The Music Fix Blog December 2009
| Adrian Mules's end of the decade party playlist Posted by Adrian Mules on 31-12-2009 07:30 | 2 comment(s) | |
| Whilst thinking of a soundtrack to end the decade at our New Years party I started pulling songs together into a best of the decade playlist.
What started as ten soon became twenty, then after walking away more and more songs starting tapping on my shoulder like a demented woodpecker. So then it became forty, then fifty, then one-hundred. Then I just gave in. So as part of our end of decade celebrations here is my personal top two-hundred and fitfy songs of the noughties! A sixteen hour playlist, design to satisfy even the most hardened party goer. To keep things interesting (and to prevent it being a top one-thousand) I’ve only allowed one song per artist and I've also included forty live performance videos. Assemble, enjoy, dissect, discuss and maybe even post your own – just make sure you don’t eat all the twiglets: 1 The Libertines - Time For Heroes 2 Peaches - Fuck The Pain Away 3 Zomby - Tears in the Rain 4 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps 5 Laura Cantrell - Two Seconds 6 Ms. John Soda - Hands 7 The Fall - Theme From Sparta F.C. 8 The French - Gabriel in the Airport 9 At The Drive-In - One Armed Scissor 10 Miss Black America - Talk Hard 11 Aphex Twin - Avril 14th 12 Super Furry Animals - Presidential Suite 13 Ladytron - Seventeen 14 The Strokes - Someday 15 The Streets - Has It Come To This? 16 Yeasayer - 2080 17 The Delgados - Coming In From The Cold 18 Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Every Night I Die At Miyagis 19 The Walkmen - The Rat 20 Clinic - Distortions 21 The White Stripes - The Same Boy You've Always Known 22 Interpol - Obstacle 1 23 Battles - Atlas 24 Melys - Chinese Whispers 25 Meanwhile Back In Communist Russia - Morning After Pill 26 Neko Case & Her Boyfriends - Twist The Knife 27 Midlake - Head Home 28 Doves - The Cedar Room 29 Frank Black - The Swimmer 30 Camera Obscura - Happy New Year 31 McLusky - Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues 32 Morrissey - First Of The Gang To Die 33 Giant Drag - Kevin Is Gay 34 A.R.E. Weapons - Don't Be Scared 35 Bis - Dead Wrestlers 36 The Breeders - Off You 37 The Moldy Peaches - Anyone Else But You 38 Astrid - Modes Of Transport 39 Art Brut - Formed A Band 40 The Rock Of Travolta - Giant Robo 41 Queens Of The Stone Age - A Song For The Dead 42 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Living North 43 Prinzhorn Dance School - You Are The Space Invader 44 The Go! Team - Ladyflash 45 Tesla Boy - Runaway Man 46 The Shins - Young Pilgrims 47 Daniel Johnston - Fake Records of Rock n Roll 48 We Have Band - You Came Out 49 Johnny Cash - Hurt 50 Invasion - Moongazer 51 Primal Scream - Swastika Eyes 52 Crystal Castles - Airwar 53 Klaxons - Golden Skans 54 Be Your Own Pet - Damn Damn Leash 55 King Biscuit Time - Kwangchow 56 The Cribs - Men's Needs 57 The Duloks - (I'm Going to Follow Your) Star Trail 58 Fujiya & Miyagi - Ankle Injuries 59 The Wave Pictures - I Love You Like A Madman 60 Matt Sweeny & Bonnie Prince Billy - Only Someone Running 61 Cat Power - Names 62 Mogwai - Glasgow Mega-Snake 63 Nosferatu D2 - Springsteen 64 Glasvegas - Daddys Gone 65 Luke Haines - English Southern Man 66 Amerie - 1 Thing 67 Jamie T - Back In The Game 68 Los Campesinos! - The International Tweexcore Underground 69 Let's Wrestle - Song For Abba Tribute Record 70 Arctic Monkeys - The View From The Afternoon 71 Brendan Benson - Spit It Out 72 Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining 73 Bloc Party - Banquet 74 The Rakes - Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep) 75 Rufus Wainwright - The Art Teacher 76 The Decemberists - The Kingdom of Spain 77 TV On The Radio - Golden Age 78 The Pipettes - It Hurts To See You Dance So Well 79 The Dears - Lost The Plot 80 The Long Blondes - Weekend Without Makeup 81 Bright Eyes - First Day Of My Life 82 Johnny Boy - You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve 83 Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man 84 Bearsuit - Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck 85 The Spinto Band - Oh Mandy 86 Soccer Committee - Carriage 87 Stephanie Dosen - This Joy 88 Belle & Sebastian - Funny Little Frog 89 Semifinalists - Our Body 90 Rihanna - Umbrella 91 Spank Rock - Rick Rubin 92 Mystery Jets - You Can't Fool Me Dennis 93 Those Dancing Days - Hitten 94 The Teenagers - Love No 95 Lykke Li - Little Bit 96 Sugababes - Freak Like Me 97 Help She Can't Swim - Hospital Drama 98 The Joy Formidable - Ostrich 99 Metallica - Frantic 100 M.I.A. - Paper Planes 101 LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations 102 Schneider Tm Vs Kpt - The Light 3000 103 Uffie - Pop The Glock 104 Burial - Archangel 105 Ceephax - Hardcore Wick 106 Deltron - Virus 107 Elbow - Can't Stop 108 Patrick Wolf - Accident & Emergency 109 La Roux - Fascination 110 Shitmat - The Aomen 111 Smog - Feather By Feather 112 The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Stay Alive 113 Yo Majesty - Club Action 114 Chickenhawk - I Hate This, Do You Like It 115 The Wedding Present - I'm From Further North Than You 116 Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up, Look Sharp 117 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal 118 Foals - Mathletics 119 Ikara Colt - One Note 120 iLiKETRAiNS - The Beeching Report 121 Jarvis Cocker - Running the World 122 Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard - The Upside-Down Cross 123 Kid Spatula - Housewife 124 Ladyfuzz - Monster 125 Luke Vibert - Analord 126 PJ Harvey - The Letter 127 Shellac - Be Prepared 128 The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name 129 Venetian Snares - Beverly's Potatoe Orchestra 130 Ballboy - I Hate Scotland 131 Atmosphere - Smart Went Crazy 132 Beirut - Elephant Gun 133 Buffalo Tom - Thrown 134 Cold Cave - Love Comes Close 135 Flying Lotus - Parisian Goldfish 136 Evan Dando - Hard Drive 137 Frank Turner - Reasons Not to Be an Idiot 138 Golden Silvers - Another Universe 139 Kings Of Leon - California Waiting 140 Lemuria - Yesterday's Lunch 141 Kasabian - Club Foot 142 Liars - Houseclouds 143 Lightning Bolt - Captain Caveman 144 Lupen Crook - The Dead Relative 145 Panda Bear - Comfy In Nautica 146 Folk Implosion - Pearl 147 Preston School Of Industry - Whalebones 148 Raging Speedhorn - Thumper 149 Seafruit - Looking For Sparks 150 Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster 151 Willy Mason - Oxygen 152 That Fucking Tank - Simply The Beast 153 The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Celebrate Your Mother 154 These New Puritans - Elvis 155 The Lovely Eggs - I Like Birds (But I Like Other Animals Too) 156 Blur - Out Of Time 157 You Say Party! We Say Die! - You Did It! 158 The Social - Under Grey English Skies 159 Stars Of The Lid - The Evil That Never Arrived 160 Ben Frost - Coda 161 Dananananaykroyd - The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash 162 Efterklang - Towards The Bare Hill 163 Good Shoes - Morden 164 Imogen Heap - Hide And Seek 165 Little Boots - New In Town 166 System Of A Down - Chop Suey! 167 Magik Markers - Last Of The Lemach Line 168 Maxïmo Park - Going Missing 169 S*M*A*S*H - Icon 170 Saloon - Girls Are the New Boys 171 The Coral - Skeleton Key 172 Gallon Drunk - The Rotten Mile 173 Holy Fuck - Super Inuit 174 Autechre - Paralel Suns 175 Claro Intelecto - Gone To The Dogs 176 Peeping Tom - Mojo 177 Clearlake - Don't Let The Cold In 178 Crippled Black Phoenix - Suppose I Told The Truth 179 Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire 180 KTL - Wicked Way 181 Mansun - I Can Only Disappoint U 182 The Drips - 16, 16, six 183 Stereolab - Neon Beenbag 184 The Little Ones - Face The Facts 185 The Orphans - Darleen (Why Don't We Do It By The ATM Machine?) 186 Soulsavers - Can't Catch The Train 187 586 - We Got Bored 188 Greg Churchill - Lesser Meaning 189 Untitled Musical Project - I May Not Be Jimi Hendrix But At Least I'm Still Alive 190 The Oscilation - Liquid Memoryman 191 The Sunshine Underground - Commerical Breakdown 192 Air - Playground Love 193 Andy Stott - Black 194 Blank Dogs - Open Shut 195 Fugazi - Ex-Spectator 196 Half Man Half Biscuit - Bad Losers On Yahoo Chess 197 Har Mar Superstar - Transit 198 Hot Chip - Over & Over 199 Manic Street Preachers - Jackie Collins Existential Question Time 200 Melt Banana - Cat Brain Land 201 Mercury Rev - Spiders & Flies 202 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor 203 Fucked Up - Days Of Last 204 Tapes 'n Tapes - Insistor 205 Test Icicles - What's Your Damage? 206 The Boyfriends - Adult Acne 207 The Death Set - Intermission 208 The Real Heat - Heart Not Innit 209 Tindersticks - Trying To Find A Home 210 Marc Smith Vs Safe N Sound - Identify The Beat 211 The Drums - Let's Go Surfing 212 The Bronx - White Guilt 213 Scott Walker - A Lover Loves 214 Polysics - Wild One 215 No Age - Everybody's Down 216 3 Inches Of Blood - Destroy The Orcs 217 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - As Sure As The Sun 218 Death From Above 1979 - Pull Out 219 Ian Brown - F.E.A.R. 220 Radiohead - The National Anthem 221 The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?? 222 Kanye West - Gold Digger 223 Plan B - No More Eatin' 224 Poppy & The Jezebels - The Lips Of Cleopatra 225 Lab 4 - Candyman 226 The Futureheads - Decent Days And Nights 227 The Beastie Boys - Ch-Check It Out 228 The Horrors - Sheena Is A Parasite 229 The Magnetic Fields - I'll Dream Alone 230 The Polyphonic Spree - Two Thousand Places 231 Tall Pony - I'm Your Boyfriend Now 232 Stellastarr* - My Coco 233 The Knife - Silent Shout 234 Campag Velocet - Me And A Foe 235 Beyoncé - Crazy In Love 236 A Place To Bury Stranges - I Know I'll See You 237 Mass Of The Fermenting Dregs - World Is Yours 238 Dan Le Sac VS Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill 239 The Early Years - Rats 240 Jay Reatard - Fluorescent Grey 241 HEALTH - Triceratops 242 New Young Pony Club - Ice Cream 243 One More Grain - Lad With A Balloon 244 Sparks - Good Morning 245 She Wants Revenge - Sister 246 To My Boy - I Am X-Ray 247 The Magic Numbers - Forever Lost 248 Sunn 0))) & Boris - Akuma No Kuma 249 Dustin's Bar Mitzvah - To The Ramones 250 Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out | |
| Adrian Mules's ten tracks from 2009 Posted by Adrian Mules on 13-12-2009 07:55 | 0 comment(s) | |
| Whilst looking through my favourite tracks from this year I thought it would be nice to use my end of year blog to highlight some that maybe haven't made it onto everyone’s radar. A lot of the great stuff covered here has been summed up in the collective lists. So, instead, here are my ten tracks from 2009 that you might not have heard - but might quite like to. I've even tracked down a youtube video for each, as it's the season of goodwill and all that....
