Technoshit

I don't want to sound like an old tosser but nothing ever lasts nowadays does it?
I shelled out a fair bit of money just after Christmas to buy a new stereo for the car. I wanted one that could pick up digital radio stations and back then they were kinda pricey.
About a month ago though it started to occasionally refuse to give CDs back when I wanted it to. I found a workaround and thought nothing more of it, until this morning when the display completely packed in.
Sigh, I'm guessing it still might be under warranty, but whether or not I can find all the details is another matter. Maybe for once I've actually been good and put the documents away in a safe place. This is unlikely though.
In more positive consumerism news, Andy at work has set himself up as a CD/DVD wholesaler. He works here but is a subcontractor. This means that he actually works through his own company (number of employees : 1). Anyway, he's set himself up so his company can buy CDs and DVDs directly from the suppliers. He's let several of us in on it, and we apparently bought about 60 items between us. I picked up a few cheap presents (Only Fools & Horses DVD at 9 quid), most of the others took advantage of the fact that most non-chart albums are £3. Bargain!
Probably the most interesting thing is that he'll often be able to get things before they are out in the shops. I haven't seen the missing third series of This Life on the list yet though.

On Saturday we ventured out into Preston for a meal at Bella Roma (or Bell Aroma, which is funnier).
Every now and then Nick T feels like a bad friend, so we get an invite out to join him for food and the like. We met up for present giving beforehand, I was wondering if we'd manage to resist opening them till Christmas. We didn't, but then we never do. I did manage to keep Liam's present unopened, mainly because he didn't open most of what we had bought him.
Karl bought me a bowling game, and some sort of plastic human body with removable organs. Apparently, half of what Nick bought us hasn't turned up yet, but we did get a card shuffler and a classy set of poker chips. The missing stuff is gambling related but isn't poker related. Heh, I give gambling up for 2004 and right at the end of it Nick tries to start it up again.
Bell Aroma was very nice, but then I like Italian food. I made the usual mistake of asking for something with extra chillies on it, the problem being that what chillies they did put on were both very hot and clustered in small clumps of death. So, I could eat a bit of mushroom pizza free of red peril, but would then get another bit with virtually a whole birds-eye chilli on it. It made my eyes water.
I seem to remember spending the rest of the night lying comatose on the sofa, full of chillies and lager, as conversation carried on around me.
Anyway, I had a nice time until I became mardy and sleepy later on, so I intend to organise a 'Maurice Gibb Memorial Bowling' session for early next year. It's hard to tempt Nick to leave the house nowadays, so we have to have special events to do so.

On Wednesday we travelled to Lancaster to see Xian & Sian. It was Liam's last day in town before heading to Oxford, so we met for nibbles, games and present giving. After holding onto it for what seemed like years, I finally got to see Xian opening what I had bought him at the memorabilia fair last month.
I know Christian is a big fan of Battlestar Gallactica, so I plucked the courage up to get a signed photo of Richard Hatch at the memorabilia. I hate talking to famous people, but eventually made my move and pretended my name was Christian, so he'd sign it as required. Johnny W also took a photo of me with Mr. H. He seemed to be a very nice man. He didn't overly seem to mind that I'd caught his collection of photos with my coat and had sent them all over the floor. He also kept smiling for the photo, even though I'd put my arm around him (only because he had with me! I wasn't making a move!) and sort of lifted the back of his jacket.
Jesus, it wasn't like I was meeting one of my heroes. It was only a guy from a TV series I used to watch as a kid. You think I'd be okay now after meeting the people earlier this year who wrote the songs that are dearest to me. But no, I'm still a bit of a cock.
Xian seemed to enjoy his present. Xian & Sian bought me a cool Mensa calendar for my desk at work. I hope the puzzles are fucking solid so as to waste some of my workday. They also bought me some frazzles. Frazzles! Wheee!

Xian, Sian, Karl, Paul1 and Paul2 are coming round tonight, for our soon to be traditional Christmas Eve soiree. I really, really hope that Xian doesn't punch me in the happysacks like he did last year. I suppose it's his way of showing affection.

Before I get on to the big news, I have some bad news (for me anyway). I realised I was coming down with a bit of lurgy yesterday afternoon, and lo-and-behold it seems to be developing into a cold. Nice timing, body. Thanks. I may punch myself in the its-a-wonderul-lifes as a way of punishing myself for having poor constitution.

Right,

Yes!

Hang on…

YES!

(that's better)

Here comes the 11th annual TOP RECORDS OF THE YEAR LIST.
I thought 2004 was a good year for music, but I found it really difficult to compile the list below. It seems that I've enjoyed listening to music in 2004, but not really music of 2004. I've spent a lot of time this year listening to Godspeed You Black Emperor, the Embrace back catalogue, and some missed gems of 2003. There have been very few records which have set my world on fire in 2004. But there have been some, so without further ado, lets have the awards…

1. Embrace - Out Of Nothing

It could all have gone so wrong. When I heard 'Gravity', I thought we were in trouble. I thought we'd get an album striving to be Coldplay, in the way that 2001s If You've Never Been did. But, we escaped. There are a few misses here, but overall it is the sound of a band regaining what they had lost. The songs are huge, without straying into bombast, emotional without being melodramatic. I adored it when it first came out, though a few months down the line I've sort of calmed down. I realise it is good, very good, but it still isn't a patch on the Good Will Out
Standout Track: Keeping.

