Monday, October 29, 2007

Dan le Sac, Scroobius Pip and I Shouted Gun

Firstly .. I am on the lookout for a new digital camera that takes good audio in very loud places. My Fuji F700 was awesome at this - but it broke after many years' use, and my Fuji E900 is somewhat pony by comparison.

Secondly .. why does it always piss down whenever I go to Southend?

I Shouted Gun feat Scroobius Pip - Heston



Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Letter From God (the one that nicked the Radiohead riff)

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Sohodolls in Southend

Yeah I decided to post something again, big whoop!

Filmed last night in Chinnery's, Southend on Sea, on the edge of the world. (That's why the crowd is always on the low side).

The audio is OK, not GREAT. I'm now filming with a Fuji 900 which is nowehere near as good as the 700 I used for years. But then the sound system at Chinnery's always makes your ears bleed anyway, so what can you do?


Sohodolls - My Vampire




Sohodolls - Right And Right Again


Support was from two local bands, 586 and Weirdgear. Worth checking out for different reasons. One is a punk band that lives in a fairground. The other is firmly bolted into 1981 like no other band on earth.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Want to work for MTV?

Want to write the funny captions on MTV2?

Do you have the reading and spelling ability of a five year old?



Sorry, you're overqualified

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Brit Awards - the list of winners in full

British Male Solo Artist: M J Hibbett

British Female Solo Artist: Kate Bush

British Group: Art Brut

British Single: New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream

British Album: Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home

British Breakthrough Act: Hot Puppies

British Live Act: The Others

International Male Solo Artist: Simple Kid

International Female Solo Artist: Joan As Policewoman

International Group: The Blood Arm

International Album: Couse and the Impossible - The World Should Know

International Breakthrough Act: The Grates

Outstanding Contribution to Music: Sultans of Ping

There are lists circulating in other places (BBC, NME, etc) showing a different list of winners, such as Amy Winehouse, Orson, Oasis, etc etc. Please ignore that list, it was a first draft and not the intended one for publication.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The f***ing Brits

If there's one thing that makes me angry every February it's the Brits.

1. I have to watch ITV for 2 hours. That's as much ITV as I am going to watch in any one year.
2. I thought Mastercard had produced the worst adverts possible during Euro 2006, but oh no, they're excelling themselves now!
3. There's a horrible constant squeal all the way through the show. (It's the audience).
4. Corinne Bailey Rae.
5. Tom Baker on voiceovers. Well done, that's really encapsulated the fucking zeitgeist, hasn't it.

Plus a load of people who are terrible win prizes, the live performances are horrible, yadda yadda.

My 3 year old loved the Scissor Sisters routine. "Look, they've got no bodies! They're flying!" Says it all really. I sent him to bed straight after that.

Oh Jesus, the Arctic Monkeys have not only won an award, they've dressed up as the Wizard of Oz. (walks off to kick cat)

So what's good about it?

Russell Brand - who I love for this reason alone: words, moving pictures. Half of his routine seemed to be in this morning's Daily Mirror - nice to get paid twice for one bit of work, innit?

As ever, XRRF provided a great running commentary, explaining with wit what I can only spit out angered abuse.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Dude, Garry Kasparov is left-handed!

I told this joke to 10 people and not one of them thought it was funny. Is it me, or is it them?

A guy gets on a long-distance flight. He's just getting comfortable when somebody sits down next to him. He looks up and wow, it's Garry Kasparov. Kasparov basks for a moment in the recognition.

Some way into the flight, the meals are cleared away and Garry produces an elegant little wooden travel chess set. He begins to play. After a while Kasparov asks the guy whether he would like to play chess to kill time. The guy replies, 'Hey Garry, You think I don't know who you are? I can't compete with a world champion.'

Kasparov - 'How about if I play left handed ?'

The guy thinks about this for a minute, then agrees. He is demolished in 8 moves, and is inconsolable for the rest of the journey. On landing he meets his friend, who asks him how the flight was. 'It was terrible,' he says. 'Completely humiliating. I played chess with Garry Kasparov and he beat me in spite of him playing left-handed!'

His friend replies - 'Ha! You were swindled! Dude, Garry Kasparov is left-handed!!'

If you didn't enjoy that, you won't enjoy these six songs that I am liking a lot at the moment.

Bird And The Bee - Again And Again.mp3
Charlotte Hatherley - Behave.mp3
CSS - Off The Hook.mp3
Hadouken! - That Boy That Girl.mp3
Maximo Park - Our Velocity.mp3
Metric - Empty.mp3

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

The Bluetones live

Keep knocking off the old Britpop bands off my to do list, oh yes!



