Tuesday 12 April 2011

Exit Music (for a blog) - PLUS - 50 FAVOURITE SONGS OF ALL TIME!

So I've decided to concentrate on my music. This blog isn't going anywhere, but alas, I will not be updating weekly (like I ever did, but I always intended to). I fear the end of month lists will bow out gracefully. I won't rule out an end of year, but I think one last, one MOTHER of a list, is needed.


I'm going to do something the loser in me, which is basically just me, has wanted to do for a while: compile a list of songs that have inspired and touched me the most in my lifetime. I won't claim this to be "THE TOP 50 SONGS OF ALL TIME!!!" because it's not. My taste is varied, often quite shameful, and this is purely and unashamadly, my favourite music. Period.


50 - Placebo - "Without You I'm Nothing" (from Without You I'm Nothing, 1998)
With album number 2, the angsty and emo Placebo became poignant and melancholy, with melodrama at an all time high. The title track is the sound of someone hitting rock bottom, but musically it soars to heights they haven't met since.

49 - Deinonychus - "A Misleading Scenario" (from Mournument, 2002)
Suicidal black/doom metal - even that morbid and slightly humorous genre classification cannot prepare you for the self-loathing Deinonychus. Why "A Misleading Scenario"? It manages to incorporate Vangelis sized strings over the din. I used to listen to this under my bed when I was 15.

48 - Swimming With Dolphins - "Up in the Stars" (from Ambient Blue EP, 2008)
Owl City side project - quite possibly the most beautiful piece of nintendopop ever. It ticks so many guilty pleasure boxes that it's almost credible as a result.

47 - Type O Negative - "Everything Dies" (from World Coming Down, 1999)
With "World Coming Down", Goth legends Type O Negative's trademark dark humour was so black you begin to wonder at what points front-man Pete Steele was being serious. "Everything Dies" is actually quite upsetting in its bluntness. Reading the lyrics on page is nothing like hearing them through the deadpan sneer on record. "Now I hate myself, wish I'd die" - be careful what you wish for Pete. Sorely missed, RIP.

46 - The Radio Dept. - "Heaven's on Fire" (from Clinging to a Scheme, 2010)
The most blissfully melodic and innocent political song of all time. It may not even be intentionally political (although the opening interview clip suggests otherwise) but reading the lyrics that accompany this perfect pop song can be interpreted in many ways. "It seems like everyone is on your side, we're outnumbered by those who take no pride" - truer words were never spoken about the music industry.

45 - MOPP. - "Dream About You" (from Dream About You CDS, 2010)
The 3 most gorgeous opening chords of all time, and proof that scottish indie boys can write euphoric anthems just as well as the headlining DJs in Ibiza.

44 - Genesis - "Hold on My Heart" (from We Can't Dance, 1991)
Say what you like about Phil Collins, he knows how to write a cheesy ballad. But "Hold on My Heart" is actually beautiful, ACTUALLY beautiful. I don't care what you think.

43 - Oceanlab - "If I Could Fly" (from Sirens of the Sea, 2008)
The ultimate escapist anthem. Those opening bouncy beats and the ethereal vocals drifting away on the chorus... the perfect song for listening to on a "crowded train to take me home", as the song says.

42 - Massive Attack - "Teardrop" (from Mezzanine, 1998)
Heartbreaking, fragile, and with delicious dark undertones, this is quite simply Trip Hop's crowning glory.

41 - 4 Strings - "Let it Rain" (from Believe, 2003)
They just don't write uplifting trance like this anymore. This kind of music is what summer is about.

40 - Lycia - "Nine Hours Later" (from The Burning Circle and then Dust, 1993)
If hell had a DJ, they would play this as you sunk into the flames. And those rolling tom drums ensure you're dancing all the way down.

39 - Madonna - "Justify My Love" (from The Immaculate Collection, 1990)
The sexiest song of all time. The obvious "Erotica" is more about control and de-sexing sex as much as possible, but "Justify My Love" sounds like falling in lust for the first time, and maybe even love.

