Once again, an ageing year is becoming terminal. 2010, like its predecessors, has knowledge of his upcoming demise; along with the rise of the next leader. The New Year is growing stronger, forming his majority for his new regime. In other words, 2011 is coming. What have we experienced from 2010? Has it been a good year? A bad year? Or just another year written on the stone of history?

  In my experience, for music, it’s been a very rich and surprising year all round. So here is my list of saints and sinners of 2010.

Saints.

1. Kontrust - Time to Tango

Despite the album receiving its official release in 2009, it grew internationally following the bands deal with Dutch radio station, 3FM. Eric Corton (3FM) is largely responsible for their recent success and tours in the Netherlands. The band, fronted by the powerful Agata Jarosz, brings to the table a hybrid style of metal and rock, amongst other genres, providing an unique “crossover” sound. Singles from the album include Bomba, On the Run and Zero. Admittedly this may not appeal to everyone, but we can only hope that this band will reach the UK in 2011.

Favourite Track: On the Run

2. Klaxons - Surfing the Void.

Following their successful last album, Myths of the Near Future, Klaxons created a masterpiece with Surfing the Void. Although on the first listen it may appear different, after multiple plays and attendance at one of their spectacular live performances, fans of this genre will find this album constantly on repeat. The album features electronic/indie masterpieces, such as the title track; Surfing the Void and Cypherspeed. The best track however is the powerful Echoes. I would definitely recommend this album, only with the condition that the repeat button is switched on.

Favourite Track: Echoes

3. Alter Bridge - ABIII

Back with their third studio album, and predictably, it’s a cracker! The band, comprised of former Creed members and fronted by Myles Kennedy, deliver another powerful display of rock genius. The mixture of powerful and carefully selected chords, along with extremely catchy riffs combine to create musical fusion. A definite must buy/download to any fans of Creed or Alter Bridge. For any sceptics, youtube the tracks; Isolation, Coeur D’Alene and Slipping the Void.

Favourite Track: Isolation

4. Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man.

An extremely under-rated band which have created a brilliant composition, as usual. Ever since their emergence to success in the early 1990s, their musical style hasn’t massively changed. Especially so in this album. The title track and (It’s not war) Just the end of love are by far the stand-out tracks on this album. Although there is not one bad song throughout. A close runner up for my album of the year.

Favourite Track: (It’s not war) Just the end of Love.

5. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

The cartoon monkey band, or “secretly” Blur under a new gimmick have produced their third album under the Gorillaz name. Some would be surprised that this style has actually worked, however the band continue to create catchy tunes which end up everywhere. Based on several songs from this album, Gorillaz have matured their music a lot more. Songs to highlight are; Stylo, Rhinestone Eyes, On A Melancholy Hill and Superfast Jellyfish’. These tracks will receive airplay for some time to come, which in this case is welcome.

Favourite Track: On a Melancholy Hill

6. B.O.B - B.O.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray

A surprise to say the least. And it’s not just because of his track with Paramore lead singer, Hayley Williams. The album features many lively tracks which have been met with great success worldwide. Radio One listeners from small towns in Kent and Essex may have heard Magic and Nothin’ on You, but those who actually listen to entire albums may find great pleasure in tracks such as; Past my Shades. Live shows demonstrate that this is not just another rapper with a beatbox. B.O.B actually play real instruments and demonstrate large amount of charisma.

Favourite Track: Airplanes (Feat. Hayley Williams).

7. Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown

In one word. Perfect. Kings of Leon and greatness seem to be synonyms these days. With a perfect discography and having performed to millions of people all over the world. This album continues the epicness of the former and opens in a typical KOL style - atmosphericly. The ironically titled “the End” is one of the most powerful opening tracks I have ever heard. The singles, Pyro and Radioactive, sum up the album as a whole and have received large amounts of airplay. The chords in the song “Back Down South” impressed me the most, proving to the cynics that KOL haven’t forgotten their roots as a southern Christian Rock band. 10/10 for this album. And my definite album of the year.

