More about the memorial here.
Showing posts with label silly things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silly things. Show all posts
5 June 2011
bird poo tears
Took pictures of the evacuee memorial in Liverpool Street Station yesterday, because I noticed that some bird shit had landed strategically on the girl at the front to look like a tear. Thought it was pretty poignant. And rank.
More about the memorial here.
More about the memorial here.
19 May 2011
fallen bride
There's something quite poetic about this picture. Quite a beautiful visual of sadness and broken-ness. The odd thing is that the article says that she tried to kill herself when her boyfriend ended things with her while they were "making plans" to marry- surely that must be inaccurate, as why would she be wearing the wedding dress if they were just at the planning stage, seems more like a "jilted at the alter" sort of affair.
I always thought the most bittersweet visual of a woman on the edge was Esther Greenwood in the Bell Jar wandering round her house with a noose around her neck trying to find somewhere to hang herself, but the image of a woman framed by the folds in her wedding dress as she dangles over a balcony might just have replaced that.
18 May 2011
Political Spectrum...
I've just done this Political Spectrum Quiz, which is fairly interesting, once you get the results you can see the average, and also compare your views with other demographics.
Apparently the average is Left Libertarian, but only slightly.
You are a left moderate social libertarian.
Left: 4.85, Libertarian: 3.47
My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 4.85, Libertarian: 3.47
Foreign Policy:
On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world. You scored: -3.76
My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -3.76
Culture:
Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries. You scored: -6.7
My Culture War Stance
Score: -6.7
Try it yourselves!
Apparently the average is Left Libertarian, but only slightly.
You are a left moderate social libertarian.
Left: 4.85, Libertarian: 3.47
My Political Views
I am a left moderate social libertarian
Left: 4.85, Libertarian: 3.47
Foreign Policy:
On the left side are pacifists and anti-war activists. On the right side are those who want a strong military that intervenes around the world. You scored: -3.76
My Foreign Policy Views
Score: -3.76
Culture:
Where are you in the culture war? On the liberal side, or the conservative side? This scale may apply more to the US than other countries. You scored: -6.7
My Culture War Stance
Score: -6.7
Try it yourselves!
5 March 2011
Let England Shake
Since I’m at work on a Saturday, and the library is not very busy, I thought I’d vent about the issue that is conflicting me so at the moment. I genuinely cannot get enough of PJ Harvey’s new album Let England Shake but every time I allow myself to get excited about it or proclaim to myself that it’s the best album of 2011 so far, I can’t help but feel guilty because of the niggling feeling that the album is drenched too heavy in nationalism. The title itself sounds like it could be the slogan on an EDL poster. I am giving her highness PeeJ the benefit of the doubt, but I’ll highlight some of the lyrics (thanks to alwaysontherun.net – which is a brilliant lyrics website) just to support my claim.
I am also aware that it’s risky to assume that the voice is necessarily the voice of the singer, they’re just songs after all, so she could be assuming a character, or voicing things she doesn’t necessarily whole-heartedly support/believe in. She has in the past ranted at readings of her music being too autobiographical.
“Goddamn' Europeans
Take me back to beautiful England
And the grey, damp filthiness of ages
And battered books
And fog rolling down behind the mountains
And on the graveyards, and dead sea-captains” (From The Last Living Rose)
this song could easily just be about reclaiming a national identity that has been lost, by harking back to romanticised clichés of “battered books” and “fog”, but it definitely seems to be blaming people from Outside of England for this change of identity, and at no point seems to acknowledge that it might be a change for the better?
There is equally as strong a case to argue that the album is essentially anti-war:
“How is our glorious country ploughed
Not by iron ploughs
Our land is ploughed by tanks and feet
Feet, marching” (from The Glorious Land)
“I've seen and done things I want to forget
I've seen soldiers fell like lumps of meat
Blown and shot out beyond belief
Arms and legs were in the trees” (from The Words that Maketh Murder)
“Louis was my dearest friend
Fighting in the Anzac trench
Louis ran forward from the line
I never saw him again”
[...]
