NYE 2010 Shuffle

And now, from the sublime to potentially ridiculous....

I am handing my next hour or so's listening to the iPod gods. 15000 songs to choose from....here's the shuffle.

1. Dirt Crew-Largo - Marc Romboy (90's electronic dance / chillout, ok I guess)

2. Sunburn - Muse (Yeah!! Love this track. From their first album, Showbiz)

3. Run Like Hell - Pink Floyd (From The Wall - apt given recent student riots)

4. The Next Episode - Dr. Dre (Great stuff, lots of Dre & Snoop Dogg fluffin' and chuffin')

5. Got To Get You Into My Life - The Beatles (From Revolver)

6. Battery In Your Leg - Blur (From Think Tank)

7. Trampled Under Foot - Led Zeppelin (There's always a time and place for some Led Zep)

8. Happiness - Goldfrapp (From Seventh Tree)

9. Climbing Up The Wall - Radiohead (From the perennially No.1 ranked album OK Computer)

10. What You Need - Powerhouse (Random dance tune - I feared this might happen :-)

11. Confide In Me - Kylie Minogue (My fave Kylie tune - and no gold hotpants in sight!)

12. Hanna Hanna - China Crisis (Meh! Never a big fan, this must be N's!)

13. Death Will Never Conquer - Coldplay (75 seconds long - next!)

14. The Bones Of You - Elbow (Fantastic song from the brilliant Mercury prize winning album The Seldom Seen Kid)

15. Jilted John - Jilted John (Apparently Gordon is a moron)

16. Good Morning Good Morning - The M's (No idea what this is!)

17. Lessons In Love - Level 42 (I can picture the slap-bass....yawn!)

18. Don't Get Lost In Heaven - Gorillaz (I like all their albums, this track's from Demon Days)

19. Where Angels Play - The Stone Roses (Not one of their best - IMHO)

20. Let's Get High - Dr.Dre (I've only got one Dre album and this is the 2nd track shuffled?)

21. Parklife - Blur (A classic, one does try not to get intimidated by the dirty pigeons)

22. Once I Flew - White Town (I doubt I've ever listened to this before, bought the album for Your Woman)

23. Sure Took Magic - Re-Birth (Not sure I've ever heard this either!)

Gonna do just a few more - I do want to end on a high note though.......let's see.......

24. Short Circuit - Daft Punk (OK, but not the high note I'm looking for)

25. Alive - Black Eyed Peas (From The E.N.D.)

26. Come Live With Me - Heaven 17 (I was 37, you were 17??)

27. Do Nothing - The Specials (Still waiting for the big finish!)

28. Spooky - Dusty Springfield (Sheer class!)

29. The Wonderful World Of The Young - Danny Williams (A croony tune from 1962)

30. Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers (Their wish came true, eventually)

And that will do. As a wrap up, I would say that it's been great listening to music and having to think about what, if anything, it means to me.

As well as reminding me that there is a lot of music I own that I never listen to, more than anything I think it illustrates music's ability to transport oneself back to a specific time and place.

Now to drink some of our beer to celebrate a fun day. Happy New Year!

Kate Bush - The Dreaming / Siouxsie & The Banshees - Kiss In The Dreamhouse

I don’t listen to enough Kate Bush – I was 15 when Wuthering Heights came out and I bought her first 4 albums between 1978 and 1982, The Dreaming being the last of those. It reminds me of leaving home, getting a flat and living on beans on toast. I’m glad I listened to it today, great stuff.

The woman is not exactly prolific – the fact she has only released a further 4 albums to this date illustrates that well – fortunately they are all available to me at any time as my darlin’ GF is a proper Kate geek / fan!

The other female led music I keep returning to from that period is Siouxsie and the Banshees. They were deeply involved in the nascent punk scene, though to my mind developed musically to embrace a broad set of influences. For the sake of comparison I listened to their 1982 album A Kiss In The Dreamhouse, it makes me want to sing along out of tune, jump about and dance wildly, unfortunately the years have taken their toll on my joints and dancing ability! Brilliant stuff, should be compulsory listening for today’s indie boys and girls. Educashunal, innit?

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads / Delphic - Acolyte

Kanye West might think his music is dark, but if dark is what you want then Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ album Murder Ballads is properly dark. The stories of Stagger Lee and O’Malley’s Bar will well and truly test your ability to embrace darkness!

As an antidote to tales of death and murder some electronic, poppy dance tunes were in order – Delphic’s January 2010 album Acolyte got an airing. Notable to me for 1) having been support at a Little Boots gig I saw in Leeds and 2) providing the theme to Sky Sports cricket coverage of England over the summer with the first track Clarion Call.

