Anyone Can Play Guitar - Month 2

The benefit of blogging my progress with the Geetar has already borne fruit. After last month's dismal effort I have at least managed a weekly twanging session. That's not to say I've made any huge strides but I have played Guitar at least 3 times more than I did in the whole of last year.

To keep in step with the rest of the blog here's a list of five things I have discovered so far.

1. It remains as hard as I remembered to achieve anything sounding even remotely like a tune.

2. I am gradually getting to grips with "Bad Moon Rising" and reckon this could be my breakthrough song. My first attempts had me feeling comfortable with the D and A chord but struggling to find the G. I found a video that helped me get my head around the strumming pattern and, whilst thinks have only moved from "incredibly awkward" to "really very clunky", I feel I am getting somewhere.

3. "Folsom Prison Blues" may be a bit more of a challenge. Ostensibly this is a three chord song too (E,A7,B7) but I've not got my head around combining them yet. My confidence was knocked further by a video tutorial that explained how to do the twiddly intro. The chap on the video made it sound fairly simple but this failed to transfer to my fingers. On a positive note an hour failing miserably to play this was rewarded by ten minutes in which I almost nailed the first couple of lines of "Bad Moon Rising". Almost.

4. Ukulele's might only have four strings but, it turns out, that doesn't make them any easier to play. By which I mean that I couldn't pick it up and get a tune out of it within an hour. I thought I'd have a go playing "Bad Moon Rising" on my eldest's Uke. The chords use different finger placements and I found them harder to form then on Guitar, let alone attempt to change from one to another. Think I'll stick with the six string for the time being.

5. I need to practice, practice, practice. I can probably make some progress with a weekly strum but a mate who can play guitar suggested than 10 minutes a day would be better than 2 hours a week. I suspect he's right too. Right now my fingers are weak and useless, I need to toughen them up and the only way to do this, and get those chord shapes into my head, is to keep on playing.

Report Card: C+

Guest Top 5 - 5olly's favourite War Films

The first guest post of the year is from my Twitter friend 5olly who had spent most of last year watching and (occasionally) blogging The Channel 4 Top 100 War Movies here. He finally finished this marathon effort, well the watching part anyway, and kindly agreed to let me reproduce his final post on the subject here. I'm looking forward to whatever project he decides to take on next.

I managed to watch all the war films in the list, I just failed miserably at blogging them. It’s the blogging bit that I find so difficult, mainly cos I’m such a lazy twat. But in the spirit of Chop’s Top Fives I’ll give you my 5 highlights.

1. Ice Cold In Alex (No. 26)

Genius film and one that transported me back to a rainy afternoon in Hangleton as a young boy. Surprisingly for a Black & White film I loved it. Great story and it had me on the edge of my sofa. Best product placement ever as well.

Read my brilliant review here.

2. The Pianist (No. 32)

Amazingly I found this film one of the most tedious films I’d ever seen when I first saw it when I was doing the IMDB Top 100 Films. Bizarrely I rather enjoyed it the second time round. This was probably due to the fact that i was expecting to watch the right film this time, and not The Piano with Harvey Keitel.

Read my first review here, and my later review here.

3. Memphis Belle (No. 88)

Who knew there was an alternate ending? Who believed it involved Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland? Who didn’t realise it was a completely different show that I’d got confused with? (Yep that’s right, it was me) It’s was still a good film though, even with the singing..

My extensive review (including a video of the confused ending) can be found here.

4. Oh! What a Lovely War (No. 70)

A brilliant film set in my home town. A true joy to watch. So good I went out and bought it. If I said that I was dreading watching a film about a musical, about the First World War then I wouldn’t have been lying. It’s funny, sad and poignant. Well worth a watch. I would link to my review, but I didn’t do one.

5. Play Dirty (Not even on the list)

Brilliant! An English version of The Dirty Dozen! Michael Caine rocks out over the African desert and kicks some Nazi arse! A genuine highlight of my year of film watching, and proof in point that doing pointless New Year Resolutions might leave you somewhat wiser, if not a tiny bit bored of war films….