Favourite Track: Back Down South

8. Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

Not just new music. But a new band! From Northern Ireland, Two Door Cinema Club created a catchy debut album which has endured reasonable success in Britain, also receiving regular airplay on Holland’s 3FM and Channel 4 sitcom, The Inbetweeners. Many describe this album as “happy” with punchy indie songs such as; Undercover Martyn, I Can Talk, and Something Good Can Work. Although this is not musical genius, the album is catchy and provides positive vibes to those who listen. Definitely worth a listen.

Favourite Song: Something Good Can Work.

9. Good Charlotte - Cardiology

Good Charlotte are back! The punk rock band, became famous with their biggest hit, Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous, have provided an adequate new release. Spearheaded with the single, Like it’s her Birthday, the album is definitely worth a listen if you’re a fan of Good Charlotte’s previous releases.

Favourite Track: Like it’s her Birthday.

10. My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.

A very controversial choice, which I was expecting to place in the sinners’ bin, along with their previous two albums. It’s a bit like the emo band cheered up a little bit. It’s still slightly down-beat in places, but I shamefully admit that I can’t dislike this album. The first single was the explosive NaNaNa, which had shamelessly stolen the riff from a previous song by another band, with the follow up of the powerful Sing. Sceptics, like myself, should give it a chance. I’m sure if you do your opinion, like mine, would shockingly change.

Favourite Track: Sing.

11. Pendulum - Immersion.

No surprises here, we all know Pendulum and what they do. Despite the songs all sounding the same when heard half a mile away from some twat in a Corsa with tinted windows and a sub, when heard outside of the McDonald’s carpark context, this album provides a very lively and entertaining listen. The track Watercolour stands out for me and is a must buy/download for any fans of Pendulum or drum and bass.

Favourite Track: Watercolour

12. Bradon Flowers - Flamingo.

The former lead singer of the world famous, The Killers, went solo this year and released a brilliant album. Some critics will say that not all of it is too far from the Killers. But is that really a bad thing? The first single, Crossfire, wowed listeners across the world and anchored large amounts of downloads and buys from fans.

Favourite Track: Crossfire

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2010 was a great year for new albums, but here are two particular sinners which disappointed me.

Sinners.

1. KoRn - KoRn III: Remember Who You Are.

A very disappointing release by a great band. However, maybe their style has just outlived its lifespan. The first single Oildale (Leave me Alone) was a mediocre song, which unfortunately is the best track on the entire album. Speaking as a KoRn fan, this was lazy. It’s time to pack up the custom mic and call it a day boys.

2. Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns.

Linkin Parks 2010 release had all the makings of a revival. Mike Shinoda made a come back with his lyrics, the first single “Catalyst” proved phenomenal and the second single “Waiting for the End” proved catchy when played on repeat. But this album was lacking in every other aspect. For example, most of the album does not really feature much in the way of music, and most of the music it does contain is somewhat poor. Still, it has two good songs and has given in to the age old criticism of; “where’s Shinoda?” and “Why can’t it be more like Hybrid Theory?” However in the process, they lost their way even more. Better luck next time guys!

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Album of the Year 2010

Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown

The worst snow in a thousand years is upon us, trains are cancelled, uni is closed and its now more economic to put our beer in the snow rather than the fridge. Compared to last year, this should officially be the apocalypse by English standards!

     Of course normally I have no problem with snow and laugh in the faces of those falling over or failing to get into work, because ladies and gentlemen, I am one of the few in this country who can drive to a location faster on snow than in normal conditions. How you ask? Because there’s no idiots on the road as it’s typically English to not want to cause any bother, and a four car pile-up as a result of slamming on the brakes in icy conditions, is not so much a bit of bother, but more like a catastrophic f*** up!

