IceBlah

The Best of 2008 - 34% Icelandic

Happy 2009! Is it the middle of January already? I am back with you (phew!) mainly due to my home internet being fixed. Fixed properly too, it's like magic now... works without wires and everything, I thought such things were impossible. So many thanks to the man that fixed it, I'm ever so grateful. So you wanna know about the best albums of 2008? Here's the list, in reverse order as ever, followed by some brief musings and excuses.

50	Sign - The Hope
49	Cold War Kids - Loyalty To Loyalty
48	Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
47	Motion Boys - Hang On
46	The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement
45	Ultra Mega Technobandið Stefán - Circus
44	James - Hey, Ma
43	Guns n Roses - Chinese Democracy
42	Glasvegas - Glasvegas
41	R.E.M. - Accelerate
40	We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery
39	Glen Campbell - Meet Glen Campbell
38	Olympus Mons - Nothing's Gonna Spoil My Day Today
37	Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
36	Weezer - The Red Album
35	Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Searching For The Hows And Whys
34	Emiliana Torrini - Me And Armini
33	Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
32	Jeff Who? - Jeff Who?
31	The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
30	Vicky - Pull Hard
29	Frank Turner - Love Ire & Song
28	Mammút - Karkari
27	Hjaltalín - Sleepdrunk Seasons
26	Black Kids - Partie Traumatic
25	The Fall - Imperial Wax Solvent
24	Lay Low - Farewell Good Night's Sleep
23	Esja - Esja
22	Coldplay - Viva La Vida
21	The Cure - 4:13 Dream
20	Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now Youngster...
19	Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
18	AC/DC - Black Ice
17	TV On The Radio - Dear Science
16	Boys In A Band - Black Diamond Train
15	Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
14	Sprengjuhöllin - Bestu kveðjur
13	FM Belfast - How To Make Friends
12	The Killers - Day & Age
11	MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
10	Þórir - Activism
9	Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
8	Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
7	Skakkamanage - All Over The Face
6	Bloc Party - Intimacy
5	Retro Stefson - Montaña
4	The Teenagers - Reality Check
3	Reykjavik! - The Blood
2	Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
1	Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night

Well, as well as being officially 34% Icelandic in total, the top 10 is exactly half Icelandic, which is probably a fair reflection of my musical consumption.  It's my list, and I have to say I'm quite surprised by the outcome (I'm a gemini OK?). Kings Of Leon are a band I've liked since they first appeared and although I have always thought their albums were getting better each time I wasn't expecting to love their fourth offering quite as much as I do. The top 3 on this list were never in much doubt, only the order, they are three fabulous albums. They have been the three albums I have gladly listened to over and over (and over) again this year. They should all give themselves a pat on the back.

Kings Of Leon's trick of improving album after album is one that seems to be rare in music these days. This list has albums by bands like We Are Scientists, REM, The Hold Steady and even up towards the very top the still-fantastic Killers and Bloc Party that are in my view a step backwards from previous offerings. Los Campesinos deserve a mention for having both their 2008 albums in the top 20, there are three debuts in the top 10 (Vampire Weekend, Retro Stefson and The Teenagers) and let's hope those three can come up with something even better next time. Þórir has kept up the standard we're used to again, every one of his albums has been in my favourite ten of the year. And just so all of the top 10 get a mention, Skakkamanage was a lovely surprise, a brilliant produced (and named) record of varied and beautiful songs. It sounded a little bit like Slowblow (I wonder why!), and that's a very good thing. I just wish I had some gongs, or golden statues to hand out. Bring on 2009.

Singles of the year...

So I've come up with a list of my favourite singles of the year. Despite it being my game, I'm still confused by the rules - but I think that all of these have been released in the UK as singles. Clearly this rule eliminates a lot of my favourite songs of the year - album tracks like Sigur Ros's peerless Ára bátur and obviously a load of the year's Icelandic output is also ruled out like Sprengjuhöllin's brilliant brilliant brilliant Konkordia. At the same time of course, it saves me from even trickier decision making.

So, for what it's worth here's my list of 50 awesome UK singles from 2008, in reverse order to raise the tension...!

