candyrunts's Last.fm Journal

2011 - Year of the CD

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:47:41 +0000

Despite CDs going out of fashion quicker than casual racism, I've somehow managed to acquire 56 of them this year.

In the order of purchase, I now own a copy of:

Lissie: Catching a Tiger
R.E.M: Up
Metallica: Load
Morrissey: Viva Hate
Anna Calvi: S/T
The XX: S/T
The Mars Volta: Octahedron
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Is Is
At the Drive-In: El Gran Orgo
Jefferson Airplane: Surrealistic Pillow
Mark Lanegan: Field Songs
Faith No More: Album of the Year
Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
Janelle Monae: The Archandroid
Mellisa Auf Der Maur: S/T
Babyshambles: Shotter's Nation
Emmy the Great: Virtue
Sleigh Bells: S/T
No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising
Portishead: Dummy
Bat for Lashes: Two Suns
Be Your Own Pet: S/T
Jemina Pearl: Break it Up
St Vincent: Actor
Beach House: Teen Dream
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz
Villagers: Becoming a Jackal
Summer Camp: Young
Morrissey: Years of Refusal
Mercury Rev: Deserter Songs
Feist: The Reminder
The Avalanches: Since I left you
Don Mclean: American Pie
Crystal Castles
Best Coast: Crazy for You
Dutch Uncles: Cadenza
The Bronx: III
Peggy Sue: Acrobats
Laura Marling: A Creature I Don't Know
St Vincent: Strange Mercy
Anthony and the Johnsons: I am Bird Now
Masters of Reality: S/T
Alice in Chains: Unplugged
The Clash: London Calling
Coheed and Cambria: Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
The Antlers: Hospice
Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes
St Vincent: Marry Me
Marnie Stern: S/T
Cults: S/T
Surfer Blood: Astro Coast
Marnie Stern: This is it...
Peter Gabriel: So
Battles: Gloss Drop
PJ Harvey: Let England Shake

A lot of these were purchased from Sound Machine. Their 3 for £10 offer certainly did lead to me finding one or two cds I wanted and then hunting about just for something to complete the set.

Still, I think I bought most of the albums that made my top ten, which is unusual. Usually I'll wait until the price has dropped a bit.

Albums of the Year

Those that just missed the cut...

Hannah Peel: The Broken Wave
Cage the Elephant: Thank You Happy Birthday
Peggy Sue: Acrobats
Cults: S/T
Metronomy: The English Riveria

So without further adieu, my top ten.

10) Feist: Metals
9) PJ Harvey: Let England Shake
8) Laura Marling: A Creature I Don't Know
7) Dutch Uncles: Cadenza
6) Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes

Yes, I know...PJ Harvey, just the same as everyone else. At first, 'The Words that Maketh Murder' aside I really didn't rate that album, but given how much everyone praised it, I gave the record a 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance until something clicked. It's still a bit like all of PJ's back catalogue, good...but not that good.

And poor Laura Marling, always judged by the impossible standards of her previous work.

I was intrigued by just how much Lykke Li changed her vocals for her Sophomore effort. That, and the frankly a bit scary video for Get Some, prevented me from dismissing the album entirely.

...and the top 5

5) Anna Calvi: S/T

4) Battles: Gloss Drop

3) Emmy the Great: Virtue

2) Wild Beasts: Smother

1) St Vincent: Strange Mercy

It wasn't really much of a hard decision - Strange Mercy is miles better than anything else I heard new this year. It's not exactly a classic, but it's bold, diverse, and just about better than Annie Clark's last release.

Songs of the Year

I was going to do a top 25, but for some reason I'm stuck on 24.

24) Fucked Up: On the Other Shoe
23) Feist: How Come You Never Go There
22) Battles: Sweetie & Shag
21) Zola Jesus: Vessel

20) Metronomy: The Bay
19) Florence + the Machine: Shake it Out
18) Dutch Uncles: Fragrant
17) Anna Calvi: Desire
16) Gary Numan: The Fall

15) Lykke Li: Sadness is a Blessing
14) Cage the Elephant: Shake me Down
13) St Vincent: Surgeon
12) Metronomy: Everything Goes my Way
11) Wild Beast : End Come too Soon

10) Emmy the Great: A Woman, A Woman, A century of Sleep
9) St Vincent: Cruel
8) Wild Beasts: Bed of Nails
7) Emmy the Great: Paper Forrest
6) Laura Marling: Sophia

5) EMA: Milkman

4) Battles: Ice Cream

3) PJ Harvey: The Words that Maketh Murder

2) British Sea Power: Who's in Control

1) Laura Marling: Night after Night

Wilderness Festival 2011

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:47:30 +0000

I was only there for the Sunday with my parental units...

