A few days late? No big deal.

Best of 2009? I guess this is one of those lists. No Girls, I watched them in Rough Trade one time and it was a bit ehhhh. No XX, although I do own one of their singles (50p in a bargain bin in Manchester... and I still haven't listened to it. Embarrassing.) Cold Cave? I want American Nightmare back more than ever. La Roux? Ugh.
This isn't really a best singles, best albums, sort of list. Just what summed up music for me this past year.



We were in this freezing cold film set/warehouse for a good 7 hours. Most of that time was spent watching my sister and her friends get pissed, racing chairs down a hallway, and hanging out in a fake police station. About 45 minutes of this time was actually doing any work. Such a good time though. None of the crowd shots in this are remotely faked, in fact a lot of the time the director had to calm everyone down. Hate on them all you want, Cancer Bats are the best dudes and this video sums up everything I miss about seeing them.


Blur FINALLY reuniting? WITH GRAHAM? Seeing them in London after not living in the country for 12 years? Probably the best night I could have asked for, to be honest. Not only did I get to hear all the songs I could possibly want to (going as far back as She's So High) but it was just like seeing them in their prime. They were jumping around with smiles on their faces, almost as big as my own. It looked straight out of any live footage I've seen from the mid 90's. Plus, Alex James still had that cig hanging out the side of his mouth and was STILL bopping the exact same way he did over a decade ago. With pretty much the same haircut.


Like most of the world, I have been won over. I actually properly loved Pokerface, but it was this video that opened my eyes to the artist, and how bonkers she really is. Plus, like the previously mentioned, the song is by all means, a TUNE. Not to mention the lyrics are borderline psychotic. Wait, borderline? They're simply mad. Bad Romance may be one of the best music videos in the last five years, but Paparazzi opened the doors to letting Gaga truly be Gaga.


It would be really easy to fill this whole list with just bands from London. After all, they make up a large majority of the overall music I've been seeing and hearing this year. Seeing as I live in London now, that's a bit obvious. Oddly enough though, of all the hype and names I've heard about in the years building up to moving over here, Hatcham were not one I really paid attention to. In fact, it wasn't until late summer when a friend of mine played their record in her DJ set. To their dismay, when they walked in five minutes after. Then I caught their set at 1234, it was one of the few highlights of a pretty washed out day. I don't know what it is, but they've got something really special going on. This is their most recent video, and it's probably my favourite track of theirs so far.


I still love this band. The first time I came down to London was to see them. The gossip, the critics, the hate from those who once worshiped them- it's all taken too seriously. This community is a bit weird, in that sense. I do admit though, sometimes I miss the days when they looked like cartoons...



I love the Strokes, have since their early days. For some reason, it always takes me ages to actually pay attention to anyone's solo projects. Julian Plenti? Aw, I should probably get around to that one. Julian Casablancas came to mind in a clothing shop of all places. I remember being pissed off because all the shoes were made of leather and the ones that weren't were too small. Trivial things. Anyway, this song came on. I felt like I had heard it before, but not really. It's one of those sort of sounds. He's borrowing about a million sounds but with a voice like his, it's hard to mistake who it is. The whole album sounds like he's gone a bit Wendy Carlos. And I love Wendy Carlos. That synth line is epic. Well done.
Side note: Does Julian actually age? He's been around for almost ten years (holy shit) and he looks just as young.
Side note 2: I'm way late on this, but he also contributed to THE BEST CHRISTMAS SONG IN YEARS. Covering an SNL sketch? AMAZING.



People think my Gaga obsession is a bit off, but personally this one surprised even myself. I mean, I've never HATED Kasabian. In fact, I used to love them. Especially Tom Meighan. Or Serge. I'm not picky. I mean. Anyway, what I mean is that they've got a bit of a bad taste in the fact that they're absolutely everywhere here. They're typically seen as a total lad's band, but behind the swarms of festival boozers and Gallaghers of the world, there's hints of "psychadelica, yeah?". Plus every interview I've read with them has been some of the funniest nonsense I've read. Points for that. Fuck it, I'm not even going to try and defend this. They write TUNES. TUNE. TUNE TUNE. Innit.