38 - Sade - "No Ordinary Love" (from Love Deluxe, 1992)
...but no one can sing about love quite like Sade. 7 minutes and 20 seconds to soundtrack making love. And I don't cringe saying that one bit, just listen to Sade breathlessly sigh "didn't I give you? All that I got to give baby?" - irresistable.

37 - Air France - "No Excuses" (from No Way Down EP, 2008)
Where Air France came from, or what you'd call their fuzzy world-disco-indie-hybrid, couldn't matter less as this one lyric track loops its sunshine hooks round and round. The best moment? When you think its ended prematurely and the drums give you a cheeky wink before kicking straight back in.

36 - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Higher Than the Stars" (from Higher Than the Stars EP, 2009)
The band have rarely lived up to their very apt name more than on this new wave anthem of forbidden teen love. And of course, that wonderfully ambiguous line "you can't think straight, because you're not straight..."

35 - Cut Copy - "Hearts on Fire" (from In Ghost Colours, 2008)
Cut Copy know exactly when to drop their best hooks, and the moment when those massive chords drop a mere 30 seconds into "Hearts on Fire" is definitely the most exhilarating moment of their impressive back catalogue - as is that gleefully cheesy female vocal sample. You'll know what I mean if you hear it.

34 - Katatonia - "Brave" (from Brave Murder Day, 1996)
The opening track of one of THE best metal records of all time, from ANY sub-genre, "Brave" is Katatonia's crowning achievement; a 10 minute ode to misery, suicide and monotony, carried on the shoulders of the record's trademark robotic rhythm guitars, and a disarmingly desperate performance from Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt. Dare I say, the performance of his career.

33 - Deadmau5 & Kaskade -"I Remember" (from Deadmaus' Random Album Title, 2008 and Kaskade's Strobelight Seduction, 2008)
Two of progressive dance's most melancholy DJs came together to create what is probably one of the most eerie yet stunningly beautiful house tracks of all time. Not to mention the most depressing.

32 - Anathema - "Dreaming Light" (from We're Here Because We're Here, 2010)
"Suddenly, life has new meaning" - suddenly, the once forelorn kings of 'alone' Anathema are reborn a force of hope rather than an enemy of it.

31 - Slowdive - "Machine Gun" (from Souvlaki, 1993)
There's only so much I can say about this one - sheer shoegazing bliss.

30 - Riverside - "In Two Minds" (from Out of Myself, 2004)
A moment of reflection and simplicity from prog rockers Riverside turns out to be something tear jerking and heart warming in a way that prog never intended. "If you lose your faith, know that I am still your friend" - the falsetto that drives this phrase is difficult to listen to without welling up.

29 - Stardust - "Music Sounds Better With You" (from Music Sounds Better With You CDS, 1998)
Instantly recognisable, and instantly loveable. The perfect midday dance-in-the-sun track.

28 - Max Linen - "Flashback" (from Flashback CDS, 2004)
Quite possibly the most ambitious house track of all time. Telling a story of drugs, confusion and delusion, a gravely-voiced protagonist fails speaks over an illegally commanding baseline and violent beat. Thrilling in ways you never knew dance music could be, doing things you never thought one could do... "everything you can imagine... all going on... I OPENED THE DOOR..." BANG! Fucking genius.

27 - Madonna - "Express Yourself" (from Like a Prayer, 1989)
Has there ever been a camper song in the history of pop music? But if Madonna knows one thing, she knows empowerment. If only she'd stick to empowering girls and gays, rather than forcing herself upon third world countries and making sweeping political statements. Sigh. Bring back this Madonna PLEASE!

26 - Coldplay - "Talk" (from X&Y, 2005)
"You've Got A Friend" for the noughties indie generation, Coldplay manage to finally overtake their predecessors U2 here, by managing to sound like God AND your best friend at the same time. And that's a thing, honestly.

25 - Chicane - "Saltwater" (from Behind the Sun, 2000)
That Clannad sample was always meant to soundtrack a 41 degree afternoon on a beach on a Mediterranean island, I think it just got lost via some film called "Harry's Game".

