Monday, January 29, 2007
The New Style
Is it nearly February already? Good Lord. And here's me without my Singles of the Year list, still. What an embarrassment. I'm sure you've all had sleepless nights. Well, rest easy, my good friends, for I present to you...
The Delrico Bandito Singles of 2006.
But...BUT! I couldn't face ordering them into a Top 50 or whatever, (there's TV to be watched) so here's something a little bit different. Lists are great, but then so are sublists and categories, and oh the joy! So here we go, let's make up some categories and go apeshit! Woo!
The Britpop Solo Hangover Award:
Winner:
Jarvis Cocker - 'Cunts Are Still Running The World'
Honourable mentions:
The Good, The Bad and The Queen - 'Herculean'
Graham Coxon - 'Bloody Annoying'
James Dean Bradfield - 'That's No Way To Tell A Lie'
Nicky Wire - 'I Killed The Zeitgeist'
Richard Hawley - 'Last Orders'
Thom Yorke - 'Black Swan'
Oh yes, here's where the egos ran riot and the talented ones kicked the chaff to the curb and unleashed their opuses on the world! The quality cuts from Blur, The Manics, The Longpigs and Radiohead did their best, but because Jarvis used a really rude word, he gets the gong.
The Kooky Solo Girls I Quite Fancy Award:
Winner:
Charlotte Hatherley - 'Behave'
Honourable Mentions:
Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins - 'Rise Up With Fists'
Regina Spektor - 'Fidelity'
Charlotte escapes the solo britpop slur to triumph in surely the most important category. Plus she released it just in time for Christmas! Phew. Jen did without Rilo Kiley, who were another one of my fave bands of the year, but they didn't release anything this time out. The fools! Regina went all MOR on our asses, but it's a great tune so we all still love her, don't we?
Yes.
But Charlotte still won cos the single is incredible.
The New Indie Darlings Award:
Winner:
The Long Blondes - 'Once And Never Again'
Honourable Mentions:
Be Your Own Pet - 'Adventure'
Broken Social Scene - 'Fire Eye'd Boy'
The Raconteurs – 'Steady As She Goes'
Yay! They're here to save the world! All brand spanking new (well, The Raconteurs are, sort of) and already setting the world alight. Praise be. Worthy winners from the Long Blondes there. Jarvis would be proud.
The Bedroom DIYers Award:
Winner:
Jamie T - 'Sheila'
Honourable Mentions:
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly - 'Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager (Part Two)'
Helen Love - 'Junkshop Discotesque'
Hot Chip - 'And I Was A Boy From School'
Emerging pale and blinking from behind the curtains into the sunlight, these guys could still rock with the big boys. Bless them. They don't need no complex producers or studios or any of that rubbish. Just an 8 track, an acoustic guitar and a battered drum machine and they're away! And Jamie T was king of them all.
The Are They Still Going Award:
Winner:
Pet Shop boys - Minimal
Honourable Mentions:
The Beatles - 'Drive My Car / The Word / What You're Doing (Love Medley)'
Coldcut - 'True Skool'
Madonna - 'Get Together'
Ah, yet another reinvention for everyone's favourite golden oldies. Even though Madge's was really Les Rhythmes Digitales. And The Beatles were glued together by George Martin's son. And Coldcut needed Roots Manuva's help. But the Shoppies did it all on their own, so they win, woo! Plus, it was an amazing record.
The Guilty Pleasures Award:
Winner:
The Feeling - 'Love It When You Call'
Honourable Mentions:
Jamelia - 'Something About You'
Michael Gray Feat. Shelley Poole - 'Borderline'
Ssshhh. I won't tell anyone if you don't. Although... you haven't really got anything to feel guilty about. But forget that. The Feeling had it wrapped up this year. The others were just making up the numbers. Honest.
