Every year, for the last 4 years now I've done a special end of year cd to celebrate the music that's been rocking my stereo / i-pod this year.
It's then copied and sent out with christmas cards to all and sundry. Some enjoy them, some find them infuriating and some find them just bizarre.
This year's selection is:
Battles - Atlas
Oh I've talked about this before.
And still the best description of their music comes from their own MySpace page:
beep, boop, boop, crash, beep, loop, fwount,
bang, beep, boop, loop, sing, sing, beep, boop,
thanks you've been a wonderful audience
M.I.A. - $20
Oh, the cheek of it. A crashing, nasty beat, dirty synths, nagging voice and the chorus to the Pixies' Where Is My Mind thrown in for good measure.
Would have been my find of the year if not for Battles.
Kaiser Chiefs - Angry Mob
Always had a fondness for songs that start one way and morph their way into another completely different thing.
Kate Nash - Foundations.
"and dear god, I hope I'm not stuck with this one" was a line that stopped me in my tracks the first time I heard it. The despair and longing for a better life she puts into the bitterest of lyrics is stunning and still has the ability to send a shiver down my spine.
Regina Spektor - On The Radio
A gloriously chipper and bouncy song. Great sing-a-long as well. Begin to Hope was a lovely cd.
Red Guitars - Good Technology
1983. Over 24 years old. Good God. Still sounds fresh to my ears though. Hadn't heard it for years and then found it one day on a mp3blog.
Depeche Mode - Tora Tora Tora
Those heavyweight early Human League style synths kick in and it's divine.
Trademark - Toe The Line
2007 is the new 1982? Visage intro and pure synth glory from then on.
Dan Le Sac featuring Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Not Kill
Another one I've talked about before.
Nina Simone - Sinner Man
Ten minutes and still too short. This one could just go n forever and I'd still want more.
Marcus Brigstocke - Can we have our planet back please?
Always a bit of comedy on these cds. Never been sure about Brigstocke before this. He just never pressed the right comedy buttons for me. Until this. A 7 minute attack on the major religions. Quite brilliant.
Alan Parker (& the Orb) - Grey Clouds
This was featured on the recent Radio 1 anniversary show which brought back Annie Nightingale's Sunday Night Request Show. A quick, clever and affectionate piss take.
Steve Reich - Music for 18 musicians
And this year we end with the stunningly low key Steve Reich. Another one I've talked of before.
A good year for my music.
How was yours?
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