Yikes. I've only heard - or indeed heard of - one of these (Young Knives, obv), have never heard a note by Billy Childish, and Lupen Crook & My Latest Novel are completely new names to me.
Favourite Music Of 2006: 15-11
15. The Young Knives, Voices of Animals And Men
The big track: She’s Attracted To
Hg’s choice: The Decision
This was the first relatively straightforward British indie guitar band to engage my interest in a similar way to Futureheads or Maximo Park in previous years. That’s not necessarily a fair comparison though – the Young Knives are nowhere near as fractured or energetic as either outfit, though when they’re feeling frisky they come close. For all its superficial quirkiness and whimsy (the sleeve speaks for itself), this album has a mature, wiry feel. The lyric “Who are these people, they are too stupid to be your real parents”, delivered in a Parklife-style monotone, captured perfectly the thoughts of teenagers across the land.
14. Billy Childish, My First Billy Childish Album
The big track: The Day I Beat My Father Up
Hg’s choice: The Strange Hero of Hunger
One of those artists whose interviews over the years always made me think “I really should like this”. Fairly obviously, in retrospect, what I needed was some kind best-of compilation. And here it is, collecting his work under names such as Thee Headcoats, The Delmonas, Thee Mighty Ceasars and (my favourite) The Buff Medways. From the primal thrash of Troubled Mind, to the Louie Louie style crawl of Sally Sensation, this collection reminds you how great basic rock’n’roll can be with veins pumping and all bullshit stripped away. The adrenaline rush of The Day I Beat My Father Up withstood continuous plays for several weeks.
13. Coil, And The Ambulance Died In His Arms
The big track: it’s not really that kind of album
Hg’s choice: Triple Sons And The One You Bury
Jhon Balance’s five-track swan-song (already titled before his tragic death in late 2004) was a typically brooding, sonorous offering, full of glitchy clicks, murmured snatches of vocal and lush, gorgeous waves of sensuous sound. Track titles such as Snow Falls Into Military Temples and The Dreamer Is Still Asleep demonstrated Coil’s ongoing love of the mythical and the mundane. Balance’s flat yet evocative voice floats in and out of the mix, crackling with his customary humour and anguish. England lost one of its most original musical figures on his death and I’m so sad that he’s gone.
12. My Latest Novel, Wolves
The big track: The Reputation Of Ross Francis
Hg’s choice: Sister Sneaker Sister Soul
The first time I heard this, I thought it was one of the most original albums I’d heard in a long time. I’m still struggling to describe it adequately; the best I can come up with is “fractured pastoral”. They don’t particularly sound like Arcade Fire, but there’s a similar vibe and defiance of classification going on. I’m going to have to go all arty on you and say that this album, as a whole, sounds like a very large mountain, with lush ferns at the bottom, rocky outcrops and dramatic waterfalls in the middle and a snow-covered peak at, erm, the peak.
11. Lupen Crook, Accidents Occur Whilst Sleeping
The big track: Love 80
Hg’s choice: Knives ‘n’ Pliers
Lupen Crook is from the same area of the world as Billy Childish and shares some of that Medway truculence. He has the diction of Bowie on Hunky Dory, but the music is entirely less conventional. This sounds like the album that Steerpike from Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast would make if he started a burlesque house (castle?) band. Crook’s abrasive, venomous and sometimes downright macabre lyrics frequently stop me in my tracks. Drowned In Sound calls him “a demon zombie Devendra Banhart minus the cloying hippy nonsense.” If that isn’t worth investigating, I don’t know what is.
Favourite Music Of 2006 permalinks:
Intro, 30-26, 25-21, 20-16, 15-11, 10-6, 5-2, No. 1
Posted by Hg on Thursday 11 January 2007 at 12:57.
Received 9 comments so far.
Comments
OK, so let's try and predict the Hg Top Ten... and without sneaking a peek at your last.fm profile, as well...
In no particular order:
The Knife, Joan As Policewoman, Hot Chip, Scott Walker, Joanna Newsom, Thom Yorke, Mountain Goats, TV On The Radio, Scritti Politti.
That's 9. The 10th could be one of the following: Beck, Guillemots, Sufjan Stevens, Pet Shop Boys, Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Exciting!
Oooh, how clever, interesting and thrilling!
And WRONG ;-)
Only two of the nine will be forthcoming and absolutely none of the "tens".
Thanks Mike, you've really cheered me up. Putting this stuff together over the past few weeks, I've frequently sighed and thought "God, how tediously predictable." I think that's why I've had such a mental block on actually completing it. You've made it feel a bit more worthwhile.
Yeah, my last.fm profile would definitely enlighten you, so avoid it for the next day or so if you don't want to spoil the surprise. I'm aiming to post 10-6 later today, 5-2 first thing tomorrow morning and then 1 around lunchtime. Mostly done, but still writing the final one.
I've never heard of any of these bands. I refuse to believe that they exist. This whole thing is clearly a joke at my expense. Well, I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of a reaction.
Ah, good. A bit of the countdown where I've not heard any of the albums. Well, that's not strictly true - I listened to some samples of The Young Knives and, I have to be honest, yawned at the predictable "ooh, look, we've discovered some old new wave guitar albums" nature of it and decided not to download it.
I'm enjoying Mike's comment above too. It reminded me of a few things: the Scritti Politti album was dreadfully disappointing for me. Aural wallpaper, not even with interesting patterns. Hot Chip is lovely, there's no other word for it. TV On The Radio curiously listenable, and Scott Walker not surprisingly unlistenable. I think it might be time to stop venerating that man's most recent recordings. Really.
Comment by An Unreliable Witness on Friday 12 January 2007 at 14:13.
I thought The Young Knives treated their borrowed sources with just the right mixture of respect and irreverence.
To go through Mike's duff suspicions/predictions at breakneck pace:
The Knife - see my comment elsewhere in this series
Hot Chip - didn't really grab me, soulless
Scott Walker - Tilt didn't do it for me, so didn't bother listening
Joanna Newsom - yuk
Thom Yorke - can't bear his voice
TV On The Radio - failed to make much of an impression on me
Scritti Politti - agree with Vaughan
Beck - don't like previous stuff, didn't listen
Guillemots - hollow-sounding and a huge letdown
Sufjan Stevens - only just got into Illinois
Pet Shop Boys - did they have an album out?
Charlotte Gainsbourg - ditto
I'm glad that you found the Guillemots to be a disappointment too. The thing is, "Trains To Brazil" and "Made Up Love Song #43" are two absolutely astounding songs, but that's your lot. No more good Guillemots songs for you, my dear.
But I am very grateful for those two songs.
My first taste of Guillemots was the CD single of We're Here. The title track itself didn't do that much for me, but the third track (I've Got A Problem (And The Problem Is You) / Turn The Candles On) was superb: a dynamic, vibrant improv session.
On the basis of this individual track I confidently proclaimed them as my Favourite New Band, assuming that it was a sign of things to come. In fact, they didn't seem to cover that territory again (on the album, at least) and it turned out that We're Here was much more representative.
So, they simply weren't the band that I assumed they were. My issue, rather than theirs. Having said that, there's something cavernous and unsettling about the production of the album that really puts me off listening to it.
Post a comment
Trackback
http://www.hydragenic.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/hydragen/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1775
Navigation
The previous post was Favourite Music Of 2006: 20-16.
The next post is Favourite Music Of 2006: 10-6.
Copyright
All original material on this site is © Hydragenic, 2002-2008. Extracts of other people's work are used for the purpose of criticism, review or news reporting, in line with the "fair dealing" (or "fair use") principle.