The I'm Getting Too Old For This Shit Award:
Winner:
My Chemical Romance - 'Teenagers'
Honourable Mentions:
Billy Talent – ‘Devil In A Midnight Mass’
Fall Out Boy - 'Sugar We're Going Down'
Panic! At The Disco - 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies'
Paramore - 'Emergency'
Yay! Who cares what it's called (although everyone's calling it emo now, aren't they?) And screw the purists who get snobby about it. This is cracking, exciting, smart, funny, ambitious, theatrical and just darn right fantastic music that totally rocks! (And, it has to be said, all a million times more interesting than the jangling retro dullness of much of the UK's rock scene. For shame!) MCR's Black Parade LP was the pinnacle of the wondrous absurdity, and 'Teenagers' was the darkest, funniest thing I heard all year. Excelsior!
The Safe Hands Award:
Winner:
The Strokes - 'You Only Live Once'
Honourable Mentions:
The Flaming Lips - 'It Overtakes Me'
The Futureheads - 'Worry About It Later'
The Rapture - 'Get Myself Into It'
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 'Gold Lion'
Some old friends, and yet some just on their second album, but we already trust these guys to come up with the goods. And come up they did. The Strokes get my vote for surprising me with a song that just wouldn't get out of my head. They can still pen a great pop song. Here's to the next one, guys. Don't get complacent, y'hear?
The One Off Award:
Winner:
The View - 'Wasted Little DJs'
Honourable Mentions:
Gnarls Barkley - 'Crazy'
Nelly Furtado - 'Maneater'
Well... I just don't think they'll better these. Gnarls never need to do anything ever again, and Nelly only just got away with vamping it up the once. Face it guys. Let it go. And The View have already gotten a bit...well...obvious? And dull. Sorry. But the first single was lovely, before we knew what they looked like, or cared if they had a follow up. And it had pig latin. So it wins.
The It Just Does The Same Thing For Seven Minutes Award:
Winner:
Justice vs Simian - 'We Are Your Friends'
Honourable Mentions:
Bodyrox - 'Yeah Yeah'
David Guetta vs The Egg - 'Love Don't Let Me Go/Walking Away'
Fred Falke - 'Omega Man'
The Killers - 'When You Were Young (Lindbergh Palace Dub)'
Lifelike and Kris Menace - 'Discopolis'
The Similou - 'All This Love'
Stars On 33 - 'I Feel Music In Your Heart'
Who said dance is dead? If it is, *gasp*, then these are zombie tunes! And that makes them supercool! Like a sportscar made of ice! So, anyway, tunes made by french people, tunes that repeat the same phrase over and over and over, tunes that noone else has heard of: come and get em. 'We Are Your Friends' wins because it's the best of a very very good bunch. And the video almost put me off drinking til I pass out, forever. Almost.
The Nice Men Of Hip Hop Award:
Winner:
Lupe Fiasco - 'Kick Push'
Honourable Mentions:
DJ Shadow - 'Minimal'
John Legend - 'Save Room'
Kanye West - 'Touch The Sky'
Nas - 'Hip Hop Is Dead'
The Streets - 'Two Nations'
Sway - 'Little Derek'
Well, nice-ish. Boys who can rap, and do it without concentrating on the tired, boring, obvious crap. There's a spark in all these tunes that was missing from the rest of Hip Hop and RnB which was frightfully dull in places this year. And yeah, I know Johnny Boy isn't a rapper, but hey, it's a great song from a great album, so let him hang with his mates already. Lupe pulled my favourite rarity from out of his sleeve: a hip hop lovesong that actually works. So he gets the golden skateboard. Kick... Push... Coast!
The Oooh You Saucy Devils Award:
Winner:
The Eagles Of Death Metal - 'I Got A Feelin' (Just Nineteen)'
Honourably Filthy Mentions:
Juliette and the Licks - 'Hot Kiss'
Kelis - 'Bossy'
We Are Scientists - 'Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt'
I ought to wash their mouths out with soap. These records were sexy and fun and great to get it on down to... on the dancefloor. Kelis had the hottest video (ssshhh), but it was The Eagles... that clinch the prize thanks to that moustache. Even Kelis couldn't pull that off (good morning...)
The Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better Award:
Winner:
We Are Scientists - 'Hoppipolla'
Honourable Mentions:
Belle Lawrence - 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'
The Polyphonic Spree - 'Lithium'
And the Scientists appear again! And this time they won! Hooray for them. These covers all took classics and gave them an extra dimension. Track 'em down and treasure them.
