Secret Santa 2011

[sh#t waffle]

Bloody hell, all you wanna do is criticise, TK.

[Guest TK-421]

It's funny cos i do, yes i do do do.

[loadsoftrophies]

Didn't greenoak get dumped on valentines day? Im invoking the tk-421 "no negging people dumped on valentines day" rule. However, plewggs is fair game. No review of my disc. I wanted to know his views on the Alexander o'neil 12" mix but im completely in the dark.

 

Can you blame her? Who in their right mind would stay with a man who doesn't review a SS c.d.

[Guest TK-421]

I suppose when you put it like that. Neg him. Neg him right now.

[The Golden Eel]

Sorry abput the delay on my second review. It'll definitely be up next weekend, haven't had much time recently.

[The Golden Eel]

Well, it's finally arrived, my second disc review of this year's SS. Sorry about the delay, becoming a first-time dad in January has had me tied up a bit these past few weeks.

 

1. Los Campesinos! - My Year in Lists - Scattershot, lively British indie track, full of energy and youthful exuberance. I nearly bought one of their albums blind one time, but didn't. I like this ,a buoyant start.

 

2. Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened - Second appearance from these boys this year, and this song is pretty different to the previous one. I really like this too. Chugging, laid-back vibe, building up to a sprawling, eclectic finish. Great.

 

3. Arcade Fire - No Cars Go - I know this one, it's off Neon Bible, and it's a great track, AF rarely let you down.

 

4. The National - All the Wine - Second appearance form these and I think I've decided that i'll definitely be investigating these further this year. Nice vocals and interesting lyrics.

 

5. Bright Eyes - Arc of Time (Time Code) - Ah, the much-maligned Bright Eyes. I prefer this to the other track on the previous CD, but Im still not convinced. What is this electro-folk sound going on here? And is that his natural voice? There's just something that feels overly false about Bright Eyes to me, I can't really get it, sorry.

 

6. Interpol - NYC - Epic Interpol track from a top album. Slow, dark, great guitars. Pity Interpol aren't as good as this these days though.

 

7. Grammatics - Relentless Fours - Had a Grammatics track on a CD a few years back from the artist fromerly known as Thorpey. I would never have heard this and thought of it though. Where that had a political hip-hop-type vibe, this is a more of a personal-type sentiment. Nice male/female vocals.

 

8. Desaparecidos - Greater OmahaFuzzy, rough riffage here, much to my taste. Much more "rock" than the CD to date. Never heard of these, but this is quality.

 

9. Death From Above 1979 - Romatic Rights - Had a track of these on last year's CD from Owen and they've remained in my consciousness, such was the quality of that track. This reinforces the point. Similarly abrasive guitar noises, perhpas not quite as demented as previous tune. But I'm loving this track. Turn it up!

 

10. Queens of the Stone Age - Lost Art of Keeping a Secret - Quality track from, IMO, the only truly great QOTSA album. The first track of theirs I ever heard, still works. Again, pity they're not as good anymore.

 

11. Wolf Parade - This Heart's On Fire - Back to a more rock-n'roll vibe. Guy I used to work with liked these, I always had the name in my head. This is top-nothc meat-and-potato-type rock stuff. Which I love. It, err, rocks!

 

12. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights - Another shift of mood. Heard of these but never heard them. I really like this, too. There's soemthing distinctly 80s pop at the heart of this. Electro-pop, with great vocals. How could you not like it?

 

13. The Velvet Teen - Noi Boi - Another new one to me. but again, really good. A good name for a porn film, maybe. Foreign vocals, atmospheric, difficult to try to categorise in a few lines. Excellent.

 

14. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun - Every year I've had a SR track 0n my SS CD and I've always liked them and a few times I've been close to getting a disc but never went ahead with it. Also, I've made the same joke every year, so, for the sake of tradition, I really love the lyrics to this. Boom boom. Down-tempo, paino-led beauty.

 

15. Lemon Jelly - Space Walk - Had this on a SS CD from Thorpey also. Eclectic, intstrumental, err, space-walky? I'm not overly into this to be honest. It's fine but it's doesn't grab me by the balls.

 

16. Sufjan Stevens - Chicago - Big finish with a big track. Epic.

 

So, there you have, I've been very lucky again this year, receiving another quailty couple of discs contianing loads of stuff I'll be looking into further. Much appreciated again, Karl. Hopefully, I've been able to do justice with the reviews, I've had my mind on other things this past while so apologies again for the delay.

 

Also, just want to say another thanks to Cochyn for the great review.

 

Anyway, that's enoguh thanking for fuck sake.

 

Off to get ready to watch us bag a trophy. Fingers crossed.

[Karl_b]

Nice one DR, appreciate the second review and I reckon coping with the horror of a parenthood is a decent excuse.

 

I'm glad you like The National, I'd pick up their latest album but also go back to Alligator and Boxer which are excellent.

 

It seems the heavier tracks have left a good impression, I don't delve too deeply in to the darker realms of rock and roll but I like to throw something in there.

 

Looks like Bright Eyes was the only big miss, with both choices. Again, another group I love but I can see why not everyone goes in for it. I tried not to go with anything too folky from him, Arc of Time is a stone-cold classic as far as I'm concerned so I can't see you being won round.

 

Oh and Velvet Teen are American and the song is sung in English! The album Cum Laude is one of my absolute favourites.

 

Cheers again.