Best of 2011: Musiclarity Moments and Ceremonials

In a year full of big-name releases (Coldplay, Radiohead, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco, Bjork, Snow Patrol, REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Feist, Fleet Foxes all had new albums), it was Florence + The Machines' Ceremonials that stood out the most for me. I tend to rate albums by how many songs I like in it and how long I can listen to it on loop without getting sick of it; and after three months of being stuck in my car's CD player, I am STILL not sick of the album. It was the same with Adele's 21 and Coldplay's album as well, but in the end, Florence won out because it had the least number of songs I pressed "Skip" on.

Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and The Vaccines also rate very high here because these are just some of the best headbanging, good old rock 'n' roll albums of the year. Radiohead is inevitably in the top ten because while it is not as accessible as most of their earlier work, it is still a great album as a whole IMHO, and I still listened to it on loop A LOT. In contrast, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake may have been very well-acclaimed, but I couldn't bear to listen to it for too long. I'm mainstream like that, so sue me.

Here are my top 20 albums of the year then: 

1. Ceremonials (Florence And the Machine)
2. 21 (Adele)
3. Mylo Xyloto (Coldplay)
4. Wasting Light (Foo Fighters)
5. El Camino (The Black Keys)
6. The King Is Dead (The Decemberists)
7. Build A Rocket, Boys! (Elbow)
8. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (The Vaccines)
9. Metals (Feist)
10. King Of Limbs (Radiohead)
11. Prisoner (The Jezabels)
12. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Noel Gallagher)
13. Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
14. EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ (Glasvegas)
15. Bon Iver (Bon Iver)
16. A Creature I Don't Know (Laura Marling)
17. Last Night On Earth (Noah And The Whale)
18. Bread And Circuses (The View)
19. Kosciuszko (Jebediah)
20. The Whole Love (Wilco)

Notable mentions:

• A Different Kind Of Fix (Bombay Bicycle Club)
• Blood Pressures (The Kills)
• Chesapeake (Rachael Yamagata)
• Cults (Cults)
• Fallen Empires (Snow Patrol)
• Ghostbird (Zee Avi)
• Going Out In Style (Dropkick Murphys)
• Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Mogwai)
• Hotel Shampoo (Gruff Rhys)
• Kiss Each Other Clean (Iron & Wine)
• Let England Shake (PJ Harvey)
• Nine Types Of Light (TV On The Radio)
• Skying (The Horrors)
• So Beautiful or So What (Paul Simon)
• Valhalla Dancehall (British Sea Power)
• Velociraptor! (Kasabian)
• Year of the Wolf (Nerina Pallot)
• Yuck (Yuck)

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Top 10 Favorite songs of 2011


1) All This And Heaven Too (Florence And the Machine)

Did you know that Florence Welch was diagnosed with dyslexia before? With that in mind, consider the lyrics of this song, which is about how "Poor language doesn't deserve such treatment" and how "All these words are all escaping and coming back all damaged"... it gives the entire song an additional emotional heft that when coupled with the rising verses, the soaring chorus and the wonderfully flowing, longingly glorious outro, makes this in my humble opinion, the most underrated yet most emotional song in Ceremonials. Glorious, simply glorious.

2) June Hymn (The Decemberists)
Quietly understated, amazingly melodic, and with beautifully written lyrics that roll off your tongue like poetry honey. It's been a long time since I've been so motivated to learn the lyrics to a song.

3) Someone Like You (Adele)
It may have been overplayed to death, but that doesn't change the fact that it is still an epic ballad, with some very sad, sad lyrics, and Adele's voice at her most yearning and melancholic yet. When I first got Adele's album, this song was the one that stood out the most in an album full of pretty damn good songs. Heck, I'm happy that I managed to overplay it to death BEFORE everyone else started overplaying it to death.

4) Shake It Out (Florence And The Machine)
The most obvious hit single from Ceremonials, but it's the most uplifting and soaring single you'll ever hear this year. I love it most for the way she sings the lyrics "I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart" so resolutely that you can practically feel her determination to restart.


5) Dear Rosemary (Foo Fighters)

The best song on Wasting Light, the rousing intro, the battling guitars, the frenetic build-up, the soaring chorus, and the mid song bridge with Bob Mould makes this a song that just COMPELS you to turn the volume up to 11 and start headbanging.

6) Charlie Brown (Coldplay)
I first heard them play it live at Splendor In The Grass, and the hook riff just er.. hooked me from the start. Afterwards, I couldn't get it out of my head and kept wondering what the hell I was humming, up till Mylo Xyloto came out and I finally realized that it was the riff from Charlie Brown.

7) Set Fire To The Rain (Adele)
MY second favorite song off 21. I actually this more dramatic and angst-y song to the more popular Rolling In The Deep (which I think has been overplayed to death on radio and by every single wannabe pub/wedding live band out there). I think her voice is more powerful and emotional on this song than on Rolling In The Deep.

8) Euphoria Take My Hand (Glasvegas)
It doesn't help that the riff recalls Coldplay's Life In Technicolour somewhat, but this plaintive plea for heartbreak to go away is sung to depressingly emotional heights by James Allen's trademark wail. Glorious when heard live (which I did at Splendour in The Grass, see the pattern here? heh heh)

9) Lippy Kids (Elbow)
Another song I heard live at Splendour in The Grass. It sounds simply glorious when heard live, and singing "BUILD A ROCKET BOYS!" out loud to the night sky just seemed so... ethereal. My favorite song off one of my favorite albums of the year.

