MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2012
Alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man
Beach House – Bloom
Graham Coxon – A+E
dEUS – Following Sea
Richard Hawley – Standing At The Sky’s Edge
Heartless Bastards – Arrows
Of Monsters And Men – My Heart Is An Animal
Lee Ranaldo – Between The Times And The Tides
Jack White – Blunderbuss

And here’s an honourable mention for some good albums that came close but didn’t quite make the list. They’re all good if flawed albums and well worth a listen.

NOT QUITE MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2012
Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
Best Coast – The Only Place
Bloc Party – Four
Tim Burgess - Oh No I Love You
Cat Power – Sun
Bob Dylan – Tempest
Japandroids – Celebration Rock
Lambchop – Mr M
Liars – WIXIW
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Swans – The Seer
The Vaccines – Come Of Age
The Walkmen – Heaven

And seeing as I’m making extra lists, here’s a list of my favourite songs that didn’t feature on any of the above albums and were either standalone singles or great tracks from albums I didn’t rate or haven’t heard.

MY FAVOURITE SONGS OF 2012
Atoms For Peace – Default
Blur – Under The Westway
Foals – Inhaler
Grimes – Genesis
Kate Nash – Under Estimate The Girl
Radiohead – The Daily Mail
The Rolling Stones – Doom & Gloom
Savages – Husbands

Late again I’m afraid. Almost getting on for two weeks in fact. Not to worry though, as I’ve said many times before, better late than never. Not that I want that to become a mantra round here. Anyway, this list is for the week of the 9th to the 15th of April. As you can see, the top 2 spots were taken up by new releases while the rest of the list is made up of some old favourites. It has to be said that I’m still enjoying the Alabama Shakes‘ record and as yet, it’s shine hasn’t started to diminish so maybe it has more life to it that I gave it credit. As for the new Spiritualized record, well it’s kind of what you expect from them these days. A good record that ticks all the expected Spiritualized boxes but which seems a little diluted when you compare it to ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space‘. Though to be honest, most records are left lacking when compared to that record. I guess it’s not really fair to continually compare two records from different parts of a career. Taken on it’s own merits, Sweet Heart Sweet Light‘ is a fine record that dazzles in places and sort of underwhelms in others. Having said that, there’s more good than bad and I can definitely see it making a few more appearances in future lists. In the meantime, here’s some music from some of the bands that filled my ears that week.

Spiritualized – hey jane (live version) : original version available to buy on ‘Sweet Heart Sweet Light‘

Karen Elson – stolen roses (live session version) : original version available to buy on ‘The Ghost Who Walks‘

Bright Eyes – arienette (live session version) : original version available to buy on ‘Fevers & Mirrors‘

Okay, so despite the title of this regular feature, this isn’t actually what I was listening to last week. This is me trying to catchup on a week that I haven’t yet had chance to feature. The above list actually represents what I was listening to in the week from the 2nd April until the 8th April. One of these days I swear I’ll get back on track and start posting more often and on time. Until then, I’m afraid it’s going to be sporadic and random. Which I know must be hellish for all you OCD sufferers out there but alas, that’s the way things are at the moment.

So anyway, as you can see, the most obvious new entry is Alabama Shakes, whose debut album has been clocking up a fair amount of my ear time over the last 2 weeks. Not to mention a fair few column inches. Which I guess begs the question, do they live up to the hype? To which I answer, yes but also no. I think it’s fair to say that while it doesn’t exactly break new ground, it does what it does well. It’s an enticing mix of good old southern rock, with 60s soul and a dash of garage spirit, all of which I love. So in that respect, it’s a winner. However, it lacks enough individual stand out tracks to make it a truly great record and I do wonder if it reveals itself too quickly. A few listens and you pretty much know everything you need to know about it. There ‘s no subtle reveals, no hidden nuances, no difficult layers to work through. While that’s not always a bad thing, there’s the risk that over playing it could result in it burning out too quickly. It does suggest that given enough time to develop, there may be great things to come from this band but I guess only time will tell. For now though, I’m really enjoying it.

