Winning '11: 27 - Active Child

Active Child - You Are All I See

This is an album which hits you with its musical themes just about instantly - after one harpsichord like keyboard note you are abruptly hit with actual harps tinkling all over the place and synths imitating wheezing brass instruments. Soon enough that's joined by retro synth drums and Pat Grossi's voice, which is high pitched, otherworldy and amazing and accounts for a lot of Active Child's appeal. Think Wild Beasts or Antony Hegarty but without the bleating quality. The opening (title) track slowly unfurls as a gorgeous reverie, highly strung both emotionally and musically.

It very much sets the tone for the whole album, but his is an unusual and rewarding sound and merits the full exploration that it gets. "Playing House" sees him joined by fellow traveller How to Dress Well and more closely approaches pop though twists it into strange shapes. Instrumental "Ivy" is a bigger showcase for the harp before plunging it into synth fuzz.

Every song contributes to the overall mood and has its own spin on the sound but "Way Too Fast" is probably the biggest highlight. It reaches dramatic heights even greater than the rest of the album through its slowly creeping melody and some really amazing choral vocal effects as Grossi sings about a relationship which is going wrong but he can't do anything to stop, sounding regretful, bitter and scarily vengeful in turns.

Winning '11: 28 - Coldplay

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto

"Every Teardop is a Waterfall" and "Paradise" are a seriously impressive pair of singles in doing everything which Coldplay have done so well in recent times (they're BIG) while simultaneously integrating new elements and setting them up as just a tiny bit closer to a mainstream pop sound. It's a shame that "Princess of China" feels too underwritten to make full use of Rihanna's appearance and doesn't complete the hat trick.

The rest of the album doesn't offer much in the way of big surprises (there are still impassioned choruses, lyrics which could politely be called impressionistic, guitars which sound a bit U2) but is no retread with the surging pop of "Hurts Like Heaven" difficult to imagine existing in its current form on previous albums too.


Mylo Xyloto is also much more coherent than Viva La Vida, stitched together with a series of lovely little instrumental interludes and seamlessly builds in (presumably Eno-influenced) moments of ambient prettiness. It sounds consistently gorgeous, with a rich sound even on the slower songs like "Us Against The World" where Viva La Vida sometimes sounded thin (That song shows off the deeper end of Chris Martin's vocal range to good effect, too).

I have a long history with the band that makes it a bit difficult for me to look at them in anything approaching an objective way, but if they'd continued on the compressed, ultra-serious anthems of X&Y I think I might still have fallen out of love with them completely. So I'm really happy that they've found a way to succeed while doing more than that. Though I kind of wish they'd found room for the ridiculous (yet strangely poignant!) space-prog of B-side "Moving to Mars". Maybe more like that next time?

Winning '11: 29 - Twin Sister

Twin Sister - In Heaven

Going as far down as 30 albums this year, a lot of the lower entries are ones with one really outstanding song and a lot of other enjoyable but lesser songs. Twin Sister's In Heaven fits that pattern but is unusual in how little resemblance the one stand-out has to the rest of the album. The massively fun "Gene Ciampi" is a two minute blast of twanging guitars, clomping beats and "ha-ha!" backing vocals which reminds me most of the energetically updated retro pop of The Coral, though Andrea Estella's softer vocals are a long way from theirs.

Only the guitar and organ driven drama of "Spain" is remotely similar in sound. Over much of the rest of the short album they instead work on a much calmer and more electronic basis. Stuff like "Space Babe" and "Kimmi in a Rice Field" sets up synth-pop beats but use them as the backdrop to drifting songs of a quiet beauty. They actually come very close to a second stand out with "Stop", thanks to its amazing whooshing bass sounds as much as the songwriting, but the rest of the album is so easygoing and likeable that even just one amazing moment is enough to make me want to keep returning to it.

Winning '11: 30 - Neon Indian

Neon Indian - Era Extraña


I never had a NES or a SNES or a Gameboy. I am about the right age but only had Commodore 64s and Amigas, both of which were a little past their times by then. Some bits of Chiptune (and some Calvin Harris productions) do sound like C64, but it tends to be Nintendo and Sega which are the dominant reference points in what the genre is going for. If anything, though, I think that having only come across them in brief sessions at friends' houses at the time makes the power of nostalgia all the greater.