10) L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. (Noah And The Whale)
Go on. I dare you to listen to this song and not get sucked into singing along to the chorus.One of the best feelgood songs of the year, and my biggest regret was that I passed up watchign them at Splendour to go watch the Jane's Addiction borefest instead.

Notable mentions:

• Arlandria (Foo Fighters)
• Birds (The Submarines)
• Calamity Song (The Decemberists) 
• City Girl (The Jezabels)
• Every Teardrop Is a Waterfal (Coldplay)
• Half Moon (Iron & Wine) 
• Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
• Heart Is A Beating Drum (The Kills)
• Holocene (Bon Iver)
• How Come You Never Go There
• How To Be A Werewolf (Mogwai)
• Hurts Like Heaven (Coldplay)
• Grace (The View)
• Grey Lynn Park (The Veils)
• Lonely Boy (The Black Keys)
• Lots Sometimes (Glasvegas) 
• Lotus Flower (Radiohead)
• Neat Little Rows (Elbow) 
• No Light No Light (Florence + The Machine)
• Post Break-Up Sex (The Vaccines)
• Princess Of China (Coldplat feat. Rihanna)
• Rolling In The Deep (Adele)
• She's Like A Comet (Jebediah)
• Skip The Charades (Cold War Kids)
• Still Life (The Horrors)
• Strangers (White Lies)
• The Beat Goes On (Beady Eye)
• The Birds (Elbow)
• This Will Be Our Year (Nerina Pallot)
• Those Distant Bells (Snow Patrol)
• Tragic Magic (The View)
• Vomit (Girls)
• Walk (Foo Fighters)
• Walking Far From Home (Iron & Wine)
• Wetsuit (The Vaccines)

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Best Gigs I attended:

1. Jimmy Eat World (Singapore)
2. Splendor In The Grass (Australia)
3. The National (Singapore)

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Biggest disappointment of the year:

• Codes And Keys by Death Cab For Cutie. I expected more from Ben Gibbard and co, but this album just didn't make much of an impression on me.
• MGMT's concert in KL - No beer, no atmosphere.
• Ukelele Songs (Eddie Vedder) - Seriously, Eddie, stop mucking about with that stupid ukelele and go back to Pearl Jam already.

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Favorite new discovery:

• The Vaccines - addictive lad rock and catchy tunes too.
• Australian indie rock. Attending Splendour In The Grass really opened my ears to some great Australian bands, like Jebediah, Cloud Control, The Jezebels, The Panics and The Grates and MAde me go out and explore more of their music.

My My, Mylo Xyloto, WHOAAAAAAAA

This just in. Based on the lyrics on Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay's next new album will consist of songs that only have the lyrics WOAAAH, OOOH, AAAHH and WOOOO in them. I lost count of how many times Chris Martin goes WOAAH in this album, or breaks out into non-committal Lalalalas in the middle of a chorus (like in Princess of China). Even when I saw them performing the new songs live during Splendour In The Grass, we could all singalong with the songs because there were so many WOAAAH moments in them. It's like Chris Martin is trying to recreate the WOOAAH in Viva La Vida, so that he can get the crowd to sing it during concerts.

Lyrics aside though, this is a pretty solid album though. The first few songs are soaring stuff (though I maintain that Paradise is one of the most boring singles they've released so far, and it doesn't help that I think it is a rip-off of a Beyond song, hehe), starting off with one of my favorites, Hurts Like Heaven, which is just... FUN.

My favorite song off the album has to be Charlie Brown (despite the annoying chipmunk voices in the intro). I keep humming the damn riff for hours unconciously, that's how addictive it is. Princess Of China is also pretty good, but I hate it that half the song is just Martin and Rihanna going nananana and "you stole my star", and the best part of the song, the chorus where Rihanna sings "Could have been a princess..." is only sung ONCE. ONCE! Godammit.

Anyway, the style of music here is pretty much stadium anthem Coldplay, with a lot more electronic synths thrown in. There are some wonderfully uplifting sonic flourishes that rise and rise and don't ever seem to come back down, but also some repetitive and somewhat unremarkable moments that seem to just go on and on.

Ok, I don't think it's worth the five stars that Q Magazine gave it, but it IS still a pretty solid album that gets better and better with each listen. But trust me when I say the songs song A LOT BETTER when they play it live. heh heh.

Celebrating Florence's Glorious Ceremonials

I've been looping Florence And the Machine's new album Ceremonials non-stop for days now, and I still can't get enough of it. It's a glorious album of soaring highs and even higher highs, and is one I can really get high on. Er, ok, maybe not THAT kind of high, but you get the point.

Like Lungs, the emphasis is on Florence Welch's powerful, almost shouty vocals, with tough, pounding, almost tribal drum rhythms that add an almost visceral feeling to the songs. I saw Florence And The Machine live in concert a couple years ago (and interviewed her as well, she is such a darling little flightly, wispy character), and the drumbeats were the most memorable parts of the music (as well as her mad enthusiasm) for me.

My favorite song on the album BY FAR is All This And Heaven Too; a beautifully written, stirring, soaring song that rises and falls like a wave, with lyrics that flow along smoothly with the crests and falls of the music. It's got everything - beautiful, quiet breaks, a soaring chorus, a flowing, crescendo-ing outro, and wonderfully worded lyrics... I was looping this ONE song for more than an hour last week, and I'm STILL not sick of it.

As for the rest, my next favorite is Shake It Out, which is probably the most obvious 'hit single' of the album; and then there's Heartlines, album opener Only If For a Night, What The Water Gave Me, and Never Let Me Go... like Lungs, the more you listen to the album, the more each individual song stands out more.