24 - Above & Beyond - "Alone Tonight" (from Tri-State, 2006)
Featuring the quintessential male euphoria vocal courtesy of Richard Bedford, "Alone Tonight" sounds like Kings of Leon collaborating with Armin Van Buuren, and it sounds even more powerful than its description... "WAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO...." etc.

23 - Placebo - "Hang on to Your IQ" (from Placebo, 1996)
The most adorable song about drug addiction of all time, no question. And SUCH a lovely guitar riff.

22 - Radiohead - "No Surprises" (from Ok Computer, 1997)
Similarly, the most adorable song about suicide of all time. Noticing a pattern here?

21 - Sigur Ros - "Glosoli" (from Takk..., 2005)
After the mournful, thoroughly sorry-for-itself "( )", this opening song proper from 2005's "Takk" is quite simply the most life affirming track of Sigur Ros's pretty damn life affirming career. Starting with a whisper and ending in a cacophony of guitars and drums, all the way, the band sound as if they are glowing with contentment and, indeed, self-worth.

...TOP 20!

20 - Passion Pit - "Smile Upon Me" (from Chunk of Change EP, 2008)
How Passion Pit manage to make a song sound endearingly "bedroom" and yet stadium worthy at the same time is a feat to be admired, but "Smile Upon Me" makes just as much sense bouncing around your bedroom alone as it does with your arms around your friends at a gig. It's a love song, a very silly worded love song, but that's what make you fall all the more for it. It smiles upon you, and you smile upon it too.

19 - Robyn - "Dancing on my Own" (from Body Talk, 2010)
I've talked about this enough... but oh look....
 Dancing on My Own (Cover) by JoeCopplestone

18 - Evanescence - "My Immortal" (from Fallen, 2003)
YES? AND? To me, this is one of the most emotional songs of all time. You can all shove your cynicism up your arses.

17 - Gianluca Motta - "Not Alone (feat. Molly) (Deadmau5 Remix)" (2008)
Deadmau5 works his magic on an unknown Italian DJ's work and you don't know what's hit you. The emotionally intensity is almost too much. And lyrically, this story of forbidden love is relevant to a certain Gaga-friendly community in a way that house music rarely addresses.

16 - Late Night Alumni - "Empty Streets" (from Empty Streets, 2005)
The perfect post-club walk home soundtrack. Out there, the world is very real, and problems cannot be danced away or drowned out beneath a Black Eyed Peas track. But there's a beauty in solitude that this track addresses and makes you feel over and over.

15 - Royworld - "Brakes" (from Man in the Machine, 2008)
How the fantastic anthems of Royworld were dumped in favour of the crooning Script frustrates but doesn't surprise me. "Brakes" isn't a love song, it's a song that you hear from friends and family during the hard times: one that says "slow the hell down, you're going nowhere at that speed". Of course "Yeah, this is your life, don't you cry, cos it's alright", is hardly going to win an originality award for lyrical creativity, but it's a sincere band who can make it sound genuine. I guess writing songs from the heart wasn't enough to save them from getting dropped. Miss these guys.

14 - The 3rd and the Mortal - "Horizons" (from Painting on Glass, 1996)
As the band were gradually drifting from melancholic, atmospheric metal into self-indulgence and experimentation with ambient music and electronics, they reached a rather perfect halfway point with 1996's "Painting on Glass", and "Horizons" is the perfect collaboration between warm, ethereal pads and maudlin acoustic guitars. Voices come and go, and nothing changes much in 7 minutes, but when 3 notes from a guitar are enough to send chills down your spine, the last thing you want is progression.

13 - Low vs Diamond - "Life After Love" (from Life After Love EP, 2004)
Another band who drifted off the horizon, but leaving a truly wonderful song in the form of "Life After Love" with us. The earliest demo version is by far the best, not trying to be anthemic, just letting the ponderous melody sail amongst waves of thoughtful guitars and shuffling rhythms... and somewhere along the way, probably with the line "before they catch me, i'm gonna give myself away", they became more anthemic than they could ever have intended.

