Art & Culture

Last night I went to the opening of an art exhibition, and 'discovered' the great space it was housed in called 'The Bowery' in Headingley.

The Bowery is an "art gallery-cafe" and is a lovely little place I can imagine spending many a civilized afternoon relaxing with a coffee.

It features 'proper' gallery/exhibition space upstairs, with more works on display around the main cafe area downstairs, with various other artistic creations for sale (jewellry etc)

The exhibition currently on show features 4 artists - the Bowery website has yet to update details of it, but they are:

Charles Willcocks - Penitent
Laura Havenhand - Madelena
Sarah Garforth - Glimpses
Erin Ward - Light

Erin is a friend - the above painting is one of hers, and the rest of her stuff is well worth checking out on her website.
The Bowery exhibition runs until 9th April - the cafe runs regular courses and is open late-ish, so again, well worth looking at the website

ERIN WARD - WEBSITE

THE BOWERY, LEEDS - WEBSITE

Soundtrack to this post: Phoenix, The Knife, Bear Mask, Blue Roses

Spotifriday (On Monday)

I meant to do this with the posts on my favourites of 2009, and then before the weekend - and then I got prodded by a few friends, so here we are - a selection of Spotify playlist links to keep you entertained over the festive periods:

Albums Of 2009

Tracks Of 2009

and finally, here is the link to a playlist with stuff I'm listening to at the moment. This will change over time, possibly bite me on the arse, and be forgotten about at somepoints. But for now it might make some interesting listening

whiskas playlist (Dec '09)

Soundtrack to this post: Jay-Z, Olfar, Maccabees

Albums Of 2009

Here's the second part of my year in lists - my favourite albums of the year.

This should probably come with a few proviso's

I feel guilty for not including Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective) and Veckatimest (Grizzly Bear) but I'm just not that in to you

I feel like I should have listened to Tarot Sports (Fuck Buttons) and These Four Walls (We Were Promised Jetpacks) more

In a few weeks, Beast Rest Forth Mouth (Bear In Heaven) would probably chart a lot higher

1. Röyksopp – Junior

Royksopp feels like an odd choice, but it is an album that really has so muched. Prompted to listen by collaborations with Fever Ray and Lykke Li amongst others, it seems to do master the duo's famous electro sound, and with some awesome contributions create some dark, dance-pop masterpieces

Listen to 'Junior' on Spotify here

2. Magnolia Electric Co - Josephine

It was hard to work out how to place Josephine, another great album from Jason Molina, but without perhaps as much of a focal point as some previous albums, and a slightly more 'blissed out' feeling. Upon consideration, it's still better than pretty much anything else this year

Listen to 'Josephine' on Spotify here

3. The XX - XX

XX is certainly the hipsters record of choice - they were everywhere in Berlin earlier this year. It's rare an album and band create such an atmosphere on a record, and this album does more than that, backed up with some haunting gems with a unique (I said it) mix of sounds

Listen to 'XX' on Spotify here

4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

From breathless start to finish, the size of tunes on this album is massive, with a beatiful interlude in the middle with the atmospheric two-parter Love Like A Sunset. Grammy nominated it as always seems a shame they haven't been able to breakthrough quite so much in the UK - Phoenix are the indie-pop band we need

Listen to 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' on Spotify here

5. Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

The first of two Spencer Krug contributions, despite this album being very much a side project affair, and suffering from the potentially schizophrenic contributions of numerous writes, this is a quirky Canadian indie at it's best, and filled a whole in my world for a while

Listen to 'Enemy Mine' on Spotify here

6. Rock Plaza Central - ...At The Moment Of Most Needing, Or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone

Rock Plaza Central's follow up to 2006's 'We Are Not Horses' would've been hard matched to improve on that, and 'At The Moment' takes a more laid back approach, further away from the psycadelic imagery of it's predecessor. In the process it gains a level of subdued beautiful to revel in

