Mercury revved

Oops – I wrote this yesterday and then saved it as a draft instead of publishing it. Oh well. Read with irony…

I don’t normally care very much about the Mercury prize, but Elbow’s victory last year probably restored some credibility to it, and the speculation about the likely nominees, announced tomorrow, is interesting.

I would have no problem with Florence and the Machine receiving a nod – it’s an undeniably interesting and successful record. I can’t help but think her voice, while powerful, is unsubtle and many of the rich arrangements on the collection serve to prevent it sounding like an insistent honk. But still, Rabbit Heart is surely one of the most striking singles released all year, and the long player lives up to its promise.

Probably the record I’ve listened to more than any other in 2009 is Wall of Arms by The Maccabees, so I very much hope that gets acknowledged. Among other currently trendy artists, Jack Penate would not be an unworthy nominee either – both of those records are excellent albums that function as a whole from start to finish, and do interesting things with the sounds they use.

Elbow’s win has probably cooked the goose of their fellow epic and melancholy Mancs the Doves – I suppose a nomination might come their way, but they clearly can’t win.

Emmy the Great’s album would also be a welcome nominee. The Noisettes seem not to have gained the momentum I would have expected on the back of such a strong pop record – a nomination would be a well-deserved fillip for them. And Bat for Lashes seems an inevitability.

There has been some discussion of Madness’s Liberty of Norton Folgate earning them a nomination as this year’s “heritage artist”. I’ve only listened to it once, and while I’m sure it’s very good, and will grow on me, I’m sceptical of claims that it’s their greatest record ever. It perhaps risks over-shadowing the Pet Shop Boys’ Yes, which probably functions better as a pop record and should, if there’s any justice (which, of course, there isn’t – not generally, and seldom where the MErcury is concerned), be on the list.

What else? Oh yes – Camera Obscura. I like their My Maudlin Career album, but can’t quite get past the problem that it’s not as good as its predecessor Let’s Get Out Of This Country record. Still, it would be lovely to see it get recognised.

There are some conspicuous selections that have been tipped but plainly do not deserve a nomination. I have quite a bit of time for the Glasvegas album, for instance… but the best record of the last twelve months? Of course not. Jarvis Cocker’s deeply mediocre Further Complications has no place on the list either. And the Manics’ Journal for Plague Lovers, while a lovely idea, failed to excite my ears in the end. Could Morrissey be on there? Years of Refusal is a decent record, but surely shouldn’t be on the list.

It would be jolly nice to see Thomas Tantrum’s debut album get nominated, come to think of it – it rewarded a lot of listens last year, despite being superficially simply shouty and noisy.

And finally… wel, it would gladden my heart beyond measure if MJ Hibbett’s Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez were to strike a blow for Proper Indie and make the nominees. I will be astonished if it does, but it’s a lovely thought…

Some album reviews

2009 is shaping up to be a year of many albums and few reviews. There certainly seems to be more around that I want to listen to than there was last year, including many records by old favourites. I’ve got a backlog of reviews to write, but I’ll try and clear some of that now rather than doing a round-up at the end of the year. Trouble is, a lot of records from returning artists come with high expectations attached, and mostly they’re not being met…

AC Newman – Get Guilty
Given that AC Newman’s extremely distinctive songs – built around convoluted, unobvious and technical, yet still somehow tuneful and poppy melodies – form the bedrock of all New Pornographers albums, his solo outings seem a bit redundant. This is particularly so here: the clattery instrumentation and slightly unpredictable mix of instruments is not unlike the sound on the New Pornographers’ last record, Challengers, which saw them retreat further into mid-paced chugging and away from the high-tempo style of earlier outings. Nonetheless I’ve found it rather enjoyable on both records: many of these songs smoulder without ever coming alive, which initially was frustrating, but after numerous listens seemed somehow right. I’d probably recommend the first two New Pornographers albums above this, but it’s still good.