One thing about the album though, it doesn't exactly break new ground when it comes to Florence's musical style. Somehow many of the songs just don't stand out as much as the individual brilliance of the songs in Lungs. Maybe it's the fact that I'm already used to her style now, whereas when Lungs came out, her sound was still fresh to my ears. But anyhow, if you liked Lungs, you'll like this one as well.

Most of the songs would also sound awesome in concert, which leads me to believe that If Lungs was her eccentric debut, then this is Florence And The Machine's huge stadium anthem album. Now if only she'd come back to the region for another show. I would give it all this and heaven too just to hear her sing All This And Heaven Too live. That would be glorious, just glorious.

Noel Was The Heart And Soul of Oasis, Liam Was Just The Mouth

Ever since Oasis broke up, we've all been waiting for the two Gallagher brothers to come up with their much-hyped solo releases. Liam was first out of the blocks with his new band, Beady Eye, which is pretty much just Oasis without Noel (the other two members of Beady Eye were also in Oasis), releasing Different Gear, Still Speeding in April.

At first listen, Beady Eye sounded like Oasis, though that was pretty much probably because Liam was the lead singer of Oasis after all. Then you start listening to the songs properly, and although they were decent, I somehow felt they just did not measure up to what Oasis use to come up with (even during their lesser albums like Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants and Be Here Now). My favorite out of the whole album was probably The Beat Goes On, which ironically was quite Noel-esque in nature. The rest sounded like Liam was trying to sound macho and trying TOO hard to prove that he was better than his brother.

Then, came Noel's High Flying Birds. And the difference was clear. Noel's songwriting is DEFINITELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT the stronger of the two brothers, and it shows. The songs may be gentler than Beady Eye's, but the melodies are splendid, and the lyrics certainly kick Liam's ass soundly. Sure, his singing voice might not have that 'raw madchester' thing Shaolintiger thinks Liam's has, but it certainly is no pushover either.

Besides, if you think about it, I personally think one of the greatest songs Oasis has ever recorded was Don't Look Back In Anger... which was written AND sung by Noel Gallagher. And every other hit the band had, especially on their firsts two albums Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Yup, ALL written by Noel Gallagher. (The only Liam-penned song I REALLY like is Songbird. The rest were pretty shite).

Anyway, I tried an experiement where I put both albums in the same playlsit and shuffled it, and I found that the songs I skipped the most were the Beady Eye ones. Conclusion? Sorry Liam, you may have been the band's voice and attitude, but Noel was the true heart and soul of Oasis.

It's The End Of REM as We Know It (And I Don't Feel Fine)

So, REM. has broken up after 31 years. While it's always sad when a band breaks up,especially one as influential and great as REM, the band's output HAS been kinda stale lately, with only a few flashes of brilliance in their last two or three albums, but not enough to really make an impact.

Like it or not, Michael Stipe and co. will always be best known for being the early pioneers of alternative rock and their earlier music, which included some of the greatest songs ever in Rock and Roll.

Anyway, in tribute to the band, here's a list of my top five favorite REM songs. EVER:

1) Losing My Religion
Because life is bigger than you, and you are not me. This was just a song that I fell in love with the SECOND I heard that first sentence, and the way the lyrics just rolled off your tongue meant it was great to singalong to. Unfortunately, the radio stations back then BANNED the song (for obvious reasons), but I think BFM has been playing it lately. You wouldn't believe the lengths that I will go to to play this song (I considered playing it at my wedding hehehe). Oh no, I've said too much. Ok, I've said enough.

2) Everybody Hurts
For me, this is the ultimate break-up-recovery song. Everybody hurts, sometimes. It acknowledges your sadness, but tells you to stay hopeful and hang on. Everybody hurts, you are not alone. take comfort in your friends. And hold on. No matter how sad you feel, that rising 'Hold on, hold on' crescendo at the end of the song is guaranteed to lift you up and will give you the will to hold on no matter what. Fuck all those so called 'emo bands' today and their fake sadness. THIS was and still is the saddest yet most uplifting song ever written.

3) It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
That's great, this starts with an earthquake and then proceeds on to shudder and vibrate through some of the most awesome motormouth verses to sing ever. I used to be obsessed with motormouthed songs like this (others include Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire, Barenaked Ladies' One Week, and Savage Garden's I Want You), and would spend days memorising the lyrics and singing along to the songs. I can still remember every single lyrics in these songs. Heh heh.

4) At My Most Beautiful
This is just a beautifully written love song. That's all.

5) What's The Frequency Kenneth?
This was the first song I'd heard after the greatness of Losing My Religion, and it instantly struck me how different it was from that other song (this was pre-Internet/torrents, so I could only rely on the radio to listen to their songs). I remember thinking, "who the fuck is Kenneth and what the hell is Benzedrine?". Again, this was pre-Google, so I couldn't just google the answers. But the lyrics stuck with me for years until I finally found out what they meant. Heh.

THOSE are your worse songs of the 90's? HAH!

So yeah, Rolling Stone had a list of the worse songs of the 90's. I don't agree with half of them. Why? Because most of them were not so much lousy songs, but songs that were overplayed to death. Ok, I think Achy Breaky Heart and Who Let The Dogs Out deserve their place, as well as BArbie Girl. But What's Up? Really? What's up with that? I thought that's a pretty good song. And what's wrong with Tubthumping? Damn uptight Americans.

