Pretty self explanatory really. Like everyone man and his dog has done, here’s my favourite albums of 2009. Little mentions should go out to: The XX, 5 Years of Hyperdub, Bombay Bicycle Club, Atlas Sound, Fanfarlo….your albums are very good. But not top ten good.
The latest album in our best of the decade series is undoubtedly a masterpiece and the way it carved itself an alarmingly unique and powerful corner within music will surely make it one of the most talked about albums for years to come. After its release in 2004, the musical world has taken on a much more epic and grandiose look ever since. The album is Funeral and the band is Arcade Fire and writing about it today is Mike Gourlay who works for Infected. Infected is a specialist and regional music press and promotions company who are currently looking after- among others- the likes of Interpol, Late of the Pier, Bat For Lashes, Babyshambles and Coldplay.
Anyway, here are Mike Gourlay’s lovely and enthusiastic thoughts on Funeral:
The latest album of the decade is one released this year and one which has deservedly featured on presumably all the best of 2009 lists you could possibly want to strain your bloodshot eyes at. It is the third studio album by Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest, and is written about here by Sam Travis:
I’m not exactly sure of the name of the job our fifth guest writer Simon Morley does at labels Full Time Hobby and Hassle but what he does is to find original and exciting new music and sell it to you people. Basically his job is to love music and without his fine work you wouldn’t be able to go into a shop and buy records by the likes of Tubelord, School Of Seven Bells and White Denim. I’d of been pretty disappointed if none of our guest writers decided to write about Kid A by Radiohead so a huge thanks to Simon for stepping up. Click to read more …
Not content with eating cheese and doing the washing up, my Christmas holidays have already led me to write a blog post on a couple of bands and artists I’ve been sweating happiness over recently. These guys aren’t particularly new and have no real string of affiliation connecting them, other than they’re all absolutely fantastic and should get on with 2010 like a house on fire. Ya dig?
Aaaaaaaand the fourth album up in our so far successful series of posts, which aims to provide some guest writers a chance to voice their opinions on some of the best albums released this decade, is 2003s ‘Zoo Psychology’ by Ex Models, chosen by Michael M from the band We Are The Physics. The fantastically frantic Scottish punk of WATP can be found here, along with all other relevant information such as alternative media platforms like TWITTER and FACEBOOK and EMAIL and PAGERS and PIGEON CARRIER INFORMATION…
Anyway, here are Michael’s warm and fuzzy thoughts centred towards Ex Models (thank you Michael!):
Third up in our albums of the decade series is ‘All Hour Cymbals’ by Yeasayer, kindly picked by Dan Djan. Dan is the bass player in the very good band Fiction (let their spiky little numbers lick your brain here), seems to be a pretty casually successful artist and- along with us at INFTC- organises gigs under the banner of ‘Kids’. Here’s what he has to say: Click to read more …
Second up in our series of posts by guest writers is a man who not only founded the label Holy Roar, which boasts an impressive back catalogue featuring bands such as Gallows, Dananananaykroyd and Trash Talk, but has also destroyed stages, and probably lives, across the country playing with Cutting Pink With Knives and his new band Betty Pariso. It’s the most brutal and hardcore person we dare to associate with here at Cock Towers, it’s Alex Fitzpatrick and here are his thoughts about Meanderthal by Torche. Click to read more …
So, first up in our hardly original but quite fantastically executed idea of asking various different people to write a piece on one of their favourite albums released in “the noughties” is Choltida Pekanan with ‘They Were Wrong So We Drowned’ by Liars.
Choltida is the editor of the art, music, fashion and photography webzine, www.supersweet.org and these are her lovely thoughts and memories on said album:
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The Recession, 9/11, The Internet, Terrorism, George Bush, July 7th 2005, Big Brother, Reality Television, Social Networking, Celebrity, Tony Blair, Online Shopping, The First Black President, The Smoking Ban, I-Pods, Borat, Banksy, Chavs…
In no chronological or logical order, these are just some of the things that the decade dubbed “the noughties” may be remembered for.