9: Vampire Weekend: Contra

Yes; it sounds very nice, and it's probably going to be one of the best selling indy albums this year. But it's grating. The ironic title - the anti Sandinista? The too clever lines - where can you buy a cup of Horchata? There's no edge. Christian Lander (of Stuff White People Like) is probably right -

What about the whitest band?
Right now? I have to say Vampire Weekend all the way. They're pushing it to levels unseen. Salon

“As with everything that white people like, the more advanced white people DO NOT like it. But white people’s dislike of Vampire Weekend only comes out of the pure jealousy that emerges when you have to watch already privileged white people succeed with actual talent. The Strokes went through a similar problem. White people like to believe that if you are born East Coast wealthy then you are not allowed to be talented. It is only people who are born into moderate wealth that deserve talent.” Cultural Loafing

7: Lawrence Arabia: Chant Darling 8: Jesca Hoop: Hunting My Dress

I knew this would happen. Buying albums faster than I have time to write about them. And with two new releases last week, time to resort to one line reviews. Lawrence Arabia. He's not called Lawrence. He's from New Zealand. Nice jangly Byrds/Beach Boys guitar pop. Totally wrong to release an album sounding like this in January. Unless you're in New Zealand.
Jesca Hoop - acid folk from Tom Waits' kid's nanny (every reviewer mentions this, so she's not really trying to live it down), now based in the UK. And she is called Jesca. One of those love it/hate it voices like Joanna Newsom. Think this one will grow on me.

6: The Imagined Village: Empire and Love

It took me a while to get the first Imagined Village album - perhaps surprisingly so, given the involvement of Simon Emmerson and Eliza Carthy. I think that I paid too much attention to a sniffy review in Mojo. It's still an immensely enjoyable album, even if a bit sprawling and disjointed. This second set (received from Amazon this morning) is a much tighter affair, less beat driven, and with fewer vocalists; the Imagined Village now sound more like a band, less like a concept.
Martin Carthy's back catalogue features strongly, with Byker Hill and two versions of Scarborough Fair as well as the outstanding My Son John. The latter - like Tam Lyn on the first album - is a radical modernisation of a folk standard, as a song about men wounded by cannon fire in the Napoleonic Wars is updated to reflect the experiences of amputee veterens of Blair's wars. Chilling.

5: A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind

Mojo freebie. Looks quite good - Can, White Noise, Dungen etc. But not been in the mood for it yet. There are way too many Word and Mojo freebies lying unloved and unplayed on my shelves - existing just to cause frustration as I once again rip the magazine removing them from the cover.

3: Arvo Part; In Principio 4: These New Puritans; Hidden

In Principio arrived from Amazon on Friday, Hidden from the Rough Trade Album Club on Saturday (together with the almost obligatory extra Rough Trade exclusive EP - which frequently justify the crass laziness of simply asking RT to send me the best two new releases each month). Part's "Holy Minimalism" and TNPS' "dancehall meets Steve Reich” have a lot in common - big themes, a lot of repeated rhythms and sounds. An obvious shared influence not just from other minimalists, but also from composers like Benjamin Britten.
As Animal Collective (and the less lauded Phantom Band) set the bar ridiculously early last year, I'm sure Hidden will feature in many best of 2010 lists. Of slight concern is that with such a full sound, the vocals are a bit on the wimpy side - I made the comparison with Massive Attack; had TNPS followed their example and used a heavy weight guest vocalist, I think this could have been extraordinary.

2: These New Puritans: We Want War

Medium: Spotify/YouTube
Rough Trade Shops have just tweeted that the new TNPS album is their album of the month for January, so I can look forward to it dropping through my letter box when the Album Club delivery comes out next week. I wasn't overly impressed by their first album, but this single sounds a lot more interesting. More than a nod to Mezzanine-era Massive Attack.

