2009 End-Of-Year Celebrations: The Good, The Bad & The James Blunt

And so we come, as we inevitably must, to the endgame. That's right, it's time to hand out a bunch of honourable (and not so honourable) awards to highlight the year in music. And what an interesting twelve months it was...

BEST ALBUM TITLE

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

It's possible that a personality lacking in the sparky joi de vivre of Ms. Allen could have conjured up such a simplistically effective title, but it would be no more suitably fitting as it is with Lily. It's a taster of her forthright lyrics, usually centered around relationships and like the artist herself - it's feisty and empowering, and, well, just plain witty.

Runner Up: weezer - Raditude 

WORST ALBUM TITLE

Millionaires - Just Got Paid, Let's Get Laid

Oh dear. Let's pretend for a minute that Millionaires aren't a bunch of disposable girly-girl electro pop brats, done? yeah, the title still sucks right? Well what else would you expect of a group whose debut was called Bling, Bling, Bling?

Runner Up: Hoobastank - For(N)ever

BEST EP

Oceansize - Home & Minor EP

It's been a damn good year for EPs and even against the stiffest of competition, the Manchester based rock innovators win out. More a brief album than an EP, Home & Minor finds Oceansize pushing the boundaries further on their already indefinable slant on rock. Focusing more on the group's calmer, ambient side it's another brilliant release from a group who simply get better with each passing year.

Runners Up: Bon Iver - Blood Bank, Death Cab For Cutie - The Open Door

BEST SOUNDTRACK

New Moon Soundtrack

Since I am not a girl in my tweens, I fall outside of Twilight's target demographic. Which makes the respectable roster that New Moon's soundtrack has managed to enlist all the more puzzling, and infuriating. While it's easy to be critical about the movie's Mills & Boone meets vampires premise, it's hard to not sound hypocritical when applauding the artists on the accompanying soundtrack. Whoever managed to convince such heroes as Thom Yorke, Bon Iver, Muse, Grizzly Bear and Death Cab For Cutie to record new tracks is either a genius or has a bank book as large as their contacts diary.

Runner Up: The Boat That Rocked

 

BEST VIDEOGAME SOUNDTRACK

 DJ Hero 

While the idea of frustrated musicians waling away on plastic toys is still a little shameful, the upshot of the whole music game boom is that the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band are as much about providing a musical education as they are about a fun simulation of rock star antics. Then along comes DJ Hero, essentially attempting to lure the rest of the market who don't necessarily see the kitsch appeal in obscure 80's metal or 'classic' rock that the Guitar Hero games provide. But the soundtrack, all 91 original mash-ups of it, is likely to stitch them up. Approved by the likes of Grandmaster Flash, DJ Shadow, Daft Punk and DJ AM (R.I.P.), you can't say the developers didn't try to install some talent. The result is a rollicking mix of hip-hop, electronic, R&B, dance and rave all in a palatable, party-friendly mix of few misses, and many many hits.

Runner Up: Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori - Halo 3:ODST Soundtrack

BEST COMPILATION 

 Dark Was The Night

Appearing way back in January, this Red Hot Compilation was released in support of AIDS research and curated by The National's Aaron & Bryce Dessner. A great cause indeed, and one you'd be foolish not to support considering the positively star-studded 31 track result. It was also a fitting introduction to some of the year's best acts, including Dirty Projectors, Riceboy Sleeps and Grizzly Bear. The rest was the cream of the crop of the indie world. Antony Hegarty, Arcade Fire, Beirut, Bon Inver, Andrew Bird, The Decemberists, Conor Oberst, Sufjan Stevens, Yeasyaer, My Morning Jacket, Feist... the list is endless, as is the quality.

BEST BEST OF

Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits

While the release of a best of usually marks the end of a band's creative zenith, or a money-making nadir for record companies squeezing the last out of their acts; Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits feels like neither of these and instead like a well-earned celebration of the band's nearly two-decade career. As consistent as the Foos' album catalogue is, this set loses nothing in cherry-picking from their singles. Back to back the ballsy likes of All My Life, The Pretender, Everlong and This Is A Call (to name just a few) reads like a list of FM radio staples.

