This year I thought I should at least describe some of the tracks of the year, but without falling into just using amazing, awesome, outstanding etc.

1. Brother Sport by Animal Collective is the greatest song ever. I say this with all sincerity. I’m wrestling with myself to make a songs of the decade list, and this would very likely be number one. After their album collected virtual dust on my hard drive, it came up on shuffle and made me immediately listen to the rest of Animal Collective’s eighth album. The initial part of the track isn’t legendary, it’s the siren noises which come in afterwards that push it high up on my list. The synth backbeat gets stronger and stronger until it starts to hurt and then the relief comes of the intro once again as the Animal Collective sing their harmonies again. It builds you up again and knocks you down. And finally it finishes with everything mixed together. Perhaps the most impressive part is that the siren part is sung by one vocalist in live performances. Yes, really. Also it was my first vinyl single and cost me $15. Worth it? Yes.
2. Dananananaykroyd’s best is Infinity Milk. Listening again, the build up to the main riff is excruciating. As the band let’s go, the guitar solo riffs on a sound which is quite possibly thee best guitar sound ever. Dananananaykroyd continue their frantic pace with a mixture of cheerful and screaming vocals, which just force you to shout along.
3. Unlike Animal Collective’s number one placing, My Girls, is blissful in its vocal harmonies and synth layering. I’ve caught myself singing this under my breath wistfully, after this song has finished playing.
4. You’ve Got the Love (The xx Remix) is the best thing The XX have done to date. Sure they released an awesome album, but if all of it was made up of stuff like this, then The XX would have stolen album of the year away from Fuck Buttons. The remix far out passes Florence and the Machine’s original, because its backbeat is just so damn strong. Sit back and relax to this masterpiece.
5. Whereas Discovery’s debut was pretty rubbish, this gem shines out. So Insane is a fantastic example of synthpop, with stop and start rhythms and some beautiful sounds.
6. Temecula Sunrise - Dirty Projectors
7. Apples and Pairs - Slow Club
8. Young Hearts Spark Fire - Japandroids
9. Crystalised – The XX
10. Little Girl (feat. Julian Casablancas) - Dangermouse & Sparklehorse
11. Lisztomania - Phoenix
12. It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning – We Were Promised Jetpacks
13. Bite Hard - Franz Ferdinand
14. Make Her Say Feat. Kanye West & Common - Kid Cudi
15. Let’s Go Surfing - The Drums
16. Lust For Life - Girls
17. So Near - Jack Peñate
18. Hope You’re Happy - Blakroc
19. Bored Of Each Other - Friendly Fires
20. Tonight’s Today- Jack Peñate
21. Arrows Of Eros - Golden Silvers with Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
22. Love of an Orchestra - Noah and the Whale
23. Death – White Lies
24. Sea Within A Sea - The Horrors
25. Daylight - Matt & Kim

25. Akron/Family
“River”

In the 90s, Big Bad VooDoo Daddy scored a hit with “You and Me and the Bottle Makes Three”, a title Marilyn Manson jump off from with “You and Me and the Devil Makes Three”. I prefer Akron/Family’s approach in “River” singing “You and me and the fire makes three”, warm imagery of what it’s like to be out in nature with your two companions being a river and a campfire. Oh, but I know there is much more going on here. Could the fire be symbolic of the feelings felt between two lovers, with the female being hard to get a grasp of much like a river? Or maybe I’m just an English teacher in search of symbolism…

24. Wavves
“Beach Demon”

Yes, I know Nathan Williams, the genius behind Wavves, is a dick, but I’m sure John Lennon could be an asshole at times too.

23. Wilco
“You Never Know”

Speaking of the Beatles, is it just me or does this song sound like the spawn of George Harrison? Don’t hear it? Get two minutes and 55 seconds in and maybe you’ll know what I’m talking about – the answers hidden within the sliding guitar solo. Even if you don’t hear the ghost of George, at least take joy in Jeff Tweedy dropping all his worries and singing a happy song for a change.

22. Alela Diane
“White as Diamonds”

There is nothing quite as hypnotic as the sound of Alela’s voice jumping into falsetto throughout this song. Just when you are falling in a dreamlike sleep, the notes shoot out at you, surprising you and casting an irresistable spell like Cupid’s arrow.

21. Bill Callahan
“All Thoughts are Prey to Some Beast”

If you saw “The Hangover”, you may recall the moment where Mike Tyson is enthralled by the pounding drum fill of Phil Collin’s “In the Air Tonight”. “All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast” has the same rumbling drums, although they don’t attack you like Tyson in the boxing ring. Instead, like a musical Lennox Lewis, the drums slowly overtake you, building and building and building throughout the six-minute opus. This song is larger than life with lyrics to match (I included them all; they’re that damn good):

The leafless tree looked like a brain
The birds within were all the thoughts and desires within me
Hoppin’ around from branch to branch, or snug in their nests listenin’ in

An eagle came over the horizon and shook the branches with its sight
The softer thoughts: starlings, finches, and wrens
The softer thoughts, they all took flight

The eagle looked clear through the brain tree, emptying thoughts saved for me
Maybe I’ll make this one my home, consolidate the nests of the tiny
Raise a family of might like me

Then something struck him, wings of bone
Sweet desires and soft thoughts were all gone
The eagle shrieked, “I’m alone”

Well it was time to flee the tree
The eagle snuck up on the wind one talon at a time
Being sky king of the sky, what did he have to fear
All thoughts are prey to some beast
All thoughts are prey to some beast

Sweet desire and soft thoughts, return to me
Sweet desire and soft thoughts, return to me

20. Mirah
“Generosity”

This song was featured as the intro-music to E!’s “Live From the Red Carpet” show for the Oscars (don’t make fun of me; my girlfriend was watching it). The choice seems fitting for a night where actors and actresses dress to impress. Mirah usually records music that is bare-bones and personal, but her song “Generosity” shows her dressing up her music with an elegant string section and a verbose presentation that fit perfectly amidst Hollywood’s self-congratulatory pomp and circumstance.

19. Cam’ron
“(I Hate) My Job”

It’s too bad this song wasn’t released back in 1999. It would have worked great alongside “Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta” on the “Office Space” soundtrack. Actually, 2009 might have been the worst year to release this song. How can you complain about your job when a large portion of our country is jobless? Despite this fact, I still feel this song is an instant classic due to the fact that most people, at some point, hate their job. I love my profession, but at times, the people in power make it very difficult to enjoy what I do. On days filled with frustration at work, there is no better tune to help release the stress on your commute home.

18. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
“Skeletons”

There are many facets to Karen O. She can be bratty, loud, sexy, and even at times, psychotic. She is at her best though when she lets down her guard, exposing her vulnerability. “Skeletons” may not be the most upbeat song on “It’s Blitz”, nor is it the catchiest track, but in my humble opinion, it is the album’s high-point. Karen is no longer hiding behind a drum machine or slashing synth riff. Her heart is exposed for all to see, hidden only by the uncoiling back-bone of orchestra and clicking drum sticks, always on the verge of breaking yet somehow staying steady throughout.

17. Future of the Left
“Arming Eritrea”

Fuck Rick. Who ever he is, he must be quite the douche to get such an angry tirade from Future of the Left’s Andy Falkous. We’ve heard Falco get pissed about many things with his influential band Mclusky, but never have I heard him pinpoint one mother fucker this directly. Sure, the title suggests the song has deeper meaning, but I like to believe that the song is primarily about that shit-dick Rick.

16. Dananananaykroyd
“Black Wax”

Speaking of Mclusky,Dananananaykroyd has obviously listened to “Do Dallas” a few times. Although they do a nice job of trying to fill the classic band’s void, their best song is actually a simple pop song that doesn’t follow the Mclusky formula. “Black Wax” shows the band being able to level out their cheeky behavior with just a dash of charm. Cheers to melodies!

15. Eat Skull
“Stick to the Formula”

While on the subject of formulas (damn, I’m getting good at this whole transition thing), Eat Skull want you to “do to the formula!”. Somehow, with all the clang and clamor they create, Eat Skull found a plum of a chorus. Unlike geometry formulas, the chorus of this song will stick in your head for infinity. If I were a math teacher I would use this song in my class daily. Unfortunately, we don’t do formulas in English (I do teach transitions though!).

14. Built to Spill
“Good Ol’ Boredom”

It’s kind of ironic that the best song on Built to Spill’s ho-hum 2009 release “There is No Enemy” is a song with the word “boredom” in the title. There is too much going on in this song to make it boring. The guitars are piled on top of each other cautiously like a seven layer dip, each part adding its own zest to the final product. There is one guitar line that stands out above all the rest, swooping and momentous like a 21st Century “Free Bird”.

13. BLK JKS
“Lakeside”

This song is a lot like “Weekend at Bernie’s” (in a good way). It opens up sounding dreadful, with spooky harmonizing and a menacing guitar line (there is nothing spookier than dragging a dead guy around a beach). Then of course, the band breaks into the chorus, an upbeat, African-ska-energy infused celebration that would even get life-less Bernie to join in on a conga line.

12. Volcano Choir
“Island, IS”

“Unmap” is a strange album. It is made up of “songs” where awkward instruments squawk clumsily, never really taking shape. It is definitely miles away from the melodic folk music we’ve grown accustomed to with Justin Vernon. “Island, IS” plays as the saviour to the album. It’s almost as if Vernon wanted to throw us off with one master work that delves into environs he’s never visited, to remind us there is still more to come from Bon Iver (plus, any song that mentions “the old tits on your hard drive” is a winner in my book).

11. Nadja
“Needle in the Hay”

Who would have thought an Elliot Smith song could be made more depressing? Nadja does just that, injecting the once intimate song with an eery dose of ambient-doom. The voice is buried beneath the bedlam, a ghostly whisper of “needle in the hay” that will send chills up your spine if you ever grew to know Elliot personally through his music.

10. Mountain Goats
“Drug Life”

What happened to the Mountain Goats of old? They were lo-fi before lo-fi was cool. Using his trusty four-track recorder, John Darnielle used to write hilarious songs with titles like “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” and “I Love You. Let’s Light Ourselves on Fire”. A lot has changed. In 2009, the Mountain Goats released “The Life of the World to Come”, a highly polished album of 12 songs about 12 verses from the bible. I may be mistaken, but I don’t remember the bible having any punch lines (unless you count the burning bush). Fortunately, Merge Records released “Score! 20 Years of Merge Records”, a compilation of indie artists covering classic songs by Merge bands from the past. Darnielle is matched up with “Drug Life” by East River Pipe (a band I definitely need to check out after hearing this song and the Okkervil River cover of “All You Little Suckers”). It ended up being a perfect match due to its hilarious lyrics, something Darnielle abandoned years ago. And just to make us nostalgic, Darnielle records it in his familiar lo-fi style. What a tease.