[Family outting alert]

...but Wilderness was such an interesting place that I've decided to keep a permanent record of it.

I'm not sure why my Mother had the idea of going to a festival. I think she read about Wilderness in the Times due to some of the chefs that were cooking there.

It certainly was one of those weird festivals where you could wind up doing anything. There was a foraging tour for example.

When we first got there I was pretty certain this was going to be one of those festivals where hardly anyone shows up.

As the afternoon got going however, some strange people showed up, including this portly fellow:

There were folks in fancy dress everywhere.

If I wasn't so insistant on seeing all the bands, I'd have probably just gone for a wander round the huge site.

There was even a boating lake. If I wasn't with my folks I'd have probably got mashed and wound up swimming in there.

Other fun things to do included reading newspapers. Oh dear.

Or watch some guy make massive bubbles in front of my parent's favourite band of the day, Mercury Rev.

Props to whoever spent the time and effort turning a rather bland looking stage into something unique

And also large congratulations to Anthony Hegarty for rabbiting on enough about wanting to be a woman to bring out some rather homophobic remarks from my Dad.

Worst of the day -> Best of the day

The Low Anthem
Daniel Johnston
Robyn Hitchcock
Guillemots
Mercury Rev
Anthony & the Johnsons
Laura Marling

Look a youtube video of Anthony & the Johnsons, uploaded by myself - hence the shaft picture.

Field Day 2011

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:31:55 +0000

I've been to the last 8 Reading Festivals.

2004 --> 2011

I've had a pretty good time at each one of those but from going to some smaller events recently, it's become pretty obvious that the large mainstream events no longer offer the best of the UK festival calender.

One such smaller event I went to was Field Day, where for £40 I saw the following:

Faust
Willy Mason
2:54
Junip
Conan Mockasin
Sun Ra Arkestra
Villagers
Zola Jesus
Clock Opera
Warpaint
James Blake
Anna Calvi
Wild Beasts
Glasser

A lot of folks have criticized Field Day for having a bad atmosphere. To me, considering it is just an all-dayer, I thought it was pretty good.

The above was taken at the Main Stage during Villagers set I believe, which as you can see from the below was hardly rammed at the front either.

The relaxed atmosphere for the most part, suited the acts playing.

That, and unlike Reading, there was actually things to do besides watching bands...like Corn on the Cob eating contests.

One of Field Day's ideal attributes is the amount of space it has in Victoria Park.

There were 6 stages and they even had room for some trees.

The novelty of a festival in public park, kind of helped the vibe of the place. There aren't too many outdoor events that have to fence off decaying monuments.

Most of the stages were small, which I think is a definite plus.

Zola Jesus (above), played in a tent this size and was probably one of the best things all day.

It was slightly odd that the main stage had acts who drew very small crowds and then everyone piles into a tiny marquee but Zola Jesus aside, I think everyone got to see who they wanted to.

The one act who played to a completely full tent was James Blake, but that was only because it started pelting it down with rain. He then proceeded to be upstaged by a rainbow

May I add, that when watching James Blake, I was eating oysters and chips. Oysters at a gig! That will probably never happen for me again. I regret not taking a picture of them.

Still, despite the inconsistent crowds, as the night wore on, it started to feel more and more like the end of a festival that might have some household name pulling in the punters.

Wild Beasts, who I'd been pretty unimpressed with at Reading 2010 closed the mainstage and seem like a band who should be headlining an arena of that magnitude.

Having sat through Guns & Roses, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Strokes, to name a few awful headlining performances recently, I think it's great that smaller festivals give a band like Wild Beasts the chance to step up to plate.

Presumably if I didn't live in Reading and was say, shacked up in Salisbury, I'd head to festivals like End of the Road every year. I would go to more smaller events but getting other people to come is a bit of a mission. Reading is ever-so convenient.