The They Were Bound To Release Something I Liked Eventually Award:
Winner:
Muse - 'Knights Of Cydonia'
Honourable Mentions:
Incubus - 'Anna Molly'
Scissor Sisters - 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
I never really liked these guys before, but boy did they make me look stupid these year! Especially Muse, whose new album was fantastical. I doubt the Sisters or Incubus will make a lasting impression, but hey, they had their 5 minutes. Muse rocked it and won me over with their cracking tunes and cheeky japes. By crikey were they A-Muse-ing.
Sorry.
The Emperor's New (Musical Express) Clothes Award:
Winner:
CSS - 'Let's Make Love and Listen To Death From Above'
Honourable Mentions:
Gossip - 'Standing In The Way Of Control'
Klaxons - 'Magick'
New Rave? New Rave?I Oh, do fuck off. But hopefully these guys can outlive any scene. Klaxons were fun, The Gossip were funky, but CSS were fun and funky. And the album's cracking. And Death From Above are very good too. Sage advice, my friends, sage advice.
The It Was Released This Year Honest Award:
Winner:
Sufjan Stevens - 'No Man's Land'
Honourable Mentions:
The Crimea - 'Lottery Winners On Acid'
Sigur Ros - 'Sæglópur'
All hail the rerelease! What better way to end than with stuff that wasn't really done this year? Just don't tell anyone. The Crimea and Sigur Ros made wonderful albums a while back, but hey, would you begrudge them the right to rerelease stuff to promote them? Would you? No, of course not. You'd have to be some kind of evil monster to do that. And our Sufjan's Illinois LP was my highlight of last year even though it was actually released in 2005. Luckily he released an album of outtakes from said album in 2006! Score! The track was also on the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack to boot! Even better! And it was my favourite movie of the year! Hot diggity! Yay! Woo! High five! Gawd bless ya Sufjan. C'mere and give me a hug you big lummox.
Er... Are we done then? Yeah? Cool! Wow, that was a lot easier than writing 50 different reviews like I did last year. What was I thinking?
Now, I could link to everyone elses lists, but Ben already did it for me, so read his blog and check them out from there. Done! Heheh, am I lazy or what?
The Delrico Bandito Singles of 2006.
But...BUT! I couldn't face ordering them into a Top 50 or whatever, (there's TV to be watched) so here's something a little bit different. Lists are great, but then so are sublists and categories, and oh the joy! So here we go, let's make up some categories and go apeshit! Woo!
The Britpop Solo Hangover Award:
Winner:
Jarvis Cocker - 'Cunts Are Still Running The World'
Honourable mentions:
The Good, The Bad and The Queen - 'Herculean'
Graham Coxon - 'Bloody Annoying'
James Dean Bradfield - 'That's No Way To Tell A Lie'
Nicky Wire - 'I Killed The Zeitgeist'
Richard Hawley - 'Last Orders'
Thom Yorke - 'Black Swan'
Oh yes, here's where the egos ran riot and the talented ones kicked the chaff to the curb and unleashed their opuses on the world! The quality cuts from Blur, The Manics, The Longpigs and Radiohead did their best, but because Jarvis used a really rude word, he gets the gong.
The Kooky Solo Girls I Quite Fancy Award:
Winner:
Charlotte Hatherley - 'Behave'
Honourable Mentions:
Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins - 'Rise Up With Fists'
Regina Spektor - 'Fidelity'
Charlotte escapes the solo britpop slur to triumph in surely the most important category. Plus she released it just in time for Christmas! Phew. Jen did without Rilo Kiley, who were another one of my fave bands of the year, but they didn't release anything this time out. The fools! Regina went all MOR on our asses, but it's a great tune so we all still love her, don't we?
Yes.
But Charlotte still won cos the single is incredible.
The New Indie Darlings Award:
Winner:
The Long Blondes - 'Once And Never Again'
Honourable Mentions:
Be Your Own Pet - 'Adventure'
Broken Social Scene - 'Fire Eye'd Boy'
The Raconteurs – 'Steady As She Goes'
Yay! They're here to save the world! All brand spanking new (well, The Raconteurs are, sort of) and already setting the world alight. Praise be. Worthy winners from the Long Blondes there. Jarvis would be proud.
