2012 in review

I am very late in this post.

As someone who blogs about music it seems obligatory to post what albums I loved in 2012. I would say this to anyone who releases an album in teh first few months of teh year most people lose track of albums released early in teh year. I personally try to keep track of what is released and I listen to to give myself a fighting chnce. That said
in 2012 some of my favorite albums included:

The Twilight Sad No one can Ever Know
Alt- J - an Awesome Wave
Blood Red Shoes - In Time to voices
Club Smith - appetite for Chivalry
Call the Doctor -
Dog Is Dead - All Our Favourite Stories
delerentos-Little Sparks
General Fiasco- Unfaithfully Yours
Egyptian Hip Hop-Good Don't Sleep
The Futureheads - Rant
Green Day's Trilogy was suprisingly fun uno , Dos, Tre!
mystery jets - Radlands
Maximo Park - the national Health

need I say that seeing Alt-J, The Twilight Sad at Great Scott were both amazing. seeing The Wombats again and catching up was fun too, then throw in the small road trip to see Bombay Bicycle Club there were some good points of this year. Not to forget when Johnny Foreigner eventually managed to make it to Boston about 5 years after we wanted them too.
Lets hope 2013 is better and does not live up to being a year of 13.

Upcoming concerts

yeah I know this assumes someone else reads this but..............
upcoming in Boston despite the fact that so many bands are tending to avoid Boston

arriving at The Lily Pad Samantha Crain on February 3rd. Looking like someone in the crowd rather than a pop star but with an amazing voice and personable stage presence that has gathered fans like First Aid Kit this gig is worth your time


go see Cate Le bon TT's on February 8th, charming, talented and worth a night out.

We totally fell in love with Slow Club at SXSW 2009, at long last they are playing Boston at TT's. Great on record they produce a knockout show. A duo if Charles and Rebecca they gel like superglue. Rebecca has been known to drink a little and it seems every guy on the UK indie scene has a little crush on her. SXSW 2010 when they closed out the Saturday night Rebecca was wrecked but put on an awesome show, made me laugh and be in awe all at once.


if you have time and know the uk series Come Dine with me watch this and laugh like crazy



At long last The Twilight Sad are about to release their third album - yes the first release was not an album. If you aren't insane like us and joining them in DC they arrive at Brighton music Hall February 26th. The more I listen the more I love this music basically folk music (which you can tell if you see James and Andy do an acoustic set) it is presented as a wall of sound that astounds you.
Their bass player left and Dok joined on keyboard and Johnny from Take A Worm For A Walk both of who are now integral parts of the band.

Just before SXSW Bombay Bicycle Club come back over to the US they play the Middle East Downstairs on March 9th. stunning band - so young you can barely believe that they have three amazing albums and many EPS under their belt. such talent so young. If you ever want to figure how music talent spiders through a family look up Jamie MacColl - yes THAT MacColl.
listen below and if this song isnt about early morning sex then my mind is just too much in the gutter.


Also coming so look them up Dry the River and We Are Augustines

Albums 2011

OK everyone is doing it so why not
in no particular order:

The Indelicates - David Koresh Superstar got to love a duo to make a musical of this subject, though I do not quote I do believe they are as cynical and aethiest as I am

Bombay Bicycle Club - A different Kind Of Fix Love this album though by the time it came out Bad Timing and Sleep seemed comfortable and not new, Shuffle was amazing.

The Wombats - This Modern Glitch - perfect pop from perfectly human guys. Not sure I am comfortable yet with Murph opening his problems to the world but so so happy to see them slap the NME and all doubters in the face, the boys came back with a vengeance.

Emmy The Great - Virtue totally love this album and find more to adore the more I listen, Dinosaur Sex is just perfect.

Fight Like Apes - The Body Of Christ And The Legs Of Tina Turner again they produce punchy perfect music with an absurdist title. I just wish hey toured the US at least once or a million times.

Now my two cheats - actually released in 2010 but I was absurdly slow

Endor - Endor you should have heard PopCop expounding on this band and now hear my please - listen and love. able to be found on bandcamp the best way to buy music.

My First Tooth - Territories not quite sure how this love started but this album was amazingly great. Find them on the Alcopop label.

Sam Duckworth - The Mannequin AKA Get Cape Wear Cape Fly sweetly endearing and life affirming

Telekinesis - 12 Desperate Straight Lines- yes an American - or more precisely its Michael Benjamin Lerner. Hard to pick a track but listen to Car Crash or Dirty Thing and not smile and sing a long a little and you must be dead.