This is an introduction to talking about Neon Indian because the dominant sound of Era Extraña is sharp and electronic and, if not actually played on a SNES, mostly sounds like it could be. While that sound is dominant, though, Neon Indian build layers of hazy sound built under and around it. So they have both an instant hit of excitement and nostalgia and a deeper and rewarding atmosphere to sink into. Using precise and unyielding sounds in pursuit of haziness (even the catchiest songs, like "Polish Girl" maintain a vocal indistinctiveness) - an unusual combination which consistently comes off very well.

Winning '11: 31 - Medina

Medina - For Altid

We cover a rich diversity of stuff on The Singles Jukebox, but it's fair to say that melancholic Scandinavian synth-pop is one of our specialist subjects. As such it's no surprise that I first came across Medina's melancholic Danish synth-pop through "Kun for Mig" appearing in the Jukebox's top songs of 2009. And indeed found out about their return this year, with the awesome "Synd for Dig", in the same way.

You can already my thoughts on the wonders of that song via the link, but after "Synd for Dig" kicks off For Altid it carries through on that promise. "Kl. 10" does dramatic strings and perfect poise, "Lyser i Mørke" does a fine job both anthemic piano ballad and weird discordant futurism. All repeatedly punch through the language barrier (although amidst the Danish I'm pretty sure that "Vend Om" features some very Anglo-Saxon swearing), which is no mean feat.

So, um...

I was really planning to follow up the Music Diary Project posts with some kind of summary! Something to do with one of the things Nick initially said about critics listening to music in an artificial or unusual way, and the fact that aside from The Singles Jukebox I don't write about music any more, but despite never having to review them I've still been seeking out new albums constantly. I keep a Spotify playlist to keep track of all the 2011 albums I've listened to and I'm on 185.

But yes, it's seven months later an I still haven't written it, or anything else. Oh well. I think I'm going to bring my write ups for my favourite albums of the year back off facebook and onto here this year though, starting from the 1st of December, so there will be some posts in a bit!

Music Diary Project Day 6 (09/04/11)

Spotify starred playlist on shuffle for about 15 minutes. Young Galaxy came up twice and I enjoyed both songs so I definitely need to listen to the whole album. Also got "Tog" by Colourmusic.

After that I was out for most of the day. I heard a lot of music along the way, of which the below is only a selection of the most notable. I do find that I almost always notice background music, but getting a chance to note it down or remember what it was is another matter!

Chapel Club/The Drums (in pub bit of gastropub)
Lots of very low key triphop and soul (in restaurant bit of gastropub)
Numerous buskers, including an impressive beatboxer with an amplifier near South Bank
Doves - "There Goes the Fear" while getting a drink in EAT
Alexis Jordan - "Happiness" / Aqua - "Barbie Girl" / Spice Girls - "Mama" very loud, in a new Mexican restaurant.

Music Diary Project Day 5 (08/04/11)

Hot Horizons - "October"
Tall Ships - Tall Ships EP / There is Nothing but Chemistry Here EP

Checking out new bands on the way to work. Hot Horizons on this evidence seem to be treading similar ground to Trophy Wife to slightly lesser effect, but I love Tall Ships' combination of downtempo, fairly minimal songs and early Biffy Clyro guitar riffs. Later have to conduct some research on the Tall Ships album from 2009 that Spotify has to make sure it isn't the same band and I don't have to disqualify them from my new bands playlist.

Olivia - Greatest Hits (Disc 2)
For my journey home, a Japanese album bought on a whim in Hong Kong which turned out to be really great, at least for Disc 2 (which I think is the B-sides, maybe, but is much better than the straightforward rock of Disc 2). Probably closest to Ellie Goulding, if she'd carried on being as good as "Under the Sheets" suggested.

Chapel Club - Palace
Epic Echo & the Bunnymen / early U2 indie which I actually like a lot, despite not having that much time for anyone else doing it. Listened to this at home before heading out.

Departure DJ set
A night at a bar in Camden which apparently plays 'Dark Wave, New Wave, Industrial, Synthpop, EBM, 80s'. Was there because other friends were (including the DJ) rather than for the music, almost all of which I didn't know. There was an excellent more industrial remix of Editors' "Papillon" though, during which I had an enthusiastic conversation about how good their last album was.

