The End Of The Year = Awards Season!

So here we are again, the end (almost) of another year, and it falls to me to tell all of you incompetent fools what the album(s) and song(s) of the year are, and why you should bow before their awesomeness. Now don't let the lack of reviews fall you, most of these were released before this blog came into full existence. There have been 12 albums released this year, and all of them have been amazing, astounding and all around great to listen to.

Now over the last 2 weeks I have put myself through the painful process of listening to all 12 of these albums in order to deduce the Album of the Year 2009. Now unlike 2008, where there was only going to be one winner (Steven Wilson – Insurgentes), 2009 was a much closer contest, even now as I'm writing this I am undecided as to which album is to be number one, although I think that it has to be the one which I'm listening to...

So just to quell curiosity here is the short-list for AotY 2009 :-

30 Seconds To Mars – This Is War
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
The Decemberists – The Hazards Of Love
Jonsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps
Muse – The Resistance
Placebo – Battle For The Sun
Porcupine Tree – The Incident
The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die
Rammstein – Leibe Ist Fur Alle Da
Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition
U2 – No Line On The Horizon
Mew* - No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away

*Please note that Mew would be in alphabetical order IF the album title wasn't so bloody long!!

The format for this award will be me telling you the top 5 albums this year, along with a short paragraph explaining the good points of the album and why they are better than the rest (to just skip to the number one then press CTRL+F and search for “1)” then hit enter twice) I have to say that even I am surprised at the top 5, admittedly I'd been waiting for one of them since 2005, and the others just came out of nowhere this year. None of the prime suspects are there as well. It has been a thoroughly good year for music. By the way, just a prewarning, you might not have heard of some (any) of these bands unless you actually listen to me when I'm talking complete sh*t or (in one case) follow the Mercury Awards or read NME or Kerrang!.

Right let us begin...drum-roll please...No? No one wants to do it? Fine...here I go...

Budubudubudubudubudubudubudubudubudu Tish!

5) Mew – No More Stories... (I'm not typing that again)

This album is the only one in my Top 5 which doesn't surprise me, after all And The Glass Handed Kites (2005) was epic and Frengers was even better (2003). What's that I hear? Nothing can be better than epic? But you sir (Madame) are incorrect in this assumption! No More Stories... is one of those albums where you both do and don't want to hear it. You want to hear it to see where the band is headed in terms of musical/lyrical style, but you don't want to hear it because you don't want to be disappointed that it's “Not quite as good as the last one”. There have been many instances where bands have had a really good/well received album and followed it up with a piss poor excuse for an album. Sigur Ros with Takk... and the follow up Med Sud are a prime example. This album however is one where the band have pushed through that barrier and have made something superb, that combined with the fact that if you play the opening track backwards it's a bonus song, makes this album an essential in this top 5.

4) Jónsi & Alex – Riceboy Sleeps

Riceboy Sleeps is a very interesting album in the sense that the band (or “duo”) never intended to release it as an album, it was written and produced with a view to putting it on the documentary that the two of them (Jónsi Þór Birgisson (from Sigur Rós) and Alex Somers (Visual Artist who produced covers to SR albums)) were making at the time, but when they presented the documentary to the studio they were advised to release it. And I'm bloody glad they did, this album is amazing, much better than the most recent Sigur Rós album, it epitomizes the genre Ambient. It is so relaxing and fluid that it should be classed as an illegal substance and banned, but I would still “use” it!

3) Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Bat For Lashes released her début album Fur And Gold in 2006, to critical acclaim, and also received a Mercury Award nomination, so Two Suns was right at the top (well almost) of my Most Wanted list for 2009, even though it was another case of want to have it but don't. It was quite annoying, then, when I couldn't get a hold of a copy until 3 months after release. I don't regret the wait however, the wait was worth it, the wait might have indeed made the album for me. Actually scratch that, the MUSIC made the album for me. This album is another indie classic, released to more critical acclaim than Fur And Gold and giving Bat For Lashes another Mercury nomination.