9. Neko Case
“People Got A Lotta Nerve”

You mean to tell me Neko Case wrote a song with the chorus “I’m a man-eater” and it’s better than Hall & Oates classic? I’ll leave that up for to debate, but her “man-eater” is a killer whale while Hall & Oates are afraid of some chick. What pussies.

8. Passion Pit
“Moth’s Wings”

Can you believe this band is on Frenchkiss Records, home of Les Savy Fav, Plastic Constellations, and the Fatal Flying Guilloteens? It seems like a strange fit, but I can’t blame label head Syd Butler for signing them. Their songs are scrumptious treats, frosted in sugary synths and Michael Angelako’s sacchariferous falsetto. Of all their tasty tunes, “Moth’s Wings” would be the cheese cake, with its complex, creamy textures and its rich, fulfilling melody.

7. HEALTH
“Die Slow”

Industrial music died with the 90s, right? Not according to HEALTH. On “Die Slow”, the band explores new territories in the genre, combining metalic synths with BJ Miller’s insane drumming and the hellacious scream of guitars, all of which seems to be traveling through some type of black-hole-vortex. Taking a nod from Nine Inch Nail’s underrated “The Fragile”, the band sees how live and digital instruments can live together in perfect harmony (or in this case, perfect dissonance).

6. Mos Def
“Supermagic”

While most rappers gave up on sampling years ago, Mos Def realizes there is still some magic hidden on the shelves of the local record store. On “Supermagic”, Mos Def pulled an LP out the Turkish Folk section, sampling “Ince Ince”, a song by the 1970s protest singer Selda. To make an already tight song tighter, he rewords Mary Poppin’s classic “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” with his cooler, darker version “Super magic black origin freshly out of dopeness”. Selda meets Mary Poppins? Now that would be one magic woman.

5. Cymbals Eat Guitars
“And the Hazy Sea”

Cymbals Eat Guitars set their listeners up for a major disappointment by putting “And the Hazy Sea” at the start of their 2009 release “Why There Are Mountains”. Nothing can stand up to the climatic nature of this song, yet you listen to the remainder of the album hoping those feelings will return. Like a 12 hour sex romp with Sting, “And the Hazy Sea” jams orgasm after orgasm into six minutes, leaving you sweaty and incapacitated.

4. Matt and Kim
“Daylight”

Matt and Kim are “the little band that could”. I’ve been enjoying their music for a couple years now, thinking of them as my little pop-secret. Never did I expect to hear their boisterous ditty “Daylight” on TV shows (“Community”), advertisements (an ad for “Bacardi”), and video games (“NBA Live 2010, FIFA 2010″, and “Sims 3″). “Daylight’s” success proves that with a great melody, any band can break through that glass ceiling (although, I suspect that Matt blackmailed EA Games at some point in the past year).

3. Animal Collective
“Girls”

There is something childlike to “Girls”, yet the lyrics speak of what it means to grow up and be a father. Commonly, the music of artists begins to wane with age and the added stress of wife, kids, etc. As usual, Animal Collective break the mold, managing to sound better than ever, even making parenthood sound fun…sleep loss, screaming babies, and poopy diapers -fun? Why must you fuck with my head A.C.?

2. The Very Best
“Warm Heart of Africa (featuring Ezra Koenig”

Last year The Very Best took Vampire Weekend’s song “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and put the Columbia alums back in their place, bringing authenticity to the African inspired song. In 2009, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend decided to join forces with his tormentors to lend his vocals to “Warm Heart of Africa”. With their powers combined – The Very Best’s African beats and Ezra’s s tender voice -these musical Avengers berate you until you are up on your feet dancing and singing along to African words that you don’t understand.

1. Phoenix
“Love Like a Sunset Part I and II”

Phoenix is a simple pop band that creates great hooks, right? Yes, and no. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, let me present to you evidence: “Love is a Sunset pt. I & II”, a sprawling, atmospheric journey of astronomical proportions. Like a ride through “It’s a Small World After All”, the song takes you through all of the regions music can provide your brain – it baffles and broadens, it pacifies and presses, it’s simple yet cinematic, it penetrates and motivates- simply put, this song will change your life, if you can only lend it a moment of your time.

Is it me or are albums getting shorter? This list has an average of 10.2 tracks for each album, if you are a statistic obsessive like myself. It sure makes it easier to review albums. Another observation: it seems like the first half of the list is fantastic music, while the second half is all really emotional. Anyway, here are my favourite albums of 2009:

1. Tarot Sport – Fuck Buttons

Though I enjoyed their first album, Fuck Buttons‘ second blew me away. There are no words that can describe how epic this album this is. I could just throw random metaphors out there, but none would give it justice. Well, maybe this album is like Usain Bolt beating the triathlon record, in space. Or Zeus racing in the grand prix in the year 20,000. Perhaps I should just stick with describing what music they are creating? If you don’t know them, it’s pretty simple; just four-on-the-flour steady bass pounding with layers of noise, melodies and other cyclical movements. And if you know their second album, listen to the track Bright Tomorrow and imagine it ten times more powerful, spread seven times over an album. This record is perfect.

Olympians

2. Hey Everyone! – Dananananaykroyd

Dananananaykroyd captured my heart this year, because of their mix of really happy music, orgasm inducing riffs, screaming vocals, their overall hardcore sound and because they have two drummers. They have two drummers! Though I can’t say it’s the most polished album on the list, it was their unique sound that had me stuck to them. I rarely listen to hardcore or metal, it’s far too aggressive for me, I normally don’t want to be angry when I listen to music. But with these guys, I can shout along with a huge smile on my face, and easily resist the temptation to punch the nearest passer-by.

Infinity Milk

3. Merriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective

Yes, I am one of the people who had never heard of Animal Collective before this record (yes it’s their eighth and yes I am a bit late), but I don’t care. They make some damn good music. It didn’t quite seem to grab me as much as the rest of the world, by forcing me to herald it as the best record of the decade, however, their layered synthesized beats, basic melodies and captivating vocal arrangements made this album an intense one, rotating throughout the year and being my most listened to album. It only really lost out to the two above, because I love air punching and it wasn’t quite overall perfect like number one.

Brother Sport

4. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, is an album of masterfully create pop music. It’s catchy and every song has in its grasp, a single. Even as they veer off into a completely different direction with Love Like A Sunset, Phoenix take it in their stride, creating a barrage of sound dynamics which is, with everything on this album, perfectly produced. Phoenix are not a typical pop rock band, they combined enough interesting types of sound to place it at number four.

Fences

5. Everything Is New – Jack Peñate

I did like Jack Peñate’s first album. Yeah, it wasn’t amazing, but he quickly became a whipping boy of the music world for the crime of making simple, happy indie pop. Tonight’s Today was the first track I got my hands on, after having kept Jack Peñate’s debut lying dormant in my record collection, and (if you remember rightly) it entranced me. Jack Peñate had me under his spell, like most music fans. His complete turn around was welcome, and the rest of the album managed to keep up the pop vibes, wrapped in strange Latin, African and many other, seemingly random, influences, much like Friendly Fires did with dance music last year.

Pull My Heart Away

6. Yeah So – Slow Club

It’s not really a case of justifying why Slow Club managed to get onto the top 10 albums of 2009 list. If you like emotional folk duos, you’ll like Slow Club. If this is an instant turn off because of the whole Juno phenomenon, wait a moment. The heartbreaks, the falling in love and just the good old-looking at somebody else wistfully, seems so genuine. And when your wrap it in the vocalists voices’, well it’s something quite special. Plus they can make some great fast tempo songs (Giving Up On Love and It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful are just two examples). The only reason this didn’t grab the number one spot, was simply because Slow Club couldn’t keep up the incredibly high quality of their initial EPs.

Apples and Pairs

7. XX – The XX

The XX created an awesome collection of stripped down, mysterious songs, with minimalist guitar riffs, intertwining the girl/boy vocals. I really don’t care where their sound came from, it’s fantastic to listen to.

Crystalized

8. Bitte Orca – Dirty Projectors

Most people throw around the term experimental with these guys, but don’t assume you’re getting into some weird, fuzzy noise rock, or complex, pretentious melodies. Dirty Projectors use fascinating start and stop rhythms, something which makes them pretty unique. This combined with sweet melodies, wavering girl backup vocals and finally pulled along by awesome guitar solos makes for a brilliant record.

Temecula Sunrise

9. The First Days Of Spring - Noah and the Whale

Instead of indie pop tunes this year, Noah and the Whale made some really stunning music, with incredible emotional depth, which isn’t full of its self. Describing his recent breakup, this piece of art steals the award for the most beautiful music award this year. And unlike The XX, you can actually understand what the vocal’s raw, and powerful emotions are.

Blue Skies

10. These Four Walls - We Were Promised Jetpacks

We Were Promised Jetpacks‘ debut is as bleak as the cover. The lyrics are incredibly depressing, not helped by the mumbled Scottish vocals. Oh, and of course the steady, minor dominated indie rock guitars, violently fighting alongside, just add to the cause. Halfway through, the album slows to acoustic tracks, but with the same vocal style kept throughout. It’s a really neat package, with my favourite track being It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning. With its gradual build, the constant guitar riff and the crashing explosion halfway, this track rivals Fuck Buttons in its epic qualities, and therfore making it one of my favourite tracks this year.

It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning

Forgot to say, the single is out now and you can download it for just a few pence in these choices internet web places…

ITUNES

AMAZON

PLAY.COM

EMUSIC

All proceeds go to the RSPCA.

Thanks

Not ‘til this year did I realise I liked shouty Scottish “fight-pop”. Thanks to Dananananaykroyd for leading me into the light. ‘Black Wax’ is the closest thing to a proper song on their debut album, and of course they find it a bit wimpy with hindsight. It’s a kind of surf-pop with screaming, a real chorus and some lovely guitar meanders at the close – and seen live, they’re a blast.