Zomby - Digital Fauna Zomby is an artist who at times can knock the ball out of the park and at other times appear to be playing in an entirely different stadium. 'Digital Fauna' catches him on an extremely good day with its AFX-esque tones and smart drum programming. It manages to even outclass everything on his One Foot Ahead Of The Other album. Insect Warfare - Enslaved By Machinery Ever since someone decided it was a good idea to adjust iPod volume controls to not damage the hearing of Europeans, listening to music whilst my other half watches television has become challenging. But Texan grindcore outfit Insect Warfare have resolved that problem. Successfully blocking out Susan Boyle and Jedward preserved my fragile sanity for yet another year. The whole album is a relentless onslaught of breathtaking power that has to be heard to be believed. Gaggle - Crows Having twenty band members must present certain challenges, especially when it comes to dressing rooms or making sure you haven't left anyone at the service station. But when they are as amazing as Schwa, Honey, Mississ, Wunderla, Launette, Albi, Sarah, Polydoru, D, Macclean, Gusset, Deliah, Strick, Green, Kiki, Namsoo, Kumari, Culwick, Lipstick and Coughlin (phew) heaven and earth can be moved to bring them together as the amazing Gaggle. Is your heart roomy enough to welcome this choir of alternative-angels in? Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo Whilst it may start with a gentle vibe it isn’t long before the gloves are off and the dancefloor smash within unveils itself for all to see. It’s impeccably funky and cool – but you can be too if you give this a spin at any festive parties. Ten City Nation - Silent Disco After joining facebook I’ve got in touch with some of my oldest friends and it’s been great to see what they have been up to. But my favourite discovery was reading someone else’s status to find that 00’s alternative legends Miss Black America had transformed into Ten City Nation. Not only were they playing live but had released two amazing albums. ‘Silent Disco’ is just one of those great tracks - it’s even better than finding out the girls who were horrible to you at school are now fat, ugly and living in a ditch. Rustie - Bad Science Technically filed under “aquacruck”, but could also be slotted quite comfortably under “awesome” or “blistering”. This three-minute slab of electronic Glasgow-born-gumbo manages to bleep, snap and pump in all the right places further adding to anticipation for everything he releases. Will 2010 be the year he breaks through? I wouldn’t bet against it. Wetdog - Lower Leg Is “they really remind me of The Fall” a good enough reason for liking something? I’d argue a very loud YES! ‘Lower Leg’ may well wear it’s influences proudly on it’s sleeve, but there is so much of the band's heart and soul it manages to pay homage to the source material whilst bringing their own cake to the party. It’s a real grower too, you’ll all be singing this by the end of the day. Tapes - Gold Love Riddim Such is the love of the cassette sound that these tracks have been transferred to tape and back before being released. The hiss conjures up memories of lovingly crafted C90s of tunes for parties, car journeys or just to impress girls at school. This simply beautiful track becomes more precious because of its retro production values. Like finding an unmarked cassette of brilliant material in the Oxfam shop for 50p, this will give you goose bumps of joy. Andy Stott - Night Jewel Deceptively simple but hypnotic patterns are the calling card for one of the UK’s most exciting pioneers of electronica. Listening to the youtube video below might give you a taste of what dub producer Andy Stott is creating. But it’s not until you get those headphones on or sit in the speaker cone at a club that it will all make sense. Deep throbbing chords of euphoric pleasure that will literally take your breath away. Washed Out - Feel It All Around Focus on your breathing and let it wash over you. Wave after wave of bliss-heavy sound and 10cc production will stimulate every molecule of mind, body and soul. Managing to sound like somebody else and nobody else at the same time. It always feels like it’s over too soon. Which is why this is one of my most played songs this year; as when it’s over I don’t want to do anything else other than put it on again and again and again. So that was my list. I hope there was something there that you haven’t heard before and enjoyed. Thanks for reading & listening, it’s time to start thinking about 2010 now and what joys that may hold. | |
| 2009: Diary of a Music Fix Photographer Posted by Steven Burnett on 02-12-2009 17:00 | 0 comment(s) | |
| Having joined The Music Fix team back in January 2009 this is my first annual round-up and, as the rest of the world is apparently fixated upon the end of the ‘noughties’ and trying to summarise the decade, I’ve decided to focus in on my own personal highlights of the year from a photographic perspective. Although I’ve been involved in reviewing albums, singles and shows over the last twelve months I really clambered onboard the Music Fix as a photographer and this is my attempt at summarising my year in just ten shots.
