Blog

Now that I'm staying in Tennessee, where I'll be permanently moving next year, I'm buying physical cd's again. My latest purchases:
Richard Thompson: Daring Adventures (BGO reissue, 1994) one of the last few Thompson albums I didn't have yet. As usual, it's wonderful.
Alice Cooper Triple Feature containing Trash, Hey Stoopid and The Last Temptation for $11. These are probably the closest I have to a guilty pleasure; I consider these latterday Cooper albums to be cheese, but they're cheese I happen to like - or at least the songs I already knew from those albums, which make the package worth spending a few bucks on. If half the other tracks are any good at all, I'll have got my money's worth at a price that's cheaper than iTunes.
Fleet Foxes: Sun Giant EP. Compared to most of my other favorites, they're noticable for not being an old fogey baby boomer band - but they sound like one! I like them because I'm hearing early Fairport Convention in them, and some The Byrds.

Also added to my library are several CDs worth of wedding music, because I'm getting married in six months and have to pick out some music. Lemme tell ya, there's a lot of stuff on there that I wouldn't listen to for any other reason. But... the standard stuff, wedding marches by Mendelssohn and Wagner, just make me giggle because they've been parodied so much. And my fiancee and I are both agreed that we don't want to do something as corny as a rock-themed wedding, bleah. So that's gonna be very very interesting, and for interesting, read difficult.

This years Fairports Cropredy Convention was awesome. Things kicked off with Harlequinn, an all-girl alt-rock band local to the area that were very good and managed to not bend to to clique sound one sometimes comes to expect from an all-girl group.

Other groups of particular note for me were Churchfitters with some really awesome, energetic sounds and a beautiful, haunting piece of music incorporating the musical saw. Ralph McTell gave a strong performance, as did Richard Thompson and I particularly enjoyed 4square and ColvinQuarmby.

Nik Kershaw had a bizarre stage presence. During is set it felt no so much like we were at a concert but like all 20+ thousand of us were sat in his living room, having a tea and a bit of cake while he played some music. It was oddly conversational and a very enjoyable set. Seth Lakeman gave a good performance but I wasn't as blown away as I might have hoped.

Ade Edmundson and The Bad Shepherds were fantastic doing folk covers of punk and rock songs and even adding a bit of punk to the song All Around My Hat, which was hilarious. Ade sung with very clean vocals, enunciating every word which really made the covers stand out from the originals.

Dreadzone played a fun set and got people moving though their particular brand of music isn't really my thing. Their frontman seemed genuinely humbled nigh on surprised by the warm welcome and send off he received which was very sweet. Obviously he's not been to too many a Cropredy before - they don't call it Britain's Friendliest Festival for nothing!

John Jorgenson was excellent, but unfortunately I slept through much of his set, a casualty of the warm sunny weather that persisted through the 3 day festival. The Buzzcocks were very good as well, though I felt their set started off a bit rough. After the first couple of songs they got into full swing though and kicked some serious ass.

Of course, I couldn't end this without mentioning Fairport Convention. They played an awesome set and brought on Ralph McTell and Richard Thompson to help them along. There was also a short sub-set with Yusuf whom apparently hadn't played a festival in almost 37 years! I fear it showed a bit as he seemed a little reluctant to improvise but nonetheless he gave a good performance. Things rounded off as usual with Meet On The Ledge and we went home having really enjoyed ourselves.

I almost forgot to mention the fantastic Megan And Joe Henwood which sadly didn't have any CDs on sale else we would have surely purchased some as they were very good indeed.

All in all, another successful festival, already I'm looking forwards to next year.

Nine Inch Nails (4x)
Marilyn Manson (2x)
Matchbox 20
The Fountains Of Wayne
Panic! At the Disco (2x)
The Hush Sound (2x)
The Dresden Dolls
Street Sweeper Social Club
Richard Thompson (2?x)
FallBack Last
Mindless Self Indulgence
The Birthday Massacre
Bauhaus
Hurt
Mew
The Heartless Bastards
The Decemberists

Recommended Songs (sorted by most recommended songs)