Runner Up: Skunk Anansie - Smashes And Trashes

BEST LIVE ACT

 Yacht Club DJs

Hailing from Geelong, Yacht Club DJs can best be described as Australia's answer to Girl Talk. And depending on who you're talking to, better as well. The thunderous party that is their live show has all the energy and urgency of a rave, but with the party-centric aim of cramming as many hits into one evening - let alone one mix. Pop, Metal, Glam, Country, not even TV Themes are safe from the all-encompassing concoctions that Yacht Club come up with. It doesn't matter if they're rocking venues from the intimate Ding Dong Lounge to this year's Marion Bay Falls Festival posting - these guys put on a tremendous live show. Just be prepared to lose your shit.

BEST GIG

Bon Iver @ The Forum Theatre, 19th January

The greatness of this gig was as much a case of timing as performance quality. Drawing from the majority of For Emma, Forever Ago, it was a resounding affirmation of its status as 2008 album of the year. While mere weeks after its release, the new Blood Bank material was fresh and captivating. In the revered air that Vernon and co deserve, you could most definitely hear a pin drop. Beach Baby and Flume were positively dreamy, while Creature Fear and the closing The Wolves demonstrated the strength of the band that Vernon had built around him to tour the Bon Iver name. Witnessing a solo rendition of Skinny Love in the flesh reaffirms its devastating emotional impact, securing this gig as a hallowed memory.

Runner Up: Paul Dempsey @ The Corner, support from Parallel Lions

BEST LIVE ALBUM

Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft

Designed as a thank-you to the fans, this nine track recording was handed out for free during their current tour and is still available for zero dollars on their website. Even without the allure of its price tag, this would still be a worthy release. Viva La Vida and Glass Of Water are afforded a rawer sound their polished studio counterparts lack, while the likes of Fix You and Clocks remain crowd-devouring favourites. All in all it documents Coldplay in their current guise as a well-oiled stadium conquering machine

Runner Up: Björk - Voltaic  
BEST MUSIC DVD

Wilco - Ashes Of American Flags

At its heart, Ashes of American Flags is a concert movie and a road movie, as it follows Wilco's tour across its homeland doing what they do best. What emerges beneath the well-oiled chassis however is the degradation of the same country they so dutifully entertain. It's in the smaller details, whether its bassist John Stirrat lamenting the Wall-mart-isation of America's heartland or guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Glen Kotche nursing their recurring wounds backstage after a show, all too clear that their ailments may be permanent. Even if the viewer glosses over these subtleties, what remains are the powerfully expressive perfomances. Whether it's any one of Cline's breathtaking solos, the raucous brass band on the balcony of Tippitina's in New Orleans or Tweedy's grizzled stage demeanour, passionate about, and equally charged by, the thrill of the live setting.

Runner Up:  Björk - Voltaic 

  
BEST RE-ISSUE

 
The Beatles Remasters

Was it really going to go any other way? As soon as 09/09/09 was earmarked to be the release of the Beatles remasters, it ensured their dominance as best re-issue of the year. Modestly packaged in new digipack sleeves with short docos, the focus here was on the music, and in the end that's what counts the most. Because in the meagre seven years between 1963's Please Please Me to 1970's Let It Be, The Beatles influenced and shaped the musical landscape in a way that still resonates today. 

Runner Up: Radiohead - Kid A, Amnesiac & Hail To The Thief Deluxe Editions

BEST COMEDY RELEASE

Sammy J - Sticky Fingers

The Conchords may have released another polished set of genre lampoonery, and the Lonely Island may have become ubiquitous thanks to YouTubage, Natalie Portman and the use of T-Pain and a boat - but it was the humble live release of local comedian Sammy J that was hands-down release of the year. Why? well because even when stripped of the flash and glam that make the Conchrods and Incredibad so dazzling, McMillan still has the chops and the writing to impress. Doubly it acted as a culmination of his work as a solo act before moving on to bigger and better productions.

Runner Up: Flight of the Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky, 

 The Lonely Island - Incredibad 

BEST REMIX ALBUM (aka BEST EXCUSE TO HONOUR BLOC PARTY)

Bloc Party - Intimacy Remixed 

Following on from the same pattern as Silent Alarm Remixed, Bloc Party handed the reins to a bunch of cutting edge bands to re-dress their third album. The likes of Mogwai, Armand Van Helden and No Age can be found among them, but the best were done by up-and-coming acts. Such as Phase One's murky dub-step take on Zephyrus or Banjo or Freakout's drawn-out version of album closer Ion Square. Needless to say, it shows the diversity and versatility of Bloc Party as a band that their blueprints can be distorted into such configurations and still retain their unique touch. 