One of the first assignments I took on for the site was to shoot Peter Doherty at Cardiff University. True to form he turned up at the venue, without his band, about 2 hours after he was due onstage and proceeded to deliver a rambling performance during which he broke several laws including that of smoking inside the venue. Happily, in between dodging the warm beer that was flying through the air, I managed to get a couple of shots of him enjoying his nicotine fix and this is probably my favourite. The springtime brought the long-awaited new album from the Manic Street Preachers and I managed to find my way into the launch party which took place in Spillers Records in Cardiff. The event consisted of a short acoustic set from James Dean Bradfield followed by a signing session which gave fans the opportunity to have a proper chinwag with the man himself. I particularly liked this shot as it captures the laid back nature of the event. Summertime brought the festivals and stadium shows and, for me in Cardiff, that meant the Green Man festival, Cardiff Big Weekend and the immense U2 360 show. Highlight of the Big Weekend were Music Fix faves The Joy Formidable and this is probably my favourite shot of Ritzy from that gig. As for U2, Bono clearly has many faults but they are the ultimate stadium rock band and the opportunity to shoot U2 in your hometown doesn’t come around too often so I grabbed it with both hands. The experience was electric and this shot of Adam was taken from about 2 feet away with all 8 photographers crouched together in a huddle underneath the moving walkway. The show was huge and complex and I particularly like this shot for its complete simplicity. Another band which formed at about the same time as U2 were on the road for the first time in nearly 30 years and shooting The Specials, my teenage heroes, was probably the most fun I had all year. I had so much fun, in fact, that most of my pictures turned out to be completely useless. Thankfully some were not too shabby and this is here as a record of probably the best night of 2009 for me. Not that U2 and the Specials were by any means the oldest acts to pass in front of the Music Fix lens this year. Cliff and the Shadows celebrated 50 years in the business with an entertaining, family friendly rock n roll show but even they were made to look like relative youngsters by the redoubtable BB King. He may not be at the peak of his powers but, at 84 years of age, he’s still able to show flashes of the old magic - and just check out that attitude! It wasn’t all stadiums and arenas though and I covered plenty of little club gigs, the best of which were part of Huw Stephens’ annual Swn festival. The Girls gig was a sweatbox and there were queues of punters snaking down the street desperate to get inside and see what the fuss was about. They missed one of the highlights of my year and I was relieved that the steamy venue didn’t fog up my camera lens before I got some shots of the band. Dananananackroyd were just insane and I hope this shot captures the hyperactive energy of their show. As a photographer though I do find my job is made much easier by the lighting rigs of the arena shows and this final shot of Kasabian was taken at one of the most gorgeously presented stage shows I’ve ever seen, let alone this year. I’ve never been a fan of the band’s recorded output but, on stage, they tore Cardiff to pieces and I think this shot captures them at the height of their imperious powers. If 2010 brings ten shows as interesting and varied as these then I’ll be a happy snapper. | |
