buzzandhum

I'm constantly looking out over Happy Valley to the beautiful hills opposite, from my house perched on a steep slope in Kingston, Wellington.

I'm thinking of the processes that created this spectacular view, the view that made me want to live here from the moment I walked down the lane.



It just doesn't feel safe any more.

As seen on my facebook, I'm going to mark my top albums of 2010 by linking in video clips from my favourite songs on the albums. You gotta love YouTube; it'll either have an offical clip, a fan-made clip or, if need be, make one yourself! It's a great way of raising musical awareness...

#10 - Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues

My top 10 of 2010 - #10. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues. Now, I've heard this album get a lot of flak for being 'made for NPR' but, that's missing that JTE has found his voice. Moving north and south of the Mason-Dixon line, this is a southern sounding album about New York, an eastern rocker about the south. His most mature work yet. Rich and rounded.


#9 - Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountains

My top 10 of 2010 - #9. Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountains. Howie Gelb has always been a miserable old bastard, but I guess his turning 50 last year officially allowed him to make his most delightfully miserable old bastard album yet. And I love it. World-weary, world-wise, smart and smart-arse; a gritty, funny, funky look at getting older and learning from experience...


#8 - Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

This album feels, to me, like an 80s Flying Nun release filtered through 1990s alt-rock, 2000s alt-country and modern production, then washed back through the drainpipe to get something muddy yet pure out the other end. Interesting, loveable; don't know if it'll last beyond the hype, however.


#7 - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul

To quote Wikipedia, "Dark night of the soul is a metaphor used to describe a phase in a person's spiritual life, marked by a sense of loneliness and desolation." And this is the soundtrack. It's a harrowing album, made worse by the suicide of Mark Linkous (aka Sparklehorse) and also Vic Chesnutt (who featured on one track on the album).  But, like many harrowing things, the beauty and life shines through the other side to make this an incredibly rewarding musical experience.


#6 - Karen Elson - The Ghost That Walks

My top 10 of 2010 - #6. Karen Elson - The Ghost That Walks. Look, ignore the Jack White connection, ignore the artifice of the videos, just get the fuck out there and get hold of this lovely, gritty, grungy, twangy alt-country masterpiece. This album is a keeper.


#5 - The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing

Okay, time to get proggy.  Who said heartbreak wasn't a good thing?  Bruce Soord's relationship ending was undoubtedly an awful thing for him, as such would be for us all, but then he came out with this, The Pineapple Thief's most rounded, accessible, blisteringly brilliant thing yet.

 

#4 - Anika Moa - Love In Motion

Thanks to Simon Sweetman for giving me the heads up on this album; I'd almost forgotten about Anika Moa despite her great run of earlier albums. But this one. Wow. This is what love sounds like. Desperate, yearning, joyful, fulfilled. It spoke to me a lot in 2010, this song in particular.


#3 - The National - High Violet

I found it hard to get into this album. It seemed almost deliberately to be challenging, to dare the fans the band found with Boxer to keep holding on through the murk and haze.I  find it odd that this, The National's most dense, challenging album since their debut, has become their breakout album. But, hey, I'm not a hipster who hates other people finding and loving the bands I love. And this dark, troubled, worried album deserves respect.  Because between the clouds, the fog lifts and the songs reveal themselves to be full of insight and joy.



#2 - Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon

Never heard of this band (well, solo artist) until eMusic tipped me to give them a listen to this album, initially an eMusic only release.  And wow.  Neil Young meets dissolute wastrel, tied into a metaphor of religion and dead presidents, an album with wonderful flow and feeling.  And this song.... wow.


#1 - Oceansize - Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up

Perhaps once a year I get blown away by an album by a band I've never heard of, that opens me up to their brilliance and their back catalogue.  In 2009 it was The Decemberists, this year it was Oceansize.  This album, from murky dirty metal depths through to atmospheric heights has been so very rewarding.  And this song, the fourth track on the album, shows how majestic and beautiful they can be.  They should be huge.



