Song for Sunday

Bowerbirds – Northern Lights

Band/artist of the week: Efterklang
Song of the week: Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore – Something, Somewhere, Sometime

Efterklang's new album Magic Chairs was released this week and it is excellent. Hence the large number of plays on Geography of Hope's iPod this week. If you want a preview there is a fantastic live set of four songs here and you can find out more about all the songs on the album here.

Misplaced childhood

My father told lies all his life and, because
I knew no better, I repeated them.

A lie about my father... A son's version of the truth...

John Burnside's memoir about his father is a brilliant, but brutal account of what it was like for him growing-up in the fifties and sixties in Cowdenbeath and Corby. As well as being a liar, his father is a drunk and a bully who is singularly ill-qualified for fatherhood, even by the standards of 1950s Scotland.

A Lie About My Father covers the time from John's birth to his early twenties when his dad dies. It is tough going – his dad burning his teddy bear at six, his mother bundling him out of the bedroon window late at night to avoid drunken beatings, the broken arm from a holiday in Blackpool that goes undiagnosed for three weeks, the teenage obsession with fire-lighting – but not at all gloomy. He seems to cope remarkably well with his lot and there is a complete lack of self-pity or wallowing in his predicament. Like millions of other teenagers he survives with the help of books, music and a complete rejection of his father's principles.

Of course, however, it all takes its toll and as the book ends he is diagnosed with mental illness, hospitalised and losing himself in serious drug abuse from which it takes him a decade to escape.

When they warn you about all that bohemian stuff, they always talk about the seductive properties of alcohol, or drugs, or loose morals, but they never say how seductive falling is, what a great pleasure it is to be lost. Perhaps they don't know. Perhaps only the lost know. Far from home, far from the known, the imagination starts to play beautiful, terrifying tricks on us. Maybe it is the road of excess that leads to the palace of wisdom – which is just another word for a certain kind of crazy. Being lost, being crazy: while I was falling, I knew I was on to something. I knew I wasn't anywhere near there yet, but I also knew that I couldn't get there from where I was.

His recent memoir Waking up in Toytown covers this lost decade and his escape into suburbia of all places. A Lie About My Father ends positively and, although I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, it is safe to say that he isn't going to repeat the mistakes his father made.

P.S. What is the difference between memoir and autobiography? I couldn't really have told you until recently, but according to Diana Athill (in issue number 7 of the consistently interesting Five Dials) the two have diverged recently and autobiography is the official, public version of events while memoir is the private version. Thus the key to memoir is that its success or otherwise depends on how true the account feels to the reader. A Lie About My Father certainly fits this description.

Song for Sunday

The Twilight Sad – I Became a Prostitute (acoustic)

I almost put the official video up late last year, but it is a bit rude and definitely NSFW. (I could just see myself clicking on it by accident and having a bit of explaining to do to the IT police. Not that I would look at my own blog or update it or anything like that at work ...)

Band/artist of the week: Land of Talk
Song of the week: Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore – Something, Somewhere, Sometime
(Click on the link above, download the mp3, enjoy. My pleasure. Don't mention it.)

Song for Sunday

Land of Talk – Some are Lakes

Band/artist of the week: We Were Promised Jetpacks
Song of the week: We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices

Things We Didn't See Coming

Maybe I wanted to love Steven Amsterdam's Things We Didn't See Coming too much. Unfortunately I finished it feeling that I should have enjoyed it more than I did.

The nine chapters (or are they actually short stories?) are inventive and disconcerting, challenging and constantly surprising; all set in an indistinct, post-apocalyptic future which at times seem temporally near, but at others extremely distant.

Initially it looks like we are in for an alternative reality, starting with a Y2K millennium panic that really does go bad, but then we start skipping through the twenty-first century glimpsing nine snapshots of lives that seem to reference what has come before but how it is hard to tell. The connections between the stories are too tenuous or not there at all and I was left lost and a bit puzzled by each subsequent one. The book group questions on his website suggest that all nine stories are narrated by the same person, but this doesn't feel right to me – it just doesn't make sense or ring true.

Individually the nine stories are all great pieces of writing – thought provoking and haunting in many places – but regrettably the holes and gaps and disjunctures meant that I couldn't believe in it as a complete narrative.

I do love the cover design: simple, but powerful and intriguing. And his website is a great example of how a you can make the most of a tiny marketing budget to enhance and promote the book. Just don't click on the What are you so worried about? link.

Song for Sunday

Frightened Rabbit – Swim Until You Can't See Land

New album The Winter of Mixed Drinks is out on March 2 ...

