Top 10 Albums of the year

Before we get to the main meat of this post, there's a couple of albums worthy of mention that didn't quite make it into the top 10. Bjork's "Biophilia" and Radiohead's "The King of Limbs" were both excellent returns to form, although at the same time falling a long way short of their artists' stellar best, and Lupe Fiasco's "Lasers" was a minor disappointment -very good but missing something indefinable.

Anyway, onto the list.

10. Mariachi El Bronx -II.
Following up the Bronx' excellent first Mariachi album was always going to be hard, but they've managed to make another one that's actually better than the first attempt.

9. Electric 6 - Heartbeats and Brainwaves.
You pretty much know what you're going to get with an E6 album -insanely catchy pop rock with a slightly unsettling edge to it. This one is better than most of theirs and contains one of the years best tracks in "French Bacon".

8. Janes' Addiction - The Great Escape Artist.
This is way better than I expected -I actually suspect it's way better than JA themselves expected- and well worth a purchase if you like the band.

7. Bon Iver - Bon Iver.
The next big thing. If you're unfamiliar with these guys, you won't be for long. Brilliant folky rock from very accomplished musicians. Check out the song "holocene" to hear them at their best. Also good for fans of bands with missing letters in their name.

6. Skindred - Union Black.
There aren't many truly unique bands about, but Skindred are certainly one of them. They effortlessly fuse metal, ragga and dubstep into one massive thunderclap. Brilliant, but best heard live -and that's the reason they're down at No.6. This album also contains the best version of the British national anthem ever.

5. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
Don't go into this one expecting something you've never heard the like of before, because on first listen, it's a fairly bland poppy album sung by a man with a pleasant if slightly whiny voice. Simple Math, however has hidden depths -and what depths they are. Lyrically, this is perhaps the most brutally honest album you'll ever hear. Keep listening to it and you'll fall in love with it.

4. Cage The Elephant -Thank You, Happy Birthday.
Conceptually a million miles away from "Simple Math" this is more of a "Happy" album - put this on when you're in a good mood and you'll soon be dancing around the room. I've just realised that that might just be me, but never mind, it's still a cracking album. It's only made No.4 because it's essentially a Pixies tribute album but if you're going to rip off someone, make sure it's someone unspeakably brilliant.

3. Mastodon - The Hunter.
Fan opinion on The Hunter was split, some seeing it as an incoherent piece of rubbish, others -like me- feteing it as Mastodons' finest hour. Rather than an album wide concept the Atlanta boys have given us a collection of largely unrelated songs, but what songs they are.

2. The Black Keys - El Camino.
The worlds' most underrated band return with their second brilliant album in as many years. This is the best rock album of the year by far. No arguments, go and buy it.

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake.
I didn't want to name this as the best album of the year -mainly because it seems nearly everyone else has- but you really can't deny the fact that it is. And it's the best by quite a large margin.
Musically, it's beautifully arranged and Harveys' voice is clearer and sharper than ever. Lyrically it's both powerful and sensitive without ever becoming maudlin or depressing, and she handles difficult subjects with subtlety and ease. It's not far short of a masterpiece.

PJ Harvey, yesterday. Brilliant.

Giant vicious beast spotted in local forest.

Here it is, captured on film by my wife at the weekend.

Click the pic to see the horror in full size.

I love this.

 I found the following on a random Everton Fansite -I can't remember which one-  and it struck a chord with me. If you're out there and you wrote this, thanks, it's brilliant.

Everton wear an easy grace. They are a Cary Grant smile with a John Wayne walk. Evertonians know that no matter what befalls them or their club, they'll still be Evertonians. The cheers heard at Goodison are exaultations of pure, white-light joy, and despite the barren years at Goodsion, that brilliance will always eminate from it.

However, there is a dimness across the park. It started when God bannished Satan from heaven and Satan snarled, "Fine, but I'm taking Anfield with me," and God replied, "Whatever."

Because Liverpool supporters know that no matter how many trophies they desperately try to jam into their cabinets, at the end of the day they just aren't Everton. They are simply the hatefull step-son who grows up to be wealthy and powerful, yet filled only with spite for his brother.

The dank world of the Liverpool fan is one of pettiness, false pride and faked orgasms. The cheers heard at Anfield sound more like yelps of anger and cries of pain.

