Here we are again – our now once, or more accurately, twice a year podcast where we play new music that doesn’t come from the late 60s. In this show, our Kicker plays Chorizo his 24 favourite tracks from 2025 and does his best to answer questions about horses. We also find out what both wizards’ favourite things are, and yes, both Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers make inevitable appearances.
Just click on the link below to stream or download each half of the show:
As always, we urge you to support all the wonderful musicians involved in making our lives more tolerable by seeking them out on bandcamp (using the links above) or elsewhere, and BUYING their stuff.
A couple of records that hit the brief of “rainbow-hued, cotton candy, three-minute confections” from the pen (pan?) of Curt Boettcher. First a selection of demos for an unreleased solo album, outtakes and adverts, and then the debut album from The Millennium.
You can find out what we thought of these saccharine sweet albums by clicking on the image below.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
This tape from Robert Pollard’s collection was seemingly only labelled as “Scott Walker – ’66 – ’70”. As there doesn’t appear to be a single album by that name, we can assume that the tape was made up of favourite tracks from the period.
We decided to make use of the fact that Kicker has vinyl copy of the Boy Child – Best Of 1967 -1970 compilation album that came out on Fontana in 1990, and focus on the 14 tracks on that.
You can find out what we thought of the album by clicking on the image below.
You can read the sleeve notes written by Marc Almond below:
And here is a playlist of Kicker’s favourite Scott Walker tracks:
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
My favourite album of the year is Peanuts by Liz Lawrence. This came out in June and then was re-issued in November with the brilliant song “Yeti” added.
Here are more of my favourite new albums released this year …
Connection (originally by The Rolling Stones) – Susannah Hoffs and Elvis Costello
Favourite re-issue
This is a new version of the first Cinerama album, re-recorded in 2023 with a full band plus a live album / DVD of a Brighton gig I was at.
Best gigs of the year
I’ve been to 43 gigs this year, too many to include here so I’ll stick those in a separate blog post.
Favourite fiction books
Not necessarily released in 2024, but that’s when I have read them.
The Three Body Problem (Cixin Liu) – mind-bending sci-fi packed full of genius ideas. Looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
Walking On Glass (Iain Banks) – I’ve read nearly all of his books but never got round to this one until just recently. This one is certainly not a straightforward story but I still absolutely loved it.
We Sold Our Souls (Grady Hendrix) – my favourite new author discovery of the last few years. I have now read all of his books and I’d recommend every one of them. This one is the story of the fictional 90s rock band Dürt Würk and their great lost album Black Iron Mountain.
Worst. Person. Ever (Douglas Coupland) – Very funny. All the central characters here really are terrible people.
The Dispatcher trilogy (John Scalzi) – Film noir with a sci fi edge. The 3 books in the trilogy are The Dispatcher, Murder By Other Means and Travel By Bullet.
Self Help (Ben H. Winters) – an audiobook about an audiobook. Brilliant narration by Wil Wheaton & Ron Perlman
Favourite music books
Fingers Crossed (Miki Berenyi)
Rough Trade website selected it as their best book of 2022 saying this: “A revelatory and important statement on the sexism of the 90s music industry, growing up through parental neglect and the wild highs and lows of the Britpop years. The Lush star is a trailblazer and here to remind us that success means different things to different people and that perhaps the traditional definition ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
I bought this from Miki herself when she was doing a book signing at Bella Union in Brighton a while ago. It’s a truly remarkable read. Some musicians biographies can drag a bit when you’re reading about their early lives. You just want them to get to the bit where they start the band. That’s not the case here at all because Miki’s life before becoming a musician was already quite extraordinary. It’s an extremely honest and emotional book and highly recommended, regardless of whether you’re familiar with her music or not.
1967: How I Got There & Why I Never Left (Robyn Hitchcock)
Another musician who has a fabulous way with words. He really makes the music and his schooldays come alive here.
Elvis Is King: Costello’s My Aim Is True (Richard Crouse)
A in-depth examination of Elvis’ debut album, probably not a book for the casual fan but a fascinating read for Costellophiles like me.
In the summer, I also re-read Elvis’ brilliant autobiography Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.
Favourite non-fiction books
Unruly (David Mitchell)
Berserker (Adrian Edmondson)
Favourite films
My favourite film I’ve seen this year is The Substance. It’s putting it mildly to say that this will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I thought it was amazing. It’s frequently genuinely disgusting but I’m not sure it’s even a horror film. It’s more like incredibly unsubtle social commentary and a satire of Hollywood’s treatment of women. Barbie meets Basket Case.
Other films I really liked this year:
Mandibles
Motherless Brooklyn
Bull
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Grudge Match
Re/Member
It’s What’s Inside
Elvis
Host
Madness In The Method
Late Night With The Devil
Ready Or Not
The Pig, The Snake & The Pigeon
Longlegs
Lady Bird
Version 1.0.0
Favourite TV shows
Bodies (Netflix)
Brand New Cherry Flavor (Netflix)
Bodkin (Netflix)
Boat Story (BBC)
The Head Of Joaquin Murieta (Amazon)
Favourite music documentaries
The Greatest Night In Pop – about the making of We Are The World by USA For Africa. Yes, I know it’s a rubbish song but the event itself was incredible and so is this documentary
Mutiny In Heaven – very well-made documentary about The Birthday Party with contributions from all the major players
Stiv Bators – fascinating story of the Dead Boys / Lords Of The New Church frontman
Favourite non-music documentaries
My Old School
Hail To The Deadites
Higuita
Long Live Chainsaw
Society Of The Snow
Dejame Viver
Daley: Olympic Superstar
Favourite podcasts
Dangerous Amusements – podcast about the music of Elvis Costello hosted by the very knowledgeable Stu Arrowsmith. I’ve been a keen listener to this podcast since it started in 2020. Stu concluded the series this year with “70 @ 70” a countdown of his 70 favourite songs in the run-up to Elvis’ 70th birthday in August.
Black Gold (BBC) – documentary about the Stanlow oil refinery, former workplace of several of my relatives and a major landmark round my way
True Story of the Coward Brothers (Audible) – the quirkily amusing audiobook counterpart to the recent album by Elvis Costello & T-Bone Burnett. My favourite bits were when Howard Coward loses his temper and swears a lot!
Most exciting musical moments& life goals achieved!
Pilgrimage to Asbury Park, Freehold and Long Branch! Chorizo Junior and me did the “New Jersey Rock Tour” with our brilliant guide Stan Goldstein. The ultimate day out for any Springsteen fanatic!
Bruce’s former home in Long Branch where he wrote the “Born To Run” album
Meeting and chatting to my other biggest musical hero Elvis Costello after his gig in Leeds and then again after his gig in Buxton. He even signed my copy of “Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers.” This was the first Costello record I ever bought (from WH Smith in Guildford, circa 1984.) “Some good stuff on that one” said Elvis as he signed it.
Favourite football moment
Jimmy Dunne’s 92nd minute winner which essentially saved QPR from relegation and sent our opponents Birmingham City down. Have some of that!
Favourite “Quality Pints“
I’ve travelled around the country quite a bit this year visiting friends, going to gigs and football matches. In honour of The Bug Club’s brilliant song, here are the top 10 new places where I’ve enjoyed some quality pints in your town.
Worth checking out if you happen to be in any of those places.
Please help support all the wonderful musicians, filmmakers, writers and creative minds mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, downloads, books etc and BUYING THEM!!!
