en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal The Last.fm journal for boblette9. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/09/11/25sikj_nature_of_the_experiment_%28part_ii_-_l-z%29 Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:14:21 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/09/11/25sikj_nature_of_the_experiment_%28part_ii_-_l-z%29 I'm nearing the end now, with 650 songs to go, so I thought I better start on this second part. It's getting tougher what with me thinking "soon I can listen to whatever I want!" and "I've bought new CDs and Chris has given me new music...must...listen...." So I haven't been quite as religiously sticking to the whole A-Z thing as much in the last week or so.

Anyway, on to the break down...

L - The La's have only one song which I own - 'There She Goes' which is an awesome song. I should probably get their album one day. There's always a danger with only ever listening to one song by a band, because you'll never find out what they're really like (more on that topic later).

I've quite missed The Like in the months I haven't bothered to listen to them. They are a good solid girl indie rock band, and I'm patiently waiting for them to release a second album. If they ever do. * highlight - 'What I Say and What I Mean'

The Long Blondes 'Someone to Drive You Home' has to be one of my favourite albums of all time. I got hold of their new album Couples and was disappointed (so it was deleted before this experiment began), as it was nothing like their previous album.

The Long Winters are brilliant. Made up of John Roderick, and for a while anyone else who'd play with him - early members including Chris Walla and Sean Nelson (previously mentioned). 3 albums down, and currently recording their 4th, they've become one of my favourite (Barsuk) bands over the last year. A favourite album of theirs? I couldn't choose. But the 2 and a half hours of their music was something I'd been looking forward to since A. * Just a couple of highlights - 'Scared Straight' ' (It's A) Departure' 'Carparts'.
Roderick's beard - http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2008/07/beards.php#more - is the highlight of all TLW related things.

I can't go on to M before I mention how great Los Campesinos! are. Another band contributing to the ever-growing list of best albums of 2008.

M - I went to see Malcolm Middleton earlier this year, and all the way home, I had a Scottish accent talking in my head, as did Fi. Scottish is definitely my favourite of all accents. Anyway. Somewhat depressing - with song titles such as 'We're All Going to Die' - I occasionally wonder if he is actually as miserable as half of his songs suggest. But I do love listening to him. It's always late at night music for me (although I don't think it was this time around) - because there it just fits perfectly.

I've already talked about Chris Walla, but a few of his songs are listed under his other name - Martin Youth Auxiliary - one song in particular - The Rhone Occupation which he wrote about Nada Surf whilst recording their album 'The Weight is a Gift' amuses me every time.

Mates of State. I have to get their new album, and perhaps every other album they've ever done.

I'm reserving any Michelle Branch related comments until her new album comes out.

The Moldy Peaches (another of Chris' donations to me) was something I just couldn't get into. Apparently I have to give it a second chance before I dismiss it completely. Maybe they will become one of those things I grow to love whilst secretly hating at the same time.

N - Nada Surf. I miss them when I don't get to listen to them. As of next weekend I will have seen them 5 times this year. My new all-time favourite band (ever since Feeder lost the title). These guys are like an addiction to me - there's barely been a week since last October when I haven't listened to them. * highlight - 'Always Love' driving along the motorway in the dark back from the beach. A perfect setting.

New Young Pony Club? They're okay I guess. I was shocked though, when listening to them that James asked me if I had their CD. He actually recognised a band I was listening to. This whole experiment has been a bit unfair on him as he's had to sit at work with me listening to stuff which he mostly deems to be shit. So I gave him the album.

O - Oasis aren't as special as people sometimes make them out to be. But I like them when I feel miserable, because whatever he's singing, I do find Liam Gallagher's voice depressing.

Of Montreal on the other hand, are very special. I still need to buy Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? purely for its beautiful artwork. * highlight - 'Gronlandic Edit' 'Forecast Fascist Future' (a song which endeared them to me straight away - not because I'm a fascist).

P - Panic at the Disco?!? What? WHAT?! I actually kept this. I can't believe it.
Me: Chris, they're fucking emo shit, I'm not borrowing that.
Chris: But they're not Lizzie! It's actually a good album
Me: Bullshit.

