge, ostentatious, cinematic. It’s boastful and grandiose. But lyrically it’s a masterpiece. A full West dissection. It’s a confession of his failures, his idiocy, but a slap in the face of haters and sceptics. This is the sound of triumph.



10. 'Girls' by Marina & The Diamonds
I adore Marina Diamandis. I confess, I love everything about her. Including this song. The vocal delivery is so absurdly individual and distinct, I can’t help but adore it. She just fires on all cylinders on a superbly vicious and sarcastic attack on superficial, vacuous modern girls. The lyrics are detailed and specific, yet never come across as cluttered or dated. Maybe I’m just so absurdly attracted to Marina that my judgement has been clouded. If so, I don’t care. Not when pop music this good is involved.



9. 'Tell 'Em by Sleigh Bells
One of the best riffs ever. Fact. Too soon? Maybe. Wrong? No. There is no denying the riff on this song is INSANELY awesome. And that’s just the start. MASSIVE drum beats. HUGE whirring sounds. GORGEOUS and sweet vocals that shouldn’t work against the intense heavy metal guitars and mammoth drums, but they do. And the melody is as insanely addictive as the riff. This song is twisted pop brilliance that just whacks everything up to 11 and is about nothing other than making as much brilliant noise as possible.



8. 'Rambling Man' by Laura Marling
Laura Marling cemented herself fully as one of the best (if not THE best) songwriter in the UK with her second album, and my favourite track from that album has got to this one. The melody is just so superb and the song builds and grows so much that, with its sentiments of identity and independence, it’s something ‘epic’ (though using that word doesn’t seem quite right). Brilliantly arranged, lyrically masterful and beautifully delivered. This is just a brilliant song.



7. 'The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future' by Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! are one of those bands who are able to tell entire stories and build entire, believable characters in the space of one song, and the most effecting example of that is here. An engrossing guitar line and tragic, brooding cellos draw you into a tragic tale of anorexia , bereavement and reflection. Probably my favourite song as a lyrical whole from the whole year, which is only helped by the chillingly detached vocal delivery. And it all crescendos into a sublimely noisy chorus. This song hits an emotional chord and draws me in in a way that I don’t experience very often.



6. 'I Can Change' by LCD Soundsystem
Despite the fact that it’s now used in adverts on Dave, this song has been one of the best pop songs of the year since it first appeared. It’s probably one of the best James Murphy has ever written. It uses his classic trick of repetition with subtle variation to create an addictive and engrossing piece of pop music. The melody is quite beautiful and I really can’t say enough about the chorus. That itself is an example of the repetition with a little bit of variation, and its AWESOME to belt out. Lyrically, it is spectacularly vulnerable and human, qualities people very often don’t seem to associate with James Murphy, and it contains some of my favourite lyrics of the year.



5. 'The Suburbs' by Arcade Fire
I find it difficult to believe that anyone who truly likes rock music could not love this song. The inspired mix of honky tonk piano, guitar, plodding bass and steady drums creates a disarmingly simple underpinning for a truly brilliant track. This song was a statement of intent as the opener of Arcade Fire’s sublime album. The lyrics veer from cinematic and grand in feel to beautifully specific details about learning to drive and your mother’s keys. Beautiful.



4. 'Runaway' by Kanye West
This song was how Kanye decided to announce his public return, at the MTV Awards. This song is similar in a lot of ways to “Power”, but in my opinion is the greater of the two. It sounds MASSIVE and pompous, like some imperial vessel moving onwards… imperiously. But its coupled with a melancholy chorus that is probably my favourite individual lyric of the year. Kanye wraps up his own self loathing and the loathing he feels for his critics and exorcises the two with a stupendous and actually quite amusing chorus. The whole of the new album is about what it’s like to be Kanye, and I think that this track nails that on the head as well as everything else you could possibly want in a pop song.



3. 'I Don't Have a Dick' by Captain Ahab
This track is so high on my list purely because it is genuinely unlike anything I have ever heard. Lyrically, it is hilariously, unbelievable absurd. It is the arrogant, ostentatious first person account of the mythologised Captain Ahab who spends most of the track rapping over a constantly shifting background about how he doesn’t have a dick, and what that means for him exactly. This song is overflowing with grandiosity, absurdity, EVERYTHING, in a way that Kanye or even GaGa can’t possibly hope to rival.



