Sweet merciful crap! It's the Delrico Bandito 2008 Review of the Year!

Yes, as it's almost February 2009, I figured it was about time I made some sense of the various lists I've made about my best bits of 2008. I'm keeping it all in one jumbo post, because otherwise it'll never get done. So put on your dancing shoes, let's get going...


Albums of the Year...



1. M83 - Saturdays=Youth
2. Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head
3. Portishead - Third
4. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
5. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
6. Blood Red Shoes - Box of Secrets
7. Spiritualized - Songs In A&E
8. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
9. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
10. Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke

Only when I sat down and really thought about it did I realise that M83 had created my favourite album. Scarlett's was a genuine surprise, being actually really rather wonderful. Portishead's return was a glorious rise from the dead. And Crystal Castles beat the media hype and absurd live performances with the sound of an amusement arcade in a horror movie. But M83's latest is brilliant, building on the sound of their previous albums, but built into more recognisable songs. Standout track 'Graveyard Girl' is the sweetest sounding ode to emogirls everywhere. Saturdays=Youth Felt both futuristic and nostalgic at the same time. Disconnected and warm. Seeing them live helped it all fall into place. Album of the year in an astoundingly good year for music.


Singles* Of The Year...



1. The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)
2. The Subways - Alright
3. We Are Scientists - After Hours
4. Elbow - One Day Like This
5. Glasvegas - Flowers And Football Tops
6. MGMT - Time To Pretend
7. Black Kids - I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (12's Remix)
8. Los Campesinos - My Year In Lists
9. Paramore - Crushcrushcrush
10. White Lies - Death

*Thanks to the download rules, everything's a single these days!

...and the great thing is, I can think of several alternative Top 10's. I genuinely believe it's been an absolutely superb year for music. And a great year for the Single release. A new breed of UK bands releasing catchy singles. I didn't spend time on albums from the likes of The Ting Tings and The Wombats, but I couldn't get their records out of my head. Even Take That stunned me with 'Greatest Day'. Guilty pleasure of the year... And yet perversely my number one is a French House remix of a bittersweet lovelorn lament I'd never even heard before, and it blew me away. And still does every time I listen to it. So it wins.

Live Performances of the Year...



1. My Bloody Valentine at The Roundhouse, Camden
2. Spiritualized at Koko, Camden (also Glasto)
3. M83 at Scala, King's Cross
4. Blood Red Shoes at King's College, London (also Glasto, Reading & LA2)
5. Elbow at Glastonbury
6. Rage Against The Machine at Reading Festival
7. Paramore at Radio 1's Big Weekend, Maidstone
8. Art Brut at ULU, London
9. The Notwist at Field Day, Victoria Park, Hackney
10. CSS at Reading Festival

I've never seen as much live music as I did in 2008. Five festivals, and a plethora of gigs from Glasvegas at Camden Barfly to Foo Fighters at Wembley stadium. Glastonbury and Reading were impossibly fantastic. Don't make me choose between them... MBV and Spiritualized lived up to all my overblown expectations and quite simply gave life changing performances. Anyway, for sheer completism, here in very small writing and no particular order are all the other bands I managed to see this year:

Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Supergrass, Futureheads x 2, Black Kids x 2, Ladyhawke x 2, MGMT, Rolo Tomassi, Madonna, Foals x 3, We Are Scientists x 4, Vampire Weekend x 2, The Ting Tings, Duke Spirit x 2, Congregation, The Hold Steady, Bombay Bicycle Club, Neon Neon x 2, Yo Majesty, Sonic Boom, Underworld, Fatboy Slim, White Lies, Folk Face, Los Campesinos, No Age, Times New Viking, Death Cab For Cutie, Clearlake, Junior Boys, Metronomy, Kelley Polar, Prinzhorn, Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip, Killah Kellah, The RZA, Mystical Fortress, Glasvegas x 3, Late Of The Pier, Radiohead, Bat For Lashes, Sigur Ros, Tokyo Police Club, Maximo Park, Lostprophets, Siouxsie Sioux, Muse, Alanis Morrisette, Howling Bells, Of Montreal, Les Savy Fav, Emma Pollock, Queens Of The Stoneage, Biffy Clyro, Be Your Own Pet, Bloc Party, The Subways, British Sea Power, Manic Street Preachers, Seasick Steve x 2, Kids In Glass Houses, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Friendly Fires x 2, Adam Green, Digitalism, Simian Mobile Disco, Chromeo, Crystal Castles x 2, Holy Fuck, The Whip x 2, The Death Set, Fucked Up, The Teenagers, Emmy The Great, Red Light Company, That Fucking Tank, Santogold, The Chapman Family, Sons and Daughters, Magic Arm, Operator Please, Reverend And The Makers, Kings Of Leon, Martha Wainwright, Crowded House, Black Lips, Amy Winehouse, Jay Z, Bishi, Hooligan Night, Yeasayer, The Mystery Jets, Does It Offend You Yeah?, The National. And after all that, this font size is what my hearing looks like.