“If I was asked I'd tell
The colour of the earth that day
It was dull and browny-red
"The colour of blood", I'd say” (from The Colour of the Earth)
and so on...
But, even if it is anti-war, the tone of it doesn’t seem to suggest our country is at all responsible. I MIGHT be reading too deeply into the lyrics, and might be completely misreading them.
“People throwing dinars at the belly-dancers”
[...]
“He turned to me and then surveyed the scene
Said, “War is here in our beloved city”
(Let it burn, let it burn burn burn)” (from Written on the Forehead)
This Glorious Land opens with a military bugle, that instantly sets my hairs on end given my aversion to anything military.
The whole song ‘England’ unsettles me, it seems like a bitter lovesong to England that is distorted by far-eastern singing and instrumentation. It’s definitely the song that I feel most uncomfortable with.
I think the thing that bothers me is I find it difficult to ever consider soldiers as victims, especially not in recent wars. And as gritty and bleak as this album is at times, it’s also definitely romantic as well though.
I’ve just read several reviews of it online, and I seem to have entirely missed the point of it. A particularly well-written review on the Independent website says: “Polly Harvey offers a portrait of her homeland as a country built on bloodshed and battle, not so much a police state as a nation in thrall to military endeavour, however impotent and wasteful that has become. A place paralysed by fascination with past victories, hidebound by the ghosts of an imperial past.” Which makes me feel much better about it, and other reviews seem to agree that it is about mourning a country bloodied by war and imperialism rather than romanticising it or even celebrating it.
It’s just very frustrating that had Morrissey made this exact album, (and at times, the jangly distant guitars sound quite Smiths-esque) he would have been berated for its nationalist undertones (or overtones), even though it’s fairly obvious that as his liberal views are entirely cancelled out by his more right wing views, he has become someone that was considered so political he has become apolitical. Yet I know nothing about PJ Harvey’s politics really, but people are quick to say she’s just a simple west country gal. She is however, reportedly, into hunting, which worries and unsettles me.
UGH maybe I’m being overdramatic, but it’s really halting my enjoyment of the album. That said I do think it’s her strongest yet- even more so than White Chalk which I never thought I’d ever catch myself saying. Maybe I just need to stop thinking and enjoying the bloody music.
Also, I’ve just reread this, and it barely makes sense. Tante pis.
I am also aware that it’s risky to assume that the voice is necessarily the voice of the singer, they’re just songs after all, so she could be assuming a character, or voicing things she doesn’t necessarily whole-heartedly support/believe in. She has in the past ranted at readings of her music being too autobiographical.
“Goddamn' Europeans
Take me back to beautiful England
And the grey, damp filthiness of ages
And battered books
And fog rolling down behind the mountains
And on the graveyards, and dead sea-captains” (From The Last Living Rose)
this song could easily just be about reclaiming a national identity that has been lost, by harking back to romanticised clichés of “battered books” and “fog”, but it definitely seems to be blaming people from Outside of England for this change of identity, and at no point seems to acknowledge that it might be a change for the better?
There is equally as strong a case to argue that the album is essentially anti-war:
“How is our glorious country ploughed
Not by iron ploughs
Our land is ploughed by tanks and feet
Feet, marching” (from The Glorious Land)
“I've seen and done things I want to forget
I've seen soldiers fell like lumps of meat
Blown and shot out beyond belief
Arms and legs were in the trees” (from The Words that Maketh Murder)
“Louis was my dearest friend
Fighting in the Anzac trench
Louis ran forward from the line
I never saw him again”
[...]
“If I was asked I'd tell
The colour of the earth that day
It was dull and browny-red
"The colour of blood", I'd say” (from The Colour of the Earth)
and so on...
But, even if it is anti-war, the tone of it doesn’t seem to suggest our country is at all responsible. I MIGHT be reading too deeply into the lyrics, and might be completely misreading them.