Anyway, here are MY personal worse songs of the 90's:

1) Mambo #5 (Lou Bega) - Once, the office decided that it would be a good idea to pipe in MixFM on the PA. It was tolerable at first. Then... THIS song came on. I think half the office wanted to commit mass suicide by jumping off the building at that point.

2) Barbie Girl (Aqua) - Ok, this is one choice I actually agree with. It's the most annoying song ever, with the most stupid lyrics and sung in the most annoying high pitch voice EVER. AQUA MUST DIE.

3) The First Time (Surface) - The first time I heard this song, I wanted to punch the face of the singer. Then the video came out and I wanted to chop him into little pieces THEN punch him in the face.

4) With Arms Wide Open (Creed) - Good bands don't let their frontmen yarl.

5) Blue (Eiffel 65) - I'm blue, badadibadibagaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

6) Rico Suave (Gerardo) - Ale alele! Riiicooo... SUAVSHHHADAAAAP.

7) Amazed (Lonestar) - Before Lady Antebellum, there was Lonestar, pioneer of boring, unimaginative, wholesome 'country' sickness.

8) Honey (Mariah Carey) - I actually liked Mariah at one point, when her hair was still curly and before she started looking like a sex-crazed slut. This album was for me, the one where she started completely annoying me, and on this song in particular... DOES SHE EVEN SING? What does she do beyond all that YODELLING???

9) You Are Not Alone (Michael Jackson) - Sorry, Jacko fans. Everytime I see or hear this come on on the TV or radio, I just turned it off so I could be alone.

10) I Believe I Can Fly (R. Kelly) - The only version of this song I could stand was the one FlyGuy came up with during his Breakfast Show (back when HitzFM was still tolerable), which went: I believe I can flyyy... I believe I can grow an eyeee...

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SPECIAL MENTION:

Almost EVERY fucking song by Michael Learns to Rock Deserves a place on this list. In fact I could have populated the ENTIRE LIST with songs from that fucking band, but I didn't think about it until KY pointed it out on Twitter AFTER I'd posted this list. So, what's the WORSE EVER Michael Learns to Rock song? The idiotically retarded lyrics of The Actor is a close second, the grammatically incorrect That's Why You Go Away is also close, but the WORSE MLTR SONG EVER IMHO is...

PAINT MY LOVE.

Everytime I hear that fucking song, I imagine paint on the walls curling up in protest, or just turning into flakes and flying away just to get away from the song. It's got a fucking boring verse, and the bloody chorus just makes my ears bleed. WHY THE HELL IS THIS SONG AND BAND SO POPULAR IN MALAYSIA? It's a fucking insult to my name, it is...

Don't Waste Light,Start a Foo Fight!

Has it really been THAT long since I've heard a good old Rock 'n' Roll album I liked? Have I been swimming in indie rock waters so long that I've forgotten how awesome an old school rock album can be like?

It's not everyday that a band makes me question my current playlists, but the Foo Fighters have. Heck, after hearing this album for the first time, I chucked out all the indie pop nonsense (ok, not nonsense, but the less rocking ones) I had in my iPhone and loaded it with all the classic rock albums I used to love so much.

Supposedly recorded the old school way - on analogue tapes - in Dave Grohl's garage, Wasting Light is one awesome album. I think the last album I felt this exhilarated listening to it was Green Day'sAmerican Idiot, back in the days before I discovered all those funky little indie bands that I've been listening to since.

Wasting Light caught my attention form the get go - even though I was doing my usual 'earphone in ear, music in background, attention somewhere else' thing, I couldn't help headbanging (or rather, head nodding, since I'd look really stupid headbanging in a silent office) to the songs. Bridge Burning and Rope got the album off to a great start, but then came the next song.

Dear Rosemary is definitely one song that is gonna be on my Top Ten list at year end. Everything, from the rousing intro, the battling guitars, the frenetic build-up, the soaring chorus, and the mid song bridge with Bob Mould is just AWESOME. It's the type of song where you are just COMPELLED to turn the volume ot 11 and head bang to, no matter where you are.

As for the rest of the album, my other favorites are Arlandria, I Should Have Known, These Days, Miss The Misery, and that song from the THOR soundtrack, Walk (after learning to fly, he now has to learn to walk again. heh heh). Heck, that's almost the whole album!

So yeah... All hail the Foo! Now THIS is how you make a REAL rock and roll album! YEAH!

Melancholic Hurts And The Infinite Sad Happiness

So, apparently this band called HURTS is coming to KL for a gig. Not having even heard of them before, I was intrigued. So I decided to give their debut album Happiness a listen to see if they'd be worth going to watch live.

Ironically, despite calling their album 'Happiness', the band doesn't actually sound very happy in their songs, heh heh. In fact, the whole album is filled with melancholic, melodramatic power ballads, with a few upbeat synthpop numbers thrown in between.

It's fairly uncomplicated fare - their music is more pop than rock, to tell the truth, veering more into mainstream synthpop, like a combination of Savage Garden, Duran Duran and bizarrely, Rick Price (one of the songs actually reminded me of Heaven Knows).

Ok, I know that description doesn't sound very flattering to them, but the album actually is pretty decent. Most reviews of the album so far have emphasized the strength of singles Wonderful Life and A Better Day, while complaining about the number of melancholic ballads in the album. I happen to be the opposite - I prefer the ballads, and actually think they are actually the better part of this album.

Album opener Silver Lining sets the tone for what's to come - most of the songs here are uncomplicated, catchy pop numbers with killer hooks and the occasional melodramatic soaring climax, which suits me just fine. Other songs I kinda liked were Blood Tears and Gold; Illuminated, Unspoken and Evelyn.