Movies of the Year



1. Juno
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Orphanage
4. Burn After Reading
5. Twilight

Due to the ridiculous amount of gigs I went to, my filmgoing inevitably suffered. So I've kept my fave films to a Top 5, otherwise stuff like Wanted would get it, which was ok, but, y'know, meh. Which leaves this precious five, that made me want to impregnate my teenage girlfriend, dress up as a clown in a nurse's uniform, haunt the local orphanage, blackmail the CIA and become a vegetarian emo vampire. But it was Juno that stole the show. Also the best soundtrack of the year, hands down. Honest to blog.


TV Shows: 'The Daily Show' & 'The Colbert Report' ruled the world for their US Election coverage. 'Madmen' was my favourite drama, closely followed by 'Doctor Who', for wildly different reasons. I rediscovered 'South Park' thanks to Paramount Comedy. And 'Screenwipe' and 'QI' were as wonderful as they've ever been, TV that educates, informs and entertains.


Art! Trips to the Pompidou and Louvre in Paris reignited my passion for all things artistic. So I went treasure hunting round London with Annie Slaminsky for Little People in the City and the Tate Modern's Street Art exhibition. I explored the tortured souls of Derek Jarman and Francis Bacon at the Serpentine and Tate Britain respectively. And Annie Leibovitz's photographic retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery felt like the beginning of a beautiful friendship...


Theatre/Musicals/Comedy/Whatever... Yes a catch all category of cultural enrichment. Avenue Q totally counts as a musical. And was excellent. And couldn't be further from Kafka's Metamorphosis at the Lyric, Hammersmith, which was a logistical triumph, but all the more dark and disturbing as a result of the technical ambition. I finally saw Josie Long do her stand up thing at the Leicester Square theatre, and fell for her all over again. Eddie Izzard's Stripped at the Lyric, West End felt like an evening with an old friend. The Lost and Found Orchestra exceeded my expectations by being more than more whimsical novelty, and actually proved oddly moving in places. And my highlight of the year was Albarn and Hewitt's Monkey at the O2. Beautiful, funny, acrobatic... with a girl who could put her bum on her head. It had it all.

So, 2008. Quiet year.

Labels: art, comedy, festivals, movies, music, musicals, top 10's, tv

And so my favourite venue in London, the Astoria, closed last week. It may even already have been demolished by now, making way for the new Crossrail station at Tottenham Court Road. The day after the final party on the 15th, I wandered down to take some snaps for posterity. There were maybe five or six others standing with me on Charing Cross Road doing exactly the same thing.

Which tells you what a special place it's been for the past 30 odd years. I remember my gran telling me that she and my grandad used to go there long before it was converted to a music venue. And i really liked that connection across the generations. I'd think about them being in the same space years before, as I negotiated the sweaty throng.

My first London gig was there, back when I was 16. Placebo, supported by AC Acoustics and Deus. A great gig, combined with the excitement of being out in the centre of London with my mates, has made it one of the most memorable nights of my life. Since then I've seen a whole plethora of artists there, including Blur during their 6 night residency, Elbow, Coldplay, Ms Dynamite, Idlewild, Noel Gallagher, Ash, Roni Size & Reprazent and loads more I can't remember. Only last year I managed to catch MGMT, Florence and the Machine, Black Kids and Ladyhawke there.

Also going is the Astoria 2, known for a while as the Mean Fiddler, the Astoria's baby sister next door. Fond memories of seeing the likes of Black Keys, Blood Red Shoes, Rolo Tomassi and even the mighty Foo Fighters there. And plenty of blurry nights at Push and Frog too. Great little venue. And also on the same block, basement club Metro shares their fate, where I've had my eardrums trashed by ludicrously loud ska and northern soul on more than one occasion.

Although it's the bands and the fans that make a night truly special, the venue has a big part to play. And the Astoria and LA2 were amongst the best in London. It's a cruel irony that whilst there's a huge resurgence in live music in this country, we seem to be losing lots of London venues lately: The Hammersmith Palais closed a few years back, The End is about to shut, Turnmills closed last year and the Highbury Garage has been awol for some time. I sincerely hope it returns.

But the Astoria was always my favourite. Where I hoped my favourite bands would play, and I prayed I could get tickets before they sold out. A proper loud, dirty, independent(ish) gig venue in the heart of the West End. I'll really miss it, and I know I'm not the only one.

Labels: gigs, london, music

Yeah, I know. Three weeks into 2009 and still no in-depth lists of my best bits of 2008. I have lots of text documents with huge reams of artists and songs and albums and films and more. They shall appear soon in some kind of order. But in the mean time, here's a list of what's floating the Bandito boat at the moment...

