one faint deluded smile

Sunday, June 28, 2009

No Night Sweats

Due to Bigpond's disdain for it's customers I've set up my NNS website at

http://www.nonightsweats.com

Please let anyone with any interest know that this has changed.

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Top Listens 2008

Most of my music listening this year has been via digital means - IPod, Itunes or WinAmp. I still play CDs and Vinyl sometimes but not enough to count. And, notwithstanding some issues with IPod scrobbling, all of these plays should have been collected by Last.FM. So here's my top listens in 2008:

Artists:

Steely Dan - i went though a very, very extensive re-appraisal of all this for some reason
A Slow Rip - hey, we released a record and i needed to hear everything again
Wire - incomprehensible to me that this is 3rd place
TV on the Radio - almost solely their latest album
Sufjan Stevens - saw him live and played them ad-infinitum
Penguin Cafe Orchestra - a favourite for the morning commuter sleep inducing properties
Flight of the Conchords - very funny, even now
Family - one of my all time favourite hard rock bands
Boards of Canada - another good one for the train
The Chap - 2nd favourite album of the year
Al Green - a mix of the new album (really good) and a great comp
Ladyhawke - 3rd favourite album fo the year
Walter Becker - 4th favourite album of the year

Albums

Apart from the new ones here, i also listened to these a lot:

Dennis Wilson - Pacific Oceean Blue: not that good really but i played it 86 times
Laura Marling - Alas I cannot Swim: as above but 83 plays
Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather: one of those bands i love but whose albums i tire of very quickly
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tounge: pretty great overall
Hot Chip - Made in the Dark: quite dull, really
The Shangri-Las - Myrmidons of Melodrama: a fab comp
Barabara Morgenstern - BM: one great track (with R Wyatt) and the rest is dull
Juana Molina - Un Dia: i like it a lot but extended plays were not forthcoming

Fav tracks:

TV on the Radio - Golden Age, Dancing Choose, Red Dress, Half Way Home, etc
Walter Becker - God's Eye View
Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me: great Aussie pop
Flight of the Conchords - Foux De Fafa: irresistible
The Ting Tings - That's Not My name
Can - Vitamin C: an old one got in there.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A No Night Sweaty 2008

I thought 2008 was a pretty good year for music releases overall. I actually found a couple of new albums that I enjoyed all the way through which makes a change: TV On The Radio and Ladyhawke amongst them. But the tendency seems to be towards tracks and I don't see that changing too much - back to the 60s and singles culture in many ways. Although my understanding is that you stil have to release a physical CD with a barcode, etc before online agregators will pick it up. So that's something which will have to change eventually.

I saw very little live music except for the other bands A Slow Rip performed with in September and, a couple of weeks ago, the Adrian Belew Power Trio at Bulli (of all places). They were great, as long as you like that heavy King Crimson sound. Luckily I do in small batches. Next year there's a heap of good artists coming out for various festivals and we're booked in to see just a few - the Nick Cave curated Australian ATP (looking forward to Harmonia a lot) although 13 hours on an island in the middle of Summer may be stretching it; Juana Molina (hurrah - loops!) and Bon Ivor (who will be at the end of a world tour so he may be great or just winding down). I may even post something about them.

Until then - here's the track listings for my compilation of 2008 favourites:

Turn The Sheet Around
01. Estelle / American Boy 04:37
02. Golden Age / TV on the Radio 04:09
03. Ladyhawke  / Dusk Till Dawn 02:32
04. Hercules & Love Affair / Raise Me Up 03:46
05. Annie / I know Your Girlfriend Hates Me 02:54
06. Little Jackie / The World Should… 02:53
07. Lykke Li / I'm good, I'm gone 03:06
08. Gabriella Cilmi / Sweet About Me 03:15
09. The Chap / I Saw Them 03:52
10. Donna Summer / I'm A Fire 07:02
11. Grace Jones / This Is 05:24
12. Blackbelt Andersen / Sandoz 08:03
13. Hercules & Love Affair / Hercules' Theme 04:23
14. Metronomy / Radio Ladio 03:30
15. Ladyhawke / Paris is Burning 03:43
16. The Ting Tings / That's Not My Name 04:53
17. TV on the Radio / Red Dress 04:39

Rockin' La Monia With The Booger On The Shoe

01. Breeders / Bang On 01:59
02. TV on the Radio / Dancing Choose 02:38
03. The Chap / Proper Rock 03:48
04. Eagles Of Death Metal / Heart On 02:39
05. White Denim / I Can tell you 01:54
06. Kings of Leon / Crawl 04:05
07. Wild Beasts / The Devil's Crayon 03:33
08. The Kills / Cheap And Cheerful 02:22
09. The Fall / Can Can Summer 03:02
10. Santogold / L.E.S Artistes 03:15
11. Jim Noir / Don't You Worry 03:22
12. School of Language / Poor Boy 04:19
13. The B-52s / Hot Corner 03:20
14. The Ting Tings / Great DJ 03:19
15. Elvis Costello / Stella Hurt 04:45
16. Juliana Hatfield / Just Lust 03:23
17. The Kills / What New York Used To Be 03:06
18. Fujiya & Miyagi / Knickerbocker 02:54
19. TV on the Radio / Halfway Home 05:18
20. White Denim / Shake shake shake 02:33
21. Wild Beasts / Brace Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants 03:56
22. Annie / My Love Is Better 03:24

The Moody Clues

01. Wild Beasts / The Old Dog 04:14
02. Christine Tobin / Bye Bye 04:08
03. Elbow / Grounds For Divorce 03:34
04. Emiliana Torrini / Big Jumps 02:56
05. Holly Throsby / The Time it Takes 04:00
06. Laura Marling / Ghosts 02:52
07. Juliana Hatfield / The Fact Remains 03:38
08. Aimee Mann / Freeway 03:44
09. Lykke Li / My Love 04:27
10. Martha Wainwright / Bleeding All Over You 03:40
11. She & Him / Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? 02:22
12. Jenny Lewis / Black Sand 02:47
13. Goldfrapp / Monster Love 04:11
14. The Streets / The Escapist 04:21
15. Byrne and Eno / Strange Overtones 04:13
16. The Ting Tings / Traffic Light 02:51
17. TV on the Radio / Shout Me Out 04:09
18. Wire / Patient Flees 05:15
19. Walter Becker / God's Eye View 05:57

Avant To Be Yer Fren

01. The Advisory Circle / Everyday Electronics 03:14
02. The Chap / They Have A Name 02:23
03. Max Tundra / My Night Out 01:52
04. Nico Muhly / Skip Town 04:15
05. Matmos / Rainbow Flag 03:32
06. Quiet Village / Victoria's Secret 03:21
07. Juana Molina / Un Dia 05:10
08. Nick Cave / Night Of The Lotus Eaters 04:40
09. Cloudland Canyon / You & I 05:59
10. Valet / We Went There 06:29
11. Grey Scale / Fennesz 03:12
12. HJ Roedelius & Tim Story / Serpentining 05:06
13. A Slow Rip / Swung and Hung 04:21
14. Tricky / Joseph 02:24
15. Nomo / Brainwave 03:54
16. Rhys Chatham / Guitar Trio Pt. 1 (Excerpt) 06:16
17. Stereolab / Fractal Dream Of A Thing 03:32
18. The Chap / Ethnic Instrument 03:10