The idea here is that these are the songs I most remember from the last 5 years, I’ve put it all in a rough order of when I listened to it first.
You can link straight to songs below, and I’ve whacked some comments alongside justifying my choices. Do please comment and nag if you need an invite for Spotify, I have some to spare.

Enjoy. I blame Pitchfork for making me get all musically retrospective with their P2K feature. Proper were the 00s a good decade for music posts to follow…

London’s Track Record

Ratatat – Spanish Armada

My main listenning on train south was Ratatat’s debut album which had obsessed me for a while, if I hear the last few songs I always feel like I’m heading south for some reason.

Fridge – Cut Up Piano and Xylophone

My initial commute to work was cross-town from my aunt’s house in Leytonstone. I found myself with a good hour or more to fill so would read and listen to music a lot in the mornings and evenings. One morning I was changing trains at Gospel Oak when I hit this track just as I descended the stairs to get the train. It felt weirdly apt and set me up for the day

Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy Jr

I doubt it’s possible to really have been an indie kid and missed Sufjan, but for a while I was rapt and remember spending a lot of my first London summer relaxing and listening to this whilst reading.

Orange Juice – Wan Light

I can’t remember which review made me realise I’d love Orange Juice but it was a really persuasive one. The Glasgow School collection has a lot of gems and Wan Light is such a simple and great wee song. I think I only realised I loved it when I was humming it in the shower one morning.

Matson Jones – Sympathy

A band that were all too short lived but mercifully easy to discover via emusic. It’ll take decades for someone else to do simple cello rock this well again.

Death From Above 1979 – Turn It Out

About as different as it could be was good old Death From Above, I remember winding myself up listenning to this album at work one day and then hitting 35mph on the bike ride home, music can have a bit of power. Of course it was the one time an HGV would fill the road coming the other way so it lasted about five seconds.

Hot Chip – (Just Like We) Breakdown (DFA remix)

Continuing the theme with the other DFA I still think this is better than any other Hot Chip track, and especially love the form of this, even the length which is clearly designed for mixing just works as a long home listen. And it’s better than Sound Of Silver too.

The Emperor Machine – The TV Extra Band

I’d spent years listening to retro game music, so it was essentially inevitable that I would would like a retro synth act. The review I read only gave it 3.5 stars but this dominated my listening for ages.

Annie – Me Plus One

Ah, Richard X. Oh, Annie. I’m a sucker for this and the fact that it’s having a go a Geri Halliwell just makes it more compelling.

Beirut – Postcards From Italy

Much like Sufjan, Beirut (well, Zach Condon) was fated and doomed to be indie popular. And I frankly was happy to hop on for a ride. A pretty mournful album which arrived at just the right time in so many ways.

Jens Lekman – Pocketful of Money

Jens on the other hand has a bit less mainstream appeal but does the simple things so gloriously right. Frail and fantastic, and the way the sample of Beat Happening’s Gravedigger Blues and Jens’s vocals fight over the same line in the mix makes for glorious chaos.

Jason Forrest – My 36 Favourite Punk Songs

I’d first come accross Jason Forrest as Donna Summer, where he seemed to be coming from the mashup scene. In truth he was just doing his thing and this is from his second album where more song-like things appeared. This, though is as simple as the title and just plays the hooks of 36 of his favourite pop songs into one track.

The Futureheads – Favours for Favours

About as mainstream as I’ll go here, I think The Futureheads have got better as they’ve gone along, though they’ll never be my favourite band their storytelling’s ace.

Of Montreal – She’s a Rejecter

Speaking of storytelling it may be hard to cull a single track from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer, but I think picking The Past Is A Grotesque Animal would be unfair on what little audience I may have. So, have this, it feels like an end, and it’s certainly near one but it showcases so much of what was right in that album in both drama and soundscape.

The Chap – I Am Oozing Emotion

This is so much simpler that I need only say that it just works.

They Might Be Giants – Withered Hope

Well, I had to put some Giants in here somewhere, and as they do tormented love songs so well I can’t resist. Horns!