On this play for Junior, the CD skipped like billy-o, but somehow it seemed appropriate, unhinged and jumpy. She clapped along to the choppy riffs and went for a bit of hoarse-throated yelling, just to get into the spirit of the thing. Tags like “fight-pop” conjure playground knockabouts. I doubt the Dananans are long out of primary school themselves.

Highlights in yellow:

Well, it’s pretty much the end of the year, and so it’s time to make some sort of definitive list of what I considered the best albums of 2009. Yes, I already touched on this briefly here, but subsequently some re-evaluation has gone on in my mind. The first part of my end of year series covers albums 20-10 in my top 20 list.

—

20. The Temper Trap – Conditions

The Temper Trap - Conditions

When it comes to describing music, ‘epic’ is an overused word – and yet, I’m struggling to think of a better catch-all term to describe The Temper Trap. So perhaps I should try to pin down what I mean when I describe Conditions as ‘epic’. It’s not a pure instrumental epic like something by Explosions In The Sky – although that’s not to say that the instrumentation doesn’t pack a punch. But this is primarily an ‘epic’ record in the way it conveys emotion – making the simplest sentiment sound huge, life-affirming even. ‘Sweet Disposition’ is the perfect example, a shimmering, impossibly feel-good tune that can’t help but tug at the heartstrings. Then there’s ‘Love Lost’, which swells with so much joy and relief that it sounds like it’s going to burst by the end of the song. ‘Science Of Fear’, on the other hand, conveys a racy, infectious sense of paranoia, and ‘Drum Song’ provides a pulse-pounding instrumental finale. Even if they don’t end up going on to bigger things, The Temper Trap sure as hell sound like they should do – this stuff feels made for big stages.

19. Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor

After witnessing Patrick Wolf’s wonderful show at the London Palladium, it occured to me that perhaps I had been a little bit harsh in leaving his latest album out of my initial list. Yes, ‘Vulture’ was a bit of a mis-step, ‘Battle’ is unarguably the worst thing he’s ever recorded, and ‘Theseus’ gets tarnished by Tilda Swinton’s over-zealous contribution.

But apart from that it’s actually rather good – ‘Hard Times’ easily matches the greatest pop moments on The Magic Position, ‘Count Of Casualty’ is one of the best fusions of his classical and electronic influences since ‘Paris’, and ‘The Sun Is Often Out’ ranks among the most moving songs Patrick has ever recorded. Add the high drama of the likes of ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Damaris’ and a collaboration (with Eliza Carthy) that actually works on the title track, and on balance you have a winning formula. After making three wonderful records, for Patrick Wolf to produce an album that’s merely ‘good’ is a noticeable drop in quality – but judged on its own merits, it’s a worthy record.

18. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

As much as it’s good - necessary, even - to be challenged by the music we hear, sometimes you just want something that’s easy to listen to. There’s nothing wrong with a record being instantly catchy, and Phoenix’s fourth album is exactly that – scour the year’s releases and you’ll struggle to find a more immediately appealing record than Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. From the dance-around-your-bedroom fun of ‘Lisztomania’ to the wistful longing of ‘Rome’, it’s a great pop record without ever seeming throwaway. Indeed, the band seem to deftly succeed at whatever they try their hand to here – even the slow-building instrumental ‘Love Like A Sunset Part I’ not only works in its own right, but also within the context of the album as a whole. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a finely-crafted, yet understated gem of a record – the only thing that you’ll find a challenge is trying not to like it.

17. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Panicked reports that that the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs record “DOESN’T HAVE ANY GUITARS ON IT!!” proved to be premature – you only have to get as far as the second track of It’s Blitz! before the trusty six-string returns to the mix. But make no mistake, for most of the record guitars take a back seat – whether on big floor-fillers (‘Heads Will Roll’), or fragile ballads (‘Skeleton’), synths are unquestionably the driving force behind this record. There’s no better example of this than first single ‘Zero’ – a pulsating electro-disco anthem which pretty much only sounds like a Yeah Yeah Yeahs song because of Karen O’s characteristic vocals. The closest the band come to the sound of their first two records is on ‘Dull Life’, but it’s the only moment on the record where the guitar truly reclaims the spotlight – the rest of the time, guitar lines find themselves either engaged in a constant tête-à-tête with synth lines, or end up being displaced by them entirely.  The real triumph of It’s Blitz! is that the band have made a record that, despite being a marked departure, still manages to sit naturally alongside their existing body of work. This is, without doubt, still very much a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record – and it’s a very, very good Yeah Yeah Yeahs record.

16. St. Vincent – Actor

St. Vincent - Actor

The first impression I got of this album was one of disarming innocence – thanks largely to the soft, pretty tones of Annie Clark’s voice. But Actor (her second album as St. Vincent) quickly reveals its darker side – whether it be through fuzzy blasts of guitar or sweetly-sung yet yet troubled lyrics. ‘The Bed’ sounds like a childish tale of hiding from monsters under the bed, but quickly takes a sinister turn (“Don’t move/Don’t scream/Or we will have to shoot”), while ‘Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood” sees Clark come to the bleak realisation that “All my old friends aren’t so friendly/All my old haunts are now haunting me”. Even ‘Actor Out Of Work’, the record’s most upbeat track, sees her listing the faults of a potential suitor before eventually concluding “I think I love you, I think I’m mad”. It’s the lyrical and musical juxtapositions that make Actor an album of surprising depth – St. Vincent mixes the pretty voice of Feist with the instrumentation and tone of Patrick Wolf to create a beautiful album with a dark heart.

15. PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By

PJ Harvey & John Parish - A Woman A Man Walked By

Having embraced a very minimal, piano-based instrumental style on previous album White Chalk, PJ Harvey decided to step away from the responsibility of writing music entirely by teaming up once again with long-time collaborator John Parish. The resulting album, A Woman A Man Walked By, is surely one of the most diverse bodies of work in Harvey’s back catalogue. The most conventional (but nevertheless brilliant) thing you’ll find here is darkened guitar stomper ‘Black Hearted Love’, and from there the record veers all over the place. From haunting White Chalk fragility (‘Leaving California’) to raw Rid Of Me filth (‘A Woman A Man Walked By’), the album encompasses a whole range of emotions – snarling madness, poignant sadness, the burden of having loved and lost. Certainly, the sparse, focused nature of White Chalk was utterly brilliant – but it’s equally gratifying to see PJ Harvey seizing the opportunity to experiment a little as well. Crucially, however, A Woman A Man Walked By is as consistent in its quality as it is varied in its ideas – and that makes it one of the year’s most engaging and interesting records.

14. Dananananaykroyd – Hey Everyone!

Dananananaykroyd - Hey Everyone!

Sometimes, less is more. With Dananananaykroyd, on the other hand, more is definitely more – you can almost guess as much from the name, never mind the fact the band have two drummers. As such, bar the disarmingly poppy four minutes of ‘Black Wax’, Hey Everyone! is basically a riotous, thousand-mile-an-hour cacophony. There’s so much going going on in any given song that it’s amazing how ordered the band’s chaos sounds – rather than trip each other up in a frantic dash to the finish, the components of a song run alongside each other in a seemingly effortless fashion. The overall effect is a record that constantly feels like it’s going to throw up with sheer excitement at its own existance – it’s big, it’s loud, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun.

13. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

“Don’t care if it’s marketing suicide, we won’t crack or compromise…”

Remember that line? Arctic Monkeys continued to prove that they weren’t kidding around with that statement of intent with their third album Humbug - an album that makes the sonic departures on previous record Favourite Worst Nightmare look like mere baby steps. There’s little room for concession here – the closest we get to a ‘Mardy Bum’ or ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ is quirky strum-along ‘Cornerstone’, and lead single ‘Crying Lightning’ proved to be just the tip of the iceberg. The overall sound of Humbug was at times even darker than that song suggested – the guitars swathed in reverb, the lyrics far more cryptic. But if the band had churned out second and third records that were just re-treading old ground, would people still care? Actually, they probably would – so it’s to the band’s credit that they’ve chosen to push hard in a new direction and hoped that their fans will follow them, rather than letting their style be dictated by what the public supposedly wants.

12. The Big Pink – A Brief History Of Love

The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love

On the strength of their first three singles alone, The Big Pink looked to be on to a winner – ‘Too Young To Love’ swirled and churned itself into a gloriously hazy blur, ‘Dominos’ contained one of the year’s most colossal choruses, and ‘Velvet’ struck a sublime balance between fragile emotion and powerful noise. Happily, there’s a lot more to A Brief History Of Love than its singles. The dirty, hypnotic noise of opener ‘Crystal Visions’ sounds like early BRMC (and by extension, The Jesus And Mary Chain), ‘A Brief History Of Love’ is a reverb-laden yet touching ballad, and ‘Tonight’ might as well just have a big sign slapped on it saying “I AM THE NEXT DOMINOS” (it’s not *quite* as good, but still). If it’s colossal, emotionally-charged walls of sound you’re after, this album is exactly what you’re looking for.

11. HEALTH – Get Color

HEALTH - Get Color

I saw HEALTH live when they were touring their first album, and despite the fact they put on an impressive, powerful show, I found it difficult to connect with their music. Second record Get Color adds the missing ingredient to the mix, tempering their blistering noise with persistent melodies – both in the form of vocal lines and instrumental hooks. Things feel a lot more structured this time round, and the results are nothing less than fantastic – in particular ‘Die Slow’, which underpins its splurges of noise and echoy vocals with a convulsing guitar line and relentless drumming. HEALTH have created a record that manages to be unsettling, yet appealing at the same time – and without compromising what made them interesting in the first place. Take ‘Severin’ for instance – the stop-start chaos of the first 30 seconds is utterly brutal, and yet the song’s main guitar riff isn’t a million miles away from something you’d hear on a Bloc Party record. It’s this sort of contrast that makes Get Color feel almost morbidly compelling – this album is a masterclass in uneasy listening.

Cardiff-based music festival and promoters (Sŵn) announce a free party at the Cardiff Arts Institute to celebrate an amazing 2009…

Johnny Foreigner were one of (Sŵn) 2009's highlights...

(Sŵn) began as the brainchild of Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens and music promoter John Rostron back in 2007. Having been to music festivals around the world, the pair decided that Cardiff needed a festival of its own to show off the city’s rich musical talent and vibrant scene.