Howling Bells – Radio Wars
This was a disappointment: producer Nigel Godrich has brought his usual sophisticated sound, but unfortunately the band couldn’t bring the songs. There are a few compelling moments – Golden Web, Cities Burning Down and Treasure Hunt particularly stick in the mind – but if anything this record just highlights how good the debut was. Juanita Stein’s beguiling voice remains a sweetener of course, but the songs on the debut album simply stick in the mind better. Pity.

Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
Difficult to know what to say about this, other than “another very good Neko Case album”. Perhaps that it seems a bit more open and optimistic than the dark and at times oppressive Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Case has also developed the art of the short song that doesn’t outstay its welcome, and similarly the short album. It’s not much more than half an hour, but it’s captivating.

Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
Still not totally sure about this. Released online first, it has an almost stop-gap feel to it, and seems much less measured than 2007’s Hey Venus; rather, the band seems to have gone into the studio, had fun and released the results. But with such a brilliant band, the results are inevitably going to be worth listening to: there are some great pop songs on here, but some others that seem like indulgent wibbling. I’m still trying to work out which is which. On further reflection, I reckon that SFA’s natural instinct is to produce long, rambling records, which are OK (this, Love Kraft), but when they focus and produce something more concise, the results are even better (Phantom Power, Hey Venus!).

The Decemberists – The Hazards Of Love
Goodness me. This is a bit of a trial – a lengthy concept album telling the story of some convoluted olde worlde love dynasty. Maybe. There’s a load of good tunes on here, and it’s a bit heavier than the Decemberists are known for. But ultimately it’s a suite of lengthy songs that would have been much more digestible in a straightforward form. As it is, the record weaves its way between they various storylines and musical motifs, in a way that’s no doubt well thought-out, but very demanding. I think I’ve only listened to it from start to finish about twice, but I enjoy dipping into it.

Pet Shop Boys – Yes
I question whether I should even bother writing about records when the Metro says it all. It described this album as being “like a greatest hits, but with new songs”. Exactly right: it sounds like, and is, a classic Pet Shop Boys album. Purely synthesised music often leaves me a bit cold, and even here I struggle a bit to retain my interest throughout – but that’s just me. I’m not sure that Xenomania have added much other than a dollop of traditional Pet Shop Boys sound – happily they’ve used the squelchy synth sounds they seem to favour quite sparingly. I’ve only got into the Pet Shop Boys a little recently, and I’m glad they’ve steered away from the rather chronic acoustic guitar-drive stuff of the 90s and more recently; much as I hesitate to applaud a band for playing to everyone’s expectations, the result here has been a triumph.

Doves – Kingdom of Rust
Hard to review. Another very good Doves album, rich, lush and epically melancholy, which as usual is more than the sum of its parts – the songs are so carefully crafted and sequenced that removing one from the context of the album always diminishes it. Being such an “albums band” looks an ever-more dicey prospect these days, but Doves remain a powerhouse both in the studio and the live arena as far as I’m concerned. Lovely stuff.

Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts
I’ve been impressed with this band ever since I encountered them (alongside Jack Penate, of whom more later) supporting Amy Winehouse a couple of years back. Superficially they looked like a garage rock trio, but there has always seemed to be a bit more going on than that. They have blossomed on this, their second album, which is an unabashed pop record. Don’t be fooled by the catchy but unrepresentative ad-driven hit Don’t Upset the Rhythm – the rest of the album is quite different, and frankly rather better than that single suggests. The title track alone is a two-minute epic, setting out the album’s theme of summers lost and fleeting love. Elsewhere they channel Amy Winehouse and This Charming Man to great effect. If there’s a snag, it’s that it’s maybe a bit too obviously poppy, and doesn’t repay too many listens. But a lot of great pop records fit into that category; this is just another, and is no less impressive for it.