Bell X1 – Flame (Chicken Lips mix)

In the wake of my Emperor Machine awakening I did start looking for emperor machine remixes and chicken lips remixes. This is fantastic because it takes a very ordinary and rather earnest band from Ireland and turns them into some form of audio dynamite with a sing-along chorus about toasting marshmallows on girls hotness – well, almost.

Amon Tobin – Always

Foley Room seemed a disappointing album at first on headphones. Then I listened to this a dozen times at home and fell in love. I still feel guilty for using this as a ringtone for a bit.

Kelpe – Age Concerns

A bathtime discovery. I’d had the kelpe album a wee while then the warm sounds of this filled the bathroom one Sunday morning and I finally got it. Bit more of a fan now, seeing as I’m wearing my Kelpe t-shirt and pre-ordered the new album yesterday. Comparisons to Boards of Canada may be slightly overboard but I can’t think of many other artists making such interesting sounds and using samples so well. This is a nice little contemplative track that gets more over in two minutes than the hour of Channel 4 documentary it’s samples seem to have been culled from.

Fog – We Will Have Vanished

Fog got me back into gig going. Fog got me mocked in goods-in for listening to bird sounds. Fog got himself a band. Output since has been erratic, consisting of zipped files linked from myspace but I do hope he won’t fully vanish. I first heard this live and was just blown away. It’s simple, but weird.

A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Ihabibi

This may not strictly be a “London” song because my abiding memory is of playing it to my sister as we drove around East Lothian on a lazy day when I was back home. I first saw A Hawk And A Hacksaw for Beirut’s first London show where they more than made up for his alcoholism making for a no show.

Misty’s Big Adventure – I Can’t Bring The Time Back

A simply glorious track that I remember them playing live the first time I saw them.

Spoon – The Underdog

Why had I not got into Spoon earlier? Tight production, thoughtful songwriting and a strong rhythmic base – with added horns in this case.

El Perro Del Mar – God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)

God knows I love El Perro Del Mar, I do hope her life isn’t as depressing as her music makes it sound.

Tim Ten Yen – Sea Anemone

All good songs should involve rhymes using animals. And a sinister cat when preformed live.

Pagan Wanderer Lu – Tree of Knowledge

Now I know most of you may not share my love for Pagan Wanderer Lu, it can just sound a bit too ramshackle, but I think there’s a certain charm, candour and class about his songs that I can’t ignore.

Yeasayer – Wait for the Summer

I had my ultimate polite gig experience seeing Yeasayer, a (tall) man whose partner had waited for him near the front saw he was . Rock ‘n’ roll. The band themselves have the same paradox being equal parts devil may care musicianship and prog rocky make the world a nicer place / imagine this kinda stuff. Suspect the second album will be decisive on their future.

Modernaire – Taste

I love this a lot. I may have overstated it’s potential but placed up against Lady Gaga etc it still shines brighter and yet feels in place.

Moondog – New Amsterdam

I admit I only got this album when I realised that Mr Scruff’s Get A Move on sampled Bird’s Lament. However, it’s quite glorious, somewhat musical chorus in style (something missed when covered at the Barbican’s Moondog concert this year) and wonderfully expansive. There’s a few saxophones on here…

Felix Kubin – Psyko Billy

In a live setting Felix Kubin works even better but this track with it’s opposition of bleeps, attack and decay showcases the good he can do.

Caribou – Irene

I admit I was hooked from the opening notes. I’m sure I’ve listened to this track more than the rest of the album put together.

Shantel – Disko Partizani

Shantel is huge in mainland Europe (apparently). Why can’t we import this kind of genius rather than, say, Scooter or Crazy Frog? And yes, I am a sucker for the current wave of Balkan music.

Why – These Few Presidents

I remember when Why? was new and his album was something only I listened to. It was therefore a bit of a surprise when I got back from his (sold out) gig last year to find my new house-mate had wanted to go. Somehow Why?’s found his time now, but he’s not lost any of his oddness.

Crystal Castles – Magic Spells

Can’t quite work out why this album did so well but maybe there’s something hypnotising about it. This track with it’s samples from V sits in my head as mood music all too often.

