Sunday, January 04, 2004

Dirty Dio's Personal Best Of 2003

In the best tradition of the end of year awards that you are now sick of, I give you my top ten musical albums of the last year (not in order of preference as that's impossible.) Straight away I can see you peering down and saying, "That didn't come out this year, or that's ancient, has Dio lost it?" Well, personally I've never cared about when a record came out, I've never listened to artists in chronological order and take and pick albums as they become available through whatever means.

Its the albums that have turned me on and defined where my head has been in the last year, whenever they were released. There are a few rediscoveries in there as well as new music as I've spent a fair few bob in the last year replacing all my old cassettes and scratchy vinyl with nice shiny CDs from Ebay and car boot sales.

I can place albums from the last year easily as I bought Nursey the excellent Yanqui U.X.O. by Godspeed You Black Emperor last Christmas, so I can mentally place what came after that and what went before. Conveniently its as good a place as any to start, but remember, they are not in order of preference:

Godspeed You Black Emperor - Yanqui U.X.O.

3 tracks spanning 74 minutes, you have to invest a lot of yourself to get the best from this dense record. For me the band have been one of the best discoveries of recent years, their music comes from somewhere special and works on many levels. This album took a long time to grow on me. Long rolling repetition of simple scuzzy riffs, orgasmic peaks and troughs and symphonic white noise. Post rock? I'm no fan of easy labels, but there is a cataclysmic finality about every album this band release, and this one is no different.

Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments - Bait and Switch

Great shouty Lo Fi punk with several perfect power spike tracks. Came out in 1995 - I only turned on to them recently thanks to a random selection via launchcast. Launch went shit but fortunately it introduced me to some great new tunes before it did. This has to my favourite of them. Cheaters Heaven is one of those great songs which you will have to hum in public places and there are plenty of other highs on this short and snappy masterpiece.

Deftones - Deftones

This one came right out of left-field for me. I'd always had them pegged as another bunch of Nu-Metal no-nos. However, frequent exposure to the single Minerva and earlier effort Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) sounded different enough to warrant further interest. I gave the album a go expecting to be disappointed and boy was I wrong. Pumping noise, anthemic, unexpected rhythms and soundscapes. At times it brings to mind bands like My Bloody Valentine and others the melancholy of Keats meeting pounding slowcore riffs. Minerva will forever remain the song in my mind around the time Elis was born. Sweet.

Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights

Been a lot of retro NYC punks the last few years. Some good, many bad and downright unoriginal. This has to be my favourite of the lot. More melancholy than a mass rendition of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by the recently jilted lovers club mourning the death of the founding member. Hell does it feel good to be miserable when the tracks have this much fire and downright brilliance. Harking back to the days of Joy Division and Chameleons UK, you've heard it all before, but its a long time since its been done so well.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell

More NYC Punks (why has so much of my favourite music originated from NY?) This was another one I expected to hate but took a gamble and found myself with one of those albums you cherish forever. I have probably sickened Mrs Dio close to violence by singing the chourus of Maps over and over to myself this last year. Top ten track definitely, but there are also plenty of other great tracks on this short but accomplished album. It veers from all out punk attack to tender hand on heart ballading without a flicker. One more time now... "Wait, they don't love you like I love you..."

Jamie Says - The Silver Screen And The Stanley Blade

Don't bother looking for this minor masterpiece in the shops, you won't find it. Kyle Hill, front man of the now defunct Leicester band Circa 1983 recorded these tracks on his 4 Track. Jangly power pop which tips its nod to the likes of Joy Division, The Modern Lovers and the Velvets. Fucked mixing and some truly brilliant guitar. This album is tops and one of those ones which makes you want to start your own record label. Hats of Kyle, you da man and I'm looking forward to more! Its like CDs should be - hand produced, costing two quid and utterly jaw dropping.

Guided By Voices - Earthquake Glue

Probably the most prolific band on the planet. I only had two of their albums prior to this, both brilliant. Bee Thousand is another Top Ten album and lives permanently in my right hand nav>. Nice. This one popped up so I snapped at the chance to listen. Took a few listens but wowsers. They are out of the basement here, but the genius is still evident. Plenty of established GBV themes and fragmented song logic, but with added production value that makes this the definitive GBV album of the past 6 months... Main Street Wizards is my drop dead track off this album, but there are plenty of others which will send you critical.

Lou Reed

I've been a big Lou Reed fan for about 15 years (almost half me life.) He is a flawed god, and probaly my biggest inspiration. He showed me that I could sing and make music despite the fact I can't sing or make music. The last few months has seen me replacing my old scratchy vinyl with shiny CD. Highlights from my Lou Reed back catalgue, showing the layers which I missed on my sound system have been: The Bells (highly under-rated), Street Hassle and Berlin (I thought the scratches and noise added character, the clean version shows it wasn't required.) Its good to catch up with one of the greats.

Television Personalities - And Don't The Kids Just Love It

Dan Treacy is one of the UK's greatest musicians. The man had talent to die for and never appreciated how inspirational he was. A true punk. He made his own music that interested him and didn't care about his technique or style. Mod psychedlia with a heartfelt northern soul. This debut album (1981) has some short sharp tracks which will warm your heart and make your toes tap. Echoes of Phil Spector, The Who and early Floyd mix easily and happily with an army of UK punk meisters. The band which inspired Alan Mcgee to create creation records (we will ignore the fact they launched Oasis and remember the good stuff) and an army of bedroom strummers to give it some. All hail this long overdue re-release of one of those seminal punk albums which lives up to the moniker of true punk.

I'm not a massive collecter of 'Rock Memrobilia,' but I have three pieces I am proud of. A signed copy of 'What's Welsh For Zen?' dedicated to me by John Cale, a couple of albums signed by Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom and recently, thanks to Ebay, a poster of a Television Personalities gig from the 80's signed by the man himself, Dan Treacy, my hero.

Spectrum - Soul Glide Divine

Which following Dan, is a nice segway into my next hero, Sonic Boom. The man is off on some weird trips recently, but this is before the current electric maelstrom. the man was making blissed dronescapes like this album. Another rediscovery from me old scratchy vinyl. I lost a signed copy of this from Ebay last year, but finally secured a copy recently. Despite what Amazon say, this album is a bastard to get hold of. Lovely whale like bleats give way to droning love ballads, this album takes a long while to get into. Once its implanted though, that's your lot.

Posted by Dio Bach at 03:06

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