s n e a k e r b i k e ¯•¯

As sometimes weekly music guy here at sneakerbike I felt it my responsibility to provide a completely subjective year end summation of all that was great in music and even all that was fantastically mediocre.

It was not a good year for albums. (It hurts me as much to write that as it does for you to acknowledge it’s truth) I read a lot of top x album lists on a lot of different blogs (yeah there are other blogs, i know I was shocked too) and as I read through them I found myself doing a lot of “nope” and not a whole lot of “yup”. I’ve been trying to think of my own top 5 list (because I can’t think of 10 good albums in a good year) and all I know for sure is number one… I put four more in there, and I’m sure they’ll stand the test of time (Usually that means holding a place in my very picky iPod) but really, by comparison, they are almost, dare I say it, filler.

Biggest Disappointments (You’ve let Julian down… You’ve let the sneakerbike massive down… hang your musical heads in shame)
Hawksley Workman – Treeful of Starling …I loved Lover/Fighter This seemed way to “sing-songy”
The Walkmen – A Hundred Miles off …No where near the last album… That nasally Bob Dylan on his death bed impersonation has to go.
Thom Yorke – The Eraser …The great thing about this is that no one knew this was coming, so no one had time to build up any unreal expectations. It wasn’t really a bad album. Still though, this is Thom “responsible for some of the best music in the last 10 years” Yorke
Flaming Lips – At War with the mystics …Maybe they need 10 years between each album to get it right.
Outkast – Idlewild …It was what it was. A Movie first and an album second.
Lady Sovereign – Public Warning …Self Proclaimed “Biggest Midget in the game” . I think after getting signed by Jay-z she “got it twisted” and started “saying cookie instead of buscuit”.

Guilty Pleasures (Not really that guilty)
Kooks – Inside In, Inside Out …Straight ahead brit pop. Nothing ground breaking about this but It might have been the album I gave the most listens to this year.
The Pipettes – We are the pipettes …How long can they keep up what is surely an act… We’ll see. I don’t mind if they go on and on.
Lilly Allen – Alright Still …Witty, Cheeky, Infinitely listenable, and as such, eventually overplayed. Somehow Myspace buzz doesn’t always manage to translate into good album. I think she’s got a future though even (or especially) after all the hype dies down.
The God Damn Doo Wop Band – Broken Hearts
Nelly Furtado – Loose

Big hopes for 2007 (Remind me to do a ‘was I right or was I right’ bit next year)
Paper Cranes …It’s not 2005 but Canada is still making good music.
Bloc Party …I’m going to be out of the country when this album drops but have instructed the right sources to make it available to me immediately. I love me some Bloc Party.
Walter Meego …If the romantic single is anything to go by.
Modest Mouse …With the addition of Smith’s Guitarist Johnny Mar. Lets see if they can come anywhere near ‘Good News…’ I’m hoping they can.
Rumble Strips …They’re from Devon. If they hold on for just a bit, I may get to see them live before they make it big.
The Blow …The album is already out, but I think it’ll be an early ‘07 creeper.

Top Remixes
5. Teddybears STHM – Cobrastyle (Diplo)
4. Snowden – (Le Castle Vania)
3. La Ritournelle – Black Eyes (Metromony)
2. The Gossip – Standing in the way of control (Soulwax)
1. Metric – Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT)

Singles Honerable Mentions (I could still make a killer mixtape out of all these singes)
Walter Meego – Romantic …My desert island song.
The Automatic – Dead Disco
New Young Pony Club – Get Dancey
Justice Vs. Simian – We Are Your Friends
Mudwig Banhoff – You & the Atom Bomb
The Rapture – Woo Alright …People don’t dance no more… they just stand round like this.

Top Singles (Why the repeat button was invented)
5. The Blow – Babay
4. Young Galaxy – Swing Your Heartache
3. Hot Chip – Boy From School
2. Gnarles Barkley – Crazy …You heard it a million times this year and you’re sure to hear it on new years eve, but just think back to how you felt the first time you heard it. Crazy.
1. Peter Bjorn and Jon – Young Folks …Stop the whistling in my head… no wait… don’t.

Albums Honerable Mentions
The Roots – Game Theory
Jay Dee – Donuts
Cansai De Ser Sexy – Cansai De Ser Sexy
Prototypes – Prototypes
Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson in Crime …More hopefull Can-Con.
Malajube Trompe-L’oiel …If it wasn’t for their Polaris Prize I might never have heard of them.
The Gossip – Standing In the Way of Control
Teddybears STHM – Soft Machine …About a million different styles on this record. The kind of you put on then 15 minutes later wonder if you’re still listening to the same artist

Top Albums
5. The Long Blondes – Someone to Drive You Home
4. MSTRKRFT – The Looks
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones …This was a definite creeper. It took a few months for me to fall in love with it.
2. Ratatat – Classics … It took me a while to stop adding an extra syllable to their name. I loved this album from first listen though.
1. Hot Chip – The Warning …Far and away the best album of the year for me. It was meticulously produced (perticularly the vocal tracks) yet it still managed to convey real soul and emotion.

That’s it… enjoy your holidays and may next year be filled with fridays.

and monday loves a good sad song, so here’s a handfull of recent ones. It’s not all doom and gloom either, there’s usually something uplifting to be found for those who like their clouds with silver linings.

Young Galaxy – Swing Your Heartache

The Decemberists – After The Bombs

Arcade Fire – Intervention (bbc)

The Postal Service – Against All Odds

a few images ive done recently. mainly appreciating colour combinations.

if anyone’s stuck for what to get me for xmas. one of these would do the trick ;)

a new image to post fairly often. using firefox’s find feature.

Syncronicity.

While breaking one post into two, Mainly to give my views on a mini series I watched last night called “The Root of all Evil?” their own post, I recieved two links to YouTube videos.

The first. A Johny Cash video that says something like God is gonna get ya. Fear Him or he’ll cut ya down. I dunno.. Something Cash-ist anyway. Supported with a huge WOW factor of all the cool-ish music and film stars of today…
The second, A faithless video called Bombs, that holds a chorus something like “So much Heaven, So much Hell, So much Love, So much Faith”, all while bombs are dropped, and coffins are layed out.

Both are relevant to the miniseries. Dawkins argues that extreme faith (or lack of free thought as he describes it) is a large cause of violence. As with all science, he questions everything until proof is attained. My interpretation of the Faithless video is that it also blames extreme faith (the unthinking plague) on some level. Further. People get REALLY heated when their faith is questioned. Questioned. i.e. thought about. critiqued. pondered..etc.

Anyway. More to say at some point… An interesting watch.. be you full of faith, or faithless.

conceptual art: ideas, no follow through, tantrums
design: follow through and a sacrifice of integrity.

art: cyclery

the pain of not knowing to realize not to need to know.

a book cover i made for a book that is not written. write stories for me so i can finish the book that is not started. tell your writerly friends. it will be a nice collaborative book.

a walk in the valley will happen tomorrow. skeletons of forgotten, battered elk will be found and contemplated. a magpie will sqwak and bat an eyelash. i will salute. the wind will push my back closer to my front, encouraging exploration. i will be thinking.

i am happy. as is expected.

two ghost stories are about to happen. they will probably consist of bad ghosts. or things that we are scared of.

i cannot bring myself to sell any of my lovely bicycles. the sign is made but the money will come from elsewhere.

nite: full moon

sober and tired and full of life with love

dreams