“People throwing dinars at the belly-dancers”
[...]
“He turned to me and then surveyed the scene
Said, “War is here in our beloved city”
(Let it burn, let it burn burn burn)” (from Written on the Forehead)
This Glorious Land opens with a military bugle, that instantly sets my hairs on end given my aversion to anything military.
The whole song ‘England’ unsettles me, it seems like a bitter lovesong to England that is distorted by far-eastern singing and instrumentation. It’s definitely the song that I feel most uncomfortable with.
I think the thing that bothers me is I find it difficult to ever consider soldiers as victims, especially not in recent wars. And as gritty and bleak as this album is at times, it’s also definitely romantic as well though.
I’ve just read several reviews of it online, and I seem to have entirely missed the point of it. A particularly well-written review on the Independent website says: “Polly Harvey offers a portrait of her homeland as a country built on bloodshed and battle, not so much a police state as a nation in thrall to military endeavour, however impotent and wasteful that has become. A place paralysed by fascination with past victories, hidebound by the ghosts of an imperial past.” Which makes me feel much better about it, and other reviews seem to agree that it is about mourning a country bloodied by war and imperialism rather than romanticising it or even celebrating it.
It’s just very frustrating that had Morrissey made this exact album, (and at times, the jangly distant guitars sound quite Smiths-esque) he would have been berated for its nationalist undertones (or overtones), even though it’s fairly obvious that as his liberal views are entirely cancelled out by his more right wing views, he has become someone that was considered so political he has become apolitical. Yet I know nothing about PJ Harvey’s politics really, but people are quick to say she’s just a simple west country gal. She is however, reportedly, into hunting, which worries and unsettles me.
UGH maybe I’m being overdramatic, but it’s really halting my enjoyment of the album. That said I do think it’s her strongest yet- even more so than White Chalk which I never thought I’d ever catch myself saying. Maybe I just need to stop thinking and enjoying the bloody music.
Also, I’ve just reread this, and it barely makes sense. Tante pis.
9 November 2010
Seeds at the Tate
Well, you all know about the latest Turbine Hall farce. (If not, read about it here).
The health and safety concerns seem entirely justifiable, my qualm is that at no point was there any foresight into the fact that this might have been the case. I am no expert, but I think if I was putting months into planning this exhibition it might have occurred to me that porcelain, when trod upon MAY release a dust, and when there are as many pieces of porcelain as there are internet users in China, and people are being actively encouraged to tred on them, the dust might be a bit of a problem.
So I visited after it had been closed off, but I have to admit there was still something quite beautiful about the visuals of it, but it definitely lacked much power as it was clearly supposed to be an interactive piece. As it is, it's quite embarrassing and pitiful, but could have had potential to be one of the more powerful pieces the Turbine Hall has had.
The health and safety concerns seem entirely justifiable, my qualm is that at no point was there any foresight into the fact that this might have been the case. I am no expert, but I think if I was putting months into planning this exhibition it might have occurred to me that porcelain, when trod upon MAY release a dust, and when there are as many pieces of porcelain as there are internet users in China, and people are being actively encouraged to tred on them, the dust might be a bit of a problem.
So I visited after it had been closed off, but I have to admit there was still something quite beautiful about the visuals of it, but it definitely lacked much power as it was clearly supposed to be an interactive piece. As it is, it's quite embarrassing and pitiful, but could have had potential to be one of the more powerful pieces the Turbine Hall has had.
25 January 2010
who killed archie mitchell...
I have a theory re: who killed archie mitchell.
Peggy is far too obvious, because she's leaving soon, and she clearly was desperate to get the Vic back. But I can't see them ending the matriarch of the eastend's reign as a murderer, she deserves a bit more of a noble send off.
I think it was Roxie. With two motives: firstly, to avenge Ronnie, who clearly was the biggest victim of Archie's "evil" and secondly, because she knew that she was the only person who was consistently in Archie's favour- and that she would clearly stand to get everything of any worth on the will.