Saw the Bluetones for the first time ever last night at Chinnerys, a small 200-capacity venue on the edge of this island (ie the arse end of nowhere), otherwise known as Southend. I love the venue though, with its unfeasibly large stage, classic "restricted view" columns, excellent sound system and

If you have no idea who they are, they were briefly one of the biggest bands in the country, peaking in 1996 with a number 1 album (Expecting To Fly), a number 2 single (Slight Return - held off the top by the wonderful Babylon Zoo) and 3 other top ten hits. If you had no idea they were still going, 2003's Luxembourg and last year's new and eponymous album gives a lot more of the same.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Kate Bush ruined my Saturday night

I was having a very pleasant Saturday night watching crap programme after crap programme on the TV, when UKTV G2 decided to ruin it by playing this clip of Kate Bush on Top of the Pops:



This was new to me; I would imagine this was one of her final appearances on TOTP. It also made me reflect upon the Futureheads' version - despite me voting it very highly in my 2005 singles of the year (link here), it really sound a bit shite next to the original now. Maybe I'm just saying that because the Futureheads' output after that was so weak compared to the first album.

The song brings back great memories for two reasons. Around the time that Ms Bush was on TOTP singing "take my shoes off and throw them in the lake", I was witness to Grant Wickham trying and failing to throw Peter Hamberger's shoes (bizarrely, at the latter's request) from one side of the pond at Coopers' Coborn school in Upminster. For some reaason my mind always harks back to that day.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Things Can Only Get Better

This was the first record I played in 2007.



Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain - Miss Dy-na-mi-tee.mp3

(Actually it's great. Otherwise I would have stopped it).

UOGB website

Sunday, December 31, 2006

More end of year charts

Another personal snapshot. These are the bands I have listened to on iTunes the most in 2006, apparently.

1 Long Blondes
2 The Divine Comedy
3 Sultans of Ping F.C.
4 Radiohead
5 The Cardigans
6 Blur
7 The Sugarcubes
8 Art Brut
8 MJ Hibbett & the Validators
10 Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
11 Kaiser Chiefs
12 Thousand Yard Stare
12 A
14 Coldplay
15 Kate Bush
16 Pizzicato Five
16 Supergrass
16 Salad
16 They Might Be Giants
20 The Clash
20 Fighting Cocks
22 Ned's Atomic Dustbin
22 The Rakes
22 Stereolab
25 Jim's Super Stereoworld
25 Chris T-T
25 Franz Ferdinand
28 The Charlatans
28 Jarvis
28 I'm from Barcelona
28 Pop Will Eat Itself
28 Kenickie
28 Genesis
28 Mystery Jets
28 Keane
36 Pulp
36 Madness
38 Travis
38 Super Furry Animals
38 Mama Shamone
38 Paddy McAloon

Knees Up Mother Brown, Knees Up Mother Brown, under the table, oh it's the sodding Killers and the bleedin' Arctic Monkeys, oh dear

For the second year running I ran a poll on www.kumb.com (West Ham fansite) to vote on the singles and albums of the year. The top 10s were as follows:

SINGLES

1. Killers - When You Were Young
2. Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
3. Amy Winehouse - Rehab
4. Razorlight - America
5. Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down
6. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
7. Kasabian - Empire
8. Strokes - You Only Live Once
9. View - Wasted Little DJs
10. Automatic - Monster

ALBUMS

1. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
2. Killers - Sam's Town
3. Rifles - No Love Lost
4. Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
5. Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out
6. Razorlight - Razorlight
7. Fratellis - Costello Music
8. Kasabian - Empire
9. Young Knives - Voices Of Animals And Men
10. Feeling - Twelve Stops And Home

A lot of the names are perhaps quite predictable but I think the winners of "Punching Above Their Weight" are the Rifles - there's a disproportionate amount of fans among the West Ham faithful. I saw them on the second stage at V and there was a mere scattering of people watching them, but they clearly have a lot of support. Good to see the Young Knives' album up high too, it's one of the genuinely innovative records of the year imho.

And how can a song with Chelsea in the title get so many votes from West Ham fans? I look forward to the Fratellis' next single, a rendition of "Stick Your Blue Flag ..."

Here are the other albums and singles voted for. Some very interesting choices in each top 30 ....