2. Joy Zipper - American Whip

Out of the blue, in at number 2. Really, Joy Zipper sound to me nothing more than a mix of The Beach Boys and Air. Hey, but that's a good thing isn't it? Can I use the word sumptuous? Yes? Then, this is sumptuous loveliness. There are only two of them (man and lady) and the drugged up psychedelic harmonies on display here are pretty much all utterly fucking gorgeous.
Standout Track: Dosed And Became Invisible

3. Easyworld - Kill The Last Romantic

One place lower than 2002s This Is Where I Stand. Easyworld split up a couple of months ago, frustrated with their general lack of success and disillusioned with the whole music industry. Fuck, that's such a shame. In parts, Kill the Last Romantic isn't very accessible, and a couple of tracks do little for me. That it gets so high is due to the some of the other stuff on show. Jesus, this is a sad album, most of the lyrics concerning the break-up and fallout of a dying relationship. Whereas their first album was loud and confrontational, this was pretty much the polar opposite. Beautiful as opposed to exciting.
Standout Track: Saddest Song.

4. The Killers - Hot Fuss

In the review of this album that I wrote for Indietron, I alluded to the fact that if the second half of this album had been as good as the first half then it would be stunning. Fuck, it probably would have been record of the year. But, it isn't. It's okay, but after the first five tracks something of an anticlimax. The first half is perfect guitar pop/indie, but the magic bag of CHOONZ runs out a bit early. Still, maybe next time, eh?
Standout Track: All These Things I've Done

5. Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News

I'd always kind of ignored Modest Mouse until 'Float On' was released. Bah, what have I been missing? Have they always been this inventive, melodic and exciting? Why did nobody tell me? Is it because I smell? Anyway, this is great; eclectic, yelping nonsense from a bunch of American oddbods (who take too long to sort their instruments out when playing live).
Standout Track: Dance Hall

6. The Walkmen - Bows & Arrows

Jesus, this is so good. Is there a more exciting frontman than Hamilton Leithauser in the indie/rock field? Some albums can be exciting, some can be tuneful; not all get the atmosphere spot-on. I think that's what I like most about this, it sounds like an album rather than a collection of disparate songs. Does that make sense?
Standout Track: The Rat

7. The Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood

Shit! I had come to bury The Manics; I had become enveloped in a sadness that a band that used to be so fucking vital, had ceased to be. No longer would I queue outside HMV on the day of release of a Manics album, waiting for the shop to open.
But the swines have gone and surprised me, by making a melodic and understated record that I actually really fucking enjoyed. I've been listening to it this week and it's climbed from 9 to 7, as I get more and more into it. They re-released one of the greatest records ever made in the Holy Bible which may have been a mistake as it took some of the attention away from a record which is a damn sight better than the multi-platinum This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours.
Standout Track: 1985

8. Hope Of The States - The Lost Riots

This should have been number 1. The first two singles excited me so much I almost burst open in anticipation for the record. Which is probably unfair, because it's good (hence it has turned up here), but not as good as it should have been. Of all the records here though it is probably the one that rewards repeated listens the most. In turns, it can be exciting and unbearably sad. Musically, I think they're fantastic; if they get it right then we will be in for something special. Still, in one of their b-sides (Static In The Cities) they produced possibly my favourite track of the year, and one that makes the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Standout Track: Black Amnesiacs

9. Delays - Faded Seaside Glamour

Ahh, the warm feeling of jingly-jangly indie. It is nothing more than 12 really nice indie guitar songs. The band sound like they be getting experimental on their second album, maybe I'm just living in the past but I think this would be a shame. I have nothing more to say about this, other than it is really good and it doesn't have to be 1995 to listen to this sort of album.
Standout Track: Nearer Than Heaven

10. Interpol - Antics

There is nothing here as stunning as NYC, but overall I actually prefer it to Turn On The Bright Lights, which has probably made several Interpol fans gasp. I'm sorry, but I just do. Again, I think it may hang together better as an album, even if the songs sometimes don't reach the heights that some of the ones on its predecessor did.
Standout Track: Evil


Phew, that's that done for another year. Mention should also go to some of the records I enjoyed this year, but who just missed out on the top 10. These include the latest offerings of The Music, Secret Machines and The Shins (who were disqualified because I wasn't 100% sure when the album came out, even though it was 2004 when I listened to it).
Right, thanks to some last minute research at 5:30am this morning (a combination of insomnia and my oncoming cold), I have now filled in the missing holes of the previous winners and runners-up of my record of the year lists. It's a shame that I've lost the emails (and nexus files) which recorded the entire Top 10s of previous years, but by-and-large I could remember the top two in each year. I had a couple of gaps in my memory but filled them in today.
Actually it's probably good that I don't reveal all the 110 records that have appeared in the lists, as you'd probably laugh at me. Still, I know you'll probably laugh at a couple of the selections below, but you should bear in mind that I didn't make these up in hindsight, these were genuinely my favourite two records from that year chosen in the last month of it. For instance, there are several records released in 1998 which I now consider to be better than the Placebo album, just that I really fucking loved that record in 1998. I wonder if it still sounds good now?

Okay…

1994
1. The Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible
2. Compulsion - Comforter

1995
1. Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
2. Pulp - Different Class

1996
1. Suede - Coming Up
2. Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go

1997
1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Silver Sun - Silver Sun

1998
1. Embrace - The Good Will Out
2. Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing

1999
1. Blur - 13
2. Shack - HMS Fable

2000
1. Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows
2. Embrace - Drawn From Memory

2001
1. Muse - Origin Of Symmetry
2. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World

2002
1. Doves - the Last Broadcast
2. Easyworld - This Is Where I Stand

2003
1. Herman Dune - Mas Cambios
2. Okkervil River - Down The River Of Golden Dreams



Cool.
Right, all that now remains is to wish a happy Christmas to anyone who reads this…unless you're a bad person, in which case I hope that you have a miserable Christmas and suffer immense kidney pain. Still, I don't know of any bad people who read this. You all seem to be quite lovely. Especially me.

GAWD BLESS US ALL!
(especially me)