2. 'Trainwrecks' by Weezer
Unless you’ve bought Weezer’s most recent album, you probably won’t have heard this track. It’s not a single, at least as of yet. Lots of people have said that Weezer returned to form this year and for me the best example of that is Trainwrecks. Guys this song is just amazing. It’s a massive rock ballad. Heartwarmingly unpretentious, euphoric and rebellious, I have lost count of how many times I have belted this out in my car. It has “Season Finale” written all over it in a way DOESN’T seem crap. Lyrically its disarmingly simple, it’s honest, self aware. Rivers Cuomo’s vocal delivery is emotional, raw, varied and just bloody awesome. If you fob this off as uninspired, uninventive rock then you’ve missed the point you pretentious twat.



1. 'Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk' by The New Pornographers
I raved on Twitter a while ago about how much I love this song. Unless you read that then you probably have no sodding clue about it. This song isn’t a huge statement. It’s not a game changing pop revolution. It’s not a social diatribe. This is just a genuinely PHENOMENAL indie rock song. It has one of the best riffs I have ever heard. It’s vaguely off key, an inspired use of semitones, and thus has something I find so attractive – the twisting and warping of pop music. The melody is mind blowingly catchy. Genuinely. From the moment I heard it I haven’t been able to shake it. The chorus still just blows me away every time. It’s just amazing! I can’t tell you why, it just is. The way this song chops and changes into different repeated sections, the beautiful interplay of lead male and female vocals, the vulnerable lyrics. Good grief, this is just such a perfect song. I love it. I really love it. It has decimated every other song in my iTunes play count. It got me into this band. In years to come few will probably rave over the album, let alone this one track. Well screw them. This is my favourite song of the year, because it is just hits the mark in untold ways on every level that a song should.





So there you have it! My top songs of the year. Whaddya think folks? Hope to hear from you soon :) have a merry Christmas!

My Top 12 Albums of 2010: #6-1

Click here for #12-7.

6. 'The Fool' by Warpaint


If you have talked to me AT ALL about music in the last few months then you'll have known that I have fallen head over heels in love with Warpaint. The all girl American four piece entranced the world with their SXSW performances earlier this year, and their Exquisite Corpse EP became the record to own. Anticipation about their debut album was high. And they delivered in a gorgeously superb fashion. This album is a dark, sinister yet alluring journey. Menacing drums, throbbing huge bass lines, creepy guitar echoes and ghostly, sultry female vocals weave together to create a genuine experience. The songs veer in multiple directions at times ("Set Your Arms Down"); lending it a proggish air, but it never loses focus or drifts into aimless twiddly wankery. The engrossing music is coupled with simple yet evocative lyrics. This album is all about getting lost in emotion, weighed down by the dark underbelly of love and desire ("Undertow", "Lissie's Heart Murmur", "Baby", "Bees") I have fully given myself over to this album's enchantment, and I don't think I'll ever regret it.

5. 'This Is Happening' by LCD Soundsystem


LCD Soundsystem may very well appear in the musical dictionary next to the term "critic's choice". I have yet to read an "Album of the Year" list that doesn't feature this album, and a lot of people may think it's been included across the board purely due to expectation and a degree of entitlement. Well you're wrong. This is a genuinely brilliant album, and, if it IS James Murphy's last effort under the old moniker, a perfect swansong. Musically, the album retains a classic LCD template - epic dance tracks that use repetition to stunning effect. True. But there's a distinct sound to this album. It's probably more electronic than its predecessors and definitely a lot cleaner production wise. But the music is still sublime. Like lots of entries in this list, James Murphy takes pop music and shapes it into his own subversive image. Intoxicating pop hooks abound, especially on killer singles "Drunk Girls" and "I Can Change". You can't NOT sing along to those songs, the former being one of the most absurdly fun things ever. The whole album is just so danceable, and James Murphy nails the thing that I find so amazing about him. He takes dance and pop music and combines it with lyrics that are perceptive, honest and clever, covering paranoia ("Dance Yrself Clean"), vulnerability ("All I Want", "I Can Change") and, as always, his unique relationship with the music industry ("You Wanted A Hit"). A stunning record. Musically, sonically, lyrically and emotionally it's triumphant on all fronts and, at the end of the day, friggin' brilliant to hear.

