The year in numbers!

Hi guys! As it’s the end of they year, I thought I’d just do a little recap and give you a run down of my top flavours of the year! There has been a vast amount of music released this year, and lots for us to look forward to in 2011! I found this year had a particularly strong crop of musical endowment, and had to miss out certain albums that I was a big fan of, such as Vampire Weekend’s Contra, Jamiroquai’s Rock Dust Light Star, Train Save Me San Francisco and the return of the K.O.L. and the Manic Street Preachers! Here are my top 5 albums of 2010 …

5. Example – Won’t Go Quietly. This is the UK born rappers second studio release, and is a surprise entry into my top albums of the year. I was rather sceptical when I first heard the title track ‘Won’t Go Quietly’, however after really giving it a chance this pop-rap fusion album has really won me over! The singles ‘Kick starts’ and ’Last ones Standing’ are a testament to just how good this album is. I tend to rate albums, mainly, by their longevity, or durability, and it is so often the case that after a few weeks I get bored and start searching for something new. However this is an album that I can listen to over and over and can’t get tired of! Its quirky lyrics and humorous views of society are what make this stand out as one of my fave albums of the year.

 

4. Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St. This is a re-released of the Stones classic 1972 album. The reason this has made my top 5 is for a similar reason to Example. When an album so good that it can be re-released almost 40 years later and still sound as original and ground breaking you can’t simply ignore it! This is a fantastic piece of musical quality, and with the 10 new tracks added, it was a must hear all round!

3. Darwin Deez (Self titled). This is a really different, interesting album that once again has all the makings of being able to endure the music marathon. I love this album, with all of its socio-political quips, and use of deep metaphors it really stands out as one of the most original pieces of indie of the year. Tracks such as ‘Radar Detector’ and ‘The Bomb Song’ are real frontrunners. If you haven’t heard it yet… get it now!

2. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It was a really for me to separate this and what I have chosen as my top album. The only real difference is that I’ve seen my first choice performed live! (…not to give it away..) Other than that they are really un-separable. This is by far the best commercial Hip-Hop album of the year. Kanye’s tuning of his emotional turmoil through his attachment to music is really unique in this genre. But don’t let that fool you, he has lost non of his swagger! This is an completely integrated, rounded album which will not disappoint! Seeing ‘All of the Lights’ and ‘Devil in a New Dress’ starring as my top picks.

1. The Courteeners – Falcon. Narrowly pipping Kanye, this album is my pick of the year! I am an unrepentant Courteeners addict, and seeing them live has really made my year! This album released earlier in 2010 is a blistering follow-up to their first release ‘St. Jude’, and is a shining light to those artists who simply can’t make second albums. More emotionally grounded, this album is of slightly higher production value than the first, and focuses more on Liam Frays love than his life. ‘The Opener’, ‘Take Over The World’, ‘Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips’… this whole album oozes class, and fits plushly into an already polished live set! Stocking filler?? Yes Please!!   

Well those are my top albums of the year! If you disagree that’s great, leave me a comment and let me know what you’d have done differently!

Just to finish off, I’m very much looking forward to 2011’s new musical adventure! Here are a few to look forward to….

White Lies – Ritual. The first single off this album is already out and to be honest, I already love ‘Bigger Than Us’!

Chapel club – Palace. Once again, the first single ‘All The Eastern Girls’ from this UK based indie group is promising big things! I’m really excited to hear the album…

Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding. A new group for Liam Gallagher, (Noel-less) already sounds electrifying. Expect BIG things!

Dr. Dre – Detox. The long awaited return of Dre is drawing close… If the album is anything on his others, I’m excited. ‘Kush’ is the first single.

The Wombats – Proudly Present: This Modern Glitch. I still love the Wombats fun outlook, and amusing lyrics, lets hope the album is a cracker! (… the first single doesn’t disappoint!)

That’s it from me! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Hope you get everything you want, I know I will…. The Killers are reuniting in 2011!!

Cheers guys Tx

The Kings of The New Road

Something a little different for you!

This week I had the opportunity to do something I know my friend Freya will be madly jealous of, and something I was absolutely buzzing about! I was in Leeds 02 Academy for what I’m going to go out on a limb for, and say was probably one of the top 3 live acts of the past 5 years… The Courteeners!

I will, as always, be completely open about this, and say I am a huge Courteeners fan, and have been since I first heard ‘Kimberly’ one of the first releases by the Manchester band in late 2007. The raw sound, socio-political lyrics and fierce delivery shone a bright spotlight on this talented lot, no one more so than the incredibly talented lead singer Liam Fray.