So yeah, what next. I have no idea. I have a couple of projects in the pipeline for 2012, but I think I might have a break from blogging films this year.

I might just podcast reviews instead…. Here’s the first one… Grease (1978) Vs. Sexboat (1980) I can only apologise… But say hi to Dotmund while you’re there.

Grease (1978) Vs. Sexboat (1980) by 5olly

Top 5 Songs of 2011

I’ve been rambling on a bit the last few weeks so I’ll try and keep it short and let the music do the talking instead.

1. Laura J. Martin “Spy” – The track that first turned me on to the multi-talented Ms Martin. She has a flute wrangling (© Marc Riley) style that is reminiscent of Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson, but her tunes use loop techniques that allow her to layer many instruments and create a wonderfully enthralling sound. Her debut album, "The Hangman Tree",was due out on 23rd Jan (I wrote this post a few weeks ago but will report back on it's undoubted brilliance later) and I’m really hoping to catch her live later in the year.



2. North Sea Radio Orchestra "Heavy Weather" – It's not often you can boast that you got into a band thanks to a recommendation from snooker legend Steve Davis. Steve sat in for Jarvis Cocker on 6music last year and played a fascinating mix of classic & contemporary progressive rock and avant garde jazz. I knew Steve was a big music fan but I was expecting a mix of Northern Soul & 80s dance, based on previous discussion in the media. Steve has been doing a weekly alternative music show on Phoenix FM of Essex for some time now. He played "Berliner Luft" from NSRO's second album "I A Moon" and it intrigued me enough to pick up the album. It’s a brilliant record, a near miss for my top 5 albums, and "Heavy Weather" is it's stand out track. Don't be put off by the Prog tag, NSRO are more than that, elements of folk, electronica, pop and orchestration and a vocalist who has a voice vaguely reminiscent of Kate Bush.



3. Metronomy “The Look” – I'm not sure how I've got so far into my annual round up without mentioning Metronomy already. Their album "The English Riviera" is full of catchy tunes and narrowly missed out on my top five albums. I also caught them live for a pre-Glastonbury warm-up at New Slang in Kingston (for the bargain price of a fiver) and despite going solo, and not feeling 100%, it turned out to be a fun night and a great gig. It had actually taken me a while to fully appreciate them. Marc Riley’s persistent playing of Metronomy bludgeoned their tunes into my head until I gave in and accepted that I liked them.



4. Dutch Uncles “OCDUC” – I find it hard to describe Dutch Uncles without reverting to the phrase "quirky indie prog". Their sound is not the full on seventies progressive template but those bands are definitely an influence. They're another Marc Riley favourite and, like Metronomy, released an excellent album last year which was a definite top five contender. I think I missed seeing these guys support Dananananaykroyd a few years back which is annoying as they’ve fast become one of my favourite bands.



5. Sarabeth Tucek “Get Well Soon” – This is the title track to Sarabeth’s second LP, an album dealing with a period of her life when everything seemed to be going wrong and coming to terms with the death of her father when she was very young. She had been arrested for drunk driving and spent time in jail as a consequence. During a spell cleaning the highway in an orange jumpsuit she began to reflect on where she was going with her life. Once released, she moved to live with her Mother in New York and wrote the album as a way of dealing with her issues.



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Top 5 Gigs of 2011

An odd year as far as my gig going was concerned. I had been trying to cut back a little, if not on the quantity of gigs I went to, certainly on the price I paid. This meant I saw an odd mixture of shows from cheap Indie shows at Banquet Records' New Slang in Kingston to a former Strawbs Guitarist playing a pub roughly 300 yards from my front door.