So this is how it would unfold: somehow, Ronnie would discover the truth, probably through Roxie accidently dropping herself in it. Not wanting Roxie to go down for murder, Ronnie hatches the plan to frame either Glenda, or the missing son Danny. They successfully get one of those two adequetly framed so that they go to prison, meaning that the viewers get an interesting solution to the murder, but don't need to see Roxie get arrested. Too many of the people with motives are too important as characters to go to prison, so this would seem the perfect way to reveal it, without having to lose one of them.
Although, this could be miles away from the truth. Janine and Phil are too obvious, Ian and Bradley are too wet. It either has to be one of the sisters, or an outsider... I did note that when the Vic re-opened Bianca was correctly able to identify the exact spot that Archie was killed in, despite having not seen the body... perhaps that's a bit too tenuous and I'm being a little pedantic. But apparently Bradley tries to top himself soon. My mother thinks it was Max. It's all just too exciting!
DISCUSS
Peggy is far too obvious, because she's leaving soon, and she clearly was desperate to get the Vic back. But I can't see them ending the matriarch of the eastend's reign as a murderer, she deserves a bit more of a noble send off.
I think it was Roxie. With two motives: firstly, to avenge Ronnie, who clearly was the biggest victim of Archie's "evil" and secondly, because she knew that she was the only person who was consistently in Archie's favour- and that she would clearly stand to get everything of any worth on the will.
So this is how it would unfold: somehow, Ronnie would discover the truth, probably through Roxie accidently dropping herself in it. Not wanting Roxie to go down for murder, Ronnie hatches the plan to frame either Glenda, or the missing son Danny. They successfully get one of those two adequetly framed so that they go to prison, meaning that the viewers get an interesting solution to the murder, but don't need to see Roxie get arrested. Too many of the people with motives are too important as characters to go to prison, so this would seem the perfect way to reveal it, without having to lose one of them.
Although, this could be miles away from the truth. Janine and Phil are too obvious, Ian and Bradley are too wet. It either has to be one of the sisters, or an outsider... I did note that when the Vic re-opened Bianca was correctly able to identify the exact spot that Archie was killed in, despite having not seen the body... perhaps that's a bit too tenuous and I'm being a little pedantic. But apparently Bradley tries to top himself soon. My mother thinks it was Max. It's all just too exciting!
DISCUSS
26 November 2009
best albums of the 2000s
I notice these 2000s retrospectives lists are everywhere at the moment so I thought I would compile my own. I should really be packing up my things as I need to move out of my flat on Monday- but of course I'll leave that to the last minute. At least this way I can see there is a product to my procrastination.
The way I did this was to go through my itunes and list all of the best albums, then I whittled it down to a shortlist of 50, then I wrote each one on a slip of paper and arranged them all across my bed and painstakingly put them in an order. I'm not even joking.
I decided not to justify my reasons, because it's my list. The reason for all of them is "because it's my list and I like it", that said- I did write a little note with some of them.
If you know me then there will be no surprises in this list. If you don't, then there still won't be, because you don't know me.
50. Supernature by Goldfrapp
best track: Ride on a white horse
49.Ys by Joanna Newsom
best track: Emily
48. Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp
best track: Clowns
47. Hopes and Fears by Keane
best track: She has no time/ Bedshaped
I know it’s deemed as inexcusably uncool to like Keane, but I’m proudly waving my flag of love for their first album. It was definitely brilliant, and was at its best during it’s quieter moments.
46. Hotel by Moby
best track: Spiders/ Home
Again, another uncool choice- but it’s a really beautiful album, and I think his work on the whole sits alone really in terms of style.
45. Shine by Cyndi Lauper
best track: Waters edge
Not a great Cyndi album, but still worthy of its place. I think the production is what ruins this, the whole thing feels a bit cheap and tinny.