Band/artist of the week: We Were Promised Jetpacks
Song of the week: We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices

Song for Sunday

Shout Out Louds – Fall Hard

Band/artist of the week: Hello Saferide
Song of the week: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric

The Steep Approach to Garbadale

I've read all of Iain Banks' books, pretty much in the order he wrote them, starting with The Wasp Factory in 1988. The Bridge is one of my favourite books ever, one that I re-read on a regular basis, and his run of non-SF novels from The Wasp Factory to Complicity is arguably unmatched in British literature. I agree with him on most of his political views, am interested in all the same things and recognise much of what he writes about from my own background and experiences. Listening to him talk it is clear that he is erudite and fantastically entertaining (just listen to him discuss Transition with Ramona Koval on Radio National's The Book Show to see what I mean).

In short, he is a bit of genius and someone I admire greatly.

Unfortunately, and you knew there was a qualifier coming, his last four (non-SF) novels haven't been very good. So over the last 14 years I have gone from keenly awaiting each new release to mild interest whenever the latest title appears. After Dead Air I even sort-of-assumed that I might be finished with his regular fiction and considered starting into his SF works. I read some mildly positive reviews of The Steep Approach to Garbadale, but even then had no inclination to pick up a copy and probably wouldn't have been tempted apart from the fact that the excellent Fullers Bookshop in Hobart was selling the hardback for five dollars.

The characters are almost all caricatures (the poncey business exec with his Mercedes S-class and Zero Halliburton aluminium briefcase anyone?), mouthpieces for Banks' views on society and politics, so unconvincing they would have trouble standing up in a Jackie Collins novel.

Even more annoyingly there are enough flashes of his best writing to remind you what you're missing. The passages recounting the hero's teenage years are beautifully written, with a real feel for the miseries and joy of that age. Sadly, these sections only remind me of similar ones in his earlier and better books.

One of the better characters seems to be speaking directly to the author rather than the protagonist when she asks: 'What are you trying to achieve? What is it you really want?' In Banks' case unfortunately it looks like he has lost track of the former and found the answer to the latter so long ago that he can't really be arsed anymore.

Song for Sunday

Slaraffenland – We're on Your Side

Band/artist of the week: Hello Saferide
Song of the week: Girls – Morning Light

Books of 2009

Complete list is in the sidebar on the right. 49 is quite an improvement on 2008's total of 26, but just short of my unofficial goal of 50 in total. This year I am upping the stakes and going for one a week.

Top ten is below, with statistics underneath. Apparent in the numbers is a heavy bias towards fiction, male authors and books published in the last three years.

Not many other trends in the top 10 apart from a fondness for Scandinavian crime novels (although I cheated by grouping all the Millennium trilogy together at number 2). More to come about that at a later date ...

Most of the list is fiction apart from numbers 1 and 10, both of which would probably be classed as travel literature. One a walk around the M25 and the other a woman's journey to the northern areas of Pakistan.

Fairly international – three Scots, two Icelanders, two Americans, two English and one Swede – and three translations.

Top 10

1 London Orbital – Iain Sinclair

2 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/The Girl who Played with Fire/The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest – Steig Larsson
3 The Draining Lake – Arnaldur Indridason
4 Ascent – Jed Mercurio
5 The Incredible Adam Spark – Alan Bissett
6 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Díaz
7 The Devil's Footprints – John Burnside
8 The Blue Fox – Sjón
9 The Invention of Everything Else – Samantha Hunt
10 Among Muslims – Kathleen Jamie

Statistics
Fiction: 34 titles
Non-fiction: 15 titles
Number of authors: 44

Male authors: 43
Female authors: 6

Books published in 2009: 4
Books published in 2008: 15
Books published in 2007: 13
Books published in 2006: 5
Books published in 2005: 4
Books published 2000-04: 7
Books published 1990-99: 1
Books published 1980-89: 0
Books published before 1980: 0

Song for Sunday

Efterklang and the Danish National Orchestra – Cutting Ice to Snow

Band/artist of the week: Girls
Song of the week: Girls – Morning Light

The Olivetti Chronicles

Eagle-eyed readers of this blog will have noticed the little LibraryThing widget about halfway down the column on the right seems to have been stuck, displaying the pensive visage of the legendary John Peel without fail for the last three months as numerous other book covers have come and gone. However, the problem has nothing to do with the irreproachable LibraryThing or even with my lax updating of the data which it requires to accurately provide this essential part of the Geography of Hope experience. No, it has all been down to the fact that I couldn't bear to finish this cobbled together, blatant (dare I say it) cash-in which is all that remains of John's wit and wisdom.

