List

Updated list of 50 songs most listened to according to itunes (so, since maybe 2007, 2008):

1. Different Worlds - Brittany Cairns (208 plays) [last time: #1]
2. This World Can Make You Happy - Amaya Laucirica (130) [#2]
3. 100 Million Little Bombs - Buddy Miller (126) [new]
4. It Must Come Through - Jen Cloher and the Endless Sea (116) [#3]
5. New Year - Beach House (115) [#4]
6. State of Grace - Taylor Swift (114) [= #43]
7. 23 - Blonde Redhead (105) [#5]
8. Out Loud - Mindy Smith (93) [#6]
9. Useless Desires - Patty Griffin (92) [new]
=10. The Mother We Share - Chvrches (91) [new]
=10. Starry Skies - Laura Cantrell (91) [new]
12. Aeroplane - The Everybodyfields (87) [= #8]
13. Coming Home To Me - Patty Griffin feat Julie Miller (84) [#7]
=14. Sweet Talk - Jessie Ware (82) [new]
=14. Slow Show - The National (82) [= #15]
16. Godspell - The Cardigans (80) [#11]
=17. No Bad News - Patty Griffin (78) [#37]
=17. Even Though I'm A Woman - Seeker Lover Keeper (78) [#13]
19. Blue Lips - Regina Spektor (77) [= #8]
=20. Ode to LRC - Band of Horses (76) [#10]
=20. Don't Tell Me - Buddy Miller (76) [new]
22. All I Can - Sharon Van Etten (75) [#14]
=23. Circumambient - Grimes (74) [#12]
=23. Manchester - Kishi Bashi (74) [new]
=23. Hey, Snow White - The New Pornographers (74) [= #15]
=26. You Keep Me Hangin' On - Janelle Arthur (73) [new]
=26. The Bleeding Heart Show - The New Pornographers (73) [= #19]
=26. I Don't Ever Give Up - Patty Griffin (73) [new]
=29. I Think I Broke Something - Dan Rohmer and Benh Zeitlin (72) [new]
=29. I Got Nothing - Dum Dum Girls (72) [= #17]
=29. Red - Taylor Swift (72) [new]
=29. I Couldn't Be Your Friend - Tegan and Sara (72) [new]
=33. Modern Love - The Last Town Chorus (70) [= #19]
=33. Lie in the Sound - Trespassers William (70) [= #17]
35. Mexico City - Jolie Holland (69) [= #21]
=36. Perfectly - Natalie Imbruglia (68) [new]
=36. Don't Let Me Die in Florida - Patty Griffin (68) [new]
=36. Wild Old Dog - Patty Griffin (68) [new]
=36. From This Moment On - Shania Twain (68) [new]
=40. With God On Our Side - Buddy Miller (66) [new]
=40. Joints - Holly Miranda (66) [= #21]
42. Fake Empire - The National (65) [= #24]
=43. Alex - Girls (64) [#23]
=43. What I Thought Of You - Holly Throsby (64) [= #29]
=45. To A Poet - First Aid Kit (63) [= #29]
=45. Crush in the Ghetto - Jolie Holland (63) [new]
=45. Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National (63) [= #29]
=45. Burgundy Shoes - Patty Griffin (63) [new]
=49. Let's Get Out Of This Country - Camera Obscura (62) [= #29]
=49. Ride the Wind to Me - Julie Miller (62) [= #38]

The Lone Bellow - The Lone Bellow

First listen through, it starts with "Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold", up-tempo altish-country-rock, guitars and electric bass, drums and accenting harmonies all the way through, bits of banjo and mandolin, prominent lyrical references to New York City ("the F train takes us home"), ok but not life-changing; and then, three and a half minutes into hitherto quietly folkish second track "Tree To Grow", the build to and sung-shouted harmonised rise on the line "it gets harder and harder" - and I knew I was gonna like this one. Repeat listens reveal an all round solid modern americana record, covering the usual bases well; in the ballpark of, say, the Everybodyfields.

Inside Llewyn Davis

One thing about the Coen brothers, they never fail to make interesting movies. I was going to say that I think I generally prefer the simpler, perhaps broader pleasures of many of their earlier films (Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou? especially), but a quick glance at their filmography goes to show what a remarkable track record they in fact have maintained all the way through to the present day (I'd forgotten all about their excellent True Grit), not to mention their range along the way.

Anyway, there's a lot to chew on with Inside Llewyn Davis, much of it at the level of suggestion, implication, tone - it's very much an art film. Comic and sombre, it seems to regard the folk scene of 60s Greenwich Village primarily as setting qua setting, though there's a fondness to the depiction too.