4. 'The Suburbs' by Arcade Fire


I'll be honest. It took me MONTHS to get round to buying this album. I watched on as the hype and praise was heaped upon Arcade Fire, constantly dogged by the knowledge that I really SHOULD buy this album. It was an event. It would probably be looked back on as a classic in years to come. By the time I got to it, I was expecting either to be let down or to end up feigning appreciation to save my indie cred. But this album. This album. It broke through anything else I had heard or soaked up about it and, as I sat in my room listening to it, it was as if I was being introduced to a total stranger who instantly captivated me. Charmed me. Made me fall in love. The themes of this album are obvious - varied reminiscences of the bands suburban upbringings in the light of their adult lives. But that subject matter involves so much - a whole spectrum of recalled childhood emotions and experiences that spirals through the bittersweet, the triumphant, the defeated, the ignorant, the romantic, the disappointed, the broken. This is a true ALBUM. It covers all the angles of its subject matter, but not in a business like efficiency. In a way that genuinely reflects human experience. Whether it's fear ("The Suburbs"), insecurity ("Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"), loss of innocence ("City With No Children"), loneliness ("Ready to Start") or a million and one other subtle feelings and emotions, this record overflows with humanity and lyrical beauty. Musically, it flows and varies and enters numerous new territories for the band, whilst always maintaining that enchanting, cinematic quality Arcade Fire pull off earnestly in a way Coldplay and U2 never will. A lot of people will be put off now by the fact that they're playing stadium shows. Screw 'em. This music was made to be huge. The word masterpiece is bandied about a lot nowadays, often with no justification. Not so here.

3. 'The Wild Hunt' by The Tallest Man on Earth


I'm confident that most of you won't be familiar with this record, which kind of makes me glad. Not because I want to inflate my pretentious, musically informed ego (well, probably) but because I hope I'm telling your something you haven't already been told. The Tallest Man on Earth, a.k.a Kristian Matsson, possesses the enviable ability to do untold amounts with simply his voice and an acoustic guitar. This album is a stunning, genuinely stunning, collection of songs. The sparse arrangements create an album that is warm, organic and inviting; and to put it simply Matsson is a superbly talented acoustic guitarist. Regardless of the fact that English is Matsson's second language (he's Swedish) this album is one of the most lyrically beautiful I've probably ever heard; full of emotional confession as well as vivid imagery. He covers mortality ("The Wild Hunt"), unrequited love ("A Lion's Heart"), playful fantasy ("King of Spain"), guilt ("Kids on the Run") and more. Those may sound like weighty, depressing lyrical themes but this album is beautiful and welcoming, like lullabies with well worn but effecting morals. A timeless gem of an album.

2. 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' by Kanye West


The world of Kanye, and the world WITH Kanye, is an insane place to be. Rather then repeat myself, read my previous post on why this album is so amazing. And really. It is amazing. It is a stone cold, terrifying classic. I can hyperbolise and dish out superlatives as long as I want. There really aren't words. Massive. Sublime. Bizzarre. Historic. I don't know. Just listen. Listen and marvel.

1. 'Hidden' by These New Puritans


Well here we are. For me, there has never really been a threat to the top spot for this year since Hidden was released. We've had nearly the whole of 2010 to digest this album. NME crowned it their album of 2010 and I anticipate an immediate wave of scepticism as a result of that. But if that is you: get stuffed. There really is no other option for album of the year. This album gave me the amazing experience of hearing something genuinely NEW. Sonically, nothing has been done like this album before. Chief song writer Jack Barnett has been open about his influences, and they're there if you listen, but they've been stripped, dissected, atomised and shaped into a terrifying, triumphant and sensational piece of work. The musicianship on this album is genuinely phenomenal. As a musician, it just blew me away. The percussion throughout is textured, varied and adventurous, both underpinning and at times dominating proceedings. They accompany throbbing, monolithic bass sounds to create the mind blowing "We Want War"- a mysterious, shadowy beast. It's a prime example of the inspired and mind boggling use of hip-hop beats and rhythms throughout- evident on equally dark "Attack Music"- and the aforementioned beats are combined with intricate and thoughtful arrangements for a woodwind ensemble. Bassoons and big beats? The thought is, and always was ridiculous. But it has been pulled off. And not JUST pulled off. It's unbelievable. The album experiences soft, vulnerable beauty as well- "White Chords" and "Hologram" are supremely beautiful and vulnerable, as well as stunningly textured. Nearly every track is a revolutionary piece of pop experimentation, bastardised and reshaped into something that I still cannot describe. This album is a true leap. Jack Barnett has said himself that this album is not experimentation for experimentation's sake. This music is sincere people. It's real and revolutionary, a towering example of just how original and exciting music can still be in 2010. But this isn't just a flash in the pan. Even if These New Puritans all die tomorrow, this album will stand as one of the most accomplished of the decade and, years from now when I can say this without being torn down, one of the most accomplished in the history of popular music. And the best part? The whole thing is overwhelmingly enjoyable to listen to.


Well there we have it! My top albums of 2010. You probably disagree with some if not not all my decisions. In years to come, I may look back and heartily wish to rearrange. Who knows. I just know that this year, I have loved each of these albums. Bring on 2011.