12 - Daft Punk - "One More Time" (from Discovery, 2001)
Probably the last song to be ever played as the end of the world arrives. And nothing would be more fitting.

11 - Eva Cassidy - "Over the Rainbow" (from Songbird, 1998)
The most beautiful voice I've ever heard, making the most beautiful song ever written even more beautiful. I'll say it again, BEAUTIFUL. Fun to sing along to as well.

...TOP 10!

10 - Anathema - "One Last Goodbye" (from Judgement, 1999)
Probably the centrepiece of Anathema's career, although not QUITE my favourite, this ode to the Cavanagh's mother's death is comforting and heartbreaking all at once. "Somehow I knew you could never ever stay" laments Vinny, and whilst the song soars, the heart sinks. Until the incredible guitar solo... then the heart can't help but leap.

9 - Madonna - "Like a Prayer" (from Like a Prayer, 1989)
The beginning of Madonna's finest period (DON'T), "Like A Prayer" is everything Madonna shouldn't still be: provocative, controversial and above all, racy. And that's just the video, it would all mean nothing if the song weren't a heart stoppingly perfect example of the sheer heights that pop music can reach. Iconic.

8 - William Orbit - "Adagio for Strings" (from Pieces in a Modern Style, 1999)
Not the ravey techno of the Tiesto version, or even the earth shattering hope-deprived stringscape of Samuel Barber piece, this version is my favourite because it manages to emulate the exact same emotions of Samuel Barber's piece, and yet give it a sense of determination rather than defeat. And it's the biggest euphoric wall of sound I've ever heard.

7 - Aphex Twin - "Rhubarb" (from Selected Ambient Works II, 1994)
I could happily listen to those 5 chords loop round for the rest of my life and die happy. Indescribable.

6 - Madonna - "Vogue" (from The Immaculate Collection, 1990)
To think this was almost a B-side. Forget your "Born This Way"s and "Fucking Perfect"s and "Who You Are"s... none of them are any fun on the dancefloor (sorry Gaga, the track's a "drag"). And isn't that where you really express who you are? "Vogue" may namedrop a specific early 90s dance craze, but really, to vogue is to invent your own dance, to revel in being yourself, being different. It may be frighteningly camp, but the message in this song is one that no other pop song will ever be able to top. "It doesn't matter if you're black or white, if you're a boy or a girl - if the music's pumping it will give you new light, you're a superstar, yes, that's what you are". There's no need for any pop singer to ever give this message again, Madonna's said it right there.

5 - Radiohead - "Everything in its Right Place" (from Kid A, 2000)
The first track of the first Radiohead album of the new millenium. And what a rebirth. Quite literally, "EIIRP" sounds like being in the womb. A muffled kick drum and an all encompassing rhodes keyboard loop as little vocal blips and bloops fly around, like a brain making its first baby steps into forming cohesive thoughts. And somehow, this messy, confusing track is comforting and even regressive. One listen, and for 4 minutes, you yourself are back in the womb. Best listened to in foetal position as you settle your heartbeat after a long day.

4 - Soul Whirling Somewhere - "Piece of Wick Alight in a Pine" (from Pyewackit EP, 1997)
One man's quest to make the most depressing music on earth, succeeds with this anthem to being walked out on. Self-pitying the extreme, the line "the things you bury yourself in will burn, they won't last like I would have" is the icing on the cake. It might sound joyless, but that's putting it VERY mildly. This song is depressing because it accepts that its problems will never resolve, and things will never be the way they were. And for those moments when we feel this way, it's perfect.

3 - Radiohead - "Street Spirit (fade out)" (from The Bends, 1995)
My favourite song of all time for a good few years after I heard it, until the following two took its place. I previously mentioned that Daft Punk's "One More Time" would soundtrack the end of the world, but this is only if you were partying the way out with the rest of the world. On the other hand, if you opted to lock yourself in the room and greet the end alone, "Street Spirit", over a resolutely minor guitar arpeggio and humbly shuffling rhythm section, would tell you how we have brought this all on ourselves and if all we can do now is repent, "immerse ourselves in love" as it were. Thom starts with a mumble and builds his voice up to an almighty final cry before uttering his last "immerse your soul in love" with a subdued and resigned sense of acceptance. 4 minutes and 7 seconds have passed; this is it. That final 'A' on the guitar. SILENCE.

