So long, farewell

The time has come to say goodbye. After nearly year in the world of new music blogging the final curtain is falling on this blog. It’s been a fun experience, but alas I no longer have time to maintain it.

But if nothing else I have a great record (excuse the pun) of a year in music. Starting off with the amazing performances at last year’s Bestival, including by Seasick Steve. And then there was the rather disappointing Kraftwerk, but let’s move swiftly on from that one…

The release of Sign No More by Mumford & Sons was greeted with a mixed reception by the media, but it didn’t stop their tunes exploding across the airwaves. Over the past year it’s featured on everything from the World Cup to BBC1’s Secret Britain (three times no less!).

In January the sound of 2010 was greeted by scepticism by some, including myself. The one shining light in the line-up for me was Delphic. However the best news about that list of predictions has been that Daisy Dares hasn’t taken off as much as anticipated.

Spring brought highlights in the form of amazing gigs from Grizzly Bear and Beach House. But our smiles were then crushed with the awful news that BBC 6 Music faced closure (now saved – hooray!). Meanwhile a very wet Camden Crawl brought a small ray of sunshine in the form of Gaggle.

And then I went and wrote a review of Lady Gaga - not something I ever imagined I’d do on this blog!

So that’s it for now but fear not, I will still be very much alive on the blogosphere. If ethical fashion is your thing, then come and visit me on my new blog. I’ll be waxing lyrical there about all things environmental in the world of textiles. And I promise not to bang on about Lilly Allen’s panties any more!

Ta-ra!

2010 is going to be the big one...

This time of year tends to be dominated by dissections of the year just gone, written by journalists who seem to think everyone apart from them has been in a coma for the past 12 months. But not here! No, I thought it would be better to tell you what is happening next year instead. Predictions? Not quite – I have it on good authority the following is 99.9% likely to happen within the year.

January: BBC Sound of 2010 is announced and my choice will either be shockingly overlooked or will win. If the later I will spend the following 12 months squirming as my choice embarrasses me by releasing a less than satisfactory album and saying stupid things on Twitter like: “Oh, highlight of my career - I’m going to be in Grazia next week.”

February: Typically the coldest and most depressing month of the year but not for 2010. A freak heat wave will prompt a revolution in British music with Mark E Smith releasing a calypso influence album, and Morrissey teaming up with H from Steps to produce an record called Everything is Great. Charlie Brooker is seen walking out of the Apple store on Regent Street, smiling.

March: After Fun February things take a turn for the worse when Simon Cowell chokes on his own smugness and dies. The nation is officially in mourning.

April: 175,000 people return their Glastonbury tickets when they realise that Michael Eavis’ ‘festival to remember’ may not include one of their favourite bands headlining on the Pyramid stage. Billy Bragg announces a gig in the leftfield tent with a special guest appearance from Nick Griffin. 175,000 people buy their tickets back again.

May: I go to Camden Crawl and have an absolutely amazing time.

June: At Glastonbury Michael Eavis gets wasted, storms on stage and tells Bono he’s a cunt. The audience walks out in protest. They all go up to The Park where they suddenly realise all the best stuff has been happening anyway. Emily Eavis is heard muttering ‘I told you so’.

July: It’s not as hot as we thought it might be and it rains an awful lot. Everyone acts surprised.

August: Lilly Allen moans about something on Twitter and then goes out and buys some more boots and panties. Everyone blames Stephen Fry.

September: Mercury Music Prize nominations are announced and everyone complains how meaningless they are but then goes out and buys the winning album anyway. The following week nobody can remember who won.

October: To mark the first anniversary of Stephen Gately’s death Jan Moir releases a record in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust called I’m not homophobic (some of my best friends are gay).

November: Sufjan Stevens wins X-Factor

December: I run out of blog ideas, consider quitting the blogosphere and then decide against it. I write a review of the best of 2010 (making little reference to my predictions in 2009).

Happy New Year everyone, see you in 2010!!

Why aren't there any freedom songs from Tooting?

This week Severin told me about a documentary idea he had around apartheid and the links to music. It got me thinking about the controversial mixture of music and politics. Severin believes that if musicians have a stage then they should use it to spread an important message, a viewpoint shared by Bono. However others feel that the two worlds don’t and shouldn’t mix. Obviously these are cold-hearted people untouched by songs like If that were me by Mel C (my favourite line being: I couldn’t live without my phone/but you don’t even have a home) or the powerful War Song by Boy George.

Personally I would say that I’m not that big a fan of political songs, which is strange considering I used to be resident in the socialist republic of Tooting (maybe that's why the revolution failed?). Am I right in my political dissent or do I just need a better education?

After much brain ache I came up with these few....

Marvin Gaye - What’s Happening Brother?

From the What’s Going On album, which marked a new direction in Marvin Gaye’s song writing. Marvin Gaye was one of the first artists I got into when I moved away from pop into more serious music in my teenage years. Always a socially conscious youth I found his later work was far superior. This was always one of my favourites.

Bob Dylan – Times they are a changin’
Ok, so it’s a bit obvious, but it was the first tune I ever learnt to play on the guitar, and still the only one I can play with a modicum of decency. Dylan has always resisted the title ‘voice of a generation’ but of course he was and still continues to be. I thought he was a bit of a cock for this – if he doesn’t like being admired and respected then maybe he should have become a traffic warden rather than a musician.

The Specials – Ghost Town
Although I can’t listen to this tune now without thinking of that episode of Father Ted, it’s still one of my favourites. The tune was written in response to Thatcher’s policies, which the band thought would increase unemployment.

The Clash – Bank Robber
I’ve always been a fan of a song with a story, which is why I love this one. Behind the story however is a tale of social deprivation and the drudgery of a working class life.

The Streets - The Irony of it All
Maybe not the strongest tune on the album, and a bit naïve in its political messaging, but compared to his contemporaries, at least Michael Skinner was trying to say something interesting. Makes a change to Lilly Allen whose idea of politics is to shout ‘fuck off’ to the people she doesn’t like. Hmmm, that’s going to change the world Lilly!

This week I have been trying to get Severin to broaden his musical horizons and failing miserably.