Singles

11. New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream
12. Rifles - Peace and Quiet
13. Art Brut - Nag Nag Nag Nag
14. Bedouin Soundclash - When The Night Feels My Song
15. Hot Chip – Over and Over
16. Midlake - Roscoe
17. Larrikin Love - Happy As Annie
18. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California
19. Primal Scream - Country Girl
20. Nelly Furtado - Promiscous Girl
21. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
22. Muse - Starlight
23. Fratellis - Whistle For The Choir
24. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)
25. Kasabian - Shoot The Runner
26. Shakira - Hips Don't Lie
27. Band of Horses - The Funeral
28. Broken Social Scene - It’s All Gonna Break
29. Concretes - Chosen One
30. David Ford - State Of The Union
31. Dears - Gang of Losers
32. Dirty Pretty Things - Bang Bang You're Dead
33. Jack Penate - Second, Minute Or Hour
34. Jarvis - From Auschwitz To Ipswich
35. Kooks - Naïve
36. Lil Chris - Checkin' It Out
37. Milburn - What You Could Have Won
38. Pigeon Detectives - I Found Out
39. Young Knives - The Decision
40. Lily Allen - LDN
41. Editors - All Sparks
42. Howling Bells - Setting Sun
43. Josh Rouse - Quiet Town
44. Killers - Sam's Town
45. Matisyahu – King Without a Crown
46. Metric - Poster Of A Girl
47. Morrissey - You Have Killed Me
48. Strokes - Electricityscape
49. Voxtrot - Raised by Wolves EP
50. Jet - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
51. Battle - Demons
52. Bromhead's Jacket - Trip To The Golden Arches
53. Guillemots - We're Here
54. Hot Chip - Boys From School
55. Kanye West - Gold Digger
56. Keane - Crystal Ball
57. Killers - Exitlude
58. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow
59. Mary J Blige - Be With You
60. Rifles - Local Boy
61. Silver Jews - Tennessee
62. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion
63. Young Knives - Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)
64. Wolfmother – Dimension
65. Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On
66. Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance
67. Beirut - Postcards from Italy
68. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
69. Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin Down
70. Razorlight – In The Morning
71. Tokyo Police Club - A lesson in Crime EP
72. Angels & Airwaves – The Adventure
73. Cold War Kids - We Used To Vacation
74. Johnny Cash – God’s Gonna Cut You Down
75. Long Blondes - Weekend Without Makeup
76. Maccabees - X Ray
77. Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
78. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - I Am Warm and Powerful
79. Take That - Patience
80. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Warrior
81. Young Knives - She's Attracted To
82. 50 Cent & Mary J Blige - Hate It or Love It (G-Unit remix)
83. Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum
84. Brakes - Cease and Desist
85. Charlatans - Blackened Blue Eyes
86. Holloways - Generator
87. Jarvis Cocker - Cunts Are Running The World
88. TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me
89. Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
90. Long Blondes - Once and Never Again
91. Lostprophets - Can't Catch Tomorrow
92. Pendulum – Slam
93. Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes
94. Rakes - All Too Human
95. Snow Patrol/Martha Wainwright - Set The Fire To The Third Bar
96. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dudley
97. Zutons - Valerie
98. Adequate 7 – Gotta Stay Focused
99. Arctic Monkeys - The View From the Afternoon
100. Automatic – Recover
101. Cansei De Ser Sexy - Music is My Hot Sex
102. Hot Puppies - The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful
103. Jet - Bring It On Back
104. Kasabian - Me Plus One
105. Killers - Bones
106. Sunshine Underground - Commercial Breakdown
107. Wolfmother - Love Train
108. Cansei De Ser Sexy - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above
109. Clearlake - No Kind Of Life
110. Damien Rice - 9 Crimes
111. Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up For Detroit
112. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager Part One
113. Guillemots - Made-Up Lovesong 43
114. Guillemots - Trains to Brazil
115. James Dean Bradfield - An English Gentleman
116. Future Of The Left – When Fingers Become Thumbs
117. Jarvis - Don't Let Him Waste Your Time
118. Kooks - Ooh La
119. Lemonheads - Become the Enemy
120. Lostprophets – Rooftops
121. Maccabees - First Love
122. MJ Hibbett and the Validators - The Lesson Of The Smiths
123. Primal Scream - Country Girl

