domgourlay

Will be incredible. Looking forward to hearing the album too.

It helps when you've got a perfect interviewee.

That's meant to be a secret!

Nothing are incredible. Again, was difficult to condense this into 40 tracks but these guys will definitely make an appearance in a future column.

Art Trip and the Static Sound I've never heard before, so again, thanks for putting me onto them.

Thanks for the kind words and Mentalease tip! They sound great.

There's been so much good stuff already this year it was difficult condensing the piece down to just 40 artists. Agreed on THOAP record though, and I'll give Mentalease a listen.

Incidentally, this is the third one we've done. Here's the other two.
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4144750-some-velvet-mixtape--2012-so-far-in-layers-loops-drones-and-noise
http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145841-some-velvet-mixtape-the-sequel--2012-in-drones-reverb-and-feedback

I have to say I was expecting this to be so much better after the minor blip (IMO) that was 'Phosphene Dream'. Parts of it remind me of 'Aha Shake...' era Kings of Leon, and I think they've been bypassed in the interim period by so many other bands that do this kind of thing a lot better.

Yet at the same time, their live shows are still incredible so fingers crossed they'll pull another 'Directions To See A Ghost' or 'Passover' out of the bag in time.

In my top 3 BRMC songs of all time that one.

I remember that record being universally slated at the time (except here!) yet I still think it's one of their finest albums to date. This took a lot of listens to get used to, but was definitely worth the perseverance.

Although the first time I saw them was on an NME tour with The Coral, Andrew WK and Lostprophets (!)

Looking forward to seeing them live again over the Easter weekend. Always better than a lot of people give them credit for.

Band leaves stage
Band returns minutes later
Band pick up instruments and start a new song.
That constitutes an encore to me. To say otherwise just because there weren't people screaming "encore!" would be splitting hairs in the extreme.

For the record this piece was written before the Hammersmith show on Tuesday, which for me was excellent and by far the best MBV show I've seen this year.

Re: Sigur Ros. The Wolverhampton reference was more about them choosing to play there rather than somewhere like Leeds or Manchester for example, which is a more traditional location on the live circuit. Obvious why they keep playing at the Civic mind as it is a wonderful venue with some of the best acoustics in the land.

since the first time I heard it and still does.

but quite enjoying it now. I do prefer the first album and What A Pleasure though.

Good work Mr Brainlove!

sounds more like a My Bloody Valentine record in parts.

Those last 3 songs take 'mbv' to another level.

Their best album so far IMO.

It says he was influenced by it.
Big difference.

They were with Nat from Sonic Cathedral at the end.

I'm still confident they'll have overcome any issues by the time they're back in the UK in March. **fingers crossed**

The Friday one wasn't the best now you come to mention it, but by Sunday they were incredible. Same with the 2008 tour. The second night at ICA wasn't as good as the first one, but every time I saw them after was phenomenal.

What a lot of people seem to have overlooked about this show is it was technically nothing more than a rehearsal, and wasn't billed otherwise. I can understand some of the frustrations - particularly if you've never seen them before - but there were definitely more positives to be taken from this show than negatives. A brand new song for starters!

"To Don"...

...

Just one of those crummy stream/downloads that labels & PRs tend to send out these days.

Scott Walker with his classic torch ballads of the late 1960s/early 1970s, and while I applaud any artist that dares to move on and try something different I'm really struggling to get my head around 'Bish Bosch'.

Another great album that seemed to pass by almost unnoticed by many this year.

Genuinely.
But after listening to it continuously for the best part of a fortnight my ears just gave up. I think they were probably crying out for something, anything resembling a tune.

I'll keep my Vaccines.

A great record though nonetheless.

Hopefully this won't be the last we hear of Lone Wolf, although I'm pretty certain Paul Marshall has something up his sleeve regardless!

Unlike say The Cribs who talk a great game but musically resemble every other generic indie landfill ladrock band on the planet.

just how uninspiring they were.

Censored, Frontiers & Dog Is Dead in that order I think.... Interesting to see what's happened to all 3 bands since.

Amazing live band at their peak. Remember seeing them with Swervedriver and Pale Saints back in the day. 'When In Rome...', 'Asquarius' and 'Elvis Belt' all classics.

I was toying whether it should be an 8 or 9. The more I listen to it I'm tending to think maybe it should be marked a tad higher...?

Which is the point I was making. If it isn't clear then apologies!

It's amazing how many people have read that title and assumed he was talking about Oasis (which he was elsewhere)! Seriously.

but a beautiful place all the same.

Regarding Debbie Googe, she's only been with them a few months. Heaton Park in June was either her 2nd or 3rd show with them, and its only a temporary measure while Mani concentrates on the Roses. They were phenomenal mind, probably the best I've seen them in years.

Just not convinced by the score. To justify a 10/10 rating it would have to be a game changer, groundbreaking and perfect in every way, with a longevity and influence ensuring its cited by artists for decades to come.

It really doesn't fit into any of those categories!

would have to make it one of the greatest albums of all time.

It isn't...

Really?

Just not as many as before.

I don't quite get the hate for The Vaccines. They're by far the best at what they do.

otherwise I'd definitely have caught them. Quite gutted now actually :-(

They do have strong album tracks, just not enough on one particular record to warrant a 10, which in my eyes is perfection. Something Blur have not achieved where albums are concerned.

For me, it would read something like this...

Leisure - 8
Modern Life Is Rubbish - 9
Parklife - 8.5
The Great Escape - 7
Blur - 7
13 - 7
Think Tank - 5

What makes music so great.

Great singles band, and 3 maybe 4 good but not great albums, nothing more.