Worst -> Best at Field Day:

Conan Mockasin
James Blake
Sun Ra Arkestra
Junip
Villagers
Clock Opera
Willy Mason
2:54
Glasser
Faust
Warpaint
Zola Jesus
Anna Calvi
Wild Beasts

...Those last three were the particular highlights, hard to choose between them.

2011

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:24:21 +0000

Is it just me or is 2011 turning out to be pretty sub-standard for music?

I just had a quick glance at my 2009 and 2010 playlists and saw, among others, the following:

2009

Emmy the Great: First Love
Florence + the Machine: Lungs
Bat for Lashes: Two Suns
Metric: Fantasies
St Vincent: Actor
Spinnerette: S/T
Thrice: Beggars
Soulsavers: Broken
Arctic Monkeys: Humbug
Wild Beasts: Two Dancers

2010

Laura Marling: I Speak because I can
Rolo Tomassi: Cosmology
Marina & the Diamonds: The Family Jewels
Peggy Sue: Fossils & Other Phantoms
Warpaint: The Fool
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Amplifier: The Octopus
Max Richter: Infra
80's Matchbox B-Line Disaster: Blood & Fire

...and then we come to 2011. It's now April and I can't think of any record I've loved so far. Some good songs, but nothing I'd listen to all the way through.

If the year ended today, my top 5 records would be:

1) Anna Calvi
2) Cage the Elephant - Thank You Happy Birthday
3) Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
4) PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
5) British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall

Not good, not good at all.

Discovering old music doesn't get any easier the older you get either. I think I've exhausted most of the common avenues on that tactic.

I shall edit this at the end of the year. Hopefully with a slew of albums to talk about.

...

THEN SEPTEMBER THE 12TH HAPPENED

New Laura Marling, Peggy Sue & St Vincent albums out on the same day. Oh my.

I think this calls for celebratory video of St Vincent covering Tom Waits.

2010 - Lists

Sun, 2 Jan 2011 21:51:45 +0000

It's really a year where I could easily list my top ten favourite records, but can't really differentiate between them other than splitting half of them into a top 5.

Records that just missed the cut:

Crystal Castles, Plan B, Glasser, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Detroit Social Club, Zola Jesus, Mike Patton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Tamaryn, Lissie, Janelle Monae

In no particular order 10-5

Pulled Apart By Horses

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster : Blood & Fire

Marina & the Diamonds : The Family Jewels

Liars : Sisterworld

Warpaint : The Fool

I really thought the Warpaint album was a sure thing for top 5 after hearing their debut EP. The first four tracks of The Fool are great...then it tails off pretty badly.

Still their gig at Scala this October might have been my favourite of the year. It's a shame there aren't any decent clips of it online.

There are however, plenty of good clips of what was my second favourite gig of the year...

I don't really know what to think of Arcade Fire live. I mean, those videos are amazing, but is it that hard to put on a show when you get to fill your set with Intervention, Power Out and this...

I love the fact that lass at the front appears to be crying at 3 minutes in, perhaps she should have seen Pendulum. I also love the comments on the video:

"well, I've watched this. What the fuck do I do now? everything else seems pointless"

Anyway onto the top 5 albums, again in no particular order

Rolo Tomassi - Cosmology

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Peggy Sue - Fossils & Other Phantoms

Amplifier - The Octopus

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

If I had to pick one of those albums as an outright winner, maybe I'd choose Peggy Sue, if only because they got the most scrobbles and they also did something rather bold for their full length debut. That was to decide, not to re-record any material they've previously released. Now, for one EP that might be understandable, but they've recorded countless singles and demos over the past 2/3 years, which contained some fantastic songs. To be bold enough to believe in the twelve tracks of new material they had produced and then stick with them is commendable.

These top track scrobbles are a little uninformative. I think only Blackberry Stone from that lot would make my top 5 tracks of the year. The rest of my top 5 I'd have to round out with:

The Water - Johnny Flynn featuring Laura Marling

Lets get this straight, Johnny Flynn is dull, utterly dull, but with Marling sharing duel vocals all the way through the track, lyrics like "The water sustains me without even trying. The water can’t drown me, I’m done...With my dying" actually sound pretty impressive. Shame on them for not playing it together at Hop Farm Festival.

Waves - Holly Miranda

There's been so many female solo artists who have written great songs on quite average albums.Holly Miranda has to be the pick of the bunch. Waves is incredible, her album, almost forgetable.

Warpaint - Set Your Arms Down

I swear they're actually sirens.

