Sigur Rós – Westminster Methodist Central Hall Review.

Concerts coinciding with album releases are often filled with a special kind of buzzing atmosphere: for the band, there is a desire to please an obviously devoted crowd with some highlights from a stunning back-catalogue whilst also giving an airing to some new songs; for the audience, it’s always a thrill to see a band who have just spent most a year cooped up in a variety of studios, suddenly unleashing their magic once again, on the road. For Sigur Rós yesterday night, this special atmosphere was intensified by a beautifully intimate venue – Westminster Methodist Central Hall – where even those seated at the back of the balcony could be treated to a close encounter with one of the most emotionally raw and unadulterated bands touring today. With Radiohead performing on the other side of London in the detached environment of Victoria Park, it was clear that here in Westminster, we could be in for an evening’s entertainment that was alternately charming, exhilarating, deafening and heart-wrenching.

25 Albums of 2007.

I do realise that we are half-way through 2008, but, still, I thought it worth mentioning, if only to elucidate anyone of my personal preferences. And, with the nominations for the 2008 Mercury Prize surely but a month or two away, it’s worth recounting some of the albums from the latter half of last year that may be eligible for this year’s award.

In alphabetical order:
Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Battles – Mirrored
Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
Bright Eyes – Cassadaga
Burial – Untrue
Deerhunter – Cryptograms
Dizzee Rascal – Maths + English
Field Music – Tones of Town
The Good, The Bad & The Queen – The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Interpol – Our Love To Admire
KanYe West – Graduation
Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
LCD Soundsystem – 45:33
LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
Low – Drums And Guns
M.I.A. – Kala
Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The National – Boxer
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Prinzhorn Dance School – Prinzhorn Dance School
Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris
Radiohead – In Rainbows
The Shins – Wincing The Night Away

Invocation.

I have an unhealthy obsession with music. It courses through my blood like a particularly unhealthy intoxicant, often standing in the way of me getting things done. Hopefully some of this love can spill over into this blog which, now that I have a decent amount of free time, I hope to keep current with new, old or unusual music.

There are many music blogs, and I don’t have a problem with that, because, as I see it, they are our best hope in spreading knowledge of great music that’s being made today. Here in the UK, the public’s tastes in music are homogenised and nullified by generic radio stations that are predominantly free of individualism, and so entirely unoriginal music has been allowed to reign. There’s a lot to be admired in American culture, where the power of the blogosphere has ignited the rise of original, free-spirited artists without stifling them into record contracts the second they gain exposure. Hopefully, through music blogs, the same changes can gain a foothold elsewhere in the world.