44. Folklore by Nelly Furtardo
best track: Forca/ Explode
I think most anti-pop people would be pleasantly surprised at this album. It's really raw and quite rootsy, and seems a bit more faithful to itself than her other albums, which aren't very good at all.
43. Amarantine by Enya
best track: Less than a pearl
42. Super Extra Gravity by the Cardigans
best track: Losing a friend/ Don’t blame your daughter
41. Bring Ya 2 the Brink by Cyndi Lauper
best track: Into the nightlife/ Echo/ Rain on me
Again, not really a great Cyndi album, but has some really good high points- and can definitely be appreciated as a full album when one is in the right mood.
40. Want One and Want Two by Rufus Wainwright
best track: Oh what a world
39. Kala by MIA
best track: paperplanes/ boyz/ jimmy
38. Music for Men by Gossip
best track: Eighth wonder of the world
37. Safe Inside the Day by Baby Dee
best track: title track/ You’ll find your footing
36. Hercules and Love Affair (self titled)
best track: You belong/ Blind
35. 19 by Adele
best track: Tired
I tried to avoid liking her for as long as possible, but I fell for her charm. Her voice is beautiful and the album is quite mellow and retro. I like.
34. Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode
best track: Pain that I’m used to/ Nothing’s impossible
33. The Fame by Lady Gaga
best track: Paparazzi
32. This City Draws Maps by the Rosie Taylor Project
best track: The sun on my right/ good café on George Street/ The water’s edge
Perhaps this is a bit of a biased choice, but it was a great summer album for me this year and I find it extremely easy to listen to.
31. She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty by Sinead O’Connor
best track: Emma’s song
I’m definitely cheating by including this as it’s not a studio album, but rather a career retrospective with a live disc and a disc of b-sides, early demos and covers. But it’s really brilliant, the best thing she released since Universal Mother in 1994.
30. A Woman a Man Walked By by PJ Harvey and John Parish
best track: April
29. Robyn (self titled)
best track: With every heartbeat/ Who’s that girl/ Handle me
28. Silent Shout by the Knife
best track: Forest families/ Marble house
27. Takk by Sigur Ros
best track: Gong/ Glosoli/ Saeglopur
26. Meds by Placebo
best track: Follow the cops back home
25. Lycanthropy by Patrick Wolf
best track: To the lighthouse
24. Fur and Gold by Bat for Lashes
best track: Horse and I
23. Volta by Bjork
best track: Dull Flame of Desire/ Wanderlust/ Earth Intruders/ Vertebrae by vertebrae
I surprised myself here- I thought I would have placed this higher, but it doesn’t begin to compare with some of her earlier efforts.
22. Crying Light by Antony and the Johnsons
best track: Aeon
21. Yes, Virginia by Dresden Dolls
best track: Sex Changes/ Delilah
20. Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
best track: Back to black
Really obvious choice, but that’s because it’s an ingenious album that absolutely everyone seems to love.
19. Speak for Yourself by Imogen Heap
best track: Headlock/ Hide and seek/ The moment I said it
18. Two Suns by Bat for Lashes
best track: Moon and moon/ Glass
17. Soviet Kitsch by Regina Spektor
best track: Us/ The flowers/ Ode to divorce
16. The Bachelor by Patrick Wolf
best track: The sun is often out/ Damaris/ Theseus
15. Laundry Service by Shakira
best track: Eyes like yours
A very underrated pop album. It stands leagues above much of the more successful pop albums these days. Genuinely has its own sound and the lyrics are top notch.
14. You are the Quarry by Morrissey
best track: Irish Blood, English Heart/ I like you/ All the lazy dykes
13. Howling Bells (self titled)
best track: Low happening
12. The adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn by CocoRosie
best track: Werewolf/ Animals
11. Confessions on the Dancefloor by Madonna
best track: Forbidden love/ Sorry/ Future lover
Easily the strongest of Madonna’s 2000s albums, really infectious dancefloor music, without being too camp and it has yet to be surpassed for its type I think. Almost as good as Ray of Light. But not.
