Thursday, December 28, 2006

Happy Noo Ear


Dearest Friends, I am back in Blogville, but only for a fleeting moment. The end of the year is nigh, and you all know what that means, eh? Time for a funky New Year's Eve party! If you're looking for a fin d'annee soundtrack, head on over to Contrast Podcast, where Old Father Tim(e) has a fantastic one on offer. You can download it here or subscribe to all the upcoming 2007 'casts by using this RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ContrastPodcast. The lineup is:

(00:00) Ella Fitzgerald - What are you doing New Year’s Eve?
Tim from the face of today
(04:18) The Zombies - This will be our year
Hiram from The Harvey Girls
(07:04) Asobi Seksu - New Years
Ross from Just Gimme Indie Rock
(10:09) The Buzzcocks - Boredom
Bob from Gimme Tinnitus
(13:44) The Dismemberment Plan - Ice of Boston
Chip from Donewaiting
(18:52) U2 - New Years Day
FiL from Pogoagogo
(25:06) AC/DC - Have a drink on me
Natalie from Mini-Obs
(29:32) Paul Weller - Brand new start
Crash from Pretending life is like a song
(33:30) Yu Fei Men - Happy New Year
ZB from So the wind won’t blow it all away
(37:43) The Alice Project - I hope this year is better than the last
GD from Bitesize Bonus
(40:49) Brenda Khan - Yellow Sun
Tom from Other People’s Toys
(45:54) Ween - It’s gonna be a long night
Michael from The Yank Sizzler
(49:34) Martinn - Around the world on New Years Day
Waffles from waffles radio
(53:10) The Walkmen - New Years Eve
Andy from Circles of concrete
(55:37) Luka Bloom - Bridge of Sorrow
Tristesse from And before the first kiss

I must confess, it has been years since I celebrated New Year's Eve. I believe the last time was in 1999, when we had a street party to welcome in 2000. Even then I remember shivering outside in the cold, wondering when would be the earliest I could diplomatically slink inside the house and into bed. I often wonder why I'm such a New Year's Eve Scrooge, seeing as I do enjoy a party and have little fear of embarrassing myself. I suppose it's the notion of enforced frivolity and enjoyment: You WILL stay up until midnight and you WILL drink lots of champagne and you WILL enjoy yourself and you WILL make chit-chat with people who don't care if you live or you die. So I reserve my 'Bah, humbug' not for Chrimbo, but for New Year's Eve. That said, I do hope you all enjoy yourselves...

In a similar vein, I've been strongly resistant to the idea of posting an end-of-year list. So many people have already done a fabulous job of rounding up this year's nuggests of goodness. Coxon posted his fave songs, albums, and gigs; Fraser couldn't contain himself and did it here and here; Andy wrote his in concrete, Marcy got lost in her inbox not once but twice, and Rachel treated us to a myriad of excellent 2006 fayre served up in different ways over here. So in the end I have given in to peer pressure. I am very easily led astray...

And here it is, my list. This is not a 'Best of 2006' - goodness knows I'd never presume to tell you what you should be or should have been listening to. No, this is a totally subjective and flawed recollection of choonz released in 2006 that made me a happy FiL at various points during the year. If I thought about it more, I'm sure I'd come up with others. Definitely not in any order of preference.

Cansei de Ser Sexy - Alala (buy here)
Oh, maan, best thing to come out of Brazil since cachaca.

Snowden - Anti-Anti (buy here or e-here)
Post-punk is not dead. It's alive & well & living in Georgia. Peachy.

Motorettes - You Gotta Look The Parts (buy here)
These lads make me grin summat fierce.

Buzzcocks - Flat-Pack Philosophy (buy here or e-here)
There's life in the old 'Cocks yet. Indeed, they're are at the top of their game.

GWAR - Tormentor (buy here)
Most fun at a gig I had all year. And the fluids!!

Teddybears Sthlm - Hey Boy (buy here)
These Swedes sukapunched me and lodged in my brainstem, where they remain to this day. Thank you, SAS Radio!!

Harvee - Magical Mind (buy e-here)
Lovely Canadians! I wish them bags of success in 2007.

Pony Up! - The Truth About Cats & Dogs (Is That They Die) (buy here or e-here)
More lovely Canadians!! But unfortunately they speak the truth. Ah, the suffering of change...

Ndidi Onukwulu - Old Heart (buy here or e-here)
My surprise discovery of the year. This young blues diva knocked my socks off at the 2006 Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

Sambassadeur - Kate (buy here)
More Swedes! These ones have occupied my soul and are making it ache with their sweet sound.

Camera Obscura - I Need All The Friends I Can Get (buy here or e-here)
Oh, Traceyanne Campbell, how you make me all giddy & giggly. And the kids love you too. As do mine. Sigh.