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
This is a lovely record. Really really nice. Like its predecessor, Let’s Get Out of This Country, it has a lush, open sound to it, with gorgeous trilling strings, buckets of reverb, some delightful twangy guitar and the usual adornments of indie in the finest tradition – glockenspiels, tambourines, girl harmonies etc. Also like its predecessor, it is made up of often introspective, lovelorn songs in which Traceyanne Campbell contemplates her unhappy romantic adventures. The thing is… it’s not its predecessor; it’s just a new version of the same record. It’s a bit moot how much this matters. Maybe the songs here tip from the affectingly lovelorn into the repetitive and self-pitying… but not by much. They’re lovely songs… but they don’t quite have the impact of Lloyd, I’m Ready to be Heartbroken, Country Mile and Razzle Dazzle Rose. Still, it’s a gorgeous record to listen to, even if it does seem to signal that Camera Obscura’s journey to develop their sound lasted three albums and has now stopped. The harshest thing you can say about this album is it makes it obvious just how superb the one before it was. I still can’t decide whether that’s a fault with this record or not.

Alessi’s Ark – Notes from the Treehouse
There’s a lot that’s dislikeable about this perfectly good record. I’m resentful of these gifted teenagers who come along and produce beautifully crafted records, just for being gifted teenagers. But I’m also not convinced, frankly: Alessi Laurent-Marke has written a load of slightly twee but likeable and sweet songs, presented here with an indie-country twang, that frankly is too smooth to have arisen by happy accident. This is a well-produced record, and I feel a bit manipulated for liking it. And although Alessi has a lovely breathy voice, I’m not convinced her songs bear many repeated listens either. A nice but superficial summery record.

The Maccabees – Wall of Arms
Unlike some of the records above, the Maccabees’ sophomore effort has a lot of listens in it – it has established itself on my MP3 player as the thing I listen to when I can’t decide what else to listen to. Comparisons to Arcade Fire without all the strings would be obvious, but not without merit. It’s played pretty hard and straight by a superficially conventional guitar-band line-up of sounds, but for all that, it has a real sense if driving purpose. I was actually surprised to learn, after listening to it for the first time, that it was produced by Markus Dravs, the man who presided over the disappointment of Arcade Fire’s curiously muted and muffled-sounding Neon Bible. I’ve also been grappling with the curious cover to this record: I think I’ve concluded it’s a good cover, but not for this album, which seems to me to demand artwork more abstract and dense if it’s to fit the music. Overall, though, it’s an impressive outing from a band I’d previously lumped in with all those boring white male guitar bands whose names I get mixed up. Their Glastonbury set strongly suggested it’s a big step on from their debut, whose material sounded pretty uninteresting by comparison.

Jarvis Cocker – Further Complications
There’s no getting around it: this is a disappointing record. Not just because Steve Albini’s approach to production seems to entail letting the band play basically live and forsaking any effort to make it sound interesting, but more fundamentally because the songs aren’t up to snuff. Thematically, Angela seems a re-tread of Sylvia from This Is Hardcore; many of the others are utterly forgettable. No amount of puns – of which there’s an unusual number here – can make up for the dullness of much of the material. Only on I Never Said I Was Deep does Jarvis approach his usual wit; but mostly he seems to lack something to sing about these days, beyond a certain middle-aged ennui. His live performance still counters this, and with Cocker leaping around on-stage and the volume at maximum, these songs make a certain brutal sense. But if he’s just looking for an excuse to present his dance moves, I’d rather have had a Jarvis Cocker Dancercise DVD than this album.

Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care
There’s a song on this eight-track electronica record that has pedal steel guitar on it (the fourth cut, Dull to Pause). I should love it for that alone. But my feelings towards this album are a bit more complicated. Its predecessor, So This Is Goodbye, has turned out to be one of my favourite records of all: it’s a bewitching set of warm and melancholy electronica, and quite lovely. Getting such feeling out of synthesisers is a rare trick, and it’s not one that the follow-up ever particularly attempts, save perhaps for on Sneak a Picture. The vibe is still mellow here: there are no stomping floor fillers here, but there’s certainly a harder edge to many of the songs, not least the pronounced groove of Hazel. If Hot Chip’s next album is indeed made up of end-of-the-night tunes, it might well end up sounding like this. But I wonder if hot Chip might manage to get the warmth and the danceability in happier balance here; I’m not quite sure what this album sets out to do, still less whether it succeeds or not. But the long tracks have plenty of time to stretch out and unfold… maybe too much. It’s nice, but it washes over me a bit. Somehow, it’s not as acute as its predecessor or as demanding of your feet as a full-blooded dance record.

