Song for Sunday

Camera Obscura - Tougher Than the Rest

A little bit later than normal, but I can assure you that it is still Sunday where I am. Although for me it has been Sunday for roughly 35 hours now (still got another six to go) and it is certainly starting to feel that way ... Unfortunately it does mean that I won't have a Sunday at all next week, so I don't know what that is going to do for next weeks exciting installment. Anyway, this is very lovely. Doesn't quite have the muscle of Bruce's version, but they do bring a welcome tenderness to it. Very strange way of pronouncing baby though ...

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once

Song for Sunday

Human Don't Be Angry – 1985

Easy choice this week. Malcolm Middleton's new album (under his Human Don't be Angry guise) is out now and it is rather wonderful. I think you should all buy a copy. Here is a good place. Anyone else remember Frustration?

Band/artist of the week: Saint Etienne
Song of the week: Airborne Toxic Event – All At Once

Song for Sunday

The Airborne Toxic Event – All At Once

Band/artist of the week: The Big Pink
Song of the week: Mystery Jets – Someone Purer

Song for Sunday

Mystery Jets (featuring Laura Marling) – Young Love

You would have to be a miserable bastard if this doesn't make you smile even a little bit. I love the sly little reference to Blondie and the fact that they seem to have glued Laura Marling's head to the cushion. And while you're wasting your life looking at YouTube videos I wholeheartedly recommend Knock for Knock: a short film about cycling in Tokyo which is accompanied by the mighty Mogwai's Drunk and Crazy. Enjoy!

Band/artist of the week: James Dean Bradfield
Song of the week: Mystery Jets (featuring Laura Marling) – Young Love

Song for Sunday

Gravenhurst – The Prize

Band/artist of the week: the xx
Song of the week: Prolapse – Autocade

Song for Sunday

On Volcano – The Explorer

Band/artist of the week: Human Don't Be Angry
Song of the week: Mogwai – The Sun Smells Too Loud

Song for Sunday

Metric – Gold Guns Girls

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Sharon van Etten – Save Yourself

Song for Sunday

The Twilight Sad – Dead City

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Shearwater – Dread Sovereign

Song for Sunday

Saint Etienne – Tonight

From the new album Words and Music. But when is it out?

Song of the week: King Creosote and John Hopkins – Bats in the Attic (Unravelled)

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai

Song for Sunday

Spotlight Kid – Plan Comes Apart

Song of the week: Markéta Irglová – We Are Good
Band/artist of the week: The Big Pink

Song for Sunday

Markéta Irglová - Crossroads

Band/artist of the week: Bruce Springsteen
Song of the week: Markéta Irglová – We are Good

Song for Sunday

North Highlands – Benefits

Band/artist of the week: Bruce Springsteen
Song of the week: Caveman – Great Life

Song for Sunday

Sharon Van Etten – Save Yourself

Band/artist of the week: Bruce Springsteen
Song of the week: The Big Pink – Stay Gold

Song for Sunday

I have gone to post this a couple of times in the last few weeks, but kept reconsidering because of the lead singer's terrible haircut (not to mention the Burt Reynold's moustache), his propensity to over-sing horribly on certain lines and the fact the they seem to have re-incarnated Kenny Everett to play drums. Even so, the song just keeps worming its way back into my head. There is something about the simple organ line and sweetly understated guitar that kicks in at 0.48 that I find helpless to resist. Anyway, listen with your eyes shut first time and you will probably be okay.

Band/artist of the week: The Big Pink
Song of the week: The Twilight Sad – Don't Move

Song for Sunday

The Sundays – Here's Where the Story Ends

Band/artist of the week: The Twilight Sad
Song of the week: Human Don't Be Angry – H.D.B.A. Theme

Song for Sunday

Ghostpoet – Survive It

Band/artist of the week: Lou Reed
Song of the week: Lana Del Ray – Videogames

Song for Sunday

Caveman – Great Life

Band/artist of the week: Placebo
Song of the week: Placebo – Teenage Angst

Song for Sunday

Explosions in the Sky – Last Known Surroundings

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Mogwai – Drunk and Crazy

Song for Sunday

Laurie Anderson – O Superman

Spot the connection?

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: The Big Pink – Hit the Ground (Superman)

Song for Sunday

The Big Pink – Hit the Ground (Superman)

Band/artist of the week: Mogwai
Song of the week: Elastica – Connection

Song for Sunday

Blue Aeroplanes – Jacket Hangs

With my iTunes Christmas and birthday vouchers I finally purchased a copy of The Blue Aeroplanes classic Beatsongs. The vinyl version is hidden away somewhere and I had never got round to buying the CD or downloading it. However, I can confirm that it is as magnificent as remembered and has been getting plenty of stereo time over the last week. Unfortunately there don't seem to be any high-quality videos of songs from the album (not even Boy in the Bubble!) and so you will have to make do with this track from the earlier Swagger.

Band/artist of the week: Lanterns on the Lake
Song of the week: Suede – Animal Nitrate

2011 music by numbers

According to last year's post my last.fm play count was sitting at 92,378 on the thirteenth day of January 2011. As of today I am up to 137,233 or 44,855 songs played in the last year. Or approximately 863 songs a week or 123 a day. Sounds like quite a lot to me, but given that I tend to have music going all the time at work that I don't have to be in a meeting or on the phone (and often it is on if the meeting isn't in my office) it could be feasible.

Anyway, probably of no interest to anyone but myself, here are the lists for the top 50 artists and songs for 2011.