BIGGEST LOSS

Michael Jackson

Sure, in the last decade, Jackson's star may have descended in an ever-declining spiral of controversey, strange behaviour and financial difficulties, but it doesn't change the fact that he wrote some killer tunes. Or that there will never, never be another quite like him.

HARDEST SONG TO ESCAPE

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

Just think back to June 25th, the day it happened and the weeks that followed. Recall how Jackson's work came pumping from every shop stereo, every car with the windows rolled down and every TV that continued to report on his death. Now remember how good it felt to hear those tunes again, their unique voice, their crisp beats, their familiarity. It could have been any MJ number that sits up there, but I think it's safe to say that Billie Jean had the highest rotation.

BIGGEST CONTROVERSY THAT RESULTED IN INTERNET MEME GOLD

Kanye West's invasion of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Awards

Whether he was drunk, high, or just plain being his arrogant self, when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech to applaud Beyonce's Single Ladies video he unwittingly immortalised four simple words, "Imma Let You Finish."

The resulting backlash got everyone involved, with thoughts from Pink, 50 Cent and even Hitler. Even Jay Leno grew some balls and got his stab at some serious journalistic integrity by grilling West about what his recently deceased mom would think.

The torrent of spoofs and parodies, most of them distasteful, snowballed into an internet phenomenon, one of which everyone wanted in on the joke. My personal highlight however, was hearing President Obama call Mr. West a jerk. How often does the leader of the free world take time out of his busy schedule to criticise pop stars? not often enough I say.

BEST LYRIC

Paul Dempsey - Bats

You'd be hard-pressed to choose just one great line from Mr. Dempsey's Everything Is True, being that, to quote my original review, "the tally for genius lyrics per second is positively baffling." So it's best just to go with the words that open the album, on the melancholy of Bats; "Come rebuild your memory/with a small mountain of burning leaves/and a swinging wire that slams shut like a guillotine/strum a note up through the wires/to send bats down the river, seagulls around spires/and shred all the twilight, scatter it city-wide." If that kind of poetry appeals, you should hear it with the music. 

Runner Up: Ollie Browne of Parallel Lions - Woven In Time 

BROADEST ACCENT

Simon Neil

What was originally a novelty award makes a welcome return thanks to the likeable brogue of one Simon Neill. The frontman for Biffy Clyro made no qualms about his Scottish twang and in fact highlighted that fact not once, but twice. Firstly on Born On A Horse "I pronounce it aluminium/cause there's an 'i' next to the 'u' and the 'm'" and then with bonkers side-project Marmaduke Duke's Erotic Robotic with its refrain of "despite the accent we're Scottish" och! of course ye are Neil, ahem, and we wouldn't want it any other way. 

\
JAMES BLUNT TURKEY OF THE YEAR AWARD

  Chris Cornell - Scream

Poor old Chris Cornell, his reputation as one of rock's esteemed voices has been hard-won but for every career-defining moment (the voice of Soundgarden, filling Zach De La Roch's not un-miniscule shoes for Audioslave) he makes an equally blunderous move. Too often he over-commits himself to strange projects that are either way too out of his league (Bond theme anyone?) or are just plain old bad ideas (his 'serious' cover of Billie Jean). Scream falls into both of these categories, teaming up with producer of the moment Timbaland, Scream is essentially Chris Cornell goes R&B.

It wasn't the most horrendous record released this year, but it was certainly one of the most misguided. As I stated in my original review, it simply ends up in a moon crater-sized no man's land of genre oblivion. Too hip and over-produced for the rock crowd who usually support Cornell, and rock and edgy for the flashy hip-hop and R&B crowd. I wanted to like Scream, I really did, but if the best thing you can say about an album is its segues, then you know something has gone horribly wrong.

James Blunt: NOT the artist of the decade.

Feel free to comment below, and click the tags to see past winners of the coveted The Good, The Bad and The James Blunt awards.

2009 End Of Year Celebrations: The Best (and Worst) Album Art

Though it has been promised time and again, the End of Year festivities are finally here. Over the next week or so, i'll be doing all my usual features, and kicking off proceedings is a tribute to the year's good, bad and ugly album covers.
The sleeves that demanded to be viewed beyond the confines of a tiny iPod screen, and those that were better not to have laid eyes on at all. 

