Another Form of Relief

I’ve missed far too much music in the past year to make a proper best of list, so instead, here’s a list of 22 songs that I’ve loved from 2009. Listed in alphabetical order, not preference. Even though all of them are bloody good.

4 or 5 Magicians – Preaching to the Converted
So 2009 didn’t turn out to be the year that 4 or 5 Magicians finally “made it”. They did manage to put out their first proper album though, and despite a few missteps, it’s an excellent start. Dan Ormsby’s great talent as a songwriter shine through throughout, perfectly chronicling both a struggling band and the state of the country side by side.
Obama is your new Che Guevara / Scouting for Girls are your new Nirvana / You’ve written ‘Free Tibet’ on the back of your hand / But you figure Tibet is a part of Iran
Youtube

Allo Darlin’ – Henry Rollins Don’t Dance
Pretty much the song of the year for me, although The Polaroid Song put in another strong effort for Allo Darlin’ Seemingly going from strength to strength at the moment, I’m half expecting them to be everywhere this year.
But in my head you’re Patrick Swayze / You drag me from the corner and call me ‘baby’ / But baby you don’t even wanna see Dirty Dancing
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The Answering Machine – Another City, Another Sorry
The album as a whole never quite lived up to the promise, but The Answering Machine did manage to deliver some superb individual songs. Kind of what the Arctic Monkeys might be sounding like now if they hadn’t turned to shit.
I’m sort of lacking certainty / Situations tease the drunk out of me
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Art Brut – Demons Out!
Three albums in and Art Brut seem to be stuck in a holding pattern. No real advancement in terms of songs or abilities. A set of decent songs that are a hell of a lot better when performed live due to the natural charisma of Eddie Argos. I suspect Art Brut are about as a popular as they are ever going to be at this point. Which is why we can expect plenty more songs like Demons Out! in the future.
How am I supposed to sleep at night when no one likes the music we write / Record buying public, we hate them / This is Art Brut vs. Satan
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Camera Obscura – French Navy
2009 seemed to be the year that Camera Obscura finally came into their own, to the extent that after 13 years, the band were finally able to give up their day jobs. Each album has seen the band grow considerably, with more complex and elaborate arrangements making their way in. It might have taken a while, but they certainly aren’t the “female Belle & Sebastian” any longer.
Spent a week in a dusty library / Waiting for some words to jump at me
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Cats on Fire – Horoscope
The album was a little patchy, but Horoscope is an excellent little song. Mattias Björkas’s voice is the standout attraction here. He may sound like a Euro-Morrissey, but it’s incredibly easy to drift away in his voice.
I don’t believe in happy ever after / A pyramid scheme, I keep telling you
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Dananananaykroyd – Pink Sabbath
A band that creates such a ruckus that they require a whole new genre has to be created for them (fight pop). Dananananaykroyd’s album was an assault on the ears from start to finish, but in a good way. If such a thing is possible.
Buy it, run it, kick it, fuck it, yeah
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Emmy the Great – First Love
It took her the best part of five years, but Emmy the Great’s debut album just about lived up the high expectations. Boldly leaving off a number of “old favourites” in favour of a more structured collection, the album is a grower, but worth investing the time in.
You said I have a room / At the top of the stairs / I have a room with a view
Youtube

Fight Like Apes – Something Global
Possibly the most exciting band that I came across this year, I can’t think of album that has anywhere near as much play on my car stereo. And boy does it sound superb when bombing along at speed. Wonderfully unhinged.
So give me my hook / I know it might sound lame / Do you like my new look? / Waistcoats are so today
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Go Away Birds – The Year of Letting You Down
The first of two songs on this list to feature Catherine Ireton, who quickly became one of my favourite voices. A small start for someone who deserves to be huge.
I met with a little success in my work / You wouldn’t call it taking off / But you wouldn’t call it starving
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God Help the Girl – God Help the Girl
..and here’s the second. For some reason that’s baffling to me, the Gold Help the Girl album didn’t seem to get the acclaim I expected it to. The fact it’s not showing up on many end of year lists is deeply confusing to me, but I suppose you can’t win them all. The song choice here is pretty arbitrary, as it could have just as easily been I’ll Have To Dance With Cassie, Musician Please Take Heed or a handful more.
The dawn will touch me in a way a boy could never touch / Their promise never meant so much to me
Youtube