Immaculate Machine – High on Jackson Hill
Canada’s Immaculate Machine started life as a bassless three-piece with a super line in energetic, clattery but literate and well-written songs. With their third album, 2007’s Fables, they seemed to tighten their sound, cut down the bluster and produce pop songs so well honed they almost seemed to lose a bit of their spark at times (good album, don’t get me wrong, just not my favourite). The process has continued here: this is a much more restrained and melancholic set, albeit still led by Brooke Gallupe, with Kathryn Calder in close support. Kathryn’s voice remains a particular strength of the group – I could listen to her sing anything. But drummer Luke Kozlowski has left, and the band have transformed into a more gentle five-piece outfit. Much as I’ve enjoyed the album, I’m more interested in hearing this line-up’s next record, in a way, as High on Jackson Hill seems to be a collection of very nice  songs, and the new line-up hasn’t made much of an impact on them (that I can detect, anyway). Kathryn, interestingly, has set up a solo Myspace page, with some lovely demos on it; a solo record from her would also be extremely welcome – quite understandably she has, I gather, been focusing more on her mother’s battle with motor neurone disease than music recently, but I look forward to whatever her next musical venture turns out to be.

MJ Hibbett and the Validators – Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez

As I was sitting in the Pineapple prior to Half Man Half Biscuit last October, I realised there’s a generation gap between me and Mark Hibbett. Not in the general sense: if a generation is 30 years, then the gap is anything beyond 15 years either side, and much as I enjoy reminding Mark how much younger I am than him… I’m not that much younger. It’s a musical generation gap: Mark remembers indie in the 1980s, before Britpop. He knows people who once had a pint in Sheffield with Jarvis Cocker, when he was just some lanky guy managing dodgy bands in Sheffield when his own band wasn’t doing anything. It probably seems the most natural thing in the world to Mark.

This is a significant thing: there’s all manner of jangly 80s indie bands of which I’m barely aware. Only the Smiths have really stood the test of time. To people now in their twenties (sorry Mark), the impact of Suede’s first album in the dog days of Kingmaker and Mega City Four can’t really be comprehended – at least, when I finally heard it post-Britpop, it seemed like old hat to me.

So, context is everything. An important item of context for MJ Hibbett’s fourth album with the Validators – Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez (from now on: RER) – is that producer (and drummer) Tim Pattison is also of the pre-Britpop era; indeed, he’s a massive fan of the Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit, and is ex of Prolapse. With all of this in mind, it’s maybe not surprising that RER sounds decidedly 80s much of the time. There is probably more distorted guitar than on any Validators record to date: a dense sound that’s a beefier version of what you’d find on many an 80s indie record.

It feels odd to be talking about an MJ Hibbett record in terms of the sound first, rather than the songs. But the songs are pretty much a constant these days. They are, as ever, acute, true, sometimes touching, often funny, and above all, VALID. Song titles like We’re Old and We’re Tired (and we want to go home) and Being Happy Doesn’t Make You Stupid give you the gist.

I said of this record’s predecessor, We Validate! that it was, “less an album, more a manual for life,” and much the same goes here. We Validate! featured the Validators playing with an impressive and coherent group sound for the first time, perhaps because it was recorded in less of a piecemeal fashion than the first two records. So I was slightly surprised to hear Mark suggest that the second album, This Is Not A Library (TINAL) remained his favourite (prior to this one), in preference to We Validate! I have a bit of a theory about this, actually. TINAL’s signature track, Easily Impressed, seems to me to be the first of Mark’s “here’s a good idea for how to live life” songs, which are his best. It has been followed by many more. The album overall was a mix of these and some of the more introspective or observational songs heard on his debut, Say It With Words. Perhaps it’s this, and the drawn-out recording sessions in Leicester, that lead Mark to prefer This Is Not A Library over We Valdate!; but for my money, We Validate! saw the blossoming of the post-Easily Impressed Hibbett, being a suite of the more reflective songs, and was all the more satisfying for it.