In fact, the next time a Liverpool supporter screams and yells at you after their team win a match, simply smile at them. What they are really yelling is, "Do ya love me now, daddy???"

Mariachi El Bronx 2

When I first heard about The Bronx's plan to do a mariachi album I thought that someone was playing a joke on me. I mean, c'mon, The Bronx. Doing an album of mariachi tunes. What's next, Radiohead doing dubstep? The Deftones releasing a disco album? Muse releasing something good? Exactly. The idea was on the verge of preposterous.
Then the album arrived. And it was the best thing I'd heard the whole year. I could scarcely believe my ears, such was the brilliance of what I was listening to and the quantum shift of the musicians from premier league hardcore punk band to english language mariachi kings.
Now, 2 years later, they're back for more.
The new album runs the gamut of emotions like the first did, but it's more polished, more confident and, crucially, just as good. It might be even better -but I haven't listened to it enough to make a firm judgement on that yet-  I particularly like the story of the seemingly tireless lothario told during "48 Roses" and  the lovesick pleadings of  "Norteno Lights" , but they're all good.
This isn't just a good album for a bunch of punks who've made a mariachi record, it's a good album full stop. It might even be a great one.
Go and get it.

El Bronx, yesterday

The what?

Just a short post, the SOO one isn't ready yet, sorry.

This made me snigger quite a lot.

"'ello, ello, ello, is that mayonnaise sir? I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me"

Short thoughts. (Sports)

Tonight sees the heavyweight boxing unification bout between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko and it's an intriguing contest for a few reasons. Firstly it's a classic big man /smaller man contest, with Haye giving away about 4 inches in height and around 40 pounds in weight by the time they actually get in the ring.
You might think that that's an insurmountable disadvantage for the Englishman, but I don't think so. He appears to be in peak condition and he was always fast anyway. It's his speed that will be key to the whole contest.
If Haye can get inside the Kazakh born Ukrainians admittedly impressive jab do some damage and get out, I think he'll win.
I hope he wins.

Nice hat Champ. Brokeface Mountain?

Today is also the start of Le Tour, and it looks like it'll be another walk in the park for Contador - well, it will be unless one of the Schleck brothers, Sanchez or Evans can finally get their shit together.

If (when?) Contador wins, will his victory be tainted because of the failed drug test? Maybe. 

Incidentally, if the Spaniard does win he'll be the first rider to win the Giro and Tour in the same season since Marco Pantani.

I hope  Contadors' story finishes in a different way than The Pirates did.

Contador, yesterday

The Copa America started yesterday and hosts Argentina were held to an underwhelming 1-1 draw with relative minnows Bolivia. Kun Aguero's frankly brilliant volley saved Argentina's blushes, but it doesn't bode overly well for their hopes of winning the tournament.

Brazil will probably win again, sadly.

Brazil -about to win another Copa America, yesterday

Ps. I was right about the tennis then.

Fantasy Band Line Up

I've done these things before, but I've never really given the line up much thought -as in who would be the best fit together- I've generally just gone for someone close to the best in their field and figured they'd all be talented enough to make it work.

This time however, I've attempted to make a line up which I think would actually work together.

Lead Vocals - Jeff Buckley.
Guitars - Thurston Moore and John Frusciante.
Bass - Geddy Lee.
Drums - Danny Carey.


That was the best I could come up with as a cohesive band, although I was undecided between Carey and Mike Portnoy for the drumming spot for a fair while, the Tool stickman getting the nod for his greater subtlety. Not exactly the heaviest band ever, is it?  I suspect they'd be utterly brilliant though, what do you think?

Jeff Buckley, not yesterday. Sadly.

PS. If you don't know who any of these people are, google them - you'll be glad you did.

50 things about me.

 Questions courtesy of http://www.day-and-age-design.com/

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

Yeah, I was named after a friend of my father

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?

Not sure, but the end of the movie “Babe” makes me blub like a little girl.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?

Yes, and so do most other people that see it.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?

Ham. Real ham, not those wet pink squres of disgustingness

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

I have three, all girls

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

Not sure, maybe

7. DO YOU HAVE SIBLINGS?

One brother, 4 years older than me

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

No, they left the building long ago

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?

