...and some of them are just like us and some of them are dicks.Since I said I'd put some sleeve notes up for this year's comp I suppose I should. This is my third attempt. Which is useless by the way.
It's late enough now for those who may have looked to have given up. Probably late enough for me to not bother at all without anyone noticing. But after having gone to the trouble of getting the covers printed, cutting them all out by hand, folding them, putting them in the slip cases and burning the CDs, not to mention putting them in the cases too, then I should probably make some kind of an effort. For you.
So here we go, in order of appearance.
1) Desolation Row - My Chemical Romance (Watchmen soundtrack): Cover versions are a real guilty pleasure of mine and this is a classic. MCR cover a Sex Pistols covers band covering Dylan. It goes dagga dagga dagga dagga gnnnnrrrr and is therefore genius. Like the next one. It's also probably the most original thing about the Watchmen movie (which I really quite enjoyed for what it was).
2) Got Some - Pearl Jam (Backspacer): Some what? Do I need to go back and read the lyrics? I think this is what Pearl Jam sound like when they're having fun jamming in the basement with no one about. It also feels like it's an identical bpm to the preceding track so there's obviously something about that time signature that pushes the right buttons. Or perhaps it's because it goes dagga dagga dagga gnnnnrrrr. I picked Backspacer up in the HMV above Birmingham New Street on my way to a conference.
3) Pieces - Dinosaur Jr (Farm): This is just VERY LOUD pop music.
4) Ticket Taker - The Low Anthem (Oh My God, Charlie Darwin): I could have picked any track off this album. I almost did. What sealed it was when I realised this was a kind of post apocalyptic love song, which in my mind became a narrative that blended I Am Legend, Apocalypse Now and John Hughes. My imagination worries other people sometimes, I think it's quite sweet.
5) The Ghost of the Girl in the Well - Willard Grant Conspiracy (Paper Covers Stone): I love this song, I love their original version, I love the wooah ohhhh ohhhh bits that send shivers down my spine. This should really be used to soundtrack The Lovely Bones but probably won't. It's a stupid world sometimes.
6) Overland Hill - Walkenhorst and Porter (No Abandon): For those who don't know this next bit listen up, it's important. The Rainmakers are one of my all time favourite bands. We're talking top three here. At least. It's good to hear anything new by Bob and this is about as close to the Rainmakers sound he's got since the band split. Apart from the fiddles, they're new.
7) The Times - Lightning Dust (Infinite Light): Sometimes all I really want to say is that I just really like this song, and the only reason for adding any notes is so you can see what album it's on in case you like it too and want to track it down. And this is one of those times. Tell you what though, this is going to pop up in my top ten albums of the year I reckon. If and when I get around to writing them.
8) For While You Slept - Hush Arbors (Yankee Reality): You've not heard of them, I'd never heard of them, and once I had I couldn't stop playing them. There's always a bit: a hook, a line, a harmony, a whatever, like the woah ohh ohhhs from the Willard Grant tune. This has the widdly diddly bit that's repeated throughout until it gets a bit mental. That's the bit. Outstanding!
9) Try This At Home - Frank Turner (Poetry of the Deed): Bless you Frank for being cool on the train home from Reading, for having a very attractive girlfriend, for writing a very funny song, for providing the title to this piece and for sounding like The Levellers and yet still being seen as cool by the indie fraternity on the basis that you actually do wear skinny jeans but you don't have dreadlocks or smell bad.
10) When Lightning Strikes - Kiss (Sonic Boom): Appreciating Kiss is like appreciating good wine or good cheese. But even if you don't / can't then more importantly this has some grade a MOTHERFUCKING COWBELL... And if that's not enough for you then quite frankly I'm not sure why you've even bothered reading this far. Sonic Boom is an excellent album title.
Look, I'm going to post this now as the family has just arrived and we're about to have Christmas dinner. So I'll get back and fill in the rest later.
OK, later...
11) With a Girl Like You - Condo Fucks (Fuckbook): I like the original by The Troggs more.
12) Film Noir - The Gaslight Anthem (The 59 Sound): Technically this album came out last year making it invalid for this year's cd. But I only bought it this year. And I love this song. I like the line about less right than wrong, that's the bit again. I like the grng grng grng grng bit too. That's another bit. And then they re-released the album this year so it was all good for me to put it on the disc. Also they didn't play this one at Reading. Bastards.
13) Burnt Reynolds - Crippled Black Phoenix (200 Tons of Bad Luck): This is all Dan's fault so ask him.
14) Go - Marillion (Less is More): There's a previous post in which lies the roots of an explanation as to why this song retains a certain resonance for me. Anyway, I think it reminds me of Talk Talk, especially Steve Hogarth's voice. I wonder if he still has that cool glove that plays keyboards in the air?
15) Barter Blues - J. Tillman (Vacilliano Territory Blues): I don't like Fleet Foxes, live or on disc, or in photographs or text. I'm not that keen on their drummer's solo effort although it's way better than the band thing. But I like this one a lot. Especially the bit when it fades back in all grungy. That' the bit. Although you do have to wait a while to get to it. Sometimes a little wait is worthwhile. This wait is nothing compared to sitting through the Fleet Foxes album. Or any of the Twilight movies.
16) Everything's Coming Undone - Michael Stipe (Ciao My Shining Star): This is an album of covers of Mark Mulcahy and Miracle Legion songs. I have the original on the only solo Mulcahy album I own (and I know nothing of Miracle Legion) and it sounds nothing like this version. I'm not even sure any of the words are the same. Anyway, the album's also a tribute to Mulcahy's wife who died earlier this year. Listen to it again with that fact in mind.
17) Mazel Tov Cocktail - The Wildhearts (Chutzpah): Of all the bands that go dagga dagga dagga dagga gnnnnrrrr and grng grng grng grng and occasionally kersprrroing, The Wildhearts are the second best. Soul Asylum are the best. This also has the second best song title of the year after Burnt Reynolds. It would be silver all round for Ginger and the lads but this isn't the second best album of the year. That's someone else.
18) The Wrestler - Bruce Springsteen (Working On A Dream): The Wrestler is one of the best films I've seen this year. This is a beautiful song. It's the only one on this thing that makes me feel in any way melancholy. It reminds me of earlier.
19 Castaway - Shearwater (The Golden Archipelago): The Golden Archipelago doesn't come out till next year but this is a pre-release download with a proper cover and everything so it counts and YOU WILL listen to a new Shearwater song when there is one. Happy happy joy joy for me. Expect more next year.
Oh wow, that's me done.
In that case.
Merry Christmas xxxx
Watching Season 2 of The Wire
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