Los Campesinos! - "Too Many Flesh Suppers"

Los Campesinos! are quite simply one of the best indie bands around at the moment. I thought of ways to dress up the start of this post and slide smoothly from some semi-relevant opening sentence into the above declaration, but I couldn't think of a way to do it and- quite simply- you need to be told.

They released one of this year's best albums, Romance is Boring, back in January, and it's undoubtedly the best of their albums. It's a classic example of a band just honing everything that's good and lovable about them in the first place to a place where it just strikes every chord right when you're listening to it, and it truly engrosses you and is just a hell of a lot of fun as well. (It may feature of my much anticipated Top 11 Albums of 2011. Tune in later to find out...) Also, my Fantasy Football Team are named "Los Premierleagueos!" in dedication to them.

But earlier today the band announced via Twitter (oh yeah- they have one of the best musician Twitter accounts around- follow @loscampesinos, surprisingly enough- they announced the free download of their song "Too Many Flesh Suppers". It was the B-side to the single of "Romance is Boring", which, as the band themselves have said, "nobody bought". It's not a new track by any means, and is from the recording sessions of their album.



Nevertheless, it is brilliant. They said it didn't fit on the album and I can see why, for various reasons. But still, as I said- brilliant! It opens with atonal violin streaks which glide over a slightly menacing lollop of a guitar line which is something they got VERY good at on Romance is Boring. The vocals are as wrenched, emotional and compellingly uncomfortable as ever from frontman Gareth, and that's one of the things I really love about this band. The vocals veer from high, forced shouts to low, nasal sneers that brutally yet beautifully bastardize any and all melody, so that it hides beneath the surface, but it is very much there. It's melody on their terms. I can easily imagine someone somewhere fobbing the vocal style off as pretentious, but I find the vocals truly affecting and reckon that Los Campesinos! are fully aware of the problems people could raise with their sound, showcased so perfectly in this track.

Lyrically, it shares one of the major themes from the album- sex. Specifically, sexual guilt. The lyrics are dense and physical, like all Los Camp lyrics, and ache with a self loathing and disatisfaction that is painfully human. Gareth Campesinos! is undoubtedly one of the best lyricists across any genre, anywhere right now- and probably one of the best of the last 10 years.

So the download is available here from their blog. Click the little hyperlink that says 'RiB 7"'. I hope you enjoy it and can't recommend these guys enough. They're laying the 02 Empire Shepherds Bush in February and I'm gonna pull out all the stops to be there!

My Top 12 Albums of 2010: #12-7

So it's that time of year! I love end of year lists and have been quite excited about writing and publishing my own for a while. Now. I thoroughly belief that there is music that is objectively good and objectively bad. It does not come down to opinion. Fact. There are lots of things that go into that, but it's fact. I considered compiling a list of the objectively best albums of the year and those I personally prefer, but couldn't be bothered... so these are my favourite albums of the year, painstakingly put in rough order or preference. Though all of them are objectively very good music it would seem! And bear in mind this is only the albums that I've heard this year. There's always plenty we miss. Oh to have time to listen to them all! So I hope you enjoy, agree and disagree. Do feedback to me :)


Honourable Mentions:
'One Life Stand' by Hot Chip
'Teen Dream' by Beach House
'Plastic Beach' by Gorillaz
'The End of Irony' by Captain Ahab
'Belle & Sebastian Write About Love' by Belle & Sebastian
'Go' by Jónsi

12. 'The Family Jewels' by Marina & The Diamonds



Marina Diamandis is the best thing to happen to pop music this side of GaGa. She's clever, witty, perceptive, original and incredibly sexy - all hallmarks of a great popstar. And those qualities spill over into a phenomenally accomplished debut that is both a posing pastiche but also incredibly human. The album is basically about fame, the obsession with ("Hollywood", "Shampain", "Are You Satisfied?") and the vacuous underbelly of the commercial 21st century ("Girls", "Numb", "I Am Not A Robot"). "It's been done!" right? Maybe. But lyrically, this album is something else. Marina is so fantastically self aware - critical of fame and commercialism but fully aware of how enamoured she can be by it all. Spectacular, sparkling, seductive pop - a hard thing to come by in 2010.