Janelle Monae - Oh Maker

Who would have thought I'd wind up liking something on Bad Boy Records? I don't know what this is, I only heard of it this month when The Guardian announced it as their album of the year. Someone described it as 'Afrofuturism.' The term has a wikipedia article so it must be real.

I did a best of decade list...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:28:27 +0000

...but the problem is I posted it on another site with slightly different html tags. Hence why it's taken me ages to even consider transferring it here.

The best albums of the decade according to me...

100 Morrissey - Years of Refusal
99 Soulfly - Primitive
98 Devildriver - Devildriver
97 Eagles of Death Metal - Death by Sexy
96 Panic at the Disco - Pretty Odd
95 Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Once
94 Oceansize - Oceansize
93 Paramore -Riot
92 Masters of Reality - Pine/Cross Dover
91 Peggy Sue - Lover Gone
90 The Desert Sessions - The Desert Sessions 9 & 10
89 Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
88 Hermano - Dare I Say
87 Metallica - St Anger
86 Fear Factory - Archetype
85 Charlie Barnes - No Offenkk
84 Shadows Fall - Stepping Outside the Circle
83 Amplifier - Eternity
82 Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Sunday at Devil Dirt
81 Thrice - Beggars
80 All that Remains - This Darkened Heart
79 Hundred Reasons - Ideas above our Station
78 Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
77 St Vincent - Actor
76 Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

75 Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Fire & Water
74 The Twilight Singers: Blackberry Belle
73 Opeth - Deliverance
72 The Bronx - La Muerte Viva
71 Spineshank - Height of Callousness
70 Transplants - Transplants
69 Hermano - Hermano
68 Our Lady Peace - Gravity
67 The Drips - The Drips
66 Audioslave - Cochise
65 Kasabian - Empire
64 Watch them Die - Watch them Die
63 Amen - Death by Musick
62 The Cure - The Cure
61 Broadcast Radio - Hallways of the Twenty-first Floor
60 Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas
59 Spinnerette - Spinnerette
58 Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors
57 Mastodon - Crack the Skye
56 Emmy the Great - First Love
55 Million Dead - A Song to Ruin
54 Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
53 Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
52 Mondo Generator - A Drug Problem that Never Existed
51 Metallica - Death Magnetic

50 Masters of Reality - Deep in the Hole
49 Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
48 Downer - Downer
47 Sparta - Wiretrap Scars
46 Frou Frou - Details
45 The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
44 Mark Lanegan - Here Comes that Weird Chill
43 Mystery Jets - Twenty-One
42 Mastodon - Blood Mountain
41 Soulsavers - It's not how you fall it's the way you land
40 PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
39 Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
38 Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
37 The Distillers - Coral Fang
36 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
35 Amplifier - Insider
34 Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
33 Arcade Fire - Funeral
32 Babyshambles - Albion
31 Florence and the Machine - Lungs
30 Metric - Fantasies
29 Soulsavers - Broken
28 A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
27 The Bronx - The Bronx II
26 Kasabian - Kasabian

25. Amen - We Have Come for Your Parents

24. Amplifier - The Astronaut Dismantles HAL

23. Slayer - God Hates Us All

22. Opeth - Blackwater Park

21. Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies to Paralyze

20. The Bronx - The Bronx

19. The Mars Volta - Amputecture

18. Machine Head - Through the Ashes of Empires

17. Opeth - Damnation

16. Cave In - Jupiter

15. Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R

14. Oceansize - Everyone Into Position

13. Open Hand - You and Me

12. Morrissey - You are the Quarry

11. Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Air & Earth

10. Machine Head - The Blackening

9. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen

8. Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim

7. Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum

6. Oceansize - Frames

5. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

4. Our Lady Peace - Spiritual Machines

3. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command

2. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute

1. Amplifier - Amplifier

And yes, if you did indeed have the prerequisite knowledge of album release dates from this you could infer my favourite albums of 2009. For those of us a little less informed:

14. Morrissey - Years of Refusal
13. Masters of Reality - Pine/Cross Dover
12. Amplifier - Eternity
11. Thrice - Beggars
10. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
9. St Vincent - Actor
8. Spinnerette - Spinnerette
7. Mastodon - Crack the Skye
6. Emmy the Great - First Love
5. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
4. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
3. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
2. Metric - Fantasies
1. Soulsavers - Broken

And no, I can't be bothered to talk about or explain any of these choices. This is only here really for myself so I have a back-up of the list and I'm far too tired of converting html tags to elaborate on anything.

