sean has written the following articles:
The albums' of the year countdown hots up with the main body of the list. The top ten follows tomorrow but for now, some thoughts from site founder Sean Adams who compiled this list... Somewhere, somehow, there is a link to be found between the rhyming i»
Whilst one big site-defining list with somewhat arbitrary positionings, full of compromises and a whiff of fair-play politics is all well and good, the far more fascinating thing is the ONE album people believe stands on a column, far above all others. Over the past 10 years, this has usually been pretty much the same four or five albums topping people's list, making the job of picking the top five albums of the year, somewhat easier. Not in tweeny-ten, oh no. This year, as you'll see below, has been the least lacking in consensus since records began (ok, as we're sure you know as we keep banging on about it, it was only 10 years ago we launched, so this clearly isn't the most scientific of research!). »
DiS usually does a top 50 albums of the year. However, 2010 has seen the release of rather a lot of much-loved records that we have been forced to do a roll-over, in order to highlight a few more must own/investigate records.»
Oooh woo-ooh! DiS is too busy dancing to the new Cut Copy tune that we ain't gonna bore you and just say, criiiiikey, listen to this...»
For the past six weeks, DiS has been running a special competition in association with the folks at Mixcloud to celebrate the launch of the BlackBerry Torch. We've been compiling a mixtape each week and with 1 week left of the competition, we thought it high time we compiled them all in one article. To enter our mix lovers competition, to be picked at random to win a BlackBerry Torch and £100 to spend in Rough Trade, all you need to do is share any of the below Mixcloud mixes on Twitter or like them on Facebook. »
On Monday, we ran a special Leeds day, glancing back at 10 years in Leeds. The reason for this, wasn't just that the city has been high on the awesome-o-metre but that this weekend there's a festival going on in Leeds called Constellations.»
As part of our guide to Leeds by Leeds, aheads of Constellations festival, illustrator and music fan Drew Millward offers his guide to Record Stores in Leeds...»
From ale houses to skate parks, Leeds bands offer their guide to places they frequent in Leeds when they're not searing our ears off or melting our hearts...»
The Leeds based-band Vessels are much loved amongst the DiS community and here's their guide to record labels based in Leeds...»
...moooha-aha-hargh! The witching hour cometh, the undead are rising up and all you can do is stick a few floor boards to your window and hope those zombies don't know how to use a crowbar. Whilst you baton down the hatches, our Hallwe'en weekend overlords The Phantom Band have concocted this selection of All Hallows' Eve anthems that even Satan himself would flash a knowing pair of rock horns at. »
As you may have noticed, we're running a special promotion with BlackBerry Torch and Mixcloud, to win stuff if you share a mix(tape) you've made and people like it. Or simply if you share a mix tagged DiSis10 you like. (lots more info here). In case any of you need any inspiration for putting together your mix, here's a 10-step guide from those chaps from worriedaboutsatan who you may have seen playing live at our DiS is 10 party in London (pictured above) or dropping some Dre into their DJ set on at a roller-skate rink in Sheffield for the northern leg of our celebrations... »
To celebrate the launch of the new BlackBerry® Torch™, DiS has teamed up with Mixcloud for a six week feast of mixtapes.»
Where did this week go? And how on earth have we managed to get to number 66 in our Spotify series of weekly playlists wot act like a hyperlink-laden cover mount of what we've covered on the site this week? Time, it really doth fly. Anyway, Luke has taken this whole Nordic week thing a bit far and disappeared to Finland, so you're left with me making a playlist, insert your hatred in the comments section below or yuhknow, maybe just say something nice about something you think should have been on this playlist.»
BBC 6Music kindly let Drowned in Sound takeover the nations airwaves last night, for a special two hour 6mix(tape) featuring some of DiS founder Sean Adams’ highlights of the past 10 years. »
DiS was stunned to find our request to chat with Trent Reznor, one of our all-time heroes, was accepted and got on the phone for a chat. Here's what he had to say, with an incredibly thoughtful tone and a surprisingly soft-spoken voice...»
Grinderman very recently released their second album entitled, aptly enough, Grinderman 2. We gave it 8/10 in our review, which can be read here. As you'd expect there are certain singular tracks to be released, and these include 'Worm Tamer', which has just been announced as the newest single, due for release on November 22. »
The full interview will be up later this afternoon but for now here's a quick excerpt with his thoughts on Facebook...»
Yesterday saw DiS premiere the new video from Uffie, the Fred Durst of the MySpace generation. In part two of DiS founder Sean Adams' chat with Uffie she discusses the kefuffle about Ke$ha and expands on her development as an artist.»
DiS' two favourite live band of the past decade both hail from LA, they are HEALTH and these two guys called Dean & Randy. We've somehow managed to book both bands to play our 10th Anniversary events which take place in Sheffield on a rollerskate rink this Friday and in Manchester at the In the City festival next week. We ventured to LA to grab a burrito, to catch up with the duo who have blown our minds and worried our ear drums over the past 10 years in Wives and now as No Age, to get a sense of what it is that drives the cogs behind their incredible live show... »
Basically, Uffie might be the most berated musician of the past 10 years, DiS is 10, so what better time to run my chat with her about Ke$ha, MySpace, the haters and more...»
DiS is excited to exclusively reveal the brand new video from Uffie, one of the most symptomatic artists of the modern world.»
Here at DiS, we're the sort of people that have listened to the director's commentary on the bonus disc of Fight Club and Twilight, several times. One day we wondered whether we could ask bands to do much the same thing and our 'DiSection' feature was born. As part of their takeover to celebrate the release of Everything In Between (and playing DiS' Birthday party in Sheffield and Manchester), Randy Randall talks us through No Age's new album.»
Entertaining me: A guide to light-weight fun on the road by British Sea Power singer/guitarist Scott Wilkinson.»
As part of DiS' 10 years celebrations, we asked some acts for a top 10 list of their choosing. Here's British Sea Power's contribution...»
Hello Today marks 10 years since our website went "live" and we wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has written, read and supported http://drownedinsound.com over the past 10 years. We would be nothing without the passion, »
I didn't have the attention span to stick to one genre, so in my headphones and on this playlist, there's some lazer-guided missles of misery and really-silly raps and utterly ridiculous bits of yoddelling (O HAI GWEN STEFANI!). This is my voyage through these dizzy digital days and the "solo" artists who pixellated my heart... »
We've tried to have a conversation with Mr Gold Panda on numerous occasions but he's always had his headphones on, staring at his GameBoy. Little did we know he was composing his next opus whilst waiting for the train. We now know what he was doing, so decided it best to ask him about how that little green-screen of joy fits in with his his laptop and loop pedals...»
Putting this playlist together I was reminded that the poignancy of many of these songs comes from that single-mindedness that only an individual with something to say or a deep well of emotion to share, is capable of. Love, hate and the precarious life vs. death battle looms large. For some of the artists on this playlist, life was too much and they didn't make it to 2010 but don't let that put you off because there's a human spirit in all of these songs (save for the few that are that little bit alien or divorced from any known reality). It's a spirit that will lift you on your best days and cradle you on your worst. »
How on earth do or should we 'celebrate' reaching a 10 year landmark? We considered some real-world trolling with biiiig events but it felt more like trying to impress a few media oiks, from London, rather than doing something defiantly DiS. What we have put together, is a series of events in the UK, in October, with bands we like. These will take place in warehouses, on roller-skate rinks and in traditional venues. We're trying to cover the whole country but for now we can announce events in London, Sheffield and Manchester. »
Thousands of you voted in our alternative Mercury Music Prize and we have a winner...»
