mithering

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 13:07:53 GMT

right, i'm about to disappear for a fortnight thus losing any LJ access. before i'd go, a list of my Top 20 albums of the year, in alphabetical order. this is because life is too short to try to rate favourites, especially when spread across genre like this is. just a few observations: at some point this year - about march i think - i discovered the joy and convenience of the amazon new&used option, so my album intake has increased and also grown more esoteric because of it. so there's a lot of reissues and older records and less current stuff in my 'bought' pile. and i seem to have weaned myself off generic indie music, mostly thanks to the kaiser chiefs whose 'employment' album resulted in maximum listener apathy. i can understand the appeal, i just can't be bothered to listen to it.

angil – teaser for: matter

annie – anniemal

antony & the johnsons – i am a bird now

boards of canada – the campfire headphase

broadcast – tender buttons

buck65 – secret house against the world

vashti bunyan – lookaftering

kate bush – aerial

caribou – the milk of human kindness

earth – hex; or printing in the infernal method

bill fay group – tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow

fursaxa – lepidoptera

konono no. 1 – congotronics

lau nau - kuutarha

jamie lidell – multiply

m83 – before the dawn heals us

om – variations on a theme

sufjan stevens – illinois

aoki takamasa & tujiko noriko – 28

alexander tucker – old fog

tunng – mother’s daughter and other songs

the second list is best stuff i bought this year*
(*but wasn't released this year)
virginia astley - from gardens where we feel secure

boredoms - vision creation newsun

vashti bunyan - just another diamond day

mara carlyle - the lovely

current ninety three - soft black stars

bill fay - bill fay & time of the last persecution

margo guryan - take a picture

shelagh mcdonald - let no man steal your thyme

nico - desertshore

terry riley - you're nogood

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:16:24 GMT

been a while. yeah.

i think harbourcoat have managed two gigs, one with rose kemp and the mighty fine SJ Esau (he's got about 10 songs for download on his site - get 'em now!). and, er, four day hombre. no idea if those boys are any good as i left before they played. they sounded pretty bad in the soundcheck so no doubt they will be massive next year. we did actually get reviewed as part of the rose kemp gig – 'quite alt.country' quoth the cumberland news. that's going on the poster!

have been steadily spending non-essential cash on catching up on the old cd stockpile. which is crazy given the little time i have to listen to them at home currently.

we're recording drums for t' new album at the moment. in a frankly bizarre approach to recording a lot of the instruments have already been recorded and i've got to fit the drums somewhere in an existing mix. not entirely happy about this, so i've expressed my disatisfaction (with the result being we won't be doing it this way again).

trying to flesh this out to make my life sound, if not enviable then vaguely interesting. and i don't appear to be succeeding.

carlisle played host to three decent bands last weekend and because i was ill i missed all of them. so i can't even rail against the brickyard for only getting 12 people in to see the heavy blinkers which was a damn shame. if i'd gone admittedly that would have only boosted the numbers to 13 but at least i could have complained from a position of authority rather than hypocrisy.

mind you if the brickyard was a properly run venue it would have had the blinkers on at a reasonable time rather than the 11pm on a sunday night start time that they got. i couldn't even stay up for 'curb your enthusiasm' at half-nine! ooh, i'm a grumpy old man.

such grumpiness leads me to the audiography mix trade i've contributed to. it's not exactly uncle jezza's happy tunes. i've vacillated to the extent that i did do a much more up-tempo mix but i'm not going to send that out. unless i change my mind overnight.

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 14:05:26 GMT

you'll laugh til you pee.

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 13:03:51 GMT

caught myself playing the air harp to joanna newsom's 'sadie' today.

stuff&nonsense

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 14:03:15 GMT

• hopefully exciting news: kate bush is bringing out a new album!
so long as it's more like 'the dreaming' ("my 'she's gone mad' album" quoth kate) than 'the red shoes' (her "a bit dull" album, says i).

• 'campfire songs' arrived in the post yesterday which in theory at last completes the animal collective's available work to date. just in time for the next album to come out.

• my good friend simon has started a blog too, have a look if you want to see how he spends/wastes his time.

• there's a new new order dvd on the way. and another singles collection. after substance, the best of/rest of, international and the box set (light on stuff you want, heavy on stuff you've got) comes 'singles' on warners. if it's got the original 7" version of temptation i'm interested, otherwise i can safely say, "got 'em all on at least one different format". temptation was the first song that ever made me sit up and take notice, and whilst i have the original 7" (which took a while to track down - i was young and still under the impression that covers had the name of the band and song on the front. or back for that matter).