Another year, another blog post starting with my favourite SONG OF THE YEAR – a full run down of all my favourite songs can be heard on the first of our two end of the year podcasts, but this year’s winner is this:
A song I saw Scott perform live in Liverpool, where he encouraged the audience to singalogacustard. Reader – they did.
Top 25 Albums
1 Andrew Wasylyk & Tommy Perman – Ash Grey And The Gull Glides On
The album I have played the most this year. The first time in these blogs that an instrumental album has come out on top (OK, the final song features him out of off of Arab Strap, but still). A wonderful wonderful record.
2 The Lovely Eggs – Eggsistentialism
A brilliant album that made me fall back in love with The Eggs.It was near impossible to choose a favourite track for the podcast – so many hits!
3 The The – Ensoulment
A quarter of a century waiting for this, and it did not disappoint. At all. Let’s hope the next will follow a bit quicker. Favourite line: the William Blake twisting “this greedy unpleasant land…”
4 The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World
5 Scott Lavene – Disneyland In Dagenham
6 Biz Turkey – Biz Turkey
7 The Revolutionary Army of The Infant Jesus – The Dream We Carry
8 William Doyle – Springs Eternal
9 The Eggmen Whoooooo! – Fuzzy Eggs, Please
10 Guided By Voices – Strut Of Kings
11 Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free
12 Brother Of Monday – Humdinger
13 Mount Eerie – Night Palace
14 epic45 – You’ll Only See Us When The Light Has Gone
15 Spencer Segelov & Great Paintings – You’re A Lighthouse, I’m At Sea
16 Godspeed You! Black Emperor – No Title As Of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead
17 Wussy – Cincinnati Ohio
18 Neutrals – New Town Dream
19 Cleaners From Venus – Lilli Bolero
20 Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More
21 The Kitchen Cynics / The Phoenix Cube – The Great Filter
22 Craven Faults – Bounds
23 Billy Reeves – Steve – A Weekend In Egham, 1966
24 Tai Haf Heb Drigolyn – Ein Albwm Cyntaf Ni
25 Adam Geoffrey Cole & Trappist Afterland – Evergreen – Walk To Paradise Garden
…. and making up a top 50 albums, all of which you should own, are, in alphabetical order, 25 more:
The Bevis Frond – Focus On Nature , The Bug Club– On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System, Euros Childs – Beehive Beach, Crumbs – You’re Just Jealous, The Declining Winter – Last April, Derrero – Breezing Up, Ducks Ltd – Harm’s Way, The Hanging Stars – On A Golden Shore, Mick Harvey – Five Ways To Say Goodbye, Jon Langford & The Bright Shiners – Where It Really Starts, The Muldoons – We Saw The View, My Best Unbeaten Brother – Pessimistic Pizza, Mythical Motors – Upside Down World, Personal Trainer – Still Willing, Picturebox – Mobile Disco, Pye Corner Audio – The Endless Echo, The Reds, Pinks & Purples – Unwishing Well, Amy Rigby – Hang In There With Me, Tapir!- The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain, Lou Terry – Building A Case, Trans Charger Metropolis – More Meat & Potatoes, The Umbrellas – Fairweather Friend, Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Your Community Hub, Wildly -Wildly, Worldcub – Back To The Beginning
Top 5 Compilations
1 Shit Off Cock Ass (Soundtrack to The Bits: A Collection of Essays & Anecdotes by the Late, Truly Great Mel Daley)
Featuring the likes of Euros Childs, Derrero and Cate Le Bon covering Pink Assassin and Mandy songs. A delight from beginning to end, as is the book itself. Well worth hunting down here.
2 Landnotes 1 (Wayside & Woodland Recordings)
3 Undulating Waters 8 (Woodford Halse)
4 Under The Bridge 2 (Skep Wax)
5 Watch Out For Joker Bob: A Birthday Tribute For Robert Pollard (Unmarketed Products)
Top 5 EPs
1 Rip Van Winkle – The Grand Rapids
The most psychedelic Robert Pollard release for years. Possibly even better than the lone Guided By Voices album released this year. A real treat.
2 Getdown Services – Your Medal’s In The Post
3 E.L. Heath – Cambrian
4 Birds In The Brickwork – Suburb Study #1
5 Shit Present – Acting Tough
Top 5 Reissues / Re-pressings / Remixes / Not Strictly Speaking New Stuff
1 Spare Snare – Mix Up
Featuring re-imaginings of tracks from the most recent The Brutal album by the likes of Hi-Fi Sean, Scanner, Bis and assorted Spare Snare band members, this, unlike many remix albums, is all killer and no filler. A must have.
2 Neil Young – Archives Vol. III (1976-1987)
3 The Go-Betweens – G Is For Go-Betweens Volume 3
4 Melys – BBC Sessions Vol 1 (John Peel Sessions & Other Selected Rarities)
5 Ahmed Malek – Musique Originale De Films (Volumes 1, 2 & 3)
Top 5 Live Albums
1 Les Rallizes Dénudés – YaneUra Oct. ’80
A remarkably clear soundboard recording of the best live band ever.
2 Craven Faults – Thwaite Watermill
3 Babybird – Astoria, London, 1997
4 Dexys – The Feminine Devine plus Dexys Classics: Live!
5 Babybird – Threepiece Live, May, 2024
The Robert Pollard Annual Output Roundup
A pretty quiet year for releases as far the Guided By Voices family goes, but one full of high quality stuff nonetheless. In terms of new releases we had just the one Guided By Voices album, the fantastic Strut of Kings, but also a surprise reworking of classic songs on a 7″ from the current line up with the double A side commemorating the 30th anniversary of Bee Thousand with I Am A Scientist / Tractor Rape Chain. We also had the first release on Pollard’s new label, Splendid Research Records, with the Rip Van Winkle – The Grand Rapids EP. This features a band made up of Joe Patterson (Joseph Airport), Jason Short (Snake Oil), Bob Penry (Joseph Airport) with Uncle Bob in full-on weird mode on vocals. A great record. The label also put out a second release with Doug Gillard’s teen project Children’s Crusade – A Duty-Dance With Death appearing on vinyl and CD for the first time. Tobin Sprout packaged the 2 EPs – Waxnails/Sentimental Stations – on vinyl for the first time too, both having previously only been available on CD. There were also two tribute albums released: Collapse The Collectors, a fourth collection on The Bert Dax Cavalcade Of Stars label, and Watch Out For Joker Bob: A Birthday Tribute For Robert Pollard on Unmarketed Products. Both Guided By Voices – Same Place The Fly Got Smashed and Tonics & Twisted Chasers were re-released by Scat in various different colours of vinyl – the former in pink and red, the latter in orange and black. We were also treated to another volume of Bob’s collage art with Eat 20. And, slightly further afield (and missing from the picture – sorry) we had a very Circus Devils sounding release from Todd Tobias – First Man On The Rock, which, in my opinion is just crying out for a Phantom Tollbooth type rework from Bob. Maybe next year.
The Stephen Jones One Man Domination Of Record Shelf Space Award
Just the 168 tracks released by Stephen Jones this year under various guises:
Babybird – The Idiot In The Mirror (The Demos); Astoria, 1997; Eurockéennes de Belfort,1999; The Idiot In The Mirror (The Demos Part 2); I Don’t Want To Be Like One Of Those People- But I Am (Unfinished Demo Edits);Plastic Ivory (4CD); I Don’t Want To Be One Of Those People (5CD); 2009; Threepiece Live May, 2024; I Love You More Than Christmas
Stephen Jones – The Greatest Song Writer You’ve Never Heard Of
N.B. Two further very late arrivals this year (20 December) will be considered as 2025 releases under the Strummer Rule.