Albums

11. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
12. Bob Dylan - Modern Times
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
14. Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home
15. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
16. Audioslave - Revelations
17. Morrissey - Ringleader Of The Tormentors
18. Zutons - Tired Of Hanging Around
19. Joanna Newsom - Ys
20. Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth
21. Towers Of London - Blood, Sweat And Towers
22. Islands - Return To The Sea
23. Keane - Under the Iron Sea
24. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
25. Larrikin Love - The Freedom Spark
26. Racontuers - Broken Boy Soldiers
27. Jarvis - Jarvis
28. Milburn - Well, Well, Well
29. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
30. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
31. Hot Chip - The Warning
32. Decemberists - The Crane Wife
33. Beatles - Love
34. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
35. Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther
36. And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - So Divided
37. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
38. Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
39. Lambchop - Damaged
40. Primal Scream - Riot City Blues
41. Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death
42. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
43. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager
44. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad Of The Broken Seas
45. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
46. Guillemots - Through The Window Pane
47. Jet - Shine On
48. TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain
49. Brakes - Beatific Visions
50. Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
51. Placebo - Meds
52. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
53. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
54. Bel Auburn - Lullabies in A&C
55. Bloodhag - Hell Bent for Letters
56. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
57. Bromheads Jacket - Dits To The Communter Belt
58. Bullets And Octane - In The Mouth Of The Young
59. Dirty Rig - Rock Did It
60. Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike
61. Johnny Cash – Personal File
62. Layo & Bushwacka - Feels Closer
63. Like - Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking
64. Lostprophets - Liberation Transmission
65. M Ward - Post War
66. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
67. Mono - You Are There
68. Paul Simon - Surprise
69. Peter, Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
70. Sloan - Never Here the End Of It
71. Tool - 10,000 Days
72. Adequate 7 – Here On Earth
73. Astral Doors - Astralism
74. Dirty Pretty Things - Waterloo To Anywhere
75. DJ Shadow - The Outsider
76. Gnarls Barkley - St Elsewhere
77. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
78. Holloways - So, This Is Great Britain?
79. James Dean Bradfield - The Great Western
80. Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell - Ballad Of The Broken Seas
81. Metric - Live it Out
82. Mogwai - Mr Beast
83. Neil Young - Living with War
84. Pendulum – Hold Your Colour
85. Rum Rebellion - The Ultimate Grog
86. She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge
87. Six Organs of Admittance - Sun Awakens
88. Thermals - The Body The Blood The Machine
89. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
90. Automatic - Not Accepted Anywhere
91. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Etiquette
92. Couse and the Impossible - The World Should Know
93. Hellshock - Shadows of the Afterworld
94. Infadels - We Are Not the Infadels
95. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
96. Knife - Deep Cuts
97. McClusky – McCluskyism
98. Nebula - Apollo
99. Poisonblack - Lust Stained Despair
100. Serena-Maneesh - Serena-Maneesh
101. Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done
102. Stiff Little Fingers - Guitar and Drum
103. Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
104. Albert Hammond Jr - Yours to Keep
105. Boy Kill Boy - Civilian
106. Cat Power - The Greatest
107. Jewdriver - Hail the Jew Dawn!
108. Jolls Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra - Moving Out To The Country
109. MJ Hibbett and the Validators - We Validate!
110. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
111. Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet
112. White Rose Movement - Kick
113. Corinne Bailey Rae
114. Damien Rice - 9
115. Divine Comedy - Victory For The Common Muse
116. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
117. Godsmack - IV
118. J Dilla - Donuts
119. Johnny Cash – One Hundred Highways
120. Mogwai - Zidane Soundtrack
121. My Chemical Romace - Welcome To The Black Parade
122. Oh No! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My!
123. Riot Cop - s/t
124. Trivium - The Crusade
125. Blood Of Christian Children - s/t
126. Brakes - Bad Blood
127. Charlatans - Simpatico
128. Czars - Sorry I Made You Cry
129. Delays - You See Colours
130. Helmet - Monochrome
131. Open - Statues
132. Orson - Bright Idea
133. Scott Matthews- Passing Stranger
134. Seth Lakeman - Freedom Fields
135. Tunng - Comments of the Inner Chorus
136. Archie Bronson Outfit - Derdang Derdang
137. Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio
138. Bert Jansch - Black Swan
139. Chumbawamba - UNchumbawamba
140. Kill Hannah - Until There's Nothing Left Of Us
141. Mohair - Small Talk
142. Oceansize - Everyone Into Position
143. Others - Inward Parts
144. Slayer - Christ Illusion
145. Sunshine Underground - Raise the Alarm
146. Charalambides - A Vintage Burden
147. Dragonforce - Inhuman Rampage
148. Easy Star All Stars - Radiodread
149. Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
150. Josh Rouse - Subtitulo
151. Kanye West - Late Registration
152. Mystery Jets - Making Dens
153. Nick Oliveri and the Mondo Generator - Dead Planet: SonicSlowMotionTrails
154. Akron/Family - Meek Warrior
155. Criminal Damage - s/t
156. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - Fear Is On Our Side
157. Incubus – Light Grenades
158. Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
159. Mark Kozelek - Little Drummer Boy (live)
160. Max Richter - Songs From Before
161. NOFX – Wolves in Wolves' Clothing
162. Ooberman - Carried Away
163. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
164. Bright Eyes - Noise Floor
165. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
166. Embrace - This New Day
167. Ginger - Valor Del Corazon
168. Hot Puppies - Under The Crooked Moon
169. Howling Bells - Howling Bells
170. Malory - Not Here, Not Now
171. Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
172. Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah

Monday, December 25, 2006

The Red Penguin top 100 singles of 2006

1. Art Brut - Nag Nag Nag Nag
Myspace Youtube
If the second album is anything as good as this song, I am going to be quite happy in 2007.