I grew to kind of like a couple of the tracks, but the rest is just dull dull dull whiny vocals about hospitals and critics and all that other kind of shit. Please, just give it a rest.

The Perishers are a nice Swedish band, who make quiet and sweet indie pop music. Their album 'Let There Be Morning' is wonderful.

For a very long time, I only had one track (Nothing Better) by The Postal Service, and I really liked it but never bothered to do anything about it until recently, when I finally(!) got the album. And what an album it is. * highlight - 'Recycled Air'. There's been talk of another album, but who knows when, if ever, it will actually appear.

R - More albums to buy when in America - Ra Ra Riot's The Rhumb Line. Unless I get impatient and buy it from Barsuk before that. Sadly missed them when they were playing in London last week.

Radiohead surprised me a bit. I've never been much of a fan of Radiohead, in a sort of "are they really that good?" kind of way. But I listened to OK Computer and The Bends, and enjoyed both. Fi tells me to get Kid A, and I will do so once I'm finished.

I listen to Rogue Wave so much - but it was nice to hear Lake Michigan for the first time in a few weeks - and in a few more weeks I'll been standing next to Lake Michigan listening to it.

S - There are those rare moments I find when I'm reading and listening to music, and what I'm reading fits exactly with the song I'm listening to. I like those moments. And it so happened that Say Hi to Your Mom's 'Sweet Sweet Heartkiller' was one of those moments.

Sigur Ros were good. It's taken me a while to properly like them, and be able to listen to their 8 minute long songs.

Starlight Mints were stunning. I love their album 'Drowaton' - first time I'd got to listen to it as I'd bought it after all of this started. Now I can listen to it as much as I like :)

Another nice surprise were Sunset Valley - I bought 3 of their albums in a sort of random 'I need more music' moment, and when I got them, I listened to about half the tracks on each album, and then gave up. Listening to them again after a couple of months, it was like having a completely different perspective, and they were great. * highlight - 'I Got Fair'.

T - Throughout this whole thing, I've never quite managed to separate myself from Tegan & Sara - their most recent album The Con is now (I would think - I don't have a definitive list) on my top 10 albums of all time. So I'd send a couple of songs to my phone, or put their CD in my CD player (I know I shouldn't admit to cheating, but they are that good - I did it with Frightened Rabbit too). But it was good to listen to them without the knowledge that I was cheating for once.

Tokyo Police Club's album (A Lesson in Crime) is really short, but really good. It ended and I was like 'what? that's it?'. One of their songs is the title of this post - and is now constantly stuck in my head.

V - lots of Vanessa Carlton. I need to get my hands on Via Audio's 'Say Something Say Something Say Something' because I have a feeling it will be good.

Viva Voce, another Barsuk band, weren't quite what I expected. By no means in a bad way. I really need to give the album a second listen now though.

Voxtrot's EPs never get old. They are awesome.

W - I don't have a lot of W's. What Made Milwaukee Famous are yet another Barsuk band, who are great, and their singer has possibly one of the best voices I have heard in a long time - in a sort of rangey, toney, can-hold-notes-for-long-timey way.

I never gave The Wreckers much of a chance - as a die-hard Michelle Branch fan, I was like, 'no, I want another Michelle Branch album, not Wreckers, not country - what's she doing?!?!' but I did download a couple of the tracks off their album, and they are pretty good. Although, maybe I chose the less country tracks. I'm going to get the whole album and find out.

Y - Yann Tiersen is a talented fellow. Amelie is one of my favourite films, and listening to the soundtrack yesterday made me want to watch the film so much. I haven't seen it in ages. The music has the same effect as the film does, it makes me feel...happily melancholy (is that possible?)

