Top 5 Events of 2010

One final post to wrap up my review of 2010. Another year bites the dust and I feel I didn't quite manage to do all that I ought to. One of those things was writing a meaningful message in our Christmas Cards to those friends and family we don't see very often. Mrs Chopper is always very efficient with the card writing and this year (partly due to being off with a poorly child) had them done before the close of November. I was left with the few cards she felt I needed to write but faced with a blank card and the pressure of a large pile of seasonal stamps resorted, as usual, to the standard platitudes. I considered doing a late family newsletter but as the weeks went by that seemed a bit irrelevant too. Best stick to what I do best then a write a Top five instead. If you know me and I haven't seen you for a while this is what we've been up to. I hope all is well with your family too!

1. Fulham in Hamburg (May) - The early part of the year was undoubtedly dominated by European football. Fulham don't have a great history of this sort of thing so I was determined to make the most of our moment. I'd been to Rome in November 2009 and was happy to see my team play in a major European stadium (even if we did lose). I wasn't expecting another opportunity but a remarkable run of results (beating defacto cup holders Shaktar Donetsk, Italian giants Juventus, German champs Wolfsberg and host side Hamburg) saw us reach the final. This was the biggest game the club have played since the '75 F.A. Cup Final and I am lucky enough to have a very understanding wife. My friend Mark and I arrived in Hamburg around 8:00, had a good morning doing the tourist thing, then an even better afternoon getting drunk with Fulham fans in Hans Albertz Plaz (a small square just off the Reeperbahn). The game was a blur, we played valiantly but lost 2-1 to Atletico Madrid. We flew home the same night, it was a long and slightly sad journey but with hindsight a brilliant day and the highpoint of my football supporting life.

2. Ben wins at the Sunbury Regatta (August) - My eldest son has been rowing since he was seven. He's quite tall for his age (something he clearly doesn't get from me) and really loves the sport. He's been entering the Sunbury Junior regatta every year since he started. The first year he won a trophy for being the youngest competitor. The second year he won the Sportsman's trophy for being enthusiastic and helping the organiser's out with getting the boats ready. Last year he didn't win anything and was a bit upset about it. They had an Olympic Rower present the prizes and she made a speech about how she had competed at the Regatta and been upset about not winning, so she worked really hard and trained a lot and came back the following year and won. Ben was very determined this year and although he lost out in the early rounds of the singles events he finally won his first Sunbury Pot claiming the trophy for the Junior Double Sculls with his partner Zak. Very proud Dad moment.

3. Holiday in Cornwall (June) - As a family we're definitely creatures of habit. We've been going down to Cornwall for our annual holiday for the best part of 10 years now. There are so many new places I'd love to see but timing and money tend to get in the way. Going to Cornwall is easy and we love it. This year was particularly good as the weather held out all week and we were able to spend most of it on the beach near Rock. Met up with our friends from Shepperton, so the boys had people to play with. Managed to cycle part of the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow (i.e the flat bit), so that we felt we'd done our active bit. I even fitted in a visit to the Sharp's Brewery to pick up some cheap Doombar. Perfect.

4. George at Beaver's camp (November) - George finally started Beaver's in September after what seemed like a very long wait. He isn't as active as Ben (definitely taking after me there) but was keen to go and has really enjoyed it ever since. In November they had their first overnight camp since he started and despite the fact he'd never stayed away from home before really wanted to go. Your kids never fail to surprise you in what they can do. He had a brilliant time and it was lovely to see him happy and mucking about with his friends when we collected him the next day.

5. Lahori Curry (Jan - April) - Work played a fairly big role in my year. I was involved in two fairly lengthy periods of system upgrading, learnt a lot as we did them and made some new friends. Works a bit boring to include in a top five though so the lasting legacy of all this effort was the discovery of the Lahori Karahi restaurant in Feltham. Absolutely the best curry I have eaten anywhere and a popular lunch time venue when we were working our hardest.

In other news we bought a car, survived the secondary school selection process, Jane started running and generally getting fit, I made a bit of a break through with my achilles injury, and we all had a couple of very pleasant days out at Leeds Castle and Whipsnade Zoo.

Top 5 Books I read in 2010

Another great year of reading. I didn't manage quite as many as 2009 but read a lot of wonderful books both contemporary and classic.

1. Cormac McCarthy "No Country for Old Men" - Reading the book helped me understand the film, and re-watching the film helped me understand the book.

2. Christopher Brookmyre "A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil" - Well structured crime novel that intertwines a murder investigation with the story of the characters growing up together from primary school to adult life. Brookmyre's black humour never far from the surface.

3. Andrew Collins "Still Suitable for Miners - Billy Bragg" - Biography of the "eighties protest singer" which proves he is actually so much more. Fascinating mix of music and political history. Bragg appears to be a genuinely nice bloke who has achieved the right balance between success and happiness.

4. David Peace "The Damned United" - Having failed to catch the film last year I thought I might as well read the novel before watching the DVD. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Peace's fictionalisation of real events it's Clough's personality that shines through and helps create a story as entertaining as his football teams.

5. Michael Morpurgo "War Horse" - Saved me from deciding which one of Chandler's "The High Window" or Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon" I was going to have to leave out. "War Horse" is a moving tale of a horse sold to the British Army, during the first world war, and sent to the support the effort on the western front. Very well written story that captures the futility of war whilst maintaining a feeling of optimism for the future. A children's book that deserves much broader recognition.