Nobody's Wedding : Richard Thompson (Score = 111.41)
Starchild : Wintersun (Score = 88.41)
Outside of the Inside : Richard Thompson (Score = 86.96)
Winter Madness : Wintersun (Score = 86.83)
Korpens Saga : Finntroll (Score = 78.54)
Ur Djupet : Finntroll (Score = 76.04)
Valentine Melody : Tim Buckley (Score = 70.59)
Wingthors Hammer : Equilibrium (Score = 70.01)
Now and Then (LP Version) : Arlo Guthrie (Score = 68.76)
Unter der Eiche : Equilibrium (Score = 68.69)
3 Hours : Nick Drake (Score = 62.88)
A Sailor's Life : Fairport Convention (Score = 58.83)
You and Me Baby : Kirsty MacColl (Score = 57.14)
Throwing My Life Away : Norther (Score = 55.92)
Withered And Died : Richard & Linda Thompson (Score = 54.33)
The Groan of Wind : Kalmah (Score = 51.1)
Tuleen ajettu maa : Moonsorrow (Score = 50.3)
Swansea : Joanna Newsom (Score = 49.93)
Our Love : Sophie Zelmani (Score = 49.2)
Kivenkantaja : Moonsorrow (Score = 48.76)
Ba-De-Da : Fred Neil (Score = 48.12)
Heaven : Loudon Wainwright III (Score = 46.69)
Friede sei mit dir : Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (Score = 46.57)
Take The Money And Run : Gerry Rafferty (Score = 46.54)
Days Gone Down (Still Got The Light In Your Eyes) : Gerry Rafferty (Score = 46.54)
Riders on the Storm : Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (Score = 46.24)
Stairway to Heaven : Led Zeppelin (Score = 46.19)
Song for the Asking : Simon & Garfunkel (Score = 46.08)
Up the Road : Ron Sexsmith (Score = 45.25)
Live Tomorrow : Laleh (Score = 45.12)
Peach, Plum, Pear : Joanna Newsom (Score = 45.1)
Mountain Girl : Judy Collins (Score = 44.67)
Pretty Boy Floyd : Woody Guthrie (Score = 44.38)
Sexuality : Billy Bragg (Score = 43.81)
Strandhagg Pt. I : KromleK (Score = 43.08)
New Partner : Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (Score = 42.77)
That's the Spirit : Judee Sill (Score = 42.63)
Madeleine-Mary : Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (Score = 42.54)
Your Mother And I : Loudon Wainwright III (Score = 42.47)
Yellow &Amp; Rose : James Taylor (Score = 42.41)
The Gambler : Thea Gilmore (Score = 42.37)
Herjan : KromleK (Score = 42.3)
Another Me : Eternal Tears of Sorrow (Score = 42.17)
Call Me Your Darling : Thea Gilmore (Score = 42.15)
Isaac &Amp; Abraham : Joan Baez (Score = 42.11)
Sweet Lilith of My Dreams : Eternal Tears of Sorrow (Score = 42.09)
Bought and Sold : Dar Williams (Score = 41.93)
Mortal Share : Insomnium (Score = 41.63)
Income Town : John Martyn (Score = 41.61)
Medicine Wheel : Kate Wolf (Score = 41.37)
You'll Remember : Patty Griffin (Score = 41.24)
Thin Blue Flame : Josh Ritter (Score = 41.21)
Jig a Jig : East of Eden (Score = 40.93)
Asator : Amon Amarth (Score = 40.82)
And a God Descended : Dar Williams (Score = 40.81)
Endings Get An Early Start : Amit Erez (Score = 40.79)
George's St Arcade (live) : Tadhg Cooke (Score = 40.79)
Famous Song : Marissa Nadler (Score = 40.67)
Three Hits : Indigo Girls (Score = 40.65)
Engine Room : Tunng (Score = 40.62)
Young Johnstone : June Tabor (Score = 40.58)
Der König in Thule : Josephine Foster (Score = 40.46)
Lift Us Up : Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & Matt Sweeney (Score = 40.37)
Yellow Lights : Marissa Nadler (Score = 40.36)
Closer : Laleh (Score = 40.36)
Horses : The Be Good Tanyas (Score = 40.35)
The Motorcycle Song (LP Version) : Arlo Guthrie (Score = 40.33)
Waterlily : Karine Polwart (Score = 40.31)
Morninig Has Broken : Cat Stevens (Score = 40.3)
Mon Amour : Pearls Before Swine (Score = 40.26)
The Chosen Legacy : Dimmu Borgir (Score = 40.24)
The Light on the Shore : Karine Polwart (Score = 40.23)
Moonlight : Sophie Zelmani (Score = 40.22)
Stablemate : Will Oldham (Score = 40.14)
Summon the Wolves : Battlelore (Score = 40.1)
Tuhat Vuotta : Catamenia (Score = 40.08)
Weeping Pilgrim : Natalie Merchant (Score = 40.05)
Sauflied : Black Messiah (Score = 39.93)
Turn the Page : Blind Guardian (Score = 39.81)
Fly : Blind Guardian (Score = 39.76)
Warriors of the Sun : Joan Baez (Score = 39.7)
Bridge Over Troubled Water : Eva Cassidy (Score = 39.19)
Jigs (LP Version) : The Incredible String Band (Score = 39.1)
Living Dead Beat : Children of Bodom (Score = 38.89)
Countenance : Beth Orton (Score = 38.82)
Safe in Your Arms : Beth Orton (Score = 38.69)
The Wild Rover : Týr (Score = 38.64)
House Carpenter : Natalie Merchant (Score = 38.37)
Paid in Full : Sonata Arctica (Score = 38.26)
A Pagan Storm : Wolfchant (Score = 38.09)
Uis Elveti : Eluveitie (Score = 38.08)
Black Mountain : Nick Drake (Score = 37.8)
The End Of The Rainbow : Richard & Linda Thompson (Score = 37.77)
All My Trials : Nick Drake (Score = 37.75)
One Misty Moisty Morning : Steeleye Span (Score = 37.51)
Of Fire, Wind & Wisdom : Eluveitie (Score = 37.29)
Now I'm Easy : June Tabor (Score = 37.26)
Jamie Come Try Me : Eddi Reader (Score = 37.14)
Hotel California : Eagles (Score = 37.13)
Frozen Angel : Norther (Score = 37.1)