Surprisingly, the much-praised Wonderful Life and Better Than Love sounded a little bland and unremarkable to me. (The latter actually reminded me of a less edgy White Lies, to tell the truth). And while we're comparing acts, their duet with Kylie Minogue - Devotion - even reminded me of a song by Gregorian. Heh.

My favorite of the lot, however, has to be Stay. Sure, it's a completely clichéd, bombastic and melodramatic song, but I can't seem to stop listening to it. Maybe it's the melancholic romantic in me, but this sort of songs always seem to catch my attention more than most.

So, would it be worth going to watch them live?

Well, I'd give this band the benefit of the doubt. Judging from some of the songs on the album, they should be a pretty decent live act. Songs like Stay, Illuminated and Silver Lining would be GREAT when played live, especially if the crowd is familiar enough to sing along with them. I personally can't wait to sing along to Stay. Hey, what can I say, I'm partial to guilty pleasure singalongs at concerts, so sue me.

Anyway, if you're interested to go watch the show, they'll be playing this 6th May, at Mist Club. You can get tickets at Red Tix, or at selected Rock Corner, Victoria Music or TOPMAN outlets. For more information,click on the poster below:



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21 Reasons To Love Adele

Back in 2008, in the wake of Amy Winehouse's sensational rise and subsequent fall, two young female artistes stepped into the void she left behind - Duffy and Adele.

Duffy's debut - Rockferry - was one of my favorite albums that year, and though her nasal vocal style took some getting used to, I loved that album, and even went for her concert in Singapore later that year. In contrast, I thought Adele's album 19 was a little tame compared to Duffy's, though she really caught my ear with songs like Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory. Still loved that album though.

Fast forward 3 years, and both girls have new albums again, and this time around, Adele is the one who has the better album. Duffy's Endlessly was not bad, but if you hated her voice on Rockferry, you'd REALLY hate it on Endlessly. The nasal-ness of her voice is really more pronounced this time, and it was partly why I couldn't really listen to it for too long.

Adele's new album 21 however, is WAY better. At first, album opener Rolling In The Deep actually reminded me of something from Florence And the Machine; and I thought Adele was going all Florence on us. But the song does pregress into something a lot more than just a Florence rip-off. Rumour Has It is another foot-stomping rollicker, but it's the later songs that really stand out for me.

The ballads Turning Tables, One And Only and Lovesong (a cover of The Cure), are great, but for the album's most emotional, most moving and most emo moment, check out the album closer Someone Like You. Now THAT is an epic ballad, just some rolling piano, some very sad, sad lyrics, and Adele's voice at her most yearning and melancholic yet.

The other highlight of the album for me is Set Fire To The Rain. It's probably the most dramatic moment on the entire album. As moving and soulful as her voice is one Someone Like You, it's the complete opposite here. Here, her voice is soaring, powerful and hits all the most dramatic notes perfectly.

Forget all your Britneys, Swifts and Biebers. If you want REAL female pop music, one that isn't autotuned to death and consists of REAL singing, check out Adele's 21.

Best of 2010: My Favorite Music!

Here we are again at the end of another year! And it's time for the year end lists again...

Let's start off with music, shall we? Here's my personal list of favorite music this year. And might I stress, these are MY personal favorites, so of course it's gonna be a bit bias (and have a few dodgy choices as well...) ... heh heh...

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Favorite Albums of 2010

1. High Violet (The National)
2. Write About Love (Belle And Sebastian)
3. The Suburbs (Arcade Fire)
4. The Place We Ran From (Tired Pony)
5. Invented (Jimmy Eat World)
6. Covers (Mates Of State)
7. Plastic Beach (Gorillaz)
8. Come Around Sundown (Kings of Leon)
   
9. American Slang (The Gaslight Anthem)

Honorary Mentions:

• Congratulations (MGMT)
• Forgiveness Rock Record (Broken Social Scene)
• Go (Jónsi)
• Halycon Digest (Deerhunter)
  
• Head First (Goldfrapp)
• Heaven Is Whenever (The Hold Steady)
• If I Had A Hi-Fi (Nada Surf)
• One Life Stand (Hot Chip)
• Postcards From A Young Man (Manic Street Preachers)
• Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World OST (various artistes)
  
• Shadows (Teenage Fanclub)
• Slash (Slash)
• The Age of ADZ (Sufjan Stevens)
  
• The Sea (Corinne Bailey Rae)
• This Is Happening (LCD Soundsystem)
• TRON Legacy OST (Daft Punk)

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Favorite Songs of 2010

1. Afraid Of Everyone (The National)
2. The Heart Is Hard To Find (Jimmy Eat World)
3. Vandelylle Crybaby Geeks (The National)
4. Write About Love (Belle & Sebastian)
5. Ready To Start (Arcade Fire)
6. On Melancholy Hill (Gorillaz)
7. Runaway (The National)
8. TRON: End Titles (Daft Punk)
9. Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National)
10. Mixtape (Jimmy Eat World)
11. I Am A Landslide (Tired Pony)
12. Pyro (Kings Of Leon)
13. Slush (Hot Chip)
14. Black Sheep (Metric)
15. Na Na Na (My Chemical Romance)
16. Son Et Lumiere (Mates of State)
17. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John (Belle & Sebastian)
18. Alive (Goldfrapp)
19. Rococo (Arcade Fire)
20. Flash Delirium (MGMT)
21. World Sick (Broken Social Scene)
22. Sing (My Chemical Romance)
23. American Slang (Gaslight Anthem)
24. Month Of May (Arcade Fire)
25. Cut (Jimmy Eat World)