The Bedroom DIYers Award:
Winner:
Jamie T - 'Sheila'
Honourable Mentions:
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly - 'Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager (Part Two)'
Helen Love - 'Junkshop Discotesque'
Hot Chip - 'And I Was A Boy From School'
Emerging pale and blinking from behind the curtains into the sunlight, these guys could still rock with the big boys. Bless them. They don't need no complex producers or studios or any of that rubbish. Just an 8 track, an acoustic guitar and a battered drum machine and they're away! And Jamie T was king of them all.
The Are They Still Going Award:
Winner:
Pet Shop boys - Minimal
Honourable Mentions:
The Beatles - 'Drive My Car / The Word / What You're Doing (Love Medley)'
Coldcut - 'True Skool'
Madonna - 'Get Together'
Ah, yet another reinvention for everyone's favourite golden oldies. Even though Madge's was really Les Rhythmes Digitales. And The Beatles were glued together by George Martin's son. And Coldcut needed Roots Manuva's help. But the Shoppies did it all on their own, so they win, woo! Plus, it was an amazing record.
The Guilty Pleasures Award:
Winner:
The Feeling - 'Love It When You Call'
Honourable Mentions:
Jamelia - 'Something About You'
Michael Gray Feat. Shelley Poole - 'Borderline'
Ssshhh. I won't tell anyone if you don't. Although... you haven't really got anything to feel guilty about. But forget that. The Feeling had it wrapped up this year. The others were just making up the numbers. Honest.
The I'm Getting Too Old For This Shit Award:
Winner:
My Chemical Romance - 'Teenagers'
Honourable Mentions:
Billy Talent – ‘Devil In A Midnight Mass’
Fall Out Boy - 'Sugar We're Going Down'
Panic! At The Disco - 'I Write Sins Not Tragedies'
Paramore - 'Emergency'
Yay! Who cares what it's called (although everyone's calling it emo now, aren't they?) And screw the purists who get snobby about it. This is cracking, exciting, smart, funny, ambitious, theatrical and just darn right fantastic music that totally rocks! (And, it has to be said, all a million times more interesting than the jangling retro dullness of much of the UK's rock scene. For shame!) MCR's Black Parade LP was the pinnacle of the wondrous absurdity, and 'Teenagers' was the darkest, funniest thing I heard all year. Excelsior!
The Safe Hands Award:
Winner:
The Strokes - 'You Only Live Once'
Honourable Mentions:
The Flaming Lips - 'It Overtakes Me'
The Futureheads - 'Worry About It Later'
The Rapture - 'Get Myself Into It'
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 'Gold Lion'
Some old friends, and yet some just on their second album, but we already trust these guys to come up with the goods. And come up they did. The Strokes get my vote for surprising me with a song that just wouldn't get out of my head. They can still pen a great pop song. Here's to the next one, guys. Don't get complacent, y'hear?
The One Off Award:
Winner:
The View - 'Wasted Little DJs'
Honourable Mentions:
Gnarls Barkley - 'Crazy'
Nelly Furtado - 'Maneater'
Well... I just don't think they'll better these. Gnarls never need to do anything ever again, and Nelly only just got away with vamping it up the once. Face it guys. Let it go. And The View have already gotten a bit...well...obvious? And dull. Sorry. But the first single was lovely, before we knew what they looked like, or cared if they had a follow up. And it had pig latin. So it wins.
The It Just Does The Same Thing For Seven Minutes Award:
Winner:
Justice vs Simian - 'We Are Your Friends'
Honourable Mentions:
Bodyrox - 'Yeah Yeah'
David Guetta vs The Egg - 'Love Don't Let Me Go/Walking Away'
Fred Falke - 'Omega Man'
The Killers - 'When You Were Young (Lindbergh Palace Dub)'
Lifelike and Kris Menace - 'Discopolis'
The Similou - 'All This Love'
Stars On 33 - 'I Feel Music In Your Heart'
Who said dance is dead? If it is, *gasp*, then these are zombie tunes! And that makes them supercool! Like a sportscar made of ice! So, anyway, tunes made by french people, tunes that repeat the same phrase over and over and over, tunes that noone else has heard of: come and get em. 'We Are Your Friends' wins because it's the best of a very very good bunch. And the video almost put me off drinking til I pass out, forever. Almost.