The Long Blondes – Century

It was deeply remiss of me to only find The Long Blondes weeks after they’d split up, but at least the music ensures. I may be a sucker for apocalyptic pop but this is worth a thousand Muse songs about time running out.

Röyksopp – Vision One

As documented elsewhere this started off as a remix of a Japanese artist and Royksopp opted to re-record it with an English vocal. I would carp and say why didn’t just leave it as was, but this works too damn well to complain.

St. Vincent – Marrow

Annie Clark’s sound on her second album is an amazing development with fuzz everywhere, probably the most interesting singer/songwriter album in that regard since Suzanne Vega’s 99.9F, though I’m bound to be missing something…

Then, smack out came her new album Actor preceded by the single Actor Out Of Work, which hinted at but didn’t reveal the fine balance that the Actor would tread.

For St Vincent it’s indecently loud, with NOISE everywhere, little wonder the others in the music video are crying. There’s also distortion everywhere, and it’s distortion that this album really specialises in. ¹ One track that’s really come to be my favourite is Marrow, where the noise and distortion is combined with horns to create a fascinating funky backing to the kind of pitying lyrics that I’m more used to hearing from male vocalists. ²

In a rare move, critical judgement of this album is similarly positive elsewhere though I am perplexed by an NME review that seems little more than a list of name checks.

As you probably know I’m a massive Studio Ghibli fan. Their last couple of films were sadly a bit disappointing partly due to lower levels of involvement from their (inevitably exhausted) genius director Hayao Miyazaki. ¹ Thankfully, their latest film Ponyo on the cliff by the sea has all the hallmarks of plenty of involvement from Miyazaki and now has a release date of sometime in August, maybe (TBC). I can barely wait.

Anyone looking for an interim Ghibli fix would do well to read over The Ghibli Blog, I really liked this music video in particular.

“I cannot think of a better symbol of an out of touch, authoritarian, failing government that has been in power for too long,” Green said

Damian Green in The Guardian today

The Tory leader said Labour had “been in power too long” and Gordon Brown had to end “this sort of nonsense”.

David Cameron seeking reform of No. 10 on BBC News on Tuesday

Doesn’t it occur to you to say, perhaps, maybe after fourteen years we have been in power for too long and that’s why there is this deep cynicism.

John Humphrys interviewing Education Secretary David Hunt in 1994

It seems to be the Conservative sound bite of choice right now, but it seems an odd one if you ask me. What are they actually proposing? Are they asking for a two term limit of parties or leaders being in government? No. Are they proposing reforms of the electoral system? No. We might get some boundary changes, albeit on a larger scale than usual as we dispense of 60 or so MPs, and every time those happen after a change of hue, there’s always a strange bias towards the new rulers. Something that generally speaking ensures governments stay “in power too long”.

What has propelled this rallying cry? A man working in 10 Downing Street making up lies, then not using them but communicating about them with an idiot affiliated to the Labour Party (Derek Draper). Call me a bit cynical but I find the rage of the Conservatives more than a little artificial. I don’t think a competition on who can be the least tainted MP is what Westminster needs right now, what it needs is debate and reform. And we poor voters look likely to get neither and then end up with the Tories “in power too long” again. Little wonder the country lost appetite for a snap election last year, I suspect we remembered how little difference it would make.

In my more optimistic moments I hope that this seemingly inevitable Tory government does at least correct some of the excesses of legislation from the past few years then implodes after two years and thus forces us finally on the road to full reform when we finally fail to have enough people to agree and form a ruling party. My more pessimistic dreams end with us all bowing down to our new ruler King William.

The footage is sickening and reinforces all that is wrong about the notion that kettling and being strong against protests is just a necessary evil. It is never good to excuse violence by the government against it’s citizens. I accept that there may come a time when violence is necessary but nothing shown in the Guardian video seems appropriate.

What annoys me further is this quote from the IPCC in the same article:

“People are putting pictures on the internet, writing on blogs and talking to journalists. But we really need them to talk to the people who are investigating what happened.

massive edit
If you google the IPCC you get a rather annoying website. If I had a complaint I’d probably want to phone someone. There’s no central phone number and instead you have to pick a region first. If this was someone who’d just collapsed and died in the street and there was no police involvement we’d ring 999. We as citizens understand that. So why is the IPCC harder to get hold of? Surely it’s in their best interests to make it easy to take evidence?