Top 5 Music Related Books (Read This Year)
1 Robyn Hitchcock – 1967: How I Got There And Why I Never Left
A remarkable tale of the teenage Hitchcock discovering music, including a meeting with Brian Eno. If only all autobiographies were so easy to read.
2 Steve Pringle – You Must Get Them All: The Fall On Record
3 Mel Daley – The Bits
4 Luke Haines – Freaks Out! Weirdos, Misfits and Deviants – The Rise and Fall of Righteous Rock ’n’ Roll
5 Stuart Braithwaite – Spaceships Over Glasgow: Mogwai, Mayhem, and Misspent Youth
Other books I have read (including a number in Welsh) this year were:
Aran Jones – Some Sex And A Hill**, Ian Passey – A New Cure For Insomnia**, David Keenan – For The Good Times**, Fern Brady – Strong Female Character***, Jane Savidge – This Is Hardcore**, Adam Biles – Beasts Of England***, Scott Lavene – Bits And Bobs Vol. 1**, Lois Arnold – Cysgod Yn Y Coed*, Phil Hay – Leeds United From Darkness Into White**, Magnus Mills – The Forensic Records Society**, Gaynor Madgwick – Aberfan***, Willy Vlautin – The Horse***, Mark Watson – Mortification**, Roald Dahl – Charlie A’r Ffatri Siocled*, Franz Kafka – Metamorffosis**, Herge – Anturiaethau Tintin: Yr Ynys Ddu**
Top 5 Music Films Seen (But Not Necessarily Released) This Year
1 Steve Van Zandt: Disciple
A gripping telling of Miami Steve’s move from the E Street Band and back again. Made me go and put Men Without Women on again.
2 The Story Of Microdisney: The Clock Comes Down The Stairs
3 The Jangling Man: The Martin Newell Story
4 Ffa Coffi Pawb (S4C Documentary)
5 The Glasgow School: A Postcard Records Oral History
Top 10 Gigs
1 The The – O2 Apollo, Manchester, 30 September
A very special gig. I discovered, or rather was forced to discover, The The at university when I met my friend Balloon Man in halls of residence back in 1986. He was already an uber-fan of the band and the album Infected had just been released. He played it to me constantly. I naturally became a fan and, of course, went back to discover Soul Mining, which I instantly loved. Mind Bomb came out at a time I was hospitalised and I was given a tape by BM, which I played over and over while lying in traction. We lost touch for decades when I was travelling the world, but found each other on social media about 10 years ago. To see a rejuvenated The The play with the friend who had introduced them to me made it extra special. The fact they played a ‘hits’ set with every song I really wanted to hear just sealed the deal. Gig of the year by a mile.
2 The Revolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus+ Trappist Afterland – Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool, 29 June
3 The Cleaners From Venus – Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, 30 March
4 Euros Childs – Future Yard, Birkenhead, 9 October
5 The Reds, Pinks & Purples – The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 20 June
8 Scott Lavene – Kazimier Stockroom, Liverpool, 2 June
9 Gruff Rhys + Pys Melyn – Arts Club, Liverpool, 17 February
10 The Necks – The Tuung Auditorium, Liverpool, 9 April
Favourite Music Related Moments (Outside of Everything Above)
This was the year I got dragged into the Spotify Music Leagues – you can read about how right here – and to say that I have become obsessed might be understating things. You can find the 5 leagues I have set up below and find the all-important spreadsheet (IYKYK) of all the songs our players have submitted below that.
Please help support all the wonderful musicians mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, tapes and downloads and BUYING THEM!!!
Grab yourself a turkey sandwich and kick back with the remains of the eggnog because it’s time for Chorizo to share his favourite songs of the year.
He’s got 24 songs from 10 different countries, including a strangely high number of artists that have animals in their names. The podcast is split into 2 episodes of 12 songs.
I don’t have physical copies of most of the music I’ve bought this year because I tend to just buy the downloads from Bandcamp. But here are photos of some of the CDs that are in the podcast.
Here’s the tracklisting for you, including links to where you can support the artists by buying their music.
Side A:
We Can Still Win This [from the album At Home] – Dog Unit Men Like Wire [from the album A Firmer Hand] – Hamish Hawk Close Your Eyes [from the album News Of The Universe] – La Luz Botanical Garden [from the album Botanical Garden] – Anna Erhard New Moon [from the album Rooting For Love] – Laetitia Sadier My Room [single] – Divorce Ighre Messina [from the album (100% Sahara Guitar] – Etran De L’Air Fugue (Bin Song) [single] – Squid And Then Their Phone Goes [from the album Back To The Clubhouse] – John Mouse Shenanigans [from the album Zeitgeist Impressions] – Food Fight Success [from the album Here] – Mammoth Penguins Moon Needs The Owl [from the album Mount Elephant] – Upupayama
Side B:
Ursula [single] – The Itch The Uh Ah Song [single] – Florence Adooni Peace In Our Time [from the album Fear Of…] – Cowtown Names Of Plants & Animals [from the album Peanuts] – Liz Lawrence Trust In Me [from the album Mild Peril] – Silver Sun New World [from the album Soft Tissue] – Tindersticks Testing The Alarm [from the album Still Willing] – Personal Trainer Budge [single] – Autocamper Shots?! [from the EP Night Out] – Murder Club Quality Pints [from the album On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System] – The Bug Club Grog [from the album Back To The Beginning] – Worldcub On My Knees [from the album Manning Fireworks] – MJ Lenderman
In his annual round up, our Kicker once again narrows it down to his favourite 24 tracks of the year, split across two podcasts for your bitesize enjoyment.
This year, Chorizo brings his own version of The Price Is Right to the pod to enliven things to fever pitch levels. He also fails to pick out Kicker in a picture (see after the physicality).
Just click on the link to find a link to stream or download each half of the show below:
As always, we urge you to support all the wonderful musicians involved in making our lives more tolerable by seeking them out on bandcamp (using the links above where available) or elsewhere, and BUYING their stuff.
So we’re really grateful he took some time out from all of that to have a chat with us.
Last time I wrote about him on this website, I called him “the frontman every other band wishes they had” and in this interview he shows that he’s every bit as insightful and entertaining in conversation as well.
Nilsson’s second and third albums listened to in reverse chronological order as per the listing on Pollard’s tape. The Beatles loved him, but do the wizards?
You can find out what we thought of the two albums by clicking on the image below.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
A couple of unusual albums on this tape. Firstly, an experimental psychedelic rock album from the man who gave us one of Chorizo’s all-time favourites, Runaway, and also one of Kicker’s, Hats Off To Larry – the great Del Shannon. Secondly, a string laden pop album from country star, Rick Nelson. Neither of them sound much like what you’d expect from either artist, but are they any good?
You can find out what we thought of the two albums by clicking on the image below.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
To avoid any potential disappointment on missing out on the next show, make sure you follow our podcast on Spotify or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.
Last year, I ran a countdown of my 100 favourite Bruce Springsteen songs on my Twitter account. I started it 100 days before my son & I went to see Bruce at Villa Park.
It’s now just a few weeks before we are seeing him again at Wembley, so I thought I’d post the Top 100 here as well.