The Nice Men Of Hip Hop Award:
Winner:
Lupe Fiasco - 'Kick Push'
Honourable Mentions:
DJ Shadow - 'Minimal'
John Legend - 'Save Room'
Kanye West - 'Touch The Sky'
Nas - 'Hip Hop Is Dead'
The Streets - 'Two Nations'
Sway - 'Little Derek'
Well, nice-ish. Boys who can rap, and do it without concentrating on the tired, boring, obvious crap. There's a spark in all these tunes that was missing from the rest of Hip Hop and RnB which was frightfully dull in places this year. And yeah, I know Johnny Boy isn't a rapper, but hey, it's a great song from a great album, so let him hang with his mates already. Lupe pulled my favourite rarity from out of his sleeve: a hip hop lovesong that actually works. So he gets the golden skateboard. Kick... Push... Coast!
The Oooh You Saucy Devils Award:
Winner:
The Eagles Of Death Metal - 'I Got A Feelin' (Just Nineteen)'
Honourably Filthy Mentions:
Juliette and the Licks - 'Hot Kiss'
Kelis - 'Bossy'
We Are Scientists - 'Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt'
I ought to wash their mouths out with soap. These records were sexy and fun and great to get it on down to... on the dancefloor. Kelis had the hottest video (ssshhh), but it was The Eagles... that clinch the prize thanks to that moustache. Even Kelis couldn't pull that off (good morning...)
The Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better Award:
Winner:
We Are Scientists - 'Hoppipolla'
Honourable Mentions:
Belle Lawrence - 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'
The Polyphonic Spree - 'Lithium'
And the Scientists appear again! And this time they won! Hooray for them. These covers all took classics and gave them an extra dimension. Track 'em down and treasure them.
The They Were Bound To Release Something I Liked Eventually Award:
Winner:
Muse - 'Knights Of Cydonia'
Honourable Mentions:
Incubus - 'Anna Molly'
Scissor Sisters - 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
I never really liked these guys before, but boy did they make me look stupid these year! Especially Muse, whose new album was fantastical. I doubt the Sisters or Incubus will make a lasting impression, but hey, they had their 5 minutes. Muse rocked it and won me over with their cracking tunes and cheeky japes. By crikey were they A-Muse-ing.
Sorry.
The Emperor's New (Musical Express) Clothes Award:
Winner:
CSS - 'Let's Make Love and Listen To Death From Above'
Honourable Mentions:
Gossip - 'Standing In The Way Of Control'
Klaxons - 'Magick'
New Rave? New Rave?I Oh, do fuck off. But hopefully these guys can outlive any scene. Klaxons were fun, The Gossip were funky, but CSS were fun and funky. And the album's cracking. And Death From Above are very good too. Sage advice, my friends, sage advice.
The It Was Released This Year Honest Award:
Winner:
Sufjan Stevens - 'No Man's Land'
Honourable Mentions:
The Crimea - 'Lottery Winners On Acid'
Sigur Ros - 'Sæglópur'
All hail the rerelease! What better way to end than with stuff that wasn't really done this year? Just don't tell anyone. The Crimea and Sigur Ros made wonderful albums a while back, but hey, would you begrudge them the right to rerelease stuff to promote them? Would you? No, of course not. You'd have to be some kind of evil monster to do that. And our Sufjan's Illinois LP was my highlight of last year even though it was actually released in 2005. Luckily he released an album of outtakes from said album in 2006! Score! The track was also on the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack to boot! Even better! And it was my favourite movie of the year! Hot diggity! Yay! Woo! High five! Gawd bless ya Sufjan. C'mere and give me a hug you big lummox.
Er... Are we done then? Yeah? Cool! Wow, that was a lot easier than writing 50 different reviews like I did last year. What was I thinking?
Now, I could link to everyone elses lists, but Ben already did it for me, so read his blog and check them out from there. Done! Heheh, am I lazy or what?
# posted by Del : 10:53 PM