Listening Charts, of all my LastFm scrobbles this decade:

Every Live Band I've seen. Like ever II

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:25:04 +0000

...because it was getting too far down my journal(s) to edit easily

#

2:54 (2)
30 Seconds to Mars
80's Matchbox B-Line Disaster (2)

A

AFI
Alexisonfire (3)
Alkaline Trio (2)
Alessi's Ark
All American Rejects
All Time Low
Amen
American Head Charge
Amplifier (6)
Anthony & the Johnsons
Anti-flag
The Antlers
Anti-product
The Apples
Arcade Fire (2)
Archers of Loaf
Arctic Monkeys
Ash
Auf Der Maur
Avenged Sevenfold

B

Babyshambles (3)
Charlie Barnes (2)
Battles (2)
Bedouin Soundclash
Best Coast
Be Your Own Pet (2)
Biffy Clyro (2)
Bilge Pump
Billy Talent
Blackhole
Black Label Society
James Blake
Blink 182
Bloc Party
Blood Brothers
Blood Red Shoes (2)
Bo Pepper
Bouncing Souls
Brand New
British Sea Power
Broadcast Radio
Broke'N £nglish
The Bronx (7)
Bullet for my Valentine

C

Cage the Elephant
Anna Calvi (2)
Isobell Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Cancer Bats
Capdown
Caribou (2)
Cate Le Bon
Cave In
Cerebral Ballzy
Chapel Club
Chiodos
Cleopatra
Clock Opera (2)
Coheed and Cambria
The Computers
Crazy Arm
Crystal Castles (3)
Cults
Cypress Hill

D

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip
Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards
The Darkness
Dashboard Confessional
The Datsuns
Ray Davies
The Dead 60's
The Deadbeats
Deftones
De La Soul
The Descendents
Digitalism
Dillinger Escape Plan
Dirty Pretty Things (2)
The Distillers
Pete Doherty (2)
Do Me Bad Things
Dropkick Murphys
Drowning Pool
Dutch Uncles (2)
Bob Dylan

E

Eagles of Death Metal (3)
Emmy the Great (3)
The Enemy
Everything Everything
Exit Ten (2)
The Ex & Getatchew Merkurya

F

Faith No More
Fall Out Boy (3)
Faust
Feeder (2)
Fiction
The Field
Fightstar (3)
Flogging Molly (2)
Florence and the Machine (6)
Johnny Flynn
Foreign Beggars
Four Tet
Friendly Fires
Fucked Up (2)
Funeral for a Friend
Funeral Party (2)
The Futureheads

G

Gaggle
Gallows (2)
The Gaslight Anthem
Gentleman's Dub Club
A Genuine Freakshow
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Laura Gibson
Girlschool
Glasser
Glassjaw
Glasvegas
God's Little Eskimo
Goldheart Assembly
Goldie Lookin' Chain (2)
Gogol Bordello (3)
Gossip
Grand Volume
Green Day
Guillemots

H

Hatebreed
Hexes
Robyn Hitchcock
The Hives
Hollow Promise (lol)
Hot Snakes
Hundred Reasons (2)

I

Ida Maria
Iggy & the Stooges
Ill Nino
Imadethismistake
Incubus
In Flames
Interpol
Iron Maiden
Islet (2)

J

The Jakpot (2)
Jecano
The Jessie Rose Trip
Jimmy Eat World (3)
Johnny Foreigner
Daniel Johnston
Junip

K

Kasabian (2)
Keith
Rose Kemp
Kentaro (DJ)
Kids in Glass Houses
The Killers
Killswitch Engage
The King Blues
Kings of Leon
Kissy Sell Out (DJ)
Kittie
Kong

L

Mark Lanegan
The Last Republic
Letlive
Les Savy Fav (2)
Less than Jake (2)
The Libertines
Limp Bizkit
Little Boots
The Living End (3)
Lost Prophets (3)
Louie (2)
The Low Anthem