And so (Sŵn) was born. Taking the Welsh word for ‘sound’ as their name, the duo’s idea quickly exploded from featuring Cardiff-based music to incorporating new bands and artists in Wales, before deciding to embrace the entire UK music scene and beyond.

The annual festival has a pub-crawl vibe, as the gigs take place in 12 venues sprawled across the capital. The festival operates on a wristband system, with gig-goers able to purchase either a weekend ticket for £45 or individual day tickets for £17 per day. If you consider that major UK festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading/Leeds cost at least £150 for the weekend, you really begin to get an idea of just how special (Sŵn) is in the musical calendar…

With over 170 bands, artists and DJs crammed into one weekend, and a wide musical clash of dubstep and folk, hip hop and rock, indie and electronica and everything in between, it really is a frenzied dash to try and see as many up-and-coming acts as is physically possible.

Pulled Apart By Horses at Clwb Ifor Bach...

This year (Sŵn)’s third incarnation celebrated its best festival yet, with even more bands and locations added to the weekend which ran from October 22- 24. As well as impressive musical fare, there were also workshops, a (Sŵn) Pop Quiz, Wales’ largest Silent Disco, (Sŵn) Mo Wrestling, (Sŵn) Bingo and an Oxjam second-hand record fayre. Even the constant lashings of rain didn’t hinder the hundreds of Sŵnsters from dashing from gig to gig to get into the finest performances the festival had to offer, including Johnny Foreigner, Marina And The Diamonds and Cardiff natives Los Campesinos!

Rostron is happy with the way things have worked out for (Sŵn) this year; “It’s been the best year yet. The festival was a huge success- the best numbers, an incredible line-up and a real buzz about the city.”

Since this years’ festival, Rostron and Stephens have expanded (Sŵn) from a single annual event to an ongoing music promotion machine. Their events so far have included Laura Marling, Monotonix and Lightning Dust. Rostron says; “We’ve branched into promoting other shows too and we’ve had some wonderful gigs, such as Jamie T’s warm-up show at The Globe.” His favourite (Sŵn) show so far? “Laura Marling playing the Norwegian Church- that’s probably my gig highlight of the whole year. Incredible.”

CAI: Cardiff's coolest new venue gets a festive makeover...

To celebrate their successful year, and to thank Cardiff’s (Sŵn) disciples for their support, (Sŵn) are throwing a free Christmas party at the new Cardiff Arts Institute. The party will take place on December 14, and start at 9pm. Stephens explains that the event is free of charge for a reason; “It’s Christmas! And we know everyone’s skint and we want you all to come!”

But this will be a (Sŵn) event with a difference. Instead of the barrage of bands that one might expect from a (Sŵn) thrown bash, the pair are keeping things simple, yet sensational with sets from Cardiff based DJs and a special festive DJ set by Stephens himself.

Cardiff Arts Institute is the latest venture by the creators of some of Cardiff’s most eclectic venues, including Milgi, Buffalo and 10 Feet Tall. The venue opened on November 14 and has been a great success as a nightclub and gig venue by night, and the capital’s coolest canteen by day.

Cardiff Arts Institute programmer Spike Griffiths says, “We’re very excited about hosting the party. It’s going to be a celebration of everyone involved with (Sŵn). We work very closely with Huw and John- it’s basically going to be an over-the-top staff party!”

CAI is the latest venture from the creators of Milgi & Buffalo...

The (Sŵn) team are also excited about the choice of venue. Stephens says; “It’s a new venue and we’ve done some (Sŵn) nights there before, so it’ll be fun.” Rostron agrees and adds; “It’s good to have a new space for live music in Cardiff. We welcome and support such ventures!”

With (Sŵn)’s first musical venture of 2010, Beach House, just selling out in two days flat, it looks as though (Sŵn)’s popularity is set to soar even further into the next decade. The pair are keeping quiet about next years’ festival plans, but Stephens is optimistic; “2009’s been a great year. We’re delighted how the festival went and we hope to have as much fun with it when we start planning it in 2010.”

Spillers Records in Cardiff claims to be the oldest record shop in the world, with the store first opening in 1894. They have been an integral part of the (Sŵn) support and promotion from the very first festival. I met up with Spillers’ owner Nick Todd in the store’s basement and he told me a bit about the shop’s involvement with (Sŵn) and why they support them. Despite his first words to me being, “I made the last girl who interviewed me cry,” he was very nice indeed, and here’s what he had to say;

Didn’t get to go to (Sŵn) this year? Have a look at these videos to get a feel for the festival and see what you missed…

Johnny Foreigner, Pulled Apart By Horses and Tubelord…

Dananananaykroyd, Los Campesinos! and a collaboration of Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks with LC!, Alexei from Johnny Foreigner, and JBJ from Dananananaykroyd…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We’ve made a Spotify playlist to get you in the festive spirit.

Listen here.

And here’s what’s on it…

The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping (chosen by Calum Dananananaykroyd, Rod Thomas and Joe Copy Haho)
Low – Just Like Christmas (chosen by Katie Sky Larkin)
The Beach Boys – Little Saint Nick (chosen by Sparky Deathcap)
Bing Crosby – White Christmas (chosen by Joe Copy Haho)
Sufjan Stevens – Come On! Let’s Boogey To The Elf Dance! (chosen by Katie Sky Larkin)
Darlene Love – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (chosen by Rebecca Slow Club)
Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby (chosen by Anna Airborne Toxic Event)
James Brown – Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto (chosen by Katie Sky Larkin)
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You (chosen by Soph My First Tooth)
Everclear – Hating You For Christmas (chosen by Jen Long)
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – Cold White Christmas (chosen by Katie Sky Larkin)
Shakin’ Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone (chosen by HUNKS)

Enjoy!

As things start to wind down, all the magazines are printing their lists of the year as not much else is happening. Last month you may remember I submitted my albums of the year for NME and Hot Press and as they’re now published I can post up what  I submitted (exciting, eh?). I haven’t seen Hot Press’ list yet, but I have seen NME’s and I think it’s quite similar so I’m on the same page as at least a few folk. Pick up this week’s copy as I’ve written some of the accompanying blurbs.

Anway-enough labbering-here’s my albums of the year (insert drum roll here)

Albums Of The Year (Edwin McFee)

1.      Gallows ‘Grey Britain’ (Warner Bros)

2.      Kasabian ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’ (RCA/Columbia)

3.      Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘It’s Blitz!’ (Interscope)

4.      Therapy? ‘Crooked Timber’ (Demolition Records)

5.      The XX ‘XX’ (Young Turks)

6.      The Cribs ‘Ignore The Ignorant’ (Wichita)

7.      Morrissey ‘Years Of Refusal’ (Decca)

8.      Julian Plenti ‘Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper’ (Matador)

9.      Iron Maiden ‘Flight 666 Soundtrack’ (EMI)

10.    Lily Allen ‘It’s Not You, It’s Me’ (Regal)

11.    Amanda Blank ‘I Love You’ (Downtown Records)

12.    Karen O and the Kids ‘Where The Wild Things Are OST’ (DCG)

13.    Rancid ‘Let The Dominoes Fall’ (Hellcat)

14.    Spinnerette ‘Spinnerette’ (Anthem)

15.    Dananananaykroyd ‘Hey Everyone!’ (Best Before)

16.    Kill It Kid ‘Kill It Kid’ (One Little Indian)

17.    Paramore ‘Brand New Eyes’ (Fuelled By Ramen)

18.    Empire of the Sun ‘Walking On A Dream’ (EMI)

19.    Biffy Clyro ‘Only Revolutions’ (14^th Floor)

20.   And So I Watch You From Afar ‘And So I Watch You From Afar’ (Smalltown America)

Pulled Apart By Horses

Oasis recently split up… again. Britain’s eyelids remained un-battered. Probably due to nearly two decades of bands remaining radio-friendly and boringly reserved, inspiring avid music fans with little more than yawns and groans (and also because everyone knows Liam Gallagher is a prick anyway). Coldplay have been flying the flag for ‘shitpop’ in recent times, spreading more of this infectious drivel to the mainstream market. It’s time for the flag to be burnt and melted to Chris Martin’s stupid face.

Enter Post-Britpop. Glaswegian six-piece Dananananaykroyd are one of few pioneers grabbing the accessibility of Britpop, putting it in a bag, taking a shit in the bag, and throwing it straight in your face. Two drummers, two screaming vocalists and a shite load of distortion power drill the catchy hooks home, before suddenly dropping into the quiet and melodic – verging on parental friendly – sections.

Dananananaykroyd have aptly coined their sound as ‘Fight Pop’ which, other than making me envisage a savage circle mosh pit at a Take That concert, seems to gel well with their sound but isn’t necessarily a blanket term for the bigger picture of what’s actually occurring. You see, whilst their music contains characteristics of the happy-go-lucky buoyancy of mainstream pop music, other bands like Leeds’ Pulled Apart By Horses and Birmingham’s Blakfish bring a more brutally fierce approach to Post-Britpop. These groups rely more heavily on ballsy underpinning riffs and raucous angst screaming and their subtle moments, whilst still present, are less frequent in and amongst the hectic compositions.

Pulled Apart By Horses, like Dananananaykroyd, have been busy loitering in the shadows down the back alleys in toilet tours, recently popping up into the side stages at Festivals like Download and Reading & Leeds. They’re beginning to rally up enough middle fingers to give a collective “fuck you” to the suit and tie clad, Blackberry Bluetooth talking, laptop sporting, venti mocha latté sipping wankers who dictate what music will bring in the cash. Post-Britpop has a menacing grin on its face with one hand held behind its back concealing the sawn-off shotgun which is to pop a cap in the ass of those who are content with coasting along with the same-old-same-old.

Punk, to draw on an overly drawn on cliché, was a backlash to the growing boredom with psychedelic music and hippies who dominated the 60s and much of the 70s. Post-Britpop is a backlash to the mundane indie music and the flock of topshop/topman fashion sheep over the past decade or so. Don’t be mistaken, Post-Britpop entrepreneurs aren’t doing anything radical with their fashion style like wearing latex onesies or bringing back the mullet, they’re what skater dudes would call hesh – unkempt, tight jeans, mesh camps, facial hair and a general “who gives a toss?” chic (if you can indeed call it chic).