2. Metric - Poster Of A Girl
Myspace Youtube
While most people preferred Monster Hospital, I got much more pleasure from this slow building synth classic.




3. Young Knives - Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)
Myspace Youtube
Nothing more to be said about this band that hasn't been covered already … great songs, great lyrics, great haircuts, great suits …




4. New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream
Myspace Youtube
Another excellent slab of electronica from London town. The video made me appreciate bright colours and ice cream like never before.




5. Long Blondes - Weekend Without Makeup
Myspace Youtube
Obvious comparisons to Pulp and Blondie continue but the debut album definitely didn't disappoint.




6. Charlatans - Blackened Blue Eyes
Myspace Youtube
Always found them consistent between the very very good and very mundane. This was a return to form.




7. Rakes - All Too Human
Myspace Youtube
Best release yet from the four unfeasably skinny bastards.




8. Hot Puppies - The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful
Myspace Youtube
Homage to Mariella Frostrup from the new Catatonia-with-theremins.




9. Cansei De Ser Sexy - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above
Myspace Youtube
Impossible to leave this out of the top ten.




10. MJ Hibbett and the Validators - The Lesson Of The Smiths
Myspace Youtube
Morrissey, Marr and Barlow changed my life … one of the best singer songwriters playing to ridiculously small venues everywhere. Possibly the first song ever to use the phrase "cliques of Marxo-Anarchistic sods". Go and see them while you still can.




11. Automatic - Recover
Myspace Youtube
I don't watch tons of music videos but sometimes, just sometimes, one comes along which makes you appreciate how great the song is. Of course you had to be around in the 70s to know what I mean.




12. White Rose Movement - Girls In The Back
Myspace Youtube
More 80s influenced electronic music - there was a lot of it around this year.




13. Couse and the Impossible - A Celebration
Myspace
Former A House frontman Dave Couse making his best music for years and years. Still reads a lot of his lyrics on stage out of a book!




14. Feeling - Fill My Little World
Myspace Youtube
As much as you want to hate a band like this, you can't deny they write great tunes.




15. Mystery Jets - Diamonds In The Dark
Myspace Youtube
Still enjoying the folk/prog indie from one of the more unusual bands around at the moment.




16. Fields - If You Fail We All Fail
Myspace Youtube
Other people may interpret this differently but to me this sounds like the perfect fusion of space-rock and two vocalists who sound uncannily like the two singers out of Deacon Blue.




17. Divine Comedy - Lady Of A Certain Age
Myspace Youtube
This is Neil Hannon doing the thing he does best - wry observations on parts of life that most of us will just have to take his word on.




18. WigWam - WigWam
Myspace Youtube
Not sure why I liked this record so much, perhaps it was the Trigger Happy TV style video? Or maybe the pictures of the ageless Betty Boo on their Myspace?




19. Joan as Police Woman - Christobel
Myspace Youtube
Reminiscent of the Cure circa 10.15 Saturday Night, without the bad hair.




20. Grates - 19-20-20
Myspace Youtube
Great indie pop from female-fronted Australian trio.




21. Mama Shamone - Over
Myspace
This unsigned band should be really big in 2007 if they ever manage to gig somewhere other than Hoxton. Dirty electronic punk with a crazy lead singer.




22. Human Knives - She's Attracted To
Myspace
This slot would have been occupied by the original until I heard this fantastic 1980s Speak And Spell cover. More in 2007 please!




23. Modern - Industry
Myspace Youtube
Not a great year for The Modern - this is the song that sold enough to have broken them as a top 20 act - instead, odd buying patterns (from the band's family it's believed) made the song ineligible, dumped from their label and now trying to relaunch themselves under a new name.




24. Sohodolls - Stripper
Myspace Youtube
More electro punk, and a great performance supporting My Life Story at the Astoria earlier this month.




25. Blood Arm - Suspicious Character
Myspace Youtube
Placed all the higher for my three year old son who has been singing "I like spider girls, and spider girls like me!" all year.




26. Celeste - Nothing In The Sky (With Diamonds)
Myspace
Last self-release from this unsigned Romford band who split up after about 8 years shortly afterwards.




27. Long Blondes - Once And Never Again
Myspace Youtube
The band recorded an excellent acoustic version of this on 6 Music earlier this year which I prefer to the original.