11. 'I Speak Because I Can' by Laura Marling


Laura Marling is arguably a very strong contrast with Marina Diamandis, but is still endlessly deserving of a spot in my top albums. I fell in love with her and her debut, and her sophomore album is so much more than just a good second album. This album is beautifully and quiveringly personal, a beautiful memoir into the mind of a young girl becoming a woman (she's only 20!) She sings about independence ("Made by Maid", "Rambling Man"), urban alienation ("Alpha Shallows") and recounts memories of men in her life across the whole spectrum of emotional experience ("Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)", "What He Wrote", "I Speak Because I Can"). Her delivery is downbeat and subtle, beautifully vulnerable, allowing the emotion to push through with ease. The arrangements are more traditionally folky than the last album, and her guitar ability has become more accomplished and a more central part of the sound. Lyrically, she's only gotten better and is one of the most mind blowingly talented song writers. And she's hardly unattractive...

10. 'Romance is Boring' by Los Campesinos!


Los Campesinos! are a fantastic example of a band who have refined their sound through successive albums, working out what they're best at, where they excel, where they hit the mark, and then putting all of that into a fantastic record. This album is undoubtedly the best thing they've recorded, for so many reasons. A lot of it is mile a minute indie rock, and quite simply makes you want to thrash and jump around ("These Are Listed Buildings, Romance is Boring") but the band have a new grasp of texture and scale back for unbelievably earnest and tearful slower numbers ("The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future", "Who Fell Asleep In") though it all remains euphorically noisy. Frontman and songwriter Gareth has long been gestating as one of the UK's best lyricist, and that shines through in his musings about love, sex, football and religion. Gareth writes about his differences with religion in a way that is very candid and sceptical, though never outwardly biting or critical. As a Christian, I find it refreshing that a non-Christian is able to write about the church in such a way, without descending into offensive and childish Dawkins style insults. A truly accomplished record from an increasingly individual and inspiring band.

9. 'Treats' by Sleigh Bells


There's not a VAST deal to say about this album. But that's not a disadvantage. Quite the opposite. Sleigh Bells are probably the most enjoyable band of the entire year. This album has one setting- REALLY FRIGGIN' LOUD AND REALLY FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! Lead songwriter Derek Miller takes pop music structures and melodies and bastardises them with terrifying heavy metal guitars and insurmountably huge beats ("Tell 'Em", "Infinity Guitars", "Crown on the Ground" - heck, every bloody song) and then the absurdly attractive front woman, Alexis Krauss, laces the mixture with a voice like poison bubblegum made from fire. This album is balls out, amps up, heads thrashing, bodies brawling. Hell yes.

8. 'Contra' by Vampire Weekend


It's safe to say that the indie community fell a little bit in love with Vampire Weekend when they released their debut a couple of years ago. That coupled with "A-Punk" soundtracking everything from Come Dine With Me to The Inbetweeners made me wonder how they could successfully follow it up. But they delivered. Oh yes they did. Thematically, it's not as unified as their debut, songs here based on rice drinks ("Horchata"), Joe Strummer ("Diplomat's Son") and Japanese history ("Giving Up The Gun") But that doesn't matter. Every song on this album is irresistibly melodic; the whole thing is bursting with hooks. At the same time, it's all exquisitely arranged and proves that Vampire Weekend are sublimely talented musicians. This is truly progressive pop music. Call them pretentious, preppy, whatever you will. Something tells me these guys don't care. And when the music is as upbeat, original and funky as this, I'm inclined to side with them.

7. 'Total Life Forever' by Foals


No one could quite believe it when new Foals material appeared. The shouty, prickly sounding landfill indie band of yesteryear had vanished. They'd been submerged beneath a warm tide of oceanic guitar, enveloping bass, funky drums and full, tender crooning. The transformation was sublime and the British indie world fell to its knees. This album is just brilliant to listen to. Standout, massive tracks like "Miami", "Total Life Forever" and "After Glow" are just incredibly well written indie pop songs, stamped with the intoxicating dance vibe that Foals have cracked into on this album. Then there's the magnificent beauty of "Blue Blood" and "This Orient", marked by some superbly emotional and vulnerable lyrics. The album ends in the stop-dead-in-your-tracks threesome of "Alabaster", "2 Trees" and "What Remains". This album is such an accomplishment for the band, but is also an enveloping, comforting piece of music. Sublime.

Kanye West: Remember His Black Balls

I, like the rest of the world, have had a chequered relationship with old Kanye West. First time I heard "Touch the Sky" back in 2005I loved it. I borrowed Graduation from a friend when it came out and listened to it pretty much non-stop. Then I started to branch off into other realms of hip-hop- mostly early 90s stuff like Arrested Development, A Tribe Called Quest etc. but more recent and more intense stuff like Immortal Technique. And I began to doubt Kanye. I thought that, in comparison to the happy, chirpy early 90s rappers and the serious, political stuff I was listening to, Kanye seemed a bit juvenile, shallow and commercial. He was one step close too Jay-Z (who, contrary to popular belief, is not the best thing to happen to hip-hop ever). This probably also came at the same time as when I started getting into alternative music and made the childish mistake of rejecting ANYTHING in the charts as inherently crap. Also, I was in a phase of listening to almost EVERYTHING my brother said about music, and he is DEFINITELY no Kanye fan.