Artists/bands
1 Mogwai (1,386)

2 The National (1,207)

3 Bruce Springsteen (1,033)

4 British Sea Power (834)

5 Malcolm Middleton (829)

6 R.E.M. (699)

7 Frightened Rabbit (551)

8 Idlewild (541)

9 Sigur Rós (533)

10 Saint Etienne (520)

11 Radiohead (517)

12 Tindersticks (501)

13 All India Radio (453)

14 Glasvegas (438)

15 M83 (428)

16 Big Country (396)

17 The Rural Alberta Advantage (390)

18 U2 (377)

19 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (361)

20 Burial (356)

21 Manic Street Preachers (325)

22 Holly Throsby (324)

23 Low (306)

24 Lucinda Williams (304)

25 Arcade Fire (300)

26 Placebo (290)

27 Suede (280)

27 Dead Letter Chorus (280)

29 Belle and Sebastian (276)

30 Trembling Blue Stars (265)

31 Art of Fighting (264)

32 David Bowie (263)

33 Tanya Donelly (253)

34 Moby (252)

35 For a Minor Reflection (246)

36 Zomby (244)

37 Runrig (237)

38 Portishead (224)

38 Marillion (224)

40 Gorillaz (223)

41 Dot Allison (221)

41 The Blue Aeroplanes (221)

43 Camera Obscura (214)

44 The Cure (211)

45 ABBA (206)

45 Girls (206)

47 Billy Bragg (197)

48 The Very Best (194)

49 The Breeders (192)

50 Gersey (191)

Tracks

1 Mogwai – George Square Thatcher Death Party (113)

2 Frightened Rabbit – Heads Roll Off (108)

3 Big Country – Chance (106)

4 Mogwai – How to Be a Werewolf (103)

5 The National – Terrible Love (97)

6 Mogwai – Death Rays (88)

7 Mogwai – Rano Pano (81)

8 The House Of Love – I Don't Know Why I Love You (76)

9 The Rural Alberta Advantage – Stamp (74)

10 On Volcano – Acceleration of Heartbeat (72)

11 Robyn – Be Mine (Ballad Version) (68)

11 British Sea Power – We Are Sound (68)

13 All India Radio – Rippled (66)

14 Bent – So Long Without You (63)

15 Mogwai – Mexican Grand Prix (62)

16 Dot Allison – Message Personnel (56)

17 Phosphorescent – I Don't Care If There's Cursing (54)

18 Frightened Rabbit – Head Rolls Off (52)

18 The Airborne Toxic Event – This Is Nowhere (52)

18 Forest City Lovers – Light You Up (52)

18 British Sea Power – Living Is So Easy (52)

18 Dead Letter Chorus – Yellow House (52)

23 Malcolm Middleton – Choir (51)

23 Frightened Rabbit – Fast Blood (51)

25 Holly Throsby – What I Thought Of You (49)

26 Röyksopp – Someone Like Me (48)

27 Mogwai – White Noise (46)

27 Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx – I’ll Take Care Of U (46)

29 The Concretes – Lovin' Kind (45)

29 Fulton Lights – Healing Waters (45)

29 Wye Oak – Civilian (45)

29 British Sea Power – Who's In Control? (45)

33 Mogwai – 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong (44)

33 Mogwai – Letters to the Metro (44)

35 Malcolm Middleton – A Brighter Beat (42)

35 Glasvegas – Euphoria, Take My Hand (42)

35 Lowtide – Underneath Tonight (42)

38 Mogwai – Cody (41)

38 Malcolm Middleton – Love Comes in Waves (41)

40 MGMT – Time To Pretend (40)

40 British Sea Power – Cleaning Out The Rooms (40)

40 For a Minor Reflection – Recite (40)

43 Burial – Distant Lights (39)

43 Gil Scott-Heron – I'm New Here (39)

43 Cat's Eyes – Not A Friend (39)

46 Beth Orton – Stolen Car (38)

47 Maxïmo Park – Limassol (37)

47 Mogwai – San Pedro (37)

49 Suede – Animal Nitrate (36)

49 Ash – Uncle Pat (36)

Song for Sunday

Lana Del Rey – Video Games

No band or song of the week because we are hopefully still away camping in the middle of nowhere and completely off-grid, as they say ...

Normal service will be resumed next week.

Who's in Control (2011 in mixtape form)

As is now traditional, here is the track listing for this year's festive mix-tape:

Dead Letter Chorus – Yellow House
khancoban – Until It Takes You Over
Califone – Funeral Singers
Gil Scott-Heron – I'm New Here
Trembling Blue Stars – Kidney Bingos
All India Radio – Rippled
Radiohead – Codex
M83 – Wait
Mogwai – How to Be a Werewolf
Holly Throsby – What I Thought of You
The Audreys – Don't Change
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lannegan – Trouble
R.E.M. – Oh My Heart
Wild Beasts – Loop the Loop
Glasvegas – The World Is Yours
British Sea Power – Who's In Control
For a Minor Reflection – Recite

Hopefully all copies have arrived at their destinations (apart from one which still needs an up-to-date address) and is being enjoyed worldwide at this very moment. The tracks seemed to sort themselves out pretty quickly, but the sequencing was a bit more troublesome this year and I am still not totally happy with the flow. A few tracks almost made it, but didn't quite fit the overall feel and so got ditched on the way like bizness by the tUnE-yArDs, one of the Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingi tracks, a Bill Wells and Aiden Moffat tune and something off the Zomby album.

The sharp eyed will notice a couple of 2010 tracks and even one each from 2009 and 2008. They were all new to me this year and although they wouldn't normally get included I loved them too much to leave them off.

Looking forward to hearing your favourites and least-liked, and of course let me know if you didn't get a copy and would like one.

Song for Sunday

Thurston Moore – Benediction

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: How to be a Werewolf – Mogwai