2 - Explosions in the Sky - "Your Hand in Mine" (from The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, 2001)
Sometimes the best stories are told by a musical instrument. Or in this case, the relationship between four. EITS are not just another post-rock band. They are one that don't just try to create a mood, they try to tell you a tale, each tumbling guitar melody and skittering snare a different statement. But no matter how many ways the band say it, "Your Hand in Mine" only has one thing to say. And it's something that cannot be described, and something that needn't be described, because knowing it is there is enough to speak for itself. And I think we all know what it is. At 2.27, you can feel the band take your hand, and no matter how alone you feel, it gives you hope that one day another person will make you feel this way.

...aaaaand!!!


...!


1 - Anathema - "Are You There?"
This is my favourite song of all time, but strangely enough, I do not relate to it lyrically. And in fact, some of the lyrics I do not even understand. And I'm not even saying it's the music that does the talking. I'm not being very clear, let me try to explain.

"Are You There?" is about believing in life after death. About being able to contact a loved one after they are gone. Danny Cavanagh wrote this 4 years after the death of his mother, for the very, very dark "A Natural Disaster" album, full of anthems of regret, anger and confusion, but above all sadness to the point of numbness. "Are You There?" is a single bright light in the far corner of this dark room of an album, and one that would be finally reached 7 years later with the stunning "We're Here Because We're Here" record. It is what this song represents that makes it truly magical, even more so as Anathema progress as a band.

I have said this so many times before, Anathema were once a band who refused to cheer up, a band who related to the unrelentingly negative Doom Metal genre because they saw no other way to express themselves. However, it took a real tragedy, the death of the Cavanagh's mother in '98, to make this sadness, regret and depression suddenly achingly relevant. That is why 1999's "Judgement" remains their best album: it's the sound of the band who cried wolf. All those years singing about sadness, and all of a sudden they have something to be sad, and very sad, about.

See, for a talented musician, it's easy to write a sad song, and make people cry. It's easy to write a love song and do the same. However, it's hard to write a sad song when you don't want to admit how sad you really are. That involves serious self analysis and exploration, something that most bands would rather shy away from. But from that moment on, songwriter Danny seemingly found a release in explaining these emotions, and suddenly Anathema had found their purpose.

"Are You There?" is the sound of Danny believing he can write a song about hope. Of course, this is far from a happy song, it's troubled and confused ("Since you've been gone I've been lost inside", "All the ghosts freak my selfish out", "Where are you when I need you?"), but the glorious break into full band mode, on a resolutely major chord at 1:44, sounds like the first step into reaching peace, the first of a long road, but the first is always the hardest.

Now, this is where it inspires me to love "Are You There?" that bit more than all other songs, at least at this point in my life. If one glimmer of hope is all that is needed to believe things will get better, this is a message that stems to all aspects of life. And if Danny and Anathema can reach peace within themselves and express it through music, I can damn well do the same with my music. "Are You There?" Danny asks the ghost of his mother... it doesn't matter whether she really answers or not. He believes that she does, and really, isn't that enough?



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Wish me luck everyone.


joecopplestone.bandcamp.com


:)


x

Friday 1 April 2011

Top 10 of March 2010.

March finally saw us leave behind the wretched Winter, and step, nay, leap into Spring whole-heartedly. We saw the sun in the sky, and this sense of relief and a universal cry of "fucking FINALLY" seems to have been reflected in the very satisfying concentration of uplifting music appearing this month.

Teenage rascals The Vaccines ploughed through the oversaturated indiepop scene and made an audible shout with their debut, proving that 1 and half minutes is all you need to create the perfect pop song (see pint sized hook-rocket "Norgaard"), Patrick Wolf surprised and divided fans by going from angsty to anthemic, although not as anthemic as the long awaited debut from The Naked and Famous, which if nothing else reminded us how utterly stunning "Young Blood" really is. And judging by Noah and the Whale's life-affirming latest, frontman Charlie Fink is well and truly over moody ex Laura Marling, as every track simply beams, awash with a glorious self belief and positivity.