50    The B-52's - Funplex
49    Alphabeat - Fascination
48    Scouting for Girls - Heartbeat
47    Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Epic Last Song
46    Biffy Clyro - Mountains
45    R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious
44    Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
43    Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Letter To God From Man
42    Angels & Airwaves - Secret Crowds
41    Portishead - Machine Gun
40    Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos!
39    Dizzee Rascal - Dance Wiv Me (feat. Calvin Harris & Chrome)
38    The Jesse Rose Trip - Forever and a Day
37    James - Waterfall
36    Black Kids - Look At Me (When I Rock Wichoo)
35    Vampire Weekend - One (Blake's Got A New Face)
34    Sons and Daughters - Darling
33    Ida Maria - Oh My God
32    Björk - The Dull Flame Of Desire
31    The Verve - Love Is Noise
30    Bloc Party - Talons
29    Friendly Fires - Jump In the Pool
28    Chairlift - Bruises
27    Little Boots - Meddle
26    Keane - Spiralling
25    The Teenagers - Love No
24    MGMT - Time To Pretend
23    Los Campesinos! - My Year In Lists
22    Weezer - Pork and Beans
21    Estelle - American Boy
20    Johnny Foreigner - Eyes Wide Terrified
19    Bloc Party - Mercury
18    Black Kids - Hurricane Jane
17    Björk - Declare Independence
16    The Killers - Human
15    Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning
14    Kanye West - Homecoming
13    Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
12    The Gaslight Anthem - Old White Lincoln
11    Coldplay - Viva La Vida
10    Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
9    Akala - Comedy Tragedy History
8    Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
7    Late of the Pier - Heartbeat (Cenzo Townshend Version)
6    MGMT - Kids
5    Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
4    M.I.A. - Paper Planes
3    Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly - Find the Time
2    Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody
1    Sigur Rós - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur

Yeah yeah, some of them ain't great (hello Scouting For Girls) but they've all got into my head and made some sort of impression, and that's what you want from a proper good single. Of course, I've changed my mind already about the list and it's order, but that's the way with these things. Don't judge me. And Happy Christmas!

Live in 2008...

Live music in 2007 was dominated Prince and his 21 nights in London for me and for the majority of the music press. I guess that the consensus is that the star of the show in 2008 has been Leonard Cohen who was kind of forced back into the live arena by a huge fraud by a former manager. I do really regret not making the effort to get to one of his fabulously reviewed shows, hopefully he'll be back in '09. Also missed in 2008 were Sigur Ros, who managed to twice play in my back yard (well, London) whilst I was hundreds of miles away. Next time, next time. I did however get to see some stunners, it remains true that music is best served live, with beer.

There's no need to delve too deeply into Iceland Airwaves again. I've spoken about it at length here, here, here, here and here. Suffice to say it  was well up to scratch, at least as good as ever, and I'll be back in October 2009. Off the top of my head, highlights were Retro Stefson, Reykjavik!, Ghostigital, FM Belfast, Half Tiger, Boys In A Band, Matias Tellez, Jan Mayen, Spregjuhollin, Vicky and loads more.

As for the rest, I can pick out 6 highlights - 3 old and established and 3 new and exciting. The highlight of the lot I think was my first (and then second) ever live viewings of Bjork. Somehow I'd managed to avoid her for all these years but over two nights in Hammersmith early in the year I put that right as she gave two of the most exciting, innovative and exhilarating shows I've seen for some time. they were shows full of highlights. Two more old-timers in the last few weeks of the year, firstly a slightly surprising high was provided when me, Mrs iceblah and two mother iceblahs trotted off to the O2 arena for a night billed as 'Ultimate Manilow' (really, that's what the tickets said). It was tremendous fun, you can count the number of classic songs that Barry (can I call him Barry?) has on the fingers of, well, 3 or 4 hands at least. Sure, it was less innovative than Bjork but it was pure fun with a very healthy dose of humour and darn good songs. Pure showbiz, and huge smiles (and glowsticks!) everywhere, proper feelgood stuff. And finally, 3 nights ago, more classic songcraft in the form of legendary London Irish giants the Pogues. Shane MacGowan was much less incoherent than I expected throughout a set full of classics, raucous booze-fueled singalongs to the likes of Dirty Old Town, Tuesday Morning and Rainy Night In Soho before Christmas truly arrived in the form of penultimate song Fairytale Of New York, and as the lyrics finished and the instrumental playout belted onwards the snow fell, not just on stage but all over the venue, you'd need a heart of rock not to feel festive and a little teary.