I underestimate the Young Knives constantly. Listening to Superabundance this morning, they are really good. And some of their lyrics are funny... well, not so much out of context, more the way he sings it - *highlight - 'The Decision'

Z - Last but not least - a band who are about to release their EP, recorded this summer in New York, Zut Alors. I was constantly pestered by my sister to listen to them and to go and see them, until I finally gave in. They are awesome. Go buy their EP when it comes out, they're going to be famous one day. *highlight - 'One That Got Away'

So that's it. The End. I've now started to download new music to listen to. It's weird having to think about what to listen to, and not ticking a song off after it finishes playing. I'm trying hard not to go back to my old routines of listening to the same 5 bands.

At least I can now go back to meticulously creating my last.fm charts.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/09/03/25beob_nature_of_the_experiment_%28part_i_-_a-k%29 Wed, 3 Sep 2008 19:05:17 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/09/03/25beob_nature_of_the_experiment_%28part_i_-_a-k%29 Nature of the Experiment (Part I - A-K)
Over the last 6 weeks or so (4 weeks down, about 2 to go), I have listened to every song in my iTunes library (4368 songs).

The list of bands I've listened to is as follows:

The Academy Is... ~ The Album Leaf ~ Alexi Murdoch ~ All Night Radio ~ All Time Quarterback! ~ Alpha Road ~ Ambulance LTD ~ The American Analog Set ~ American Football ~ Amy Winehouse ~ Andrew Bird ~ Anna Ternheim ~ Anton Barbeau ~ Anton Barbeau & Su Jordan ~ Antsy Pants ~ The Arcade Fire ~ Art Brut ~ Ashtar Command ~ Athlete ~ Badly Drawn Boy ~ Band of Horses ~ Barry Louis Polisar ~ Bat for Lashes ~ The Beach Boys ~ Bearsuit ~ The Beatles ~ The Beautiful South ~ Beck ~ Belle & Sebastian ~ Ben Folds ~ Ben Folds Five ~ Ben Gibbard ~ Beth Orton ~ Bloc Party ~ The Blood Arm ~ Blur ~ Bob Dylan ~ Bobbie McGees ~ The Breeders ~ Brendan Benson ~ British Sea Power ~ Broken Social Scene ~ Buddy Holly ~ Buggles ~ The Calling ~ Camden ~ Camera Obscura ~ The Can't See ~ Carla Bruni ~ Cary Brothers ~ Cat Power ~ Catatonia ~ The Catheters ~ Chomsky ~ Chris Townsend ~ Chris Walla ~ The Clash ~ The Clientele ~ Cloud Cult ~ Cold ~ Cold War Kids ~ Coldplay ~ Colin Hay ~ Comets on Fire ~ The Constantines ~ Corinee Bailey Rae ~ Creamy ~ CSS ~ The Cure ~ Damien Rice ~ The Dandy Warhols ~ Dave House ~ David Bazan ~ David Bowie ~ David Ford ~ The Dears ~ Death Cab for Cutie ~ The Decemberists ~ Dido ~ Dirty Pretty Things ~ The Dismemberment Plan ~ Dogs Die In Hot Cars ~ Doves ~ Down to the Bone ~ Earlimart ~ Eels ~ Eisley ~ Elbow ~ The Elected ~ Electrelane ~ Elliott Smith ~ Embrace ~ Emiliana Torrini ~ Emmy the Great ~ Errors ~ Eva Cassidy ~ Feeder ~ The Feeling ~ Fields ~ Finley Quaye & William Orbit ~ The Flaming Lips ~ Foals ~ Foo Fighters ~ Franz Ferdinand ~ The Fratellis ~ Frausdots ~ The Fray ~ Frightened Rabbit ~ Frou Frou ~ Gavin DeGraw ~ The Get Up Kids ~ The Go Find ~ The Go! Team ~ Goldspot ~ The Gossip ~ Grant-Lee Phillips ~ The Grates ~ Gravenhurst ~ Guillemots ~ Hal ~ Harvey Danger ~ The Helio Sequence ~ Hello Saferide ~ The Hives ~ The Holloways ~ Holly Conlan ~ Holy Fuck ~ Hot Chip ~ I Am Kloot ~ I'm From Barcelona ~ Ian Brown ~ Idlewild ~ Imogen Heap ~ InMe ~ Interpol ~ Iron & Wine ~ Jack Johnson ~ Jars of Clay ~ Jarvis Cocker ~ Jay Clifford ~ Jeff Buckley ~ Jem ~ Jenny Owen Youngs ~ Jens Lekman ~ Jeremy Warmsley ~ Jess Blair ~ Jessica Bailiff ~ Jessica Riddle ~ JET ~ Jimmy Eat World ~ John Paul White ~ John Vanderslice ~ Johnathan Rice ~ Johnny Foreigner ~ Joni Mitchell ~ Jose Gonzalez ~ Joseph Arthur ~ Josh Weller ~ Joshua Radin ~ Kate Voegele ~ Kate Walsh ~ Katie Melua ~ Katy Rose ~ Keane ~ Kelly Clarkson ~ The Killers ~ Kimya Dawson ~ The Kinks ~ Kinski ~ The Kissaway Trail ~ The Kooks ~ KT Tunstall ~ Kurt Adam ~ Kyla Bowen-la Grange ~ The La's ~ Le Tigre ~ Leonard Cohen ~ Letters to Cleo ~ Liam Frost & the Slowdown Family ~ The Libertines ~ Light.Colour.Sound ~ Lightspeed Champion ~ The Like ~ Lily Allen ~ Liz Phair ~ The Long Blondes ~ The Long Winters ~ Longview ~ The Lord Henry ~ Los Campesinos! ~ Lucie Silvas ~ Lykke Li ~ The M's ~ The Magic Numbers ~ Magnet ~ Malcolm Middleton ~ Maroon 5 ~ Martha Wainwright ~ Martin Youth Auxiliary ~ Marvin Gaye ~ Mateo Messina ~ Mates of State ~ Mazzy Star ~ Menomena ~ Mercury Rev ~ Metric ~ MGMT ~ Micah P. Hinson ~ Michael Andrews ft. Gary Jules ~ Michael Cera & Ellen Page ~ Michelle Branch ~ Minus the Bear ~ Modest Mouse ~ Mogwai ~ The Moldy Peaches ~ Monkey Swallows the Universe ~ Mott the Hoople ~ Mum ~ Muse ~ Mystery Jets ~ Nada Surf ~ Nat Johnson ~ The National ~ New Radicals ~ The New Year ~ New Young Pony Club ~ No Doubt ~ Noah & the Whale ~ Norah Jones ~ Nouvelle Vague ~ Oasis ~ Of Montreal ~ Okkervil River ~ Panic at the Disco ~ Paolo Nutini ~ Pedro the Lion ~ The Perishers ~ Pete & the Pirates ~ Phantom Planet ~ Pinback ~ The Pipettes ~ Placebo ~ Polyphonic Spree ~ Porcupine Tree ~ The Postal Service ~ The Presets ~ The Promise Ring ~ Queen & David Bowie ~ R.E.M. ~ Ra Ra Riot ~ Rachael Lampa ~ Rachel Unthank & The Winterset ~ Radiohead ~ The Ramones ~ The Rapture ~ Razorlight ~ Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Regina Spektor ~ Remy Zero ~ Richard Ashcroft ~ Rilo Kiley ~ The Rocket Summer ~ Rogue Wave ~ Rooney ~ Rose Kemp ~ Rosie Thomas ~ Santana ~ Sarah McLachlan ~ Save Ferris ~ Say Hi to Your Mom ~ Schuyler Fisk ~ Semisonic ~ The Shins ~ Shitdisco ~ Sigur Ros ~ Silversun Pickups ~ Simon & Garfunkel ~ Sister Hazel ~ Sixpence None The Richer ~ Sleater-Kinney ~ Slow Club ~ Smashing Pumpkins ~ Snow Patrol ~ Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin ~ Sonic Youth ~ Sophie Nash ~ South ~ Spiderbait ~ Spook the Horse ~ Spoon ~ The Starlight Mints ~ Stars ~ Stars of the Lid ~ Starsailor ~ Stereophonics ~ The Stone Roses ~ The Strange Death of Liberal England ~ Strokes ~ The Subways ~ Sufjan Stevens ~ The Sundays ~ Sunset Valley ~ Switchfoot ~ Syd Matters ~ Tall Pony ~ Tally Hall ~ Tegan & Sara ~ Telekinesis! ~ Thao With The Get Down Stay Down ~ The Thermals ~ Those Dancing Days ~ The Thrills ~ Tim & Sam's Tim & the Sam Band with Tim & Sam ~ Tokyo Police Club ~ Tom McRae ~ Toploader ~ Train ~ Trend ~ Turin Brakes ~ The Twilight Sad ~ U2 ~ The Undertones ~ Vanessa Carlton ~ Various Artists (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory OST) ~ The Velvet Underground ~ Via Audio ~ The View ~ Viva Voce ~ Voxtrot ~ Weebl vs Chris Thomas ~ What Made Milwaukee Famous ~ The Who ~ The Whybirds ~ Willy Mason ~ Wolf Eyes ~ The Wreckers ~ Yann Tiersen ~ Yelle ~ The Young Knives ~ Youth Group ~ ZOX ~ Zut Alors ~ The Zutons ~ The 88.