Post-Britpop isn’t a pedigree breed. When we were lumped with the likes of Suede and Blur, the kids in the US of A were getting high to Sunny Day Real Estate (aka the forefathers of emo) and Glassjaw (aka the forefathers of post-hardcore). Whereas it’s true that the limeys enjoy jumping on band wagons (ahem both world wars anyone?) it’s safe to say that the influence of these bands instilled jealousy from us Brits and carved the path for our thriving post-hardcore/emo scene which ultimately lead to this infusion with the Post-Britpop bands.

It’s these bands who aren’t afraid to flaunt the inflections of their regional accents that prove British music is far from a stale loaf. And the loaf, freshly baked, is ready to jump out of the breadbin and fuck up those across the pond, demonstrating that we’re not all a bunch of Bono-boning pussies.

D

Some of the UK’s finest indie acts, including Sky Larkin, Slow Club, Los Campesinos!, James Yuill and Dananananaykroyd have joined together to release a Christmas single in aid of the RSPCA. Penned by Bright Light Bright Light’s Rod Thomas and BBC Radio 1 Wales producer Jen Long – collectively known as HUNKS – the single also features members of Copy Haho, Sound Of Arrows, Airborne Toxic Event and The Venus Stare, not to mention Bright Light Bright Light himself. Out December 14 through Thomas’s own label Self Raising Records, HUNKS & Friends’ ‘The Magic Of Christmas’ is a tongue in cheek pop number that’s not afraid to assert that “Everything’s awesome at Christmas” with blithe cynicism. Buy it for the animal lover in your life.

Meanwhile, ever-reliable DIY label Cherryade Records have done it again with their latest compilation, A Very Cherry Christmas 5, and by ‘it’ we mean stuffed the disc full of enough wry humour and offbeat lyricism to keep us laughing right through to Whitsunday and beyond. Released last week, this fifth instalment of the label’s annual favourite has a whopping 25 songs, including brand new recordings from the likes of Allo Darlin’, Das Wanderlust, Shrag, The Bobby McGee’s and Sparky’s Magic Piano, plus a chance to revisit previous successes from the preceding four albums, like The Lovely Eggs’ ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex For Christmas’ and Tiger MCs’ ‘The Way That You Arrived’. A Very Cherry Christmas 5 is priced at £6, and there’s a limited offer on over at the Cherryade website where you can get volumes 1–5 all for a tidy sum of £18 + £2 P&P. It’s the perfect present for anyone who likes their stocking stuffed with fun.

Alan Pedder

It seems as though nothing can de-rail the Dananananaykroyd train at the moment. A combination of broken bones and departing bassists has failed to halt this hi-octane locomotive of a band, who tonight stop off at the cosy confines of Nottingham’s Bodega Social Club before they hurtle full-pelt into most critics’ ‘Best of 2009′ lists.

Taking to the stage after fellow upstarts Dinosaur Pile-Up, the band are on top form – mischievously and energetically bouncing and flailing around the packed stage like the indie incarnations of the Bash Street Kids experiencing monumental sugar highs.

The young Scottish ensemble feed off the even younger crowd throughout, indulging in some slightly confused banter with a mildly deranged screaming girl in the front row.

Later, they get the whole venue in on a ritual they call ‘The Wall of Cuddles’, where the audience is divided into two and asked to wrap their arms around someone opposite in a big snuggly bear hug on the count of four. Don’t it just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

The band even win added indie kudos by dropping a brief sample of Animal Collective’s ‘Brothersport’ into the set, which also included riproaring renditions of the likes ‘Black Wax’, ‘Pink Sabbath’ and ‘1993′.

Come the end of the night, adoring hoards of ‘fananananans’ (geddit?) return to the autumnal chill of Pelham Street utterly satisfied with their experience of undoubtedly one of the best live propositions of 2009.

The big question remains, however: Just what does the real Dan Aykroyd make all of this?

Allez hop ! quelques nouveaux disques pour entamer l’automne.

Dananananaykroyd “Hey Everyone”
Une bande de post-ados de Glasgow gonflés à l’hélium. Ils définissent leur musique comme de la “ fight pop”.  C’est assez difficile de chroniquer un cd quand on a d’abord découvert le groupe en concert, ce qui est mon cas.  On a deux sources de références et donc on compare. J’ai eu l’occasion de les applaudir au Botanique le mois passé. Ils étaient très enthousisates, les deux chanteurs jumpant partout sur scène et dans la salle comme deux kangourous, allant jusqu’à embrasser les gens pour les remercier d’être là.  En sortant du concert j’avais décrit leur musique comme un mélange de Clash des débuts avec de temps en temps des gros coups de basse bien assénés, bien hardcore. Finalement  leur cd ressemble assez bien à mon souvenir. 

Girl Talk “Feed the Animals”
Alias Gregg Michael Gillis, un musicien américain connu sur le dancefloor  pour ses “constructions” de bastard pop – c’est à dire un mélange en superpositions de particules plus ou moins longues prélevées dans des morceaux connus de préférence, des tubes, c’est plus amusant. Les frères Dewael  (2 Many Dj’s) excellent dans le genre.  Sur le label Illegal Art – qui prone l’art du pillage musical et du clonage artistique en général (voir lien).  Un cd très amusant et dynamique – sorte de super blind test.

Two Lone Swordsmen “Wrong Meeting II”
Duo anglais formé par Andrew Weatherhall producteur et remixeur de renom et Keith Tenniswood. C’est sous une formule plus rock-dub avec des beats electro obscurs et un son un peu crasseux qu’ils reviennent. Et même si ce sont  de vrais instruments, une guitare rock, une basse compressée, une vraie batterie…. c’est tout de même un disque vraiment dansant.

Slaraffenland “We’re on Your Side”
Quintet danois, Slaraffenland se traduit par : le pays du miel et du lait. Pop hantée, instruments habituels (guitare, basse , batterie) auxquels ils ont ajouté une petite section cuivre. Ce qui donne de la personnalité à leur musique d’ailleurs. Un mélange de folk et de postrock avec chants à plusieurs voix. Un petit côté Bell Orchestre à cause des cuivres. C’est leur deuxième disque à la médiathèque, le premier était déjà chouchou d’ailleurs . Bon, ceci dit,  les deux albums se ressemblent et sont faits dans une bonne continuité. Et les pochettes ? vous avez vu ces belles pochettes ? La première était réalisée par le collectif américain “Friends with You” et celle-ci a été réalisée par le graphiste Cody Hudson.

 Voici un visuel des deux belles pochettes en question.

Jamie T “Kings & Queens”
C’est le deuxième cd de l’anglais à l’accent cockney imputrescible, brit pop déguingandée pur jus avec une ou deux ballades et quelques textes rappés. Des textes dans lesquels il parle des gens en général et de ses amis en particulier. Il y parle de leur vie, de leurs déboires…. des chansons sociales finalement. Un peu comme Mike Skinner (The Streets) à qui on aime le comparer, peut-être que en effet Jamie T. en est la version plus pop, plus chantée. Un deuxième album, ce n’est pas toujours le plus facile, le public connait et  en veut plus. Je dirais simplement que j’ai fort aimé Panic Prevention et Kings & Queens me fait tout autant craquer.

et pour finir….

The XX
Et bien oui, comme un peu tout le monde, je trouve ce disque franchement bien.  Quatuor dreamy pop londonien, guitare, basse  beat box et claviers. Un disque aéré qui laisse de la place à un dénuement très appréciable et au duo vocal. Il y a quelques jours, ils ont joué au Botanique mais le concert était méga over blindé, mais ils reviennent en février à l’AB  (lien)  pour ceux que cela intéresse. Si par hasard, un des nombreux lecteurs de ce blog les a déjà vu en live, pourrait-il  nous en dire un mot ? Merci tout plein.

Dananananaykroyd are one of those bands that once you see live, you will want to see them again the next day if you can, because you feel lost without them. These Glaswegian fight-indie-poppers know how to put on a live show, and this date was part of their dates around the country, and they had proved extremely popular, with the Scala nearly selling out. Having seen them at Offset earlier this year, it would be interesting to see what they could bring to the audience this time. Sadly, we arrived late, missing Calories, but I’m sure they would have been on top form, so go and listen to them.

I thought grunge had disappeared into the dark and dusty shelves of adults and emo kids, and certainly didn’t expect to hear some here. Dinosaur Pile Up were supporting the lads throughout the tour, and typical fraught with ‘warm-up act’ sound, they played grunge influenced rock to a fairly unenthusiastic crowd with a sound that could be compared to bands like Nirvana or Weezer. Illness had also meant the band weren’t feeling on top form, and thowing a Beatles cover into the mix, it felt much more like a low-level warm up act rather than a band up to the height of Dananananaykroyd.

They often get rapped for their unpronounceable name, but with the help of Google, just slap some ‘anananan’ in and you’ll find them. Glasgow’s Dananananaykroyd take the whole genre pigeon-holing to a new level. Helping to create such genres as Posi-core (Positive-Hardcore) or Fight-Pop, they blend screaming and distorted guitars with catchy pop melodies, creating intense but definitely happy music. This gig was a big deal for these guys, particularly in London, a place they do not come down to that often. They made sure the audience knew how grateful they were for the turnout and reception, and it was good to see some genuine appreciation going down.

Fans were ready to lose it tonight, pulling out all the stops to make them feel welcome. Their dancey-jumpy songs like Pink Sabbath got everyone off their feet jumping around. Slipping in little bits of Scottish accent here and there, it’s great to hear a band sing in their accent rather than some fake Texan effort. The fat riff in Infinity Milk even had fans singing along, making David grin a little bit. They paused and interacted with the crowd through the art of hi-fives and handshakes, and even instigated their renowned ‘Wall of hugs’ where people run at each other and embrace. Pretty emotional stuff…

Tonight’s performance was tight and energetic, with all the band enjoying the intimacy of the venue and the huge turnout. In times of despair, these guys know how to make everyone feel better. They put on one of the best live shows I’ve seen, and with two singers jumping into the crowd, you’re bound to get struck by a pasty and fairly sweaty Scottish man.

Here’s some work for uni which I’m to hand in tomorrow morning. The assignment was 8 x 50 word reviews, 4 of which recommendations, 4 of which to avoid.

Four Genres… Four Victors… Four Losers

ROCK VICTORS -

BUCKCHERRY

BLACK BUTTERFLY

All the debaucheries attached to the classic image of rock music seethe forth from Black Butterfly. Churning together the crude insolence of Josh Todd’s lyrics with the nonsense free, blues inspired, ballsy underpinning guitar riffs make for a refreshing, yet hastily sped, throw back to The Black Crowes and the mighty Led Zeppelin.