1. Jim Jones Revue at The 100 Club (12th July 2011) – The Jim Jones Revueare undoubtedly the loudest band on the planet. Through a quirk of unusual good luck I saw them live twice last year for free. First I won a competition for tickets to their Concorde 2 show in Brighton (which strictly speaking was my 2nd favourite show of the year but I decided to give someone else a chance) then my mate won tickets for this Glenfiddich sponsored “MOJO Honours Award” show at the historic, and still wonderful, 100 Club in Oxford Street. A few pre-gig beers helped get us in the mood, a bunch of old punks going mental down the front added to the ambience and the JJR powered their way through a cracking set of tunes from their first two albums. Afterwards there was time for a late night drink and a bit of Jazz at the Alley Cat club in Denmark Street before a dash to Waterloo, after some confusion caused by the closure of Tottenham Court Road tube station, arriving with minutes to spare before the last train going anywhere. A great night out.

2. British Sea Power at The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth (25th February 2011) – I’d seen BSP play the tiny Camden Barfly in January, a venue that has a track record, for me, of slightly disappointing shows by major artists. BSP had been OK that night, an album launch for Valhalla Dancehall, but despite the intimate surroundings it was not the best gig I’ve seen BSP play. However, I love the Wedgewood Rooms, it’s a venue that seems to bring the best out of bands, so I felt a trip down the A3 was still worthwhile. The band did not disappoint and it turned out to be a brilliant night. Probably the best show I've seen from BSP. A lot of jumping up and down at the front, the band clearly enjoying themselves and a fantastic set list that didn't flag (other than for a few well needed pauses for breath). Best gig of the year in any other year.

3. The Go! Team/Field Music/Dutch Uncles/Colourmusic at Koko (30th November 2011) – This was a celebration of Memphis Industries' 13th anniversary as an independent record label. I’d originally considered going to see The Go! Team in October at the Coronet. Rolling Blackouts had been a terrific return to form and I had long been intrigued to see if they could reproduce their chaotic blend of influences in a live environment. Looking for tickets to the Coronet show I discovered the gig had been cancelled and this multi-band bill lined up instead. This was a bonus as one of the bands, Dutch Uncles, were one of my new favourites thanks to constant plays by Marc Riley on his 6Music radio show. They were second band up and their quirky prog inspired pop didn't disappoint live.

I had arrived early to find Colourmusic already on stage. I knew very little about them, but had seen a few Twitter based recommendations that convinced me I needed to get to Koko earlier than normal. From the top balcony I could tell they were loud and by the time I’d collected a pint and gone to stand down the front I genuinely feared for my ear drums. I’ve since picked up a copy of My ____ Is Pinkand it’s a brilliant album.

I’d seen Field Music before but not been moved enough to investigate their records so they were the surprise of the night with a smashing set of tunes from their forthcoming album and extensive back catalogue. In fact I so enjoyed them that I went out and bought tickets for their headlining tour in February.

The Go! Team were an explosion of noise and colour. Like watching a manga cartoon spring to life in front of your eyes. They played a tight set of their best tunes from all three albums, Ninja keeping the crowd on their toes whilst the rest of the band swapped instruments and kept things interesting on stage. This was a fine night which enabled me to see four bands with very different sounds at the top of their game. I hope I’ll see all four again some time soon.

4. Dananananaykroyd at Kings College London Student Union (Friday 4th November 2011) – Regular readers will know the ‘Naykroyd are one of my favourite live bands so I’d been disappointed when I saw them earlier in the year in Kingston and they hadn’t seemed on form. A poor turnout didn’t help, partly due to coinciding with University holidays, but I had a feeling that the new songs weren’t quite as good as the old ones and missed the double drummer set-up of their early shows. Despite that, I picked up tickets for this gig in the hope a bigger crowd would help restore my faith. A few weeks prior to the gig they announced the tour was going to be their last and they’d be splitting up afterwards. This made the show their last ever London gig and added a bit of excitement to proceedings. They did restore my faith, frenetic activity on stage, good crowd reaction and a final wall of cuddles. In “cool aging rocker mode” until that point, I couldn’t resist joining in and grabbed two unsuspecting whippersnappers as I dived into that final mass cuddle moment. Sweat & joy & loud music!