The motivation for this epic task was purely because I noticed that out of the 4368 tracks I had, I hadn't listened to around 1000 of them even once. And so it began, on the 3rd August. The main part of this perfectly coincided with my boss's holiday, meaning that I could listen to as much music as I wanted to, and therefore managed to average about 100-120 tracks per day. I would've left it playing when I was asleep, but it kind of seemed to defeat the point, as I wouldn't actually be listening.

So, here comes the breakdown. In the interests of fairness, I've tried to comment on one band from each letter, but some letters will have more, which is fairly self-explanatory.

A - Started fairly well, the first horrible hurdle was Alexi Murdoch. I have to say, although he's good, the music just tended to drag and I couldn't wait to get 'Time Without Consequence' out of the way. The American Analog Set came along like a dream. They're one of those bands I'd heard about, and had been meaning to listen to for a while, and now that I'm free from the constraints of the alphabet, I will be listening to them a lot more - highlight * 'We're Computerizing & We Just Don't Need You Anymore'.

By the second or third day I'd started to feel that the decision was definitely a mistake. Forced to listen to Art Brut whilst walking home (normally I like them, but this was not the time to be listening to them). I thought I wouldn't last the week, but I accustomed myself to not always listening to the same couple of bands and got on with it.

B - For the first time in my life I listened to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. I thought it was about time I listened to the Beatles, so I downloaded the album and then never listened to it. It's a great album, and knowing me, if I hadn't done this, I never would've listened to it and totally missed out. Other good B moments - Ben Gibbard and British Sea Power (who I saw at Latitude this year and absolutely love) highlight * 'Canvey Island'.

C - This letter didn't have a particularly good start. Whilst I liked the Calling when I was 14, I don't really anymore, so whilst I should've deleted their two albums from my library, I never did, and was made to suffer for it. Things picked up after that, with Camden, a band I never listen to enough but are great, sadly no longer, and it's near impossible to find their CDs.

Without a doubt the best part of C was being able to listen to Chris Walla's 'Field Manual' as loud as possible. It's one of my favourite albums of 2008 so far, and it just flows so perfectly, there aren't any weak moments - highlight * 'St. Modesto'.

Occasionally I look at my last.fm recommendations and believe them. Sometimes it works out brilliantly (examples to come later) ... other times, not so much. Cloud Cult was one of the 'not so much' bands. Not only was the album I got 19 tracks long (so it wasn't even over quickly) it was just horrible. Horrible horrible. And it annoyingly coincided with walking to work, meaning I couldn't even try to ignore it. They're being deleted.

D - The Dears. What a great band. That's all I have to say.