Just as I did around this time last year, here is a list of the twenty albums I listened to the most in 2008. Most interesting is the disappearance of a couple of track-packed double album sets from Rosemary Clooney and Talking Heads, which popped up no doubt because of the sheer number of tracks on them. But then, why didn't my similarly packed collections from The Korgis or T-Bone Burnett show up? Who knows?

Also disappearing is The Commercial Album by The Residents - but I know why this one vanished. But this one I can explain: I made the switch from an iPod Shuffle to a 30 GB 5.5 Generation iPod this year. The shuffle loved the 40 sixty-second tracks from the giant eyeballs because it could use them as filler when it was almost full. Not so much anymore.

And now, the countdown begins.

20 tie
Stan Ridgway – Holiday in Dirt (down 5)
The Dandy Warhols – Earth To The Dandy Warhols(new)
Stan the Man ties with the latest and most esoteric offering from The Dandy Warhols. Stan is my favorite artist, and The Dandies are my favorite act whenever I'm listening to them. It's an interesting juxtaposition.

19
Richard Thompson – Action Packed: The Best of the Capitol Years (new)
Another jam-packed compilation, although I couldn't tell you if it was one or two discs because I downloaded it from the iTunes store. I saw RT for the first time in 08 (the "1000 Years of Popular Music" show), and can't wait until the next time he comes through town.

18
Stan Ridgway – Anatomy (down 8)
The underappreciated Stan album got its due in 2007. Continuing the appreciation.

16 tie
Geoffrey Downes – World Service (new)
Fabulous Poodles – His Masters Choice (new)
The Downes is here because of the sheer number of tracks on the album. I don't like this album nearly as much as The Light Programme, which appears higher up. The Fabulous Poodles disc was a nice find via a music blog, and I even chronicled the story behind my appreciation of the grouip.

15
The Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (new)
I think this album will be remembered as a classic.

14
T-Bone Burnett – The True False Identity (new)
I fell in love with the sparse, raw sound of this album in 08. T-Bone is the American Richard Thompson.

13
Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings (down 11)
The randomizer still loves goin' down to the crossroads.

12
Geoffrey Downes – The Light Program (down 3)
And here's Geoff again. This album almost makes me wish I didn't have World Service.

11
Kaiser Chiefs – Employment (new)
I love these guys - this album, anyway. The wit, the cheek, the imitation of mod culture...

10
Duffy – Rockferry (new)
This one courtesy of my son, who thought I would like it. I do. A lot. Motown lives, in the form of a white girl from the UK.

9
The Aliens – Astronomy For Dogs (new)
I've had this one for a couple of years, and in 08 it really, really grew on me. A neopsychedelic masterpiece.

8
Cowboys International – Revisited (down 7)
My favorite album of all time. Clearly, I didn't listen to it enough in 08.

7
The Conet Project – The Conet Project (new)
The weirdest collection I have - recordings of short wave number stations from around the world. Here because of the huge number of tracks. And I tell you what, when one pops up, it certainly breaks up the musical flow.

6
The Chemical Brothers – Push The Button (up 7)
I still love the Chemicals. Especially Hold Tight London.

5
The Chemical Brothers – We Are The Night (new)
The new album is good, too.

4
Captain Sensible – Revolution Now (new)
He's synth! He's punk! He has moments of prog! He's angry! He's funny! He's the Captain!

3
Joe Jackson – Rain (new)
Can't touch the invisible man. Got to see him this year, too. And for the second time, I almost went to see him again in another city.

2
Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise (down 1)
There's so many tracks on this record that if you play it only a couple of times a year, it stays in the top 20. I obviously played it more than that.