I couldn't not mention the two massive polished turds that were the releases by Britney Spears and Nicole Scheiresichieizereicher, suitably horrific, but even those played their part in building up anticipation for the summer to come. When (very) drunk, "Til The World Ends" sounds almost as euphoric as it wishes it did, so that's good.

Oh yea, Radiohead's album came out proper. Old news to those of us who smugly already own it, but the joke's on us of course, dutifully forking out twice for the same record. "Codex" is worth it though, alone. Anyway, let's talk about some freakin' tunes.


10
Not Giving Up on Love
Armin Van Buuren & Sophie Ellis Bextor

Another one that found longevity in their singing career by taking a back-seat to their producers, Ms Bextor is  like the British (very British) Kelly Rowland these days. And that's fine, just fine, because whilst Kelly plays the commander, Sophie's once cocky posh girl demeanour is replaced by a gorgeous vulnerability which reveals a subtle tenderness and even humbleness to her perfectly enunciated siren, and is undoubtedly something that those US dance-divas shy away from. On the record's cover it suggests this is "Armin Van Buuren VS Sophie Ellis Bextor" and this actually seems very apt. Van Buuren's luscious euphoric trance attempts to smother Bextor's cries, but as fragile as her delivery is, she's "not giving up on love", and the fight she puts up is actually rather beautiful.

As is Sophie herself in the delightfully overblown and glamourous video.



9
Lady Luck
Jamie Woon

After hearing the abomination that was Jessie J's Who You Are (speak for yourself love), one wonders why genuine creativity did not triumph over mastubatory displays of virtuousity; in other words, how did the racket that the BBC Sound of 2011 winner makes seem more appealing than the irresistible soulful croon of 27 year old Jamie Woon. Comparisons with fellow nominee James Blake are inevitable, but ill informed. Both are subdued and fame-shy young men with heartbreaking voices. But Blake doesn't want to let the listener in, Woon wants to seduce you, albeit very slyly. Last year's single "Night Air" was spacious and haunting, but on the slight yet funky "Lady Luck", morning has come and Woon might have the blues, but he's gonna sing through them. Slick beats and an undeniably sexy and sublimely soulful vocal make it hard not to fall in love with the track and indeed Jamie Woon himself.

His debut "Mirrorwriting" is out on the 18th April. A tip: trade in your copy of Who You Are to get it cheaper.

Video comment of the week: "Jamie sure has a long commute". Haha!



8
I Wrote the Book
Beth Ditto

Thank you Simian Mobile Disco, oh THANK YOU, for introducing us to this Beth. Alongside SMD's recollections of early Madonna, the roaring voice of The Gossip is now allowed to breath and one realises, even moreso now, that Ditto's sophisticated performance on the magnificent "Cruel Intentions" was just the beginning. She sounds more confident, diva-esque almost on her solo debut "I Wrote the Book", and even though it's only early days of her stepping out on her own, Ditto's sultry warble makes it easy to believe that she has already wrote and then rewrote the book for what is benchmark in indie dance music. Welcome on your new journey Beth, you're riding the 808 (kickdrum) bus from now on.



7
Starless
The Unthanks

To call The Unthanks folk does them an injustice. When one thinks of folk, one thinks of humble tales of life experiences and simple, acoustic arrangements. This is, of course, a blindly ignorant and wildly sweeping statement, but The Unthanks's "Starless" tugs on the heartstrings on a way that transcends and rises above categorisation. The voice of Rachel Unthank here is desperate and forelorn, and the mournful trumpet and subdued yet dramatic strings arrangement carry this tale of depression and loneliness. I almost don't want to mention that it's actually a cover of a track by prog rock kings King Crimson, because The Unthanks simply make it their own, and when Unthank herself sings "ice blue silver sky, fades into grey, to a grey hope that yearns to be starless and bible black", it is undoubtedly a far more touching rendition than the melodramatic original performance.