Interpol - Interpol / Imelda May - Mayhem

Interpol’s 2007 album Our Love To Admire is one of my all time favourites. I’ve only just got their 2010 self-titled album, which was not especially well critically received. I’m hoping it’s a grower, as I’ve not really been able to “get” it yet.

Imelda May is a Dublin rockabilly style artist. I really enjoy the energy and simplicity of the tunes and musicians. I saw her play in York over a year ago and although this new album doesn’t quite capture the sweaty vibe of her live performance, it does have a great cover of Tainted Love on – and that is never a bad thing.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

First out of the traps this NY Eve is Kanye West’s latest, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. When Mr. West sat down to write his rhymes, conjure up his risqué visuals and collaborate with John Legend, Chris Rock and others I doubt a middle-aged white man in Yorkshire was foremost in his mind as his target audience. Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for melodic, sample-rich hip-hop and Kanye never fails to satisfy.

Admittedly there are one or two tracks that you wouldn’t want your maiden aunt to catch you listening to and it sits slightly uneasily with me that I have contributed to a man getting diamond insets in his teeth, but hell, there are some fine tunes on here!

Shuffling out of 2010

Andrew put forward a plan for the pair of us to spend the last day of 2010 playing music and blogging on what we play and our thoughts as the day progresses.

In his case that will no doubt revolve (pun intended) around lovingly inspecting his collection of vinyl LP’s while deciding which are worthy of turntable time, then fiddling with his EQ settings trying to perfect the pitch and tone of the recordings on his expensive speakers!

I have long since embraced the digital age – my vinyl went to Riverside Records in York back in the 80’s when I needed cash to get a car fixed. I do have shelves full of CD’s, but they are hidden away in cupboards and cases. Therefore all my music, 15000 songs worth, is stored in the palm of my hand on assorted iPods.

My contribution to the New Years Eve music marathon will therefore be a few hours of iPod shuffle – my only decision is do I use my own 1500 song iPod nano, containing just my favourites, or the household 80GB iPod, which although it contains my entire collection also houses my other half’s collection of oddities? This includes a substantial selection of 90’s dance, trance and chillout tunes, not especially to my taste!

Tune in later to see what the iPod gods deign appropriate for my NY Eve ears.

Andrew's New Year's Eve playlist

It's down-time in the world of Revolutions Brewing.  Mark and Andrew are kicking back, a few pints of our beer chilling in our respective out-houses.

Waiting for the New Year's Eve festivities to kick off, Andrew is rummaging through his vinyl collection to spin some old favourites.

"I used to love coming in on a Friday evening following a few pints after work and hitting the hi-fi for a few hours.  I got into the habit of taping my mixes and it was fun to play them back afterwards to discover what alcohol-fuelled delights I had come up with".

Mark has just spent a few hours uploading hundreds of new tunes to his iPod and he'll be posting the results of his shuffle throughout the day.

Andrew's real-time playlist will be happening across the day on New Year's Eve before he has to get spruced up to go out to dinner.  Keep checking in to see what he's unearthed from his vinyl collection and where his mood has taken him.

Here we go then, it's just after 10 and I'm fed and watered.

Round & Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (one of many stand out tracks from one of the albums of the year)
Working With Fire & Steel - China Crisis (first two albums are fab!)
Halloween - Japan (opening track from Side 2 of Quiet Life - comfortably their finest album) 
70 Cities As Love Brings The Fall - Simple Minds (yes it's OK to like early Simple Minds) 
The Thin Wall - Ultravox (a band prone to later overblown statements but with some genuine glacial earlier classics such as this)
Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You)(Long Version) - A Flock Of Seagulls (this is a beautifully constructed epic 12" version)
I'm Your Money (Fortified Dance Mix) - Heaven 17 (no-nonsense synth-pop from Yorkshire) 
Love On A Farmboy's Wages - XTC (is this the most unacknowledged band in history?)
Hollow Horse - The Icicle Works (was never a huge fan of this lot and this is the only single of theirs I own) 
Interesting Drug - Morrissey (ahh god bless Kirsty MacColl)
There's A Guy Works Down The Chipshop Swears He's Elvis - Kirsty MacColl (Yes I do have this single! Brilliant lyrics.  He's a liar and I'm not sure about you. Bit of a parody of country and western songs me thinks)
My Girl - Madness (best singles band of the 80s? Yes Madness comes after MacColl in my singles box)
Mirror In The Bathroom - The Beat (Their Two-Tone single Tears of A Clown was one of the first singles I bought)
Whip In My Valise - Adam & The Ants (b-side of Xerox - check out YouTube for footage of his comeback gigs in 2010 - what a performer) 
International Jet Set - The Specials (playing this again I'm struck by the template it provided for Portishead's brand of trip-hop) 
Pale Shelter - Tears For Fears (the remixed version from the album and on lovely green vinyl) 
Way Down Now - World Party (love the Sympathy For The Devil inspired woo-woo's at the end)
Seether - Veruca Salt (probably unfamiliar to most of you - great debut album Americal Thighs) 
A Girl Like You - Edwyn Collins (had the pleasure of seeing him live this year and it was truly magical)
Luther Ingo's Star Cruiser - Ash (b-side of Kung Fu - never before played so was intrigued, pretty raucous!) 
Rat - Blessed Ethel (going through my mid-90s 7" purchases now!!) 
In Your Car - Kenickie (oh Lauren when are you going to make some more music?) 
Get Out Of Cities - Blur (b-side of Song 2 and another I've never before played) 
Cliquesuck - Bis (loved the DIY-indie ethos of this band - this is a great b-side from the Starbright Boy EP) 
Countdown to Elise - PQ (this is a beautiful single from 2008 check it out on YouTube)
Motorik - Kontakte (track from a split single a couple of years back - these guys make some fabulous soundscapes - here's a link to them on MySpace) 
Moving To New York - The Wombats (the original single version and a better mix than the one on the album - they performed this at Liverpool's City of Culture launch which doesn't say much about their home city!!) 
Never Enough - The Girls At Dawn (all-girl band from Chicago - live clip of track on YouTube) 
Searching For The Now - Sarandon (fantastic spiky indie-pop and great lovers of beer - here's a link to their MySpace profile) 

