a boxing day stroll in queenswood..

lists lists lists lists- -top ten albums of the year- -lists lists lists lists

Ten albums i have enjoyed this year. Not in any particular order, and not necessarily ones i've played lots but ten that i've enjoyed listening to..

ARCTIC MONKEYS - AM
This has grown a little on me. I still maintain that it somehow lacks the bark and bite of their first 2 but definitely with more of a groove to it. Becoming successful is a challenge to bands in terms of where they go next. You've got to say that whilst you might not like the direction they're going in, they're going there in style.

DAFT PUNK - RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES
A bit of catnip here. Lots of hype to this cd. But it has to be said, this was one of the most played cd's in our car stereo this summer. Upfront cheesiness, and disco disco disco, but y'know y'all shouldn't be too queasy bout cheesy. An easy listen and brought back memories of the CFunk days from Leicester.
And I could listen to a whole album of that german bloke going on about his synth and sleeping in cars.

LAURA VEIRS - WARP AND WEFT
I've already mentioned this one. Straight-ish americana but well put together and a good listen all the way through, which stays slightly one step ahead of you.

NILS FRAHM - SPACES
A fairly recent release. Some 'pieces' recorded live. Of all the cd's on this list, this is the one that most relaxes me. I find that I come to the end of listening to this in a bit of a spaced out frame of mind. Polar opposite to the Daft Punk, which is all about toe tapping. This is all about relaxing in some comfortable slippers and soothing away the troubles of the working day.

JOHN HOPKINS - IMMUNITY
Okay, this one was obvious for anyone who's had a conversation with me about music this year. It's the most successful unplanned purchase i've had. It's also what I've been hoping to find every time i stray into the shelves marked dance/electronic. A coherent piece of music that has relaxed nils frahm type moments but also click click faster paced stuff. If I was only allowed one of these CD's to put in a time capsule marked 2013 then THIS WOULD BE THE ONE.

JOHN GRANT - PALE GREEN GHOSTS
I came quite late to this cd. An interesting development from his previous one. The first few tunes are really impressive as are the later tunes. In places it goes away from the squelchy electronic sound back to the sounds of the previous CD, but luckily that isn't a bad thing. Not too sure about the sax solo, though. Fleet Foxes didn't get away with it and neither does John Grant.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND - MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY
I really liked this one. Again it's only something I came to fairly late on, but it's had a lot of play in the kitchen. And it doesn't have a 'blake's got a new face' irritant on it, which helps.

MATTHEW E WHITE - BIG INNER
Not something I've played a lot, but I remember enjoying it right back at the start of the year. It's also one of the few set's that i managed to see in full at this year's Latitude. A tight set, might i say? Along as you don't snigger. Warm and groovy.

NEON NEON - PRAXIS MAKES PERFECT
I always want to like Gruff Rhys' stuff, but somehow I don't quite manage it. This, I did enjoy. Great design for the artwork too. One from earlier in the year. A set I would have liked to have seen at Latitude but somehow it didn't come together.

STEVE MASON - MONKEY MINDS IN THE DEVIL TIME
Why has this list become all about Latitude? Don't know but this is someone I did manage to catch at Latitude. He explained his thinking behind some of the tunes and played well. This is a really varied collection of tunes, different styles and spoken interludes. Angry socially aware stuff, as I picked up from his between song banter at the festival.

So, that's my ten for 2013. Cheers.

bridge over the river wye (remastered HQ), with councillors and camera crew extras.

top to toe in tailbacks...

saints losing three on the bounce, england getting whupped at cricket.....it's enough to get a brother down....

the november 'classic'

Gave; 'Once' by the cast of the film.
Received; 'The Boatman's Call' by Nick Cave.

Nick Cave. I haven't ever bought a Nick Cave CD so Al was on safe territory here with this month's classic. No, tell a lie i bought a 'best of' once but I haven't listened to it yet.

This is from the mid nineties and according to the notes in the cd case it came out after the Murder Ballards album. Of the bits and pieces of Nick Cave's music that i've heard it's been the bad motherfucker stagger lee type tunes that I've liked the best. You know, all that red right hand prophet of doom stuff.

The Boatman's Call is a much more straight set of music. Pared back arrangements and more honest, plaintive themes in the lyrics. A couple of really nice tunes but I think it might have worked a bit better as an EP, I found it went along a little too far in the same direction, which seemed to be that of a sad chap feeling sad. I'm into a bit of morose noodling as much as the next man but I think this cd is quite a hard listen at times. The best tunes are in the first half of the cd. Brompton Oratory, I enjoyed, as I did the first tune.