6
You Know What I Mean
Cults

Cults are beginning to well outlive their name, and it's reflected in the direction that their music is going. Previous triumph "Go Outside" was a distant daydream of a track, and as lovely as it was, "You Know What I Mean" showcases a bit of a backbone and even packs a punch of a chorus. No longer murmering in the background, once twee-voiced female singer Madeline Follin now sounds positively ready to start a fight... do you know what I mean? You will when you hear her belt out "Cos I am afraid of the light, yeah you know what I mean" as walls of guitar and burbling synths force you to sit up and take listen in a way we haven't heard from Cults until now. With the season of summer that was MADE for this band a mere 2 months away, 2011 is looking more and more likely to be the year of Cults.



5
Give it All Back
Noah and the Whale

Ah, childhood memories. Nothing depresses you more on a summer's day when you look out of the window of your workplace and see ungrateful youth's wasting time and frolicking gaily, and remember the (many) years ago when that used to be you. It's hard not to think of all the wasted opportunities and all the years you wasted when you were young, when you could've been working hard towards the career you now feel behind in.

Now "Give it All Back" is not about this. And in fact, its story of the childhood embarrassment of being in a band only makes you feel worse about all the drinking you did when you could've been rehearsing or revising, particularly when you see where the loveable N&TW have made it. But the charm of Charlie Fink's frank and touching account of (we assume) the band's youthful beginnings is enough to make you root for them.

Fink recalls, "Performing in our school assembly, played a cover of "Don't Let Me Down", the performance was nervous and awkward, but the passion was real and profound" and of "the kids in the audience laughing, as the band just stared at the ground". This verse in itself sounds awkward, as does most of the detailed account, but when Fink joyfully cries out "Victory for the kids who believe in rock 'n' roll!", his "real" and "profound" passion for what he does could not be clearer. And going by the uplifting rock anthem that backs these words, it's a passion and an incredible talent for writing a heartwarming melody to go with it.

"And miles away the other kids would just grow old" he adds. And indeed we are growing old. But at least Noah and the Whale are allowing us to do it with them.

Someone described this as a mix of "Summer of '69" and LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends". This is a freakishly accurate depiction.



4
The City
Patrick Wolf

I know people that hate this song. And for the closed minded amongst us, there's a lot to hate in all fairness. Fans who loved Wolf's experimentation in previous recordings will not be happy with the straight forward arena pop of "The City", especially the pitch-shifted chorus sample that wedges itself into the brain, something a Patrick Wolf song has certainly never attempted to do before. Lyrically, there's no mystery or confusing metaphor, the message of hope and determination couldn't be clearer. So is this new, born again a happy man Patrick Wolf a reincarnation that we like?

The fact is, we haven't got a choice. Wolf has gone through some personal turmoil, particularly since The Bachelor, and he's come out the other side determined that "the city won't destroy our love", presumably the love between himself and his new spouse. But in fact, the city of London, the city that Wolf is undoubtedly talking about, destroys all kinds of loves. Passion for our interests or careers, love and ties with family, the potential loves with those we date and even the love for life in general we perhaps no longer feel when waking up. "The City" is by no means a perfectly written anthem, and in many ways, skips minor details to get to the "feel good" parts. But if it feels this good, why aren't we all doing it? And by the same token, why can't all artists have a break from being miserable sometimes, just to tell their fans "you know what? I actually feel amazing today".

All I'll say is that when Wolf wishes me the top, top, top, top of the morning, I shall cringe, but wish it right back at him. He deserves it.



3
Live Those Days Tonight
Friendly Fires

Something happens to your heart in the opening moments of "Live Those Days Tonight", something strange. It skips not one, but two beats. The first beat skips when you feel that same excitement that you felt when the indie choir belted out those opening chords of "Jump in the Pool", but the second comes when you hear something new. A new spark, one that suggests Friendly Fires are not resting on the admirable laurels of their debut. "Live Those Days Tonight" takes the anthemic qualities of "Skeleton Boy" and "Jump..." and throws more ideas into the mix, ones that produce an explosive mix of early 90s dance and trancier Hi NRG dance, whilst maintaining a distinctly live performance aspect that FF never lose sight of. And the songwriting couldn't be more top notch. Second record "Pala" is coming, and if this is anything to go by, it's going to cause an almighty blast that will take the world by storm, not just the indie scene that already loves them.