2) Riverside – Anno Domini High Definition

I started listening to Riverside by accident. Working at The Shittle Thistle we are often visited by a dutch group Oed, and one time when they came one of them brought with them a stack full of CDs (enough for one for every member of staff) and gave them to my manager, he put them out the back and we forgot about them, a few weeks later I was working a Sunday shift (which is slow on the best of days) and heard some music on which I liked, I asked my co-worker at the time what CD he had put on, his response “Some of that Dutch sh*t”. I took an album (Riverside – Rapid Eye Movement) home, listened to it, and liked it. Anno Domini High Definition (ADHD) is the follow up album to that album. In the grey area between Prog Rock and Prog Metal Riverside are right up my street. ADHD is an album consisting of five 8 minute + songs. It is epic on an epic scale.

Right then, here we have it...the Album of the Year for 2009 is...

1) The Decemberists – The Hazards Of Love

I went to see The Decemberists a few weeks ago and, looking back, I can safely say that they are one of the best bands I have ever seen live. The Hazards Of Love (HoL) is a concept album in the style of medieval folklore, this one being quite grim and gruesome. It's one of those albums where you have to listen to it start to finish to get the best effect. Listening to the lyrics is not a requirement but is very much advised. HoL is a fantastic album and contains some of the most atmospheric and varied sounds to appear on any album ever. It well and truly deserves the number one spot!

Next up on the agenda is the Song of the Year 2009, I'm not going to post a shortlist or even explain my choices, I'm just going to tell you what the 5 best tracks of the year have been.

5) U2 – Unknown Caller – No Line On The Horizon
4) Placebo – Julien – Battle For The Sun
3) Porcupine Tree – Drawing The Line – The Incident
2) The Veronicas – Untouched – Untouched: Lost Tracks - EP
1) Steven Wilson – salvaging (pat mastelloto mix) – NSRGNTS RMXS (EP)

Wahey what a way to end the year, all that excellent music (By the way, I'm running out of superlatives...) and a great big long blog post.

So, to finish off let me tell you my Most Wanted for 2010 (Listed by release date)

Massive Attack – Heligoland - 8th Feb 2010
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach – March 2010
Good Charlotte – Cardiology – March/April 2010
Elbow – N/A – Q3 2010
Guillemots – N/A – TBC (2010)
Innerpartysystem – N/A – TBC (2010)
Linkin Park – N/A – TBC (2010)
Radiohead – N/A – TBC (2010)
Sigur Ros – N/A – TBC (2010)
Thirteen Senses – N/A – TBC (2010)

Now hopefully there will be more albums than this released, and hopefully some new artists will enter the mix...watch this space...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
See you all in 2010...

GB
x

Review : 30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War

Well here we are, 16 days before Christmas, and a brand spanking new 30STM album sitting on my...well that's funny isn't it...there's no sign anywhere of "This Is War" anywhere near me, or even in my "Music" folder. I haven't purchased this album as of writing, I have merely listened to it via Spotify. The reasons I haven't purchased this album are both work related, working too many hours at work (75 hours last week!!) and not being paid PROPERLY for 2 Months...Huzzah for me!!

Anyway, onto the review...

Now I should mention before writing that through using Spotify I have come to realise two things.

1. Spotify is by far the best (legal) method of listening to music without buying it.
2. Spotify is by far the worst method of listening to music with or without buying it.

These two things may seem contradictory to the untrained eye (and to be honest they are to the trained eye as well...not the point) but they are in fact both true! It is the best method, essentially, because it is so easy to use. It is the worst method because of the advertising! I would love this App to be free of charge to everyone without someone trying to sell me Wife Beater.

(Once again) Anyway, onto the review!!