5. Feltstock in a Field in Feltham (Friday 10th June 2011) – Can you believe a rock festival at work? We’ve had regular summer music sporting events to coincide with our retired staff reunions for many years now but this was taking it to a new level; a proper stage, a second stage in the bar marquee and some 15 bands, with some link to work, playing live music. Unfortunately I have a habit of getting horribly drunk at these affairs and this year was no exception. Apart from being slightly embarrassing, as I find myself dancing like a loon on my own in front of the stage, it has also made my recollections of the music a little, shall we say “hazy”.

Missed the first couple of acts as I was down the pub with the Wolfmen but dragged myself away in time to catch long time favourites The Shed playing their usual fare of classic seventies rock but also managed to sneak in a song composed by their sublime lead guitarist Gary. JB & The Wolfmen eventually returned from the pub in time to scare the bejesus out of an unsuspecting audience with their blend of Garage Rock and Punk. My JJR ticket winning pal was on Bass and the band played a corking set including covers of Shot By Both Sides, Strychnine & Brand New Cadillac.

Phantoms Drummer Al was the driving force behind this event and his band took to the stage around 8:00. A point at which my memories were still largely intact. My friend & fellow Fulham F.C. sufferer Mark was on vocals & keyboards and they played a crowd pleasing show which included Parklife, I Predict A Riot and Chelsea Fulham Dagger. As the evening wore on my recollections begin to fade. The 17 piece Jazz band did make a mark and got everyone bopping with a bit of swing. Fused played a tight set of Rock & Pop and I vaguely remember dancing on down the front to The Beautiful Losers but after that it was a bus ride home and fade to black.

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Anyone Can Play Guitar - Month 1

I have a feeling that my selected title for this series of post is going to prove horribly ironic.

A quick recap for those of you who don't read every single post I make. As part of my New Year Resolutions I decided THIS was finally going to be the year in which I taught myself to play guitar. My aim is to be able to play 5 songs to a reasonable standard (i.e. recognisable by someone who knows the tune) by the end of the year.

I've always wanted to be able to play guitar but have never found the time or determination to sit down and give it a really good go. At the back of my mind I have a doubt that I ever really could. I don't think I have a natural talent for music. But then, opposed to that, there is a vast history of people from all sorts of backgrounds who can play guitar, which suggests if I just put the effort it I almost certainly could.

I'd already been pondering a new concerted effort this year and this crystallised into a resolution during a pre-gig chat with my mate Mark. Mark sings and plays keyboards in Feltham's finest covers band The Phantoms. He challenged me to be able to play a 5 song set live in 18 months time. Actually just typing that last sentence puts the willies up me a bit. Playing live may be a step too far but my more modest challenge seems achievable.

I bought my first guitar in the late 80s while I was at College. It was an cheap electric guitar by a company called Axe. It came with a series of tapes titled "How to play Heavy Metal Guitar" but even my Metal mate, who spent a bit of time helping me out, agreed it was not the easiest thing to play. At least it gave me something more satisfying to pull air guitar shapes with in my bedroom and, when my Mum & Dad were out, I had fun getting feedback out of the amp. It also provided me with my one brief moment of on stage stardom when I used it to "play" alongside Never Before Midnight (one of Mark's previous bands) at my 21st birthday. It was pretty obvious I wasn't plugged in but one Uncle complimented me on making the band sound more rocky.

I eventually gave the Axe away to a friend and didn't have a guitar until my 40th birthday a few years back. This reinvigorated my desire to be able to play but, again, the lack of available time defeated me. My aborted attempts thus far have not gone much beyond strumming three chords and failing to move my fingers between them in anything less than 9 minutes. I have a long way to go.

True to form, my progress so far this year is minimal. I've not picked up my guitar all year. In my defence I have thoroughly sanded our staircase and applied two coats of paint (possibly three by the time you read this), I have helped my Dad out with his financial planning and I've done some long hours at work to get on top of all the work I failed to do before Christmas. These are all just excuses though. I promise to try harder next month.