Honorable Mentions:

• 17 Pink Sugar Elephants (Mates of State)
• All To All (Broken Social Scene)
• Animal Arithmetic (Jónsi)
• Arcadia (Ash)
• Boy Lilikoi (Jónsi)
• Brothers (Hot Chip)
  
• Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State (Los Campesinos!)
• Congratulations (MGMT)
• Drunk Girls (LCD Soundsystem)
• Electrocution (Nada Surf)
• Garbage Truck (Sex Bob-Omb)
• Get on the Road (Tired Pony)
  
• Go Do (Jónsi)
• I Didn't See It Coming (Belle & Sebastian)
  
• Just A Face In The Crowd (Car Crash Hearts)
• Long Way Home (Mates of State)
• M.A.D. (Hadouken!)
• Piano Fights (65daysofstatic)
• Postcards From A Young Man (Manic Street Preachers)
• Rocket (Goldfrapp)
  
• Sleep the Clock Around (Mates of State)
• Stylo (Gorillaz)
• The Spirit Of Jazz (The Gaslight Anthem)
• Was It Something I Said (Brandon Flowers)
• Welcome Wagon (Fang Island)

Lightbody's Pony Is a Little Tired

ANOTHER Gary Lightbody side project? After Reindeer Section and his usual Snow Patrol day job, this is the third 'band' he's put together now. At this rate he might just be able to challenge Jack White and Damon Albarn... ok maybe not.

Anyway, Tired Pony is apparently his attempt at making a 'country music' album. Why the hell he would want to make a fuckin' country music album is beyond me, but thankfully, The Place We Ran From actually does run away from being an actual pure country music album.

The 'band' consists of Lightbody (who writes most of the songs, hence the reason most of it sounds like a twang-y Snow Patrol album), R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Belle & Sebastian's Richard Colburn and a few others (including Zooey Deschanel as well!). The music? Pretty damn good, actually.

Like I said, most of the songs DO sound a bit like Snow Patrol's usual stuff (Lightody's stop-start-stop-start style of song writing is very prominent), but they are more mellow, and more soothing than Snow Patrol's usual soaring, crashing chorus-driven hits.

Surprisingly though, my favorite songs here are those NOT sung by Lightbody primarily. Get On The Road (which Lightbody sings with Zooey), which although reminds me of Set The Fire To The Third Bar, is a beautifully executed duet that soars halfway through. Elsewhere, the Iaian Archer sung and written I Am A Landslide reminds me a little of Stevie Nick's Landslide (especially the line that actually mentions 'Landslide'), but the whole song is still wonderfully catchy and probably the most 'country' sounding of the lot. And then there's The Bood Book, sung with the deep baritone of Tom Smith (from Editors). Those songs stand out amongst the Lightbody led numbers even more because they don't sound like a country version of a Snow Patrol song, which is a good thing.

Don't get me wrong though, I love this album. It's just that I wish Lightbody had made a little more effort to make it sound less like a Snow Patrol album; much like what he did with his Reindeer Section albums. But it's still a good solid album though, not quite as country as Lightbody inplies, but still very much decent, especially if you're a Snow Patrol fan.

Writing About Write About Love

Sorry about the lack of updates here, I'm on leave preparing for a very very big event (of which I'll blog about later heh heh), and I'm usually too lazy to update the blog when I'm not at work (shhhhh).

Anyway, one of my regrets this year is I had to miss the Belle & Sebastian concert in Singapore in July because one of my friends was getting married on that very same day (she's a big fan of them as well, and was quite upset they scheduled their concert on the same day). I heard it was a great show. Sigh....

The band has a new album out now called Write About Love, and it's one of my personal favorite albums this year. There's just something about the songs in this album that sticks in my head and makes me subconsciously hum or sing the melody, and yet not annoy the heck out of me the way most songs that stick in your head do.

The title track (feat. Carey Mulligan of all people) is just so catchy (especially the chorus that goes "I hate my job, I'm working way too much, everyday I'm stuck in an office"); and so is the opening track I Didn't See It Coming. Calculating Bimbo is a deceptively gentle and tender song with some kickass lyrics, while I'm Not Living in the Real World is just pure joy.

The band also has a duet with Norah Jones on Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John - it's a great song, nice tune and all, but although I like it, somehow it just sounds too Norah Jones-y for me.

Sigh, now I wish I'd gone to see their concert... PLEASE come back, Belle & Sebastian!

Maybe They Were Tired From All That Sex on Fire

How many Kings Of Leon songs do you know?

If the answer is only one or two - Sex On Fire and/or Use Somebody, then why are you complaining about Come Around Sundown being 'too mainstream'? It's not like they've ever been mainstream before Only By The Night Anyway.

The Kings Of Leon have always been happy doing their own thing. I first heard of them in 2003 with Molly's Chambers, and then again with Aha Shake Heartbreak (which was awesomely mad).

Reta is right though, this album IS rather mellow, but since when was mellow a bad thing? I quite like it though, it's got some pretty decent songs. It IS a lot more mainstream and radio friendly than their older albums though (yes, even Only By The Night), and I get the feeling they were just being lazy when they recorded it. Or maybe they were just tired from all that sex on fire.

I have a theory though - Kings Of Leon are just messing with us, trying to get us to listen to country music and ignore them so they can go back to making awesome, non-mainstream stuff like Aha Shake Heartbreak or even Because Of The Night. Just listen to Back Down South and tell me that don't sound like country music... I tell you, they're trying to trick us into listening to all that twanging crap!