And that's it.  My favourite albums of 2010. What were yours?

Okay, midday Monday (NZT) will be WrestleMania XXVI. Now, I will be at Four Kings this year; despite last years awful show the card this year is looking good.  Damn good.

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Ten high-flyers in the Money in the Bank match
Batista vs. John Cena for the WWE championship
Edge vs Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship
And, best of all, Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels pt.II.  Michaels will retire if he loses.  Huge stakes, huge.

Join me at Four Kings on Monday; it will be fun. For sure.

But, before then, lets go old school.  Remember Norman Smiley?  No?  That's okay, no one does.  But the following is, over two clips, the best wrestling pro-wrestling match i've ever seen:

LJ isn't dead, yet...

yet... let me share this awesomeness

A bit of a random post here to jot down a suprising early entry into the 2010 "match of the year" consideration.  This was from the TNA iMPACT! shown in the United States on 14/01/2010, and features TNA's most exciting tag-team, the Motor City Machine Guns, in action against some unknowns calling themselves "Generation Me."


This is a great match; and for more than the pretty flippy stuff that the match heads into as it heads to its conclusion.  No, more than that, it's a great example of how pro-wrestling can tell a little story in the ring in just a few minutes.

Note how the commentators don't even mention Generation Me until over two minutes into the match.  Note how the director doesn't really pay those generic-looking kids much attention; even the referee doesn't pay them much mind.  Everything is set up to show that those kids are some "local competitors" heading to be easy-meat for the star wrestlers.

And then see how it changes; Generation Me step up. And step up. And keep stepping up. And the match gets quicker. And quicker. And quicker.  The commentators are lost for words, the director is struggling to work out where to focus the camera, even the referee is taken aback.   And it gets even quicker then.

And the wrestlers are doing their part too, of course, and not just the spectacular moves as the match develops.  Note the expressions of confidence on the faces of the MCMGs at the start, the almost contempt they view these competitors, matched by the "OMG, we're here on the big stage! I hope we don't embarrass ourselves!" expressions of Generation Me.   And, by matches end, those expressions have changed; the MCMGs are sharing the "what the hell just happened" response; while the young kids are "we did it! we did it! I can't believe it!"

And there, in less than eight minutes, the match tells the story of the kids no-one took seriously  becoming instantly credible in the eyes of their competitors, their wrestling promotion and the fans watching.

Its for matches like this that I watch wrestling.

Hmm, it's been a while since I posted a recipe, so let's do something simple here.  Something pretty straightforward but hearty and warming on a cold day like today.  Nothing too complex here!

I only recently discovered good ol' fashioned bangers and mash, but it's rapidly become a favoured comfort-food over recent years.  It's probably my favourite hangover lunch or evening meal too; it's certainly more satisfying than KFC or fish n chips!  At it's heart it's just sausages, mashed potato and gravy; there's many variations with additional ingredients but I've found the simplest is still often the best.  So my take is just simple onion gravy, mashed potato and some good quality snarlers!

Bangers'n'mash

Serves 2 - 3

Ingredients
1 tsp cooking oil.
6 good quality sausages.  If you use "beef-flavoured" or "pork-flavoured" rubbish you'll ruin it. Spend a little bit here!
1kg boiling potatoes, peeled and chopped into large cubes.
1 tbsp butter.
2 small or 1 large onion, thicky sliced.
1 tbsp sugar.
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
1 tbps worcestershire sauce.
500ml beef stock.
4 tbsp flour.
4 tbsp hot water.
1 tsp butter.
1 tbsp milk.
salt and freshly grated pepper.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees and heat the oil in a large frying pan that has a lid.  Brown the sausages and, as you do so, bring the potatoes to the boil in a covered pot with salted water.

Once sausages are browned (not cooked), transfer them to an oven-safe dish and place in the oven to bake.  In the pan, melt the first measure of butter then add the onion.  Stir until coated in the butter and sausage fat/oil, then cover and leave to cook over a low heat for 10 minutes or until soft and translucent.  Stir occassionally.