I also made this YouTube playlist of some favourite live versions of the top 50 songs which is well worth 5 and half hours of your time.
The Wembley gig will be my 5th Bruce gig. I’ve heard 39% of the songs of my top 100 played live and I’ve noted where after each song. [C] = Coventry, [B] = Birmingham, [M1] & [M2] for the 2 times I’ve seen him in Manchester.
There’s a Spotify playlist at the end of the page along with some nerdy statistics.
100 Open All Night (Nebraska)
99 One Way Street (The Promise)
98 Death To My Hometown (Wrecking Ball) [M1] [C]
97 Rendezvous (The Promise)
96 Matamoros Banks (Devils & Dust)
95 Cover Me (Born In The USA)
94 When You Need Me (Tracks)
93 Wreck on the Highway (The River)
92 Darlington County (Born In The USA) [M1] [M2]
91 Tougher Than The Rest (Tunnel of Love)
90 Galveston Bay (The Ghost Of Tom Joad)
89 The Wall (High Hopes)
88 Little White Lies (The Ties That Bind)
87 Hungry Heart (The River) [C] [M2]
86 Last Man Standing (Letter To You) [B]
85 Shut Out The Light (Tracks)
84 Brilliant Disguise (Tunnel of Love)
83 Stolen Car (The River)
82 My Beautiful Reward (Lucky Town)
81 The Ties That Bind (The River) [M2]
80 Prove It All Night (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M1] [B]
79 Youngstown (The Ghost Of Tom Joad)
78 4th July Asbury Park (Sandy) (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle)
77 Atlantic City (Nebraska) [M1] [M2]
76 Adam Raised A Cain (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
75 Independence Day (The River)
74 The Time That Never Was (The Ties That Bind)
73 Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (Born To Run) [M1] [C] [M2] [B]
72 Kingdom Of Days (Working On A Dream)
71 You’ll Be Coming Down (Magic)
70 Candy’s Room (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [B]
69 I’ll See You In My Dreams (Letter To You) [B]
68 None But The Brave (The Essential)
67 Fade Away (The River)
66 Something In The Night (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
65 We Are Alive (Wrecking Ball) [M1] [C]
64 Born In The USA (Born In The USA) [C] [B]
63 One Step Up (Tunnel of Love)
62 Blinded By The Light (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
61 Blood Brothers (Greatest Hits)
60 Ain’t Good Enough For You (The Promise)
59 For You (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
58 Rockaway The Days (Tracks)
57 Glory Days (Born In The USA) [M2] [B]
56 Breakaway (The Promise)
55 No Surrender (Born In The USA) [M1] [M2] [B]
54 Zero & Blind Terry (Tracks)
53 She’s The One (Born To Run) [C] [B]
52 Roulette (The Ties That Bind)
51 Promised Land (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M2] [B]
50 If I Should Fall Behind (Lucky Town)
49 Meet Me In The City (The Ties That Bind)
48 Valentines Day (Tunnel of Love)
47 My City In Ruins (The Rising) [M1]
46 Better Days (Lucky Town)
45 The Wish (Tracks)
44 Badlands (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M1] [C] [M2] [B]
43 Talk To Me (The Promise)
42 Real World (Human Touch)
41 My Hometown (Born In The USA) [B]
40 The Ghost Of Tom Joad (The Ghost Of Tom Joad) [C]
39 Thundercrack (Tracks)
38 Walk Like A Man (Tunnel of Love)
37 Cadillac Ranch (The River) [M1]
36 Johnny 99 (Nebraska) [M2]
35 The Man Who Got Away (The Ties That Bind)
34 Sherry Darling (The River) [M2]
33 My Love Will Not Let You Down (Tracks) [C]
32 Livin’ In The Future (Magic)
31 Growin’ Up (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
30 The Price You Pay (The River)
29 Factory (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
28 Iceman (The Promise)
27 Backstreets (Born To Run) [C] [M2] [B]
26 Darkness On The Edge Of Town (Darkness On The Edge Of Town) [M2]
25 Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
24 Highway Patrolman (Nebraska)
23 Land Of Hope And Dreams (Wrecking Ball) [M1]
22 Lost In The Flood (Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ)
21 The Promise (The Promise) [M1]
20 Incident On 57th Street (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle)
19 Racing In The Street (Darkness On The Edge Of Town)
18 Point Blank (The River) [M2]
17 This Hard Land (Tracks) [M2]
16 Because The Night (The Promise) [M2] [B]
15 Born To Run (Born To Run) [M1] [C] [M2] [B]
14 Jackson Cage (The River)
13 Further On (Up The Road) (The Rising)
12 Night (Born To Run) [C]
11 Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle)
I heard and fell in love with the piano version of Thunder Road (on the Live 75-85 boxset) before I’d ever heard the original version from the Born To Run album. I’ve seen Bruce play it live as solo acoustic song & the full band version. A performance of the piano version at Wembley this month would complete the set! But then switch up to the full band version for the instrumental end section.
So here are some stats for you…..
Darkness On The Edge Of Town was the only album where every single song made my top 100. Prove It All Night was the lowest ranked song from that album (#80) and Streets Of Fire was the highest (#3)
All the Born To Run songs apart from Meeting Across The River were in my top 100 so that’s 7 out of 8 songs (88%) Most of them were near the top and 4 from this album made it to top 15! (Born To Run, Night, Jungleland & Thunder Road which was #1)
My list included 6 of the 9 songs from Greetings (67%) It’s Hard To Be A Saint (In The City) was the highest ranked of those (#8) followed by Lost In The Flood (#22) & Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? (#25)
Born In The USA achieved an identical percentage to Greetings (67%) but with a few more songs (8 out of 12 songs made the list) Bobby Jean (#9) & Downbound Train (#5) were the highest placed from this album. Dancing In The Dark, Working On The Highway, I’m Goin’ Down and the mystifyingly popular I’m On Fire were the songs that didn’t make it from Bruce’s biggest-selling album.
The album with the most songs in my top 100 is also the album with the most songs on it! 13 of The River’s 20 songs made it (65%) The highest ranked songs were Point Blank (#18) Jackson Cage (#14) The River (#10) & Out In The Street (#6)
My list included 3 out of 7 songs from this album. 4th July Asbury Park (Sandy) was fairly low at #78 but the other 2 were both near the top end: Incident On 57th Street (#20) & Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) (#11)
5 out of 12 songs from “the divorce album” on my list. That’s 42% maths fans. Valentines Day (#48) and Walk Like A Man (#38) are the highest placed, arguably the 2 saddest songs on the album?
Quite surprised that only 4 songs from Nebraska made my top 100. 🤷♂️ Open All Night #100 Atlantic City #77 Johnny 99 #36 and my favourite on this album, Highway Patrolman was #24. Such a great song they made a film of it! (The Indian Runner, directed by Sean Penn)
So the 8 albums with the highest percentage of songs in my top 100 are the first 8 albums he made. Suggesting the fairly uncontroversial conclusion that Bruce in the 70s & 80s was generally better than Bruce in the 90s onwards.