I have downloaded an App for my phone to help me with the chord sequences and started a list of candidate songs. I'm hoping that if I pick the five songs which use similar chords I'll make life much easier for myself. Two hot favourites so far are "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash (A7, B7, E) and "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedance Clearwater Revival (A, D, G). My plan for February is to have a go at both and then look for some compatible songs.

Suggestions are more than welcome by the way, leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Top 5 Albums of 2011

The start of my annual review of the year. This could take a few weeks so forgive me if it gets boring, this is as much for me as it is for you!

2011 turned out to be a year in which I listened to a lot of music. My eMusic subscription, some excellent BBC 6Music shows and Spotify combined to allow me to hear pretty much any album I wanted to. This proved to be too easy for me to take advantage of and I think I listened to well over 150 albums, old and new. That’s clearly too many for anyone to take in properly and a lot of those never made it past play one. Despite that I discover a good 20 cracking new albums. Of course my taste in music is a little quirky at best so you might not enjoy them all.

1. Mogwai "Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will" – When I first got into music I was like a loyal dog. Once I had decided I liked a band I would obsessively buy everything they released; LPs, 7 inches, 12 inches, picture disks, solo albums by the singer, solo albums by the drummer, even solo albums by the bassist’s ex-girlfriend. Whilst I remain obsessive about music (and just about everything else as this blog proves), these days I am a more fickle fan. I loved the first two or three Mogwai albums, but my interest had waned. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed their later releases, I just haven’t found myself playing them all that often. I’d probably have let “Hardcore” pass me by completely if a friend had not gone to see them live earlier in the year and piqued my interest.

It’s an album that combines the edge of Mogwai’s early releases with a poppier sensibility. Simpler tunes than previous albums, that build into brooding crescendos like opener “White Noise”. Though still largely an instrumental band Mogwai are now more comfortable offering the occasional vocal even if it is vocoder enhanced. “Mexican Grand Prix” is a fine example of this approach and possible a candidate for replacing Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” in a future series of F1 coverage. “Rano Pano” demonstrates majestic layers of fuzz guitar and the piano into to “Letters to the Metro” is genuinely beautiful. “George Square Thatcher Death Party” provides a bouncy bit of fun before the 23 minute epic of “Music for a Forgotten Future” proves the band have lost none of their zeal for instrumental majesty.

2. P.J. Harvey "Let England Shake" – This might be an obvious choice (the number 1 album for 2011 in Mojo, NME & Uncut) but PJ’s Mercury Prize winning album is outstanding and a very close second to Mogwai for me. Polly Jean is a songwriter who gets better and better. I missed the initial excitement generated by her early albums but her first Mercury Prize winning album “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” shaved off the rough edges and drew me in. Since then she has alternated between the bloody good, “Uh Huh Her” & “A Woman A Man Walked By”, and the absolute genius “White Chalk” & “Let England Shake”. One of the highlights of last year was seeing David Cameron fail miserably to appear “hip” and generally look a bit uncomfortable whilst PJ played “Last Living Rose” on the Andrew Marr Show.

3. Trembling Bells "The Constant Pageant" – One of my new favourite bands. I had not been completely won over by their 2009 debut album, "Carbeth", but was completely stunned by their second album, 2010’s “Abandoned Love”. That was still on heavy rotation when “Constant Pageant” came out this year – they’re nothing if not prolific – and this new release showed a further progression, hinted at in “Abandoned Love”, from folk to seventies rock. I’m desperate to see them live. Alex Neilson sounds like an amazing drummer and also provides complimentary vocals to the stunning voice of Lavinia Blackwall. They are in many ways a modern day Fairport Convention, no bad thing in itself, but have something a bit special that really hits the right buttons for me.