My level of devotion to Death Cab for Cutie has finally come back to bite me in the arse. 130 songs, 9 hours, Sunday at home, listening non stop all day. You have to understand, I love Death Cab in a way which I love no other band (except for Nada Surf) and after those 9 hours, I never wanted to hear Ben Gibbard's voice again. I think I could've taken it if it'd been split up over different days rather than just all in one go. The problem with listening to their albums alphabetically, is that you get 'Narrow Stairs' first (another great album of 2008, possibly my #1) and then the last is 'You Can Play These Songs With Chords', which just drags on forever and especially when you've already listened to 8 hours of Death Cab, you want it to finish quickly. But it doesn't. That has easily been the most testing part of this whole experiment. And honestly, I broke, and I had to listen to Tegan & Sara (the only times I've gone off the A-Z rails is to listen to T&S, and it's been rare).

Never have I been so pleased to hear Colin Meloy's voice. It was a voice which used to annoy me so much, and only in recent months have I come to like The Decemberists. I've listened to 'the Crane Wife' a fair amount, but never bothered much with 'Her Majesty the Decemberists' or 'Picaresque' - but I can now say that I appreciate them, even though 'the Crane Wife' is definitely their best album - highlight * 'The Crane Wife 3'.

E - Began with Earlimart, one of the aforementioned brilliant bands found through last.fm recommendations. I downloaded their newest album, 'Hymn & Her', and have not been disappointed. It's hard to give an accurate description of how good it is after one listen a few weeks ago. But if you like Rogue Wave, Elliott Smith or Mates of State (lastfm's words not mine) then they're probably worth a shot.

Not too many complaints for E. Admittedly, Elliott Smith did drag a bit after 5 albums, but luckily I wasn't in the same situation as I was with DCFC, so it wasn't as bad.

I'll just put in a quick mention to Elbow - who again have released one of my favourite albums of 2008 - 'The Seldom Seen Kid' - truly great - highlight * 'One Day Like This'.

F - Feeder. Were my favourite band from when I was 13 til about... 17. I've only recently relinquished their rights as my all-time favourite band. Since then I've not listened to them that much. I was at first very disappointed with their new album 'Silent Cry', but it's grown on me. Anyway, more tracks than DCFC - 139. However, I enjoyed it much more than DCFC as I hadn't listened to loads of the songs for months. And it wasn't done in a 9 hour stint.

To be honest, when I first listened to Foals, I thought 'what the fuck is this?' and 'their album artwork is crap'. After giving their album a second chance, and seeing them at Latitude, I'm starting to change my mind.

Frightened Rabbit. Frightened Rabbit. Frightened Rabbit. Again, one of those albums I downloaded and hadn't bothered to listen to. What a mistake. As soon as 'Modern Leper' started, I didn't want the album to end. The whole album was the highlight of F. I'm seeing them next Saturday, can't wait. I'm unrealistically hoping to get this finished before I see them so I know the album better (at time of writing I'm at R with 1200 songs to go). I may argue special circumstances with myself, and buy their CD. They are by far, without question, the best find of this whole experiment.

G - Not much to be said, as I only have about 30 songs for artists beginning with G. The first few songs of Guillemots' 'Red' are okay, but then it gets boring.

Oh, and I also experienced a horrendous cover of Modest Mouse's 'Float On' courtesy of Goldspot. This is what I get for liking the OC and getting their OST.

H - Lots for H. Harvey Danger. A band I discovered because a) I watched a DVD called 'Burn to Shine, Seattle WA' and b) because they used to be/are (I can't work it out) on Barsuk - so basically a product of my interest in bands from NW America. Anyway, after a few days of not much interesting music, I was feeling very grateful for them. highlight * 'Moral Centralia'. Also, as a side note, Sean Nelson (lead singer) used to be a member of The Long Winters, who I will be writing lots about a little later.

I think it was around now when I really started to enjoy this whole experiment. Mostly because listening to The Helio Sequence's 'Keep Your Eyes Ahead' was something I'd so been looking forward to. It's actually made me appreciate my favourite bands more (...well, maybe except for Death Cab...) because I've had to trawl through a lot of other stuff to get to the bits I really love. And the above album is one of those bits. Yet another of my favourite albums of 2008. There's been so much good stuff this year. It's practically neverending. Anyway, this album is definitely their best album, more poppy than their previous ones, and just so damn catchy. I get their songs stuck in my head for days. Literally. I was sad when it was over... highlight * 'Hallelujah'.