Music Diary Project Day 4 (07/04/11)

Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
For my journey to work. I like this album a lot more than I expected, appreciating its dramatic sweep without descending into pastiche or being too over the top.

A few tracks on my mp3 player on shuffle
To fill up the remainder of my journey. I do like that my journey to and from work is usually about the length of an album.

Bat for Lashes - Two Suns
While doing some work. I think this was actually a bad choice as it proved to be a bit distracting, or maybe that was just down to the work in question.

Adele - Someone Like You
On my way out of the office to get some lunch this was blasting out of someone's car at full volume, sounding distorted and a little unpleasant. The song itself as colossus bestriding British pop remains baffling.

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
On my mp3 player on my way home. Made a mental note to myself to play it to my girlfriend again at some point as we are going to her gig at Shepherds Bush Empire next week.

British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall
Once I got home. This choice was partly dictated by having one hour to fill and nothing else recent that was long enough (as you may have noticed, I spent most of my time this week listening to quite new music, which is typical). I listened while reading/playing Don't Take it Personally Babe, it Just Ain't Your Story. I spend a fair bit of time listening to music while playing video games and usually it's the music which takes priority - I think I get some of my more concentrated listening done while playing stuff like FIFA and Street Fighter IV, and if anything having my mind mostly elsewhere actually helps me to win more at them asthey become more instinctive without concious thought getting in the way. In this case though, playing something very text and narrative heavy, combined with listening to something which I'm already very familair with, meant that there was a point where I realised that I was barely taking in the album at all.

MTV Hits - various top 40 songs
I had MTV Hits on the TV for about an hour while washing up, browsing the internet and sorting various things out. Much of the channel's schedule is now taken up by runs through of videos for the top 40 in order, which is the best thing to have ever happened to it - the democratic old Top of the Pops / chart show format has long been my preferred way of taking in chart music. You get to hear more different songs and if there's something unlikeable it feels better to blame the public at large rather than some unknown playlist selector's taste. It would be better still if the chart wasn't so slow moving these days though, and I do have to turn off when it gets to Jessie J because there is no way I'm listening to "Price Tag" again.

Xposure on xfm
For about an hour and a half. Nothing which really stood out as great in that time which I didn't already know, but there was a rather lovely live version of Elbow's "Some Riot".

Music Diary Project Day 3 (06/04/11)

Katy B - On a Mission
On the way to work, since I didn't get to give it a proper listen the previous day. A few amazing songs (not just singles) but a lot of it still passing me by so far.

Einar Stray - Chiarascuro
Amazing Norwegian post-rock-meets-Sufjan-Stevens debut which was well worth the 20 quid I had to pay for the CD. Listened to while working.

Adele - probably something from 21
While browsing in HMV at lunchtime. Sounded quite a lot like "Chasing Pavements", but wasn't.

Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
Again while working. This has nothing as absolutely perfect as "Starlings" or "Great Expectations", or... half of Asleep in the Back, but that would be asking a lot, and I still love it. Competing with the aforementioned Einar Stray for favourite album of the year so far.

Various tracks from Spotify starred playlist, on shuffle
Couldn't make up my mind what to listen to on the way home.

Xposure (xfm)
For about an hour and a half while doing various things in the evening.

Day 2 (05/04/11)

Conquering Animal Sound - Kammerspiel
On my way into work, my first listen to the album that I bought at the gig. Very much as expected, which is a good thing.

Elbow - Ticker Tape
Patrick Wolf - The City
Guillemots - The Basket
Delays made my journey a bit longer, so I listened to the last few mp3s which I'd bought - the new singles (or B-side) of three of my favourite acts and among the few that I would bother doing so for.

Admiral Fallow - Boots Met My Face
New album (well, it was released last year but has been rereleased and put on Spotify) which I listened to for the first time based on this piece and its mention of recommendations from a couple of my favourite bands. I liked the arrangements and the obvious depth and care that went into them, but wasn't so sure on the songwriting or singing. Will give it another go at some point.

Katy B - On a Mission
Another new album through Spotify Mobile which I listened to on my way home. Didn't quite get all the way through it and didn't form much of an opinion yet.

Hannah Peel - The Broken Wave
Listened to once I got home while on the web/playing games. On my own in the room. Lovely album which the previous day's gig made me want to go back to.