28. Others - The Truth That Hurts
Myspace Youtube
I know everyone hates them because of Dominic Masters' "frank opinions on everything", but their second album showed that they're still capable writing excellent songs, and still are a joy to watch live.




29. Wojtek Godzisz - December Will Be Magic Again
Myspace
It's not as good as last year's token indie Kate Bush cover, but it's still a great song from the former Symposium member. Maybe because Kate Bush wrote it, but you can't hold that against him.




30. Horrors - Count In Fives
Myspace Youtube
Excellent organ-driven rock - and video with sign-language so we can all enjoy the lyrics - from rightly-hyped Southend band.




31. iDou - Perfect Hands For Basketball
Myspace
Carter USM-esque electronic punk featuring ex-Carter USM guitarist! Highly recommended if you enjoyed their 90s output.




32. Cardigans - Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)
Myspace Youtube
Single release from last year's excellent Super Extra Gravity.




33. Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla
Myspace Youtube
The best of a number of good Icelandic bands at the moment - a big, spacey orchestra-driven track.




34. Sugababes - Easy
Myspace Youtube
I don't care if it's the Sugababes, it's still going in. And I certainly don't have eye burn from watching their videos too much either …




35. Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
Myspace Youtube
I really really didn't want to even listen to a song with Chelsea in the title, let alone enjoy it. But once it got hold of me I just couldn't let go!




36. Mystery Jets - The Boy Who Ran Away
Myspace Youtube
More of the same from the Mystery Jets - more of a psychadelic 60s feel to this one.




37. Muse - Starlight
Myspace Youtube
Just when I thought I'd outgrown this band (great though their songs are), this one really grew and grew on me.




38. Peter, Bjorn and John with Victoria Bergstrom - Young Folks
Myspace Youtube
Whistling lo-fi fun from Stockholm.




39. Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
Myspace Youtube
More fantastic orchestral pop rekindling my love of C86.




40. Lostprophets - Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)
Myspace Youtube
Best track of the year from the almost-metal band who are still writing great pop songs.




41. Snow Patrol - You're All I Have
Myspace Youtube
Really not a major fan of this band but I just can't resist songs like this.




42. Automatic - Monster
Myspace Youtube
Not a bad song to have on in the car when you're driving your kids around Loch Ness in the summer, but the joke soon wore pretty thin …




43. Jarvis - I Will Kill Again
Myspace Youtube
Jarvis's album has been a real grower on me, no tracks particularly standout but this is typical of the black humour throughout it.




44. Divine Comedy - To Die A Virgin
Myspace Youtube
First release from the excellent Victory For The Comic Muse - a real return to form for the band.




45. Viva Voce - Lesson No 1
Myspace
Pyschedelic American indie not too unlike the Breeders.




46. Larrikin Love - Happy As Annie
Myspace Youtube
Reminds me of a more fun version of the Levellers, or certainly a cleaner version with less dogs on strings.




47. Nurse Who Loved Me - I'll Pretend I'll Pretend
Myspace Youtube
Big big sounding space rock from this Canvey band's debut album.




48. iLiKETRAiNS - Terra Nova
Myspace Youtube
Never really wanted to hear this band after seeing the way they spell their name and reading the rave reviews on Drowned in Sound. Changed my mind when I saw the excellent puppet video re-enacting Captain Scott's doomed march to the South Pole.




49. Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames - Signal Noise
Myspace
Leeds band who may be onto bigger and better things next year. Signed to ¡Forward, Russia!'s label Dance To The Radio.




50. Bluetones - My Neighbour's House
Myspace Youtube
Britpop lives! Hounslow's finest still alike and kicking on Cooking Vinyl. Shut your eyes and it's 1995 again.




51. Vatican DC - Wow
Myspace Youtube
More Britpop hangovers - guitarist Chris Gentry was in the underrated and awesome Menswe@r.




52. Stereolab - Excursions Into "Oh, A-Oh"
Myspace Youtube
Nothing's changed in 15 years - still making excellent space-age loungecore with ridiculous titles.




53. Albert Hammond Jr - 101
Myspace Youtube
This is what I used to like about the Strokes when they first came out - uncomplicated, easy on the ear, no trouble to anyone!




54. Spinto Band - Oh Mandy
Myspace Youtube
Mandy obviously being short for Mandolins, which aren't in short supply on this track.




55. Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen
Myspace Youtube
Best track on the second album, and a perfect accompaniment to Alex Kapranos's cookbook.




56. LT United - We Are The Winners
Myspace Youtube
Lithuanian pop/folk sung by Alexei Sayle's extended family? Forget Lordi, these were the real stars of Eurovision.