• it's a new month. time for a cut.

The sun shines high above
The sounds of laughter
The birds swoop down upon
The crosses of old grey churches
We say that we're in love
While secretly wishing for rain
Sipping coke and playing games

September's here again
September's here again

off David Sylvian "Secrets of the Beehive"

addendum: sylvian's got a new album out in october! it's as nine horses, recorded with steve jansen and burnt friedman and a bunch of other people. especially exciting: stina nordenstam sings on it too. lordy.

Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:08:26 GMT

well, i'm glad i did quite on this being british…

Basil Fawlty
Congratulations! You scored 86!

Wow. You are the king! You not only watch british comedy a lot, you recite it, expose your friends and family to it, and probably know more about it than the people that wrote or acted in it. You've got an amazing collection, and are always looking for more. You have given up looking at amazon.com and netflix, you've started ordering stuff from amazon.co.uk and playing it in the region-free PAL<->NTSC DVD player you bought for that purpose. You probably also regularly check the binaries newsgroups to download digitized versions of stuff that isn't even for sale anywhere, and have a huge collection of CDs with that stuff on there.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 90% on lupins

Link: The British Comedy Fanatic Test written by djrussolini on Ok Cupid

eek! nostalgia

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:51:24 GMT

was going through my Unlabelled Tape Pile, and aside from finding one i made and never sent sinistergiraffe - oops, it'll be in the post friday unless you've moved address recently - i found an almost complete collection of loretta stars recordings which i'd compiled from various sources a while back.

loretta stars were my first proper band, in that we recorded songs, played live and had all our demos returned by uninterested record companies. listening to the songs we recorded, very basically - we stuck a microphone in the room and hoped for the best - they are actually pretty good. i should cringe with embarrasment, as it's ten years ago and long in the past but there was a lot of investment in that band and we wrote good songs.

phil smith and ste tottingham had formed a band and then i joined and 'inspired' them to change tack. i did this several ways - one, the name changed from 'zoophycos' (don't ask) to loretta stars, a mishearing of the pavement song. then after introducing them to scotts 1-4 and saint etienne, we moved from having epics like 'smorgasbord of life' to shorter poppier songs. i wrote most of the lyrics, motivated by an unrequited love that ended badly (she left the country) and going out in carlisle from pretty much the only time.

ste and phil wrote the music, i scribbled words about how rubbish life was and what films i'd seen, we got in dave gardner on the bass, and for about six months we were cooking. we supported a band of an ex-member of all about eve at the richmond and nick banks out of pulp was in the crowd. we were scott walker fronting new order. sort of.

i think we were about 8 years too early for the 80s revival.

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 08:25:25 GMT

sorted out radiohead and björk b-sides over the weekend and last night.

got 51 radiohead tracks off singles - forgot about a couple of remixes i have lying around.

got 155 björk tracks. that's as many as would fit on a cd, in AAC format. top of the remix pile is hyperballad, with 11. 9 apiece for alarm call and violently happy. this is possibly more björk than one person can rationally cope with. include the album version and say, one live version and i can fill an 80 minute disc with just hyperballad!

radiohead album diary

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:06:50 GMT

harbourcoat live - not a triumphant return to the stage, but not a disaster either.

it would have been better if i hadn't dropped my sticks twice. it's a good job we use the words 'ramshackle' and/or 'shambolic' to describe ourselves when we play live. ste was up to his old tricks by the end, not speaking to the crowd and stomping off. in fact he stomped out the source completely about 20 minutes after we finished. he managed to take the wrong guitar with him too, i've no idea if he's swapped them back. i think we'll draw a veil over that and say 'personal issues', although i can't pretend i know what's going on at the moment. marc and i had a chat about it but i think we'll have to let ste make his own mistakes, and hope it doesn't affect the other people involved too much.

we got onto talking about futures plans too so we've booked a return visit for harbourcoat on the 17th september, and Sounds Of The Sunshine Underground kicks off on 1st October. what we're doing, aside from DJ-ing, i don't know.

there's a smell of burnt rubber and black smoke hanging over the estate this morning, a warehouse nearby is burning - apparently not as empty as first reported, it held a quantity of tyres.

