Music review 2008
A review of some sort, I felt like it was homework overdue...
My Ten Tracks Of The Year:
Interpol - Pioneer To The Falls (Album/Orchestral Version)
Ludicrously not a single of their frankly mediocre third album, but this outshone the rest of the album put together. Sounding simultaneously terrified and triumphant this builds over some five minutes to a squalling wall of sound; they opened with this at Latitude 2008. It was pissing it down, but it didn't matter one bit at this moment. Also download the ridiculously ambitious orchestral version off iTunes where 'Pioneer To The Falls' gets Philip Glassified. Easily the best track Interpol have ever done.
Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Bound to be overhyped soon, but for now a late contender for my song of the year, I have been playing this on repeat for a month. Voguishly 'psychedelic' video (yeah kids!) but somehow this pitches itself between PJ Harvey and Cocorosie but landing on its brightly painted toes. She really makes you believe she can banish those demons by sheer force of will.
Portishead - Machine Gun/The Rip
I wrote this about it when it was leaked on the net in March and it still apllies..."brutally compressed drum blasts hammering the final nail in trip hops coffin, pretty stunning!"
Others:
Heartbreak - We're Back
Metronomy - Heartbreaker
Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
Cut Copy - Lights And Music (Superdiscount Mix)
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (King Of Town Mix)
Foals - Olympic Airways (Ewan Pearson Mix)
Neil Young - The Way (awww, so sweet)
Album Of The Year: Portishead - Third
Runners Up: Bishi, Crystal Castles, Hercules and Love Affair, Perico, Magnetic Fields.
Event of the year: Latitude 2008
Live Gig of The Year: Crystal Castles - frankly insane believe the hype...I thought we were going to die of Crystal Castles Crush.
Runners Up: Glass Candy, Chromatics, Portishead, Leonard Cohen, Stereolab, Maleficent, My Bloody Valentine, Perico, Whitey, Heartbreak, Lucky Soul, Hercules and Love Affair, OMD.
It's been and up and down year and I have endured my crises and moments where it all seemed like it might just go right again...but I didn't realise how many bands I'd seen in between all the drama until I collated this list.
In the middle of it all working on Latitude was a great experience one again...
Special mention must go to the fabulous Leonard Cohen gig I was lucky enough to see at the O2 which encouraged me to dip properly into the man's back back catalogue, and funnily enough presaged a glut of interest in him post-X-factor.
My Ten Tracks Of The Year:
Interpol - Pioneer To The Falls (Album/Orchestral Version)
Ludicrously not a single of their frankly mediocre third album, but this outshone the rest of the album put together. Sounding simultaneously terrified and triumphant this builds over some five minutes to a squalling wall of sound; they opened with this at Latitude 2008. It was pissing it down, but it didn't matter one bit at this moment. Also download the ridiculously ambitious orchestral version off iTunes where 'Pioneer To The Falls' gets Philip Glassified. Easily the best track Interpol have ever done.
Click to viewFlorence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over
Bound to be overhyped soon, but for now a late contender for my song of the year, I have been playing this on repeat for a month. Voguishly 'psychedelic' video (yeah kids!) but somehow this pitches itself between PJ Harvey and Cocorosie but landing on its brightly painted toes. She really makes you believe she can banish those demons by sheer force of will.
Portishead - Machine Gun/The Rip
I wrote this about it when it was leaked on the net in March and it still apllies..."brutally compressed drum blasts hammering the final nail in trip hops coffin, pretty stunning!"
Others:
Heartbreak - We're Back
Metronomy - Heartbreaker
Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
Cut Copy - Lights And Music (Superdiscount Mix)
Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (King Of Town Mix)
Foals - Olympic Airways (Ewan Pearson Mix)
Neil Young - The Way (awww, so sweet)
Album Of The Year: Portishead - Third
Runners Up: Bishi, Crystal Castles, Hercules and Love Affair, Perico, Magnetic Fields.
Event of the year: Latitude 2008
Live Gig of The Year: Crystal Castles - frankly insane believe the hype...I thought we were going to die of Crystal Castles Crush.
Runners Up: Glass Candy, Chromatics, Portishead, Leonard Cohen, Stereolab, Maleficent, My Bloody Valentine, Perico, Whitey, Heartbreak, Lucky Soul, Hercules and Love Affair, OMD.
It's been and up and down year and I have endured my crises and moments where it all seemed like it might just go right again...but I didn't realise how many bands I'd seen in between all the drama until I collated this list.
In the middle of it all working on Latitude was a great experience one again...
Special mention must go to the fabulous Leonard Cohen gig I was lucky enough to see at the O2 which encouraged me to dip properly into the man's back back catalogue, and funnily enough presaged a glut of interest in him post-X-factor.