Oh Land - "Sun of a Gun" x3
I wanted to check that my thoughts on the song from listening to it on the album would stand up to concentrated listening before submitting my review for The Singles Jukebox (they did), and I needed to check the exact wording of a line that I was quoting.

Emmy the Great - First Love
Followed on from the indie folk of the previous day, but also a choice influenced by a discussion with my girlfriend about British people who are part-Chinese (she had been reading Matt Tong and Alexa Chung interviews for her PhD), and because she was in the room so I wanted to pick something she would be happy to listen to as well. I love this album a lot.

Xposure on xfm
Listened to this for about an hour, it's the only thing on xfm that I will listen to but is very good for new indie stuff. The highlight was the gorgeous new single from Clock Opera, "Belongings", which was played immediately after The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's "Belong".

Music Diary Project day one (04/04/11)

Hi everyone! I really wanted to take part in Nick Southall's Music Diary Project. This involves writing down all of the music that you listen to for a week (and trying not to let your choices be too affected by the fact). Luckily I already have this neglected blog handy to write it up in! Day one is a bit late as I was out last night (as you will see) but this is what I listened to:

Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love
I listened to this album for the first time, during my commute into work. At the start of this year I signed up to Spotify Mobile and it has had a big impact on my listening habits as I love listening to new music and now can read about something intriguing, set it in my 'starred' playlist and it will almost instantly be available to listen to on my phone wherever I am. I think I still actually buy the same (large) number of CD albums as previously, but listen to many more and make a lot fewer bad purchases. In this case the title track appeared in Sweeping the Nation's Spotify playlist for the month and I'd never heard of it, looked it up and it sounded intriguing. It turned out that it indeed was, psychedlia which wasn't all possible to process on first listen but which I will definitely come back to.

Kassidy - "Stray Cat" (from Hope St.)
Connan album didn't last the whole journey and so Spotify went on to the next thing on my playlist. I put this whole album on after seeing a friend of a friend talking it up on Facebook, but it turned out to be horrendous landfill indie of a kind I thought was dead, and I didn't make it through more than one song.

Niki & the Dove - "DJ Ease My Mind"
Instead I went on to this to fill the last minutes of the journey - from my playlist of stuff by new acts. Owes a lot to The Knife, but really great regardless.

Oh Land - Oh Land
Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
I listened to both of these on headphones while working. I usually listen to one or two albums a day at most as I don't like to keep dipping in and out of an album and am not usually concentrated on doing on single task for that long, but when I am I find it easier to do so with music.

Something I didn't recognise which may or may not have been Macy Gray / someone whistling the World 1-1 theme from Super Mario Bros.
The soundtrack to getting my lunch.

Braids - Native Speaker
For my commute home. I have listened to this album a lot and it's one of my favourites of the year. Quite annoyed that I will be away when they play in London next month.

Conquering Animal Sounds live set
Various folk songs I didn't know, and a very proggy instrumental version of "Scarborough Fair"
Hannah Peel live set
I went to the Lexington to see Hannah Peel. I had never heard of the support act Conquering Animal Sounds but they were really impressive, building looped voices and keyboards into fragmented but increasingly powerful songs which also just about fitted the folk theme of the night. I bought their album before I left.

It was the first time I'd seen Hannah Peel and things took a while to properly get going, not helped by the drums being overpoweringly loud in such a small venue. Strong voice though and the quieter songs lived up to her excellent album. I love her music box playing too - such a clever idea! Also a neat bonus to see Laura Groves (aka Blue Roses) as part of her band.

Jukebox catch up

Plan B - Stay Too Long [4]
Caribou - Odessa [7]
Chiddy Bang - The Opposite of Adults [7]
Jónsi - Go Do [6]
Josh Turner - Why Don't We Just Dance [5]
Local Natives - Airplanes [3]
Mariah Carey ft. Nicki Minaj - Up Out My Face [7]
Owl City - Vanilla Twilight [4]
Selena Gomez and The Scene - Naturally [7]
Shiny Toy Guns - Major Tom [6]
Spoon - Written in Reverse [6]
Train - Hey Soul Sister [2]
Diana Vickers - Once [8]
Die Antwoord - Enter the Ninja [3]
Laura Marling - Devil's Spoke [5]
McLean - My Name [5]
Avril Lavigne - Alice [3]
Orianthi - According to You [5]
Owen Pallett - Lewis Takes Off His Shirt [10]
Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun [7]
Alex Gardner - I'm Not Mad [8]
Darwin Deez - Radar Detector [3]
Gabriella Cilmi - On a Mission [6]
Hot Chip - I Feel Better [8]
Pendulum - Watercolour [7]
Sincere ft. Ghetts, Scorcher, G FrSH, Wretch 32 & Little Dee - Pass It Over [7]
Stromae - Alors On Danse [5]
The Futureheads - Heartbeat Song [4]
Usher ft. will.i.am - OMG [3]
Broken Bells - The High Road [8]
Kelis - Acapella [8]
LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls [6]
Paramore - The Only Exception [8]
Plan B - She Said [3]
Scouting for Girls - This Ain't a Love Song [1]
She and Him - In the Sun [4]