1. Stars - Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
2. Eagles Of Death Metal - Cherry Cola
3. Bright Eyes - First Day Of My Life
4. Lily Allen - The Fear
5. The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom
6. Celestial Choir - Stand On The Word
7. Spiritualized - Feel So Sad
8. White Lies - Death
9. The Divine Comedy - Come Home Billy Bird
10. Ray Charles - What I'd Say

The final track having been enjoyed at a deafening volume in the early hours of Sunday morning at Dalston Jazz Bar. Having been drenched on the way there from the pub. And queued outside in the freezing cold for ages. But so worth it...

Labels: music, top 10's

At last at last at last. Here is my Shuffleathon CD Review for Greetings from Shuffleathon. Many thanks to the mystery person who sent it to me several weeks ago, who is no doubt wishing he or she had sent it to someone slightly lest prone to procrastination. But here it is, my full track by track review.

First, the cover is as above: the plaque sent with the Voyager probes out into the depths of space. With a handy map for any marauding alien fleets planning on invading the Earth, and photos of our puny human bodies, ripe for some probing. Very nice it is too. But enough of this, to the review proper!

1. Os Mutantes - Panis et Circenses (3:37)

An auspicious beginning... A blast of horns and then... Something foreign! Now, my Latin is distinctly ropey, but I think the title almost certainly refers to penises and circumcision. The lyrics are Portugese (I think), and equally incomprehensible. Halfway through it grinds to a satisfying halt before reprising with organ and whistles, building to a latino climax. Then it fades to black with clinking, disparate chatter and the Blue Danube. It's all over the place and I haven't got a clue what anyone's saying. In short, it's great. This is a very promising start....

2. Scott Walker - 30th Century Man (1:29)

A name I know well, but whose music I'm rather ignorant of. This is a wonderful acoustic guitar driven song. A philosophical musing on... I'm not sure really. But feels no less deep for it. The whimsical tone is offset perfectly by the musicbox that ends the song. Short and sweet.

3. The Everly Brothers - Turn Around (2:47)

Another familiar name, but I've not heard this one before. A bittersweet lament for the end of summer and a relationship. The harmonies and strings compliment each other perfectly. It's slight, but lovely.

4. April March - La Fille a la Moto (2:28)

Fantastic! Any song that starts with a revving motorcycle gets my vote. A sexy sixties strut with gallic charm in spades. All I can think of is Marianne Faithful astride her throbbing Harley in Girl On A Motorcycle. No bad thing. Absolutely fabulous. Darling.

5. Phil Spector - Spanish Harlem (2:10)

Eschewing the wall of sound for a change, this feels almost delicate. Voice and guitar alone, and is it actually Phil singing? I didn't know he had such amazing pipes! Curse his talented arse. Still, he's bound to get his comeuppance someday....

6. The Thamesmen - Gimme Some Money (2:26)

Now, I'm not one to namedrop, but I've actually met these guys. Well, sort of. After this hit, they changed their name to Spinal Tap and turned everything up to 11. I always preferred this early R&B direction to their later psychedelic and heavy metal material....

Go Nigel go!

(True fact: Liam Gallagher thought they were real.)

7. MC Honky - What A Bringdown (3:49)

Slightly annoyed by this artist before i'd even heard the song, as that's such a brilliant monicker, I wish I'd thought of it myself. Far more soulful than I was expecting. Sweet vocals and female spoken word bits too, which is always a winner. Sounds like something Eels might knock out in their lunchbreak. A bass led breakdown is the icing on the cake. Probably my favourite thing on the whole album. Delightful.

8. Bob Dylan - Obviously Five Believers (3:35)

As a fairly recent convert to all things Dylan, I'm always grateful for new stuff of his I haven't heard before. Pardon my ignorance. I initially hear the first line as "Early in the mornin', I'm calling youtube." But I think that might be wrong. Anyway, it's a bluesy rock out with a raspy vocal performance, Dylan at his best. And all the more evidence that I need to listen to more of Robert Zimmerman's work.

9. Beck - Gold Chains (4:59)

Haha! Yes. Scratching and vocoders. I love Beck. I love that he somehow squeezes country and hip hop into the same box, and makes it not sound cheap, crap or novelty. Would fit perfectly on Odely or Midnite Vultures. To be honest, I'm surprised I've not heard this before, but pleasantly so.

10. Black Francis - Rock My Soul (1:50)

At different times in this track, Black Francis seems to be channelling Kurt Cobain or Lou Reed. Not bad at all, but as cliched as it is to say it, this would've sounded so much better as a Pixies song. Sorry... But there it is.