Elsewhere, my listening was pretty much made up of old favourites and reliable recent additions. Feeder continue to make an appearance as they have done over the last month or so, Bat For Lashes made a long overdue reappearance, while erstwhile favourites Radiohead and Elliott Smith once again got in on the act. As ever, here’s a few session tracks form some of the bands I was listening to that week.

Alabama Shakes – hold on (live session version) : original version available to buy on ‘Boys & Girls‘

Bat For Lashes – tahiti (live session version) : original version available to buy on ‘Fur and Gold‘

Ryan Adams – please do not let me go (live acoustic session version) : original version available to buy on ‘Love Is Hell‘

So this list covers the 26th March to the 1st April. I think with even the slightest of glances it’s pretty clear which band grabbed my attention and ran away with it last week. In part that was due to me loving The Beatles but also down to the fact that we hosted a mini family gathering and I thought the background music should be something that everyone would enjoy rather than some of my more left field choices. The rest of the list however is made up of bands and artists who were played purely for the pleasure of my ears. Feeder have become a bit of a regular showing in the last couple of weeks after I saw them play an intimate live acoustic session and was reminded how much I actually like them. You can see a few photos I took here.

Interesting to note that last week, there was a lack of artists with new releases in the list. I don’t think that was a conscious decision but after a few weeks of new things creeping in, I think I was just in the mood to revisit a few records that I’d neglected of late. I have a sneaking feeling that, with a few exceptions, the same may be true this week. However, with a few days left in this week, I guess anything could still happen. Who knows, my listening habits may even swerve off in some weird dubstep grime territory and completely skew the list. It’s doubtful but you never know. I guess you’ll just have to come back and see next week. Or whenever it is that I actually get round to posting it. In the meantime, here’s a few session tracks form some of the bands from last week’s list.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan (live session version)

Wilco – whole love (live acoustic session version) : original version available to buy on ‘The Whole Love‘

Elliott Smith – happiness (live acoustic session version) : original version available to buy on ‘Figure 8‘

So for once, this actually is what I was listening to last week. From Monday the 19th to Sunday the 26th March inclusive. Well kind of. Everything except Dusty Springfield, which, while I do like her, was actually what my girlfriend was listening to. Somehow her iPod managed to scrobble those plays onto my account and mess up my stats. Not a massive problem but one I thought it was worth pointing out. Everything else on there is bona fide me. Looking at the list now, it appears that I had a bit of restless 7 days in terms of my listening. Aside from the obvious exceptions, I seemed to play more artists but less times, as opposed to the usual habit of listening to fewer artists more. Hence the overall lower number of plays. I guess a change is as good as a rest. Or so they say. Either way, that’s what was happening in my ears and heres a few session tracks from some of them.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – tick (live session version) : original version available on ‘Fever To Tell‘

Male Bonding – bones (live session version) : original version available on ‘Endless Now‘

CSS – let’s reggae all night (live session version) : original version available on ‘Donkey‘

Okay, so I’m getting really slack at this aren’t I? Despite the title of this feature, these are actually the lists of what I was listening to on the 2 weeks from the 5th to the 18th of March. As you can see, there’s been a lot of music going through my ears. Some old, some new. All of it ace though. Lee Ranaldo, Sleigh Bells and Heartless Bastards head up the best of the new stuff, while, having held the top spot for two straight weeks, the much missed Sparklehorse did a good job of dominating my listening. Having said that though, there were some pretty good showings from a fair few others. As ever, there’s a few session tracks for you to enjoy from some of the artists that made an appearance in these last two charts. Enjoy!

Sparklehorse – sad and beautiful world (live session version) : original version available on ‘Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot‘

Heartless Bastards – parted ways (live session version) : original version available on ‘Arrow‘

Eels – my beloved monster (live solo session version) : original version available on ‘Beautiful Freak‘

Sleigh Bells – comeback kid (live acoustic session) : original version available on ‘Reign of Terror‘