4. Beirut "The Rip Tide" – Zach Condon has brought the Beirut sound into the mainstream with this album. His first LP “Gulag Orkestar” (2006) was influenced by Balkan folk, whilst the folow up, “The Flying Club Cup” (2007) was influenced by Jacques Brel and French chanson music. 2009’s E.P. “March Of the Zapotec” didn’t quite live up to those early standards but added Electronica to Zach’s list of influences. Now performing as a fully fledged band Beirut seem to have got the balance between ethnic influence and popular music absolutely perfect. “The Rip Tide” has a lush sound that emphasises the best bits of his previous albums whilst retaining that fragile charm of a solo folk artist. It’s like a “Best Of” but with brand new songs.

5. Y Niwl "Y Niwl" – I spent some time considering whether this album ought to be in my top five. It is, after all, nothing you won’t have heard before. Instrumental Garage Surf rock basically. However, there’s something about this collection of songs that always brings a smile to my face. I first heard the band on a Marc Riley session back in January. It wasn’t just their Link Wray inspired sound that appealed, the band had a laid back manner and sense of humour that won me over. All the tracks on this debut LP are numbered, a la ¡Forward, Russia!, in Welsh (where the band are from. Y Niwl means The Fog, I think) which is exactly the sort of neat gimmick that appeals to me. I picked up the album pretty quickly and it’s brought a smile to my face every time I’ve played it since.

NOTE: I have taken a step into the world of commerce by signing up for the Amazon Associates program. That means if you buy any of the albums you reach from my Amazon links I'll get a small percentage. I'm hoping this won't screw up the nature of this blog but let me know if it gets annoying and I'll stop!

Top 5 New Year Resolutions 2012

I might as well have another go at this despite my abject failure last year.

First a quick recap on how spectacularly badly I did before I move on to this year’s equally doomed ideas.

Lose Weight – Despite managing more exercise in general I suspect (I stopped weighing myself around September) that I actually put weight on during the year. This was partly due to my determination to not actually “diet” which may have worked better had it not been combined with my complete lack of will power.

Get Fitter – I made progress with my Achilles injury and by April was doing regular sport once more. I started running again, I cycled into work a few times, I even got back to playing football.

Jobs at home – Erm. No obvious effort here. Too easily distracted. I've actually done more DIY in the first 10 days of 2012 than I managed in the whole of 2011.

Play Guitar – I did not play a note other than a very brief strum whilst trying to help Ben learn to play the Ukulele.

Sleep/PC – Technically I achieved this though I replaced late nights on the PC with late nights on my Smart Phone or, more recently, falling asleep on the sofa in front of some TV programme I’d recorded on the TiVo.

OK so here we go again.

1. Play Guitar – This year I’m setting myself a proper challenge. I intend to be able to play at least 5 songs by the end of the year. When I say play I mean strum the chords. I won’t be trying anything fancy but aim to be good enough for someone to at least recognise the tune. I will also be blogging about my progress, if nothing else this will plug the gaps between top fives that I won’t be able to write because I’ll be LEARNING TO PLAY GUITAR!!! \m/ *Heavy Metal horns* \m/

2. Decide what I want to be when I grow up – Probably at 43½ it’s time I sorted out a proper career. I have pretty much accepted that I’ll never play centre forward for Fulham or England, if resolution 1 goes well there’s an outside chance I could still become a major rock star and I’ve not completely given up on becoming a top selling author. However, I realise that I need to take the bull by the horns and start making a bit of effort with the latter half of my working life. Changes are afoot with my current employment and I’m going to have to deal with change whether I like it or not (I don’t like it in case you were in any doubt!).

3. Finish the year no heavier than I start it – Lowering my sights a bit here. I’ve already started keeping track of what I eat and will hopefully continue my return to regular sport. I'm even considering an alcohol detox for a few months, though not quite yet *cough*.

4. Get more done at weekends – I like my bed too much in the mornings, which means when I really don't HAVE to get up I generally don't. I also hate going to bed at night time and too often end up watching some rubbish TV at one in the morning instead of doing something I'd actually want to do. This year I intend to make an effort to make better use of the weekends by getting up earlier and making sure I go to bed at a sensible time.