57. Be Your Own Pet - Adventure
Myspace Youtube
Great song, video and performance at Reading, although a bit too much yellow for my eyes. Extra marks for releasing a song longer than one minute in length.




58. Fields - Song From The Fields
Myspace Youtube
Good song turned into a great song by an acoustic version at Fuji Rocks - just voices, guitars and what looked like a Fisher Price xylophone.




59. A-Ha - Analogue
Myspace Youtube
I'm really glad I accidently tune into other radio stations from time to time (although I'm not trying to make a habit of it).




60. Pink Grease - Carlights
Myspace Youtube
Still going strong (ish) and still flying the flag for good indie glam rock.




61. Justice vs Simian - We Are Your Friends
Myspace Youtube
Seems to have been knocking around a long time, a good remix of another long lost band.




62. S*M*A*S*H - All By Myself
Myspace
Great to see the (very low key) return of this excellent NWONW (whatever that meant) band.




63. Ooberman - Crashing Ellipticals
Myspace
Surprise album of new material released a few years after they split. In their own words - glorious orchestral pop - and who am I to argue?




64. Howling Bells - Low Happening
Myspace Youtube
Stumbled over this lot (not literally) when I was walking round the little tents at Reading.




65. Crimea - Lottery Winners On Acid
Myspace Youtube
Number 2 in the first Post-Peel Festive 50, and re-released this year. For such an accolade it's a surprisingly normal sounding song.




66. Polysics - Electric Surfin' Go Go
Myspace Youtube
Wouldn't be a complete top 100 without some Japanese electronic punk somewhere.




67. Boy Kill Boy - Suzie
Myspace Youtube
Can't resist singalong choruses like this either. From E11, Upton Park's nearest band in the list!




68. Kasabian - Empire
Myspace Youtube
Surprisingly good first single from the second album - the spirit of Big Country is alive and well.




69. Data Panik - Rulers and the States
Myspace
The reformed Bis who released a few good singles but couldn't keep it going to get the album out before they split once again. This is an example of what we're all missing.




70. ¡Forward, Russia! - Twelve
Myspace Youtube
Still enjoy seeing them live much more than listening to the recorded output but this is a good song all the same.




71. Subliminal Girls - Burn Koko
Myspace Youtube
Definitely a band to watch for 2007, and a sentiment I can easily agree with.




72. Upper Room - All Over This Town
Myspace Youtube
Great melodic pop/rock from a band which are sadly history already.




73. Dirty Pretty Things - Wondering
Myspace Youtube
Most enjoyable chunk of music yet from the Libertines' spin offs, sounding not unlike mid-90s Blur on this one.




74. Knife - Silent Shout
Myspace Youtube
Many years ago I was a big fan of Jean-Michel Jarre. That's obviously coming back to haunt me now.




75. Hybrasil - When I'm Yawning
Myspace Youtube
Debut album from the Irish electronic indie pop quintet due out sometime next year.




76. Frank and Walters - Miles and Miles
Myspace Youtube
Cork's (second) finest still haven't given it up - they've been churning out indie pop ballads like this for 15 years now.




77. Jim Noir - Key Of C
Myspace Youtube
Not the one from the advert during the World Cup.




78. I'm From Barcelona - We're From Barcelona
Myspace Youtube
Along with the Cardigans, the second band from Jönköping in Sweden in the list. Unlike the other bands, there's 27 of them playing 60s lounge-tinged pop.




79. Keane - A Bad Dream
Myspace Youtube
Best song for me on Crazy Tim's second album.




80. Sparks - Perfume
Myspace Youtube
100 years after their first song and they're still churning out good music.




81. Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
Myspace Youtube
This year's token "I really don't like this kind of music normally but this one's pretty good" track.




82. Simple Kid - Serotonin
Myspace Youtube
First track from the underrated second album, SK2.




83. controller.controller - PF
Myspace Youtube
Know very little about this band from Toronto, other than that they seem to have split up already …




84. Futureheads - Worry About It Later
Myspace Youtube
The second album has been a real disappointment to me after the obvious highs of the first one. This is about as good as it gets.




85. Hot Club de Paris - sometimesitsbetter nottostickbitsofeachother ineachother foreachother
Myspace Youtube
"Join the Hot Club de Paris Mailing List so we can spam you with a volume of information similar to the ludicrous amount of spam we get in our myspace comments". Well, I had to sign up after that, I'm just too curious for my own good …




86. Rifles - Repeated Offender
Myspace Youtube
It's the new Jam … oh yes it is!




87. Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
Myspace Youtube
Good song but not as good as the NME think they are or - according to someone I know who's interviewed - nowhere near as good as *they* think they are.