THE GOOD

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
It's definitely a love-it-or-hate it kind of a cover. If you're prone to epileptic fits you're probably part of the latter, but its magic-eye properties seem a perfectly succint representation of the group's psychedelic-inflected avant-pop. Colourful shapes, constructed upon rhythmic repetition, that can occasionally do your head in - just like that freaky green and blue wallpaper. Seriously set it as your desktop background and cower at its shifting inertia.

Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
A stark change from their usually austere artwork that matched their serious artistic ambitions, the cover of Wilco's latest instead reflects their freer, more relaxed vibe. What better way to capture a mix of both a sense of security and self-depracating humour, than the image of a camel in a party hat - at a birthday that no-one seems to be attending. 

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
As is the case with Bitte Orca's artwork, just like the music it emphasises the importance of the girls' harmonies, its clean and precise setting is offset by two explosions of contrasting colours, and those little tendrils they emit represents the group's synergy and soundscapes. In actual fact, it's a recreation of an old EP of theirs called Slaves, Graves & Ballads
and in the evolution from ugly if engaging sketch, to fully blown human art, it's a perfect metaphor for the current success of Dirty Projectors themselves.
 

Hudson Mohawke - Butter
A  textbook example of art that's 'so bad it's good.' Whether it was deployed with steely seriousness or irony doesn't seem to matter. For anyone nurtured on Saturday morning cartoons or grew up with slap bands and curly shoelaces, it's a crystalline eighties vision made reality. Right down to the hot pink streaky typography to the sickly palette of flourescent colours.  Even the combination of a full moon and realistically rendered animals recalls those tacky wolf t-shirts (you know the ones).

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
Upon first impression, I couldn't shake the familiarity with Secret Machines' artwork from a few years back, but I realise the Hov wouldn't be so callous as to rip off others. In fact the image was created by Tobin Smith, who did a similar junk collection on Athlete's album Tourist. It goes without saying that its a breath of fresh air among the repetitive covers of teh rap genre. It's a fairly daring one too, considering Jay-Z's track record for self-mythologising portraits. Instead, the combination of a Kubrick-white instrumental sculpture with the bold red icon is a powerful substitute for Jigga's own.

John Frusciante - The Empyrean
I'll admit I have a soft spot for collage artwork, it has a charm and texture that few other art styles can achieve and Frusciante's latest solo album offers up a truly great example. It has the colours and composition of a moody renaissance painting, yet the fragmentation and layering of cut-and-paste work. It also manages to evoke a mini-narrative in its scale. 

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
At it's heart, it's just a great photograph. It could have been a disaster, picture an image more along the lines of most pop records - framing the artist, posing for the camera. Perhaps there lies an alternate shot somewhere in which Lily is leaning against the giant letter blowing a bubble or laughing coquettishly; instead we have this wonderful image in which she exudes confidence and cheekiness - Allen's best qualities. It's a fitting simile, in the crowded pop market, Lily Allen stands out by simply being her adorable self.

RX Bandits - Mandala
A new discovery for me this year, but it turns out RX Bandits have a string of covers that feature wonderfully surrealist paintings - which along with their punk/ska turned prog sound lends them another similarity to The Mars Volta. For Mandela we have birds, blind patriotism, dynamite, more birds, money, the earth, and yep, more birds.

Skunk Anansie - Smashes And Trashes
The most surprising thing about this cover is that it's for a a greatest hits compilation. That's right, a record label flogging, money-making, best-of. The kind that usually takes the cheap option of some carelessly slapping some lifeless image of the band to its front. Instead we are lavished with this beautifully gloomy image. Part cubist nightmare, part sensual photograph, and all brilliant execution.

Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns
Yes, that is indeed an inverted image of Nirvana's Nevermind spliced with a traditional painting of the Virgin Mary. Neither is, presumably, used with permission and it combines to create an exciting, and memorable, cover. It's a shame that the scuzzy, lo-fi garage rock of Smith Westerns isn't as inspired or as daring as their artwork.

Muse - The Resistance
If there's a consistent thread to Muse's album art (save perhaps that for Origin Of Symmetry) its the recurring theme of the human figure against an alien landscape, a familiar entity farflung to unfamiliar settings. But where previous records used photography to achieve this effect, The Resistance instead plumps for graphic design, and an even more belittled figure. The silhouette is wonderfully ambigious too, either cutting a path through the holographic kaleidoscope straight back to Earth, or away from it. 