Listen to '...At The Moment Of Most Needing' on Spotify here

7. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Truely there is like no other as Dirty Projectors' immense vocal acrobatic harmony's. Sometimes distracting, always enticing, the melody's really are like no other

Listen to 'Bitte Orca' on Spotify here

8. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Sunset Rubdown's Dragonslayer, Spencer Krug's true sole side project, was a veritable mix sounds and songs, that grew with every listen and utterly bombastic live

Listen to 'Dragonslayer' on Spotify here

9. Kong - Snake Magnet

First delivered to me in 2007 by the hands of Biffy Clyro (I plugged them as a Band For 2008), it took a while getting released, but it's riffs are the size of massive bollocks only these screams could emanate from

Listen to Kong on Myspace here

10. School Of Seven Bells - Alpinism

Strictly released in late 2008, before a re-release this year - one of the most intense live bands I saw this year, the sonics and songs make me warm and fuzzy inside

Listen to 'Alpinism' on Spotify here

...and the best of the rest:

11. Tegan & Sara - Sainthood / 12. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers / 13. Fanfarlo - Reservoir / 14. Grammatics - Grammatics / 15. Sometree - Yonder / 16. Editors - In This Light And On This Evening / 17. Sonic Youth - The Eternal / 18. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth / 19. Blue Roses - Blue Roses / 20. Riceboy Sleeps - Jonsi & Alex / 21. Micachu & The Shapes - Jewellery / 22. Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk / 23. Karen O & The Kids - Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack / 24. Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Bavarian Fruit Bread / 25. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

And, finally, looking at my forever interesting Last.FM stats, my actual most listened to albums released in 2009, are the following:

1. The XX - XX

2. School Of Seven Bells - Alpinism

3. Rock Plaza Central - ...At The Moment Of Most Needing

4. Magnolia Electric Co - Josephine

5. Röyksopp – Junior

6. Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

7. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

8. Grammatics - Grammatics

9. Sometree - Yonder

10. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

With a little note to say that Kong's 'Snake Magnet' would be at #8 in the last fm list, had I not recieved it in 2007!

Soundtrack to this post: Bear In Heaven

Tracks Of 2009

Hello, and welcome to the first of a few posts where I tread the well travelled 'best of' path. To follow are my favourite albums of the year, my favourite albums of the decade - and then the compulsory 'tips' for 2010 - hopefully. These are all subjective of course, one man's gravy is another man's porridge and all that.

I wasn't gonna write some bunf about each song, but I wrote that were the same "great song, had it in my head all year" - so I'll just leave you to listen

Without further ado, here are my Top 10 tracks of 2010:

1. Phoenix - 1901

Download 1901 from RCRDLBL.com here

2. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

Download 'Stillness Is The Move' from RCRDLBL.com here

Watch 'Stillness Is The Move' on YouTube here

3. Animal Collective - My Girls

Listen to 'My Girls' on Spotify here

4. Grammatics - Double Negative

Listen to 'Double Negative' on Spotify here

5. Florence & The Machine - You Got The Love (XX Remix)

Download 'You Got The Love (XX Remix)' from RCRDLBL.com here

6. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

Watch 'Two Weeks' on You Tube here

7. Three Trapped Tigers - 6

Download '6' from NME.com here

8. Sometree - Conundrum

Listen to 'Conundrum' on Spotify here

9. Wild Beasts - The Fun Powder Plot

Listen to 'The Fun Powder Plot' on Spotify here

10. Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart

Download 'Idiot Heart' from RCRDLBL.com here

Close but no cigar: Editors - Bricks & Mortar / The XX - Crystalised / The Antlers - Two / School Of Seven Bells - Iamundernodisguise / The Maccabees - No Kind Words

And, finally, looking at my ever interesting Last.FM stats, my actual most listened to tracks released in 2009, are the following:

1. Local Natives - World News

2. Phoenix - 1901

3. Grammatics - Murderer

4. Animal Collective - My Girls

5. School Of Seven Bells - Iamundernodisguise

6. Passion Pit - Better Things

7. The XX - Crystalised

8. Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

9. The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea

10. Swan Lake - Spanish Gold, 2044

See more here

Soundtrack to this post: Shearwater, Karen O & The Kids, Japandriods

Rock Plaza Central

Rock Plaza Central first came to my attention with their last album, 2006's Are We Not Horses - an amazing concept album about being resurrected as a Steel Horse, witnessing an apocalyptic battle between humans and angels, ending with a realisation you've picked the wrong side. At least that's what I think it's on about. 