Johnny Foreigner – Choose Yr Side and Shut Up!
An excellent song from what was an ultimately disappointing second album. Don’t get me wrong, I do like it and all, but it doesn’t even come close to Waited Up Til It Was Light. This album opener hints at the bigger things in store though. Short and to the point, it has anthem written all over it.
So we scattered pretty / Arcs across the city / Turned pockets of doubt / Into blankets of hope
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Let’s Wrestle – We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon
A slightly disjointed debut album from Let’s Wrestle still brought us a bunch of excellent little songs, if nothing incredibly exciting. Still, a band very much of their time. Few others can so perfectly articulate life in modern Britain.
We’re going down the job centre / And soon we’ll come out with a job
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Loney, Dear – Airport Surroundings
Typically late to the party with stuff like this, I never got into Loney, Dear (is there a comma or not?) much when the critically loved Loney, Noir came out. I absolutely love Airport Surroundings though. You’d think that would inspire me to check out the rest of the album, but I still haven’t got around to it. One day.
The last pain got away when I gave up myself / I bought a ticket to hell when I met up with you
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Los Campesinos! – The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future
Utterly, utterly perfect. The album is quite good too. So I’m told.
I ask her to speak French and then I need her to translate / I get the feeling she makes the meaning more significant
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Pocketbooks – Footsteps
The debut album from Pocketbooks delivered on all of the promise of the past few years. One indie pop gem after another, it makes me very excited for the future. From their adoration soaked performance at Indietracks to high profile support slot of God Help the Girl, bigger things are almost certainly in their future.
From the supermarket aisles to the dance floors of provincial towns / I’d occupy my vacant hours just waiting for something
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Projekt A-ko – Molten Hearts
It always great when you discover a great band that is still rocking as if it’s 1994, and that’s exactly what Projekt A-ko do. Distortion, lazy vocals and even the odd “woo”. More like this in 2010 please.
I’ve got no fashion sense / I haven’t got any sense / I’ll never make any sense
Lastfm

Stagecoach – Break
Another band unashamedly influenced by the 90s US indie rock scene, Stagecoach bring the sound of Seattle to Brighton. Break is three minutes of song perfection, from a band we’ll be hearing a lot more of in the near future.
It’s not like her to cross the line / But she crossed it before and she’s gonna cross it one more time / Shit breaks / I kick in her face
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Superman Revenge Squad – Super Sad Morgan
Pretty much any song from the supremely talented Ben Parker could have made it onto the list. I actually debated placing a Nosferatu D2 song on here, but it seemed to be pushing things a little. His songs are a masterclass in the writing of lyrics. Quite why a label hasn’t snapped him up is completely beyond me.
If someone mentions Woolworths again I think I’m gonna combust / We stole all of the Pic ‘n’ Mix from out her hearts
Lastfm

Tigers That Talked – Black Heart Blue Eyes
One of the most beautiful songs of the year from a band I really need to listen to more of. Black Heart Blue Eyes has such a wonderfully theatrical sound to it, topped off with some perfectly snappy wordplay.
Bigotry’s obligatory around here / There’s nothing for me to defend / Just got to go
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Voxtrot – Berlin, Without Return…
Everything that the debut album should have been but never managed. Ramesh Srivastava’s vocal is as pitch perfect as ever, once again with a song worthy of his talents.
Do you spend your whole life trying to get back home? / Where do you go?
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The Young Republic – The Wolf
Now a fully formed band, The Young Republic may not be the same band they were a few years ago, but they know exactly what they want to be. Shifting from orchestral indie pop to Americana isn’t the easiest leap, but they’ve pulled it off with style. Incredibly self assured.
It hasn’t been this bad since my grandpa was a kid / He made it through, he never told us what he did
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Shit, I actually sort of like this. It still amazes me just how much goodwill I have toward Weezer at this point. The last album I genuinely liked was 13 years ago, and yet I still give every release a chance. Even the last album had a couple of tracks I managed to enjoy on it.

