- Top Tens
Top Ten Albums
1 Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve – The Soft Bounce
2 Nancy Kerr- Instar
3 Minor Victories – The Debut Album
4 Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker - Overnight
5 Lucinda Williams – The Ghosts of Highway 20
6 Luh – Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing
7 Lisa Hannigan – At Swim
8 The Wedding Present – Going ,Going ...
9 Blair Dunlop – Gilded
10 Metallica – Hardwired ... to Self-destruct
Top Ten Gigs
1 Muse, Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham
2 PJ Harvey, The Eden Project
3 Brian Wilson, Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
4 Savages, The Junction, Cambridge
5 Preservation Hall Brass Band, Preservation Hall, New Orleans
6 Eliza Carthy and The Wayward Band, Glee Club, Nottingham
7 Wilco, Albert Hall, Manchester
8 Stick In The Wheel, Village Folk, Derby
9 Lake Street Dive, Scala, London
10 Lucinda Williams, The Plug, Sheffield
Individual performance worthy of mention – Dr Ruth Skipper of Moulettes rocking out with her bassoon, an instrument previously unknown to rock out with.
Top Ten Festival Appearances
1 Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker, Derby Cathedral, Derby Folk Festival
2 Peggy Seeger, Derby Folk Festival
3 The Human League, Splendour
4 Bat for Lashes, End of The Road
5 Goat, End of The Road
6 Broken Social Scene, End of The Road
7 Primal Scream , On Roundhay
8 Fairport Convention, Derby Folk Festival
9 Teenage Fan Club ,End of The Road
10 Whitney , End of The Road
Worst and Best Musical moments – (sadly) David Bowie dying and then hearing all the great music he made being played everywhere for the next week. The intro to 'All The Young Dudes' still brings a tear.
Annoying developing live music trend - People talking during shows. It easy folks, music is designed to be listened to, sung along with, danced to, or all three, not for being talked over. Talking whilst a musician is playing is disrespectful to the musicians and annoys other audience members who have paid to hear the musician, not you. Stop It Now.
Best Song – Riding The Low 'Heed'
Best Film
Hunt for The Wilderpeople
Alisdair Whyte
- Top Tens
Our Top Ten albums of 2016 so far, in alphabetical order;
Big Thief - Masterpiece
David Bowie - BlackStar
Case/Lang/Viers
Eagulls - Ullages
Eno - The Ship
Lera Lynn - Resistor
Moonface & Siinai - My Best Human Face
Margo Price - Midwest Farmer’s Daughter
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
Whitney - Light Upon the Lake
How many will still be on the list come December?
- Top Tens
Albums
1. I Love You, Honeybear - Father John Misty
2. Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett
3. Perpetual Motion People - Ezra Furman
4. Have You In My Wilderness - Julia Holter
5. Carrie and Lowell - Sufjan Stevens
6. B'lieve I'm Goin' Down - Kurt Vile
7. On Your Own Love Again - Jessica Pratt
8. Currents - Tame Impala
9. Constant Bop - Bop English
10. Born Under Saturn - Django Django
Gigs
Father John Misty - Village Underground, London
Sufjan Stevens - Royal Festival Hall, London
Public Service Broadcasting - Roundhouse, London
Super Furry Animals - Brixton, London
Jeff Lynne's ELO - Porchester Hall, London
Patti Smith - Roundhouse, London
Kurt Vile & The Violators, Anson Rooms, Bristol
Bob Dylan - Royal Albert Hall, London
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Islington Assembly Hall, London
Gruff Rhys - Ebbw Vale Institute
Festival performances
St Vincent, Green Man
Beck, British Summer Time
Father John Misty, Green Man
Future Islands, British Summer Time
Public Service Broadcasting, Green Man
Super Furry Animals, Green Man
Manic Street Preachers, On Blackheath
808 State, On Blackheath
Mew, Green Man
Meilyr Jones, Green Man
Nigel
- Top Tens
ALBUMS
1. Maccabees - Marks To Prove It
2. Tame Impala - Currents
3. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think And Sometimes I Just Sit
4. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi Love
5. Ezra Furman -Perpetual Motion People
6. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear
7. Ghenghar - A Dream Outside
8. East India Youth - Culture of Volume
9. Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space
10. Girlband - Holding Hands With Jamie
GIGS
Father John Misty - Village Underground London
Maccabees - Coronet London
Laura Marling - The Thekla Bristol
The Decemberists - O2 Glasgow
Foals - Village Underground London
Adem - Moth Club London
Alvvays/Genghar - Joiners Southampton
East India Youth - Village Underground London
Christopher Owens - St John's Church Bethnal Green
Wolf Alice - Old Fire Station Bournemouth
Festival
Tame Impala - End of The Road
Royal Blood - Best Kept Secret
East India Youth - End of The Road
Surjan Stevens - End of The Road
Meilyr Jones - End of The Road
Alvvays - End of The Road
Hinds - Visions
Darwen Deez - Truck Festival
Elbow - On Blackheath
Here's to more of the same in 2016 !!