Top Ten
10. Ringleader of the Tormentors by Morrissey
best track: Life is a pigsty
9. I am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons
best track: Bird Gurhl/ For today I am a boy
8. Details by Frou Frou
best track: Let go/ Psychobabble
7. Around the Sun by REM
best track: Worst joke ever/ Electron blue/ Around the sun
For some reason I can’t stop going back to this album, even though most think it’s one of their weakest. I think it’s really ethereal and epic but quite atmospheric too. It’s infinitely better than Accelerate, that was so formulaic it felt like something an REM tribute band would produce.
6. Glasvegas (self titled)
best track: Daddy’s gone/ Flowers and football tops/ Go square go
Beautiful album that on paper I shouldn’t really like. It’s flawless musically, lyrically and vocally. It’s pretty much the soundtrack to the phrase “it’s grim up north” but far less clichéd
5. Medulla by Bjork
best track: can’t pick one.
A mammoth musical feat. As far as conceptual albums go- this is pretty much the best. It flows like one long orgasmic sigh, it’s haunting and untouchable, but also entirely listenable and accessible.
4. White Chalk by PJ Harvey
best track: White Chalk/ Silence/ Grow grow grow
Peej outdid herself with this one.
3. Aerial by Kate Bush
best track: from disc one A coral room, disc two is practically just one song
I refer particularly to disc two, which absolutely blows me away still to listen to. It’s so slick and complete, how someone could sit down to produce such a solid and inspired piece of continual music is beyond me.
2. Melankton by Kate Havnevik
best track: Nowhere warm/ New day
A random find through myspace, and when I eventually bought the album, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t more well known, it’s in the same vein as Imogen Heap and Bjork, but really nothing like either, much more accessible. It’s absolutely charming.
1. Vespertine by Bjork
best track: Unison/ Undo/ Pagan poetry/ Cocoon/ Hidden Place/ Harm of will
This is musical perfection as far as I’m concerned. It’s whispery and tiny, but lush and huge at the same time. It’s so mellow without being timid and it’s fierce without compromising the sound. I just love it from start to finish and pretty much can’t gush enough about it. Definitely Bjork’s most solid work ever, including Homogenic, which, if I could include it on this list (which I can’t as it was made in 1997) I would put between Medulla and Volta- if you’re interested.
Definitely need to start packing now. Feel free to discuss, argue or curse me for omitting your favourite album :o)
love love x
The way I did this was to go through my itunes and list all of the best albums, then I whittled it down to a shortlist of 50, then I wrote each one on a slip of paper and arranged them all across my bed and painstakingly put them in an order. I'm not even joking.
I decided not to justify my reasons, because it's my list. The reason for all of them is "because it's my list and I like it", that said- I did write a little note with some of them.
If you know me then there will be no surprises in this list. If you don't, then there still won't be, because you don't know me.
50. Supernature by Goldfrapp
best track: Ride on a white horse
49.Ys by Joanna Newsom
best track: Emily
48. Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp
best track: Clowns
47. Hopes and Fears by Keane
best track: She has no time/ Bedshaped
I know it’s deemed as inexcusably uncool to like Keane, but I’m proudly waving my flag of love for their first album. It was definitely brilliant, and was at its best during it’s quieter moments.
46. Hotel by Moby
best track: Spiders/ Home
Again, another uncool choice- but it’s a really beautiful album, and I think his work on the whole sits alone really in terms of style.
45. Shine by Cyndi Lauper
best track: Waters edge
Not a great Cyndi album, but still worthy of its place. I think the production is what ruins this, the whole thing feels a bit cheap and tinny.
44. Folklore by Nelly Furtardo
best track: Forca/ Explode
I think most anti-pop people would be pleasantly surprised at this album. It's really raw and quite rootsy, and seems a bit more faithful to itself than her other albums, which aren't very good at all.