As for the newer bands, Half Tiger were impressive at Airwaves as I mention above, but also back in London later in the year in what was essentially a living room gig in Kilburn. I saw White Collar Weapons (left) several times throughout the year, and they were always excellent, particularly at The Luminaire in Kilburn and then a couple of weeks ago in Farringdon - both bands are well worth seeking out, you will not be disappointed. Finally, the mighty hilarious and incomparable Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer (right) and his quest to reunite hip-hop with the Queen's English. Highly entertaining, but just who is that mysterious man?..

Things I've learned whilst being lazy

1. This is horrible, and my excuse for recent laziness.

2. Heidar Helguson is a genius. 3 goals in 2 games for the mighty Queens Park Rangers. There he is on the left celebrating, and rightly so.

3. This is great news. Everything this band has ever done has been fun, I'm sure this'll be no different.

4. And this is just appalling. I only heard Miss X-Factor 2008's version for the first time yesterday. It's so terrible, it defies words. A lesson in how to suck all the spirit out of a wonderful song. Even the lyrics are changed. Dear lord. What a shame the Buckley campaign didn't quite succeed.

More soon. Honestly.

Mr B at the Innocent Village Fete

A most pleasant afternoon in slightly rainy Regent's Park at the annual Innocent Village Fete. And amongst all the duck herding, ferret racing, farmer's market and welly wanging (really) were two tents of live music. And amongst that lot a real gem in the form of a most admirable fellow by the name of Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer. This well brought-up young man has a mission to reunite hip-hop with the Queen's English. Welcome to chap-hop.

On stage in a striped blazer and cravat, banjo in one hand and pipe in the other, he led a half devoted, half bewildered (then delighted) crowd through a fine half hour introduction to the new genre. Songs about his old school chum Timothy Westwood, the ridiculousness of being forced outside to smoke his pipe (and the utter horror of having to do so alongside those Marlboro Light smokers) and then one about cricket written with a helping hand from that nice chap Ice Cube. During a ditty advocating the benefits of a crack cocaine habit in the pursuit of fame, it was a true pleasure to see so many small children dancing around near the front - none singing along thankfully. The set finale, a song which I believe is (and certainly should be) called Chap-Hop History took us through 30 years of hip hop references in about 5 minutes. Hearing a re-worded 'Fight For Your Right' accompanied only by a hybrid banjo/ukelele in a tent in the park is a wondrous thing. Those with the hip-hop knowledge had many a great laugh, everyone had huge smiles - it's fair to say the whole tent was grinning and cheering (and sweating) at the end.

Having read in a Sunday broadsheet (oh yes I'm classy too) only this morning about how new posh is trendy, this Mr B fellow appears to have timed his arrival splendidly. Oh, and I know he's from good solid Surrey stock, he's my cousin (he is so splendid that he designed that lovely logo for this very blog, top left). But there's no bias here, check him out - you will love it I promise.

A small p.s. I ventured into the Puffin Books tent, where children had the opportunity to write a story in a 4 page book which were all pre-printed with a first line. Finished stories were then hung on a big (pretend) tree inside the tent. The first one I looked at had the pre-printed opening sentence, 'Yesterday I escaped from...' The child however clearly had other ideas. The second sentence was, 'NO, there was once a princess.' Genius.

New songs everywhere

A bit of a bonanza today. Firstly there are free songs (tasters from forthcoming albums) from Bob Dylan and Kings Of Leon to be had on the interweb. In October Dylan will release the 8th volume of The Bootleg Series, which is entitled "Tell Tale" Signs and runs to 3 discs (if you still do discs these days). The free song, "Dreaming Of You" is available at bobdylan.com for free. Yay! And, it is absolutely fantastic - apparently recorded for the Time Out Of Mind album, it somehow missed the cut. Well worth nabbing the free download, splendid stuff. Over at Kings Of Leon's site you can get a download of "Crawl", an advance track from the new album, "Only By The Night". Again, very much worth the free download. Whilst so many bands burst onto the scene with a good debut then fade away, the signs from this is that K.O.L. are going to continue their growth and improvement.