So looking at those albums from the 90s onwards, the one that fared the best is Wrecking Ball, with 4 of its 13 songs (31%) in my top 100. Highest ranked were Land Of Hope & Dreams (#23) & Wrecking Ball (#2)
3 out of 10 (30%) of the songs from this often dismissed / ignored 90s album were in my top 100, My Beautiful Reward (#82) If I Should Fall Behind (#50) & Better Days (#46)
And here’s another 90s album with 3 songs that made the cut. 3 songs telling 3 different stories of the rundown & oppressed. I put Galveston Bay at #90, Youngstown at #79 & The Ghost Of Tom Joad at #40
These 3 albums released 1995-2005 each had 2 songs in my top 100. Highest ranking song from each album… Magic: Livin’ In The Future (#32) The Rising: Further On (Up The Road) (#14) Devils & Dust: Long Time Comin’ (#7)
Bruce’s most recent album of original material also had 2 songs on my list. Last Man Standing at #86 and I’ll See You In My Dreams #69. Both these songs are being played in solo acoustic form on the current tour. I’ll See You In My Dreams is a very appropriate show closer but the full band album version is just amazing. If I was re-making the list now it would definitely be higher!
1 song each from these 3 albums. They are The Wall (#89) from High Hopes, Kingdom Of Days (#72) from Working On A Dream and Real World (#42) from Human Touch. It goes to show that even Bruce’s less consistent albums still have some under the radar classics.
So that means the only album with no tracks in my 100 is Western Stars. A pity because There Goes My Miracle was on my longlist but didn’t quite make the cut. (I only considered original songs for the list for so the albums We Shall Overcome & Only The Strong Survive are ineligible. Maybe I’ll do another list of my favourite covers performed by Bruce further on up the road?)
Of course, lots of Bruce’s best songs don’t even make it onto the albums! 8 brilliant Darkness-era outtakes from The Promise were in my top 100. Highest placed: Talk To Me #43 Iceman #28 The Promise #21 and Because The Night #16
Also in my list were 5 songs from The Ties That Bind (unreleased tracks from The River era) Highest placed: The Time That Never Was #74 Roulette #52 Meet Me In The City #49 The Man That Got Away #35
That last one has NEVER been played live! Go on, put it in the setlist for Wembley Bruce!!
8 songs from the Tracks box set were in my list. The 2 highest placed were both Born In The USA era outtakes, My Love Will Not Let You Down #33 & This Hard Land #17. There’s apparently loads of unreleased Nebraska / Born In The USA-era stuff in the archive. Hopefully there’ll be a Ties That Bind / The Promise style official release of all that sometime soon.
And talking of non-album tracks, a couple more that made my top 100. #68 None But The Brave, first released on the 2003 compilation The Essential Bruce Springsteen and #61 Blood Brothers from 1995’s Greatest Hits.
There are 7 songs that Bruce has played every time I’ve seen him. 4 of those 7 have made it into the top end of my list (#15, #10, #9 and #1) 2 more are on the list but a bit lower down (#73 & #44)
There are 7 songs in my top 20 that I have never heard live before and I will be going absolutely bonkers if he plays any of those at Wembley. They are Streets Of Fire, Downbound Train, It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City, Rosalita, Further On Up The Road, Jackson Cage, Racing In The Street and Incident On 57th Street.
Most of those have been played at some point on this tour, so 🤞🤞🤞 you never know!!
Here’s a Spotify playlist of my top 100.
Lastly in no particular order here are the songs that were on my original list of 150 songs, but didn’t make the final 100…..
Two Hearts, Magic, Held Up Without A Gun, Jack Of All Trades, Seaside Bar Song, Be True, Long Walk Home, Santa Ana, Radio Nowhere, Someday (We’ll Be Together), The Rising, You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch), Hunter Of Invisible Game, There Goes My Miracle, All That Heaven Will Allow, Seeds, Cautious Man, Where The Bands Are, Mansion On The Hill, Brothers Under The Bridge, Waiting On A Sunny Day, Fire, We Take Care Of Our Own, Roll Of The Dice, From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come), Reason To Believe, Lonesome Day, Outside Looking In, Drive All Night, The E Street Shuffle, The Last Carnival, Spirit In The Night, My Father’s House, Shackled And Drawn, Living On The Edge Of The World, Your Own Worst Enemy, Tunnel Of Love, Straight Time, 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On), New York City Serenade, Mary’s Place, Wrong Side Of The Street, State Trooper, Happy, Don’t Look Back, Without You, Loose Ends, Kitty’s Back, Stand On It, 41 Shots (American Skin)
And remember people… “in the end, nobody wins unless everybody wins.”
I had rarely used Spotify as a way of listening to music, never mind thought about paying a subscription to stream songs, before this year. Now I am addicted.* Here’s why.
In February, my friend Aled Roberts, the Damwain out of Hap a Damwain, invited me to join his Spotify Music League.
I had no idea what he was talking about and was reluctant at first as I wasn’t a fan of the piss poor levels of return musicians got from the streaming site and didn’t want to ‘join the dark side’ by giving them any money. Once it was pointed out that I could play the Music League with a free account and that The Music League was pretty much a separate entity, I was in.
The idea is that a number of rounds are set up with specific criteria and the players select a suitable song. The first round I played was this one:
Perhaps surpisingly, and definitely wrongly, I didn’t submit a Datblygu track – I thought it was a bit obvious – rather I sumbitted the wonderful ‘The New Adam and Eve’ from Cardiff’s very own Simon Love.
Once all players had submitted their songs, a Spotify playlist was produced and we had 3 days to listen and decide how to use our votes. We each had 40 up votes to use (with a maximum of 8 on any one song), but also 7 down votes we had to use. Sadly, Simon’s song didn’t do as well as it should have, mostly because the majority of other players didn’t know he was Welsh, but I finished a creditable (I thought) 28th out of 45 – it was a huge league!
The game continues over a number of different rounds and as I write we are about to start the penultimate ,11th, round – more on this later. I have even managed to win a round – where we had to submit songs that weren’t in English – quite rightly, my selection of Sakuran Zensen hitting top spot.
Having really enjoyed the experience of being in a League, it was perhaps inevitable that I set up my own. I invited mostly people I know, but also a few online friends and some of the people from the Damwain league, who at least knew what they were doing.
This League has just finished after 10 rounds that included Songs Without Guitars, Songs by Someone And The Somethings, Songs Under 90 Seconds, Sad Songs About Specific Places, etc., etc., and so on. It has been a brilliant way to not only share some of the less well known songs that I think others will enjoy, but also to discover new music myself. As a result of submissions from both these Leagues, I have gone out and bought music in physical form. For example, the CD with this track on it from Ffug.
The inaugural Kicker’s Invitational has been such a success that a follow-up has already been set up and 22 players are ready to get going next week with a round for songs with an imperative in the title. Go figure! Anyway, it would be remiss of me not to share the top placings in the first League, you may recognise the name at the top.
No more to be said about that.
Funnily enough, the reason for me wanting to write about these Leagues, apart from hopefully finding more players for future competitions, is actually down to the current round in the Damwain League.
I have generally found myself making long shortlists of contenders for each round before making my decision except for this current round. The criteria this time is Remixes, and I couldn’t think of anything. I realised that I am not really a fan of the remix, and tend to see it as just a case of stretching out the original unnecessarily. Nevertheless, having been on a bit of a Microdisney deep dive recently, my first thought was this version of the Fatima Mansions song The Loyaliser.
Pretty good, right? But, frankly, not a patch on the original. Looking through my CDs I remembered that I actually have an album called Remixed, by the band Grand Gestures, so that’s where I went next. I really like the original Grand Gestures albums, and the track A Certain Compulsion they do with Emma Pollock on vocals is a particular favourite. This is the remix:
Again, I really like this, but not as much as the 7 minute original.
