Catching Up & Keeping Up

Time seems to have come at a premium of late, so these entries become more comprehensive as they arrive more sporadically.

There's a lot to squeeze in in so little time, and while many a decade-end list descends, here I am still lurking in the depths of the blogosphere relaying my thoughts to all & onedry...

So we started with an attempt to write an entry per album, then it became 4 albums per entry. Now, it's any number of albums I can squeeze in covering broadly, something of a genre..

So, as I belatedly left Britpop behind to delve into more Americana towards the end of the 90's, this last decade has provided me with numerous highlights of the kind...








Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Bound to crop up on many a list. A landmark album for band and industry, famously paid for twice over by the Warner Group. If this isn't album of the decade, film of the decade is it's acompaniment, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart". Especially so with all the extras on the two-disc edition.

Elvis Perkins In Dearland - Elvis Perkins In Dearland
First album by Elvis Perkins was a stripped back morbid affair. And brilliant for it. When touring that record though, Perkins found his band 'Dearland' and transformed a lot of those songs into something new. This record then followed, the first of hopefully many with 'Dearland'. Still featuring some deep & dark lyrics, it's an upbeat and more optimistic record thanks to the joyous sound of the band around him.

Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
When working in Amsterdam, I had one CD with me for one week where my hard drive went bust. It was an Uncut compilation featuring 'The Funeral' and I had no choice but to use that for my aural pleasure. After about 3 days, I found myself returning to 'The Funeral' on repeat. Went home, found the album and that was that, a new band to love.

The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers
Which album to choose from the Felice family? All have their own merits and at times have sat atop my list of favourites, but the second takes the title. Ploughing a more barroom atmosphere (as opposed to the bottom of the garden, shed atmosphere of Tonight At The Arizona) and at times New Orleans sound, this album initially took me by surprise and still floors me today.



The Decemberists - Picaresque
Always takes me back to a flat in Holloway where 'Mariner's Revenge Song' was first played to me. Then 'Eli The Barrow Boy'. Much like Band Of Horses, went home, found album and never looked back. Subsequent works have been just as impressive but this one remains my favourite, mainly for the aforementioned songs.

Whiskeytown - Pneumonia
Although recorded before Heartbreaker in 1999, it wasn't released until 2001 and is the sound of a band (or duo & alumni) having fun creating their best work as a fine swansong for the much-revered, ever-changing band, headed up by Ryan Adams & Caitlin Cary.

The Tailors - Come Dig Me Up
Out as recently as last week, nothing's too late to be a contender. Move over Uncut, Mojo, et al...I'll bet this one don't make your list! 'Wakey Wakey' was a fine debut & contender from a band I've admired from afar for almost the decade as it spans. More recently I've become reacquainted and was dumbfounded by the depth of this record, encapsulating a whole series of moods, always leaving you smiling.

Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker
Could have plumped for any one of at least 4 albums (other contenders being (Gold, Love Is Hell, Cold Roses & Jacksonville City Nights) but eventually settled on this because it led me to so much more & my record collection wouldn't be half as full had I not paid attention. Plus, any record featuring Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings has to be a winner right?








The Gin Club - Junk
An Australian band I'll plead dumb ignorance on. I know very little about this bunch, other than me dad came back from their land with 'Virginbus Puerisque'. I quite liked it but never followed up. He did though, and subsequently presented me with this. A double album with rarely a duff moment. Brilliant.

Frontier Ruckus - The Orion Songbook
One of the best gigs I've seen this year. Absolutely phenomenal band from the other side of the Atlantic, replete with bowed saw & banjo amongst a myriad of other instruments to back up the tales that support this album. And the best album packaging bar none this year (mighta been last actually, but I only bought it this year). Great artwork & pullouts, the vinyl comes complete with free EP included and credited in the same gatefold. A more bluegrass and rawer Fleet Foxes, therefore better...

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
...not that there's owt wrong with Fleet Foxes of course. Perfect harmonies and acoustic guitars without being too twee. Harks back to the likes of Crobsy, Stills, Nash & Young without falling into the trap of being hamfisted or ripping them off.


That's about as much as I can write, or expect anyone to digest, for now. More to come in 'x' days, featuring Calexico, Gillian Welch, The Jayhawks, Jesse Malin, Laura Cantrell, My Morning Jacket, Bright Eyes, Two Gallants, Cat Power and maybe more.

Predictable? I'll Reconsider

Here it is then, NME's album's of the decade...

1. The Strokes – 'Is This It'
2. The Libertines – 'Up The Bracket'
3. Primal Scream – 'Xtrmntr'
4. Arctic Monkeys – 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – 'Fever To Tell'
6. PJ Harvey – 'Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea'
7. Arcade Fire – 'Funeral'
8. Interpol – 'Turn On The Bright Lights'
9. The Streets – 'Original Pirate Material'
10. Radiohead – 'In Rainbows'
11. At The Drive In – 'Relationship Of Command'
12. LCD Soundsystem – 'The Sound Of Silver'
13. The Shins – 'Wincing The Night Away'
14. Radiohead – 'Kid A'
15. Queens Of The Stone Age – 'Songs For The Deaf'
16. The Streets – 'A Grand Don't Come For Free'
17. Sufjan Stevens – 'Illinoise'
18. The White Stripes – 'Elephant'
19. The White Stripes – 'White Blood Cells'
20. Blur – 'Think Tank'
21. The Coral – 'The Coral'
22. Jay-Z – 'The Blueprint'
23. Klaxons – 'Myths Of The Near Future'
24. The Libertines – 'The Libertines'
25. The Rapture – 'Echoes'
26. Dizzee Rascal – 'Boy in Da Corner'
27. Amy Winehouse – 'Back To Black'
28. Johnny Cash – 'Man Comes Around'
29. Super Furry Animals – 'Rings Around The World'
30. Elbow – 'Asleep In The Back'
31. Bright Eyes – 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – 'Show Your Bones'
33. Arcade Fire – 'Neon Bible'
34. Grandaddy – 'The Sophtware Slump'
35. Babyshambles – 'Down In Albion'
36. Spirtualized – 'Let it Come Down'
37. The Knife – 'Silent Shout'
38. Bloc Party – 'Silent Alarm'
39. Crystal Castles – 'Crystal Castles'
40. Ryan Adams – 'Gold'
41. Wild Beasts – 'Two Dancers'
42. Vampire Weekend – 'Vampire Weekend'
43. Wilco – 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'
44. Outkast – 'Loveboxxx/The Love Below'
45. Avalanches – 'Since I Left You'
46. The Delgados – 'The Great Eastern'
47. Brendan Benson – 'Lapalco'
48. The Walkmen – 'Bows and Arrows'
49. Muse – 'Absolution'
50. MIA – 'Arular'

A fairly predictable list maybe, interspersed with some great surprise choices.

Both Primal Scream and PJ Harvey in the top 10 for starters. Glad to see Grandaddy in there too, and of course Wilco - both fully deserving of a place in anyone's top 50, I didn't expect to see them here. Ryan Adams likewise, though whether they've chosen the right album is debatable.

I'd say, of the 31 that I own from this, nearly half of those would be considered for my own list.

So, that's me agreeing with about 30% of the NME's choices and I can't say I expected it to be that high! Especially when there's nearly 40% of that list I can't pass objective comment on...that said, were both the Yeah yeah Yeah's album's really that good? And Crystal Castles...really?

Still, with this in mind, perhaps it's time to reassess my thoughts on the NME's recent opinions and not be so dismissive in future.

This is me, somewhat backhandedly, eating humble pie.