If it had been more of the bad mother fucking bullets in his mother fucking head shenanigans then this would have been 8 maybe 9 out of 10.

As it is....... 6.

pictures in the post....prepping the 2013 compo packages

Has it come to this? Using a tin of kidney beans to reveal numbers on a scratchie..

a screengrab from an old nz video

Guessing the random sports trivia on speights bottle caps with Chris Bonser and Jane. I think this was somewhere near Queenstown.

the angry young artists from the hereford streets.....go ceramic

One piece in a series of 4. Ltd. ed.

Signed by the artist, bitches.

The cat's pyjamas....Why, what did you think it was?.....potty mind.

End of year compilation time

Starting to prepare a few ideas for this year's compo.

Another month left for tunes to impress me before i hit burn.

one november night in the muesli belt

get the yellow forms by the phone, tony...it's friday again

the october 'classic'

Gave; 'Mechanical Animals' by Marilyn Manson (in my defence, i don't actually think it's a classic but AP was curious for a taste of the Manson oeuvre).
Received; 'Dubnobasswithmyheadman' by Underworld.

An innovation in the classic monthly series; having the album itself embedded in the post..

So click play and enjoy, and i do mean enjoy.

This is perhaps the best cd so far in the classic selection that Al has dispatched my way. It's dancey but not too obviously, it's a bit psychedelic, a bit techno. It runs through fairly seamlessly and doesn't seem to have aged.

I bought the Karl Hyde cd that came out this year. To be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment. THIS month's classic is what i was hoping for when I bought the Karl Hyde cd. I don't own any other Underworld apart from the King of Snake CD single. This is the motherlode, and not a born slippy in sight.

A little bit Alabama 3 at the start, a touch of KLF at points. Ah I don't know enough techno to be able to compare it to other things. Good though.

9/10 for this month's offering. Two more months to go...is this the high water mark?  

the rain falls down on a humdrum town

rainy stroll up hergest ridge.

fruity

how dare the premier ignore my invitations, he'll have to go.

the successful finish to 5 days of gym 

ascaris with the big man

for thoughts on mortality and vanity vinyl

then home to the wife 

with belgian bun and a package waiting

a forgotten purchase

of a bundled live cd 

bought with tickets and pre-order

three discs of hopeful melancholy

and no sign of 'wiiith love'

going over to prycer's house....

Top ten mind-challenging programmes/films/games i have watched at Prycer Towers..

[in reverse order]

10. Coupon collecting.

9. Honey Boo

8. The Last of Us

but...she gave him the watch...and escaped the house....and now she's....dead?

7. Hannibal

because you can't beat bodies impaled on antlers while you sip espresso

6. Storage Wars.

faux hawk! green mile!

5. The Valleys.

chidgey's mint an all that, budd.

4. Housewives of ____

3. Housewives of [somewhere else]

2. Utopia

bleak stuff.....

1. X-Factor

proper bleak....but it did come with kebab and beer...

HUT LOVE IS BRKN

Noticed on our bill at pizza hut tonight... 'HUT LOVE IS BRKN'

[WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?]

little feet big trainers

locks garage, a hereford institution

an nz classic. s k i p b o.

500 miles, well I wouldn't want to drive 500 more.

This weekend, in the space of 36 hours, we drove about 500 miles.

Hereford to Preston.

Preston to High Wycombe.

High Wycombe to Hereford.

Kn to the ackered.

croony ladies wearing cardboard sleeves

Three recent purchases to talk about. Three that have somehow bypassed the 'i really must play these someday' pile and actually managed to get some airtime on the kitchen stereo.

Daughter and London Grammar are two hypey bands, both with Florence Welch style croony ladies as singers. This kind of thing tends to set my teeth on edge a bit and i was a bit suspicious about them, you might even say set against them from the start. Give them a bit of a chance though and they are definitely growers. The LG cd in particular is well thought out as a whole album listening experience.

The pick of these three cd's, though, has to be the Laura Veirs. I found this to be really well produced, a really open feel to it. I don't normally notice production but in this case it really suits the music. A landscape of tunes to sit in your rocking chair and enjoy. A little bit indie, a little bit americana, a little bit folky. And the songwriting is never quite predictable, very easy to listen to but without ever being sure which way its going next. Slap it in a cardboard sleeve......release it on Bella Union..... aaaaaaaaand i'm spent.

Into the top ten cd's of the year for Ms. Veirs.

some fine images from this year's green man, particularly at 1.15mins. [music by villagers]

how breaking bad won't end

[-----thanks-----]