43. Amarantine by Enya
best track: Less than a pearl
42. Super Extra Gravity by the Cardigans
best track: Losing a friend/ Don’t blame your daughter
41. Bring Ya 2 the Brink by Cyndi Lauper
best track: Into the nightlife/ Echo/ Rain on me
Again, not really a great Cyndi album, but has some really good high points- and can definitely be appreciated as a full album when one is in the right mood.
40. Want One and Want Two by Rufus Wainwright
best track: Oh what a world
39. Kala by MIA
best track: paperplanes/ boyz/ jimmy
38. Music for Men by Gossip
best track: Eighth wonder of the world
37. Safe Inside the Day by Baby Dee
best track: title track/ You’ll find your footing
36. Hercules and Love Affair (self titled)
best track: You belong/ Blind
35. 19 by Adele
best track: Tired
I tried to avoid liking her for as long as possible, but I fell for her charm. Her voice is beautiful and the album is quite mellow and retro. I like.
34. Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode
best track: Pain that I’m used to/ Nothing’s impossible
33. The Fame by Lady Gaga
best track: Paparazzi
32. This City Draws Maps by the Rosie Taylor Project
best track: The sun on my right/ good café on George Street/ The water’s edge
Perhaps this is a bit of a biased choice, but it was a great summer album for me this year and I find it extremely easy to listen to.
31. She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty by Sinead O’Connor
best track: Emma’s song
I’m definitely cheating by including this as it’s not a studio album, but rather a career retrospective with a live disc and a disc of b-sides, early demos and covers. But it’s really brilliant, the best thing she released since Universal Mother in 1994.
30. A Woman a Man Walked By by PJ Harvey and John Parish
best track: April
29. Robyn (self titled)
best track: With every heartbeat/ Who’s that girl/ Handle me
28. Silent Shout by the Knife
best track: Forest families/ Marble house
27. Takk by Sigur Ros
best track: Gong/ Glosoli/ Saeglopur
26. Meds by Placebo
best track: Follow the cops back home
25. Lycanthropy by Patrick Wolf
best track: To the lighthouse
24. Fur and Gold by Bat for Lashes
best track: Horse and I
23. Volta by Bjork
best track: Dull Flame of Desire/ Wanderlust/ Earth Intruders/ Vertebrae by vertebrae
I surprised myself here- I thought I would have placed this higher, but it doesn’t begin to compare with some of her earlier efforts.
22. Crying Light by Antony and the Johnsons
best track: Aeon
21. Yes, Virginia by Dresden Dolls
best track: Sex Changes/ Delilah
20. Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
best track: Back to black
Really obvious choice, but that’s because it’s an ingenious album that absolutely everyone seems to love.
19. Speak for Yourself by Imogen Heap
best track: Headlock/ Hide and seek/ The moment I said it
18. Two Suns by Bat for Lashes
best track: Moon and moon/ Glass
17. Soviet Kitsch by Regina Spektor
best track: Us/ The flowers/ Ode to divorce
16. The Bachelor by Patrick Wolf
best track: The sun is often out/ Damaris/ Theseus
15. Laundry Service by Shakira
best track: Eyes like yours
A very underrated pop album. It stands leagues above much of the more successful pop albums these days. Genuinely has its own sound and the lyrics are top notch.
14. You are the Quarry by Morrissey
best track: Irish Blood, English Heart/ I like you/ All the lazy dykes
13. Howling Bells (self titled)
best track: Low happening
12. The adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn by CocoRosie
best track: Werewolf/ Animals
11. Confessions on the Dancefloor by Madonna
best track: Forbidden love/ Sorry/ Future lover
Easily the strongest of Madonna’s 2000s albums, really infectious dancefloor music, without being too camp and it has yet to be surpassed for its type I think. Almost as good as Ray of Light. But not.