Check the sausages, turning as required, then add the sugar, vinegar and worcestershire sauce to the onions.  Stir well, then replace lid and simmer for another five minutes.

Remove the lid, add the beef stock, return to boil and simmer for about five minutes.  In a heat-proof vessel mix the flour and the hot water, then pour in a bit of the onion and beef stock liquid.  Mix throughly, then return to the pan. Raise the heat and simmer to reduce, stirring frequently.  Season as required.

When the potatos are done (which should be about now), drain, add second measure of butter and milk, mash and mix until smooth. Season to taste.  

Take sausages out of oven, as they should be cooked by now.  In large serving bowls mound a pile of the mashed potato, pour the gravy around the sides of the mash, and arrange the sausages on top.  Season with salt and freshly grated pepper, and serve hot with a chunk of bread.  A bit of parsley on the side is good, too!

Simple as that and damn satisfing.

Well, haven't livejournaled in a while.  Facebook's killed it, really has.  But, since I'm hear, let's do my favourite albums of 2009. For posterities sake!

Rosy Tin Teacaddy The Homeward Stretch. Gorgeous, sumptuous, folksy melodies, the aural equivalent of snuggling up under the duvet on a cold winter's night with someone you love. Gentle loving harmonies sung and played by a couple you’d love to have playing in your lounge on a winter’s evening. Beautiful.

Rhian Sheenan Standing In Silence. Now, I'm not a great devourer of instrumental and/or electronic music, or film soundtracks, but this soundtrack for a film that has never existed swooped in earlier in the year and stayed on high rotate ever since; drenching with it's soaring guitar whirls and organic noodlings amongst the electronic grounding. Profound.

The Decemberists The Hazards of Love. Not a popular album, it seems, but I loved this prog-folk concept album from first hearing. Musically and thematically it's like one of the secretly awesome concept albums of the 70s but there's also enough simply amazing songs to remove any residual cringe factor. The 70s is a strong touchstone here, the wide and varied instrumentation has, at its core, hard rock stylings, but not played in a hard rock manner.  One to savour and ignore what those "cool" people say about it.

Killswitch Engage Killswitch Engage. Hey. I like to rock out now and then. In fact, in recent years I've begun to acknowledge that the NWOBHM music I listened to as a teenager is still hugely enjoyable; now that I don't have to be all "cool" about it like I was in my twenties. And Killswitch Engage are a band who clearly love the same era of heavy metal, but bring it forward to the noughties. And not with introducing pointless bits of hip hop or electronica, rather by mixing in the lessons of nineties hardcore both lyrically and vocally with the up-to-date production.  This album, self-titled in a clear attempt to say "we've changed and this is what we are now" is a clear movement away from their metalcore roots; and comes with many rough edges polished away - so much so that a bit of electric piano can even be heard adding a slightly different timbre on two of the tracks.  But, I don't see this as a weakness, instead what I hear is a band who wants to take their own past and mix it even more with the classic metal they love so much; leading to an incredibly mature and focussed outing that brings everything they've promised with their last two albums into a package that's worth listening to.

Dimmer Degrees of Existence. My only regret about this album is that it could've been better. All the tracks are great, and the title track is probably my favourite song of the year, but I think the album is poorly sequenced. Too much rocky stuff at the start, leaving it trailing off towards the end; especially after the grooving instrumental pops up two thirds of the way through. Juggle the tracks around a bit this could be an album for the ages; as it is it's just a collection of great songs. Dark, dense, loomingly beautiful songs. But still very very worthwhile, despite it’s faults.