Despite having only two previous albums 30 Seconds To Mars are quite a success in both the UK and USA. Their previous album "A Beautiful Lie" is one of those albums that you either love or hate, I personally love it and as such recommended it in a previous post. 30STM have had some very difficult times trying to get "This Is War" to be released, this includes an estimated $30m legal battle with Virgin Records. Since the last album 30STM have shed their "Emo" look, Jared Leto has had a haircut (!), and it seems to have had an effect on their music. "Kings and Queens"
the first single off of the album is a complete contrast to "A Beautiful Lie" the last single from the previous album. Not that the change of style is a bad thing, it was just very unexpected. The three "Stand-out" tracks from "This Is War" are "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Search and Destroy" and "Hurricane". "Stranger in a Strange Land", the penultimate track, is a deep and brooding track which is full of dark guitar riffs and electronic synth sections. As such it is right up my street, I always say that bands are better when being dark and brooding, just look at Elbow and Sigur Ros.

"Search and Destroy" is probably the closest thing on this album to anything from "A Beautiful Lie" think "From Yesterday" with more electronic sounds. The final track I wish to pick apart "Hurricane" is a fantastic track, both musically (Lots of orchestral sections, excellent synth parts) and Lyrically. The predominant question throughout the song is "Would you kill, to save a life?" while an interesting question in itself, it shows the bands grasp of thought producing lyrics.

The whole album is very well produced, from the crowd "sing-along" in most of the songs, to the monk chanting in both the opening and closing tracks. All in all this album is very impressive, and boosts 30STM from being a "recommendable Emo band" to an "essential purchase" for anyone with even the slightest Rock leaning.

Writing – 10 –

Lyrics are thought provoking and well processed. I have already mentioned the great morality questions in "Hurricane"

Flow Of The Album – N/A –

I have been unable (as of yet) to listen to the whole album from start to finish.

Originality – 9 –

30 Seconds To Mars have almost completely reinvented themselves with this album, making it almost completely original!

Overall Sound – 8 –

The overall sound of this album is good, although I fear it will only appeal to Rock lovers, and the 9s and 10s in this category must appeal, at least with some tracks, to everyone.

(~B~)*

*This is a B only because I am unable to analyse the "Flow of the Album", once I have purchased the album and listened to it from start to finish then I will adjust the score!

P.S. Just finished listening to "Paramore" - "Brand New Eyes" will review soon.
P.P.S. The Song of the Week is :-

Panic! At The Disco - New Perspective

iTMS - No Spotify Link ATM

The Decemberists

Tonight I went to see The Decemberists, and it's safe to say that they are probably in the top 4 bands I have ever seen live! They were truely epic. Now I'm not going to go into any details about the show, or even post a set-list, this post is purely to get people to listen to this band!!

Their most recent album "The Hazards Of Love" is a concept album. The album goes through the life of the narrator/the rake; finding his true love, getting married, having kids/losing his wife, killing his kids etc. It's all very sinister. The album style is technically folk-rocky but there are pieces of everything in there.

GO LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM NOW!!!

By the way the Song of the Week is:-

Mew - Cartoons And Macramé Wounds

iTMS - Spotify

Album Recommendations

Thought I'd take the time to sit and recommend some albums that you lovely people might like to listen to from each "Genre".

Electronica
Massive Attack - Mezzanine - 1998
The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die - 2009
Innerpartysystem - Innerpartysystem - 2008

Prog Rock
Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream - 1999
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun - 2000
Riverside - Rapid Eye Movement - 2007
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here - 1975

Rock
Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival - 2007
The Killers - Sam's Town - 2006
Linkin Park - Reanimation - 2002
Mew - Frengers - 2003
Placebo - Meds - 2006
Muse - The Resistance - 2009
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes - 2008/2009
U2 - No Line On The Horizon - 2009

Heavy Rock
Rammstein - Reise Reise - 2004
Apocalyptica - Worlds Collide - 2007
30 Seconds To Mars - A Beautiful Lie - 2005
Enter Shikari - Take To The Skies - 2007

Indie/Pop
Liam Frost - Show Me How The Spectres Dance - 2006
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns - 2008
Blur - 13 - 1999
Athlete - Beyond The Neighbourhood - 2007
Coldplay - Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends - 2008
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid - 2008
Elbow - Leaders Of The Free World - 2005
Thirteen Senses - The Invitation - 2004