         So if you make this assumption, you’d guess that the only bus drivers on the road would have been born and raised in Sweden, where car control is as important as life itself (as it could mean the end of it otherwise!). However in contradiction to this, all that I can suggest is to view the image below…

As we can see from the image in question, they hired some “Engerlish” (My term for retard English) football hooligan to ferry several passengers into a tree. He should have stuck to his Ford Escort in all honesty…

          But in terms of the snow itself, for once, I can admit there is a credible amount out there. I can walk out the door and my foot disappears into the white, freezing abyss. Amazing. Uni’s cancelled (on my day off), buses are crashing into trees, one in five trains are cancelled and the media are making clever snow related puns along the lines of “The Government needs to get a grip.”

                                         Same s*** different year!

     So one question has sprung to mind after scanning the world of Facebook on a Thursday morning (approximately 14:26). A question constructed along the lines of; Is everyone really inconvenienced enough by the snow that they perform genuine acts of retardedness, or do us English just fancy a day off throwing snowballs at each other? I state English as the “Engerlish” are just lazy and stupid anyway and devoid of any opinions and hopefully one day, oxygen.

        To answer one’s question may well be parallel to chuckling at one’s own jokes or blowing their own whistle, but I would have to break the mold and just agree with the latter. We never get real snow in England. In addition to this, we do get snow, every year and each time the results are the same. Chaos, complaining and carelessness.

        So my suggestion is to put on your wellies, deflate your tyres, have a shot of vodka, wrap up warm and get a grip! No pun intended.

…also remember you left your beer in the snow and not in the fridge ;)

As promised ladies and gentlemen of the blogging world, here is my review from the 30 Seconds to Mars gig, supported by the energetic Enter Shikari.

        We entered the Brighton centre last night (25/11/10) expecting big things from the line up of the evening. Initially we went for a drink during the first band, who were actually tolerable for once! After purchasing a Vodka and Coke and a quadrupal whiskey shot for the astounding sum of £19, we deliberately made the decision to cease the drinking after we had consumed our astronomically expensive beverages. Although strangely the cloakroom was only £1!

         As the warm-up band cleared the stage to a moderate applause from the sold out Brighton Centre, the crowd were treated to an extremely energetic showing from the post-hardcore band from Hertfordshire. The barrage of strobe lighting and smoke made the experience quite surreal. Coupled with an extremely catchy mix of electronic and rhythmic guitar sounds, The Brighton Centre were extatic, causing the largest mosh pit of the night.

          However the only down side of the whole set was the lack of time. Having finished in just under 45 minutes, the crowd has been starved of such well-known songs such as Johnny Sniper and Labyrinth. But as they say, anything can happen in the next half hour…

          Highlight of the set were the dubstep remix of Mothership and the finishing combination of Sorry you’re not a winner and Juggernaughts.

          As Enter Shikari had blown everyones’ minds, we were finally treated to the main event after a brief change over period. Plastered with lights from an extravagantly lit set, the crowd was more than ready for the band, fronted by lead singer Jared Leto. The Los Angeles alternative rock band warmed up their audience with the ever effective Escape.

          Throughout there was much interaction from Jared towards the audience. Although alot of charisma and passion was shown, we could not help but think that someone was a tad in love with himself. For example there was no introducing the rest of the band, of whom were equally as talented.

        However Jared’s surprise appearance in the audience half way through led to a performance of acoustic renditions of L490, From Yesterday and Alibi.

          Much fun was had when us in the audience were requested to jump on each other’s shoulders, which led to a funny moment where I high-fived an old lady.

          Later on came a brilliantly performed encore of Hurricane and after a pointless delay, Kings and Queens. The latter of which was performed with half of the audience on stage. A cute addition, if it weren’t for everyone trying to jump the barrier even during the performance. Also a comment from a nearby fan summed this part up perfectly. That comment being “Well, sing it then Jared!”