Another  contrast between latterday Hibbett and earlier records is that Mark seems in much more confident voice on record these days: this must be a product of being in a recording studio, as the largely home-recorded All Around My House and A Million Ukeleles seemed to feature rather more quiet vocals, more like the performances on Say It With Words.

Mark’s confident vocals, plus the coherence of the sound brought by Producer Tim, carry this set of songs extremely well. My favourite moments include the unconventional arrangement of Do More, Eat Less (also a particularly brilliant lyric, with Mark using weight loss as a metaphor for taking responsibility for one’s fate, of which, oddly, Margaret Thatcher would probably approve) and the classic pop arrangement of My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once, which comes out sounding like Breakaway. The sonorous yet jangly guitar of Leicester’s Trying To Tell Me Something, as well as Emma’s floaty vocals sound particularly early ’90s, even verging on – dare I say? – shoegazing… I do wonder if the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink backing doesn’t occasionally compete with the songs a bit – All the Good Men in particular seemed to work even better in Totally Acoustic mode to me.

It’s shaping up to be a busy year for Mark: even now he is writing his one-man rock opera (sic) for this year’s Edinburgh Festival, and I’m looking forward to that immensely. I hope it doesn’t overshadow Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez, however, as it is BLOODY GRATE and you should buy it.

Sweet release, slight return

Right, here’s a revised version of the list of albums I’ve yet to obtain in 2009, but intend to (more reviews likely when I have a few more to review…). And a request: bearing the below in mind, what else should I be investigating? There seems to be quite a few female-fronted outfits / oddly-names solo projects going on at the moment: which are worth further attention?

• Bonnie Prince Billy – out now (“Beware”)
• Super Furry Animals – out now (“Dark Days/Light Years”)
• The Decemberists – March 23rd  (“The Hazards Of Love”)
• Noisettes – 30th Mar (“Wild Young Hearts”)
• Doves  – 6th Apr (“Kingdom of Rust”)
• Bat for Lashes – 6th Apr (“Two Suns”)
• Broken Family Band – 20th April (“Please and Thank You”)
• Immaculate Machine – 21st Apr[North American release date], (”High on Jackson Hill”)
• Camera Obscura  – 21st April (“My Maudlin Career”)
• Dear Reader – May 4th (“Replace Why With Funny”)
• MJ Hibbett and the Validators – 11th May (“Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez”)
• Junior Boys  – 11th May (“Begone Dull Care”) [24th Mar Canadian release]

Four album reviews

I gave up on regular album and live reviews shortly after I started this blog, even though when I ran a separate website I succeeded in listing my listening habits fairly religiously – not least every new album I bought in 2006. As a slight substitute, you can view what I’m listening to on my PC via Last FM in the left-hand sidebar on this blog (though obviously this is a limited view of my listening – most of the time I spend listening to music is while commuting, via my MP3 player – plus it is temperamental and has stopped and started working several times even in the time it has taken me to write this post). So while I don’t pretend this is a promise to return to my obsessive reviewing of a few years ago, I have been taken by a whim to review the few new albums I’ve acquired so far this year.

This is not least because I’m in an unusually serious disagreement with Dan Paton about the M Ward album. To me, it sounds like a logical progression from his last solo outing Post War, away from that record’s predecessor, Transistor Radio. The delicate guitar playing is sidelined still further, and the folksy instrumentals now totally removed. Instead it is a consistent stab at a pop record.

Now, an M Ward pop record is probably never going to be as satisfying as one of his more rootsy albums, but it still functions pretty well. Overall it is characterised by a rather languid feel and some straightforward arrangements. Ward’s tunes are reliably pretty, and his accomplished guitar playing adorns the songs in an unostentatious but well-judged manner – few songs pass without some small delight of a hook or flourish. Synths and strings are smeared across some songs to provide atmospheric effect rather than to provide arrangements on which the listener can focus, and to this end they generally succeed.