ROCK LOSERS –

PAPA ROACH

METAMORPHOSIS

As the title may suggest the Roach have dropped rap/nu-metal to pursue a standard rock format. A record ringing with the strive of reinvention whilst failing to muster any creative one-upmanship on the thousands of other meticulously dull rock acts. ’Change or Die’ and ‘I Almost Told You That I Loved You’ show a minute bout of latent ability, still a bout nonetheless.

PUNK VICTORS -

GALLOWS

GREY BRITAIN

Gallows envelope the abysmal undercurrent mood of a broken society by screaming in your face and hammering on distorted guitar chords. Formidable and menacing in its nature, the record is captivating lyrically and perverse instrumentally. Who said punk had gone soft?

PUNK LOSERS -

THE KING BLUES

SAVE THE WORLD, GET THE GIRL

Trying to deliver an evocative political message wrapped in bouncy, effervescent poppy ska songs is like posting anthrax in a get well soon card. ‘What If Punk Never Happened’, a spoken word poem, (thankfully) brings the album to a close after failing to convey much, if any, message at all. What if the King Blues never happened? Who cares?

FOLK VICTORS -

MUMFORD & SONS

SIGH NO MORE

Vocal harmonies laced with acoustic revelries make for a wholehearted listen. Mumford’s vocals sooth and ease the otherwise melancholic vibe and message in lead single Little Lion Man; “Weep little lion man, you’ll never be what is in your heart”. A little uplift in the album wouldn’t have gone amiss but the premise of the return of good ol’ English folk music stands firm.

FOLK LOSERS -

SAM ISAAC

BEARS

With about as much weight and substance as that found in a low-fat rice cake, this indie/folk album professes to be little more than yet another bland cliché. The vocals accented inflections are nauseatingly forced, while the electronica usage in ‘Sticker, Star and Tape’, amongst other songs, deflect any possible affiliation with a possible message. “I went out to try and make a history of being brave” sings Isaac in the aforementioned single. And brave he was for releasing such a shoddy record.

POP VICTORS -

DANANANANAYKROYD

HEY EVERYONE!

Hey Everyone! isn’t just pop… it’s ‘FIGHT POP’. Finally an album title where one is forced to permit the use of an exclamation mark. Growling, tenacious vocals with bursts of charming melody make for a wildly extravagant musical escapade. Warning: not your average ‘pop’ dross.

POP LOSERS -

MIKA

THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH

Another ostentatious record of pretentious grating pop music is plaguing the world’s airwaves. Opening track ‘We Are Golden’ is a High School Musical’esque cesspit of overly cheesy hooks and criminally constructed lyrics. This sits atop an album full of all the drivel, poppycock and faux-sensationalist crap seemingly intent on degrading the quality of the music industry. 

This week is going to be an EXCELLENT time for me.

First up are Dananananaykroyd tonight, at Academy 3. Academy 3 seems to have become something of a second home for me recently, and I like to wander downstairs to the SU bar and fill my tiny hands with as many cheap vodkas as I can carry. With support coming from the apparently grunge-revival-tastic Dinosaur Pile-Up, it’s going to be amaaaaaaaaaaze.

Monday will see me making a jaunt to London, which is squeal-worthy enough, to watch Daniel Johnston at the Union Chapel. He is a great man, with great songs. Laura Marling’s supporting, but seeing as I’m on Team Charlie, that doesn’t interest me so much.

Then we have the big ‘OH MY GOD’ moment of the week- I get to watch Grizzly Bear at last on Wednesday. In Manchester Cathedral. I think ‘Two Weeks’ might make me die with joy, as I’m that excited. Seriously, it will be lovely to finally hear ‘Veckatimest’ et al played live.

If I was a man, I’d want to marry Blue Roses, although I would have stiff competition off my male pals. Her eponymous debut album is beautiful, and in my best friend’s opinion, she completely upstaged Wild Beasts on their recent tour. So it will be with great joy that we’ll all go to watch her at Nexus Arts Café next Saturday. Even if it is a bit Christian there and doesn’t serve intoxicating drinks.

Shit, it’s ELEVEN O’CLOCK. I should probably get up and dressed and all that, as I have to return a dress to Primark. Armed with that thought, maybe I should just stay in bed…

(Sŵn) Festival…

I have just had an amazing weekend at (Sŵn) Festival. For those non-Welsh amongst you it is not pronounced swan. Or swun. Or even swyn. I had to find this out for myself by vaguely moderating the way I pronounced it while searching for tickets, as each time I was answered with stifled sniggering.  It is, in fact, pronounced like soon. Just so you know for future reference…

So, (Sŵn) is the festival curated by the wonderful Huw Stephens, of BBC Radio 1 fame. Huw and John Rostron started (Sŵn) back in 2007 because they had been to many festivals around the world and decided that Cardiff needed one of its own. The idea? To celebrate great new music: dubstep and folk, hip hop and rock, indie and electronica and everything in between. Their main aims were to highlight bands from Cardiff, showcase bands in Wales that sing in Welsh and in English, and then to welcome bands from around the globe.

(Sŵn) Curator Huw Stephens!

This year, in (Sŵn)’s third incarnation, the festival spanned three days and sprawled across 12 different venues around the city. As well as 170 bands and DJs, there were also workshops, seminars, a (Sŵn) Pop Quiz, Wales’ largest Silent Disco, (Sŵn) Mo Wrestling, (Sŵn) Bingo and an Oxjam second-hand record fayre. Awesome.

Aimed largely at students and Cardiff’s scenesters, the wristbands cost £45 for the whole three days, or £17 for each individual day. Not only did these wristbands get you into all 12 venues to see whatever bands whenever you wanted (subject to capacity of course), it also got you into all the late night DJ sets around the city, from Big Scary Monsters on Friday to Moshi Moshi DJs on Saturday. And if you didn’t want to go to a whole weekend/day’s worth of music (and why wouldn’t you?) then individual venues were selling gig tickets on the door for about a tenner, so there was no excuse not to catch some of (Sŵn)’s many offerings over the weekend…

Here are some of my waffling opinions/reviews/highlights of the few bands and events that I managed to catch over the Friday and Saturday. Apologies in advance for the rather shoddy quality of the video footage… my camera isn’t the best in the world, and most of the time I was either dancing about or getting smashed into by sweaty boys. Nice.

FRIDAY October 23…

Johnny Foreigner- Clwb Ifor Bach 9.00- 10.00.

(Sŵn) Verdict: Johnny Foreigner are basically what goes on inside a kid’s head as he opens his birthday presents, frantically ripping off the paper in a hyperactive joyful frenzy. Feverish, infectious fun…

Clwb Ifor Bach, or The Welsh Club (or just Clwb) as it’s known to the non-Welsh residents of Cardiff (try getting your mouth around Y Fuwch Goch, a club opposite, after a few pints…), plays some of the best music around Cardiff, so I was rather happy that there were gigs occurring here, especially as it’s not stupidly big so you can actually see. There are four different levels, so while one band was setting up on one floor, another was playing, which was rather cool as there wasn’t much hanging around in between gigs.

Johnny Foreigner headlined the night, presented by Fear & Records versus Big Scary Monsters, after earlier sets from Exit International, Talons, You Animals and Decimals. First of all I would just like to point out that Johnny Foreigner is not a solo artist, they are a band. And no-one in the band is called Johnny either… Having been compared to the likes of Bloc Party and The Pixies, Johnny Foreigner are Birmingham-based indie/rock trio by the names of Alexei Berrow (lead guitarist/vocalist), Kelly Southern (bassist/vocals) and Junior Elvis Washington Laidley (drums). The band played their first gig in December 2005, and got signed in the autumn of 2007. Since then, they have released two albums, Waited Up Til It Was Light in June 2008 and Grace And The Bigger Picture which was released earlier this month. The band appear to be constantly on tour and have supported Hundred Reasons, The Futureheads and Sky Larkin this year alone.

Johnny Foreigner were definitely one of the bigger acts playing the festival, and this was apparent from the sheer amount of people who were crammed into the venue. Luckily we managed to gradually shuffle our way forward towards the stage, where I experienced the only gig of the weekend which was unobstructed by ridiculously tall photographers (more about them later…). The audience went crazy for the band’s self-described noisy and melodramatic pop songs. The sweat-soaked set was a great introduction to those not familiar with the band, but also kept long-time fans happy by playing old favourites such as Suicide Pact, Yeh?, Eyes Wide Terrified and Feels Like Summer. The balance of the two-part harmonies of the male/female vocals/screams make this band quite unique in their own quirky genre. Fast-paced and energetic, the band slowed down only for a few moments to play DJs Gets Doubts.  The band ended on the awesome Champagne Girls I Have Known which certainly kept me très happy. They also got two other folk on stage at the end to add even more noise, an extra guitar and a guy banging about on some more drums. As Johnny Foreigner are quite well-known for their album artwork, which is designed by their friend Lewes Herriot, it was cool to see this in abundance around the gig, whether it was plastered over the band’s instruments, in particular the drums, or lovingly adorned across the merch stand…

Johnny Foreigner are currently midway through a UK tour before they head off to South Africa… GO SEE THEM!

www.johnnyforeignerband.com

www.myspace.com/johnnyforeigner

Pulled Apart By Horses- Clwb Ifor Bach 10.00- 10.45.

(Sŵn) Verdict: Eye-gougingly manic and nostril tinglingly sweaty live performances combined with ear-splitting guitar assaults make this Leeds four piece a truly sensuous treat…

As soon as Johnny Foreigner were over, the masses headed downstairs to watch Pulled Apart By Horses in a much smaller, but by no means intimate venue. This hairy hard rock band hail from Leeds, and are darn proud of it. The band are made up of Tom Hudson on guitar and vocals, James Brown on guitar, Lee Vincent on drums and Robert Lee on bass. The band formed in late 2007 after quitting the four individual bands they each belonged to. Their releases include one EP, Tour Traxx, and three 7″s- Holy Roar, I Punched A Lion In The Throat/The Crapsons and Meat Balloon/The Lighthouse. The band have performed at festivals such as Leeds’ Nastyfest IX, Latitude Festival. They appeared on the BBC Introducing stage at Leeds Festival 2008, and played the Turborg stage at Download 2009. They are currently supporting Biffy Clyro on their UK tour.