         Overall this proved to be a very entertaining gig, with the personal highlights for me being Enter Shikari’s performance of Sorry you’re not a winner, as well as 30 Seconds to Mars’ The Fantasy and their acoustic rendition of From Yesterday. I will score this gig a well deserved 8/10 and would highly recommend to those interested. However if you’re more a fan of rave music and like to mosh, I’d advise attending Enter Shikari’s own tour.

Also a shout out to Lauren Anthony’s stellar performance of Sweet Child O’ Mine at the Karaoke bar afterwards.

Bonjour my peeps! And welcome to my first blog post! Everyone remembers their first time…

My blogs will be about random topics which influence my daily life. From the price of beer to international relations, nothing is safe! So please feel free to feed back and voice your opinions!

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Anyway today I want to speak about retardedness. I’m sure we have all heard of the phrase “survival of the fittest.” If not then you’re most likely a religious fanatic from Alabama who finds his sister extremely attractive.

    If the latter, then the case (in this context) was made famous by a man called Charles Darwin. No? Ok, well he invented a theory called evolution y’all! Whereby all species in the animal kingdom are subject to the same lifestyle of survive and grow stronger, or die weak in a hole somewhere. Simple, now can I get an Amen!

      The same of course does apply to mankind (after studying feminism in depth, I use this as gender neutral as the term mankind can be!), the smarter and open minded climb to ever growing heights, they have many friends, nice houses and posh cars. Then there’s the others. The ones who don’t have many friends, live in a council house and drive a purple Skoda Felicia. These are the people who mark the car as for sale before conveniently “dropping” their keys right in front of it in an Asda car park. Yes you guessed it, some moron dropped his car keys in the car park.

      Fair enough, sometimes that happens. We all have our bad days where we burn the toast, forget to set the alarm or drop our car keys. But after seeing his car with ladders on the roof, i’d assume it’s a case of repetitive nature.

   Furthermore it seemed the people stood adjacent to the car didn’t share a single braincell  between them and never thought of calling the number on the for sale sign to inform the guy that he had left part of his brain at the scene. Well of course they didn’t, they were mumbling to themselves about some X-Craptor rent boy having “talent.”

    Anyway after asking them if they knew the owner, I was greeted to a cultural demonstration of the language of the hobbits. By which I mean some short arse inbred said something only intelligible to people below 4ft who sleep with their cousins. So common sense kicked down the door and belowed at me, urging me to call the guy up and return his precious keys. Pretty standard in all honesty.

   So I called the number and asked the nice man on the other end of the phone, “are you the owner of the purple Skoda Felicia?” to which I got the reply, “the what?” Oh dear. After 5 minutes of me having a hand at speaking some sort of Pidgin variation of retard English, he eventually realised that he had indeed left his key behind. Gold star for that man!

    At which point he didn’t really seem to be that bothered. Let’s think about this for a second, if you leave a bike worth £50 unlocked outside of Asda, you would be worrying the whole time if the local offspring have decided to pikey your ride home. Let alone a car with an asking price of £550. I know it’s purple, old and has had some ladders dropped on to it (presumably to act as a paper weight), but money talks people! And nothing will be more tempting to Dave the local Dickhead than a car left unlocked.

     So fair enough, he told me to leave it under the wheel arch and was very polite after the initial barrage of incompetence. At which point I left and later received a nice text message with many thanks for picking up the pieces in his dim life.

   All in all, a very nice man, but just a little bit thick. If humans were door mice, this man would have been eaten by a hawk long ago. 

           Religious fanatics of Alabama, now you have seen an example of Darwinism in action. Although it’s a mild case of stupidity by Canterbury standards, I hope this has illustrated the point well. If stupidity was a curry, this would only be a mild Korma. But Darwinism also implies that the weak and stupid tend to die whilst the smart and stronger survive and have super babies who will conquer the world. So maybe this is in fact a case that not only does God exist, but he has a damn sick sense of humour!

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Check back here next time for my review of 30 Seconds to Mars playing at the Brighton Centre on thursday.

Thanks

Mike