At times it heads into soft rock territory: the closing instrumental track is utterly gorgeous, but does hint at Dire Straits (no bad thing in my book). I also have to disagree with Dan about the Lucinda Williams collaboration Oh Lonesome Me – the melody is strong and the slide guitar framing it downright lovely; the sudden unexpected arrival of Williams’ vocals (I bought the MP3 version, so didn’t have advance notice from any inlay) intrigues still further. Overall, I’m not going to argue this is Ward’s best work, which must still surely be Transistor Radio, but I feel it hangs together rather better than Post War, which now seems like a halfway house between the two.

A record I can sum up much more easily is the disappointing debut by Fight Like Apes. Occasionally it hints at the off-the-wall oddball lyrics of McLusky – a band the Apes have covered – but generally ends up as tiresome quirkiness for its own sake. There are a lot of loud guitars and screams, and at its best it undeniably works: Tie Me Up With Jackets was a strong single. But on the whole, I suspect this is a record I would have liked a lot more ten years ago when I had heard a lot less indie music than I have now – to my seventeen-year-old ears, it would probably have sounded inspired.

The remaining two records are both outings on which I have mixed feelings so far. The debut album by Emmy the Great has a lot to recommend it: it is never less than tuneful, and the performances from the musicians, and Emmy’s vocals, are always winning – at first blush the backing sounds ramshackle and clattery, but on reflection is it tightly arranged and played, giving the record a distinctive sound, both acoustic and rich. Lyrically, the record is confessional to the point of being harrowing: as the title suggests, it is a document of a “serious relationship”, now over. The thing I can’t decide is whether I find it so honest as to be uncomfortable, or just self-indulgent emotional wanking; either way, much as I enjoy listening to this record and think it is very good, there is something about it that sits awkwardly with me.

Finally, the new album from Morrissey… I approached it with low expectations, and this was perhaps for the best. I’m enjoying it a lot: it has a loudness, an openness and an energy that makes it much more listenable and immediate than its claustrophobic predecessor Ringleader of the Tormentors (albeit that the dense production on that record was a fascinating listen). But… is it any good? I am not convinced the songs are much of an improvement on Ringleader, which found Moz on rather predictable, limited and repetitive lyrical form. I still maintain his comeback album You Are the Quarry had a greater concentration of high calibre, memorable songs on it than probably any other single Moz record – even the inevitable “filler” tracks seemed a cut above their counterparts on Ringleader. Perhaps I need to give this record some more listens: it is certainly a very confident outing from Morrissey; at the moment, I am not sure whether his confidence is sweeping me up in the record, or whether it is truly justified. I suspect the answer is that it’s somewhere between good and middling – but I can’t tell where yet.

Sweet release

Here’s an updated version of that list of albums I’m looking forward to. No release dates or anything yet for Pipettes, Jarvis, Handsome Family or McKeown.

• Emmy the Great – 9th Feb (“First Love”)
• Morrissey – 16th Feb (“Years of Refusal”)
• AC Newman – 16th Feb (“Get Guilty”) [Edited, previously showed US release date]
• M Ward – 16th Feb (“Hold Time”)
• Howling Bells – 2nd Mar (“Radio Wars”)
• Neko Case – 3rd Mar [North American release date?] (“Middle Cyclone”)
• Noisettes – 30th Mar (“Wild Young Hearts”)
• Doves  – 30th Mar (“Kingdom of Rust”)
• Immaculate Machine – 21st Apr[North American release date], (”High on Jackson Hill”)
• Camera Obscura  – 21st April (“My Modelling Career”)
• MJ Hibbett and the Validators – 11th May (“Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez”)
• Junior Boys  – 11th May (“Begone Dull Care”) [24th Mar Canadian release]

From the old version of the list, I have acquired only the Fight Like Apes album, which is a cross between the Chalets and McLusky – unfortunately, like the former band, they promise a bit more than they deliver if you ask me.