Like listening to John's radio show (which I have to confess I never did as often as I would have liked to pretend I did) you never know what is going to be up next. But it has been wonderfully comforting picking up this collection of articles and hearing in my head that gruff but reassuring accent musing on subjects as varied as Eurovision, Extreme Noise Terror, The Fall (not nearly as much as you would expect), football (lots of football), Cliff Richard, vaginal deodorants and Top of the Pops. Written for a diverse range of publications from Sounds to The Radio Times over a period of about thirty three (and a third) years it is actually the perfect memento of a singular and remarkable man whose love of new music rubbed off on a couple of generations of music fans.

The greatest pleasure in pop music derives, I believe, from the manner in which its very nature resists scholarship ... Pop is a car-boot sale, a parade of trinkets, junk and handicrafts, most worthless, some capable of giving a few moments of pleasure, with a few glorious items made more glorious by their unexpected appearance in this market. Then in an unpredictable double-bluff, the worthless can, within a few years, take on great worth and the glorious become merely laughable.

Song for Sunday

Hello Saferide – Anna

Band/artist of the week: The XX
Song of the week: The XX – Islands

Hüzün

Istanbul is travel writing at its most pure. The author doesn't travel far, at most a few kilometres from the streets he grew up in and has lived in all his life. Backwards and forwards in time a bit too, but the real travel is done by the reader, transported to a beguiling and intriguing city that is as alien and strange as anything I can imagine.

Orhan Pamuk on why he writes:

I write because I can't do normal work like other people. I write because I want to read books like the ones I write. I write because I am angry at all of you, angry at everyone. I write because I love sitting in a room all day writing. I write because I can only partake in real life by changing it. I write because I want others, all of us, the whole world to know what sort of life we lived, and continue to live, in Istanbul, in Turkey. I write because I love the smell of paper, pen and ink. I write because I believe in literature, in the art of the novel, more then I believe in anything else. I write because it is a habit, a passion. I write because I am afraid of being forgotten. I write because I like the glory and interest that writing brings. I write to be alone. Perhaps I write to understand why I am so very, very angry at all of you, so very, very angry at everyone. I write because I like to be read. I write because once I have begun a novel, an essay, a page, I want to finish it. I write because everyone expects me to write. I write because I have a childish belief in the immortality of literature. I write because it is exciting to turn all of life's beauties and riches into words. I write not tell a story, but to compose a story. I write because I want to escape from the foreboding that there is a place I must go - just as in a dream - I can't quite get there. I write because I never managed to be happy. I write to be happy.

From Other Colours, 2007

And what does Hüzün mean? Well, you will just have to read Istanbul and find out.

Who's Gonna Love You Now Baby? (2009 in mix-tape form)

When I started compiling my best of 2009 mix-tape I thought I might include a second disk made up of completely new bands, but as it turned out that disk was my best of 2009 collection! Apart from Emiliana Torrini and The Twilight Sad all these bands were new to me in 2009. Here's the track listing:

Little Birdy – Brother
Emiliana Torrini – Big Jumps
Phantogram – When I'm Small
Burning Hearts – I Lost My Colour Vision
The XX – Islands
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric
Day for Night – Badlands
Wild Light – Red House
Young Galaxy – Destroyer
The Twilight Sad – I Became a Prostitute
Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Wrapped Up
The Very Best – Yalira
Efterklang – Modern Drift
Slaraffenland – Away
Girls – Lust For Life
Fulton Lights – Healing Waters
The Airborne Toxic Event – Sometime Around Midnight

National postal services permitting, a limited number should be arriving around now. Let me know if yours hasn't arrived by the end of the week! Alternatively you can make your own by downloading a zip file with all the tracks and the CD label here.

Song for Sunday

Tinariwen – Lulla

Band/artist of the week: The XX
Song of the week: The XX – Islands

Song for Sunday

Portishead – Chase the Tear

Fantastic new track from Portishead, being sold to raise funds for Amnesty International, but can you buy it in Australia? No chance. Oh well, at least the video works anywhere ...

And as special Christmas bonus here is the trailer for the new Tindersticks' album Falling Down a Mountain:



Band/artist of the week: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Song of the week: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric

Top 10 Albums of 2009

1 Little Birdy – Confetti
I stumbled across the song Brother about mid-way through the year, but it took me a few months to realise how fantastic it was. Then pootly1 kept asking – who sings that who's going to love you now baaaaybeee song? Then offspring1 started telling us that it was his favourite song and could we play it again? Eventually I did a bit of research and found out that not only were they an Australian band, but they were currently based in our home city and that the backing vocals were Australian living legend Paul Kelly.

The album was only purchased about three weeks ago, but already it has carved a secure place into our hearts as one of those albums that you can't really imagine living without. Opening with Brother the album moves through the pure pop of Summarize past the sublime Stay Wild through to finish with the raw and ragged title track. All the while Katy Steele's magnificent voice soars over a wonderfully timeless but contemporary backing. Whatever sorts of music you think you like, buy this. I guarantee you'll love it.