Jukebox returning

Yes, I am still around. Reminded to post here by seeing this blog linked on Freaky Trigger's Pop World Cup, where my Netherlands team have their first match tomorrow.

And yeah, we're back at the Jukebox! My 2010 contributions so far:

Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind Part II [7]
Corinne Bailey Rae - I'd Do It All Again [8]
Daisy Dares You ft. Chipmunk - Number One Enemy [2]
Hot Chip - One Life Stand [7]
Wiley ft. Emeli Sande - Never Be Your Woman [7]
jj - Let Go [8]
Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood [5]

My Week in Jukebox (w/e 02/10/09)

The Big Pink - Dominos [7]
Natalie Imbruglia - Want [8]
Boys Like Girls ft. Taylor Swift – Two Is Better Than One [3]
Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind [8]
Mariah Carey - I Want to Know What Love Is [3]
.

My Week in Jukebox (w/e 25/09/09)

Well, two weeks in one as they were both a little shorter on me than normal.

Miss Li - Dancing All the Way Home [8]
Mini Viva - Left My Heart in Tokyo [7]
Robbie Williams - Bodies [4]
Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man [8]
Los Campesinos! - The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future [8]
"I ask her to speak French and then I need her to translate". "To the left side and the right side, either way is a crazy golf course". Yep, still totally quotable as ever. This is straightforwardly emotional (and gorgeous!), though, in a way that they only skirted round on last year's albums, distanced by irony and uncertainty. There's nothing uncertain about the way that the guitars that have been swelling finally crash over the chorus here, a glorious moment of catharsis.
Leona Lewis - Happy [5]
Nneka – Heartbeat (Chase & Status Remix) [8]
Hockey - Song Away [4] (Ok, my mark is a little generous. Not sure what came over me.)
.

My week in Jukebox (w/e 11/09/09)

Quite a high scoring week for me, this.

Owl City - Fireflies [2]
Jay Reatard - It Ain't Gonna Save Me [6]
Morandi - Colors [6]
Jesse McCartney ft. T-Pain – Body Language (Remix) [7]
VV Brown - Game Over [8]
Just as full of big, cartoonishly dramatic hooks and metaphors as last time out, and just as energetic and entertaining with it. Probably even better than "Shark in the Water", though, for carving out more of a non-Bedingfield identity of her own too.
Biffy Clyro - That Golden Rule [9]
3OH!3 - Starstrukk [3]
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition [6]
.

My week in Jukebox (w/e 04/09/09)

With a bonus two blurbs that I managed in the previous two weeks, while on holiday.

Heartland - Mustache [3]
Bloc Party - One More Chance [7]
Florence + the Machine - Drumming Song [3]
Panic at the Disco - New Perspective [0]
Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed [7]
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions - Blanchard [5]
Jade Ewen - My Man [5]
Katie Armiger - Gone [3]
.

My week in Jukebox (w/e 14/08/09)

Oh well, maybe I'll really like something next week.

Mike - We Are Golden [3]
Christophe Willem - Plus Que Tout [6]
Calvin Harris - Ready for the Weekend [6]
Mos Wanted Mega ft. Janee – Touch My [4]
Girls Can't Catch - Keep Your Head Up [3]
Sugababes - Get Sexy [2]
.

My week in Jukebox (w/e 07/08/09)

Vitalic - Your Disco Song [6]
Kate Miller-Heidke - The Last Day on Earth [7]
Wild Beats - Hooting and Howling [5]
Paramore - Ignorance [1]
Eva Simons - Silly Boy [5]
.