Holly Conlan. This girl can sing. Good travelling music. She has a very bittersweet quality which I love. I'm waiting for a new album from her, as all I've got at the moment is her 'Bird EP' - highlight * 'Home'.

I - I'm From Barcelona. A band I saw at Latitude last year, spent ages singing 'I have built a treehouse, no one can see us, cos it's a you and me house', but never got their album until recently (and then I didn't listen to it... surprise!). So I was glad to find that the rest of the album was as good as 'Treehouse'.

My friend Chris gave me Ian Brown's 'The World Is Yours' - I specifically didn't listen to it for a reason, I think I just had negative connections with his name, immediately questioned Chris' judgement and it just sat there with no plays. And my judgement was about right. I mean, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't very interesting. I talked to Chris about my less than thrilling experience listening to this album, and he agreed with me, but said it made good walking home late at night music. I'll try that one when I'm finished.

Having an InMe album was the product of my friend Jess' bullying about 3 years ago. Another one I really should've deleted but I didn't. What a fool. To be fair though, there are some good tracks on 'White Butterfly', but it's not really for me anymore.

Interpol are awesome. Enough said. highlight * 'Pioneer to the Falls'.

J - I still toy with the idea of whether I should be judged for listening to Jack Johnson. Does anyone else I know with reasonable music taste listen to him? I don't know. Would they admit it if they did? Who knows. I do quite like him though for what it's worth. And so listening to him wasn't all bad.

Jenny Owen Youngs has to be one of my favourite people that I don't know. Every time I've been to see her she makes me laugh so much, and her music is so brilliant. Someone who writes lines like "if we weren't such good friends, I'd wish you were dead" and does covers of Nelly and Britney Spears... well, she's definitely worth a listen, and worth seeing.

Aww Jens Lekman. You always make me smile.

Jimmy Eat World, another band with too much music - 75 tracks (and I don't even have all their albums), varying from the very annoying to the seriously great. As is the way. You always have to be in a certain mood for Jimmy, and luckily I was.

I'd bought John Vanderslice's album 'Cellar Door' before realising I wouldn't be able to listen to it until I got to J. Serious disappointment. This happened quite a bit as I bought a fair few CDs from the wonderful Barsuk, and was like 'hm, all of these are in the second half of the alphabet... it's going to be a month before I can hear them'. Vanderslice is another one of those NW American people I discovered through love of Barsuk... in case you didn't guess. And he's very good. Once this is over, and I'm in America, I'm going to buy the rest of his albums (I can't find him in HMV or Fopp here).

I made a mental note to get Johnathan Rice's new album.

Johnny Foreigner. I wanted this album to last forever. When I got it, I wasn't sure, and I've listened to it quite a lot between then and now(ish) and I absolutely love it - another great album of 2008 - highlight * 'Eyes Wide Terrified'.

I've written quite a lot for J, so I'm going to keep this brief. Like Jose Gonzalez and Joshua Radin. Hate Joseph Arthur, except for that one song 'In the Sun' which has probably been played in every American drama/teen/comedy programme ever.

K - A couple of embarrassing ones in here. Namely Keane and Kelly Clarkson, which provoked my friend Fi to laugh at me and say "why are you listening to Kelly Clarkson?!". Honestly, I don't know. I bought her album, and it's stayed there. Sometimes I listen to it when I feel like having something to sing along to. Finally listened to Keane's 'Under the Iron Sea'. Is not that good.

I almost feel sorry for the Killers. They started off so promisingly in 2004 with Hot Fuss, and Sam's Town is half good, half crap... and don't even get me started on Sawdust - the biggest waste of £10 in... well, as long as I can remember. I went to HMV to buy a CD I really wanted, and instead came out with that, because they didn't have the CD I wanted. Idiot.