1: Sigh No More; Mumford & Sons

OK; time to bring this place back to life. It was always supposed to be primarily about what I'm listening to. And at the start of whatever we'll call this decade, I've had the foolish idea to comment on the music I purchase (the first contentious comment) in this decade. Might last a week, might last a month... would be nice to think it'll last longer.
OK. First purchase of the decade. Mumford & Sons. Medium: CD. Location: HMV, St Albans.
First became aware of M&S when they were longlisted for BBC's Sound of 2009 a year ago, and I'd already "acquired" (the flip side of that "purchased" word) a lot of this in demo form during the year. They struck me then as being a cut above many of the others on the list - although I'll admit surprise now at quite how many - Florence + the Machine, White Lies, Lady Gaga, The Big Pink (to name just the ones whose albums I purchased) - have made a mark this year, over and above the more widely hyped La Roux and Little Boots (the eventual winner). Looking at that list, I'm all the more surprised that it's taken til now for me to pick up the album. Of course, Winter Winds has been played to death on 6 Music, Radio 2, and even the darker parts of R1 over the last month. And I hope it goes on to be replayed year after year as a classic secular Christmas hit, a la Fairytale of New York. Great bit of marketing - it first hit my radar on a demo some time in the late summer, when it was called "But My Heart Called My Head". I liked it, but it passed me by as a possible Christmas hit. Folk lite? Wimbledon mariachi (wish that was my line, but it was actually Robert Elms in his review of 2009 yesterday)? Whatever; I'm not going to go folk snob on this - it's good.

dreams of a sister like Molly Ringwald

Another one that's going to figure in my 2008 favourites. What is it with me and French music?

is it a bat? is it a cat?

New Mogwai album out on Monday. I've been playing this rather a lot.

suddenly I'm unsure where do I call home

A rare night out without the girls for Lorna and myself as we went to see Jane Birkin at the Roundhouse - a suitably iconic venue for a 60's icon - a national treasure indeed, as someone shouted from the crowd. Although which nation was far from clear. She spoke in French at least as much as English; I did reflect at one point whether this was quite possibly the most ridiculously pretentious gig I could ever go to. But then, she is far more French than English these days, and whilst most of the set was drawn from her two most recent albums of collaborations and songs written for her by other writers, she will be forever associated with Gainsbourg and the songs that he wrote for her. She acknowledged the presence of his ghost at one point, and whilst Lorna and I were both sorry she didn't include our favourite Gainsbourg songs - Couleur Café and Comment te dire Adieu - many of the highlights were Gainsbourg compositions - Le moi et le je, Je m'appelle Jane (sung in duet with the soundman from the circle and ending with a kazoo solo by Birkin) and Ballade de Johnny Jane.
Her voice has never been strong - the breathlessness of Je T'aime (Moi Non Plus) is present in many of her songs - and there were times when the band seemed to overwhelm her. But her presence - her use of space, particularly when she left the stage, moved through the main space and ended up almost within touching distance of our seats in the circle - was captivating. A 61 year old grandmother, but there were plenty of flashes of the sex kitten first seen in Blow Up.
Some of the new material worked better than others - Neil Hannon's Home and Beth Gibbons' Strange Melody came to life, and Tom Waits' Alice could have been written for her. She played one new song - a sung/spoken tribute to Aung San Su Kyi, which could have been excruciatingly worthy, but was an unexpected highlight.
Performing for almost two hours, with no support, two standing ovations and encores of Ex-Fan des Sixties and L'Aquoiboniste, the evening never flagged, and we walked back to the car through the ashes of Camden Town with a smile on our faces.
The temptation to illustrate this post with one of the famous old photos we could not help but recall is strong, but instead, a lovely clip of her singing Di Doo Dah on the Russell Harty Show in 1973:

strong and warm and wild and free

It may have the most ridiculously pervy/sexist cover since The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, but I'm enjoying the lush electro sounds of the new Sebastien Tellier album