Album of the year?

So, there you have it, numbers ten to two. Almost over now. But what is going to win the Geography of Hope Best Album of 2009? Anyone that guesses correctly gets a copy of their choice from the top ten. Just put your guess in the comments below before 9pm (Australian Eastern Summer time) tomorrow night and you might be in line for an extra Christmas present ...

Top 10 Albums of 2009

2 The XX – XX
Lots of reviews have mentioned the word minimalist, but I would argue it's perfectly formed with nothing superfluous – a bit like the musical equivalent of one of these. Minimalist always seems to imply that the band are cold or stand-offish and that the music is unemotional, but that isn't the case here. The music is slinky and sly, with emotions running high even if they aren't always overt. For a bunch of youngsters (and they are young – average age is 20, hence the XX) let loose in the studio for the first time it is remarkably restrained, however I think it is the sort of restraint that comes from unrequited or uncertain feelings.

It is a late night sound, that has only recently been matched by the genius that is fellow Londoner Burial. Not the sound of pubs and clubs, but loners and couples walking the streets, sitting on park benches and looking out from the back of buses.

The interplay between the voices of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim is amazing and it sounds like there's plenty of history behind their tales of love and desire. It all adds up to one of those albums that sounds unique and timeless, an immediate classic that sounds like nothing else around.

Top 10 Albums of 2009

3 Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight
I thought The Modern Leper was rubbish when I first heard it. I still can't really be arsed with it, but once you get past it the album gradually picks up. And by the time you get to the fourth track – Fast Blood – I defy anyone not to be tapping their foot, nodding their head or more likely doing some kind of awkward indie-kid shuffle around the floor. It starts out fantastic:

Good night/ Its Showtime/ Lets get paralysed/ Down both sides/ Snake Hips ...

and then just gets better. By the time you get to Heads Roll Off:

Jesus/ Is just a Spanish boys name ...

you will be convinced that the Midnight Organ Fight is one of the most original and thrilling records in recent years and that they all deserve to be bigger stars than Robbie Williams. I do anyway.

Song for Sunday

Saint Etienne – I Was Born on Christmas Day

Band/artist of the week: The Very Best
Song of the week: The XX – Islands

Top 10 Albums of 2009

4 Fulton Lights – Healing Waters EP

We ran the numbers/ and checked it all twice/ gathered all the experts/ and took all their advice/ we had it/ we had the technology/ and the science was flawless/ we had the wise men and world leaders and religions behind it/ we had it/ we thought we had it/ let's just admit it/ let's just call it what it is/ we built a monster ...

Only six songs, but for me this record captures the end of the noughties zeitgeist better than anything else.

According to last.fm Fulton Lights is a Brooklyn-based* musician Andrew Spencer Goldman accompanied by an eclectic variety of musicians – among them players who have worked with the Walkmen, Wilco, Dälek, Ida, the Beauty Pill, and Grenadine. I have heard of Ida and Wilco, but none of the others and I am not sure that it would make much difference if I had.

Healing Waters is ghostly and sparse, with distant beats and slabs of distorted guitars. Sort of like listening to My Bloody Valentine on your iPod while walking past Girls Aloud playing a concert in an empty church. Like on Loveless there are moments of tender beauty and catchy hooks amongst the glorious racket, but on a first listen this sounds more raw and ragged than the My Bloody Valentine's classic. It is only later, when you listen closely, that you can hear how precisely and artfully it has been put together.

*UPDATE: Apparently he doesn't live in Brooklyn anymore – according to the A.V. Club he moved back to Washington D.C. a few months ago to go to law school!

Xmas party

Day off from the top 10 albums of 2009. Work Christmas party this evening, so you will have to wait another day to find out who made number 4 in the list ...

Top 10 Albums of 2009

5 Girls – Album
'Who is this miserable git?', Pootly1 asked first time I played Hellhole Ratrace in the car. And, although I hadn't really thought about it before then, he does sound like a bit of a sad case. Then there is the name: calling themselves Girls and calling the album Album should automatically mean that all the songs are rubbish, but in actual fact it's total genius.

At times it sounds like early Jesus and Mary Chain jamming with the Kinks and one (the catchy one) of the Beach Boys. Other times it reminds me of Pavement and Blur having a bust-up in the pub. And occasionally he sounds like Jarvis Cocker out on the pull. As you may have gathered it's not the easiest album to describe, however, trust me, people are going to be talking about this record for a long time and I would suggest that you get a copy soon so that you can look smug in about six months time when everyone starts asking – 'Have you heard the Girls? He's a bit of a miserable git, but they are going to be huge!'