Other
Jonsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps - 2009 - Ambient
Sigur Ros - Takk... - 2005 - (Technically) Post-Rock
Sigur Ros - () - 2002 - Same as Above
Fort Minor - The Rising Tied - 2005 - Rock/Rap
Eminem - The Eminem Show - 2002 - Rap
Gorillaz - Demon Days - 2005 - Post-Rock
Amiina - Kurr - 2007 - Ambient

And there we have it, only a few albums there (34) that should keep people going for a while.

Also Song of the Week is:-

Porcupine Tree - Drawing The Line

iTMS - Spotify

That's all for now, I promise I'll get the Muse review out onto the 'net as soon as possible, probably tomorrow.

The Geek(-Boy) Of The Ding(ram) : The Two Posts

Well here it is, my second blog entry, and the first “Proper” entry! During this post I will be explaining the format to which I will attempt to follow throughout the duration of my blog. This time on Geek-Boy @ Blogspot. I will devote a majority of the two posts to Reviews, both elaborating on the review scoring, reviewing 1 album (With 1 still to come). Please remember that these reviews are my own opinions and are not skewed for my own personal gain (Though I could be swayed Mr/Mrs Record Label :-D).

Format & Frequency

In terms of format and frequency, I have decided to have neither. I will attempt to post most weeks, even if it does just end up being one of the forthcoming “Regular Features”, most of which will require input from me. I will also be attempting a sort of quiz/fun-game type thing...how well this works is dependant on two factors – 1) My ability to ask good questions and update when I say I will. 2) Input from you, my audience, for without your input there will be no point in doing this sort of stuff – I'm hoping that some people seize the opportunity to show off/ridicule me for my lack of knowledge (or a combination of both) and I can get this sort of thing going on a regular basis, and inevitably come up with a type of rewards system on my website (When I get around to finally making it).

Regular Features

Certain “Features” will be more regular than others, this will be pretty much “X of the Week/Month” probably including Single (or song), album, game, film, iPod/iPhone App, website (:S) etc. This type of thing is more so that I can attempt to brainwash everyone into liking the same sort of music/games/films etc. Of course making a welcome return is the highly regarded “Fan of the Month” which will be decided on the last day of every month, and awarded to the person who I think has made the greatest contribution to the blog over the last 31/30/29/28 days, they will be immortalised on their own personal post with a photo of themselves (stolen from Facebook or Myspace) and a little golden trophy jpeg which I will need to either redesign or just use as it is.

I have also decided that rather than post everything in one big block of text I will use one of the basic, yet oh-so-useful, tools provided by the nice Google people... “Categories”. These will be assigned as required, for now I can only see about 5 categories (Reviews; Rants; Work; Leisure; Fan of the Month) and as you will expect some of those may interloop (mainly Rants and Work). I'm thinking about splitting “Reviews” into 3 to have VG Reviews, Music Reviews and Film Reviews, but I'm not sure whether I could bring myself to write that many reviews...so we'll see how it goes.

Reviews

In terms of the Reviews themselves (Only Music so far) I will write a brief little bio on the artist (as it's likely you won't have heard of most of them) then an analysis of the album itself, though how long this will be I have yet to decide (First draft review of The Incident took up two A4 pages). The analysis will be followed by a conclusion (Look at mah engleesh skillz!!) and then finally the scores. For the scores albums will be given a mark out of 10 for each of the following:-

• Writing

• Flow Of The Album

• Originality

• Overall Sound

For a total score of 40 (rather like Famitsu). Which will then be given a “Grade” like that of a exam paper split as shown below (Yes I have slightly ripped off the GCSE mark scheme, so what?).