...and, talking of Sexuality, I'm looking forward to Monday. As well as the new Billy Bragg, the new Nick Cave album sounds great, and I'll probably get hold of Malcolm Middleton and Duffy as well. Before that, I've got Jane Birkin for a bit more anglo-gallic loveliness, tomorrow night in Camden.

not solid enough for the office

Listening to Martin Simpson being interviewed and playing on Simon Mayo's show this afternoon, and looking back on the Radio Two Folk Awards last week, I'm left thinking what a great year for folk music 2007 was. I went on at length at how great Cambridge was - given that I saw Lau, Bellowhead, the Winterset, Martin Simpson, John Tams and Julie Fowlis (albeit the last two as part of the Under One Sky collective), of the major winners only The Imagined Village was absent (it was being launched under two feet of mud at Womad that weekend). Some of the choices were close to impossible - how to pick between Lau, The Winterset and Bellowhead for band of the year, but, sticking to the nominated artists, this would have been my choice:
FOLK SINGER OF THE YEAR: Julie Fowlis (no argument there)
BEST DUO: Show of Hands. The bridesmaids again; their two cd retrospective was one of the releases of last year.
BEST GROUP: Rachel Unthank & The Winterset. Impossible choice. Lau are probably better live (though not as good as Bellowhead).
BEST ALBUM: The Bairns (no surprises at all).
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Never Any Good - Martin Simpson. Bitter Boy is also good, but Kate Rusby's nod is yet to come.
BEST TRADITIONAL TRACK: John Barbury - Kate Rusby. Awkward Annie is Kate's best album for a very long time, and this was a delight.
HORIZON AWARD: Bella Hardy. The worst decision of the night. They had to give Rachel an award, but how can you give a newcomers award to someone whose debut album was Mojo's folk album of 2005? And I really like Bella.
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: Martin Simpson. A great album, including a couple of really outstanding songs from one of the country's great guitarists.
BEST LIVE ACT: Bellowhead. Can't disagree at all, though again a great shortlist.

I've been haunted in my sleep, you've been starring in my dreams

Couple of nods towards free music - The Fabric podcast invites producers, record label owners and the like to put together music that has inspired them. Five sessions so far - I particularly enjoyed the Andy Weatherall and Doc Scott mixes. And whilst I should maybe be irritated that Erol Alkan has made freely available an album I hunted down and paid well over the odds for, his Bugged In remix is now available for download. As I said...gosh,is it really three months since I posted here....and I've picked up a lot of music since then...that is one of my favourite compilations. Highly recommended.

y va pas partout y marche pas au soda

I'm a well known sucker for Gallic pop, so without further ado, here's the best track from Vanessa Paradis' new album, which has dominated the French charts for the last couple of months:



It's not a bad album, not up there with Variations Sur Le Meme T'Aime, and certainly no contest with Charlotte Gainsbourg's 5:55 for my favourite French album in recent years, but worth a listen.

there is only feeling in this world of love and death

Erol Alkan has been behind much that I have enjoyed over the last couple of years; his Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Monkees remix was my track of 2005; I also liked his Franz Ferdinand remix on the 2006 Rough Trade compilation, and his own Bugged In selection, which introduced me to Passing Through by Rare Bird as well as the Concretes' version of the Stones' Miss You (and which was possibly playing in the background if you've drank coffee chez Tan Ward in the last two years).
He did a 6 Mix for BBC 6 Music last month, which is now available as a podcast at www.erolalkan.co.uk and on itunes. I love the Broadcast track; I will have to look out more of their stuff. From the obscure - Holger Czukay, Wobble, Liebezeit to the better known - Madness and Glen Campbell - this works really well.

our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope..

Just when I found something nice to say about the Roman Catholic church, Mad Priest tells me this.
I love the quote from lapinbizarre

"He wasn't a Nazi, he was just a Bavarian Catholic"

it's that look in your eyes, telling me lies

Recent purchases include: Comicopera - Robert Wyatt has certainly been one of my artists of the year. This is a beautiful album - Just As You Are is just as honest a love song as Sea Song, and very likely to sit alongside Becky Unthank on my end of year pick.
Late Night Tales - Fat Boy Slim. One of the best compilations you will hear in a while - some great funk, dub, and general freakiness (including Kenny Roger's stoner track from the Big Lebowski, and Kraftwerk in a Northern Soul style - inspired). Even some Charlie Brown Music. And mentioning Kraftwerk, both the Hot Chip remixes of a couple of the Tour de France tracks, and the soundtrack to Control (which includes Autobahn) are worth a listen.
The Very Best of Ethiopiques - worth it for the Mulatu Astatke tracks alone. I've wanted to get hold of his stuff since watching Broken Flowers.
Lots of Alabama 3 - MOR is growing on me, especially since seeing them live yet again (and the Astoria have just emailed me to let me know that they found the wallet I lost at the gig), but I'm also enjoying the gig only Drive Time remix, and a bootleg of the Cambridge acoustic set (here's another sad song...).
I'm looking forward to the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss album released next week, and I should also get hold of the new Teddy Thompson, which Tom is raving about.
And here's Bill Bailey restored:

To provide meaningful architecture is not to parody history but to articulate it

I've just come back from three days in Berlin, where I was able to find time before coming home to visit the Jüdisches Museum. Having seen an excellent documentary about the architect Daniel Libeskind on BBC Four last week (still available for download) and with the museum itself featured in the Guardian's Great Modern Buildings series, it was a building and a museum that I very much wanted to visit. It didn't disappoint - whilst the design is deliberately disorienting, particularly with the entrance through the intersecting axes of Holocaust, Exile and Continuity, the wonderful use of space and light means this complements rather than detracts from the museum's main collection. Highly recommended.


I've also noted that the Vatican is tomorrow, at the behest of a German Pope, beatifying Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian peasant who refused to fight for the Third Reich in an unjust war. He knew that the penalty was death. An inspiring story.


Finally, a quick plug for Of Course, I Could Be Wrong. The Mad Priest is one of the more entertaining bloggers I've read in recent months (and the man does have a very good taste in music). I just wonder, given the frequency with which he posts, how much his parishioners actually see him.

I never felt so wicked as when I wished our love to die

Thanks to a mislaid driving license, I did not as planned spend my Saturday evening in Milwaukee watching baseball, but instead saw Rilo Kiley on the Chicago leg of their current US tour. Despite many trips to the US over the last 5 years, this was the first time I've seen a gig in the US since...erm...Sting...a long time ago.
The venue was the Riviera Theater in Uptown; not a neighbourhood I'd been to before, and I liked it. Having picked up my ticket for $23.50 on the door, I knew I had a couple of hours to kill before Rilo Kiley came on stage. So rather than listen to a support act I'd never heard of and drink over-priced Miller, I headed to the nearest sports bar. Now maybe I was tired, but I swear it was a good 10-15 minutes before I realised I was in a gay sports bar (the I Love Tight Ends t-shirt being worn by one of the barmen should have been a dead giveaway). The beer was good, the food was fine, and it was one of the friendliest places I've drunk in for a while.
As for the gig itself; I was in a pretty good spot, towards the back of the lower level of the main floor, but in the middle. I did feel old - most of the crowd were early-mid 20's, and loud - it really was an adoring crowd. I realised that in spite of More Adventurous being one of my favourite albums of the last few years, I was surrounded by people who knew way more of the lyrics - and from the moment the band opened with It's a Hit, they sang them loudly. The set was a very good mix of old and new; whilst the real crowd pleasers came from the last album, Under the Blacklight is a real grower, and some of the new songs worked really well live. They were a lot louder, a lot less acoustic, than I'd expected - and maybe did justify the Fleetwood Mac comparisons made in Spin magazine this month. Jenny Lewis is a really charismatic (and gorgeous) front woman, but it was very apparant that - in spite of the geeky waistcoat and bow-tie - Blake Sennett is at least as much the creative force in the band.