Mastodon - Crack The Skye
Metal lords Mastodon have never been lacking when it comes to great artwork, and so it was no surprise that their fourth album again featured stunning graphics. It's a loose visible interpretation of the record's batshit insane plot involving astral projections getting lost in black holes that lead to Tsarist Russia. Look see, there's a poltergeist Rasputin facing a perfectly detailed mirror of himself. The detailed symmetry off-set by a big fucking bear, just to remind you that this is metal. Two devil's horns up. 

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Despite appearances, this is a deceptively complex arrangement of elements. Three different fonts, the contrast of soft pink with larger, darker objects, the spacing and framing of the white non-border; but it's all balanced perfectly in a pleasing, and eye-catching, arrangement.

Ramona Falls - Intuit
Ramona Falls is the solo name for Brent Knopf's musical downtime between main band Menomena's albums. As such it uses a similarly chaotic cartoon style to Menomena's Friend and Foe. Done by Theo Ellsworth, it's a beautifully dense landscape of characters, scenes and intricate details. Rendered in yellows and browns, its statue-esque figures remind of religious iconography but undercut by a comic book style that's quirky, fun and bizarre all at once. It's the kind of CD sleeve you can pore over again and again while engaging with its wonderful contents. 

Volcano Choir - Unmap
One could very easily have conceived this as the cover to Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago and it still would have worked. Obviously the woods and snow are familiar lyrical territory, and as such the shrouded orange figure could be seen as a metaphor for isolation. Even if it seems like, for lack of a better term, an obvious Bon Iver-ism, it's still an equally spooky and evocative cover, mysterious and engaging while being distancing and surreal. The flourishing decoration that borders the title is reminiscent of old world maps also, a nice touch.

The Von Bondies - Love, Hate And Then There's You
Punning album titles and artwork that go hand in hand can so often fail miserably, but The Von Bondies manage to pull it off with their latest. Despite the grim, shadowy lighting, its a humorous image. The way the gunman is standing defiantly, about to relish the moment, in contrast to the blissful awareness of the writer. It manages to create a story that engages the viewer, what has he done to so anger this dood? Will he actually fire? Is he faking it? Effectively cheeky.

THE BAD

 

Neil Young - Fork In The Road 

Oh Neil, you're not even trying anymore are you? Maybe he just got excited about finally getting a mobile phone with a camera...

 

The Used - Art Work

No one wants to see this when they're browsing the racks, it may be hard to be spotted when you're filed under 'U' but that's no excuse for needlessly provocative and puerile stuff to get noticed.

 

Toddla T - Skanky Skanky

It really is too soon to be referencing this, and remember what I said about puns in art? Yeah, that dummy ain't cute. Perhaps Chris McClure really needed the money

 

Pumpelstiltskin Grinder - Living For Death, Destroying The Rest

It may be trying to be funny or tongue-in-cheek by cramming a million masochistic cliches into one cover, but it's just busy and ugly. 

 

Ben Lee - The Rebirth Of Venus

Fuck You Ben Lee. Seriously, Fuck You.

 

Ace Frehley - Anomaly

Art Director: "I dunno Ace, I dunno if you still got it"

Mr. Frehley: "Oh baby I got it, the font is killer, some really spacey stuff, shit, the shades alone is gonna knock 'em dead"

CAUTION NSFW IMAGES AHEAD

Remember kids, when in doubt, sex sells!

Electric Tickle Machine - Blew It Again

Dark Meat - When The Shelter Came

Feel free to comment and add suggestions below! I'd love to see what I've missed out on or what you thought would be better (or worse, I shudder to think).

The Usual Suspects

See those covers? Get used to seeing them a lot, because I can guarantee they'll be popping up time and again in the inevitable end-of-year lists from all corners of the music world. If they don't occupy the top three slots (in any particular order) from music press and blogs all over, they'll be sure to appear somewhere so you may as well acquaint yourself with them now.

Those titles in full are, from top to bottom, as follows:

• Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
• Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
• Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

It's an interesting state of affairs that three bands, who though they have built cult-like fanbases through dedicated work and releases have remained relatilvely unheard of in the mainstream, should suddenly find themselves held in such high esteem. You don't have to google too far before you'll find someone exclaiming the virtues of these releases and their respective creators as 'the greatest band ever.'