Sally
- Top Tens
Top 10 Albums
1. Mew, + / -
2. Decemberists - What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World
3. Gengahr - A Dream Outside
4. Torres - Sprinter
5. Maccabees - Marks To Prove It
6. Libertines - Anthems For Doomed Youth
7. Tame Impala - Currents
8. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
9. Laura Marling - Short Movie
10. Leisure Society - The Fine Art Of Hanging On
Top 10 Gigs (in date order)
Barr Brothers 31-Jan Winchester, Railway
Little Comets 25-Feb Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
Father John Misty 26-Feb Village Underground
The Leisure Society 15-Apr Islington Assembly Halls
Pretty Vicious 17-May Winchester, Railway
Alvvays (support Gengahr) 25-May Southampton, Joiners Arms
Adem 19-Oct MOTH Club, Hackney
Akala 01-Dec Village Underground
Christopher Owens 03-Dec Bethnal Green, St John
Mew 14-Dec Village Underground
Top 10 Festival Appearances (in date order)
Plastic Mermaids - Southampton, Common People Festival
Kindness - Best Kept Secret Festival, Netherlands
Royal Blood - Best Kept Secret Festival, Netherlands
Ratboy - Truck Festival
Girl Band - Visions Festival
Rae Morris - Victorious Festival, Portsmouth
Meilyr Jones - End Of the Road
Torres - End Of the Road
Tame Impala - End Of the Road
Gaz Coombes - Independence Festival, Southampton
Best Song of the Year:
Pumpkin Noir, by Happyness
TV show of the year: Family Guy
Film of the Year: Kingsman, The Secret Service
Best musical moments of the year:
1. Will Doyle (East India Youth) performing solo and unmicked on the ‘Piano in The Woods Stage’ at End Of The Road Festival
2. Dancing to ‘Let it happen’ the 8-minute opening track of Tame Impala’s ‘Currents’ album at EOTR silent disco
Most disappointing musical moment of the year : Songhoy Blues live set.......
- Top Tens
Mike Youe of The Blue Aeroplanes selects his Top Ten Albums of 2015
1. Richard Thompson - Still
2. Jemima Surrender - The Uninhabited World
3. Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes
4. Akala - Knowledge Is Power Vol II
5. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometime I Just Sit
6. John Carpenter - John Carpenter's Lost Themes
7. Slaves - Are You Satisfied?
8. Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting & Nancy Kerr - Murmurs
9. The Unthanks - Mount The Air
10. Neil Young & The Promise Of The Real - The Monsanto Years
- Top Tens
Top Ten Albums 2015
1. Bully- Feels Like
2. Blur- The Magic Whip
3. Du Blonde – Welcome Back To Milk
4. Destroyer- Poison Season
5. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lovell
6. Sleater-Kinney- No Cities to Love
7. White Reaper – White Reaper Does It Again
8. Matthew E. White – Fresh Blood
9. Bella Hardy – With The Dawn
10. The Charlatans- Modern Nature
Top Ten 2015 Gigs
Sleaford Mods @ Rock City, Nottingham
Bella Hardy @ MAC Birmingham
Haiku Salut @The Guildhall, Derby
Chris Leslie @Village Folk, Chellaston
White Reaper @ The Leadmill, Sheffield
Super Furry Animals @ Brixton Academy
Metric @ The Institute Birmingham
Menace Beach @ The Hairy Dog, Derby
Ben Holder & Stuart Smith @ Dog & Partridge, Marchington
The Charlatans @ Civic hall, Wolverhampton
Top Ten 2015 Festival Appearances.
Chris Wood , The Mighty Doonans @ Unity Folk festival in Wakefield
Boxed In @ Long Division in Wakefield
Slug, Du Blonde, Ibibio Sound Machine @ Deershed
Sufjan Stevens, Low @ End of the road
Calan , The Dovetail Trio @ Derby Folk Festival
Song of the year
Savages – The Answer
Ali
- Top Tens
Albums
1 - Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards
2 - The Staves - If I Was
3 – Lau - The Bell That Never Rang
4- The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
5 – Blur – Magic Whip
6 - Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows
7 – The Unthanks – Mount the Air
8 - Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi
9 – Idlewild – Everything ever Written
10 - Father John Misty – I Love You Honeybear
Gigs
1 - Lau - Colchester Arts Centre
2 – Suede – Roundhouse
3 - Admiral Fallow - Bush Hall
4 - The Rails - Bush Hall
5 - Danny & The Champions of the World - Colchester Arts Centre
Song of the Year
Blur - Ong Ong
- Top Tens
Albums
1) Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards
2)The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
3) Lau - The Bell That Never Rang
4) Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows
5) The Leisure Society - The Fine Art of Hanging On
6) Stornoway - Bonxie
7) The Staves - If I Was
8) Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi
9) Danny & The Champions of the World - What Kind of Love
10) Keston Cobblers Club - Wildfire
Good Year this year, I had to leave out albums by Blur, The Unthanks & Idlewild.
Gigs
1) Admiral Fallow - Bush Hall
2) British Sea Power (with Brass Band) - Barbican
3) The Rails - Bush Hall
4) Lau - Colchester Arts Centre
5) Danny & The Champions of the World - Colchester Arts Centre
6) Lau - Union Chapel
7) Megson - Colchester Arts Centre
8) Trembling Bells - Colchester Arts Centre
9) Matt Berry - The Forum
10) Withered Hand - Lexington
Festivals
1) Blur - British Summertime
2) Stornoway - Cambridge Folk Festival
3) Frank Turner - Cambridge Folk Festival
4) The Unthanks - Cambridge Folk Festival
5) Keston Cobblers Club - Cambridge Folk Festival
6) The Proclaimers - Cambridge Folk Festival
7) Show of Hands - Cambridge Folk Festival
8) Martin Simpson, Andy Cutting & Nancy Kerr - Cambridge Folk Festival
9) Joienne Clarke & Ben Walker - Cambridge Folk Festival
10) Bella Hardy - Cambridge Folk Festival
Song of the Year
Richard Hawley - Heart of Oak
- Top Tens
Top albums of the year
1. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
2. Charlatans. Modern Nature
3. Natalie Prass. Natalie Prass
4. Gaz Coombes. Matador
5. Boy & Bear. Limit of Love
6. Hop Along. Painted Shut
7. Leon Bridges. Coming Home
8. Foals. What went Down
9. Ezra Furman. Perpetual Mutual People
10. Alabama Shakes. Sound & Color
Festival shows
1. Wilco. TURF
2. St Paul & The Broken Bones TURF
3. Public Service Broadcasting. SXSW
4. Natalie Prass. SXSW
5. Soak. SXSW
6. Ibeyi SXSW
7. Viet Cong SXSW
8. Leon Bridges SXSW
9. Alabama Shakes. Field Trip
10. Shakey Graves TURF
Non Festival shows
1. Ride. Danforth Music Hall
2. Johnny Marr. Forum/London
3. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats . Phoenix Concert Theatre
4. Natalie Prass. Horseshoe
5. Pixies. Horseshoe
6. Districts. Horseshoe
7. Ibeyi. Mod Club
8. Primal Scream. Danforth Music Hall
9. Noel Gallagher. Sony Center
10. Norman Blake/Joe Pernice. Dakota Tavern
Song of the year
"Look It Here" Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Jim
- Top Tens
Albums
1. Father John Misty – I Love You Honeybear
2. Israel Nash – Israel Nash's Silver Season
3. Stornoway – Bonxie
4. Jason Isbell – Something More than Free
5. Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat – The Most Important Place in the World
6. Mumford and Sons – Wilder Mind
7. Blur – The Magic Whip
8. Diagrams - Chromatics
9. Songhoy Blues – Music in Exile
10. Public Service Broadcasting – The Race for Space
Gigs
1. Father John Misty – Village Underground 26.2.15
2. Ride – Roundhouse 24.5.15
3. Mogwai – Roundhouse 24.6.15
4. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Wilton's Music Hall 3.6.15
5. Suede – Roundhouse 14.11.15
6. Teleman – Village Underground 27.1.15
7. Matt Berry – Forum 13.2.15
8. British Sea Power – Barbican 24.1.15
9. Mumford and Sons – O2 Dome 9.12.15
10. Jesus Jones – Garage 12.11.15
Song of the Year
Public Service Broadcasting – The Other Side
TV Show
Detectorists
Film
Slow West
- Top Tens
Ten Albums listened to the most in 2015' by Terry Banks of Washington band Dot Dash
1. The Velvet Underground, 1969, Vol. 1
2. The Velvet Underground, 1969, Vol. 2
3. Alex Chilton, Live at The Ocean Club, NYC 1977
4. The dB's, Repercussion
5. The Blue Van, The Art of Rolling
6. The Blue Van, Dear Independence
7. The Replacements, Tim
8. Buzzcocks, A Different Kind of Tension
9. Big Star, Radio City
10. The Jam, In The City
Washington garage rockers Dot Dash have just released a new video for the song 'Flowers' from their most recent album Earthquakes & Tidal Waves as well as giving away a free MP3 of the same song for Christmas.