(w/ Wei and Andreas)

Neil Gaiman - Absolute Sandman vol 3

More of these great large-format, recoloured issues of Gaiman's masterwork. Includes Dream and Delirium's charming visit to Destruction, and the stories within stories of the Worlds' End sequence.

(vol 1 , vol 2)

The Man With The Iron Fists

Deliriously violent kung fu genre piece written, directed and starred in by RZA, 'presented by' Tarantino. The two best things about it: Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu (collectively, and both well into the spirit of over the top fun), and the overall determination to create as much action and mayhem as possible. But despite those assets, the film feels thin - it does plenty to occupy the attention, but ultimately, there's not much there.

Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellery

It has its moments, but this piece of kitchen-sink pop is a bit too discordant for my tastes nowadays.

Patrick Ness - A Monster Calls

Not the monster you're expecting but, it turns out, the one you need. A good one.

Lev Grossman - The Magician King

In which Grossman continues his extremely enjoyable conversation with fantasy and, I suppose, between 'fantasy' and 'literature'. Like The Magicians, it's sincere in its belief in the pleasures of fantasy and magic and simultaneously determined to investigate their implicit costs and consequences, and succeeds on both levels at once, not least through the characterisation of its key protagonists, thoroughly damaged and eminently recognisable all.

Jose Saramago - The Elephant's Journey

A whimsical and often humorous narration of the overland (with sea-crossing section) transport of an elephant from Lisbon to Vienna in the mid 16th century, peppered with digressions and authorial commentary, and with more than a bit of the air of a fable. Has more in common with Death at Intervals than Blindness, but is different again from either of those; I can't remember exactly why Alice lent it to me, but it had something to do with the amusing way that it steps out the various organisational and logistical elements of the journey.

"Pop-prog"

A mix cd from Julian a while back, provided with expressed doubts about whether such a genre exists at all. A bit of Pink Floyd listening through late high school and early uni aside, I've always struggled with prog - it doesn't speak to me...for the most part, that's also true of the songs on this mix, though they make for interesting listening - the only ones that I really like are the pair by Genesis, "Back in NYC" and "The Carpet Crawlers".

I'm Not There soundtrack

I haven't seen the film - want to, though, if only for Cate as Dylan - but figured the soundtrack was nonetheless a good bet, with quite the roster of artists taking on a range of Dylan cuts, some that I knew and others not, across two cds. I've never gone deep into his discography, but I guessed I've listened to a handful of his albums, heard a whole bunch of other songs, and generally had a fairly meaningful experience of his music - as well as the aura - without truly becoming a fan over the years...anyway, some of the contributions don't make much of an impression, while others are great.

Some that stand out, for a range of reasons: Cat Power's "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again", Calexico and Charlotte Gainsbourgh's "Just Like A Woman" (hard to go wrong with that one), Roger McGuinn and Calexico's "One More Cup of Coffee" (that latter popping up on several tracks, as do a few other acts), Jeff Tweedy's "Simple Twist of Fate", Mark Lanegan's "The Man in the Long Black Cloak", the Hold Steady's "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?", Antony & the Johnsons' "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (though not as revelatory as that pairing had the potential to be), Eddie Vedder's "All Along the Watchtower".

Arcade Fire - Reflektor

If you're going to release a double cd, then you've got to earn it, and Arcade Fire do that with Reflektor. It's partly through ensuring that the two cds are pretty different in sound - the first rockier, the second more expansive...in their different ways, both are kind of dancey, and also kind of not. (Flipping through a Rolling Stone earlier today, I saw a phrase about indie-pop's adorable crush on disco, in the context of Tegan and Sara's Heartthrob, and Arcade Fire definitely have some kind of relationship with it too, albeit to generally more sombre effect.)

The first disc is higher energy, with clearer drums and beats, more guitar, and vocals more to the foreground (Win does all the lead singing on Reflektor, though Regine's presence is still felt on many of its songs) and a closer - albeit only really in relative terms - relationship to the mainstream of rock music (though the pair near its back end which are the most straight-up on the album are both essentially placed in quote marks - "Normal Person" by the plug-in and feedback that opens it, and the jangly "You Already Know" with an introductory voice announcing the band's name); the second takes a spacier, more slowed-down route and includes my two current favourites, "Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice)" and "It's Never Over (Oh Orpheus)", as well as the delightful "Afterlife" (speaking of which, this made my day when I saw it).

Then again, there's plenty that holds across the whole set - the unexpected change-ups and transitions which have always been a hallmark for them (going back as far as "Wake Up"), the odd instrumental choices that you don't consciously notice till you focus on them, the sense that what's in play here are more pieces of music than conventional pop songs, and lots and lots of hooks (again, often coming from unexpected directions).