Why am I pointing this out - well firstly, to point out that the old saying may be true, 'yesterday's alternative is tomorrow's mainstream.' Will they make my own Top 15? Well that would be telling wouldn't it.

Watch this space.

Biffy Un-Edited

Those Scottish rock upstarts Biffy Clyro unleash their latest record Only Revolutions in a matter of weeks, and coinciding with its release in the coming weeks is a cover story I did for Beat magazine in which I interviewed front-man Simon Neil. Similar to my Steven Wilson chinwag, i'm taking the opportunity to present the full un-edited interview right here on The Rant.

Though I must admit the thought of having to decipher Neil's thick accent over a shoddy telephone line made me nervous, it turned out to be a moot point. And what a lovely fella, at what point he overhead the fevered rattling of my fingers tapping on the keys and remarked in his charming Scottish brogue "you've got fast fingers there sir"

"Oh thank you, i'm sorry it's so loud you can hear it"

"Not at all, it's quite impressive"

If it's all about making people comfortable, Neil had just done it for the both of us.

During the course of the interview we touched upon the breakthrough success of their 2006 album Puzzle, which saw the press lazily tagging them as “the Scottish Foo Fighters.” Their hiatus since said album, a bit of meat and bones about Only Revolutions and its brighter sound, and even those impending Australian shows, and away we go:

It’s been three years since your last record – your longest break yet, was this a conscious decision?

No it was just the way things panned out; we ended up touring Puzzle a lot longer than we originally thought. We got a chance to go to places we’d never been before, we got to tour Australia twice and we’d never got that opportunity before. We just kept getting offered to play shows and we thought, we might as well as do them and we had a great time doing them. It gave us a chance also to write the right songs for the record, not to scrape one together but to have a real set of songs to make a new record.

Since your last record you’ve released a singles collection, was this a chance to reflect before continuing on with a new record?

To be honest it was something we weren’t very happy about, it was our record company Beggar’s Banquet’s decision. We thought the first three albums spoke for themselves and we’d have much preferred if they’d bundled the first three together or we would have much preferred a B-sides record, it would be cooler for the fans, and cooler for us. But that’s just one of the tough breaks you get as a band. I mean Beggars Banquet were nice enough to let us make records in the first place so if they want to make a wee bit of money, that’s only fair.

Would you like more hands-on involvement in a compilation in the future?

Well, hopefully it’s something we could make a decision about ourselves, it would be great to do a B-sides record or a DVD of our first three albums. A record of three songs from each album doesn’t seem like much to offer people, but yeah, hopefully we could put our stamp on it to make it worthwhile.

There seems to be a turn away from the darker, denser material of Puzzle for Only Revolutions, would you agree?

What brought this change about?

It was not a conscious decision, but it’s definitely more of a hopeful record, obviously Puzzle was written about my mother passing away and having to deal with that, but I think that in the same way that life takes you on a journey, that this record just took us in a different direction. I felt a lot more happy about being alive, and wanting to look forward to things in the future. I think that comes across in the music and the lyrics of the album.

You worked with the same producer [Garth Richardson] again, was there a new approach to the record as opposed to Puzzle?

I think we felt a lot more relaxed [with him] on this record, we got quite a lot from working on the last one, we learnt a lot. I mean he worked very slowly and we worked very fast for him, so it took a few weeks to click into place, but once it did we were very happy with his work. This time we just trusted him and vice versa. Once we had all the songs in place we knew Garth could do them justice, to make the band sound good. I think that a band should know the songs and arrangements and then it’s the producer’s job to make it sound a certain way. I think some bands rely too much on the producer in leading the record and the writing, but Garth’s great because he just made us sound good, and turned the sonics of the song into what we wanted.

The album is named after Mark Z. Danielewski’s novel, what was the reasoning for that?

I was reading the book just before we entered recording and it’s a love story from the boy’s perspective and then the girl’s perspective – and it’s only once you’ve read both parts that it makes complete sense. And that applies to a lot of the lyrics and what I was writing about, which was the relationship with my wife, and the title and idea reflected that just in the right way. It just came to mind when it came time to name it.

Storm Thorgerson’s artwork reflects this idea and theme, the idea of perspective and two halves of a story, but is also mysterious and evocative, would you agree?