(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To is the first single from the band’s seventh (holy shit, really?) album which may just have the worst artwork of any album in recent memory. Yes, even worse than this.

I haven’t heard the whole album so have no idea if it’s any good or not, but I admit I quite like this song. It’s by no means great, but it’s a solid enough bit of throwaway pop rock. It leaves a slight nagging feeling that the band are a little too old to be singing songs like this, but when the album also includes “I’m Your Daddy” and “The Girl Got Hot”, maybe this is their mid-life crisis record. Throw in collaborations with Lil’ Wayne and The All-American Rejects and I have no idea whether to be intrigued or terrified.

Fun fact: The video above is directed by Marc Webb, director of the delightful (500) Days of Summer.

Raditude will be released on November 3 by Geffen Records.

I can’t remember the last time I loved a film as much as (500) Days of Summer. Granted, it was a pretty easy sell to me in the first place. Quirky indie romances with credible leads make up a good portion of my DVD collection. This one towers over all of the others though. No one factor causes this, but everything about it seems to work. A non-linear structure, coming through on the promise that “this isn’t a love story” and boldly ditching a female perspective altogether help. Rattling off a few things like that doesn’t put across just how well this film works though. It even managed to get me back into a cinema for a second watch, which hardly ever happens.

Which leads us to She & Him, the band made of M.Ward and Zooey Deschanel. I’m not sure if I’m using the film as an excuse to post the band or the band as an excuse to praise the film. Either way, both are worthy of being explored. The crossover between the two is muddied somewhat by the video above. It’s the video for Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, but it’s also directed by 500 Days director Mark Webb and stars Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It doesn’t really tie into the film beyond those elements, but it makes for a nice little aside. And just as the film proved, any opportunity for an over the top, slightly silly dance number is always worth taking.

One day Los Campesinos! are going to break my heart. It’s actually amazing that they haven’t already given my usual somewhat brief flings with bands. Generally it’s album before it all goes to hell, sometimes not even that long. Los Campesinos! have been the band I have most consistently enjoyed since starting this blog thing. A lot of bands have come close to the excitement they manage to generate in me (Johnny Foreigner*, 4 or 5 Magicians, Sky Larkin), but no one quite pips them. Three and a bit years on from first covering them, I’m writing about songs from their third album with just the same admiration as back then.

There was some concern when The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future appeared that we’d moved past the upbeat, manic incarnation of the band. Shades of a more restrained, thoughtful version of the band were previously hinted at on the last album, so it wouldn’t have been too surprising. There Are Listed Buildings puts those fears to rest. While not as loose as the original You! Me! Dancing! days, it still feels like something that would have been right at home last time around. This is the sound of a band on the very cusp of legendary indie status. It’s just going to take one perfect record to tip them over the top.

The third, currently untitled, album from Los Campesinos! is due to be released early next year. Presumably on Wichita.

* The same Johnny Foreigner that have an upcoming album called Grace and the Bigger Picture on Best Before Records. That everyone else seems to have received a promo for except me. I mean, it’s not a big deal. I certainly don’t expect promo material. Ever. Even if it’s the album I’m most excited about this year. Not like Another Form of Relief was the very first music blog to cover them god knows how long ago. Oh no. Not that I’m bitter or anything.**

** Seriously, I’m not. All in jest. Just really want to hear the damn thing.

Of all of the songs on MJ Hibbett’s album Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez, My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once is one of the songs I like least. I do quite like it, but it’s not particularly exciting in terms of lyrics. Which made it quite an odd choice for a single to me, given that lyrics are often the strongest thing about Hibbett’s work.