1
Benjamin Faust – Start (up 19)
Nepotism. Crass nepotism. So sue me. It really is a great record, folks.

Casiokids Togens Rule (29 Jan Club Academy w/ Of Montreal ]BUY TICKETS)
The Miserable Rich The Knife-Thrower's Hand (8 Jan Dulcimer BUY TICKETS)
Animal Collective Peacebone (14 Jan Club Academy BUY TICKETS)
Little Joy The Next Time Around (20 Jan Academy 3 BUY TICKETS)
The Brute Chorus The Cuckoo & The Stolen Heart (20 Jan Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
Francoiz Breut Si Tu Disais (21 Jan Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
of Montreal An Eluardian Instance (29 Jan Club Academy BUY TICKETS)
Zombie Zombie What's Happening In The City? (26 Jan Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
The Bookhouse Boys Dead (19 Jan Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
Half Man Half Biscuit Totnes Bickering Fair (30 Jan Academy 1 BUY TICKETS)
David Thomas Broughton One Day (24 Jan St Margaret's Church BUY TICKETS)

Download here [48MB].

And not forgetting:
16 Jan Buzzcocks Academy / 18 Jan Richard Thompson The Lowry / 23 Jan Seasick Steve Apollo / 24 Jan The Only Ones Academy 3 / 24 Jan Grace Jones Apollo / 27 Jan Sky Larkin Night & Day / 30 Jan Allez Allez Naive Melody @ Charlies

Monster Magnet - 4-Way Diablo

Tomahawk - Anonymous

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin

My Midnight Creeps - Histamin

Art Brut - I'ts a bit Complicated

Battles - Mirrored

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

Brant Bjork - Somera Sol

Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!

Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior

Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient

I think it’s been a great year for music. Well, I’ve enjoyed it anyway. Maybe it’s been lastfm and my friends there that made it for me.

Here are some acts that brightened up my year:

Elbow – suddenly the whole world was on their side and they loved it back. The show at the Roundhouse was very good but the one earlier in the year at the Festival Hall, with Fleet Foxes in support and a cobbled together choir in matching bowler hats, was one of the greatest I’d ever been to.

Hot Chip – A cracking mid-afternoon set just as we were flagging at the V festival.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! earned its six exclamation marks.

The Ting Tings – here on the merit of the year’s best pop song. I thought I’d tire of That’s Not My Name in two weeks but now think I never will.

Siouxsie – An electrifying set at the 02 festival. The two seventeen year olds standing behind us were considering offering themselves up for sacrifice.

Richard Thompson – one man, one guitar, forty years of magnificent songs packed into one evening. I’m tempted to go back and hear him do the other 960 years next month.

Sparks – the cheekiest concept of the year (playing their entire back catalogue live on successive nights). We dipped in around 1979 and it still sounded like the future.

Fleet Foxes – If the world still hasn’t caught up with Sparks then, like The Band, Fleet Foxes sounded and looked like they’d teleported in from another century. Now that The Kings of Leon have given up their facial hair, Fleet Foxes will wear it well.

Bjork – It’s taken me this long to see Bjork solo and she didn’t disappoint. She’s a great collaborator and there aren’t many other people who can meet Toumani Diabate and Antony on their own terms.

Neil Young – and another hero it’s taken me this long to catch live. Not even drunken vomiting men (see my review) could diminish his power. The thought of the opening chords of Mr Soul kicking off the electric second half still makes my neck hairs bristle.

Echo and the Bunnymen– we caught them live twice this year. At V, we got right up the front in one of the smaller tents and it was like 1983 all over again. The Albert Hall show, with the orchestra running through Ocean Rain in its entirety, was epic rather than intimate. If anyone understood Macca’s inter-song ramblings, answers on a postcard.

Sarabeth Tucek – her eponymous album arrived in the UK at the start of the year and sadly seems to have been forgotten about by the end of year reviews. Not here though.

Kelley Stoltz – Until there’s another Brendan Benson solo record, Mr Stoltz’s Kinksyness will keep me happy. Circular Sounds another overlooked gem of the year.

Autechre – Quaristice is one of those records that has you staring at the speakers as if somehow you’re going to see something that explains it to you. I’m determined to keep looking.

Last Shadow Puppets – barely out of short trousers and already into side-projects, bless ‘em. A mostly lovely thing nevertheless.

Elliott Carter – There have been plenty of concerts at the Proms celebrating centenaries but there can’t have been many where the composer was still alive at the time.

Pentangle – Talking of anniversary come-backs…. They’ve always sounded like two or three different bands sharing the same rehearsal space so somehow the unexpected reunion seemed like the logical thing. A masterclass in inspired winging it.

The Hold Steady – A good year for literate rock. Bonus points for getting the word “Sequestered” into a song-title.

And the worst:

Radiohead at Victoria Park. The band were great, probably, but I’ve never stood in a less engaged crowd in my life. Even the vomiting man at Neil Young at least had some (albeit misguided) commitment to the music. If they’d turned the PA off, I swear the people standing round me wouldn’t have noticed (or maybe they were just living out the lyrics of the songs – mobiles chirping indeed). Pay attention at the back!