BSITWT #89

Ben Klock - 'Grip'


www.myspace.com/benklock

Choice Music Prize Shortlist 2010

The nominees for this year's Choice Music Prize have been announced. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 3 March at a special event in Vicar Street. The shortlist has been compiled by a 12 person music industry panel.

The 10 nominees are as follows:

And So I Watch You From Afar And So I Watch You From Afar
Bell X1 Blue Lights on the Runway
CODES TreesDreamInAlgebra
Adrian Crowley Season of the Sparks
Dark Room Notes We Love You Dark Matter
The Duckworth Lewis Method The Duckworth Lewis Method
Julie Feeney Pages
Valerie Francis Slow Dynamo
Laura Izibor Let the Truth Be Told
The Swell Season Strict Joy


Jim Carroll is the overall force behind the prize but the shortlist is compiled by the following:

Martin Burns (News of the World)
Josh Clarke (i105-i107, Galway)
Roisin Dwyer (Hot Press)
Tony Fenton (Today FM)
Cathal Funge (Phantom 105.2, Dublin)
Padraic Halpin (Ragged Words)
Sophie Gorman (Irish Independent)
John McMahon (2fm)
Rob O’Connor (Beat 102-103, Waterford)
Eva Staic (Spin 1038, Dublin)
Chris Wasser (Evening Herald)
Aoife Woodlock (Other Voices Tv Show)

www.choicemusicprize.com

BSITWT #88

Floating Points - K&G Beat

I know Eoin gave Floating Points a BSITWT already in the last week, but the guy is just that good.

www.myspace.com/floatingpoints

Four Tet Mix CD

This CD was given out by Kieran Hebden at a Plastic People gig recently. Having seen it appearing on blogs all over the place, Hebden decided to put it up on his own interwebpage for our listening pleasure. Starts off with Love Cry and Moth before moving onto some stuff that I need ID'd very soon. Incredible hour and a bit's listening.
Enjoy

Top 50 albums of the decade

On the back of a taunt from Ed, I am going to try write up my "Best of the Noughties" list. Given that at the turn of the millenium I was listening to nothing but hip-hop and garbage trance, you can consider this a personal, yet very incomplete attempt, heavily skewed towards albums since 2005! Some albums are included for their sheer brilliance, others are highly rated for their hugely influential role in defining or shaping a genre (Kid A, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, Balance 005, The Eraser), while some are there for the utter dominance of my ipod over a prolonged period of time (In Rainbows, Boxer, (), Takk...). I decided to try to rank a top 20, and to leave the next 30 in no particular order, as it would have become ridiculously arbitrary ranking 42 vs 43. Kid A wins for the sheer daring of it given what had come before. Arguably never before has a band taken such an obscure turn after producing two of the top ten albums of all time (according to all those lists on TV). And never before has it sounded so good. If I did a top 50 tracks of the decade, Idioteque would win, and Everything in its right place and The National Anthem would both be high up, which is heavy going for one album indeed! The Postal Service make the top 20 almost uniquely for The Natural Anthem, which is easily one of my top 5 songs of the decade, but also for injecting something very different into the world of electro-pop, including two of the most remixable anthems of the decade in The District Sleeps Alone Tonight and Such Great Heights. The Knife make the top 20 for a similar contribution both in the delightfully eerie and atmospheric tracks they have offered us, and for the ease in which they have been transformed into a must-have for any techno DJ in remixed form. So.... here goes.

The Top 20

1. Radiohead - Kid A
2. Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
4. The National - Boxer
5. Sigur Ros - ()
6. Arcade Fire - Funeral
7. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
8. The Libertines - The Libertines
9. James Holden - Balance 005
10. Final Fantasy - Has a Good Home
11. Sigur Ros - Takk...
12. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
13. Donal Dineen - Small Hours, Summer Mornings; compilation for Foggy Notions
14. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
    
15. Hot Chip - The Warning
16. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
17. The Postal Service - Give Up
18. Four Tet - Rounds
19. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
20. The Knife - Silent Shout

Numbers 21-50, in no particular order

Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
Interpol - Antics
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Moderat - Moderat
Apparat - Walls
Ellen Allien and Apparat - Orchestra of Bubbles
Paul Kalkbrenner - Berlin Calling OST
Various - Dark Was the Night
Air - Talkie Walkie
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Modeselektor - Hello Mom!
Tiefschwarz - Fabric 29
Ewan Pearson - Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Jurassic 5 - Power in Numbers
The Whitest Boy Alive - Rules
Foals - Antidotes
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Gui Boratto - Chromophobia
Jape - Ritual
Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
Matthew Dear - Asa Breed
Milosh - You Make Me Feel
Royksopp - Melody AM
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Birun
The Streets - Original Pirate Material
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Daft Punk - Discovery
The Field - From Here we go Sublime
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

BSITWT #87

The Knife - Colourings of Pidgeons

I dare you to take a walk through a foggy, scary, icy forest with this on.