The frantic set started off with their first single Meat Balloon and introduced the audience to the band’s highly energetic routines. From the looks on some people’s faces, they obviously weren’t expecting the fast-paced riffs and screaming. But half the beauty of Pulled Apart By Horses is the changes in pace within their songs, and also the fact that the screams work really well, so I think that that part of the audience were definitely won over by the end of the gig. Unlike many bands, Pulled Apart By Horses actually sound a lot better live, probably because they make a lot more noise and have an unrelenting energy about them that is infectious.

The band enjoyed a lot of banter with the audience, with guitarist James offering round his bottle of Spar’s finest whisky to anyone who wanted any. When they played High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive James forced everyone to high-five each other, and encouraged members of the audience to scream into the mic. Tom seemed to spend half the gig in the crowd itself, with tech guys frantically trying to stop his guitar lead getting wrapped around peoples necks. He also seemed to like spitting whisky into the crowd, and I got a nice blast in the face, which was pleasant. They also played their amusingly titled songs E= MC Hammer, I’ve Got Guestlist To Rory O’Hara’s Suicide and their latest single, the slightly more commercial Get Off My Ghostrain, which is free to download off NME.com if you fancy a listen. Which I recommend you do…

www.pulledapartbyhorses.com

www.myspace.com/pulledapartbyhorses

SATURDAY October 24…

(Sŵn) Festival Fanzine Workshop- The Toucan Club 12.30-2.20.

(Sŵn) Verdict: Come and see and read fanzines, find out how to make them and meet the people behind them…

This was one of the free workshops that wristband wearers could attend, and as a magazine fanatic this seemed like a good thing to get out of bed for. After stumbling into two wrong seminars we finally found the zine workshop on the 5th floor, where representatives and editors from Culture Vulture, Bearded, Attack!!!!!, Letys and Risk & Consequence were there to share their thoughts and advice on creating and writing for fanzines. The general consensus was that making fanzines is fun, but don’t expect to make money from it. In fact, expect to be in debt instead. But having fun, so it’s all worth it, apparently.

As well as sharing anecdotes between the zines, there was also the opportunity to create pages for a (Sŵn) Festival zine, whether it was writing about your own personal experiences of the festival so far, or just an illustration. We didn’t have very long to do this, so I anticipate that my pages were rather dreadful, but time will tell as the zine is due out any day now…

(Ooh, the zine is out NOW… check it out and read it online here)

Tubelord- The Model Inn 4.15-4.45.

(Sŵn) Verdict: Tightly coiled music with a proper quiet/loud dynamic and melodies that zig when they should be zagging. Loads of energy and ideas bubbling away, like an indie-rock chemistry set…

Due to Loverman pulling out at the last minute, Tubelord ended up getting a later slot in the day than their original 2pm set time. Thank God. The Tubelord trio of Joe Prendergast (guitar/vocals), recently recruited Damien Gabet (bass/vocals) and Dave Catmur (drummage) hail from Kingston, South London, and just released their first album Our First American Friends on October 12. Formed in 2005, the band were arguably one of Huw Stephens’s top picks for the weekend, especially as they featured on Stephens’s compilation of the best new music that was released earlier this year under the awesomely titled Music Sounds Better With Huw.

Due to the mix up of the aforementioned time change, we left The Model Inn at about 3, as the band playing before Tubelord were a rather poor cover band (I think they were called Supertennis…) and had just started massacring Green Day’s Basketcase. However, when we arrived back at 4 we wished we’d suffered the covers, as there was a massive queue and it was one-in, one-out. Bad times. However just before Tubelord came on stage the previous band and their family vacated the venue, so we managed to squeeze ourselves in…

Despite initial technical problems with the sound, the set was probably my favourite of the weekend, only marred by the impossibly tall guys who were stood at the very front obstructing most peoples views. The post/math rockers can certainly make a hell of a lot of noise for only three people, so even with impaired vision the gig was ace enough not to matter too much.

As Tubelord have said themselves, they write pop songs for rock kids, and their jarring of rough and smooth tempos mixed up with variations of loud and soft dynamics really makes for a great live experience. Playing their most popular songs Night Of The Pencils, Feed Me A Box of Words and I Am Azerrad Single as well as focusing on songs from the new release, such as Propeller, contributed to the intensity of the set. Alexei from Johnny Foreigner was right there in the front row and loving it, and exchanged cutting remarks with the band, especially when he accused Tubelord of stealing one of JF’s song titles, He Woke Up On A Beach In Abergervenny, for their own. But all in the name of fun, of course.

One thing that seemed to baffle the hell out of us was the bass player, who I swear to God was not Sean. Rumour has it that he has left and been replaced, but I cannae find anything on the band’s official outlets of myspace/facebook/website to support this, only good old wikipedia that says that Sean has been replaced by Damien, so we shall have to see…

An awesome gig in a tiny and packed venue, Tubelord definitely deserved to have a more prominent set in the (Sŵn) schedule, and certainly a larger venue if the queue down the stairs was anything to go by…

Maybe next year? Huw Stephens take note!

www.asktubelord.com

www.myspace.com/tubelord

Munch Munch- The Gate 7.45-8.15.

(Sŵn) Verdict: Arrestingly hyperactive electro-prog with more ideas in one song than most bands can manage in an album, making these Bristolians the Mr Bungle for neon clad indie kids…

Originally a two-man band who met in halls at Bristol University, Richard Manber and Thomas Carrell started off Munch Munch by recording covers of No Limit and Lighthouse Family songs and actually never performed live as a duo. It was only when Jack O’ Connor and Sarah Louise Renwick joined the band later on in the summer of 2006 that they decided to up their game and play their first gig. They are often compared to Man Man and Animal Collective due to their unusual live set-ups, yet they cite their influences as mainly pop. They have released one 7″ entitled Wedding/Endolphins and they are featured on the recent Worried Noodles compilation from David Shrigley, alongside the likes of Deerhoof, Islands and Hot Chip, so that gives you a little snapshot as to what they sound like.

Playing in the downstairs coffee bar of The Gate, a church that has been converted into an Art Gallery and gig venue in Cathays, Munch Munch’s organ/keyboard generated electronica seemed right at home. The songs switched effortlessly between high-energy drumming and slow-paced and tranquil melodies. The band have said that when they first began writing songs, they weren’t fans of repeating melodies or sections within individual songs, as they saw it as unnecessary. However, they have since changed their opinion and instead see repetition as a powerful way of reinforcing ideas within a song, so both these juxtaposed ideas clash together and create a really varied and unconventional set.

My favourite thing about Munch Munch as a live entity is the fact that no one member is restricted to one instrument. Instead the band constantly switches between drums, synths, organs, guitars and keyboards, taking it is turns to sing and then chanting collectively as the gig drew to a close. It is in this sense that the band appear to be truly unique and talented in not only creating a band capable of multi-tasking, but also in the sense that they make themselves a very hard act to pin down and classify, which furthers their diversity and likeability…

www.myspace.com/munchmunchband

Danananaykroyd- The Gate 8.15-9.00.

(Sŵn) Verdict: The live experience is pretty much legendary in online communities, with all the communal energy of hardcore punk with none of the meatheadedness. Even better than the name suggests…

Upstairs in The Gate it was all about the big bands, not just in the sense of the most highly anticipated and popular, but also in terms of the number of members in each band. Emerging from Glasgow in 2006, this six-piece made up of Duncan Robertson, David Roy, John Baillie Junior, Paul Carlin, Calum Gunn and the recently recruited Ryan McGuiness have the stage presence and energy required for their loud, loud, loud music. Their releases include the 7″s Totally Bone and Some Dresses, their EP Sissy Hits and the album Hey Everyone! which came out earlier this year.

Danananaykryod definitely seemed to be one of the bands that was most eagerly anticipated over the weekend, and they certainly did not disappoint. Frequently described as part crafty-pop, part horrendous noise and all energy, Danananaykroyd certainly fired up the crowd and kept the momentum lasting the whole way through their 45 minute set. Once again, Alexei from JF was right at the front, enjoying the band and knowing every word. Once again, hideously tall photographers pushed their way to the front and obstructed most people’s views, but never mind. Noticeably absent from the stage was ex-bassist Laura Hyde who left the band this June. Despite this physical difference, the songs still sounded as good as ever, and certainly did not dampen any of the band’s originality.

Danananaykroyd played many of their best songs, including Black Wax, 1993, Pink Sabbath and Some Dresses as well as more stuff from their album, which had everyone chanting/singing/screaming along. The addition of JBJ as extra vocals makes the live experience even better, and louder, than before, and made the audience interaction sizzle even more than usual. Although the band describes its music as ‘Fight Pop’ it was hard to believe the band were capable of any sort of violence at some stages of the gig, especially when one guitarist towards the end of their set jumped into the audience and proceeded to give everyone and anyone sweaty hugs before bounding back up onto the stage.

Dananananykroyd are currently touring round the UK and will probably be swinging by you sometime soon… Seriously check them out, it will be the most fun you’ve had at a gig in a long time, promise…

www.dananananaykroyd.blogspot.com

www.myspace.com/dananananaykroyd

Los Campesinos! The Gate 9.30-10.30.

(Sŵn) Verdict: Los Campesinos! and their ubiquitous exclamation mark bring their galloping indie-clash to (Sŵn) for what’s likely to be one of its busiest gigs. Get there early and wear something weird…

As my lovely friend Sarah always comments, I’m usually wearing something weird so that was not really an issue here… the issue was getting to The Gate early. Or at least on time. Due to the previous night’s antics and my total of four hours sleep, I decided to be really rock n’ roll and go home for a nap before the evening’s antics began. However, this meant that I probably wouldn’t get there too early unless I had the shortest sleep ever.  So, after a hour’s kip, and a can of Red Bull in tow, I hot-footed it to The Gate… and thank God I did, as I was the last person allowed in before the old one-in, one-out routine began. And apparently the queues at 9pm were snaked around the whole church, so looks as though I had a lucky escape.

Having seen Munch Munch and Danananaykroyd I was well excited about seeing the headlining act in what would be one of their biggest homecoming gigs ever. The seven members of Los Campesinos!, Ellen, Gareth, Harriet, Neil, Ollie, Tom and Kim, all met at Cardiff University in 2006 and have gone on to become one of Cardiff’s biggest bands. Their EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets was launched in 2007, and they released both their debut album Hold On Now, Youngster and their second album We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed in 2008. The band is due to release their third album Romance Is Boring in March 2010.