So, where to turn next? Who do I know who obsesses over the minutiae of different versions of songs, who is somewhat of an expert of the more obscure corners of electronica, who has, in fact remixed (well, redited) my own band Tom Violence, the man behind The Grand Gestures, Dundee’s very own Jan Burnett of off out of the band Spare Snare.
So, I contacted Jan and asked him to tell me his top three favourite remixes. After a full 25 minutes, he came back with this list and a few words about each.
Happy Mondays – Wrote For Luck (Vince Clarke Remix)
Factory trying to give Happy Mondays some credibility and club presence. At the time Vince didn’t really do other peoples remixes, and HM had no hits, they still didnt until Perfecto came along in their original guise of Oakenfold and Osborne, with Terry Farley.
Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence (The Quad: Final Mix)
Three original 12″s exist, and three original CD singles… Mute obviously knew this was a big hitter. The Quad final mix pulls together bits of all the other mixes and puts it on a one sided 15 minute 33rpm monster. It’s lovely.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – The Power Of Love (Blank & Jones so80s Reconstruction)
Technically not a remix, ie they’ve not added any new sounds or beats, but just used all the original stems to make this epic version. I could listen to it on repeat forever.
Thanks Jan! I was surely onto a winner here now.
But then I felt a pang of something I don’t usually get pangs about. Was this cheating? Could I really submit a Remix I hadn’t actually heard before?
Well, dear reader, with the Remix Round not yet voted for, I had better not say just yet. After the votes are in I will come back to this post and reveal all.
For now, though, you can find the Music Leagues I am currently involved in on the following links. You should be able to access the playlists there, but if not, and you would like to, just let me know below, and I’ll send you a link. By the way, the Stockport League still has places if you’d like to join before 14 May, so don’t delay!
UPDATE:
I didn’t cheat. I submitted this version of one of my favourite Human League songs.
I didn’t win the round, that honour fell to a Fatboy Slim remix of the Beastie Boys, but I did make the top 10.
In early December, I got together with Kicker to record our podcast number 125. If you listen to that you’ll hear me playing and discussing my 24 favourite songs of the year.
Here are some more things that I really enjoyed putting into my ears and eyes in 2023.
There have been loads of Kirsty compilations before but finally here’s a definitive 8CD round-up of her brilliant and diverse catalogue. The albums we already know and love are here (Kite, Electric Landlady, Titanic Days, Tropical Brainstorm)
There’s also an unreleased album (Real from 1983) and unsurprisingly it’s really good. Plus a load of BBC Session and live songs and a chance to hear again Kirsty’s stunning demo version of Dear John, a break-up song so heartbreakingly sad she couldn’t bring herself to release it. (She gave the song to Eddi Reader instead)
Favourite music videos
Nerve – Do Nothing
Eggman – Ty Segall
The Feeling – Personal Trainer (This song should’ve been in my favourite songs of the year podcast, but I’d already finalised my list by the time it came out at the start of December)
Best gigs of the year
It’s been a very busy year! I’ve been to 74 gigs and seen more than 150 different bands. I’ll summarise my 2023 gig-going exploits in a separate blog post.
Sadly missed…
Sinead & Shane
Both key components in my music collection since my teenage years. Both have made records that can emotionally move me like very few others. Both of them have played gigs that are up there as the very best I’ve ever seen. No-one else can get a crowd bouncing like The Pogues could and nobody can sing like Sinead. I’ve also been lucky enough to talk with both of them in person, albeit fairly briefly in both cases. Sadly neither of their deaths came as a surprise. Their various health battles have been fairly public and like everyone else I’ve been kind of expecting to hear news that they’re gone for a few years now. But that doesn’t make it any less tragic or upsetting. Long live the music and the memories they’ve left us with.
By contrast, the first time I heard of Richard Laviolette was when I read of his passing in September. I’ve since become a big fan of his music and 2 albums in particular, Taking The Long Way Home and All Of Your Raw Materials. These and many more are available to buy on his Bandcamp page. He was a very talented songwriter with amazing lyrics and it’s sadly ironic that I’ve only become aware of him posthumously because he’s got the best song about funerals that’s ever been written!
Favourite fiction books
Not necessarily released in 2023, but that’s when I got round to reading them!
If you like well-written horror stories with a sense of humour then I can’t recommend Grady Hendrix highly enough. I first found out about him when I read his book The Final Girl Support Group in 2022. This year I’ve read 4 more by him and I think they’re even better.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism
How To Sell A Haunted House
The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires
I don’t even know where to begin describing this but you can buy it here for a bargain 3 quid. It’s narrated by exactly who you’d want to hear narrating such a strange story full of barking mad characters, the late, great Rik fucking Mayall, dialling his Rik Mayallness up to 11 and beyond.
If you’re a Rik Mayall fan you will absolutely love this. If you’re not, then fuck off because you’re wrong.
I borrowed the audiobook of this from my local library, read by The Bard Of Salford himself. Your local library gives you free access to the Borrowbox app so get listening to this book as soon as you can because it’s a wonderfully great listen! The man has a way with words as we all know and his frequent tangents about films, breakfast cereal, fashion or whatever are equal parts fascinating and hilarious. As the tagline from the After Eight adverts quoted in the book several times puts it, listening to this was “Luxury, pure unashamed luxury”
The Philosophy Of Modern Song by Bob Dylan
This one is also freely available on on that same app. There’s an impressive cast of narrators here, Bob himself of course but also Helen Mirren, Sissy Spacek, Oscar Isaac and the whole of The Dude’s bowling team, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman.
If it was up to me, I’d have these 3 narrating every audiobook.
Other recommended music books I read this year:
Paper Cuts: How I Destroyed The British Music Press & Other Misadventures by Ted Kessler
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen
From Winning Teams To Broken Dreams by Dominic Ball
Favourite films
Top 10 films I’ve seen this year:
Lapsis
The Trip
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
A Dark Song
Smile
The Harder They Fall
Men
Evil Dead Rise
Ventoux
Triangle Of Sadness
15 others I really liked too:
The Oak Room
Seven Stages To Achieve Eternal Bliss
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
The Banshees Of Inisherin
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent
Amsterdam
Willy’s Wonderland
Nocebo
No One Will Save You
Nobody
The Hater
Brightburn
Violent Night
Come To Daddy
The Menu
Favourite TV shows
All my favourite TV shows this year have the word “dead” in the title. Don’t know what that says about me?
Deadloch
Scandi noir if it was set in Tasmania. And had shitloads of swearing. Incredible writing and acting, best TV series I’ve watched in many years.
Ash Vs Evil Dead
I watched the first series of this when it came out nearly 10 years ago! I didn’t even realise they’d made a 2nd and 3rd series until it popped up on Netflix. Safe to say this won’t be to everyone’s tastes but if you like your horror dark, daft and gory then get into this. Great to see Lee Majors, the bionic man himself, turn up as Ash’s dad.
Dead End
This Polish-made series is the old story of a heist gone wrong but with great characters and several twists and turns along the way.
Favourite documentary
Ian Cognito: A Life & Death On Stage – brilliant and touching film about the stand-up comedian who died onstage in 2019. I caught him several times when I used to frequent the comedy clubs of Ealing / Acton / Hammersmith / Chiswick back in the 1990s. He was always uncompromising and a bit of a loose cannon onstage and sometimes off it too it seems. As with Sean Lock, the phrase “the comedian’s comedian” comes up quite a bit and love for both the performer and the man comes across very well from many of his fellow comedians that appear in the film.
