My Picks Of The Year - Music
A bit more of a crossover with things that were actually released in 2005 on this list! But the only rule for inclusion; I heard it all first in the previous tweleve months�..
1 - Fall Heads Roll �The Fall
See here. Definitely their album of the millennium so far. Earlier in the year�
2 - Dragnet- The Fall
I�d always had a hole in my extensive Fall collection where their second album should be, as I�d listened to the critics who�d slagged it off. As often, a bg mistake. This was terrific, the sound is leaps on from �Witch Trials� while MES�s downbeat wit hasn�t yet spiralled off into the weirdo-sphere.
3- Achtung Bono - Half Man Half Biscuit
See here. As I said, maybe not their best; still better than anyone else.
4 - Saucy Haulage Ballads �Half Man Half Biscuit
My my Ben, what varied selections you have! Well, tough tits; this is great. I�d missed this out when first released in 2002 because its (only an EP); how foolish I was.
5- You Could Have It So Much Better �Franz Ferdinand
See here. Maybe too clinical for immortality, but for now as thrilling and stylish a bash to the chops as you’re gonna get.
6 - Hot Fuss �The Killers
First released in 2004, the singles still going on into this year turned me onto this. Very 80s retro, and unlike Franz Ferdinand, not just the cooler bits (there�s even a lump of Duran Duran in there and that is NOT a compliment), but ultimately a glamorous tune-filled racket, with an earnest nature lacking in their counterparts which is endearing.
7 - Disgraceful � Dubstar
Curiosity sent me back to those halcyon days of 1995 to what turns out to be a bit of a forgotten gem; like Dusty Springfield meets Pet Shop Boys meets Smiths. Melodically lovely, lyrically stark; how many people noticed �Not So Manic Now� was actually about a pensioner being assaulted in her flat when it first came out??
8 - The Best of Kirsty MacColl
Speaking of under-rated artists of yore�..Possibly the most beautiful voice ever singing songs of exceptional wit and searing loss….what�s not to like?
9- Soul Mining �The The
Mining the past again this was an unexpected treat from a band I�d been put off by their awful name before. But Matt Johnson was a wonderfully eloquent critic of the hideousness of the 80s, and �That Sinking Feeeling� rocks mutha (ahem.)
10- End Of The Century �The Ramones
Okay, cheating cos this one�s a DVD not a CD, and a documentary one at that. But the story of this most incredibly dysfunctional of bands:- left-wing Jewish obsessive-compulsive shy romantic singer Joey, control freak violent right-wing thug guitarist Johnny, scatter-brained junkie male prostitute bassist Dee Dee, and er, drummer, Tommy, was absolutely gripping. Top tunes too.
But what of the great contemporaries I hear you cry? Well, Kaiser Chiefs are OK but a little too “wacky” for my liking, the new White Stripes effort was OK but a bit of a disappointment for me. Bloc Party are crashingly dull, The Libertines interesting, some good tunes, but somewhat better in theory than they are in practice. At the risk of being thrown out of Club Serious; Sugababes and Girls Aloud were pretty good.
But of course, pitiful little star-truck twat that I am; my real cultural highlight of the year was meeting Julie Burchill.
Happy New Year to all Spike readers. Think you’re better than everyone else don’t you? Well, you’re right.
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- Big Hanz For Franz
- Zeinab Badawi’s Twenty Hotels
- Half Man Half Biscuit on Radio 3
- Its Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas
- The Fall, The Blondes and the Biscuits