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Top 5 Gigs of 2010

A cracking year for gigs. Plenty of contenders for the top five and a couple of enjoyable nights watching bands of my friends (here & here).

1. youthmovies at The Borderline (26th March) - Second to last gig ever and final London appearance by the sadly overlooked Oxford based uncategorizable combo. A really special night in which they played just about everything I could have asked for. Support from Adam Gnade was excellent too.
Picture courtesy of Drowned In Sound.

2. Les Savy Fav at The Electric Ballroom (22nd November) - Second gig of the year at the Electric Ballroom. A Silver Mount Zion were a little under par, in March, but Les Savy Fav were absolutely mental. Lead singer, Tim Harrington, spent most of the night in the audience (par for the course for LSF) whilst the band played as tight a set as you could possibly ask for.

3. Japandroids at The ICA (23rd February) - First of two trips to see Japandroids who totally rip it up on stage. Crowd reaction was a little disappointing, possibly due to a "too cool for school" scenester crowd. Saw them do a similar show at the Garage in May in which the crowd got a little more involved but the band energy at the ICA made for a stunning night.
Picture courtesy of catgirl at SongKick.

4. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan at The Barbican (10th September) - After a number of sweaty "jumping up and down" style gigs it was quite pleasant to see a more sedate sit down show. I'd been wanting to see Isobel & Mark for a while and they didn't disappoint. Very little interaction with the audience (none at all from Mr Lanegan) but a brilliant set of songs taken from all three albums. Willy Mason supported and came on mid-way through the main set to do a couple of numbers with Isobel.

5. The Godfathers at The 100 Club (17th June) - Close run thing between the Godfathers and Arcade Fire at the O2 for the final place. This was a celebration of the Godfathers 25th anniversary and a chance to see them in a great venue. Having seen them a few times recently I probably wouldn't have bothered otherwise but it turned out to be a cracking show and one of the best I've seen them do.
Picture courtesy of Daniel Luis Garcia at Flickr

Check out this summary of my gig year from the good folk at SongKick.

Top 5 Songs of 2010

My favourite songs of the year.

If you have Spotify there's a playlist of the contenders. HTTP version here or Spotify URI here. Not sure how well either will work but one of them should do the trick.

1. "You Won't Let Me Down Again" Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Isobel and Mark pull off the Album and Song double. There's a proper video which I can't embed here.



2. "Shoot First" Jim Jones Revue - The loudest band in the world returned with a second album as ear splittingly brilliant as their first.



3. "Art Czars" Japandroids - The 'Droids released a series of 7" singles spread over the year and this was the first. A spikey punk blast that has been a highlight of their live set this year.



4. "Let's Get Out Of Here" Les Savy Fav - Their album didn't do much for me on first few listens, but an electric live performance at the similarly named Ballroom in Camden brought the songs to life. This one's my favourite.



5. "Drunk Girls" LCD Soundsystem - Stupidly simple song and probably the first single that caught my attention this year.



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Top 5 Albums of 2010

My annual review of the year and, as is traditional, let's start with my favourite Albums.

1. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan "Hawk" - The third album from Ms Campbell and Mr Gravel Throat and I reckon their best yet. Debut release "Ballad of the Broken Seas" came out in 2006 and was a bit of a sleeper hit for me making my Top 5 albums of 2008. After a decent but not radically different second album I wasn't expecting a great deal from "Hawk" but it seems to combine the best elements of their previous releases and take the song writing to a new level. A couple of tracks with Willy Mason and a corking garage-blues instrumental add a bit of variety but it's the duets between Isobel and Mark that really hit home.

2. A Silver Mount Zion "Kollaps Tradixionales" - They're not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but in the year that Godspeed You! Black Emperor reformed they remain my favourite post-rock combo.

3. Burns Unit "Side Show" - An 8-piece Scottish-Canadian "supergroup" formed out of a one-week songwriting retreat called "Burnsong". It was meant to be a one off but they got on so well they decided to turn it into an ongoing project. The band consists of folk singer Karine Polwart; alt-folk royalty King Creosote and former Delgado Emma Pollock plus Indo-Caledonian pop artist Future Pilot AKA; multi-instrumentalist Kim Edgar; drummer/producer Mattie Foulds; energetic piano-man Michael Johnston and virtuosic rapper MC Soom T. Quite a mixed bag of influences but one that pulls together seamlessy.

4. Sky Larkin "Kaleide" - Had heard passing mention of Sky Larkin before seeing them support Les Savy Fav in November, but nothing to suggest I ought to be checking them out. They played an interesting half hour set, including a cover of a song by the third support that day, which intrigued me. However, it was the moment when Kate Harkin (singer & guitarist) lept on Tim Harrington's shoulders, just as Tim was about to haul himself back on stage after another typical audience walkabout, to scream the lyrics of the Les Savy Fav song that I decided I needed to check them out.

5. Arcade Fire "The Suburbs" - It's their least enjoyable album so far but the bar was set pretty high and this still manages some moments of brilliance. Seeing them perform the songs live, a thrilling performance at the O2, helped me get to grips with the album and it's been growing on me ever since.

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