Other documentaries I really liked:
Whirlybird – film about pioneer of helicopter news reporting Zoey Tur, soundtrack by Ty Segall
Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge Of Everything – behind the scenes with snooker’s GOAT
Fire Of Love – the story of vulcanologists husband and wife team Katia and Maurice Krafft. Great story, also includes loads of the most incredible volcano footage you will ever see
Brilliant biography series on Iggy Pop made by BDWPS, so well-made and informative. I also loved their previous biographies of Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder.
Other favourite podcasts:
Case 63 (brilliant sci-fi starring Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac)
The Narrow Caves (weird horror story, written by the always interesting S. Craig Zahler)
Bjork: Sonic Symbolism (philosopher Oddný Eir and musicologist Ásmundur Jónsson interview Bjork about each of her albums. I loved it but obviously only of interest to fans of her music!)
Favourite football match
Not applicable 😔
Please help support all the wonderful musicians, filmmakers, writers and creative minds mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, downloads, books etc and BUYING THEM!!!
Another year, another blog post starting with my favourite SONG OF THE YEAR – a full run down of all my favourite songs can be heard on one of our end of the year podcasts – the Kicker one – but this one is something of a first with a Welsh language song topping the Kicker charts.
You can follow along in either Welsh or English using the subtitles on the video – diolch i Aled a Stephen am eich help gyda nhw.
Top 25 Albums
1 Spare Snare – The Brutal
A second album recorded with Steve Albini and, dare I say it, the band’s best since Charm. High quality songwriting and musicianship throughout with added brass from Terry Edwards and Gary Barnacle make buying up all the different colour vinyl and different formats a no-brainer. Disappointingly, I missed seeing the band live this year due to illness, but even that was put right with the inclusion of a live set of tracks on the back of the cassette. What a band!
You can hear me and Jan talking more about the album here.
2 Hap A Damwain – Ni Neu Nhw
I saw Aled and Simon perform a short set last year as part of a celebration weekend for fans of Datblygu and was immediately impressed. I bought up their back catalogue and set about trying to improve my Welsh enough to fully appreciate the songwriting. I’m still working on that, but this album is as good a reason as any for keeping going. With a sound that mixes tipyn bach of Super Furries with ychydig o Datblygu, they are definitely a band worth learning a new language for.
3 Zimmerman – Wish You Were Here
A 46 minute song (actually two 23 minute songs on vinyl) about losing his brother. Remarkably, this requiem from Simon Casier manages to draw you in again and again with its mixture of jazz, electronica and even prog rock, where the repetition never feels repetitive and the melancholy is never miserable. A stunning record.
4 The Bug Club – Rare Birds: Hour Of Song
5 Circus Devils – Squeeze The Needle
6 James Yorkston & The Second Hand Orchestra – The Great White Sea Eagle
7 Sparklehorse – Bird Machine
8 Graeme Jefferies – Canary In A Coalmine
9 Guided By Voices – La La Land
10 The Declining Winter – Really Early, Really Late
11 Guided By Voices – Nowhere To Go But Up
12 Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You
13 Swansea Sound – Twentieth Century
14 Kristin Hersh – Clear Pond Road
15 Brother Of Monday – Brother Of Monday
16 Craven Faults – Standers
17 R. Ring – War Poems, We Rested
18 Robert Forster – The Candle And The Flame
19 Oldfield Youth Club – The Hanworth Are Coming
20 Wurld Series – The Giant’s Lawn
21 Domenico Lancellotti – Sramba
22 Papernut Cambridge – Channel Suite
23 Guided By Voices – Welshpool Frillies
24 The Cleaners From Venus – K7
25 The Necks – Travel
…. and making up a top 50 albums, all of which you should own, are, in alphabetical order, 25 more:
Babybird – Dropping Dead Bouncing Back; Belbury Poly – The Path; Burning Ferns – World Of The Wars; Connections – Cool Change; Great Panoptique Winter – This Time Alone; The Handsome Family – Hollow; The Hermitts – Weight Of The World; Nabihah Iqbal – Dreamer; King Creosote – I Des; Jon Langford & The Men Of Gwent – Lost On Sea And Land; – Lankum – False Lankum; Lauds – Imitation Life; The Medusa Snare – What’s The Matter; Allan Murphy – Slow Life; Mythical Motors – Join Her Circus; The Reds, Pinks & Purples – The Town That Cursed Your Name; Sanam – Aykathani Malakon; Ryan Shirlow – Ullstair University Vol. 1; Sissy Space Echo & The Invisible Collaborators – From A Land Of Glass Without Mirrors; Smug Brothers – In The Book Of Bad Ideas; Soft Hearted Scientists – Waltz Of The Weekend; The Veils – …And Out Of The Void Came Love; Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – The Nation’s Most Central Location; Wreckless Eric – Leisureland; Veryan – Reflections In A Wilderness
Top 5 Compilations
1 Where Were You: Independent Music From Leeds (1978-1989 (Cherry Red)
2 Cool English Jumpsuit: A Tribute To Guided By Voices Circa 20 Something 13 And 14 (The Bert Dax Cavalcade Of Stars) / Poor Substitutes: A Tribute To Ricked Wicky (The Bert Dax Cavalcade Of Stars)
3 In The Light of Time – UK Post-Rock & Leftfield Pop 1992-1998 (Ace Records)
4 Signals, Wires & Amplifiers 3 (Next Phase: Normal Records)
5 Lo Fi City Compilation 10
Top 5 EPs
1 The Reds, Pinks & Purples -Dust In The Path Of Love / You Know You’re Burning Someone / Unloveable Losers / Inner Richmond / Build Love / Murder, Oral Sex & Cigarettes / We Can’t All Be Heroes
Too many to chose from, so I’ve chosen them all. Really looking forward to the Leeds gig next summer.
2 Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan – Building A New Town
3 David Boulter – Factory
4 The Wind-Up Birds – Pop.Thinking
5 Healing & Peace – Healing & Peace
Top 5 Reissues / Re-pressings / Remixes / Not Strictly Speaking New Stuff
1 Datblygu – Terfysgiaith 1982-2022
THE best Welsh band. This is a must have compilation for anyone who considers themselves a fan of independent outsider music. Also, another reason to learn Welsh, yn amlwg.
2 The Who – Who’s Next (50th Anniversary)
3 The Replacements – Tim (Let It Bleed Edition)
4 The Teardrop Explodes – Culture Bunker 1978-82
5 Art Fact – Tape Works 1986-1993
Top 5 Live Albums
1 The Nightingales – Live In Balsall Heath
No messing about between songs. This is The Nightingales in full flight.
2 Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits – Mr Anyway’s Holey Spirits Perform! One Foot in Bethlehem
3 Spare Snare – The Brutal (Live)
4 Urusei Yatsura – Southampton Joiners Arms, 1996
5 Dexys – The Feminine Divine Live! – Official Bootleg: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 7 September
The Robert Pollard Annual Output Roundup
Guided By Voices released three new albums in 2023, taking it up to sixteen from the current line-up with La La Land, Welshpool Frillies, and Nowhere To Go But Up. We also had re-releases on Scat Records of Sandbox (in blue and black vinyl) and Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia (in a couple of gorgeous yellow variants). We also had the very welcome return of Circus Devils with their album Squeeze The Needle and two tribute albums: Cool English Jumpsuit: A Tribute To Guided By Voices Circa 20 Something 13 And 14, and Poor Substitutes: A Tribute To Ricked Wicky both again curated by Bunnygrunt’s Matt Harnish. Perhaps most surprisingly we also had a second helping of Tobin Sprout‘s Demos & Outtakes with, er, Demos & Outtakes Two. Doug Gillard rightly made Rolling Stone magazine’s best guitarists of all-time list, but far to low down in my view, and he almost certainly appeared on loads of records that I have missed. Sorry about that.