88. Beck - Cell Phone's Dead
Myspace Youtube
It's an obvious Primal Scream rip off and it's nowhere nearer as good as what he was doing 5 or 6 years ago, but here we all are, still in my top 100.




89. Flaming Lips - Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Myspace Youtube
Seems like they've been going for years now.




90. Milk Kan - I'm Going With You
Myspace
South London anti-folk duo, full of clever lyrics despite their unfortunate location.




91. Belle and Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
Myspace Youtube
Most notable for introducing the word "throwat" to the English language.




92. Kooks - Ooh La
Myspace Youtube
Another song I hated at first but grew on me as the year went by.




93. Protocol - Where's The Pleasure?
Myspace Youtube
Another band owing more than a little bit to Blondie - in this case, Atomic. And another band who split in 2006.




94. Supergrass - Fin
Myspace
Barely scraping the UK charts at no 111, I thought this might have been the last release, but there is a new album coming out in 2007.




95. Rapture - Whoo! Alright Yeah … Uh Huh (People Don't Dance No More)
Myspace Youtube
More funky NYC cowbells (or that's what it sounds like to me).




96. Imogen Heap - Headlock
Myspace Youtube
Number of Myspace friends: 259,854 and counting. Not bad for a girl from Romford.




97. Klaxons - Golden Skans
Myspace Youtube
I've no idea what new rave is but this is good enough to tell me that 2007 will be a good year for them.




98. Graham Coxon - Standing On My Own Again
Myspace Youtube
That's enough reasonable solo albums, can you now go back and fix Blur please?




99. Little Man Tate - Man I Hate Your Band
Myspace Youtube
Not everything that came out of Sheffield this year was as boring as the Arctic Monkeys.




100. Grand Paradiso - I Was Running
Myspace
A slab of Americana from Nuremburg? You have to admit to being a bit curious, surely!

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Wiz RIP

I was very sad to hear this news.

I'm pretty sure I've seen them twice - I can definitely remember a gig they did at Hollywood's in Romford (horrible "disco" behind the railway station recently and thankfully reduced to rubble by bulldozers) and I think I saw them supporting PWEI at Brixton. I certainly bought a MC4 T-shirt at that gig.

By way of my own tribute I have put up two songs for your listening pleasure.
They're the first two of MC4's five occasions when they bothered the charts - Words That Say reached no 66 in October 1991 and Stop made it to the dizzy heights of 36 the following February.

Mega City Four - Words That Say.mp3
Mega City Four - Stop.mp3

Condolences website
Mega City 4 Myspace (unofficial)
Wiz tribute Myspace

My Life Story at the Astoria

This might be the last time they play live. I interviewed Jake Shillingford before the show and he didn't seem to know if they would come back for a third reunion show (the first was next door at the Mean Fiddler in May), and he's got two albums coming out next year, one with current band Exileinside and a solo album, so he's got plenty to keep him busy at the moment.

Photos of My Life Story:




Photos of main support act Sohodolls:




Video I took of Girl A, Girl B, Boy C (I was rather near the front for this one):



Note: this band should really not be confused with some horrible American child punk outfit doing the rounds with plenty of mobile phone moshpit videos on Youtube (ugh). If necessary, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_Story to Polyfilla in the holes in your musical knowledge.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

A big "Later with Jools Holland" dump

If you'll pardon the expression.

I thought Thom Yorke's acoustic effort was great, Tom Chaplin is looking great in his new persona as a hairy madman, and RHCP were slightly interested, but only slightly.



Thom Yorke - The Clock (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3



Keane - A Bad Dream (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3
Keane - Leaving So Soon (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3
Keane - Crystal Ball (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3



Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh) (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3



Klaxons - Golden Skans (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3
Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Later With Jools Holland 01-12-2006).mp3



Air Traffic - Just Abuse Me (Later With Jools Holland 24-11-2006).mp3
Air Traffic - Charlotte (Later With Jools Holland 24-11-2006).mp3

More of my stuff

• Red Penguin bandphotos
• Brentwood's Only Alternative
• My Audioscrobbler stats
• Gigs I Can Remember

Other good stuff to read

• Good Weather For Airstrikes
• Like Flies On Sherbert
• No Rock & Roll Fun
• Obscure Sound
• Silence Is A Rhythm Too
• Take Your Medicine
• The Torture Garden
• Unarocks
• Whatever's Left

Previous Posts

• Dan le Sac, Scroobius Pip and I Shouted Gun
• Sohodolls in Southend
• Want to work for MTV?
• Brit Awards - the list of winners in full
• The f***ing Brits
• Dude, Garry Kasparov is left-handed!
• The Bluetones live
• Kate Bush ruined my Saturday night
• Things Can Only Get Better
• More end of year charts

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