I have.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?

Some sort of muesli - Alpen maybe.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?

I don't tie them when they're on, so no.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?

Physically or mentally? One very much so, the other is a bit vulnerable occasionally. You can decide which is which

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?

Vanilla. Or Pistachio if everyone else has said vanilla

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?

I try and read peoples body language, so, pretty much everything

15. RED OR PINK?
.
Ugh, not red, so pink it is, unless you mean the singer - in which case neither.

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? 

My little squashed nose

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?

No-one really

18. WHAT IS YOUR ZODIAC SIGN?

Virgo

19. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PAIR OF SHOES?

No, I'm a man

20. FAVORITE MEAL?

Home meal - veggie lasagne. Restaurant meal - Tournedos rossini

21. FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC?

I like most stuff that I consider "good", but if forced to choose I'd go for Trip-Hop

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?

Royal blue, obviously

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?

Fresh baked bread, coffee, babies.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?

My wife

25. MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?
.
Depends where it is

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

Rugby league, boxing

27. HAIR COLOR?

Black

28. EYE COLOR?

Yellow, like a cat.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

No.

30. FAVORITE HEIRLOOM?

None, I'm not sentimental

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?

As long as the film is good, I'm happy either way.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?

A new version of Moby Dick, it was unspeakably terrible

33. FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?

Denim Jacket

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?

Again, it depends where we are, but here-summer, by far.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?

kisses

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?

Lemon tart or Tiramisu

37. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?

Both

38. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?

Computer, and by a long way too

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?

I'm not

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?

Clouds

42. FAVORITE SOUND?

The Deftones

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?

Neither really, but the Stones if forced to make a choice.

44. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM CAR ?

1928 Mercedes SSK

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

I have several

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Australia

47. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?

 Northern Scotland

48. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?

I don't really have any fears. I've never been sure if that's a good thing or not

49. WHAT BRINGS YOU THE MOST JOY?

Music, my kids.

50. WHAT PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR YOUNG SELF?

"Don't be such a cock all the time"

Guangdong Museum of Art

I haven't done this sort of post for quite a long while, so if you've been missing them - this is for you.

This is possibly the most remarkable building I've seen this decade - there's no hint of committee designed municipal blandness here - it looks like the brainchild of a demented sci-fi writer come to life. And it's fantastic.

State of Origin

It's the day after the first game in the series, (if you've no idea what I'm on about, it's rugby league played between New South Wales -the good guys- and Queensland -beer drinking rednecks, lovers of pickup trucks and cowboy hats- and it's possibly the most intense sporting contest there is) and with 24 hours reflection on the events at Suncorp, I've come to the following conclusion. We (NSW) can win this series.

Stop laughing at the back.

With a day's worth of objectivism in place it's much easier for me to analyse the game, and  I've come to the following conclusions.

1. Jason King. With a massive 4 hit-ups and 25 metres he must start game 2. Not really. I can't actually remember a worse origin performance than his. Tolman or Galloway in for round 2.

2. Michael Jennings. Made a couple of errors but looked very dangerous with the ball -deserves to keep his spot.

3. Brett Morris, Mark Gasnier, Dean Young, Trent Merrin. All of these guys play their club footy for St George -the club I support- none of them should be picked for game 2. Hayne, Idris, Lewis and Learoyd-Lahrs as their replacements seems to make sense to me.

And yet, despite some poor performances, we were winning with 10 minutes to go.

6 in a row? Not quite time to celebrate yet.

PS. If anyone is going to get pissy about my Queenslander stereotype, be aware that I love all of god's creations. Even the ones in cowboy hats.

New South Wales, yesterday

Short thoughts

Nathan Van Someren, a not particularly well known participant in Australia's 2nd best team sport -AFL- was sent off on saturday. Why am I telling you this? Surely being sent of in the rufty-tufty world of Aussie Rules can't be that rare? Well, no. No it isn't.  But this guy was sent off for having a dangerous haircut. I'm not even making it up. hahahaha

Here's the offending do in all it's dangerousness.

Nathan yesterday, being dangerous.

