You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December, 2007.
Merry Christmas everyone.
To celebrate: the most romantic Christmas song ever written (in my book anyway).
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale of New York
It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won’t see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I’ve got a feeling
This year’s for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true
They’ve got cars big as bars
They’ve got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It’s no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me
You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night
The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day
You’re a bum
You’re a punk
You’re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last
I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone
I’ve built my dreams around you
Yes indeed, more listmania. The upper crust of the Dutch alternative radio listening audience has voted for the “2007 Song Of The Year” through the 3VOOR12 website:
10. Interpol – The Heinrich Maneuver
09. Damien Rice – 9 Crimes
08. Snow Patrol – Shut Your Eyes
07. Moke – Last Chance
06. Foo Fighters – The Pretender
05. Arctic Monkeys – Brianstorm
04. C-Mon & Kypski feat. Pete Philly – Make My day
03. Pete Philly & Perquisite – Time Flies
02. 30 Seconds To Mars – The Kill
01. Editors – Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
The Dutch audience has obviously decided to vote very patriotically with no less than three local acts in the top 10 (Moke, C-Mon & Kypski and Pete Philly & Perquisite). I have to say I’m surprised to see Moke up there. I’m all for homegrown produce (even if the singer’s Northern Irish), but that song never really did it for me. I love the two tracks featuring Pete Philly though, probably some of the highest quality Dutch music export in years.
The Moke apparition pales in comparison to the shock at the number 2 in the list though. Seriously: 30 Seconds To Mars?? I can’t even find the words to express the insult to all the phenomenal releases of 2007 to have this eyeliner-abusing-howler monkey in second position…
I can definitely live with the Editors at the top of the list, though I can’t help but feel that some gems have been left out. And on the subject of left out gems and homegrown produce: what a pity Anouk released her amazing new single Good God so late in the year, because I’m sure it would have made it to many a list (certainly my top 25) had it been around a bit earlier.
Anouk – Good God
You can see the whole 3VOOR12 2007 Song Of The Year list here.
I just keep hitting ‘play’ on youtube for this track, what a voice! You might say Adele is the result of putting Kate, Lily and Amy in a blender, and what a delicious smoothie it turns out to be. And she’s only 19 years old!
Home Town Glory has been released in the UK as a limited single on Pacemaker Recordings (which also boasts Jamie-T among others) in October. The album, called 19, is set to hit the shelves in February, I’ll be very interested to hear what it’s like!
Also check out her performance of Cold Sholder with Mark Ronson at the Electric Proms with the BBC orchestra last October.
Well my friend MB certainly knows how to brighten a day dominated by excrutiatingly boring work meetings, he called me to tell me the fantastic news that Radiohead have now confirmed an Amsterdam date for their 2008 tour!!
Westerpark is continuing the concept it launched this year with a number of consecutive outdoor concerts in the park and Radiohead is the first name announced for 2008, they’ll be playing there on July1st. This year I saw two excellent shows in Westerpark: Scissor Sisters and Bjork, and with Radiohead now in the bag it seems this new festival has established itself with a bang.
Ticket sales start this Saturday, it should be interesting to see what they’ll cost considering I saw an estimate of 175,- euro (!!!) for the show at Malahide Castle in Dublin. Last year’s shows cost around 40,- / 45,- euro, but let’s be honest, I’ll be lined up in front of the post office in the freezing cold Saturday morning regardless..
Click on the picture to see the other Radiohead tour dates announced:
Following my personal ‘best of 2007′ list yesterday, here’s the final selection made by OOR magazine (albums, not singles). This list is a result of compiling the top 10 lists of 50 of Holland’s ‘most renowned’ popcritics and music writers.
10. Justice – †
09. Interpol – Our Love To Admire
08. Mika – Life In Cartoon Motion
07. Editors – An End Has A Start
06. Bruce Springsteen -Magic
05. Radiohead – In Rainbows
04. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
03. LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
02. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
01. Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Granted, best single & best album are two entirely different lists, but still there are four matches with my list: Editors, Radiohead, Arcade Fire and Amy Winehouse. I’m very surprised to see Mika’s made it to the top 10! I like the album too, but in a twinky bar kind of way: delicious snack, but nauseating in large quantities. I’m also surprised to see Editors are ranked higher than Interpol. I’m also more of an Editors girl myself, but any piece of ’serious pop journalism’ I’ve read this year on the Editors-Interpol tug of war has favoured the latter.
As for the dance contingent in the list: I can’t really comment as it’s not my cup of tea. I definitely liked Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. and LCD Soundsystem’s North American Scum, but I would never run out to get either album.
Interestingly, Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible just beat Radiohead to the chase, as was also the case in my personal top 10 (and those in the know will realise I struggled not to automatically stick Radiohead at the top but give it some fair consideration). Well done to the Montreal kids!
I’m glad to see Amy Winehouse made it to the top three, even though the OOR representative in the radio show last night argued it was probably more due to the hullabaloo around Amy than her music. Well I disagree. If anything, all the media frenzy has made me play her music less out of sheer fatigue, which is a shame because that album is “well decent” and deserves to be up there.
I’m not convinced Arctic Monkeys deserve the top spot for the second year running (apparently this only ever happened to Elvis Costello before, he dominated the list in both 1977 and 1978 with My Aim Is True and This Year’s Model respectively). Even though Favourite Worst Nightmare is a great album, for me, it definitely didn’t pack the same punch as Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.
And as for Bruce, well… My mom will be happy to see him in the top 10, she saw him in the Gelredome last Saturday and enjoyed the show immensely.
All in all, replace Mika by Gossip and it’s a list I can live with!
Finally, as it is now officially December, I’m allowed to indulge in one of my favourite pastimes: listmaking! Later tonight Dutch magazine OOR is going to announce their highly regarded top ten singles of the year. I’m curious how they’ll compare to my personal picks, so here goes!
Brokenbranches Top 10 Singles Of 200710. Opposites feat. Dio & Willie Wartaal – Dom, Lomp & Famous
09. Editors – Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
08. Patrick Watson – The Great Escape
07. Rock Plaza Central – Anthem For The Already Defeated
06. White Stripes – Icky Thump
05. Kate Nash – Foundations
04. Radiohead – 15 Step
03. Arcade Fire – Keep The Car Running
02. Amy Winehouse – Rehab
01. Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control
Yes, Gossip dominate the top ten with their amazing rock anthem of 2007 Standing In The way Of Control. I still can’t get enough of it, Beth for president!
As always it was hell choosing, but as the saying goes: kill your darlings. I’m happy with the final selection, every single one of them still gets regular airplay on my iPod, beating roughly 20 gigabytes of fierce competition. I just noticed three amazing women have made it to my top five, which I’m very happy about as female artists are too often overlooked for end of year lists.
I can’t resist posting my runners up, they may not be prom queen of 2007, but wallflowers they definitely ain’t:
11. Björk – Earth Intruders
12. Klaxons – Golden Skans
13. Cold War Kids – Hang Me Up To Dry
14. Bat For Lashes – What’s A Girl To Do
15. Feist – 1 2 3 4
16. De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig – Shenkie
17. Bright Eyes – Four Winds
18. Damien Rice – Nine Crimes
19. Eddie Vedder – Hard Sun
20. Rufus Wainwright – Going To A Town
21. New Young Pony Club – The Bomb
22. Okkervil River – Our Life Is Not A Movie Or May Be
23. Rihanna – My Umbrella
24. Animal Collective – Peacebone
25. Scissor Sisters – She’s My Man
Soon to be posted: The Worst Singles Of 2007, the list that relentlessly triggers your gag reflex…