2
Oxygen
Blackfield

Listening to the bizarre space rock of Porcupine Tree's earliest recordings, and Blackfield founder Steven Wilson's first releases, you would never guess that one day this man's songs would be produced by someone as mainstream as pop producer Trevor Horn. Taken from Blackfield's new record "Welcome to my DNA", "Oxygen" could not be more of a token 'single' if it tried. But Wilson sounds defeated and resigned to the easy listening pop anthem that we hear here, and the juxtaposition of the seemingly anti-mainstream lyrics with the blissful arrangement is an arresting and telling one.

The track lasts 3 minutes exactly, a 3 minute pop song if you will, and the last lines that Wilson utters, as well as throughout, through an embarrassed and disguising filter, are "there's no oxygen left on our planet". Wilson wrote confusing but beautiful music once (search for "Voyage 34" or "The Sky Moves Sideways", and you'll barely recognise him), but project Blackfield is seemingly aimed at the AOR market. If music is the "oxygen" he refers to, he obviously feels he has lost the creativity he once had in replacement for a more commercial sound, and in short, money.

But he needn't worry. As mainstream as "Oxygen" sounds, one thing that Wilson's voice and music never loses, no matter what the medium it translates through, is sincerity. And as a result the poppy "Oxygen" is still desperately melancholic and poignantly bittersweet and quite possibly one of the best tracks he has ever recorded.



1
Life is Life
Noah and the Whale

Another AOR anthem. And another band who can turn it into something wonderful. But unlike Blackfield, Noah and the Whale are unashamed and unapologetic of their big choruses and shrewdly used drum machines, although this doesn't mean that the emotional power of their message is lessened at all.

The background leading up to Noah and the Whale's third record could not be more soap opera-esque if it tried. Laura Marling was a part time member of Noah and the Whale on their naive and slightly irritatingly happy debut, and full time girlfriend to Charlie Fink. Then she dumped him for (HAHAHA!) Marcus Mumford (and Sons). Woe is him, and along comes totally different (and actually revelatory) second effort "The First Days of Spring". Gorgeous, desperately sad and full to the brim with missing and regret, it's quite possibly one of the best break-up records of recent times, to put it gleefully shallow terms.

Anyway, what one could've expected from "Last Night on Earth" is debatable. The title possibly even suggests an extension of the sentiment of "First Days...", to the extent that this "last night" is a self-destructive one. Then it could be a record about living each day as if it were our last. Turns out that the latter is the case, and after a couple of full listens, it's undeniable that "Last Night on Earth", for the optimists amongst us, is Noah and the Whale's defining record so far.

And "Life is Life" is its stellar kick off. Essentially providing a summary of all the messages that are to follow, whilst following a story of its very own, Fink is no longer singing about himself, or at least not directly. He sings of a man who is "gonna change his ways", a man who "feels like his new life can start". It's not an original message, but it's one that seems terribly relevant and probably very healthy for Fink in the circumstances. The band employ gospel choirs, a massive synth bass and a chorus that could move mountains, and it all sounds like opening your front door to the sun for the first time in years.

But what's really special here is the message. Whilst many artists, and indeed many of us humble listeners, choose to deal with their personal pain by singing about it incessantly, it's actually much more rewarding and probably more cathartic to instead look outside at the world around, and realise what a wonderful place it actually is, and how in fact, everyone around you is searching for the same things you are. When a song, such as "Life is Life", can teach you this, your own personal problems suddenly seem very unimportant.

If Patrick Wolf's "The City" and Noah and the Whale's "Last Night on Earth" are anything to go by, maybe 2011 is the year of cheering the fuck up. I'll drink to that.