A man from Brighton has been fined £80 by some particularly joyless bastard from the local council for allowing his terrier to skateboard around the streets of the town -again, I'm not making this up- He was fined for the dog being "Out of control". What, couldn't it land a kickflip properly? Too much rotation on a 360? No, apparently his Lakeland Terrier was a "Risk" because 2 women tripped over his skateboard. Sorry, but if you can't get out of the way of a dog on a skateboard, you should be worrying about other shit before reporting the canine and it's owner to the council.

Not the dog in question, yesterday.

The last week saw the death of Severiano Ballesteros, who I'm shocked to learn, was widely considered "The Greatest" amongst his peers. I'm no golf fan, but this guy's death struck a chord with me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we're the same age -and this has made me think about my own mortality really for the first time- and secondly, the man simply transcended his sport. Even people who have no interest in golf -like me- knew who he was and had nothing bad to say about him -and I have plenty of bad things to say about almost everyone.

Most sports have a star who becomes bigger than the game -Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Don Bradman- in golf it was Seve.

Yeah, I know.

I've been neglecting you, my loyal readers -and I apologise for that- but at least I have a good reason for not poting so far this month.
I have acquired a Playstation 3 and some games and have been playing with it and them rather than doing this. Ok, so maybe it's not a good reason for ignoring you, but it is the reason.
What am I going to do to make it up to you -apart from dragging my arse away from Gran Turismo more often- well, read on.

Imagine you're a 15 year old German farm girl and the thing you want most in the world is a horse -reasonable enough, right?- what would you do if your parents said "no" to the acquisition of said equine? That's right, you'd train one of the dairy herd to be a showjumper.

Triple H(ope).

We had her here at the weekend, so I'm going to make you look at photos of her.

Short thoughts

You know when you're in the cinema and someone near you is noisily munching their way through what seems to be a titanic sized vat of popcorn? It annoys the crap out of me frankly, but I doubt I'd shoot someone for being a bit loud during a film. What am I talking about? Well, that's exactly what happened during a screening of Black Swan in the Latvian capital Riga, last week. Riga police confirmed that a 27 year old man had shot a 42 year old man at the city's Cineplex, and that the argument began over how loudly he was eating his popcorn. The moral of this story? Don't annoy Latvians.

A Latvian, yesterday. Scary.

Here's a question. Do you take a sword to work with you? No? How about a bazooka? I thought not. I mean, there are some jobs where you might take a weapon to work - Ninja, Yakuza, train robber, Game Keeper - but not that many, and certainly not footballer. So why then, I've been wondering , did Ashley Cole take an air rifle to Chelsea's training ground with him and then promptly shoot a work experience kid with it, albeit accidently. Because he's a fucking moron, that's why. Case closed.

Finally and sadly, Jane Russell has died aged 89. Most famous for starring in westerns and with Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she was one of the most beautiful of the Hollywood leading ladies in the post war era.

Cake.

What happens when you introduce a one year old girl to a slice of chocolate cake?

This.

Happy birthday Hope.

Meat America

No, that isn't a typo - it's the title of a set of images by photographer Dominic Espiscopo.
They won't be to everyones' tastes but I like them, particularly the shot of Louisiana with a slick of olive oil beneath it, very funny. Anyway, have a look.

More here and here

Short thoughts

As I mentioned in my "bored" post below, last week my wife and daughter went to see a car and my sister in laws' newly arrived twins. As I anticipated, the twins -Robert and Gemma- were, in fact, exceedingly cute. There's a shock, all babies are cute. Well almost all babies. A few years back when our girls were babies themselves there was this unfortunate kid called William and boy, cute was the last word you'd use to describe him. If you'd painted the top of his head green people would've thought it was a watermelon, it was that massive. Anyway I digress. The car she went to look at was a grey Ford Focus, the car that'll be here soon is a green Renault Megane. OK. Close enough.

A green Renault Megane, yesterday

The football transfer window came to a close and in a totally unexpected turn of events, Liverpool fans proved themselves to be utter tools. Again. I know, it's a terrible shock and totally out of character, but there you go.

Instead of celebrating the fact they'd just signed Uruguay's second best striker to replace Spain's second best striker, they showed their displeasure in a more....... incendiary manner. Mind, you, their mood may not have been helped by the fact they'd just spent £35 million on a stupid looking geordie with a crap haircut and a prison record longer than Lee Bowyers'.

"Cry-y-ying, Over You...."