The Felice Brothers Yonder the Clock. This band just keeps getting better and better; and with this third album I think they know it too. Their raw cajun-country-bluegrass-rock'n'roll... fuck, just call it american music has culminated in an album of astounding confidence where they happily swing from one track to the next changing pace, genre and feel as they go and feeling in charge of each one. The Zydeco Stomp of "Run Rabbit Run" is ther notable highlight, but throughout the album you'll hear a band who seemingly asks "can we play X" and joyfully discovers they came. Washboard blues, maudlin country ballards, even a bit of Tom Waitsian croon; they master it all.  Stirringly stomptastic.

Grizzly Bear Veckamitest. In recent years the American “indie” scene has seen bands moving in a couple of directions.  One direction was that of the reverb, orchestral-laden vocal-harmony line; taking inspiration from the glittering orchestral pop of the 60s and 70s mixing it with complex rhythms and dense song structures.  And so 2009 opened with Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion, which was reviewed as a masterpiece of wall-of-sound sonic architecture.  Me, though, all I heard was an album that used dense orchestration and far too much reverb to hide fundamentally weak songs.  Fortunately, 2009 also saw the release of Grizzly Bear’s Veckamitest, which did live up to the hype.  Well crafted honest songs presented with sympathetic musical backing from arrangements and instrumentations pulled from the last two hundred years of music, mixed in a quietly confident way that could only come from the 21^st century.  A generous feast.

The XX XX.  The other direction “indie” is taking is harking back to the sparse minimalistic synth-pop of the 80s, reworked and rewritten with a confidence and self-knowledged that embraces the quirks without succumbing to cheese.  The British band The XX brought out their debut in 2009 and it just blew me away.  Dark, spacious, throbbing pop masterpieces, without flab or frills.  It took The National four albums and almost seven years to achieve what The XX have done on their debut; combine the craft of their alternative rock and electronic roots into a near-perfect album of innovative music.  It could be throwaway, but you’ll keep coming back to it.

Levon Helm Electric Dirt.  Levon Helm, if you didn’t know, was the drummer and one of the lead vocalists in The Band; his gentle stick-work inspired a generation of alt-country drummers, and his soulful nasal voice on “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is instantly recognizable.  Amazingly, even as he approaches 70 and after surviving a battle with throat cancer Helm’s voice is still distinctive, if deeper and more gravelly than before.  And it’s a voice he puts to great use on Electric Dirt, a collection of blues and rootsy Americana songs about the land and people who try to stay on and live on it.  This man’s been there, you can hear, and his songs take you there as well, feeling the dirt and the pain, embracing the wide sky and the joy, of the American heartland.  Americana album of the year, for me.

A.A. Bondy When The Devil’s Loose.  A close second to Electric Dirt, Bondy’s second album takes his powerfully simple song writing presented on his essentially solo first album and presents them with a full band in tow (including Ian Felice, from the Felice Brothers) and more time spent in the production booth.  The result is a ethereal album with the band slowly welling then dying away beneath Bondy’s guitar picking and plaintive croon.  Like his debut, Bondy never lets his songs sit with you for too long, sometimes leaving you feeling disappointed as a fantastic chorus hook disappears from sight too quickly.  But it leaves an album that you want to play again and again to let the eerie melodies drift into your subconscious, and it reveals itself more with each listen.

 

Also rocking my boat this year: Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures (more fun, more rocking, more stirring than any supergroup has a right to be), Neko Case Middle Cyclone (Case broke through into the mainstream with this lovely slice of well crafted songs), Mastodon, Crack The Skye (enthralling prog-metal concept album, the music soars, scares and inspires like the tale told in the lyrics), Richard Swift, The Atlantic Ocean (smart piano pop from a different time).

After reading a few weeks ago after reading Twilight I considered jotting down my thoughts on the novel. But I decided there really is no point. The internet is full of it, one way or the other. Why bother writing anything new when something like this...

http://theoatmeal.com/story/twilight

...just about sums up my feelings. Just in a slightly cruder manner than I would've written it. Sentiment is the same; that link is like the Hone Harawira to my Pita Sharples. We think the same thing, but say it differently...

...is made of misanthropy, allergies, Duvel on a sunny afternoon, bluegrass and far too much blue clothing.