Song for Sunday

Sharon Van Etten – Taking Chances

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Katy Perry – Roar

Song for Sunday

The Afghan Whigs – Algiers

Apologies about the whipping for those with a nervous disposition, but this is a great song ...

Band/artist of the week: Bruce Springsteen
Song of the week: The Afghan Whigs – Algiers

Song for Sunday

Lykke Li – No Rest for the Wicked

Band/artist of the week: British Sea Power
Song of the week: Lykke Li – No Rest for the Wicked

Song for Sunday

Blonde Redhead – 23

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai

Song of the week: The Dancer Disappears – Dean Wareham

Song for Sunday

Emilíana Torrini – The Sound Of Silence

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai

Song of the week: Mogwai – Hunted by a Freak

Song for Sunday

All India Radio – Fall

Band/artist of the week: Lykke Li
Song of the week: Lykke Li – Jerome

Song for Sunday

The Audreys – Two States Away

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Mogwai – Remurdered

Song for Sunday

Brighter Later – The Woods

Band/artist of the week: British Sea Power
Song of the week: McAlmont and Butler – Yes

Song for Sunday

Dean Wareham – The Dancer Disappears

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Bruce Springsteen – The Ghost of Tom Joad

Song for Sunday

James – Born of Frustration

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Bruce Springsteen – Ghost of Tom Joad

I never like James all that much, but this is a great song. Video is very early 90s. The director obviously wanted to be Anton Corbijn (now I'll probably find out it actually was Anton Corbijn), but sadly it doesn't look like the record company had enough money. Nice owl though.

Oh, and this looks pretty good too ...

Song for Sunday

Bruce Springsteen – Dream Baby Dream

Last year when Bruce Springsteen toured Australia I took son number one to see him. Number two son was a bit upset, but I managed to cheer him up by promising that the next time Bruce was back in Australia I would get the best tickets we could and take him; confidently assuming that it would be at least another five years before Bruce made it back.

That plan back-fired when he announced later last year that he would be back for some stadium shows in February of this year. No way I was getting out of this one, but at least this time we managed to get tickets without any problems. And last night was the big night. I think it was probably all a bit much to take in for an almost-seven-year-old and he didn't quite make it all the way to the end of the encores, but he had the guitar out this morning and was telling everyone all about it.

Unfortunately, we didn't get any more guitar picks, shaken hands or lines to sing this time and my shoulders are a bit sorer, but it was another amazing show. Kicking off with a cover of AC/DCs Highway to Hell and including a full run through of Born in the USA the set covered every era from The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle through to the recent High Hopes. It also featured Finn's favourite song Hungry Heart and three tracks off my favourite album Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Luckily son number three is still too young to really understand what all the fuss was about, so I got away without making any more rash promises this time, but Bruce if you're reading don't let that stop you coming back to Australia again next year!

Band/artist of the week: Bruce Springsteen

Song of the week: Mogwai – Remurdered

Song for Sunday

Poliça – I Need $ / So Leave

Band/artist of the week: Bruce Springsteen

Song of the week: Mogwai – Blues Hour

Song for Sunday

Lucinda Williams – Copenhagen

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Burial – Hiders

Song for Sunday

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Mogwai – Remurdered

Song for Sunday

Lykke Li – Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Mogwai – Blues Hour

Song for Sunday

Balacade – Ghost Car

Band/artist of the week: Manic Street Preachers
Song of the week: Talk to Her – Young Galaxy

Song for Sunday

Frightened Rabbits – Holy

Band/artist of the week: British Sea Power
Song of the week: Malcolm Middleton – Break My Heart

Song for Sunday

Vampire Weekend – Ya Hey

A bit late this week, but it's still Sunday somewhere in the world ...

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Delay Trees – HML

Song for Sunday

Young Galaxy – Pretty Boy

Band/artist of the week: British Sea Power
Song of the week: Burial – Hiders

Books of 2012

Been thinking about my favourite books of the year (and records, but more of that later) and realised that I never made a list for 2012. I don't think I did one for 2011 either, but that seems like an eternity away, and for some reason 2012 feels like it just finished. Probably something to do with the speed that 2013 seems to have passed by at.

Anyway, here is the top ten, with basic statistics underneath. Apparent again is a heavy bias towards fiction, male authors and books published in the last three years; although with an interesting peak from the early noughties mainly due to my Russell Hoban obsession.

Top 10
1 That Summer – Andrew Greig
2 Sightlines – Kathleen Jamie
3 Open City – Teju Cole
4 Gods Without Men – Hari Kunzru
5 Hawthorn and Child – Keith Ridgway
6 The Emperor of All Maladies – Siddhartha Mukherjee
7 The Gone-Away World – Nick Harkaway
8 Not the Last Goodbye – David Servan-Schreiber
9 The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson
10 Backroom Boys – Francis Spufford

Statistics
Total: 41 books
Fiction: 29 titles
Non-fiction: 12 titles
Number of authors: 36
Male authors: 31
Female authors: 5
Published in 2012: 6
Published in 2011: 16
Published in 2010: 4
Published in 2009: 2
Published in 2008: 0
Published in 2007: 1
Published in 2006: 1
Published in 2005: 0
Published 2000-04: 8
Published 1990-99: 2
Published 1980-89: 1
Published before 1980: 0

And because I love a good graph, or three, here is the last three year's reading broken down month-by-month:

Which looks all right, not hitting my target of 52 books a year, but still not too bad for someone at my stage of life, with a heavy iPad Scrabble habit.

However, things start to look a little less rosy when you compare this to the number of books acquired over the same timeframe (noting the different scale on the y-axis of course):

And then the really scary one:

Assuming I manage to survive for another 30 years what this tells me is that I need to stop buying any books (or asking for them as Christmas presents) in about 10 years. Either that or start to read quicker.

Song for Sunday

London Grammar – Strong

And if you like that I can heartily recommend this three song session recorded last month for KEXP.

Band/artist of the week: British Sea Power
Song of the week: Young Galaxy – Talk to Her

Song for Sunday

Mogwai – The Lord is Out of Control

Oooh, this is exciting. First track from the new Mogwai album due out on 20 January 2014.

Band/artist of the week: British Sea Power
Song of the week: Manic Street Preachers – Show Me the Wonder

Song for Sunday

Camera Obscura – New Year's Resolution

Band/artist of the week: Frightened Rabbit
Song of the week: Manor – Architecture

Song for Sunday

Manor – Architecture

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Manor – Architecture

Song for Sunday

For a Minor Reflection – Kastljós

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Young Galaxy – Talk to Her