They are of course Canadian, and are a many membered beast - although as far as I can tell don't seem to share members with any other notable bands. They sound Canadian, with a heavy dose of 'influence' from the Elephant 6 way of thinking. The new album …At The Moment Of Our Most Needing Or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone, seems to indivualise their sound even more, with an even greater array of instruments at their disposal. Unfortunately this new album is only released in USA & Canada at the moment, but I'm pleased to have found it on Spotify today:

SPOTIFY ---> Rock Plaza Central - …At The Moment Of Our Most Needing Or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone

RPC seem to exist outside of the modern structure of bands, Are We Not Horses was released without a record label, alongside ring leader Chris Eaton's literary 'career' with 2 books published. The Inactivist is witty look at activism and capitalism, while The Grammar Architect is supposedly a re-telling of Hardy's A Pair Of Blue Eyes which I've yet to crack open. 

I cannot lay claim to their discovery, as it's one of those bands my father managed to pick out from nowhere. And grateful I am too! They had a UK tour lined up last July, but postponed to finish the latest album. Hopefully they will put sometime aside for us in the future

MYSPACE ---> Rock Plaza Central

DAYTROTTER SESSION (April 2007) ---> Rock Plaza Central

Soundtrack to this post: Phoenix / Royksopp

SXSW & other bands

I quite enjoyed last week - vicariously living SXSW through other people's Twitters. It was a shame not to be out there, and some day I hope to go back (Forward Russia played a vintage year with Duels, The Research & The Cribs in 2006), and have a Tequila marinated Salmon at the Iron Cactus while sipping on a Mojito....

Anyway, it was an interesting portal to proceedings, and I discovered the following bands / things:

1) THE COATHANGERS

Twice a day someone seemed to be seeing this band play somewhere. Funnily enough, pretty reminscent of a few of the ace Rough Trade bands, like YMG or Raincoats. But I'm being a bit crap cos there's girl singers and funky(ish) basslines

The Coathangers' Myspace

2) LOCAL NATIVES

Like a more direct, less ethereal Fleet Foxes. Intriguing to say the least...

MP3's ---> Local Natives @ Daytrotter Sessions

Local Natives' Myspace

3) MOSHI MOSHI RECORDS SAW MORE BANDS THAN ANYONE... EVER

Moshi Moshi Records

The world outside Austin, TX didn't stop. Back in the UK, people were astonished by THE HORRORS new Portishead/Kraut-rock inspired track Sea Within A Sea. It's not that suprising when you learn the album is produced by Portishead's Geoff Barrow, but that doesn't make the track (and accompanying video) any less good. 

They played a secret gig in London last night to preview more material, which has heralded many an NME hack to laud them as the best band in the world (again)

The Horrors website feat. Sea Within A Sea video

HearYouMe3 blog

Finally, check out:

SWAN LAKE, Canadian indie super-group (aren't they all), feat members of Frog Eyes, Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Destroyer, New Pornographers (and there's only 3 members!). 

MP3's ----> Swan Lake @ Jagjaguwar

Swan Lake Myspace

PHOENIX - French maestro's I've loved long time, since the first time I heard Too Young. No with new management, and already booked to appear on the Late Show in the US, new album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix could do it a bit

MP3 ---> Phoenix - 1901 @ RCRDLBL.com

Soundtrack to this post: Abe Vigoda, Passion Pit, ANthony & The Johnsons