That said, the man always manages to come up with excellent videos, and this is no exception. Like the previous one for It Only Works Because You’re Here and Do The Indie Kid, it takes the attitude of being cheap and cheerful while literally playing out the lyrics. Which gives them all something of an enjoyably silly air, Hibbett himself making for an amiable lead.

My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once will be released as a limited edition CD single on October 19, presumably directly from the band.

S’alright I suppose. I like the black and white bits.

Grace and the Bigger Picture will be released on October 26 (possibly the best record release day of the year) on Best Before.

It’s been a while since we heard anything from 4 or 5 Magicians, but finally, over three years after they were first featured on this blog, they have completed their debut album, which will be out next month. No album is complete without a single just before and an appropriately wacky video, so here’s the video for Nice Little Earner.

I wasn’t entirely sold on the song as the choice for a single (I’d have run with Behind Each Others Backs personally), but it’s growing on me with each listen. The video is helping that a lot though. A stupidly fun romp clearly made on the cheap and damn proud of the fact, we get a chase around the sights of Brighton from the indie venues down to the iconic pier. The whole thing has a delightful air of the 90s about it, which works perfectly as the band do too.

The album should be one of the highlights of the year, and serves as something of a “best of” package for those that have followed the band over the past few years. Your Fictitious Character, I’m In The Band, Change the Record and the legendary Forever on the Edge all make the cut. A bunch of new songs round out the package from the band that have taken so long to get here, but have the potential to go so far.

The debut album from 4 or 5 Magicians, entitled Empty, Derivative Pop Songs will finally be released on October 26 via Smalltown America. Nice Little Earner will be released as a download single on October 12, and will apparently be free from “selected outlets”.

Feels Like Summer is the latest single by Johnny Foreigner, that I already covered here, so I’m not going to repeat myself. As a video, it doesn’t quite live up to the brilliance of the Salt, Peppa and Spinderella one last year, but on the upside, this one probably won’t give you seizures. All in all, it’s a pleasant enough taster for the band’s upcoming second album, which will be called Grace and the Bigger Picture according to Johnny Foreigner authority Clicky Clicky.

Feels Like Summer was supposed to be released on June 22, but it seems to have fallen off the ends of the earth.

I’ve written previously about how I’m not entirely convinced by Rose Elinor Dougall’s solo material away from The Pipettes. My reservations are somewhat relieved at this point, if only because of Start/Stop/Synchro and how much better it seems to become with each repeated listen. I have no idea whether future songs will be able to live up to this, but I’m a little more optimistic about it at this point.

I usually avoid posts that only contain video too, but I really like this one. The stark black and white photography is a thing of beauty and seems to fit the mood of the song perfectly. It all feels a little art school film project at times, which I suppose fits the desired purpose of being the exact opposite of a Pipettes video.

Start/Stop/Synchro is out now on 7″ and download via Elefant Records. The label is jointly organising the Indietracks Festival next month, where Dougall will be playing on the opening night.

Flashguns are a London band that actually sound like a London band. Given it’s hard to define exactly what a London band sounds like, that’s no easy achievement. They evoke the feel of London though. Loud, dirty and yet somehow wonderful. Everything seems to be working against everything else, but like the city, that clash is what makes it something special.

I have to admit that I don’t know very much about Flashguns, and my brief search didn’t turn up very much outside of the basics either. If a slightly dated press release is to be believed, they are incredibly young. Not too young to be making music of course, but too young to be this damn good at it.

Word on the street is that Radio 1 are actually playing this too. Which is probably the first time Radio 1 and this blog have had any crossover, but I’m not sure if that says more about them or me. Regardless, I Don’t Not Love You, despite it’s flawed grammar deserves to be something of a breakout hit. The best thing about Flashguns though? That you know their best songs are still ahead of them.

The Matching Hearts/Similar Parts will be out on July 17 via Blue Flowers Records.