M

Mad Caddies
Mad Capsule Markets
Madness
The Magic Numbers
Manchester Orchestra
Manic Street Preachers
Mariachi El Bronx
Marilyn Manson
Marina and the Diamonds (3)
Laura Marling (3)
The Mars Volta
Willy Mason (2)
Masters of Reality
Mastodon
Mercury Rev
Metallica
Metric
Millencolin (2)
Million Dead
Conan Mockasin (2)
Mondo Generator
Monster Magnet
Morrissey
Motorhead
Mumford and Sons
Muse
Mushroomhead
My Chemical Romance (3)
Mystery Jets (2)

N

Nadir
New Found Glory (2)
New Young Pony Club
Nine Inch Nails
Nissennmondai
No Age
Noah and the Whale (2)
Nofx (3)
Gary Numan

O

Oceansize
Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All
The Offspring (2)
Off With Their Heads
Out Like a Lion
Oxes

P

Panic! at the disco (3)
Paramore (2)
Theo Parrish (DJ)
Mike Patton & Rahzel
Pearl Jam
Hannah Peel (with Laura Groves aka Blue Roses)
Peggy Sue (3)
Pelican
Pennywise
The Pineapple Thief
The Pins
Placebo (2)
Plain White T's
Plan B
The Psychic Paramount
Pulled Apart By Horses (2)

Q

Queens of the Stone Age (4)

R

Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Razorlight
Reel Big Fish
Rise Against (2)
Rise To Addiction
Rival Schools
Rob Da Bank (DJ)
Robin Williams
Rolo Tomassi (2)
Roots Manuva
Axl Rose

S

Roxy Saint
Seasick Steve (2)
Seventh Void
Sharks
She Keeps Bees
Shield Your Eyes
Sick Of It All
Silent Front
Simian Mobile Disco
Skrillex (DJ)
Slaves to Gravity
Slayer (2)
Sonic Boom Six
Soulsavers
Omar Souleyman
Sparta
Spinnerette
Marnie Stern
The Streets (2)
The Strokes
St Vincent
The Subways (3)
The Sugars
Summer Camp
Sun Ra Arkestra (2)
The Sunshine Underground (3)
Surfer Blood
Sweethead
Sylosis
System of a Down

T

Taking Back Sunday (2)
Teenage Bottlerocket
Tellison
Tenacious D
Them Crooked Vultures
Theory of Dreams
Thrice (3)
Thursday (2)
The Ting Tings
Toro y Moi
To The Bones
Towers of London (2)
Trash Talk
The Travelling Band
Tunng
Turbonegro
Frank Turner (2)
Twilight Singers

U

Underground Resistance
The Used

V

The View (2)
Villagers
Violent Soho

W

Walls
Warpaint (5)
Washed Out
Weezer
We Fell to Earth
We Start Fires
White Lies
Wild Beasts (2)
Winnebago Deal
Wolfmother

X

The Xx

Y

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2)
Young Heart Attack
Young Husband
The Young Knives
Yourcodenameis:Milo
Z

Zebrahead
The Zico Chain
Zola Jesus

Total = 321 Artists (last new band: The realisation I once saw Skrillex)

Milestones:

250th: Monster Magnet

Most Seen:

The Bronx (7)
Amplifier (6)
Florence and the Machine (6)
Warpaint (5)
Queens of the Stone Age (4)

Paste Your Taste

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:01:30 +0000

It's funny how often I log onto my LastFm profile yet still fail to notice certain things, the latest being this:

So let's see what it says...

I'm into rock, indie, alternative, female vocalists and punk, including:
Morrissey, Oceansize, Pearl Jam, The Smiths, Mark Lanegan, Amplifier, R.E.M., Thrice, Queens of the Stone Age, The Mars Volta, The Bronx, Laura Marling, Emmy the Great, Florence + The Machine, Metallica, Masters of Reality, Our Lady Peace, Rufus Wainwright, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Faith No More, Paramore, At the Drive-In, Kasabian, Johnny Cash, Soulsavers, Kyuss, Amen, PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Isobel Campbell, Mystery Jets, Metric, Be Your Own Pet, Elton John, Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire, Bat for Lashes, Frou Frou, Babyshambles, Audioslave, Spinnerette, Mastodon, Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Rose Kemp, Open Hand, The Gutter Twins, Mad Season.

Rock, indie, alternative, that all seems fair enough. Punk I guess at a stretch fits.

Female vocalists is now a genre...

Interestingly, I posted this only a day ago and my 'taste-paste' has changed to:

rock, indie, alternative, female vocalists and folk,

Folk? Must have been all those Peggy Sue scrobbles this afternoon...dang, I was way cooler when I listened to punk.