The highlight for me was inevitably Portions for Foxes - which they sensibly got out of the way very early in the set - although Silver Lining came very close, and is very much one of my tracks of the year.

Setlist (thanks to Sound on the Sound - strictly speaking this is the set list from Seattle last week, but it looks identical):

It’s A Hit
Close Call
Portions for Foxes
Paint’s Peeling
Breaking Up
Dreamworld
Money Maker
Wires and Waves
Rip Chord
With Arms Outstretched
Silver Lining
I Never
Smoke Detector
15
Rise Up with Fists
Spectacular Views

Encore:
Give A Little Love
Does He Love You?

we're on the verge of becoming Kathleen Turner Overdrive

Obviously, High Fidelity is one of my favourite films; it's also one of my favourite books. It's remarkable not just because the film is just as touching and thought provoking as the book, but also because the story translates so well from North London to Chicago. Despite only being 7 years old, it seems a period piece in many ways - perhaps because the only record shops which specialise in vinyl in 2007 tend to be selling dance music. But it still speaks to the heart of masculine obsessive behaviour in a way which I would guess most blokes of a certain age would identify with (even blokes who haven't been dumped by 5 women - and certainly not by Catherine Zeta Jones).
So in honour of the BBC keeping me up way after midnight last night, here are my 10 all time favourite quotes from High Fidelity (leaving aside the obvious one).

Barry: Holy shite. What the fuck is that?
Dick: It's the new Belle and Sebastian...
Rob: It's a record we've been listening to and enjoying, Barry.
Barry: Well, that's unfortunate, because it sucks ass.

Rob: Liking both Marvin Gaye and Art Garfunkel is like supporting both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Laura: No, it's really not, Rob. You know why? Because Marvin Gaye and Art Garfunkel make pop records.
Rob: Made. Made. Marvin Gaye is dead. His father shot him.

Barry's Customer: Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday.
Barry: Yea we have it.
Barry's Customer: Great, Great, can I have it?
Barry: No, no, you can't.
Barry's Customer: Why not?
Barry: Well, it's sentimental tacky crap. Do we look like the kind of store that sells I Just Called to Say I Love You? Go to the mall.

Barry: Rob, I'm telling you this for your own good, that's the worst fuckin' sweater I've ever seen, that's a Cosby sweater. A Cosssssssby sweater. Did Laura let you leave the house like that?

Barry: Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the 80s and 90s? Go... sub-question... is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?

Rob: Where's Ian? Or Ray, or... what is his fucking name, anyway? What do you call him, Ian or Ray?
Laura: Ray. I hate Ian.
Rob: I hate him too.
Laura: Yeah... I'm sure.

Dick: I guess it looks as if you're reorganizing your records. What is this though? Chronological?
Rob: No...
Dick: Not alphabetical...
Rob: Nope...
Dick: What?
Rob: Autobiographical.
Dick: No fucking way.

Dick: Marie de Salle's playing. You remember I told you about her. I like her. She's kind of Sheryl Crow-ish crossed with a post-Partridge Family pre-L.A. Law Susan Dey kind of thing, but, you know, uh, black.

Rob: Should I bolt every time I get that feeling in my gut when I meet someone new? Well, I've been listening to my gut since I was 14 years old, and frankly speaking, I've come to the conclusion that my guts have shit for brains.

Barry: How about the Jesus and Mary Chain?
Barry's Customer: They always seemed...
Barry: They always seemed what? They always seemed really great is what they always seemed. They picked up where your precious Echo left off, and you're sitting around complaining about no more Echo albums. I can't believe you don't own this fucking record. (tosses the record to the customer and walks away) That's insane. Jesus.

...and I've got Personal Services on the Sky box for later.