You can play spot the influences with them, but Arcade Fire have always sounded more like themselves than any combination of others, and over the course of Funeral, Neon Bible, The Suburbs and now Reflektor - four outstanding albums in a row - they've carved out a distinctive musical identity and one which continues to grow in interesting ways each outing...they're turning out to genuinely be something a bit special.

Six Feet Under seasons 3 to 5

Some thoughts on what makes Six Feet Under, and makes it good at that:

• I mentioned Crewdson in writing about the first two seasons; the dvd cover for season 3 is much in that vein, while taking cues from Hopper too, not least in the staging of the characters, none making eye contact with any other (nor with the viewer).

• Indeed, there's a painterly eye to many of the shots throughout the series, particularly the interiors, and particularly in the Fisher's house, which contributes a lot to the show.
• The flights of imagination, conversations with dead people (whether the patriarch Nathaniel, other significant figures like Lisa, or those being prepared in the embalming room) and dream sequences are also important to the show's tone and feel. And they're only sometimes obviously fantastic, so that being brought out of them is sometimes jarringly disorienting; a special case, perhaps, which does something quite interesting with the subjective experience implied by those depictions, is the recurrent deja vu throughout the episode in which Nate recovers from his collapse.
• Six Feet Under is very good on relationships and on interactions. I recognised a lot that was familiar from my own experience in it, even where the personalities being depicted were quite different - which, of course, prompts the question: just how different are they, actually?  
• It's also striking that the show's very committed to giving as many of its characters as possible real inner lives, even the relatively minor recurring ones.
• It feels like a very adult show. I don't think I could have got anywhere near as much out of it as I have, had I been watching it during its original run (2001-2005), though probably I would've responded to aspects of its sombre, slightly surreal palette.
• After googling, I remembered Lauren Ambrose (Claire) from seeing her in Can't Hardly Wait, way back when. Funny how these things stick with you, somehow.
• Ruth is the character who's most touched me, I think.
• Oh and the finale. What a closer. I think it's congruent with everything that's come before, and strikes just the right tone...it's memorable.

Untitled mix cd

I've always thought that the New Pornographers' brand of pop was quite unique, but here we go - Sparks, on the strength of "The Decline and Fall of Me", must have been a huge influence, because that song sounds an awful lot like a template for much of the Pornographers' (still genius) output. Other discoveries from this mix cd (from Julian): a mash-up of "Head Like A Hole" and "Call Me Maybe" ("Call Me A Hole", by PomDeter) works quite well but probably would work better if I was more familiar with Carly Rae Jepsen's original; a band called Wondermints made some nice retro-sounding pop a while back ("Fleur-De-Lis"); "Our Own War" by Loudon Wainwright III is good and so too, from her last album, "Shine" by Joni Mitchell.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Exciting and great-looking, and better paced than the first one. And Legolas even has some complexity!

"Starry skies" (2013 cd)

The soundtrack to last year.

1  State Of Grace – Taylor Swift

Red (Big Machine; 2012)

2  Forever Is A Long Time – Krystle Warren

Love Songs – A Time You May Embrace (Parlour Door; 2012)

3  I Think I Broke Something – Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin

Beasts of the Southern Wild OST (Thirty3 And A 3rd; 2012)

4  Forever Green – The Felice Brothers

Mix Tape (New York Pro; 2010) – although somewhat ironically actually from a mix cd

5  Sweet Talk – Jessie Ware

Devotion (Island; 2012)

6  Manchester – Kishi Bashi

151a (Joyful Noise; 2012)

7  I Couldn’t Be Your Friend – Tegan and Sara

Heartthrob (Warner; 2013)

8  Useless Desires – Patty Griffin

Impossible Dream (ATO; 2004)

9  With God On Our Side – Buddy Miller

Universal United House of Prayer (New West; 2004)

10  Ohio – Patty Griffin

American Kid (New West; 2013)

11  100 Million Little Bombs – Buddy Miller

Poison Love (HighTone; 1997)

12  Starry Skies – Laura Cantrell

No Way There From Here (Shoeshine; 2013)

13  The Wire – Haim

Days Are Gone (Polydor; 2013)

14  The Mother We Share – Chvrches

The Bones Of What You Believe (Glassnote; 2013)

1

Seems like I listened to a lot of big glossy pop records through 2013, and Red, which carried me from last year well into this, was the biggest and glossiest of them all, and maybe the best. I like Taylor Swift heaps – knowingly, but not at all ironically – and “State Of Grace” knocks it out of the park, shearing along in vivid, rapturous lines…it’s a rush.