36 + = S

31 - 35 = A

26 – 30 = B

21 – 25 = C

16 – 20 = D

11 – 15 = E

6 – 10 = F

1 – 5 = G

0 = U

I am also toying with the idea of removing a point for each “Dud” on the album (Any song which seems out of place or is just plain bad.), also I might start deducting points for the genre being listed as “Alternative & Punk” on iTunes (though admittedly this is iTunes + the record labels fault) because Alternative Rock and Punk Rock are two completely different classifications (Seriously it's like me using a “Teen-Pop & Metal” classification) and should never be crossed (even if they “are” then that itself is “Post Rock”). Let me know what you think, and I'll tell you whether your opinion means anything.

As I have discovered the wonders of Spotify I will now be able to do requests for reviews (As long as the album is on Spotify) which I will gladly do as long as it isn't you guys forcing me to listen to some drivel that no one in their right mind would listen to...trust me, I'll be able to tell...

The review this time is in a separate post BELOW this one, alternatively click on the Reviews link to be shown all of the reviews (which at the moment is only 1).

Song of the Week

With the Song of the Week (hereafter referred to as SotW) I will tell you the one song which I believe I have listened to the most that week, sometimes aided by Last.fm, along with two links, one to the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) and one to the Spotify Application (Spot) for the song listed (If they are available) I ask you to listen to the song (even if it's just the iTunes 20 second preview) for I think that most people will like the songs which I post (as usual there will be a few exceptions to that). I would also appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on the songs for future reference.

Also Song of the Week this week is:-

Biffy Clyro – That Golden Rule

iTMS – Spotify

Feedback

And thus we come to the most important part of this post, the section where I beg you to post comments I ask you to post your views/analysis and the like. Doing so will provide a huge incentive for me to continue, even if it is criticism. If you do not know already you can sign into Blogspot using your basic GoogleMail account (If you don't have a GM account then I urge you to get one, even if just for the customisable Google Homepage w/RSS feeds.) and I'm sure you can just post like that, although you might have to sign up for Blogspot, don't really know. I'll find out and let you guys know anyway.

This week/month's "quiz" is to tell me which 2 film's titles I have used both for this post and the first post. Prize will be announced next post.

And that, aside from the review posted below, is a wrap. I hope you've enjoyed reading what will be the first of many posts on Geek-Boy @ Blogspot and I trust that you will appreciate all the time and effort that I have put into this first (technically 3rd) entry. Please do read the review below and take the time to at least listen to a bit of the album. I'll try to write up and post my review of The Resistance soon. Thanks for reading and good night.

Geek-Boy

Review : Porcupine Tree - The Incident

Not many of you will have heard of Porcupine Tree (Shame on you!!) unless you vaguely remember me mentioning them, or have seen one of their videos on Scuzz/Kerrang or the like. Porcupine Tree are a Progressive Rock band based in Hemel Hempstead (Just up the road from here) and are fronted by musical genius and workaholic Steven Wilson. He has 6 projects for which he is currently writing and recording songs with – Porcupine Tree; Blackfield; No-Man; IEM; Bass Communion; & his Solo Project – and he is mixing the King Crimson back catalogue in 5.1 for future release. Now Steven Wilson's previous album (Solo project “Insurgentes”) was my Album of the Year for 2008, and Fear Of A Blank Planet (Porcupine Tree album number 9) and it's accompanying EP Nil Recurring I believe were my Album of the Year for 2007 (I think...), so it's safe to say that The Incident has a lot to live up to.

Before I indulge in talking about the music I believe I should explain a bit about the album format, The Incident in itself probably, to the uneducated eye (/ear), is the definition of Prog Rock... A single 55 minute song (albeit divided into 14 track names) on one disk and 4 further tracks on the second (acting like FOABP and Nil Recurring in a way).

This format however shouldn't deter you from giving The Incident a listen. While the album is best when listened to, in it's entirety, without any interruptions it is possible to pick out a few choice tracks if should the need arrive.

The first disk of The Incident is a tremendous piece of music, with a vast musical and lyrical variety throughout the entire piece. Drawing The Line is a fantastic section 10 minutes in which has SW rhythmically chanting the lyrics “I'm drawing the line” (among others) with such emotion that it's difficult not to be moved, even without realising the lyrics are about self-harm.