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:55:55 GMT

the sun is shining, the grass is singing.

last night's practise was a good 'un. we nailed the set after swapping two songs around, 'nights of sleep' has picked up much momentum in its new position.

we were rocking but gently (loud for us anyway), when the doorbell went. marc and ste hurried out the back, but it was just a bloke interested in what music we played. "we're not too loud?" asked al to this neighbour "oh no, i was just walking past and saw your microphone" he said.

the obligatory kitchen chat had movement forwards too. decisions were made, which will have no little impact on next year if everything goes well.

the downstairs alarm seems to have been fixed. i have managed two uninterrupted nights sleep, although not actually in the bedroom above the alarm.

Mon, 15 Aug 2005 12:58:17 GMT

well the ear seems to have cleared up but the weekend was slightly undone by the downstairs flat's malfunctioning alarm. it went off at 3.40am on saturday morning. not the twenty minute blast of noise but a sonar-like 'ping' every 3 seconds. it went on for 8 hours. then stopped ("phew" i thought "it's been fixed"). i gave up on going back to sleep fairly early on, so was looking forward to an early night - but no, the alarm started to ping again at 11.30pm. had a 'chat' with the bloke downstairs: having only that morning given myself a number one crop and having a slightly manic look in my eyes i'm not sure it was the best introduction we could have had but it did enable me to offer some suggestions to fixing the problem. i even thought he'd sorted it out until 2:20am this morning, when the beeps began again.

i dragged my mattress into the lounge at the back and managed to fit -ooh- four hours in before getting up. having been suffering lack of sleep prior to this weekend i'm now down about… well, a full night's sleep i reckon, and with no guarantee the alarm's going to be repaired today i'm leaving the mattress where it is for a while. otherwise there will be a incident. i will be the "quiet neighbour who kept himself to himself" with no explanation for a "violent psychotic episode". you read it here first!

i must be having a bad day, the eyes are both twitching like herbert lom at the end of one of the latter (and not so good) pink panther films and i'm listening to gabriel-era genesis albums.

Tue, 09 Aug 2005 14:40:45 GMT

have got some weird early-morning ear-rumbling at the moment. it's a BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM in my left ear, probably caused by a build-up of catarrh. it settles down during the day, if it persists i might have to get it syringed. eep.

Thu, 04 Aug 2005 16:00:54 GMT

went to see newcastle v deportivo last night. my first newcastle match, and first european game too - it was the inter-toto cup. a pretty good match, too - deportivo were the better skilled side but newcastle matched them in the first 45mins - two defensive cock-ups allowed deportivo to score and thus most of the second half was a bit flat as there was no way nufc were going to score 3 goals, which is what they needed to go through on aggregate. and newcastle desperately need a forward. they have a strong midfield - emre and scott parker were both impressive which considering neither of them played much last season which looks good for the team. but at the moment newcastle are going to let in a few and not score many. hmm.

one interesting note - the fans seemed much more polite and relaxed than at carlisle where there's a torrent of what's commonly called "foul and abusive language" from the crowd throughout. and there were a lot of 5-6 year olds with their dads - i don't know if its like this on a regular saturday. it might have a much more aggressive atmosphere but it was a good evening all round and if it's like this regularly (and i've got a few quid - like, £50 spare) i might go again. and last night was a freebie to boot.

have gone on a cd-buying frenzy recently. oh dear. i will be dancing for pennies by the end of the month. still, got matching mole, tunng, brooks and michael nyman through the post in the past few days - and there's more to come. have cleared off a bit of the amazon wishlist though, think its down to about 50 items.

Fri, 29 Jul 2005 11:52:39 GMT

am currently cat-sitting - whilst the parents are in london packing up my grandmother hilde's material possessions. hilde is coming up to a nursing home in carlisle having been adjudged no longer able to look after herself. in a bizarre turn of events she's going to be living just around the corner so i can pop in and see her - if i was a dutiful grandson. which i'm not. we've never got on ever since i can remember.

the cat-sitting is fine though, little jasmine's staying in my flat for a few days rather than being shipped off to a cattery - my mum said it would be better for me to look after the cat in case they were blown up on the tube. she's pretty old now (20 which is i think 100 in cat years) and sleeps alot. she woke up at 11 last night and went back to her bed half-an-hour later. and she grumbles a lot when she's awake. she's not missing much anyway. the english summer has reverted to type, the grey clouds are everywhere.

only just realised there's a new björk album out - in the shops this week. will have to get that on the way home i think. for some reason i thought it was out in september.

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:05:25 GMT

just heard the sad news that a mate's brother has died in a car crash, the second accident on the same road in 3 hours. the first accident ended with the car on its roof, but all 5 passengers survived, although 2 are in intensive care. the second ended with the car in a field and the driver (the brother) dead.

i only met K for about 30 minutes about 2 weeks ago, when i got a lift off him. and i cannot imagine what his brother, his parents and his girlfriend are going through right now.

and you people all know what i'm talking about…

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 14:24:14 GMT

so it was the josh rouse gig last night and he was very good - a lot from '1972', and a few i recognised from 'under cold blue stars'. very tight band and good sound (they brought their own sound guy, as opposed to the resident desk-operator who is a nice bloke but tends to make the sound very muddy and the vocals indistinct). rouse sounds rougher live than on disc - there's more than a hint of the tweedy but he can hit higher notes.

no complaints about the music, i turned into mr grumpy-trousers at the crowd though - who pays 14 quid to see a band and then talk all the way through it? well, it seems a lot of people do. but when you're on the stage, all you get is a wall of (white) noise from out beyond the spotlights and it's on the cusp between being very irritating and bloody annoying. i blame the venue layout which does do anybody favours. i'd stick the bar along the back wall rather than the side.

still progressing on the dame dave marathon, attentive playlisters will have noticed. on the track 8s at the moment, and i've got through the worst of it (the spoken intro to 'glass spider'). still going to have 3600+ unplayed tracks left.

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 09:02:35 GMT

the Wit
(56% dark, 39% spontaneous, 16% vulgar)

your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK

You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean you're pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer. Your sense of humor takes the most effort to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.

Also, you probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm
talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 54% on dark
You scored higher than 9% on spontaneous
You scored higher than 0% on vulgar

Link: The 3 Variable Funny Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Mon, 25 Jul 2005 15:00:53 GMT

yesterday, had a listen to the first batch of demos.

finished 'everything is illuminated'. lack of sleep is punishing the critical faculties however, so i'll just say i enjoyed it.

tonight somebody i want to see is actually playing a gig! woo-hoo! i hope there's a decent crowd…

full of number twos

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 15:17:02 GMT

this is it, the final part of this survey

Get Duffy - Primal Scream from Vanishing Point
this random search has thrown up a surprisingly high number of noodly instrumentals from otherwise vocal albums. hmm… 0/1

Afternoon Guy - Ovuca from Wasted Sunday
oh it's OK with kiddy samples and pretty tunes floating about but there's better later on 0/2

Hounds Of Love - Kate Bush from Hounds Of Love
here's a future survey - on which albums are the title tracks the best ones? 1/3

Crying - Björk from Debut
all björk sounds great to me. i think maybe my ears are getting tired and this is just the cure 1/4

The Negatives... - Hood from Outside Closer
this is the second surprisingly poppy track by hood i've had today 1/5

Catch A Wave - The Beach Boys from Surfer Girl
what the…? again? it couldn't be pet sounds could it? no, it's so early in their career it's got david marks on the front! 1/6

Can't Run But - Paul Simon from The Rhythm Of The Saints

marimbas! woo-hoo! 2/7

A Street Scene - Bark Psychosis from Hex
if this was 'devastating singles from the mid-90s' then yes but it's 'favourite track on the album' so no. 2/8

Railway Jam - Saint Etienne from So Tough

again with the instrumentals! it's probably this sort of thing that stopped the Saints from crossing into the pop mainstream 2/9

Thrillseeker - The Divine Comedy from Fin de Siecle
and so we come to a close. not hannon's best album but the only one i've got signed. it's arch and lacks the warmth of 'commuter love' 2/10

so the round up: is brett anderson right? is track 7 on albums always the best?
01: 4/10
02: 2/10
03: 3/10
04: 1/10
05: 2/10
06: 1/10
07: 3/10
08: 2/10
09: 3/10
10: 2/10

hey! it's in the top 4! maybe there is a kernal of truth in this. i should contact my statistitian buddies.

four!

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 14:38:25 GMT

as we reach the final stages… here's my outside punt. number 4.