We need a better way, firstly of policing demonstrations and secondly of investigating misconduct in the police. And looking at the goings on in Westminster of late a way of upholding standards there might be handy too. Bah, I hate everything tonight.

I’ve been really enjoying the new Röyksopp album Junior, and have been rather taken with a number of tracks which appear to me to have the spirit of the soundtrack of the Amiga game Lotus III within them.

One song that has rather caught me is track 3, Vision One. It has a really rather awesome glitchy synth sound (or sawtooth if you want to use a proper term and refer to the waveform). It’s also actually an English re-recording of a remix they made of the Japanese pop artist Eri Nobuchika, but not in a shitty Basshunter way (still got a soft spot for the original complete with IRC references).

Sing A Song / Royksopp I Kramsno_ Remix -- Eri Nobuchika

The original also has a music video which is on YouTube, and you can start to hear where the remix came from.

Rather a beautiful video, too.

Edit The lyrics of the original are rather barking when translated directly, but the new English lyrics are remarkably close in theme.

As part of his own publicity push for his new album (available in some good shops) he’s been making a series of videos for the songs on it. Here’s Anger Management which leads off the album.

The album is a mix of old and new, with the old receiving a lot of interesting tweaks. Of the songs that are fresh to me my favourite is (You & Me And) Winston Churchill which kicks off with a seemingly un PWL-like piano and real drums but has some of his nicely awkward lyrics

You and me and Winston Churchill
went to a rave on ecstacy
He said “these brightly coloured lights and bangin’ tunes do not one thing for me”

and leads nicely into the most awesome core of the album, as the, well, bangin’ tunes start to kick in.

The awesome Tree Of Knowledge follows, without any changes from the successful single mix and is a profusely profane ponder on er, education and stuff with many mentions of engorged phalluses. And he says vagina in it too, titter.

Startup chimes, cross the Rio de Palazzo
Boats go by, but I’m looking through the wrong window
Sentenced to life, I can stop anytime I want to
But I’ll press F5 just one more time…

2.0///The Bridge of Sighs laments the dangers of web2.0 culture and was originally featured on the limited (and damn fine) Omega Point EP, about which more when I’ll round up 2008.

Stop Traveller! Stop and Read! reminds me of the days I used to work back in a bookstore and the aimless feel you can get in your first work out of university.

The Memorial Hall pops up next in (shock!) yet another new version. At first I was slightly resistant to the new version, as for me the slow intro is fun, but it’s when the song reaches full tempo later on that it really reaches greatness. There is, alas, no video for it yet, but I’ll post it when it pops up and I’ve even sketched a bit of a storyboard for making my own video, which PWL himself appears to be encouraging.

This may well be my favourite PWL verse by some distance

Now we remember the disco
They’re holding tonight at the Memorial Hall
I hope to meet eyes with your sister
As she stands like a flower by the plaque, by the wall
But the alcohol kicks in and somehow instead
the words on the plaque just take over my head
I think I shouldn’t be dancing with so many dead
But I’m wrong

The album doesn’t end with the next track, Simple Life/Repetition but I’ll stop my track by track here as I feel these are the core tracks that really make the album work.

And if we’re all just machines
For replicating genes
Then what the hell can any of this mean?

Do go and listen to PWL’s music via the videos on his site, and if you like a bit buy the album.

Sometimes the future really is a thing of the past, as in this case with the C64 version of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells.

Stylus nominated it for their top ten rubbish video games featuring musicians a few years ago. I think it’s worth it for the state of the art visualisations alone.

Just lost power in the house at almost the exact same time as happened a fortnight ago. The 70s had more powercuts than this, right?
Expecting power back at around midnight again. Just have to cook by candlelight, glad I didn’t buy anything that needed the oven.

Ah, the joys of the Marylebone Farmers Market. Were I not cycling I’d be tempted by the verve cliquot awning on the pub to nip in for a glass!