Well that's it from here for this year, so happy xmas from me, and from old Tom too...

The Hang the DJ top spot for '08!

And so my two standout albums of the year: Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago has been much written about and debated but it’s an album i’ve loved since getting an early copy on import from the US. The story behind the album’s genesis seems too romantic for some people, but for me it’s just a great album – sad and bruised and hopeful all to once – that has been a genuine word of mouth success. It hasn’t been hugely marketed, as sometimes happens (yet, at least), it wasn’t mined for singles and spin offs, it was just allowed to sit there and be talked about and discovered. His live shows too were stunning, i saw him twice and the songs seemed at once the same and different as you saw them played by his three piece band. Top marks from me.

My second record of the year is the Northline Soundtrack by Willy Vlautin & Paul Brainard, a forty minute instrumental album that accompanied Vlautin's sophomore novel published back in February (which is the only original soundtrack i know by the author of a published novel). I do admit to a bit of a bias here, having worked on the novel, but this is a beautiful piece of music – think Ry Cooder’s Paris, Texas meets Ennio Morricone and you’re in the right dusty field. Fans of Richmond Fontaine will know all about Paul Brainard’s pedal steel playing (also with the Sadies, M. Ward etc.) but the arrangements he and Vlautin came up with for acoustic guitar, steel, drums, harmonica and trumpet were gorgeous, evocative and moving – from the haunting title theme and its refrain to ‘Doc Holidays’ , ‘Paul Newman Saves the Night’ and on. This is still only currently available with the original edition of the novel, but if this is your kind of thing you should really track it down (and the novel is a stunner too), here's a taster...

Albums of the Year '08

So don’t worry about old Maggoty (i’m still at 6th form College) Lamb from the guardian, 2008 was, for me, a great year in music. There were really strong returns from two old favourites who had looked in a bit of a mess with their previous albums (DBT and Calexico) as well as a fine new project from M Ward in conjunction with a strange-voiced actress (She & Him). Also from the US there was a brilliant, and obscure covers album (Vetiver), two very slow-burn records that up until recently wouldn’t have made this list (The Felice Brothers and The Hold Steady) and the UK debut of a brilliant new voice whose gig at the Borderline back in March was one of my favourites of the year (Dawn Landes – seriously her album is worth a buy).
Closer to home, it was a fine year for British music too, with a superb young debut (Laura Marling) a second from a man with some serious high-lonesome to his voice (Pete Molinari), again a brilliant live performer, and then there was probably the most popular and warmly received winner of the Mercury Prize ever (Elbow). So here are ten albums (in no order) to check out if you haven’t already. Finally, i've held back my very top two albums for tomorrow's post...


Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
Calexico – Carried to Dust
She & Him – Volume I
Vetiver – Thing of the Past
The Felice Brothers
The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
Dawn Landes - Fireproof
Laura Marling – Alas, I cannot Swim
Pete Molinari – A Virtual Landslide
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid

Guardian in 'moan' shock

Interesting piece from the Guardian Music Blog yesterday - inspired, annoying, or somewhere between the two? I'll leave that to you to decide...

Maggoty Lamb piece

In brief...

and i won't be shy, today's the last day to order the book online if you want to receive it before xmas, so buy it HERE

If not, then you've still got a few days to get down to HMV, Zavvi, Waterstones or, even better, your local independent book shop.

2008 playlist...

i was going to do singles of the year, but not many of these were singles as such. Instead i've gone for stand out tracks that have played again and again on my ipod or that i've used on mixes this year (with one exception, none of them are from my forthcoming albums of the year list)...

1. ‘Those Summer Nights’ Robert Wyatt & Bertrand Burgalat
70s styled Philly Soul from the great English eccentric in collaboration with a French guy I would never normally listen to, if I’m being honest. Totally brilliant.

2. ‘Young Love’ Mystery Jets
Moving on with a great bass line/riff this is the perfect adolescent pop song – and features the lovely Laura Marling as guest vocalist.

3. ‘Be the One’ Ting Tings
The best single from this girl/boy duo’s debut album, and it had some competition there (see also, 'Shut up and Let Me Go').

4. ‘Shape of my Heart’ Noah and the Whale
The year’s other great adolescent pop song, also featuring Laura Marling as guest vocalist.

5. ‘One Day Like This’ Elbow
Stand out track from their very fine Mercury-winning album… ‘I can only think it must be love’.

6. ‘Suffering Jukebox’ Silver Jews
Great lyrics and the saddest (and sexiest) backing vocal of the year.

7. ‘Soul on Fire’ Spiritualized
This tune is the perfect summary of everything Spiritualized – cracked vocals, gospel backing, strings, soul and fire in the lyrics.

8. and 9. ‘Better’ G N’R / ‘The Day that never Comes’ Metallica
My two ROCK songs of the year: Better was the one classic tune on Chinese Democracy and from Metallica’s fine return, The Day that Never Comes is awesome (dude), especially the middle section with its Thin Lizzy-like guitars.

10. ‘New York’ Cat Power
Jukebox was a bit disappointing, after The Greatest and her earlier covers album, but perhaps surprisingly this reworking of New York was great, a very sultry vocal and great arrangement by the band.

11. ‘Mykonos’ Fleet Foxes
Their self titled debut hasn’t quite made my albums of the year list, mainly as I didn’t think it was as good as their Sun Giant EP... where you can find this fine tune.

12. ‘Clear the Way’ Dawn Kinnard & Ed Harcourt
My favourite duet of the year, two distinctive voices that sounded amazing together.

An American Tune...

thanks to 'anonymous' who got in touch about Tom McRae's great post from Friday, here is a link to view the performance that Tom wrote about Paul Simon

My tracks of the year/2008 playlist coming up by the end of today...

'Do they exist or did i dream them' pt ii

Anyone who might have been (?) following this blog from the start, will know that i asked back in September for some help tracking down the two Jodie Foster songs mentioned in Ali Smith's great list in the book. Well this weekend i got a sweet email from Christina (in America, i think)...

'I didn't know your blog existed until today when I saw Tom McRae's blog, which linked to his recent entry...

I'm writing because I scrolled through old entries and saw the one about two French songs sung by Jodie Foster. I don't know if you or anyone is still interested, but I can confirm that "Je t'attends depuis la nuit des temps" exists because I have a copy of it, clearly taken from vinyl or an old cassette because you can hear scratches at the beginning. I have no idea where, why, or how I got the song, but an Internet query led me to this very bizarre - but very amusing - video of her singing the song on TV.'

JODIE FOSTER LOLITA: JE T'ATTENDS DEPUIS LA NUIT DES TEMPS
Uploaded by mrjyn

And something not from 2008...

Thanks to all the guest post-ers this week, nice choices! I was at the St Giles' Bon Iver gig too, which was as special as Laura Barton made it sound.
I'm going to post my ten albums and tracks of the year lists towards the end of the week, but does anyone have a musical highlight of their own that they want to share? I have one Hang the DJ xmas goodie bag to give away to the person who's reply goes up.

In the meantime, and as it's Sunday night, here's something lovely from Aretha...

Tom McRae on Paul Simon

It seems a little defeatist to choose a TV appearance as my musical highlight of 2008, but here it is. Paul Simon singing 'An American Tune' on The Colbert Report, a couple of weeks after Obama had won the Presidency. No flag waving, no politicking, just one of the genius song-writers of the modern era singing one of his many quiet masterpieces. In that one moment he seemed to sum up the relief, the hope, but also the trepidation of a nation at the crossroads of history. And he did it all in a three minute performance on a half hour comedy show. "We come in the age's most uncertain hours and sing an American tune." Perfect.

Tom McRae Site