Storm is very hands on, he wanted to hear all the demos and lyrics before we started the record, and he’d offer a whole range of art and different drawings – talk us through every thing. We made the final choice for the cover, but his work is always very much with the music in mind – and his art is integral to the album. I think it’s a bit of a lost art, when it comes to album presentation and it definitely should be an important of the record making process, it’s the first thing that people see, it’s the first impression that people get so it’s so, so important.

Can you talk about Josh Homme’s contribution to the record?

We toured with Queens Of The Stone Age two years ago around Europe, and we had a lot of fun and Josh really dug our band, we said “we’d love you to play on our next record” and he just said yeah. So he took time out of his schedule to come play, he put his kids to bed and just came around at midnight and played for an hour on the song Bubbles and did an amazing job. We wanted to make it clear that we didn’t want him to play on the record because he’s Josh Homme, but because he’s an amazing guitarist and we knew he’d add something to the song in mind. Give it a new perspective

Early on in the recording process, the British press touted this record was to be a return to “classic Biffy.” Did the final result turn out like that, or a different beast entirely?

I think it evolved into something else entirely, I remember that interview and I think it was just too early in the sessions to deal with those things. To really describe the record that was still taking shape, but I think the energy we’ve always had on the Biffy Records is still there. We are always trying to do different things, and fans of the older Biffy records might find things reminiscent or think they’ll know it but there are things that are hopefully new to Biffy fans, we always like to pull the rug under people and make it a bit of a surprise.

There’s a broader musical palette for this album, such as the horns on The Captain or the greater presence of strings on this record, was it a case of giving each song a particular character?

Absolutley, I think it’s really important that an album should take people to different places, and the album gives us the opportunity to do things in a different rock band way. I mean to say, we are a rock band but we want to be doing different things with that. Also we’re not afraid anymore to make a song in a certain way – I don’t think we’d have tried opening a record with horns on something like The Captain before. But it’s just showing that you don’t have to have distorted guitars to make rock music, what we’re trying to achieve with these records, is that we’re not just a rock band – it’s creating something that you can’t put your finger on what kind of music it is. We like to take a chance and I think rock bands often live in fear of “oh, I hope we’re heavy enough or we sound rocky enough” on record.

I do think the album is a different beast playing live, I think the record should be more about doing interesting things and taking people to different places, but when we play live – we just turn it up and play, you know?

How will this affect live shows?

We’re doing a couple of special shows with strings and brass, but in our opinion when we put those things on the song it’s to exaggerate what the band is already doing. When we play the songs with just the three of us, the impact is still there and the spirit of the song is still there. Some rock bands, put strings in songs just to make it pretty but with us, any extra things like that is to exaggerate what’s already there and the spirit and essence is there when the three of us play it

Any plans to tour Australia?

Certainly, we're coming over to play two or three shows and maybe do a festival too. We've waited so long to try and come to Australia again, we want to be able to keep coming back.

Only Revolutions is out now and Biffy Clyro are playing the following national dates:
Pyramid Rock Festival, Philip Island, 31 December
Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne, 2 January
The Metro Theatre, Sydney, 3 January.

So much music, so little time

Boy how did it get to be November already? Well since it's getting so close to year's end I thought i might as well reveal that i've started compiling my end-of-year best of 2009 albums list (as if I haven't been thinking about it since last year...)
As a kind of taster to my voracious musical appetite/eclectic tastes/point of reference for later on - I've compiled a HUGE list of all the stuff i've been listening to that was released this year. In doing so, I can still wholeheartedly say that 2009 has been a great year for music - no shortage of variety or quality here.
Where available, i've linked to where i've previously reviewed or covered artists or records on the blog; and while i'll never get a chance to cover a large portion of these releases in detail, hopefully some juicy links here will give you something exciting and fresh to discover.
Failing that, at least you can see how much thought I put into both my 'Good, Bad & The James Blunt' awards as well as my Top 15 Albums of the year.
See you on the other side

EPs

Amplifier - Eternity
Big Scary - Big Scary EP (I'll definitely be covering this great local band in detail very soon)
Bon Iver - Blood Bank
The Day Late - The Day Late
Death Cab For Cutie - The Open Door
Jónsi & Alex - All Animals
Massive Attack - Splitting The Atom
Oceansize - Home & Minor
Pain Of Salvation - Linoleum
Paul Dempsey - Counterfeits And Forgeries
A Planet In Space - As The Pieces Come Together
Rise Apollo - Issus
Streetlight - Wolf Notes