Then of course came Kanye's classic moments- saying live on TV that "George Bush doesn't care about black people", and then of course THIS. That started an internet meme. No one has ever recovered from an internet meme. And there was just a general load of what one may fairly describe as "douchebaggery". Plus, the release of 808's and Heartbreak, a huge departure for West but, to be honest, it didn't set the world on fire. It was met with a universal shrug, despite or maybe because of the personal nature of the songs.

So Kanye, about a year ago, was incredibly low in my estimations. And probably in all of our estimations.

But things changed.
OH how things changed!

First of all, Kanye rose rapidly up through the ranks of Twitter. His feed became one of the most popular on the network, and it made (and still makes) fascinating reading. Most artists and musicians on Twitter generally just tweet about gigs, releases, thankyous to fans and casual banter. Kanye was different though. Kanye was wearing his heart on his sleeve. Following Kanye on Twitter, you got a play by play rundown of what was going on in his head and his heart, 140 characters at a time. It was truly astonishing. He poured his heart out over the Taylor Swift thing- see here for the top tweets from that. I was genuinely shocked and moved by that. Since when does a musician- especially in a genre so egotistical and self aggrandising as hip-hop- come out and hands down admit they were wrong, without needing to it through music, and just publicly dress themselves down?! Kanye went up in my books.

And yet there were still seemingly contrived tweets saying things like "Let me be great!" We just couldn't get it! Was he humble? Arrogant? I don't know. I don't think the guy was striving to create a consistent public image. He was, in his own words, "human" and "real". Kanye gave us a living, breathing picture of the real person behind the media images, behind the furore, behind the meme. I think doing that really is the only thing that has saved him from forever being a raging internet joke.

So. Was it just the tweets that meant Kanye started going up in my books again? No. Kanye launched his "G.O.O.D Fridays" project- a vow to release a new piece of music every Friday until Christmas 2010, just because he loved his fans and wanted to give them something. I know that all great bands and artists love their fans, and their albums are for them, and lots release EPs, downloads etc, to give something back. But Kanye's was just on a such a grand, frequent and sincere scale. The first track I heard form it was the fantastic "See Me Now" featuring Beyonce and Charlie Wilson. I loved it. A couple of my favourite lyrics of the year actually:

"I'm like Socrates, 'cept my skin more chocolatey!"
"I'mma let you finish but I got Beyonce on the track y'all!"

That last lyric is just hilarious! It just showed me that Kanye was incredibly self aware- he knew exactly what people thought of him. But he'd apologised. Now it was time to move on. It was time for business.

And business has been good.



This week, Kanye's much hyped new album My Beautiful Dark Twisted fantasy was unleashed upon the world.

My first reaction?

W

O

W.

Guys, let's break the fourth wall for a minute. This album is amazing. Really. It is OUT OF THIS WORLD good. It's a hip-hop MASTERPIECE. It's a pop MASTERPIECE. Buy it. You can't not listen to this album.

It's not that Kanye has re-written the hip-hop rule book- but he doesn't bloody need to! There is just everything good to say about this album. It's got blanket sensational reviews and Pitchfork- either the Holy Grail or the height of pretension to many- gave it the site's first 10.0/10.0 rating for a new album in a good few years.

Now, I don't need to sit here and write about how huge and epic each of the tracks on this album are, without sounding gross and hollow like a Kings of Leon or U2 track. You can go (and really DO!) and listen to "Power", "All of the Lights", "Monster", "So Appalled", "Runaway", "Lost in the Woods"... hell the whole sodding album, and realise that every track is- for want of a better word- BANGING! Every track is pop perfection.

But I just want to say, having had a few days and a good few listens, why this album just works.

I've read a few articles that have been sceptical of the universal praise for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Not that many, but they are out there. A common criticism I've found is that, apparently, reviews have spent more time talking about Kanye's past controversies and his Twitter account than they have actually talking about the album. A slight exaggeration probably, but every review I've read (and this article!) has spent a decent chunk recounting the gaffes and the Twitter rants? Why?