 The lead up to the gig itself was started out badly, as driving from Manchester with my mate Phil became problematic as he had no idea where he was going, and almost took us to Birmingham- I was not going to miss this gig.. but luckily we made it for the end of the support act. (Miles Kane provided the support, and from what we caught it was really quite good.) However it was the main spectacle that had driven the 02 to be Sold Out, and the eager crowd certainly weren’t about to be disappointed!

The Courteeners are still something of a ‘cult’ band. Even after two widely successful albums, the four piece have done the almost unthinkable, and retained their cool status while still becoming fairly mainstream. This, it would appear, is part of the reason why they still manage to pack out arenas with ‘real’ fans. Fans who have been there from the beginning and know every word to all of their songs (culminating in Fray giving a shout out to an audience member who was seeing them for the 50^th time!! Now that’s dedication, if only I had the money….) This was however my 3^rd time seeing the lads tear it up, and I still get the same buzz, of electricity that hums from every inch of the venue as the tension builds before the Courteeners finally took the stage!

The shows seem to get better and more polished every time I see them, and this was no exception. As the crowd went mental, the lads started with ‘The Opener’, an obvious choice to start the show, but nonetheless one of their headline tracks for their 2010 release Falcon. What I feel sets this band apart from the rest at the minute, is their real appreciation of the crowd, and visa versa. You can almost feel them drawing on the energy in the room and giving it back twice as hard.

I mentioned ‘Kimberly’ as one of the originals, and this was the third track of the set. The band have defiantly not lost their love for their own music, and certainly know what the fans react best to, expertly mixing the new and old tracks. ‘Cavorting’ (a personal favourite of mine, and a track defiantly worthy of a mention!) from the 2007 release St. Jude came next. The admiration of the crowd was palpable, as the lads maintained the high tempo with ‘Cross my heart & hope to fly’ and the energy hit critical.

One of my favourite things about the Mancunians is their appreciation of not only the heavy hitting tracks, but also the subtlety that can be gained by a really top melody.  Here the lads changed up the pace and brought out ‘Lullaby’ a beautiful melodic number, which shows off Liam’s sensitive side, and emphasised this intricate relationship.

Soon after we were hit with a tirade of Courteeners best bits, seeing ‘Scratch your name upon my lips’, ‘Sycophant’, ‘Good times are calling’, ‘Bide your time’ followed by ‘Take over the world’! Thoroughly breathless and already losing my voice it was as if the lads could do no wrong, and the crowds buzz simply increased as the lads lapped up our appreciation.

The gig flew by, and it felt as if time had sped up as all of a sudden we were heading for the exits. But not before the show was completed, with what I can only describe as sheer insanity. The final two songs were (in my opinion) the Courteeners best pieces of music, and as instructed by a buzzing Liam we nearly took “the f***ing roof off”!  ‘Not Nineteen forever’ send the crowd into a frenzy in which I found myself basically fighting my way even closer than I already was to the front, simply to be as involved as humanly possible. The track is, put simply, an incredible all round piece of music. Teasing and toying with the crowd, with the subtle nuances of the lyrics culminating in a huge chorus, it is probably my favourite song of the last 3 years! (…with the possible exception of The Killers ‘When you where young’.)

Once this tsunami of awesome indie has finally subsided, the lads followed up (and finished) with ‘What Took you so long?’. This has been the final track all 3 times I’ve seen them, and I really can’t think of a better end to a Courteeners show! Once again bringing the house down around them, and causing chaos to ensue throughout the crowd (this may have been a slightly tunnel visioned version of events… but in the middle of all that mayhem it was quite hard to consider what was happening towards the rear.)

Over all this was a quality gig… and the Courteeners don’t disappoint when it comes to their live shows! With a fantastic flow, the lads seamlessly moved from one track to the next, vibeing off the crowds reactions and intense engagement. After ‘Not Nineteen forever’ Liam commented that ‘No other band in the UK right now’ get the sort of reaction they got to their biggest tunes. With so many fantastic tracks, and a completely dedicated fan base it’s hard to see how any other band could get close! If you ever only take one thing from my blogs, let it be this: if you get the chance, GO AND SEE THE COURTEENERS!!

Cheers for reading!! Leave me a comment let me know what you think!
Tx

                    

Tracklist 08/12/2010

(1)The Opener

(2) Will it be this way forever?

(3) Acrylic

(4) Cavorting

(5) Cross my heart & hope to fly

(6) Lullaby

(7) Please don’t

(8) Scratch your name upon my lips

(9) Sycophant

(10) Good times are calling

(11) Bide your time

(12) Take over the world

(13) Fallowfield Hillbilly

(14) No you didn’t, no you don’t

(15) Swear Down

(16) The rest of the world has gone home

(17) You overdid it doll

(18) Not nineteen forever

(19) What took you so long?