Kyla Bowen-la Grange (or Kyla la Grange as I do believe she has now shortened her name to) - I opened for her for my first ever gig, and she's really good. I've only got a couple of her tracks, but I do believe she's working on an EP or something, and she plays around London a fair bit I think.




Second part to come when I've finished. So in... 7-10 days.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/02/22/b1eb9_nada_surf_-_scala_-_210208 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:41:39 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/02/22/b1eb9_nada_surf_-_scala_-_210208 Thu 21 Feb – Nada Surf, Rogue Wave

Supporting were Rogue Wave, a band I started listening to when I found out they were going to be supporting Nada Surf. Glad I did. They were absolutely brilliant live. Their set list was as follows:
Every Moment
Lullaby
Publish My Love
Chicago x12
Like I Needed
Bird on a Wire
Lake Michigan
The last 2 songs were played as a medley, with an amazing drumming interlude. I hadn't heard the more recent stuff - but today I'm going out to buy their third album. Good news is that they are coming back to London in May...I'll be going to that...

Anyway - on to Nada Surf. Everything was running late, so it was about 9:15 before they appeared. They went straight into Hi-Speed Soul, however, almost as soon as he started playing, one of Daniel's strings broke. They carried on for about a verse, then decided to stop because it "didn't sound as good without bass", and so started Blizzard Of '77. They said they'd play Hi-Speed Soul later, but never did as they ran out of time.
Here is their set list. They were even better than back in January. Inside Of Love was particularly great, as we all two-stepped along pretending to be a soul band. Apparently if you go and see them in May, finger-clicking and turns will be included (I might go and see them again just for that...). More stuff from the new album this time - the best for me were "Weightless" and "Ice on the Wing". A couple of appearances of songs from the first two albums - Stalemate and 80 Windows. Hyperspace was on the set list, but unfortunfortunately ended up not being played. Blankest Year was by far the best - played last - Rogue Wave joined them on stage, as we all shouted "Fuck It!". Then other people started getting up on the stage. For some reason, like a fool, despite the fact I was standing at the front, I didn't go up. Oh well, maybe in May...


More photos here]]> http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/01/26/b1ean_nada_surf-_borderline_-_22012008 Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:08:44 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/boblette9/journal/2008/01/26/b1ean_nada_surf-_borderline_-_22012008 Tue 22 Jan – Nada Surf

After discovering Nada Surf in October, they have rapidly become one of my favourite bands. Damn that I didn't discover them earlier. I was worried that they might not live up to my expectations, seeing them live. I was very very wrong. They exceeded my expectations by miles.
Their support was Peter Greenwood, he was good... if I heard recordings of his stuff, I might even stretch to very good, but there was something missing in his performance, and as I was standing near the back, quite a bit of his set was drowned out by people talking.

Nada Surf appeared. Opening with 'Concrete Bed' - a great opener if there ever was one, both on 'The Weight Is a Gift' and live. The audience quietened down a bit, but I was unfortunate enough to be standing in front of two girls who wouldn't shut up (luckily they left before the encore). They played 4 songs from their new album 'Lucky' due out in February - 'Whose Authority', 'Here Goes Something', 'I Like What You Say' and 'See These Bones'. The rest of the set was made up from songs from 'Let Go' and 'The Weight Is a Gift' - was slightly disappointed to hear nothing from their first two albums (despite someone at the front constantly shouting "play Hyperspace!").

The best songs for me were, 'Blizzard Of '77', which was brilliant, as everyone joined in to sing the chorus "in the middle of the night, I worry, it's blurry even without light". Also 'Happy Kid' and 'Fruit Fly', which I was really glad they played, as it's probably my favourite song of theirs.

A brilliant encore followed - 'Blonde On Blonde', 'Always Love' and 'Blankest Year' which we had to practise shouting "Fuck it!" for, before they played. It was great. After much applause and some chanting of "Nada Surf" they reappeared for one last song, 'hi-speed soul'.

A truly amazing gig. The best part is, I get to see them all over again in less than a month.]]>