11. CSS - Off The Hook (2:40)

Reading Festival 2008. Sunday night. After a whole weekend of anticipation, Metallica rocked the mainstage, with a huge light display and massive screen. They were absolutely amazing. One of the best shows ever. Or at least, that's what I heard from other people. Cos I was in the dance tent grooving to this impossibly wonderful band. And they were, to coin a phrase, off the freaking hook.

12. Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - Feelin' Free (1:40)

An impossibly sweet little number. Strings pluck and sweep. And just before you think nothing else will happen, a soulful vocal professing a love of the boogie and the dancefloor leaps in. Shouldn't work, but it does. Another short but perfectly formed treat.

13. The Cardigans - Erase/Rewind (3:38)

A great singles band. I've never fully succumbed to their albums, but I know this song well. Nina has a great voice, and this has got a bit of darkness to it that was missing from their earlier work. It's not their best, but it's good enough to get me shuffling, and what more can you ask for?

14. Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie & Clyde (4:18)

More Frenchie wondrousness. Somehow still sounds fresh and fun. A classic.

15. The Flamin' Groovies - Slow Death (4:40)

Time to rock. Perfect. Great name, too. Really nice dirty little groove practically drowning out the vocal. They don't make em like this any more, and more's the pity. They should put this on guitar hero. Just great.

16. The White Stripes - Little Room (0:50)

More short n sweetness from Jack and Meg. I love White Blood Cells, so this is a welcome appearance.

17. Gene Clark - Ship Of The Lord (2:34)

Gene Clark tones things down a little. Takes a while to get going, but worth it once it does. Another acoustic led number gives time for some contemplation. And finishes it up without overstaying it's welcome. The kind of number that doesn't really stand out on the first listen, but reveals it's beauty more slowly.

18. The Rising Storm - Frozen Laughter (3:08)

With haunting reverbed vocals, this is a downbeat closer complimented perfectly by some gentle vinyl crackle. As with Gene Clark, not nearly as immediate as everything else here, but in no way a bad thing. Just the right side of 60's psychedelic mumbo jumbo. The organ line and gentle acoustic guitars bring us to a close before a noisy coda gives them the last laugh...


So... yeah! Overall, a great success. Some really wonderful tunes in there, and lots of short little interludes that made the 18 track compilation really zip along. Plenty of new sounds amongst some old favourites. Thank you very much mystery benefactor, please do make yourself known. And apologies again for taking so long to review it, but I am a bit of a perfectionist (ahem) about such things, and wanted to do it justice. I hope I have!

My own Shuffleathon CD is now also complete and winging it's way to an unfortunate victim. I'll link to their review once they've done it. Unless they majorly slag it off in which case let's just brush the whole sorry affair under the carpet...

Coming soon... Lots of lists of stuff from 2008! Please try and contain your excitement!

Labels: music, reviews, shuffleathon

Happy New Year for 2009! Is that the date already? Cripes...



I can only apologise for my lack of activity. I throw myself on the mercy of the court! I have lots of lists and to dos to do. The long overdue review for my wonderful Shuffleathon CD I received ages ago is gestating, and I have a CD of my own to post out to some poor soul. There will be my Best Of's for 2008. And various musings on turning 29, and therefore officially "pushing 30". Should be an interesting year this one. I threw a proper strop when I turned 25, so who knows what lunacy I shall lend myself to over the coming 12 months. Stay tuned.

Anyway, in the meantime, stolen from the ever wonderful Annie Slaminsky (just for a change) here are 10 things I learnt in 2008:

1. Someday I want to live in Paris. I promise, I'm on it.

2. Life is much more fun when you just let go of your cynicism and self imposed rules. I spent quite a significant part of this year doing stuff I would never have done before. I think you spend your 20's constructing the idea of who you are and in the end you can be trapped by that. Tearing through that and escaping the cage of your own creation is very liberating.

3. If you dye your hair red, noone in London will care. But it will shock everyone you meet in Liverpool to the point of incomprehension.

4. Forgiving is difficult. Forgetting is even harder. But not impossible.

5. If you play Kraftwerk's 'The Model', noone will be able to dance to it. Even if you play it in Berlin.

6. I am a runner. Not a very good one, but a runner nonetheless. I spent the previous however many years saying "...but I'll never be a runner." Like all things, you just have to do it.

7. Meeting people from off of the internet can actually be really great. Fuck the stigma.

8. I have the capacity to be a complete bastard. And I don't like that fact. I always thought I was better than that. But it seems that sometimes I'm not. And I'm sorry.

9. I am terrible flirt with female celebrities.

10. My family are alright, actually. Having heard everyone else's nightmare tales of Christmas back home, I'm grateful for their comforting mundanity.

So that's that. Hope you have a lovely, exciting, passionate, properous and peaceful 2009. Delrico Bandito wishes it so.

Labels: lists, memes, philosophy