You've got to think about context! How many great albums lose something (or all) of their greatness if you remove them from their context? Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, Nevermind by Nirvana, Is This It? by The Strokes. Those albums mean so much more, and gain their status in history, because of their context. And this record is contextually perfect! Though not on a societal level- it's not London Calling or anything. But in the context of everything Kanye has done and said- and had done and said to him- this album is perfect. It is a totally spot on response to everything Kanye related over the last couple of years. He's become such a sensation, such a figure, that he's just created this whole context around himself and risen gloriously out of it.

This album is jointly a humble confession, an audacious statement of self belief, a huge middle finger to a media that totally turned against him, a massive a acknowledgement of his own precarious stardom, an insight into grandiose life of a pop superstar that is at times stunningly rewarding yet at others lonely, vacuous and heartbreaking. The two sides of the coin are best seen in the absolutely stunning chorus of "Runaway", featuring Pusha-T:

"Let's have a toast for the douche bags!
Let's have a toast for the ass holes!
Let's have a toast for the scum bags!
Every one of them that I know!"

When Kanye sings that, he's singing about all the haters who've been on him for the last two years- but he's also singing about himself! He's saying "you guys, you're douches, screw you!" and at the same time recognising "I'm a douche bag too. I screw up. I have screwed up. So screw me I guess". The way he's captured that duality is just mind blowing! He's captured two disparate emotions and blended them together in a way that even great literature probably can't. Plus- what a chorus to singalong too!

Also, I think this album really turns Kanye into a mainstream superstar who's a true artist. Aside from creating brilliant music that will find its way into the charts, he's made some stunning lyrical insights into the life of someone as insanely famous as himself. Rhianna sings on her guest spot on the PHENOMENAL "All the Lights":

"Turn up the lights in here, baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this
Turn up the lights in here, baby
You know what I need, want you to see everything
Want you to see all of the lights"

Kanye's got this desire to be exposed! To just bleed and wear his heart on his sleeve. Yeah yeah, he's rolling in it- but he's a human being. He's got a mother who loves him. "All The Lights" goes on to give insights into the troubled life of being a rap superstar- "Restraining order/ Can't see my daughter/ Her mother, brother, grandmother hate me in that order" being a choice line Perhaps a nod to Eminem, but still a stunningly human, truly emotional insight into the life of the superstar. And what I love is also is that the album is in one way very Lady GaGa- it is ostentatious, it is pop music on a totally new level- but the music is pure, raw Kanye. I love GaGa- but we never see Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. We only see the facade, the front, the creation- brilliant as that is. Kanye has all that- but it's him. Pure, raw, flawed, conflicted, unadulterated human being. I think Kanye himself had a bit of a revelation in regards to this a while ago when he Tweeted (and I paraphrase from memory): "It just hit me- I make commercial art!!!" Oh you do Kanye. And it's stunning.

This album is an event as far as I'm concerned. It's not just empty grandiosity and bluster. It demands that you listen to it- as a musical event, a pop culture event, a collection of unbelievable songs, a frank and honest confession of one man's beautifully flawed humanity. If you harbour bad thoughts or feelings to Kanye, listen to this. It's his side of the story. And you'll be surprised at just how engrossing the world of Kanye is.

I'll leave you with the lyric that this post draws its title from, from the track "Gorgeous" featuring Kid Cudi and Raekwon:

"You blowin' up, that's good, fantastic
That, y'all, it's like that, y'all
I don't really give a fuck about it at all
'Cause the same people that tryna blackball me
Forgot about two things- my black balls!"

Sleigh Bells Rang. I Was Listening.

Sleigh Bells
XOYO, London
Sunday 21st November 2010



I really hope you've heard Sleigh Bells before. If you haven't then turn your speakers up as loud as possible. Literally louder. No louder. Now right click on the little speaker icon on the bottom right of your computer screen and make sure EVERYTHING is as loud as possible. Done? Now click here. Wait for 2:03. And now here.

Understand?
Good.

So last night my friend Will and I set out- both clearly a little tired still from a party the night before- to go and see Sleigh Bells at XOYO. We had no sodding idea where the venue was so left in plenty of time... and found it straight away. We were less than encouraged though as it was down some dingy back street in North London and the only other people hanging around outside reminded me of the opening credits of Shaun of the Dead. After a wee bit of fretting for our middle class lives (ok, maybe just our phones) we got into the club, bought an overpriced drink each and waited for the support acts. First up were Teeth, who were fantastically noisy. I just spent a good while trying to discover their MySpace, and FINALLY got there! Click here, and you can also read this interview. Their frontwoman looked like Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim when she goes all kick-ass towards the end. Swaggered onstage looking every inch the unassuming but clearly bat crap insane front girl- complete with plaid shirt tied around her waist. The club was only just filling up so the bands frenetically noisy sounds and Veronica So's crazed thrashings and screaming seemed a little bit wasted, and I felt for them. Kudos to them though- they played on and rocked out through that as well as Veronica being clearly sick as a dog and what looked to me (a musician) like a few cunningly concealed technical hitches. I'm definitely checking these guys out more, and they got me and Will warmed up even if the rest of the venue seemed a touch apathetic. Twats.