Matias Aguayo - Ay Ay Ay

Matias Aguayo released one of 2009's more unconventional albums in Ay Ay Ay. Formed mostly around the human voice in varying chants, percussive samples and languages, it is a departure from the standard techno flavour of Kompakt's output over the past number of years. Aguayo himself has moved away from the minimal sound that forged his reputation, he is one half of Closer Musik (with Dirk Leyers). I don't feel that Ay Ay Ay represents a new dawn for all things around the 120bpm mark but it is something different to wrap your ears around. The lead track 'Menta Latte' can annoy and delight in equal measures with its numerous layered vocals. First single 'Rollerskate' is a worth a whirl and will have your head moving before you know it. My favourite track has to be the sinister sounding 'Ay Shit - The Master'.

Ay Ay Ay was released on 26 October 2009 on Kompakt records. Buy here.

BSITWT #86

Joy Orbison - 'Hyph Mngo'

Buy here

www.myspace.com/joyorbison

BSITWT #85

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back. Sorry about that - we've been drinking.

This edition of BSITWT is brought to you by Floating Points. Enjoy: Floating Points - Truly (mp3)

Take note London residents: FP play Fabric with James Holden AND Four Tet on Jan 22nd. Bastids.

My Top 50 Albums of the Decade

50. Red, Yellow & Blue - Born Ruffians (2008)
49. Happy Birthday - Modeselektor (2007)
48. Shotter's Nation - Babyshambles (2007)
47. Airdrawndagger - Sasha (2002)
46. We Thrive on Big Cities - Director (2006)
45. The Reminder - Feist (2007)
44. Antidotes - Foals (2008)
43. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2005)
42. Destroy Rock & Roll - Mylo (2004)
41. From Here We Go Sublime - The Field (2007)
40. This Gift - Sons & Daughters (2008)
39. O - Damien Rice (2002)
38. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers (2005)
37. Organics Sampler - R.S.A.G. (2008)
36. Dear Science - TV on the Radio (2008)
35. The XX - The XX (2009)
34. Asa Breed - Matthew Dear (2007)
33. Fabric 36 - Ricardo Villalobos (2007)
32. Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear(2009)
31. The Warning - Hot Chip (2006)
30. A Certain Trigger - Maximo Park (2005)
29. Colour It In - The Maccabees (2007)
28. Kasabian - Kasabian (2004)
27. Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires (2008)
26. College Dropout - Kanye West (2004)
25. Tales of Silversleeve - Cathy Davey (2007)
24. Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse (2004)
23. Hot Fuss - The Killers (2004)
22. Power in Numbers - Jurassic 5 (2002)
21. Long Distance Swimmer - Adrian Crowley (2008)
20. Flock - Bell X1 (2005)
19. Simple Things - Zero 7 (2001)
18. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (2008)
17. Ritual - Jape (2008)
16. Saturdays = Youth - M83 (2008)
15. Untrue - Burial (2007)
14. Silent Alarm - Bloc Party (2005)
13. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys (2006)
12. Aha Shake Hearbreak - Kings of Leon (2004)
11. Funeral - The Arcade Fire (2004)


10. Boxer - The National (2007)







9. Third - Portishead (2008)








8. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (2004)






7. Original Pirate Material - The Streets (2002)







6. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (2008)








5. For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver (2007)







4. Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow (2008)






3. Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol (2002)







2. Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem (2007)








1. In Rainbows - Radiohead (2007)

The Joys of Irish Politics

BSITWT #84

Shakleton - 'Blood On My Hands' (Ricardo Villalobos Apocalypso Now Mix)

Video:

BSITWT #83

Animal Collective - 'Summertime Clothes'

http://www.myspace.com/animalcollective

Animal Collective - 'Summertime Clothes' video

Running in a forest in Winter - Brilliant

Follow it, change it, trust it, don't give it away too easily but put it into everything you do, get it pumping, keep your loved ones close to it, whether it's cold, warm or made of stone, take good care of it, it's the most important thing you will ever own.

BSITWT #82

Efterklang - 'Mirador'

Efterklang - 'Mirador' Video