Well, that's it from me for this year. I'm off to pick up Dearest T from the Vancouver aerodrome, then it's off to Mayne Island early tomorrow morning. I will be incommunicado until sometime during the first week of January, so until then (and afterwards as well), I wish all of you a rollicking start to 2007.

Edit: Damn, damn, damn! I knew I'd forget some worthy tracks, but this one was really too worthy to leave off: Mouse Eat Mouse - Mair Licht (buy e-here). Think Mark E Smith meets Ivor Cutler and Billy Connolly. In a Haircut 100 single played at 33rpm. I have a certain Scottish blogger to thank for this gem.

P.S. Dearest T has arrived, but British Airways saw fit to leave his bags and those of thirty other passengers somewhere in Heathrow. So first stop was to an all-night drugstore to buy a pair of Rhino underpants. Tee hee!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love Snowden, and yes, post-punk is still banging its gong here in the dirty South.

Happy New Year to you and yours, FiL. See you in 2007! Gag!

Anonymous said...

Yeah the entire New Year's Eve brew-haha is really old, and I have only been legally allowed to drink for 4 years.
I actually don't do anything for new year's I have an anti-new year's party...I am not really a big drinker...And watching drunk people make fools out of themselves is only funny for so long.

So I am with you, let us retreat inside and sip on some tea in front of a fire as we listen to some bubbly Camera Obscura.

Thanks for the love and I adore your anti-best year end list. Especially CSS, Teddybears, Buzzcocks and of course Camera Obscura (they remind me of you every time I listen to any of their songs)

And yippie for the New Year's CP! U2 nicely done indeed.

Cheers FiL! May 2007 be wonderful!

Anonymous said...

That's a list that stands on it's own proudly! Completely inspiring...

Happy New Year!

Concrete Circles said...

Happy New Year, Fil. Excellent choice on the contrast podcast - even if it was obvious. :)

mjrc said...

i bought the buzzcocks album for my daughter, and she likes it. it will prove a rich vein for her to explore, as she's more into retro music than i am. ;-)

and you know your intro on the podcast? well, i know you were addressing all of humankind (or at least all of them that tune in to the cp), but i felt like you were speaking directly to me (the bit about you are not alone) and i wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart. it means a lot.

oh god, i'm getting all maudlin and it's only 9 a.m.!

happy new year.

Rick said...

FiL, enjoyed the U2 on the CP. How many of U2's current legion of fans do you reckon have even heard that one? Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Thanx for a great blog!! "Hey Boy" with Teddybears is really awesome. Especially the part with "boom-chikka-boom-chikka-bom-bom-boom" :-)
Keep up the great work with your blog!

Anonymous said...

Mair Licht! Ah need mair licht!

[lights a candle]

Wish granted.

Cracking choice, oh Lord of the Manor.

It was a little too upbeat to make my own 'best of' :)

(Similar reason to not including Pony Up! - so nearly made it as well...)

Lang may etc.

All the best for 2007.

--

PS, Er, Rach, 'bubbly' Camera Obscura?!? Well, possibly one or two songs I suppose... :)

PPS, Hail hail 2 Snowden - they rocked my world, well at least the last bit of 2007 anyway. Black Eyes (remixed) made me spin half.

PPPS, Oh c'mon M... don't be all maudlin. U r letting the team down. Get happy! (ok, ok, 'less sad')

mjrc said...

Tristesse--i wrote that BEFORE new year's and my new resolution. have no fear, i've not gone back on it so soon. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Dearest FiL,

The Rhinos are most comfortable!


Much love

T

Anonymous said...

Happy new Year to FiL and the Fil-FamiLY!

Anonymous said...

okay, mr. fil, i'm beginning to become impatient. please return soon! that is if you are ok--god, i hope everything's ok. : 0

FiL said...

Dearest Elizabeth, Rachel, Fraser, Andy, Wankel, & Nats: Thank you all, Dearest Friends, for your 2007 wishes. I'm looking forward to gobs of music and cameraderie in the New Year!

Dearest Marcy, my comment was indeed aimed at the audience-at-large. But you should know that I had you and the rest of our merry band of armadillos at the forefront of my mind! And thanks for the concern - everything is OK. There's just been a lot on recently.

Hi Niclas! Thanks for the kind words. Yes, the "boom-chikka-etc" gets me every time too!

Dearest Tristesse: Goal for 2007 is to stop you having those allergic reactions every time summat upbeat comes along.

Dearest Commander T, glad to hear it. You'll have to make do with only the one pair down on Mars, you know...

Anonymous said...

Greetings from a windswept and windy Scotland. Many thanks for the kind words about our wee songs. Come and have a visit and leave a message at our sites below.

much love

Johnny Mouse

www.myspace.com/mousehq
www.mouse-eat-mouse.co.uk