If you want to listen to (most of) this list I have made it available as a Spotify Playlist
...and that ladies and gentlemen is lunch (as Aggers would say) 

Right-ho, back to the vinyl after what turned into a mildly liquid lunch (it's tough when you've a 72 pint cask of ale in the conservatory).


After that frenetic burst of short duration indie-pop I need to slow down for a bit while my lunch settles.  Going to indulge myself with a few whole sides of albums.


Zazu - Rosie Vela (Side 1) (I love this record with its Becker/Fagen musicianship and Katz production.  I taped it off a mate back in the 80s but after I ditched my cassettes over a decade ago I'd not heard this in a long time then joy of joys I found a copy in a Totnes charity shop for 50p in almost perfect nick.  It's been played an awful lot since that May holiday in South Devon.)

OK Computer - Radiohead (Side 2) (Exit Music is just sublime although my copy has a scratch over the first 90 seconds a result of drunken episode.  Let Down I never really liked until I heard the Easy Star All-Stars reggae version then it all made sense.  Karma Police?  Well, for a minute there I lost myself.) 

The Comforts of Madness - Pale Saints (Side 2) (Another essential album this time from 1990. I upgraded my amp last year and for the first time heard all the weird noises and talking in the background of this record - madness indeed)

Steve McQueen - Prefab Sprout (Side 1) (The side with all the singles on it.  25 years on and this still sounds so fresh.  Goodbye Lucille #1 probably my favourite track.  Paddy McAloon is someone I'd love to meet.) 

Now I'm committed to listening to whole sides of albums as I want to immerse myself in Ian Clayton's excellent book Bringing It All Back Home - follow him on Facebook 


Replicas - Tubeway Army (Side 1) (Are Friends Electric is one of my all time favs.  Gary Numan does an amazing job of making a robotic song sound really emotional.  The line where he sings 'you see you mean everything to me' gets me every time.  Down In The Park is another awesome track.)

Moon Safari - Air (Side 2) (Mainly for New Star In The Sky which is just lovely - crikey this is over a decade old - aarrghh!)

Band On The Run - Wings (Side 1) (This record reminds me of being baby sat by our neighbour's teenage daughter.  She had a Fidelity record player, that I later bought off her with my pocket money in the early 80s, and this was one of the albums she had and played to me when I was a nipper. Tough choice on which side to go for but Let Me Roll It the last track on Side 1 swung it.)

Doolittle - Pixies (Side 2) (Oh I wish I'd gone to see them a few years ago on the reunion tour.  You can't fault an album that starts with Debaser and ends with Gouge Away.  Side 2 will always be my favoured side 'cos I love No.13 Baby "Black tear falling on my lazy queen, got a tattooed tit say number 13")

Dub Side Of The Moon - Easy Star All Stars (Side 1) (If these fellas ever play a town near you, go see them - they're amazing.  Have seen them twice.  First time at Leeds Irish Centre the main man/bassist had his back to the crowd for a lot of the gig.  Assumed he was on a trip and immersed in the music.  Turns out he was probably on a bad trip as the band had had a load of their gear nicked from the van outside the venue.  Next time I saw them he was a very happy chappy.) 

...and that is it from me.  Been a lot of fun digging out singles and albums I've not played in a while.  Must do this more often - there's infinitely more pleasure to be had than from pressing a few buttons on an iPod.  Off to get showered and spruced up for the evening's festivities.  Wishing you all a great new year.