Maximo Park – Our Earthly Pleasures
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Saul Williams – The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust
The New Pornographers – Challengers
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
John Zorn – Six Litanies for Heliogabalus
Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City
Je Suis France – Afrikan Majik
Dean & Britta – Back Numbers
Chris Cornell – Carry On
Tim Fite – Over the Counterculture
Okkervil River – Golden Opportunities
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Malcolm Middleton – A Brighter Beat
Tori Amos – American Doll Posse
Kaiser Chiefs – Yours Truly, Angry Mob
Albums of the year 2006
Worked out through seeing which albums got the most plays in iTunes, with a bit of seasonal adjustment for those released towards the end of the year – These are not really in any order.
The Killers – Sam’s Town
Loose Fur – Born Again in the USA
Guillemots – Through the Window Pane
Thom Yorke – The Eraser
The Fratellis – Costello Music
Joanna Newsom – Ys
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballad of the Broken Seas
Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat
Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
This has been a very good year for albums, with at least 5 others that would have made my top 10 on any other year.
A Million Ways to Spend Free Time
Free time, it’s like free money really. Free money is things like lottery wins, tax rebates, and one-off performance related bonuses. The kind of money you can spend without guilt because it doesn’t feature whatsoever in your budget. Free time covers things like bank holidays, getting up an hour early by mistake, and finding yourself sent home early due to a bomb scare. I find free time quite productive, because somehow it doesn’t even occur to me to do things I need to do, meaning I can instead concentrate on fun things that might contribute to my general well being in a more abstract fashion.
And so, today I have trawled the internet for useful things that might make my life easier, but are more likely to keep me amused for a short period of time and then fade into insignificance.
And then in a moment I’ll get a pop-up window and an email telling me to get downstairs, open a bottle of wine, and watch Doctor Who. Technology is great sometimes.
Albums of the year 2005
2005 was the year I learned about computers, and learned that it is possible to jury rig old equipment to deal with today’s tasks with a bit of elbow grease. It was the year I rediscovered Dylan, Fairport Convention, and other folk-rock goodness. It was the year I bought more new music than any time since my late teens. It was the year where I rediscovered old friendships, and cemented a few newer ones. And it was the year when I finally found a job that stretched me and gave me a sense of worth.
It was also a year that I can look back on and honestly say was a happy one.
I end this year dividing my time between Birmingham (where I work) and Steph’s house in Hinstock. This arrangement works well, and gives me a much needed dose of country air, as well as the company I need to keep me sane. I’ve travelled as often as any other year, I’ve just not travelled as widely.
And now for my albums of the year (in the order they are stacked on my desk):
Rufus Wainwright – Want Two
The Arcade Fire – Funeral
The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute
Antony and the Johnsons – I am a Bird Now
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium or the Warlords of Mars
The White Stripes – Get Behind me Satan
Sufjan Stevens – C’mon Feel The Illionoise
The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers
Death From Above 1969 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine