hell.o
for the first time ever, i have been approached by an online magazine for a list of the best 20 albums/singles of the year.
and you know, bar a few obvious faves of ireallylovemusic i am really struggling.
especially as the rules dictate no compilations or mixes, but proper albums.
i have always wanted to be on one of these end of year things, at least i used to think so.
not sure if you’ve dug around the site proper, but back in 2004, i sent out a list of q’s to a section of noisemaking people and posted the results for all to check over.
it wasn’t long after it all completed, that i sat back and thought, ‘well, i can’t ever better that i think’ having got such diverse people as akira the don, bronze age fox, that petrol emotion and even on-u sounds ghetto priest, to reveal their 12 monthly breakdown.
so why did i never do the same for 2005 and nor will i again. well the answer is glaringly simple.
everyone else does it.
and, probably more importantly, the people i communicated with in 2004, are very much the same list of people in 2006, and repetition is never worthy.
i am not sure if this is indicative of my opinions on the current state of play of music, or the lack of spread of the ireallylovemusic vibe.
thankfully, i don’t think too long about such matters.
so while i ponder on the needed 20, i have decided that the week that is beginning with the 13, will not be one about looking forward, but about looking back through the archives, digging though the wires of the corporate whore that is myspace and reestablishing links with music that caused this lo-tech beast to be born all those years ago. with this in mind, i abandoned the review pile and just went for it.
naturally, shorn of all responsibilities i feel refreshed and subsequently loved every minute.
from the classic indie hip hop of rawkus soundbombing 3, to the almightiest punk-funk by gang of four in their re-recorded versions of the bands classics for the return of the gift set that came out last year with an extra disc of remixes tagged on as if such a thing were necessary.
the re-recorded versions may have pissed off the purists, but there is no denying that the modernised sounds make these genre defining tracks sound massive, and totally relevant. a sad exercise in rewriting history, or an emphasised underline and bold formatting to drive home the point to the new generation?
i know my answer.
then i was off to revisit the bands mutant 2005 offspring, the rakes, before bringing things to a late night calm with the truly fantastic soulsavers debut, tough guys dont dance, keep reading for update on this most wonderful of bands.
in the myspace trawl i found some old names out there on the wire :
mary byker :
various bands such as gaye bykers on acid, hyperhead, @440 have all been graced with the mans vibe and attitude.
tis great to find him hidden away in the ether, and from the looks of things, doing mighty fine for himself and obviously still making a needed racket.
long live the grebo king.
big stick
in the 80s they had some acid tinged cracked up pop music released via blast first, and they loved to attack with it. no-one ever saw their faces. amazingly 20 years on, they are to record more material. the mind boggles.
then i popped over to check out the latest detail for the much missed (by me), soulsavers – with details on a new album making everything feel good
it’s not how far you fall, its the way you land, is very much needed, with mark lanegan on vocals on several of the albums tracks.
out via v2 in early 2007, making this and the sarah nixey album 2 highlights of next year already.
could be an interesting week after all.
stay tuned.
mark e