Albums

Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
Alaska Ratio - 333
Alberta Cross - Broken Side Of Time
Anamanaguchi - Dawn Metropolis
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Century Of Self
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
The Antlers - Hospice
Archive - Controlling Crowds
Archive - Controlling Crowds Part IV
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
The Armada - The Armada
Astra - The Weirding
Bad Veins - Bad Veins
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Bertie Blackman - Secrets & Lies
The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love
Bjork - Voltaic
Bloc Party - Intimacy Remixed
Blue Roses - Blue Roses
The Boxer Rebellion - Union
Brand New - Daisy
Brendan Welch - The Gleaner
Cass McCombs - Catacombs
Chris Cornell - Scream
Coldplay - LeftRightLeftRightLeft (free live album download)
Cortney Tidwell - Boys
The Cribs - Ignore The Ignorant
Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King
David Gray - Draw The Line
The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death
The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love
Devin Townsend Project - Ki
Devin Townsend Project - Addicted
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Discovery - LP
DM Stith - Heavy Ghost
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust
Easy Star All-Stars - Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band
Editors - In This Light And On This Evening
El Grupo Nuevo De Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Cryptomnesia
The Features - Some Kind Of Salvation
Fightstar - Be Human
Finale - A Pipe Dream And A Promise
The Flaming Lips - Embyronic
Flight Of The Conchords - I Told You I Was Freaky
Florence & The Machine - Lungs
Foreign Born - Person To Person
Frost* - Experiments In Mass Appeal (actually released in the limbo of 08/09 crossover but no less brilliant for it)
The Galvatrons - Laser Graffiti
Gazpacho - Tick Tock
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
HORSE The Band - Desperate Living
Indukti - Idmen
IQ - Frequency
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names
Jónsi & Alex - Riceboy Sleeps
Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper
Karnivool - Sound Awake
Katatonia - Night Is The New Day
Kid Cudi - Man On The Moon: End Of The Day
The Knives Of Neptune - Tasman The Sailor
Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
The Lonely Island - Incredibad
Malajube - Labyrinthes
Manic Street Preachers - Journal For Plague Lovers
Marmaduke Duke - Duke Pandemonium
The Mars Volta - Octahedron
Mastodon - Crack The Skye
McKisko - Glorio
The Melodics - 4D
Metric - Fantasies
Mew - No More Stories Are Told Today...
The Model School - Memory Walls
Mono - Hymn To The Immortal Wind
Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Muse - The Resistance
Nobuo Uematsu - Final Fantasy: The Black Mages III - Darkness And Starlight
O.S.I. - Blood
Odawas - The Blue Depths
Orisha - Falling Open
Parallel Lions - Holding Patterns
Patrick Watson - Wooden Arms
Patrick Wolf - The Bachelor
Paul Dempsey - Everything Is True
Pearl Jam - Backspacer
Pelican - What We All Come To Need
Pet Shop Boys - Yes
Phideaux - Number 7
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Placebo - Battle For The Sun
Porcupine Tree - The Incident
Prince - LotusFlow3r/MPLSoUND
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia
Q Tip - Kamaal/The Abstract
Ramona Falls - Inuit
Regina Spektor - Far
Riverside - Anno Domino High Definition
Russian Cirlces - Geneva
RX Bandits - Mandala
Sammy J - Sticky Digits
Settle - At Home We Are Tourists
Silversun Pickups - Swoon
Soap&Skin - Lovetune For Vacuum
Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Street Sweeper Social Club - Street Sweeper Social Club
The Swell Season - Strict Joy
The Temper Trap - Conditions
Thrice - Beggars
Tony Allen - Secret Agent
Transatlantic - The Whirlwind
U2 - No Line On The Horizon
VAST - Me And You
The Very Best - The Warm Heart Of Africa
Volcano Choir - Unmap
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

So just a few titles then... Hell, it being November there's still a few high-profile albums to come (weezer springs to mind, and the Dave Grohl/Josh Homme/John Paul Jones supergroup Them Crooked Vultures could well deliver a late album of the year contender). Whew a music lover's work is never done.

P.S. If you've got any recommendations or thoughts, please, please, please comment below!