Lovely noise

Here’s a smart deal, in the ever-evolving world of music, record companies and how the hell do we actually make any money from music?? Fight Like Apes have hit on a neat offer – I’m sure they’re not the first band to do it, but it’s the first time I’ve considered taking advantage of it. Album plus gig ticket for thirteen quid: job’s a good ‘un!

Two drawbacks. Firstly, it makes it a bit harder to arrange a group of people to go to the gig: it’s one thing for one of you to book however-many tickets, but it’s another for that person to have to dish out a load of CDs subsequently.

Bigger problem still: their London gig is at the Camden Barfly. Now, Camden is easily my least favourite part of London, and the Barfly probably my least favourite venue (now the wretched Astoria has been rightly condemned to demolition),  so it has to be a gig I’m really really keen to see before I’ll even consider going there. I’m looking forward to hearing the album, but I’m not going to commit to the gig before I’ve got to know it. Actually, there’s a third problem: what if loads of people buy the album and gig tickets, but the album’s a disappointment and the gigs are officially sold-out, but half-empty in practice? I suppose they’ve got the cash by then, so it hardly matters.

Whole lotta nerve

Here’s a little interweb delight for you: Neko Case has made the lead single from her forthcoming album Middle Cyclone available free for download. It’s a jangly and upbeat number called People Got A Lotta Nerve, though maybe the music belies the lyrics a little.

Additionally, it’s being released in aid of the Best Friends Animal Society, with Case and her Anti label pledging a donation to it for every blog that re-posts the track. So here you go.

People Got A Lotta Nerve – Neko Case

2009 Albums

I’m not a great one for new year’s resolutions. Not because I can’t stick to them, or because I think they’re a waste of time, but more because I tend to forget them. I’m pretty sure I made one for 2008… but probably in February, and I now cannot remember what it was.

In the face of increasing numbers of wretchedly young people actually Doing Things With Their Lives (Lewis Hamilton, Rachel Riley – who I hope does not get too much of a hard time as The New Carol, or at least not unless she really deserves it – and now Matt Smith, to name but three), I have set myself the relatively attainable goal – I hope – of figuring out over the course of 2009 what the heck I’m doing with mine. Actually doing anything about this analysis will probably have to wait until 2010.

More realistically in the short term, I’m resolving not to let myself fall behind with music in the way I did in 2008. I’m probably never going to be as hungry for new music to enjoy as I was a few years ago, but even so my best of 2008 summary suffered from the absence of a good few records that I really should have got hold of before the start of December (I Am Kloot, Young Knives and Santogold would all have featured if I had got my act together).

With this in mind (plus also the general wretchedness of January and the deperate need for something to look forward to), I have been looking for release dates of records I already know I want to hear; realistically, I expect most of my album purchases this year to be by artists whose records I already own. And as I approach 27, that’s maybe how it should be. But actually finding a single site showing UK release dates – even highly provisional ones, as I fully accept they are liable to change – is bloody hard. In fact, I have failed to do it.

There must be one – right? I mean, the music industry must need one. Maybe there is a subscription-based service or something. Either that or my googling skills (or the search engine optimisation skills of the owners of any such hypothetical listing) are inadequate.

Still, here’s my list of people whose records I’m looking forward to and, where known, release details. Presented in order of release where know, and then by how much information I actually have.

• Fight Like Apes – 26th Jan (“Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion”)
• Emmy the Great – 2nd Feb (“First Love”)
• Howling Bells – 9th Feb (“Radio Wars”)
• Morrissey – 16th Feb (“Years of Refusal”)
• Neko Case – 3rd Mar (“Middle Cyclone”)
• Immaculate Machine – 21st Apr[North American release date], (“High on Jackson Hill”)
• MJ Hibbett and the Validators (“Regardez, Ecoutez et Repetez”)
• M Ward – (“Hold Time”)
• Junior Boys (touring the UK in March, so I’d expect the record around then)
• Camera Obscura
• Jarvis Cocker
• Doves
• Handsome Family
• Erin McKeown
• Noisettes
• The Pipettes

I would of course be pathetically grateful to anyone who can provide me with further information, and/or point me towards a better source of information than Amazon.