And in Queensland, which has been through a bit of a rough time lately -the terrible floods which cost a lot of lives have barely subsided, the locals predilection for wearing cowboy hats in public- they may have finally gotten a bit of a break with the news that Cyclone Yasi missed the two largest population centres in it's path -Townsville and Cairns- and slammed in to the coastline between the two. It's about time something went right up there. Now, if we can just sort out the cowboy hat thing.......

Cyclone Yasi yesterday, robbing Queenslanders of their hats

Short thoughts

Foxes, pretty to look at but dangerous and not to be trusted. That's what country folk say, and perhaps they're right because a couple of day ago in Belarus a fox hunter was shot. By a fox. "A wounded fox shot its would be killer in the Grodno region of Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle."  

He tried to finish it off with the butt of the rifle? Good on the fox for fighting back then.

From the file marked "And you thought you'd heard the last of that" comes a story about the worlds most famous cephalopod. Yes, it's the return of Paul the Octopus! Sort of. His former home in Germany has unveiled plans for a -and I shit you not- "Paul corner where there will be a 6 foot statue of Paul atop a football with a see through centre section to display a golden urn containg his ashes" I'm flabbergasted, really. Not overly tasteful in my opinion, but there you go.

Not Paul, yesterday

Lastly in this roundup of peculiar animal stories from the darkest corners of the web comes news from Boston that a cat has been called for jury service. The cats owner wrote to Suffolk superior crown court explaining that the cat was, well, in fact a cat, but the court wrote back insisting that Mr. Tabby Sal attend the court as scheduled in March. The website for the US judicial system states that "Jurors are not expected to speak perfect English" That's ok then.

"Guilty"

 

The Naked and Famous - Passive me, Aggressive you

So, a couple of days ago I'm sitting here at the PC and my daughter Gabi is watching the music channels on the TV as she often does, nothing too unusual there,  but a song comes on and it's very, very good "Who's this, MGMT?" I enquire, "No, I don't know who it is, but it's a girl singing" Hmm. Anyway, we subsequently find out the name of the band and neither of us had heard of them -which, to be fair is a fairly unusual occurrence. A quick google shows me that they're from New Zealand -well you can't have everything- and that the song in question (Punching in a Dream) is in fact their second single. "Terrific", you're thinking, "but what does this have to do with the album?" Well, nothing. But if the first time I hear a band they remind me of MGMT, they're going to be good. Very good. And they are, because PM,AY is a stunning debut album.
There are plenty of 80's and 90's influences at work here, all the way from Duran Duran to Pretty Hate Machine style Nine Inch Nails through Ride style Shoegaze to hints of early Chemical Brothers on the song Spank, and all of these myriad influences are wrapped in a bunch of Indie loveliness.
This is a great album -and one that'll be hard to follow, intriguingly- and it would have figured in my top 10 of 2010 if I'd gotten it earlier.

Go and get it.

Short thoughts

Just in case anyone out there is unaware that the UK is currently in the midst of some quite cold weather, here's proof that even way down south in the -comparably-tropical-to-here- parts of the country that not all is as it should be.
Yesterday the RSPCA was called on to free a swan that had somehow managed to get its feet frozen to a driveway in London, a cow which had fallen over in Leighton Buzzard, and a horse trapped in 4 feet of frozen water in Lincolnshire. Oh, and 200 people have died in a landslide in Colombia, but that's nowhere near as newsworthy as a few cold animals, obviously.

"Where's Colombia?"

The world's 2nd most stupid football club has sacked their manager. The manager that got them back into top flight football on a shoestring budget. The manager that currently has them sitting reasonably comfortably around the middle of the premiership, the manager  that the players came out and pledged their support to. It's fine sacking a manager if the owner wants to, that's his choice. The unsavoury thing here is that the clearly held off giving Hughton a new contract to save themselves a few quid in severance payments. Classy as ever.

A pair of typical geordies

Now, not normally much occurring on Radio 4 -or any radio channel for that matter- but when a man with the startlingly appropriate name of James Naughtie makes an on-air gaffe concerning the Culture Secretary -a man called Jeremy Hunt, well, that get's my attention.

"Jeremy what?"

Press "play" http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/audio/2010/dec/06/james-naughtie-jeremy-hunt-radio-4