Tom Vek - Leisure Seizure - wow when we thought he had disappeared the king of synth came back with a wonderful album

Yuck - Yuck - taking the best from Cajun Dance Party , that is Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom, indeed Daniel also being Oupa which started as Yu(c)k. This band came to SXSW and then toured the US allowing us all to see how brilliantly songs like Rubber and Suicide Policeman sounded live.

being pushed elsewhere as 2011 but we know they were 2010 but still loved Kid Canaveral Shouting at wildlife and Admiral Fallow's Boots Met My Face.

you may notice I was lucky enough to have seen most of my picks live if not this year in previous years.
also pretty good was Wild Beasts Smother, Friendly Fires Pala, The Joy Formidable The Big Roar though not totally loved

Gigs 2011

to misquote from 'A Tale of Two Cities'
it was the best of years for gigs and it was the worst of years.
2011 was the year LiveNation came in puts its brutal finger round the neck of live music in Boston and throttles it to a horrible mangled mess.
FUCK YOU LIVE NATION MAY YOU ROT IN HELL.
We are way down in our concerts only 69 this year.
We saw gigs by our absolute favourites Twilight Sad and The Wombats and that included very special SXSW gigs from The Sad and an amazingly wonderfully intimate sets from The 'bats.
We saw Mystery Jets, Telekinesis and Bear Hands again
We got to finally see Bombay Bicycle Club after listening to them for five years and MANY MANY times so much they now recognize and joke with us.
We also got to see Yuck, weird situation the progenitor of Yuck Cajun Dance Party makes me foolish in adoration. So amazing to talk to Daniel, who seems shy and Max was so amazingly friendly Iam for ever in his debt.
We got to see Admiral Fallow,Kid Canaveral, withered Hand and King Creosote for the first time and fell in love. King Creosote in Boston astounded me beyond words so that their gig is seared in my mind in awe. Weird because Kenny is such a down t earth bloke and not someone we would be normally throwing back pints with but I bow before his musical genius.
We saw Alessi's Ark many times and loved her down to earth humility and honesty, she went from nice music to must go see her when she is near.
We got to see Emmy The Great in a random CMJ hit and run gig and found she lived up to her hype. I find it impossible to dislike a woman who treats the subject of date rape as an opportunity to show a man that a woman has control of her body and should be treated with respect.
We saw the death of Glasvegas, the gig in Boston was brutal and humiliating in its awfulness.
We got to see Pulled Apart By Horses and loved their huge energy, sorry still dont love their music.
The Indelicates hit the USA and my love for them grew in leaps and bounds, when I saw them at SXSW Simon scared me, this time I realised he is a sweet teddy bear.
I realised The Vaccines and Brother were a total hype taht we coudl forget.
We got to see Eddie Collins again, wow what a comeback and he played my favourite song, Don't Shilly Shally - oh wow fan girl time!
so my quick review less than I wanted but the highs were high so perhaps I am not so sad.

Bombay Bicycle Club

Whatever people may say about me, I think it is clear I love music.
I love a lot of music but I have bands that I love having never really know - Cajun Dance Party - Daniel is a bit weird but if you listen how could you not forgive that and others that I love and bands that go way up there into my totally awesome level.
The Cribs went right up there to awesome then Johnny Marr broke my heart and dragged them to the gutter. Time waits to see if they can regain their power.
Then The Twilight Sad, a band that when you tune in you would do anything for - bastards where is your next album don't you understand I am going through withdrawal and suffering worse than any junkie.
Then as the title might suggest there is Bombay Bicycle Club. Seriously awing folks way back more than 4 years ago I started to follow these guys without any hope of seeing them,then SXSW happened and I got to see them 4 times in one week.
This week a new target is hit BBC play Boston - negatively as a support band but I challenge anyone that sees them not to fall as totally and utterly under their spell as I have done.
I see a lot of Two Door Cinema Club fans being blown away. The show is sold out so I really hope peopel aren't arseholes. Meanwhile on Wednesday we will be road tripping to get to see BBC headlining at Music Hall of Williamsburg.
I so want this to be awesome and I know the guys on stage will cooperate I just hope the audiences do too.
Funny story at SXSW: after the last BBC show where we were talking to BBC we noticed Mark Divine and Andy from The Twilight Sad in the audience completely out of their minds drunk. I was trying to help Divine out seeing he was getting maudling and noticed Ed looking on in amazement, so I went to tell him this was The Twilight Sad's drummer and he just looked blank and said who - minor scolding ensued. As I knew I love BBC but my boys from The Sad will ALWAYS come first.