The title track The Incident delivers a swift change of tempo and style, deeper and broodier than earlier stuff, and with lyrics talking about the feeling of separation when experiencing a car crash.

The follow-up track Your Unpleasant Family is a fairly entertaining track lyrically, due to the lines “Your unpleasant family, Smashed up my car (Perfectly uncalled for)”, and also succeeds in reversing what the previous track did by upping the speed and treating us to a delightful guitar solo.

Time Flies opens with the line “I was born in '67, the year of Sergeant Pepper and Are You Experienced” and listening to this album you would think that The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix have had very little influence on PT's musical/lyrical style at all. The band would have been better off to try and fit The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (also released in '67) into the opening line, because Pink Floyd have much more in common with PT than either The Beatles or Hendrix. In fact The Incident sounds vaguely similar to Animals Floyd's 1977 album (precursor to The Wall). This track is bookended by two fantastic guitar riffs which would make Hendrix proud and the borderline psychedelic rock which links the two wouldn't be out of place on Sgt. Pepper.

The final track in the song cycle, I Drive The Hearse, is a rather fitting ending to the piece. Quiet, emotional, epic. My words don't do it justice, if you are to listen to one section of this album then listen to this track.

The four songs on the second CD are more like what I have come to expect from Porcupine Tree, Flicker and Remember Me Lover are the two tracks of note on this CD (Although Black Dahlia and Bonnie The Cat are excellent tracks). Flicker is an observational song about the fact that there is only a “flicker” of light left to come from the sun (in comparison with the rest of its existence). Remember Me Lover is an immense and heavy track, with lyrics about a relationship gone sour and the harsh line “And this too, I hated you, I wish you learn to keep your mouth shut .”. Ouch.

In conclusion this album is perhaps the best album Porcupine Tree (and maybe even Steven Wilson) have ever made, the way that all of the tracks ebb and flow and interconnect despite being so different is genius. To really benefit from the mix of the album you need to listen to the CD version, if not then a 256kbps rip of it, there are so many subtle yet important tweaks that you will miss if you do otherwise. So now onto the scoring.

Writing – 10 –

Lyrics are fantastic and meaningful all the way through the duration of the album, and never falter.

Flow Of The Album – 10 –

The song cycle flows fantastically from start to finish, and listening with the four other tracks, you might not even notice that they're not a part of the piece.

Originality – 7 –

The album format is very original for Porcupine Tree, some of the music however is not, I occasionally thought to myself “Hey, this sounds sort of like (enter track name here) from (enter PT album here)”

Overall Sound – 9 –

The overall sound of the album is great, I do have a minor grievance with the fact that it's not as heavy as the previous album was, which is what was so great about Blank Planet.

(~S~)

Geek-Boy Begins!!

Welcome, one and all, to my new blog! This blog is going to be my temporary home whilst I continue to procrastinate and delay the eventual awesomeness that will be "geek-boy.net" *URL TBC*.

This brand spanking new blog will be both home to my Web Development updates and pesonal port of call for any personal blogging which I may or may not wish to do. Please, if you have a GMail account, feel free to subscribe to my blog.

First point of interest then is Blogspot itself, for a detailed history please go to Wikipedia. In regards to ease of use I managed to subscribe and set up this blog (along with snappy design format) in just under 5 minutes, although this ease of entry may because I have had a GMail account for over 3 years now. But the whole process was so easy, much better than Myspace, Facebook and Twitter.

Second point of interest is probably the fact that I haven't blogged in quite a while, and as such I am out of practice. I will aim to update the blog as much as possible, and I will notify people via the various Social Networking sites listed above. Please look out for updates and comments are very much welcome, though please try not to be too grotesque with the responses (Moderation will occur and bans may come into play).

That's about all for now, hopefully this will get a few hits, and I will linkify to this blog in various locations to obtain lots of views!!

Thanks for the continued support
Geek-Boy