My personal favorites in the album are Birthday, Pyro and Mary (love the old school 'Ahhh ahhh-ing'), though Radioactive is probably the one that stands out most as a single (there's a much better remix version with a choir on the deluxe edition I think).

I liken this album to Wilco's Sky Blue Sky, where Jeff Tweedy and gang just toned everything down and delivered an album with just pure unadulterated melodies and songs. Come Around Sundown doesn't even come close to Sky Blue Sky, of course, but as a chillout album (as chillout out as rock music can get, that is), it's a decent album with decent songs.

Just don't expect the hipsters to agree.

Jimmy Invented Emo and Ate The World

If anyone asks me, I will always say that Jimmy Eat World is my favorite band, without a doubt.

They were the pioneers of emo rock, and steered away from that title since then. But seriously, emo rock is so much more than crap-ass whiny teen rock like Fall Out Boy (which has thankfully disbanded) or Simple Plan (which unfortunately are still around and still fucking annoying).

Jimmy Eat World puts the emotion in emo rock. Their songs are heartfelt, and the vocals are painstakingly heartbreaking at times. Jim Adkins voice is clear and heartfelt, and Tom Linton's harmonizing complements Adkins perfectly. And they write some kick -ass songs as well.

Their new album Invented is not bad at all - it's got a bit of everything I love about Jimmy Eat World in the first place, and there are some great songs in here. Heart is Hard To Find is a foot-tapping catchy number that caught my ear instantly. But the ballads are the best ones here for me - Cut, Invented and Mixtape. I quite like the addition of a female backing vocalist as well, especially on Invented and Coffee And Cigarettes.

Problem is, I don't hear anything I would put on my 'Best Of' list for the band, not like Clarity, Bleed American or Futures; or even Chase This Light which at least had three songs I could play over and over again without getting sick of the song. Then again, maybe I need to loop this a little longer first....

But it's still a Jimmy Eat World album. And chances are, I'll still be playing this album in the car LONG after I've forgotten all the other albums I 'like' before... (except The National, of course. High Violet is still the best album of the year, so there!

Rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo...

Damn you Arcade Fire. That Rococo rococo rococo rococo chorus in your new album The Suburbs has been stuck in my head for days now, going on and on like a never ending mantra chant. Rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo rococo.

And it's not just Rococo. I've caught myself humming snippets of almost every single song in the album without even knowing what song it is. It's like your songs just attacked my subconscious and embeded themselves into my brain.

Or maybe I've been listening to it non-stop for too long.

Heck, you know what I REALLY like about this album? It's the fact that I can play the album on loop over and over again and not get sick of a single song in it. None of the songs stand out the way Intervention, Keep The Car Running did for me in Neon Bible. And funnily enough, I actually prefer it to Funeral, which is sacrilege, I know.

But anyway, it may not be as awesome as The National's High Violet (which is still Album of The Year for me), but this is one heck of an album. Mr. Butler and Wife for the Win!

The First Ever Track By Track Not A Review Of A Plastic Beach

Gorillaz.
Plastic Beach.
Track By Track.
Not A Review.
(I think I'll do all future music reviews like this also)
(Can ar?)

1) Orchestral Intro
Er. What's the point, eh?
Waste of one minute only.

2) Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach
Snoop Dogg is the dawg!
Eh why some parts sound like Thriller wan?

3) White Flag:
Wah sound like P. Ramlee song.
GAAAH WTF IS WITH THE RAPPING
SPOIL THE SONG ONLY!

4) Rhinestone Eyes
Now THAT's more like it, Damon,
Do more of this mar.
Whole song sounds like Clint Eastwood's chorus.

5) Stylo
Oooh, catchy rap catchy riff catchy beat!
DANCE DANCE DANCE!
Bobby Womack WTF!

6) Superfast Jellyfish
Ok this rapping I kinda like.
At least not so annoying.
Super Furry Animals yeah!

7) Empire Ants
Hmmm Quite cool also this song.
Who is this Little Dragons chick huh?

8) Glitter Freeze
Ok I don't get this song lor.
A bit pointless for me.

9) Some Kind Of Nature
LOU REED WOOT!
BEST!

10) One Melancholy Hill
My favorite on the album.
Damn nice song, and awesome hook.
You can actually SING ALONG WHOA!
And it's Damon actually SINGING!

11) Broken
Ok, after the last song's awesomeness
This song so boring leh.
Zzzzzzzzzzz.

12) Sweepstakes
WAH WHY SO MANY SONGS WAN
More rapping here,
But it's actually quite cool.
Damn catchy beat also.

13) Plastic Beach
My SECOND favorite song!
Paul Simon and Mick Jones!
Oh wait it's Paul SIMONON, Not Paul SIMON Eheheh
The CLASH WTF!
Damn catchy chorus.

14) To Binge
Hmm this song sound so old school,
Like something Blur would do.
I quite like this Little Dragon chick.

15) Cloud Of Unknowing
WAH WHY ALBUM STILL YET FINISH???
Last few songs a bit bored with it oledi lor.
Ok lar, this song is very un-Gorillaz,
A bit the slow lor.

16) Pirate Jet
FINALLY THE LAST SONG!
But I a bit bored oledi.
Don't care oledi.
I think I'll go back and play On Melancholy Hill again...

The Silversun Swoon: Perfect For Drowning Out Annoying Ringtones

After looping Florence and The Machine and The XX endlessly in the days leading up to the concert last Sunday and two days after that as well; yesterday I figured I needed I change. A LOUD change.

Since I was chasing two deadlines yesterday and needed to concentrate, I especially needed something with a CONSTANT LOUDNESS to drown out the annoying Chipmunk and Spongebob ringtones as well as the constant phone chatter coming from the next cubicle.

The Silversun Pickups' Swoon turned out to be perfect for this, with its constant drumming beats and awesome guitar rhythms. Their last album Carnavas was pretty damn good, what with the awesome Lazy Eye, Rusted Wheel and Three Seeds in it; but I kinda like Swoon more. And I'm still upset that they lost the Best New Artist Grammy to some country music band.

Anyway, at one point, I ended up looping one particular song over and over and over and over and over again - The Royal We. It has a certain sneering attitude that I have a weakness for, some pretty neat small flourishes in the arrangements, and gradually builds itself into an awesome climax that I can't help headbanging to or screaming in the car whenever I hear it. Plus it's awesome to listen to when walking in malls. No, really.

My only complaint? 'The Royal We' sounds a bit er... wrong, like it was referring to some king's piss. And don't ask me what it means either...

The Granny Grammys Tries To Be Young And Hip. Fails.

It never fails to amaze me how I keep watching the Grammy Awards even though I know it's the most overrated and bias awards show ever. I mean, look at the nominee list - for every major label album nominated, there were at least 10 more indie albums that could have wiped the floor with those albums.

And seriously, I've never understood why albums can win 'Best Rock Album', 'Best Hip-Hop Album' and so on, and NOT be nominated for Album of The Year. Green Day beat Dave Matthews for Best Rock Album, and yet Dave Matthews was nominated for Album of the Year but not 21st Century Breakdown. WTF?

Anyway, here are some thoughts about the parts of the show I managed to catch:

The Good

• Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown won Best Rock Album. Take THAT U2 and Dave Matthews Band! Damn I need to catch the replay to watch them performing!
  
• Kings of Leon's Use Somebody won Record of The Year. Thank god Black Eyed Piss didn't win or there would have been hell to pay.
• Phoenix won for Best Alternative Album! This makes up (a little) for Arcade Fire not winning in 2007.
• SLASH! Playing part of the November Rain solo! (in the middle of some Jamie Foxx song that didn't even sound like a song).

The Bad

• Was it just me, or did Taylor Swift's singing really suck during her performance with Stevie Nicks? Nicks must be wondering what she did to deserve this...
• And where the heck is Kanye West's ego when you need it? Taylor Swift winning Album of The Year is a real joke.
• Of all the Michael Jackson songs, why the HELL did they choose that boring Earth Song? To show off the stupid 3D thingy? Gee, even the Grammys are trying to Avatar themselves.
  
• And what the hell... letting Usher and Celine Dion to sing it? Smokey, Carrie and Jennifer Hudson were ok, but those two were just annoying. They should have just reenacted the whole We Are The World thing with modern artistes. That would have been one heck of a tribute.
• Zac Brown Band winning Best New Artist over MGMT AND the Silversun Pickups? Are the Grammy voters all OLD and SENILE? Oh yeah, wait, they are.
  
• Black Eyed Peas' performance was blah. And there were WAY too many country music and hip-hop performances for my liking, as usual.
• And while we're on the subject of country music... it's official: Bon Jovi has turned into a country music band. They even made Livin' On A Prayer sounded wussy.
• 
  

It's Finally Convenient For Malaysians To Watch the Kings Live!

Ah, finally. After agonising over all the good acts going over to Singapore instead of coming here, we finally have some good news at last.

Yup, the Kings of Convenience are coming to KL!

The news broke on Twilight Actiongirl's Twitter, which said:

Kings of Convenience live in KL, March 21 @ Bentley Music Audiotorium, thanks to the good folks at Soundscape Records .

YAAAAY! Now it will be convenient for us to go watch them now! And At least I don't have to fork out a fortune to go watch them this time. Double YAAAAY!

Their newest album - Declaration of Dependence - is pretty good. A bit predictable at times, and a bit sleep inducing if you're really tired, but it's nice soothing acoustic fare to relax to.

There ARE some gems in there. The Boat Behind is an old favorite from their live shows, Mrs. Cold is nice, and so's 24/25. And interestingly enough, they have a song called Riot on An Empty Street, which is the title of their last album. Will they have a song called Declaration of Dependence in their next album then?

Oh, and unlike their last albums, Declaration of Dependence is actually available in local music stores. I got mine in Rock Corner, and I saw it in Music Valley as well.

PS. Tickets for Singapore's Mosaic Music Festival are also on sale now. So if you wana go catch Dinosaur Jr., 65daysofstatic, St. Vincent and The Go Team in action, you better go get your tickets NOW!

The Most Godawesome Version of Chasing Cars, Up To Now.

Oooh, Snow Patrol's got a 2-disc compilation of their songs, and it's a pretty damn good one. This isn't exactly a 'greatest hits' compilation, BTW. Sure, it's got all the big hits, and selections from all their albums; but it's also got three new songs (my favorite so far is Give Me Strength), two live from Union Chapel live versions of Run and Chasing Cars, and even some songs from The Reindeer Section side projects. I'm a bit miffed that How To Be Dead isn't in there, but overall, it's a pretty good compilation.

Now, I've heard and downloaded practically every single version of Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars since it was released - live versions, acoustic versions, even remixed dance versions - but the original aside, the live at Union Chapel version found on Up To Now is by far the single greatest, most moving version of the song so far. If only they'd cut out all the cheering and clapping by the audience in the beginning and the end, it would have been absolutely perfect...