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - The White Stripes from Elephant
nope, it's not a great cover in my opinion, outshone here by the original songs. 0/1

Help Me Somebody - Brian Eno & David Byrne from My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
i prefer the tracks with the algerian vocalist, although this is very good 0/2

Dead Horse Alive With Flies - Harold Budd from By The Dawn's Early Light
unsurprisingly, not much happens, but it's nice enough i suppose 0/3

Feel Flows - The Charlatans from Up To Our Hips
sounding all the more ballsier for following harold budd, but… hmmm, this isn't going as i thought 0/4

There Goes The Cure - One Dove from Morning Dove White
dammit! i've already picked one off this! what is it with dot allison? 0/5

Carey - Joni Mitchell from Blue
well it's never going reach the peaks of this album is it? 0/6

Me Plus One - Annie from Anniemal
it's great it really is. but it's no 'chewing gum' or 'heartbeat' 0/7

Contratempo - Lali Puna from Scary World Theory
great! no, wait - this album's got nin-com-pop hasn't it? oh yes it has 0/8

Khom?s - Leafcutter John from The Housebound Spirit
just when it was looking really bad, leafy john returns to save the day 1/9

Persephone - Cocteau Twins from Treasure
it's the paperchase one. but there's nicer melodies on 'treasure'. dammit, another theory gone. 1/10

still number 1

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:54:53 GMT

well, track 1, side 1s are traditionally the place for the best tune - but does that apply here? and what's with dot allison making her 3rd appearance?

Fanfare - Eric Matthews from It's Heavy In Here
a mighty fine start to the album and this set of tracks. 1/1

We're Only Science - Dot Allison from We Are Science
tenniswood beats (i think) + dot's breathy vocals = ooh, so nearly! 1/2

4 - Aphex Twin from Richard D. James Album
it's a great opening track, but the best on the album? hmmm… 1/3

Kill All Hippies - Primal Scream from Xtrmntr
re: earlier comment about not being able to choose on this album. i can. it's blood money. 1/4

It's Raining Today - Scott Walker from Scott 3
oh this is ridiculous. this is up against 'big louise' and 'copenhagen' for starters. but, it's got that great string drone. 2/5

Cecilia Ann - Pixies from Bossanova
surftastic! but not a patch on velouria among others 2/6

Surfer Girl - The Beach Boys from Surfer Girl
surfer girl again? out of 836 albums?? it's great but it doesn't have the making-grown-men-weep effect of 'in my room' 2/7

....Of Lights - Jack from Pioneer Soundtracks
what if the world wasn't ending? well, i'd still go for 'dress you in mourning', that's just devastating. 2/8

Step Into My Office, Baby - Belle & Sebastian from Dear Catastrophe Waitress
ah, b&s - you always do great openers. 3/9

So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star - The Byrds from Younger Than Yesterday
"well, we've got space for a 2 minute opener" "let's deconstruct the nascent record industry" "ok then" 4/10

ooh, the big 4/10 for these babies.

the terrible threes

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:12:23 GMT

OK, so whilst stuff is getting blown up - the intention to blow stuff up is there anyway - and people are getting shot by police let's dig out the metaphorical fiddle.

Mokeylips - LFO from Sheath
lovely burbly techno from mr mark bell. but doesn't have the fierce burn of 'freak' 0/1

Hug My Soul - Saint Etienne from Tiger Bay
they are the greatest pop band of the last - blimey - 15 years. and you've got to love the whistly bit at the fade 1/2

Strange Little Girl - Tori Amos from Strange Little Girls
it's nothing beyond 'merely ok', this song. and the percussion bugs the hell out of me 1/3

Where Is The Line - Björk from Medúlla
of course i've been hammering 'who is it' recently. so i can't favour this one. shame. 1/4

City Of Light - Fennesz from Venice
some days i think fennesz can do no wrong. and this is one of them 2/5

Jesus Loves Me - CocoRosie from La Maison de Mon Rêve
sooooo close, but no cigar 2/6

The Fear Is On - The Hidden Cameras from Mississauga Goddam
it's quite apt for today but i'm going to pass 2/7

Jennifer - Faust from Faust IV
actually i really like the droning, panning bit followed by the silent-movie piano: a hit! 3/8

Pass You By - Gillian Welch from Revival
it lopes along over a dirty guitar and sparse percussion - oh but hang on this album's got 'barroom girls' and 'one more dollar' on for starters 3/9

Freezing In Haunted Water - Julian Fane from Special Forces
it's one of the more 'moby remixes sigur ros' tracks on what is otherwise a very good album (and if you like that description then give it a listen) 3/10

30% again. i wonder if that is the peak?