2

It was not once but twice that Krystle Warren’s astonishing voice caught me – a while back at a Nick Drake tribute concert, and then again over the in-store speakers in Basement Discs. That second time, it was Love Songs that was playing, a swooningly romantic set that partakes of folk, blues, jazz and classic pop, and swirls it all into a confection that feels timeless. Sometimes it’s in the tiniest details that a song gets to you; “Forever Is A Long Time” is at once the lp’s most representative and its finest moment.

3

Something about Beasts Of The Southern Wild really caught at me and lingered – I guess that’s what art does. Like a splinter under the skin, I worried at it and it went ever deeper; I suppose I’ll never fully dislodge it, or uncover just what it is that causes such a visceral response in me. But there’s this, at least: the music’s an integral part.

4

I find myself singing along to this one a lot; so dusty, so evocative.

5

There can’t be too many songs that so embody their titles as this one, all elegant swagger, and going down so smoothly.

6

“Manchester” sounds like a rainbow, swirling upwards all the way through to that final flurry of strings.

7

So Tegan and Sara emerging with such a monster of a pop album, riding on waves of synths ripped straight from the 80s, melodies to kill for and an eye for the stadium – that was maybe something of a surprise. But what’s not a surprise at all is that it’s so plainly, desperately heart-on-sleeve – which is what makes “I Couldn’t Be Your Friend”, and indeed the whole of Heartthrob, so darn great.

8-11

Well, this year, I basically fell completely in love with Patty Griffin. There’s something transcendent about her music, some quality that calls to mind that old line about music being feeling then, not sound; it’s a quality present on luminous, unadorned songs like “Useless Desires” as well as in the more ornate mysteries of a track like the riverine “Ohio”. And then there was Buddy Miller, a fellow traveller along these roads of contemporary Americana; for several months through the middle of the year, I pretty much only listened to the two of them. Like Griffin, Miller has impressive range as both a songwriter and an interpreter; his 9 minute-long reading of Dylan’s “With God On Our Side” is revelatory, its simplicity perfectly, finely wrought, and then there are cuts like the chiming “100 Million Little Bombs”, its yearning feel completed by Julie Miller’s distinctive, lovely harmonies.

12

Another unutterably sweet slice of modern country from the ever delightful Laura Cantrell, from another wonderful album – it feels so effortless, and yet there’s so much craft and heart to it that you couldn’t possibly take it for granted.

13

Yes! Clearly Haim are all kinds of awesome, and Days Are Gone didn’t disappoint; “The Wire” is the best of the new songs on it, sheer pop-rock pleasure. (I was very tempted to choose their excellent cover of “Strong Enough”, which isn’t on the album, instead.)

14

I only discovered this one recently, sugary-sharp, and I keep expecting it to wear off, and it keeps on showing no signs at all of doing so – like all the best pop, it’s a moment, fleeting, that feels like it might last forever, even though you know it never will.

December 2013

* * *

Previously

2012
2010 & 2011
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005 

Mazzy Star - Seasons of Your Day

I'm sentimental about Mazzy Star, and for me - as for many if not all of their other fans, I suspect - there's a doubled affect and piquancy, in that their music at once recalls a very specific time and state of mind, and a more generalised out-of-time mood.

How that translates to the release of Seasons of Your Day, many years on from those halcyon days of the 90s, I'm not exactly sure. But, somehow, it fits seamlessly - not much has changed in their sound since that earlier trio of records (She Hangs Brightly, So Tonight That I Might See, Among My Swan), yet rather than sounding in any way anachronistic or stale, Seasons feels simply like another, perfectly-fitting swatch in the tapestry of the band's music and what it's meant for me.

Killing Them Softly

Overall doesn't do a bad job with its somewhat philosophical take on the crime genre, though the tone's a bit odd...the frequent interweaving of politician/media punditry on the state of the American economy and society (with implied parallels to the criminal economy) were a bit pretentious - ie overreaching while underdone - for mine.

Ace Attorney

Japanese, film based on video game, entertaining - although it doesn't have the same fizzing energy of, say, a Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Gilbert Hernandez - Marble Season

This was pleasant but I suspect that comic aficionados might get more out of Marble Season than I did; having said that, the evocation of childhood is quite charming (it reminded me of Peanuts, which I was fortunate enough to have encountered in my own childhood and which I've thought before might be worth going back to). This was a gift from Wei, delivered by Ruth when she was visiting a while back.

Little White Lies 50

Little White Lies is a film magazine and this was one of its issues, but it felt more like a book. A 50th issue special, it comprises 50 short pieces by a range of film writers and makers, one for each of the last 50 years (1964-2013) and each about a single frame from a film released in that year, and with facing page graphics all done by different artists. It's a nicely packaged thing, with some really good writing in it, and a few flashes that gave me new perspectives either on particular films that I'd already seen or on film as a whole, as well as several that made me want to watch the films in question.