The upstairs part of The Gate is an awesome venue, as it used to be a church the pews are still there, and while they are slightly uncomfortable, and the columns around the stage sometimes get in the way, it really does have an almost magical feeling about it. Los Campesinos! played a really amazing set, and proved to those who had queued to get in that it was totally worth it. The band played all the live and album favourites, including We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives, You! Me! Dancing!, My Year In Lists and Death To Los Campesinos! The combination of all seven instruments, singers and the presence of such a large amount of people on stage made for a really great set, and everyone in the audience, whether they were familiar with the band or not, seemed to be really enjoying themselves. In between songs, Gareth filled the time with amusing anecdotes about the other bands who played that night, as well as giving the audience a sneak preview of songs from their forthcoming album, such as There Are Listed Buildings and the title track Romance Is Boring.

However the greatest moment came at the very end of the gig when Alexei from JF and JBJ from Dananananaykroyd invaded the stage to sing LC!’s most popular song Sweet Dreams Sweet Cheeks. One of the surprisingly ace things I witnessed at this gig was the fact that there were no bouncers hanging around the stage, ready to pounce on anyone who got a bit rowdy or decided to crowdsurf. If this had been the case then the bouncers certainly would have had a job trying to contain the mayhem that broke out during that final song as Gareth, Alexei and JBJ sang and screamed before launching themselves into the crowd. It really was one of the best collaborations I have seen live, check out the video (if WordPress ever actually lets me put any videos up…) to see it for yourself, as it was a pretty amazing moment and a great way to end the gig…

www.loscampesinos.com

www.myspace.com/loscampesinos

Johnny Foreigner, Pulled Apart By Horses and Tubelord…

Dananananaykroyd & Los Campesinos!

And thus was the end to my (Sŵn) weekend… until next year anyway…

All photographs sourced using Creative Commons, the appropriate band websites,
and the (Swn) festival website...

Hi there readers!
I’m on tour with my band Super Adventure Club for another week and a half. Tonight at the O2 Academy in Oxford is our last day with the mighty pop force that is Dananananaykroyd and the grunge machine that is Dinosaur Pile-Up. We’ve had fun, we have, it’s been great – however, (for anyone who followed our last couple of tours – this should come as no surprise) we’ve had a fair slice of bad luck along the way. I know it’s not just a Super Adventure Club thing, every tour has to go wrong in some way, this time it’s been Swine Flu. I’m fine, driver Luke seems fine, Mandy’s still pretty rough but the star of the Swine Factor has to be Mr Bruce Wallace who has been wheeled into each venue and propped up on stage with a broom stick each night so far. We make him drink a ‘Three-Chemsip-Special’ (cheers Ailie!) and force feed him a tube of Barocca and a handful of Vocalzones then we electrocute him just bellow the eyes for 10 minutes before he goes on stage every night and that seems to do the trick. Yesterday we decided no man should sweat in their sleep as much as he was and took him to the doctor who effectively told him to get out because he was contagious and get some drugs elsewhere. It worked, some hardcore drugs later and today I saw him smile a genuine smile for the first time in a while… He’s getting better! Bad news is Mandy seems to be getting worse…
How has it affected SAC? Well, we remain upbeat so far but we’ve been forced to play songs that don’t ‘go for the high notes’ and we can only play about four songs in a row with Bruce singing – that’s quite a tall order – so every night we’ve finished with 2 instrumental songs back to back – something that clearly confuses the typically young and pop-oriented Dananananaykroyd crowd. Oh well, like we’ve ever been a crowd-pleasing band anyway.
We’re still alive and tonight at the O2 should see a slightly more ‘normal’ (ie manic) Bruce return to the stage with his wonderful array of facial expressions as opposed to the gaunt white death face that’s been scaring the punters for the last four nights – good news indeed – lets just hope we don’t have to get the broom stick and car battery out for Mandy – I’ll do it if I have to.
Right now we’d love to say a MASSIVE thanks to Dananananaykroyd and Dino Pile-Up for their support and general friendship steez. You’ve been awesome. It’s been a blast and we’re sorry we can’t come to Glasgow and London with ye’s – it would have been OFF THE HOOK! (PS Dino – We hope we’ve not given you the Swine… you’re all looking a bit grey… sorry!)
That’s all folks! Till next time, stay healthy!

FUCK that’s hard to spell

before I die i need to see these guys perform live

Infinity Milk – Dananananaykroyd

Black Wax – Dananananaykroyd

Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk
Year: 2009
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Label: Best Before Records
MySpace

01. Hey Everyone
02. Watch This
03. The Greater Than Symbol And The Hash
04. Black Wax
05. Totally Bone
06. Pink Sabbath
07. Infinity Milk
08. One Chance
09. Some Dresses
10. 1993
11. Hey James
12. Song One Puzzle

I’m not sure they are band names out there better than Dananananaykroyd…alright maybe there are. But Dananananaykroyd have created some of the best fist-pumping happy anthems of 2009. The music along with the duel vocals is an absolute assault, but the music has a very cheerful aspect to it that could make anyone smile and dance. I know for a fact that I played the hell out of “Black Wax” over the summer. The worst thing about Dananananaykroyd is that they never come to America, and/or sell things here. GET OVER HERE.

Dananananaykroyd formed in January 2006, when Multiplies, the former band of members James Hamilton and David Roy, disbanded. Calling on friends from the Glasgow music scene, they formed the original line-up.

In 2006 they released two limited edition 7″ singles, Totally Bone and Some Dresses on Moshi Moshi and Jealous Records respectively. A Japan-only CD EP, collecting both singles, was later released on Tokyo’s Klee/Rallye records.

In November 2006, Dananananaykroyd headlined a charity gig organised by Glasgow independent promoters Nuts and Seeds (run by band members Giles Bailey and Duncan Robertson) at Glasgow’s Oran Mor venue, which was their last gig before the departure of vocalist Giles. The band’s new line-up featured former drummer Calum Gunn on lead vocals and John Baillie Junior on drums and, later, additional lead vocals.

Since then, Dananananaykroyd have released their first EP, Sissy Hits, on London-based Holy Roar Records in June 2008. The band embarked on a brief UK tour to promote the EP – their last shows with that record’s line-up, as not long after, drummer James Hamilton left the band to focus on his other band Errors. The new line-up, featuring ex-Russia drummer Paul Carlin, signed an album deal with Best Before Records shortly thereafter and are currently readying their debut full-length album (recorded in the US with producer Machine).  They are now about to embark on a European tour with the Kaiser Chiefs. We spoke to Dananananaykroyd’s David Roy for a quick chat about the band and who they’d like to see play this year’s Hinterland Festival.

1. Firstly, we know you probably get this quite often, but why the name “Danananaykroyd”?

We’re not called Dananananaykroyd. Ha! Anyway, all of our songs go “dana nana nana nana”, and we’re fans of pointless pop-culture referencing, so, you know, duuhh.

2. What has influenced the way you write music?

American hardcore and indie-rock from the nineties like Superchunk, Sebadoh and The Swing Kids, mixed with some proper, straight up, cocky, tongue-in-cheek vocal work from the likes of The Blood Brothers and Glassjaw. We want to write songs that put a smile on other people’s faces and ours and give all of us something to look at that’s different from the usual, stock, indie-rock fare.

3. The image you seem to portray is kind of quirky, a little off-kilter but with a good sense of humour. Is this just a reflection of all your personalities or completely intentional?

We might be the strangest people you could ever get to know. We don’t take ourselves too seriously at all and laugh at anyone in this business that does. We’re not doing this to put out some false, pseudo-cool, shade-wearing facade so people will think we’re anything other than ordinary people in a band. Nothing is premeditated; it’s just a weird band of weirdo’s doing funny and weird things and going a bit loopy from touring so much.

4. You’ve been really lucky that everyone from the NME to Rock Sound have been big fans of yours. The NME gets a bad rep these days for being a completely sell-out magazine, what are your thoughts?

If our band and the likes of Fucked Up and Rolo Tomassi are given pages in the NME, they must be doing something right. Sure, they give a lot of unnecessary coverage to some absolute shite that puts a lot of respectable music fans off their dinner, but the fact that they even have any scrap of love whatsoever towards smaller bands like us prove that it’s not solely about being a “sell-out magazine”, as you put it. Most of the people I know who slag it off don’t even read it. So I dunno’, different things for different peeps. We take what we’re given and, so far, it hasn’t and never will compromise how we present ourselves as a band.

5. Why d’you think the press are so receptive to you, what d’you think has drawn them to you? They can be a hard bunch to crack!

We write good pop tunes, put on a good show and don’t take ourselves too seriously. It’s a winning combination! Perhaps we’re helping re-establish people’s faith in live rock music after years of leather-wearing mediocrity? Who knows?

6. Some of you were in bands before the ‘kroyd… what brought you all together to start making sweet music?

Those bands split up! We’ve all been friends for years and came together knowing that this was the sort of music we had been itching to play for a bunch of years, so it was a very quick and natural formation.

7. In terms of live performances, what can the kids expect?

Nothing short of a band wanting to entertain and rock out! Whether you love it to pieces or think it’s just an absolute horrid noise band, chances are we will cause some kind of involuntary movement in your underpants.

8. Do you have any nightmarish / funny / weird tour stories?

I wish I did, but we’re all / touring is so boring that we never get into trouble or get up to anything memorable. Paul had to celebrate his birthday in Wakefield. We all thought that was pretty hilarious. We lost the van one night and our tour manager had to walk around for hours looking for it. Again, that was quite funny, but nothing that anyone wants to hear. Oh yeah, we played to about 14 people in a 2000 capacity venue once. Hmm, I swear I’m going to start making stuff up to make touring sound interesting…

9. What are your favourite Scottish bands at the moment?

Copy Haho are still the best. I also love Remember Remember, Errors, Rm Hubbert and Desalvo. I’d love to get out to see some brand new bands coming through, but we’re touring so much and it’s hard to keep in touch with what is happening back home!

10. Finally, who would you like to see play Hinterland Festival 2009?

Copy Haho, Remember Remember, Dutch Uncles, Favours For Sailors, Women.