Top Ten
10. Ringleader of the Tormentors by Morrissey
best track: Life is a pigsty
9. I am a Bird Now by Antony and the Johnsons
best track: Bird Gurhl/ For today I am a boy
8. Details by Frou Frou
best track: Let go/ Psychobabble
7. Around the Sun by REM
best track: Worst joke ever/ Electron blue/ Around the sun
For some reason I can’t stop going back to this album, even though most think it’s one of their weakest. I think it’s really ethereal and epic but quite atmospheric too. It’s infinitely better than Accelerate, that was so formulaic it felt like something an REM tribute band would produce.
6. Glasvegas (self titled)
best track: Daddy’s gone/ Flowers and football tops/ Go square go
Beautiful album that on paper I shouldn’t really like. It’s flawless musically, lyrically and vocally. It’s pretty much the soundtrack to the phrase “it’s grim up north” but far less clichéd
5. Medulla by Bjork
best track: can’t pick one.
A mammoth musical feat. As far as conceptual albums go- this is pretty much the best. It flows like one long orgasmic sigh, it’s haunting and untouchable, but also entirely listenable and accessible.
4. White Chalk by PJ Harvey
best track: White Chalk/ Silence/ Grow grow grow
Peej outdid herself with this one.
3. Aerial by Kate Bush
best track: from disc one A coral room, disc two is practically just one song
I refer particularly to disc two, which absolutely blows me away still to listen to. It’s so slick and complete, how someone could sit down to produce such a solid and inspired piece of continual music is beyond me.
2. Melankton by Kate Havnevik
best track: Nowhere warm/ New day
A random find through myspace, and when I eventually bought the album, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t more well known, it’s in the same vein as Imogen Heap and Bjork, but really nothing like either, much more accessible. It’s absolutely charming.
1. Vespertine by Bjork
best track: Unison/ Undo/ Pagan poetry/ Cocoon/ Hidden Place/ Harm of will
This is musical perfection as far as I’m concerned. It’s whispery and tiny, but lush and huge at the same time. It’s so mellow without being timid and it’s fierce without compromising the sound. I just love it from start to finish and pretty much can’t gush enough about it. Definitely Bjork’s most solid work ever, including Homogenic, which, if I could include it on this list (which I can’t as it was made in 1997) I would put between Medulla and Volta- if you’re interested.
Definitely need to start packing now. Feel free to discuss, argue or curse me for omitting your favourite album :o)
love love x
2 August 2009
how I spent my saturday night...
I leave work on Wednesday in anticipation for my move down to London, and thought that rather than just taking a box of biscuits in to say "thanks for having me" I'd do something a little more personal and make some cookies. This, in hindsight was a little over-ambitious, since I have never baked before... I thought I would document the saga as it unfolded.
perhaps I over-did the smarties.
This is the first attempt before they went in the oven. It's worth mentioning quite how small my oven is, it's portable, and used to be my brother's when he lived in a caravan...
I clearly had not anticipated quite how much the cookies would expand...
To make up for the less than appealing look of the cookies, I thought I'd better present them nicely... with a little written disclaimer:
perhaps I over-did the smarties.
I had a bit of mild panic that the recipe I had found online was a joke- because this seemed like far too much butter:
I don't have mixing bowls so I improvised with pans:
This is the first attempt before they went in the oven. It's worth mentioning quite how small my oven is, it's portable, and used to be my brother's when he lived in a caravan...
I clearly had not anticipated quite how much the cookies would expand...
I then managed to burn them as well. Needless to say, the first batch weren't a roaring success. Think I'll keep these ones for me.
The next batch were slightly more healthy looking:
Well, it was more difficult that I thought it would be... and because I could only do about 4 each time, it took me about 2 and a half hours!
To make up for the less than appealing look of the cookies, I thought I'd better present them nicely... with a little written disclaimer:
25 April 2009
mine is a life of excess...
Somebody really ought to explain that it defeats the object if you buy a bag for life everytime you go shopping... my carbon footprint must be like a mouse's. if that's how it works.
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