As the club gradually filled up, the second warm up act took to the stage- The Knocks. I'd heard of these guys in passing somewhere, but only knew that they were in some way electronic. Well bugger me, were these guys good! Their set began with two dancers- who looked like Cell Jr equivalents of Lady GaGa (if you don't get the Dragonball Z reference, watch this)- spreading huge plastic Icharus wings across the stage, then shedding them and freestyling either side of the stage whilst The Knocks- a US dance duo- launched into their stunning set! Seriously. They got the whole venue moving and dancing in a couple of minutes! Hands in the air, hips shaking all around- it was magical! Click here for their MySpace. I grabbed a copy of their single from the merchandise stand straight after they finished. I had to shove it down the front of my trousers for safety though.

Because I knew.
I knew the onslaught was only a brief way over the horizon.

By this time I was PUMPED for Sleigh Bells. Will was PUMPED for Sleigh Bells. The whole crowed was visibly getting PUMPED for Sleigh Bells. Which reminds me- the crows was absurdly diverse. There was a massive dude at the front who looked like Hurley from Lost. Three incredibly lanky lesbians stood right in front of me and Will. A large amount of muggish looking indie types who were making painful attempts to look like Yannis from Foals. A buxom black girl with a MASSIVE afro who for some reason was with a blonde, mid-50s white woman who clearly had no idea what she was in for. But I didn't care. I was there for Sleigh Bells.

Everything I had heard about Sleigh Bells live just had my mouth simply FLOODING in salivation.
It was meant to be glorious, sweaty, chaotic, intense, thrashing euphoria, all crammed into a 35 minute set. It was meant to be a true experience.

And it was.



From the minute Derek Miller sprinted onto the stage, wielding his guitar in a way that would make Thor sheepishly conceal his thunderous hammer, there was just this feeling that the stakes were high, that we were all there to just go nuts. Alexis Krauss strutted our gloriously onto the stage like some tattooed, leather clad raven. It was go time. They launched into "Tell 'Em" and we the crowd were off. Thrashing, jumping, sweating, literally screaming the words back at Alexis. Hell, most of the time we were just screaming. There was no barrier between stage and crowd, and with a band like Sleigh Bells there couldn't be. The whole tiny venue was pressing onto the stage, and Alexis was giving it right back. I managed to work my way RIGHT to the front. All of our hands went up, and she returned in kind, constantly grabbing and stroking hands, pressing them up against her (I can say though that I didn't get a grab on any sensitive areas, which is more than I can say for the girl next to me) She would lean right into the crowd, ruffling her own jet black hair, and the crowd were more than content to give her several dozen hands. There was a massive surge to get even a finger on that gorgeous woman, who prowled, leapt, slunk and thrashed around the stage and over the audience. I got more than a few ruffles of her hair and strokes of her arm. It was just so intense! I've not been to a gig like that before- where the crowd are just baying for the front woman who's more than content to lean in, share the microphone and just scream inaudibly with you and at you, with none of us caring because it's so friggin' awesome. It would be hard to pick a particular song as a highlight because Sleigh Bells only have one album of material and all the songs on that have one setting- LOUD AND AWESOME. In the final song though, I had the privelege of being right underneath Alexis Krauss as she leapt from an amp, stagediving into the crowd. Good grief it was unbelievable.

This gig was just such a brilliant experience. It really brought music alive for me in a way that lots of gigs don't. Musicians who make brilliant music that I love and respect were RIGHT THERE, literally inches away from me, most of the time even less than that- so close that I could touch them, carry them over my head and feel their sweat. Awesome. That's how it should be.

I don't know what the future holds for Sleigh Bells. Their album Treats is one of my highlights from 2010 and it's a masterpiece, a lesson in taking pop music and shaping it into something unrecognisable, new, exciting and just bloody awesome. Maybe there's bigger things. Unlikely mainstream success. I don't know. I don't REALLY care. All I know is that I got to see them in a tiny London venue, playing songs from a brilliant album, in a crampt, sweaty gig and I managed to get my hands on Alexis Krauss. Epic.