The Stephen Jones One Man Domination Of Record Shelf Space Award
Just the 222 tracks released by Stephen Jones this year under various guises:
As Babybird we had the following seven albums: Bad Ideas, I **** Life, di’ sek-tid, To Express Happiness Without Sarcasm Is Impossible, Dropping Dead Bouncing Back (including a 4 disc version with the pictured painting), I Hate My Life But I Love Yours and, right at the end of the year, the now traditional Christmas album, this time being H**** Xmas. As Stephen Jones we were treated with Christmas: The OriginalSoundtrack (too late for last year’s list) and A Heartbreaking Album About Illness.
Top 2 Music Related Books (Read This Year)
Amy Rigby – Girl To City
John Cooper Clarke – I Wanna Be Yours (the highly recommended audiobook read by the Bard of Salford himself)
Other books I have read this year, including a fair few in Welsh, were:
Lois Arnold – Sgŵp***, Pamela Petro – Travels In An Old Tongue***, Wampus Reynolds – Way I See It**, Mick Herron – Standing By The Wall*, Dylan Thomas – Under Milk Wood**, Scott Murray – The Title**, Richard MacAndrew – Gêm Beryglus**, Mick Herron – Down Cemetary Road**, Pegi Talfryn – Cariad Pur*, Becca Brown – Gwers Mewn Cariad*, Evie King – Ashes To Admin**, JRR Tolkien – The Hobbit**, HelenNaylor – Y Llythyr**, Blake Morrison – As If***, Ewan Smith – Hen Ferchetan*, Zoe Pettinger – Croesi’r Bont*, Jacob Holm-Lupo – On Track: Blue Oyster Cult**, Mick Herron – Bad Actors**
Top 3 Music Films Seen (But Not Necessarily Released) This Year
Sulk Rooms – Evie (Official Soundtrack); Dohnavur Remix Project; Werra Foxma Remixes Volume One; 4T Thieves – Nomad’s Requiem; Nyorai – Harukaze; John Haughey – Flowline; Ian Boddy – Coil; Swansither – The Waken; Amongst The Pigeons – Embrace The Point Of No Return; Cognition Delay – Synapse Lapse; Yellow Belly – Spiral; Carter Takes A Train – Dronescape;
Top 5 Gigs
1 The Chills – The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 10 June
2 The Declining Winter + Epic45 – Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds, 26 November
3 Kristin Hersh – Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool, 1 October
4 Robyn Hitchcock – Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool, 28 February
5 Dexys – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 7 September
Favourite Music Related Moments (Outside of Everything Above)
I may have mentioned this. The band I was involved in back in the late 80s released its first physicality this year, some 30 years on. You can read the full story here if you are so inclined.
You can also listen to, and buy(?!), all the tracks we released as Tom Violence / Redbrick Shithouse on Recordiau Prin (the CD has long gone, sadly)
But you can find more Tom Violence on Almost Halloween Time Records, where we still have vinyl available, housed in unique hand-painted numbered covers – explained here – and with proper musicians covering our best songs. Last year’s song of the year by Hercules Fence is now joined by Wio and Ed Nolbed as well as Jan off of Spare Snare re-editing a track too.
I also believe all the cool kids are wearing Tom Violence merch – we have very limited numbers still available here should you wish to join them.
Please help support all the wonderful musicians mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, tapes and downloads and BUYING THEM!!!
Seeing well over 150 bands in 2023 has had a major impact on Chorizo’s end of year selections and 15 of his 24 songs are by artists that he has seen live over the year. That’s 5 eighths for you fraction enthusiasts.
As always, we urge you to support all the wonderful musicians involved in making our lives more tolerable by seeking them out on bandcamp (using the links above where available) or elsewhere, and BUYING their stuff.
This weekend I am going to see The Wedding Present in Leeds, the city where bandleader David Gedge was born. He actually grew up in Middleton, just north of Manchester on the other side of the Pennines. But later he returned to the city of his birth to attend Leeds University and that’s where the band were formed. The cassette version of their debut album “George Best” I had as a teenager proudly displayed the catalogue number LEEDS1C.
This will be the 5th time I’ve seen The Wedding Present in 2023 and they have recently overtaken Elvis Costello as the artist I’ve seen the most times.
The Leeds gig will be the 34th time I’ve seen them and to celebrate this milestone I’ve made this lovely bar chart. The colour scheme is based on the “Bizarro” album cover which was released the week before I first saw them at Kilburn National Ballroom.
The most I’ve seen them at the same venue is 3 times at The Live Rooms in Chester. When they played there in June this year, David said how much he likes the venue so hopefully I’ll be seeing them there again soon.
There are quite a few venues where I’ve seen them twice: Liverpool Academy 2, Sheffield Leadmill, Manchester Academy, Manchester Ritz, Holmfirth Picturedrome and Concorde 2 in Brighton.
Technically I saw them twice at another venue in Brighton but I don’t know if that counts. That’s because it was called Top Rank for the gig I went to in 1990 but by the time I saw them there again in 1992 it had changed its name to The Event. Exactly the same venue though.
The 4 times I’ve seen them in London have all been at different venues: The Forum, Cadogan Hall and the much-missed Astoria and Kilburn National Ballroom. I also saw them at Dingwalls at one of the Camden Crawls in the mid 90s too, but I only caught the last couple of songs so I’ve not counted it.
Some data analysis carried out via setlist.fm seems to point towards “Brassneck” being the song I’ve heard them play the most times. Here’s a video of them playing that from the Liverpool gig I went to last year. Filmed by the semi-legendary “seajohnster” who attends way more Wedding Present gigs than I do and has shedloads of amazing live videos on his Youtube channel.
In case anyone’s interested here are the 12 bands I’ve seen the most times:
34 – The Wedding Present (first time 1989, most recent 2023)
31 – Elvis Costello (first time 1989, most recent 2022)
21 – Billy Bragg (first time 1987, most recent 2019)
14 – Tindersticks (first time 1993, most recent 2022)
13 – Nick Cave (first time 1990, most recent 2021)
12 – Manic Street Preachers (first time 1994, most recent 2019)
11 – The Wave Pictures (first time 2015, most recent 2023)
11 – PJ Harvey (first time 1992, most recent 2023)
10 – Super Furry Animals (first time 1996, most recent 2015)
9 – Radiohead (first time 1995, most recent 2017)
7 – Joe Strummer (first time 1988, most recent 2001😢)
7 – Thousand Yard Stare (first time 1991, most recent 2017)
For the full origin story of how I became an obsessive Wedding Present fan, read this article which was included in the recent book about the band “All The Songs Sounds The Same” [buy it here]
Proper rock ‘n roll comin’ straight atchew from San Franciso with the apostrophe friendly Flamin’ Groovies and a couple of their albums released around 1970. Uncle Bob omitted to name the albums on his list of tapes, so we’ve had a guess at what he might have been listenin’ to.
You can find out what we made of these albums by clickin’ on the image below and tunin’ in to us talkin’.
Our chats about the previous tapes can be found where you found this one.
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