Fantasy Festival

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 18:32:22 +0000

May I proudly present, courtesy of Sony's fantasyfestival.last.fm, the No Hope (Tap) Festival:

Oh and before any wag points it out, no I'm not from the Netherlands, that's just where I want it to be held...

Clearly, that's just some of my favourite bands, no attempt to win the competition or whatever. I'm not even sure how the 'buzz' is calculated so I decided any attempt to guess who might get attention from 18/11 on should be thrown out. Well, that and I couldn't bring myself to place Michael Jackson as a headliner.

Maybe that I now have a record of this I might try to play fantasy festival properly. Goodbye Casey Chaos...hello, Ellie Goulding :(

Okay, so I did it...

Rammstein
Muse
Kings of Leon
Coldplay
MGMT
Black Eyed Peas
Lady Gaga
Them Crooked Vultures
Editors
Marina & the Diamonds
Ellie Goulding
Tegan and Sara
Florence + the Machine
La Roux
Cheryl Cole

...and now I feel dirty.

Top Monthly Songs/Artists

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 14:17:56 +0000

...because it looked rubbish on my profile - WITH NEW ADDED ANNOTATIONS.

Monthly Top Tracks/Artists

Aug-2006
Audioslave : Show Me How to Live (1 plays)
Audioslave - 2 plays

Nov-2006
Masters of Reality : The Eyes Of Texas (1 plays)
Screaming Trees - 1 play

I just registered with LastFm and thought it was rubbish hence the low usage

Jun-2007
Rufus Wainwright : Going To A Town (15 plays)
Rufus Wainwright - 67 plays

Purchase of Release the Stars

Jul-2007
At the Drive-In : Catacombs (5 plays)
Pearl Jam - 43 plays

Aug-2007
Paramore : Pressure (10 plays)
Paramore - 163 plays

Riot & All We Know is Falling purchased days prior to Reading Festival 2007, 100 scrobbles in one day

Sep-2007
Rufus Wainwright : Do I Disappoint You (13 plays)
R.E.M - 118 plays

Oct-2007
Oceansize : Ornament/the Last Wrongs (21 plays)
Oceansize - 203 plays

Purchase of Frames and Everyone Into Position prior to Academy 3 gig

Nov-2007
Elton John : This Train Don't Stop There Anymore (16 plays)
Amen - 161 plays

Amen gig on Nov 5th at Satans Hollow, purchase of Pisstory

Dec-2007
Bryan Ferry : More Than This (15 plays)
Pink Floyd - 112 plays

The Wall was purchased over the X-mas period

Jan-2008
Rose Kemp : Silence In D Minor (15 plays)
PJ Harvey - 133 plays

Stories from the City, stories from the Sea purchased alongside Frou Frou

Feb-2008
Oceansize : Amputee (10 plays)
Oceansize - 74 plays

Efflouresce purchased

Mar-2008
The Smiths : This Night Has Opened My Eyes (11 plays)
The Mars Volta - 105 plays

The Mars Volta @ Apollo, Manchester

Apr-2008
Hot Chip : Ready For The Floor (9 plays)
Oceansize - 42 plays

May-2008
Arcade Fire : Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) (16 plays)
Arcade Fire - 108 plays

Jun-2008
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova : Falling Slowly (2 plays)
Bob Dylan - 3 plays

Home for summer, broken laptop and trips abroad ensured I was only briefly listening to my LastFm library online

Jul-2008
Laura Marling : Cross Your Fingers (14 plays)
Laura Marling - 117 plays

Ripped AICS to home computer and therefore began scrobbling album despite owning for month prior

Aug-2008
Laura Marling : You're No God (13 plays)
Laura Marling - 134 plays

Sep-2008
Metallica : Cyanide (12 plays)
Metallica - 77 plays

Death Magnetic released

Oct-2008
British Sea Power : Waving Flags (19 plays)
Isobell Campbell - 76 plays

Bought Sunday at Devil Dirt

Nov-2008
Emmy the Great : M.I.A. (15 plays)
Mystery Jets - 116 plays

Got round to buying Twenty-One after impressive Reading Festival set

Dec-2008
Charlie Barnes : This Boy Blind (13 plays)
Amplifier - 89 plays

Amplifier Academy 3 gig, supported by Charlie Barnes

Jan-2009
The BPA : Seattle (12 plays)
Thrice - 159 plays

The advent of Spotify, finally sees me listen to the Alchemy Index records and Vhiessu