5. Find a cool hat – I mentioned this last year. I need a hat. I have a woolly hat for when it's cold or I'm going to Football but I'd like a hat to wear for normal use. Ideally something that would make me look suave and sophisticated like Cary Grant in a Forties movie. I realise this may well be impossible but I like hats and I've reached the point where a baseball cap makes me look far too much like David Brent. I was considering a Trilby but now they've gone and got all trendy I don't think that would work either. Suggestions on a postcard please.

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Top 6 Marc Riley BBC 6Music Sessions of 2011

Welcome back, Happy New Year to those of you I haven't already caught up with and I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. I was going to have a week or two off ahead of my usual round up of 2011 favourites but @rileyshow6music ran a poll on the best sessions from Marc Riley's 6music show and I thought I'd share my choices here.

Since buying a digital radio for our kitchen I've listened to BBC 6music a lot and Marc Riley's evening show is one I catch as often as I can. If nothing else it has helped improve my cooking and ensured I get the washing up done. Much like John Peel one of Riley's strengths are the number of live sessions he gets in. I've discovered so many bands through his show.

It's a top six because it's from 6Music obviously!

1. Laura J Martin (8th March) - Laura was one of the discoveries of the year for me. She plays flute in a style very reminiscent of Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull) and has produced some of the best songs I've heard all year. Spy was probably both the first and the best. Her debut album is due on the 23rd of January. Buy it as soon as you can. Laura played "Spy", "Tease Me" and "Tom".

2. Dutch Uncles (10th November) - Quirky prog-sounding combo from Marple near Manchester took a while to win me over but, as with many of Marc's favourites, regular listening eventually had the desired effect. This was Marc's final show at BBC Manchester and the band played "OCDUC", "Orval", "Fester", "Doppelganger" and "Dressage"

3. Jim Jones Review (19th October) - THE loudest rock'n'roll band on the planet. Played "Big Len", "Killing Spree", "Ain't My Problem Baby" and "Rock N Roll Psychosis".

4. Martin Creed (1st March) - This was a little out of the blue. A Turner Prize winning artist who also has a band. I happened to be at home, got to listen to the session via the iPlayer, and found him to be engaging and straight-forward. An interestingly basic sonic sound-scape for a boundary pushing Artist. Martin played "Thinking/Not Thinking", "A - Z", "I Can't Stop Thinking About You" and "Pass Them On".

5. Trembling Bells (6th June) - Folky combo who have developed a bit of a seventies classic rock style in 2011. They played "Colour Of Night", "Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing" and "Goathland"

6. Y Niwl (17th January) - Welsh instrumental surf band who backed Gruff Rhys on his solo tour this year. One of the earliest sessions of the year and they won me over with their attitude and garage influenced tune-age. Their songs title are all numbered in Welsh; "Undegsaith" (Seventeen), "Undegpedwar" (Fourteen), "Undegchwech" (Sixteen), "Undegnaw" (Nineteen), "Un" (One) and "Chwech" (Six).

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12 Songs for Xmas - Twelfth Day

Day twelve. Hope you've enjoyed the songs I've picked. They were all contenders for my top five tunes of the year but didn't quite make the cut. I also hope you've taken down your Crimbo decorations. Mrs Top Five will tell you it's unlucky to keep them up any longer.

Gotta end on an upbeat. I've been a fan of the flower punk Black Lips for some time but their previous album was a bit disappointing. Thankfully they returned this year under the production control of Mark Ronson and produced the really quite brilliant L.P. Arabia Mountain.

There are a bunch of great tunes on there but Family Tree probably takes the mark as the best tune. If you're easily offended you might want to skip the video that features blood, nudity and "inter-band bonding".

http://youtu.be/hKzmsgXz5GM



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12 Songs for Xmas - Eleventh Day

Another Marc Riley discovery. Metronomy are a bit electronic for me but Riley's incessant plays gradually swung my opinion. I saw them live in Kingston for a fiver and they won me over.

This is The Bay

http://youtu.be/9PnOG67flRA



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