As for Icelandic Music, there are a few sites to get hold of the music without actually travelling to Reykjavik. The best of which are related to two record shops... world's best record shop, 12 tonar, has an online store as does Smekkleysa (or Bad Taste if you're not local). Bad Taste was set up by young Icelandic musicians in the eighties and is still run by the wonderful Einar Orn, once of The Sugarcubes. 12 Tonar really is the best record shop there is, and is run by the less famous but also very wonderful Johannes (Hi Johannes!) - the shop should be an essential part of any trip to Reykjavik. Today I came across new singles from The Motion Boys and the mighty mighty Reykjavik! . (very hard to punctuate when a band have punctuation in their name). The new Reykjavik! song is called "Aeji, plis" (no, me neither) and... I like it. I like it because it sounds like Reykjavik! and that's a good thing. It does sound a little bit like singer Boas is singing more and more, as opposed to the slightly screamier early days. Maybe because of this nasty incident (I don't know how that would happen) - hope you are well now Mr Boas. Reykjavik's debut album was my very favourite of 2006, new material on the way is a good thing. The Motion Boys do good electronic pop stuff, they came over and played at The Luminaire about a year ago with Hafdis Huld and Jan Mayen. They're like a good, and less annoying, Scissor Sisters.

Finally, I got myself the debut album by Ida Maria - the latest cute Scandinavian girl that so many of us are suckers for (Annie, Lykke Li, Jenny Wilson and I guess the Icelanders Hafdis Huld and Lay Low) and another really talented one. The album doesn't disappoint especially when she's more upbeat and rocky - which thankfully is often. There are plenty of potential singles to follow "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked". I love it when the hype is right. Two other bands getting a load of hype in the UK right now are XX Teens and Jyrojets. I try to ignore hype but I usually end up giving it a listen - I don't get XX Teens, maybe I'm too old, but Jyrojets sure have a few good tunes, one called "Favourite Thing About Jane" is excellent. I'm singing it now. In My Head.

Nostalgia & The K.L.F.

In a recent issue of Word magazine in the UK there was an interview with Bill Drummond - him of The K.L.F. who signed off their career by firing a machine gun into the audience at the 1992 Brit awards and then burning that million quid. Interesting chap. Anyway he has a new band called The 17. Their trick (of course there is one) is that their line-up changes every time they perform. Not only that but each performance is recorded, listened to once, and then deleted. The point he is making is against recording music - the ultimate pop moment is single and unrepeatable.

Another related opinion he raises in the article is against nostalgia, "The idea that music made when you were 13 or 19 is intrinsically better than what's being made today is an illusion". Couldn't agree more Bill. Every year brings one or two new bands (or at least new discoveries) that will remain favourites for years. Equally there are bands I loved when I was 19, (no need to talk about my tastes when I was 13) which was at the start of the oasis/blur britpop era, that I love now and I'll probably stand by for many more years - that means you Echobelly. And then there are more than a few of my personal favourite acts who had peaked or even left the planet before I was  born. Most of us music fans have the balance to see that the best music can come from any era don't we? And that our tastes can change over time.

On to the personal point of all this. Firstly, I'm a boy so I write lists of best songs, best albums, of all time or of a certain year. Secondly I'm vaguely (?) obsessive so I keep them. Three times I've written out my favourite songs ever and I still have those lists, I'd estimate they are from 1988, 1996 and 1999. And the accolades have gone to Eternal Flame by The Bangles, Whatever by Oasis and most recently Rasberry Beret by Prince. I think only the final one would come close to the top (very close) these days. Speaking of which, I'm coming over all nostalgic and it must be time for a 2008 version, if only I could get a month off work...

p.s. I just found out who the producer was on Eternal Flame by The Bangles.
- Simon Cowell.

What makes me buy?

I buy a lot of music, it must be more than I need given the size of my waiting list of unheard music, but it's a habit I like. I don't think I'm just a marketing man's dream, or possibly those marketing types are cleverer than I think. I do love a bit of hype, I love to think I've found a great new band first, but mostly I just like buying and consuming brilliant music. And that makes me buy music, often music that I really don't know enough about. I only have an inkling based on one song or interview that I'm going to like it. How often have all of us bought an album, to find that the one song we've heard on the radio and loved really is the only good song on there (no names mentioned...). Buying a new album by a band I already like is small risk - even if I find it disappointing, I had to know, so I had to hear it. But new artists, ones I've heard once or twice and then read a good review or two in places I trust - somehow I can't resist. Now of course itunes, and similar sites, are very useful, I can go there and listen to bits of all the songs and feel a little bit informed but once I have the thought of buying an album in my head, and so long as nobody I trust gives me a good reason to stop myself, it's fairly inevitable that I'm going to part with some cash sooner or later. All of which is likely to be good news in the near future for some or all of Black Kids, the Hold Steady and Lykke Li.