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So i pussied out and couldnt choose a no.1 but these are my top 10.





loads almost made it....

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The hardest list i've ever written?

25. We Are Scientists-Ghouls
24. Guillemots-Falling out of reach
23. White Lies-Death
22. Q-Tip-Believe (feat. D'Angelo)
21. Estelle-American Boy (feat. Kanye West)
20. MGMT-Kids
19. Cut Copy-Hearts on Fire
18. Kid Cudi-Day N Nite (Crookers Remix)
17. Friendly Fires-Paris (rerelease but i dont care...)
16. The Hold Steady-Stay Positive
15.The Last Shadow Puppets-My Mistakes are Made For You
14. Goldfrapp-A&E
13. Laura Marling-Tap At My Window
12. Santogold-L.E.S. Artistes
11. The Streets-Heaven for the weather
10. Kanye West-Welcome To Heartbreak feat. Kid Cudi
9. T.I.-live your life feat. Rihanna
8. Coldplay-Lovers in Japan
7. Frightened Rabbit-The Modern Leper
6. Death Cab For Cutie-I Will Possess Your Heart
5. Bon Iver-Skinny Love
4. Vampire Weekend-Bryn
3. Frank Turner-I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous
2. Death Cab For Cutie-You can do better than me
1. Lil' Wayne-Lollipop (Remix) feat. Kanye West

I tried to avoid duplicates, so I suppose this wasnt 100% accurate.My no.1 choice is a bit of a spur of the moment thing. Kanyes verse is so strong, but Lil Wayne out does him.
"I got so much chips I swear they call me Hewlett Packard
I got so much chips you can have a bag if your a snacker"
genius

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the very best of february.



1. Laura Marling-Alas I Cannot Swim
The Reading born indie-folk songstress finally gets an album out, and it's superb. 12 perfect tales of teenage romance. From the perfectly poppy Cross Your Fingers to the epically dark Night Terror. The potential this 18 year old shows is frightening.
courtesy of Sean~regular blogger at There's Affection To Rent
This is a hot album. she is hot in a weird albino way. adele and duffy have had all the hype this year, but marling is leagues ahead.
Best track: Laura Marling-Tap at my Window
Bonus: Laura Marling-New Romantic (non album classic single)
Reviews:
The Independent (5/5)
The Guardian (4/5)

2. Hot Chip-Made in the Dark
After the indie-electro-disco-dance classic The Warning, Hot Chip were under huge pressure to perform on Made in the Dark. The result was mixed. The album is basically split into slow ballad tracks and upbeat crazy ones, what people would call traditional Hot Chip. The album kicks off with out at the Pictures, into 1st single Shake a Fist and then Ready for the Floor. All3 are fantastic upbeat songs, reminiscent of The Warning but with perhaps a more rock orientated sound. The only problem is the pointless segue in Shake a Fist? adds nothing to the song or album as a whole...Where those 3 triumphed, bendable poseable falters, but the "upbeat" tracks on the album are generally great (hold on is too long and dont dance takes too long to get going, but im not complaining). The 4 ballads seem so out of place on the album, not even concentrated at the end, just breaking the flow throughout the record. Complaints about these ballads have been common, but Hot Chip have produced these sort of tracks before(The Warning and Look After Me to name 2). Those 2 tracks seem alot less contrived than the ones on Made in The dark. "We're Looking for alot of love" excepted, they seem entirely pointless, and dont suit the band at all imo. 1 would have been enough. anyway, this album is good, better than no.1 not as good as no.2...been wanting to see them live for ages, and did in October, but they were pretty diappointing :(
Best track: Hot Chip-One Pure Thought
Bonus: Hot Chip-Ready for the Floor (Soulwax Dub)
Reviews
Pitchfork (7/10)
The Guardian (3/5)

3. Goldfrapp-Seventh Tree
Maybe the best "easy-listening" of the album, and a welcome return to form for Goldfrapp. I wasn't a big fan of Supernature, and this more toned down approach seems to suit the duo alot better. There are so many really lovely songs on this album; "Clowns", "Caravan Girl" and "Eat Yourself" to name 3. A few songs are just dull i.e. "Road to somewhere" and "Monster Love", but this album is still very solid. The overwhelming triumph is the first single released A&E. It's such a tranquil, ambient song, with lyrics pretty open to interpretation (what she is saying and what they mean!). I think its about a suicide attempt (the pain slipping away) and thats why shes admitted into A&E, then she explains why she overdosed? a split with a lover? who knows. its amazing, and so is the video!
Best Track: Goldfrapp-A&E
Bonus: none
Reviews:
Pitchfork (4.6/10)
The Guardian (4/5)

gigs this month:
Stars @ Leadmill Steel Stage amazingamazingamazingamazing
Dizzee Rascal @ Leadmill pretty goood

this month in music
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pretty sweet. new album next year? apparently shes been playing loads of new stuff live. click below to get the mp3...


Laura Marling-No Hope in The Air

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an abridged version of the huge review i had planned. top 5 artists of the weekend, as well as notable mentions, and "big misses"
TOP 5 OF THE WEEKEND (In no particular order)
1. Jay-Z (Pyramid Stage: Saturday)

Proved all his critics wrong, without the need for any special guests. Brilliant, there is a reason why he calls himself "God MC". If he's not the best rapper alive, he's very close. Annoyingly, the BBC online coverage cut off the opening video, but it can be watched here
They also cut off pretty much anything political from the set, which was pretty annoying.
here is wonderwall into 99 problems. immense

I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me) feat. Pharrell-Jay-Z
2. Vampire Weekend (Other Stage: Friday, John Peel Stage: Saturday)

The best new band of the year, performed brilliantly both times, drawing a huge crowd on the Other Stage, and killing it on the John Peel. They are fantastic live, can't wait to see them at Leeds Fest and hopefully a UK Tour this autumn!! special band.


M79-Vampire Weekend
Walcott (Insane Mix)-Vampire Weekend
3. Laura Marling (Park Stage: Sunday)
Another of the best up and coming artists this year. She has one of the best voices in music, and amazingly she got every note spot on live. The lack of "Tap at My Window" and "New Romantic" were inconsequential, as she showed just how talented she is. I am hopeful for a new UK tour this autumn with a Sheffield date!
Go Go Gadget Flow-Lupe Fiasco
Other mentions:
Frank Turner-no song link
Molly's Chambers-Kings of Leon
Paris-Friendly Fires (great live, great new band)
Take Me Out-Franz Ferdinand
Creator-Santogold
Seasick Steve
Manu Chao
Tears Dry on Their Own-Amy Winehouse (started amazingly, ended horribly)
Leonard Cohen
Kids-MGMT (underwhelming, except this and Time to Pretend, both were amazing)
John Mayer
Neville Staple
Tapped feat. JME-Skream
Black and Gold-Sam Sparro
Big Misses
Wish I could have seen these
Fatboy Slim
A-Trak
Kid Sister
The Last Shadow Puppets (secret)
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biffy clyro-machines
laura marling-new romantic
reverend and the makers-open your window

death cab for cutie-scientist studies
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