10 x 10

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 11:32:23 GMT

you'll have observed i'm not doing this is in any real order…

Avalon - Sigur Rós from Ágætis Byrjun
the other sigur ros closing track! it's up there with 'intro' as the easiest to type too! 0/1

International Small Arms Traffic Blues - The Mountain Goats from Tallahassee
i have a lot of time for this album, worryingly the only mountains goat i have - one day when i win the lottery i'll start on the back catalogue 1/2

Our Car Club - The Beach Boys from Surfer Girl
so good they stuck it on 'little deuce coupe' as well! 1/3

Hebridean Sun - Vashti Bunyan from Just Another Diamond Day
diamond is the word, this is a great great album 1/4

The Hand - Tarnation from Gentle Creatures
wait - is this calexico playing on this? it sounds like it and i don't have the credits on the promo… damn fine though 1/5

Heirloom - Björk from Vespertine
bjork's vocal over console's 'crabcraft'. or the recurring dream song. 1/6

Failing Light - Brian Eno & Harold Budd from Ambient 2 The Plateaux Of Mirror
surprisingly melodic for an ambient track, although not as whistle-friendly as '1/1'. go on then 2/7

Red Money - David Bowie from Lodger
'project cancelled' - bowie waves ta-ta to the berlin years. what the jiggins is going on in this track?! 2/8

Trainspotting - Primal Scream from Vanishing Point
it's pretty good for having been rescued off the film soundtrack. lots of melodica, which i think always benefits a song. 2/9

All We Have Is Now - The Flaming Lips from Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
it's good but… come on, i can't pick this out 2/10

a lack of great closing tracks in this selection dents the score, plus there quite a few track tens out of 14 or 15 track albums. so just 20%.

5 by 5… no, 10 x 5

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 09:46:29 GMT

at the very least this survey is going to reveal how diverse the collection is…

Soft Black Stars - Current Ninety Three from Soft Black Stars
ooh this is lovely. but even so… 0/1

In Iron Light - Hood from Cycle Of Days And Seasons
it's difficult without listening to the album in full again. but for now, computer says 'yes' 1/2

Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin from Led Zeppelin II
lordy! it's the riff that ate the world! 2/3

Dancing Days - Led Zeppelin from Houses Of The Holy
this fills the space between the good tracks and the fillers on the album 2/4

Poor Little Thing - The Broken Family Band from Jesus Songs
got to admit i do like the BFB album, this is - eep - a jaunty foot-tapper 2/5

She Is Not - David Sylvian from Blemish
this one divided the sylvian fans, being a track with guitar improvisor extrodinaire derek bailey - 'he's just making it up!' goes the criticism. still it is only 45 seconds long 2/6

Recycled Air - The Postal Service from Give Up
i don't know, this seems a little slight in comparison to some of their other songs 2/7

Unknown - Tortoise from It's All Around You
well it's tortoise. i don't think it's the standout but i could be wrong. let's err on the side of caution 2/8

Sweet Oddysee Of A Cancer Cell T' Th' Center Of Yer Heart - Mercury Rev from Yerself Is Steam
it's a mighty swirling roar of a track, but y'know i prefer frittering 2/9

Autograph - The Charlatans from Up To Our Hips
i wonder who they nicked that bassline off? 2/10

well the surprises keep coming this morning. my own tip for this is track 4, but i thought 5 would have had a better showing.

9…9…9…

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 09:00:37 GMT

track 9 is traditionally where you park the duff 'un on ten-track albums. there are many exceptions to this rule though. let's see what our survey says:

Lines Low To Frozen Ground - Hood from Cold House
typical hood, they're not the sort of band to have filler. 0/1

White Love (Piano Reprise) - One Dove from Morning Dove White
lovely lovely lovely. it's only a minute long too. against stiff competition 1/2

Paper Moon - Whiskeytown from Pneumonia
it drifts along in a pleasant enough way 1/3

Edward - James Yorkston & The Athletes from Just Beyond the River
it's probably the doomiest track on the album - and none the worse for that 1/4

Only You - Portishead from Portishead
ooh this is the one with the underwater video by chris cunningham 2/5

I'm A Wheel - Wilco from A Ghost is Born
the single of the album, but there's better tracks to pick from 2/6

Awaiting An Accident - Boom Bip from Seed To Sun
why mr boom bip with your post-shadow reinvention of instrumental hip hop you are really spoiling us! 2/7

Because You're Young - David Bowie from Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
if i was clever i'd use the 'sound and fury signifying nothing' quote 2/8

Reign - UNKLE from Never, Never, Land
what the…? ian brown? there's gotta be better tracks on this otherwise we're all in trouble 2/9

Biscuit - Portishead from Dummy
this though is right on the money. two from the same band! viva portishead! 3/10

so 30% success for the track 9s, bucking the trend somewhat.