Feb-2009
Thrice : The Earth Will Shake (12 plays)
Emmy the Great - 97 plays

First Love purchased

Mar-2009
Morrissey : Something Is Squeezing My Skull (21 plays)
Morrissey - 114 plays

Years of Refusal released - Spotify scrobbles

Apr-2009
Bat for Lashes : Daniel (17 plays)
Bat for Lashes - 87 plays

May-2009
Marina & the Diamonds : Obsessions (18 plays)
Bat For Lashes - 51 plays

Bat for Lashes: Two Suns in constant Spotify rotation, Marina & the Diamonds first discovered

Jun-2009
Spinnerette : Driving Song (12 plays)
Spinnerette - 96 plays

Jul-2009
Metric : Blindness (13 plays)
Florence + the Machine - 129 plays

Spotify scrobbles, especially artists added to Reading 09 lineup

Aug-2009
Peggy sue : Lover Gone (14 plays)
Soulsavers - 133 plays

Sep-2009
Arctic Monkeys : Crying Lightning (22 plays)
Arctic Monkeys - 129 plays

Repeat Listening of Humbug after Monkeys' Reading Festival set

Oct-2009
Paramore : All I Wanted (15 plays)
Masters of Reality - 149 plays

Masters of Reality @ London Garage + Pine/Cross Dover released

Nov-2009
Peggy Sue : Yo Mama (12 plays)
Peggy Sue - 64 plays

Dec-2009
Wild Beasts : All the King's Men (19 plays)
Peggy Sue - 129 plays

Peggy Sue's Yo Mama uploaded to Spotify - triggers me searching for back-catalogue mp3s

Jan-2010
Wild Beasts : Two Dancers I (12 plays)
Wild Beasts - 98 plays

Two Dancers placing in fair amount of end of year lists leads me to listen to record across New Year

Feb-2010
Marina and the Diamonds : Shampain (12 plays)
Marina and the Diamonds - 138 plays

The Family Jewels released

Mar-2010
Laura Marling : Devil's Spoke (25 plays)
Laura Marling - 197 plays

I Speak because I can released preceeded by album's leading single

Apr-2010
Peggy Sue : The Shape We Made (16 plays)
Peggy Sue - 218 plays

Fossils and Other Phantoms, Peggy Sue's debut LP acquired at London Garage gig at the end of March

May-2010
Liars : Scissor (21 plays)
Liars - 86 plays

Someone on the Amplifier forum recommended the Liars album Sisterworld. It's been a month of new things mostly, Liars narrowly edging out 80sMB-LD, Rolo Tomassi, Open Hand, Crystal Castles

June-2010
Rolo Tomassi : Tongue in Chic (17 plays)
Rolo Tomassi - 117 plays

Continued Rolo Tomassi scrobbling, despite a fair amount of time devoted to Bob Dylan in the run-up to Hop Farm Festival 2010

July-2010
Johnny Flynn : The Water (15 plays)
Arcade Fire 49 - plays

I guess still post-Hop Farm listening, the Arcade Fire surge just beginning

August-2010
Arcade Fire : Half Light I (12 plays)
Arcade Fire 145 - plays

Build up to Reading Festival 2010

September-2010
Warpaint : Krimson (15 plays)
Warpaint 84 - plays

Post-festival listening primarily consisted of Warpaint's Exquisite Corpse EP + Undertow from their debut just out-scrobbling Arcade Fire

October-2010
Warpaint : Undertow (10 plays)
Warpaint 66 - plays

A lot of overtime & not much scrobbling going on nowadays, Undertow was offered as a free download before the release of Warpaint's The Fool

November-2010
Warpaint : Set your Arms Down (9 plays)
Warpaint 76 - plays

The overtime may have slowed towards the end of the month but the Warpainting clearly had not. However, a set of giant tenticles looms on the horizon

December-2010
Zola Jesus : The Night (9 plays)
Amplifier 42 - plays

The Octopus finally arrived - I'm pretty sure there were a lot more than 42 scrobbles judging by how far Amplifier moved up my charts, I guess they're lost in the neverealm according to the stat program I used to gleam these