secretsocietyofvegans:

VEGAN RIBS: SSOV STYLE Our first ever recipe blog, brought to you by SSOV favourite and good friend, JxV. For those having a freak out at the US measures, just Internet search a ‘cups to grams’ converter… Veggie ribs, possibly the easiest thing that you can make with Wheat Gluten and something that will fill even the heartiest of stomachs. Beware that to make this you will need a lot of BBQ sauce, its essential. You will need: 1 ½ cups of wheat gluten 2 tbs. nutritional yeast 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/4 tsp. onion powder 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce (we normally use HP original woodsmoke) 2 tbs. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or soy sauce its much the same 2 tbs. Tahini 1 tbs. Vegan margarine. Melted. Lots of additional BBQ sauce for basting What to do: Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C, In a large bowl mix the gluten, nutritional yeast, garlic and onion powder giving it a bit of a stir to make sure everything is mixed together. In another smaller bowl mix all of the wet ingredients together and then pour into the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon mix together and you should find that pretty quickly the mixture starts to come together into something that resembles what a brain would look like. This is not appetizing but it does get better. As soon as this happens get your hands dirty and knead the dough, the length of time you knead will ultimately decide how chewy the ribs turn out. If you want a nice easy bit knead for thirty seconds for something a bit harder to swallow anywhere up to two minutes. Once kneaded put the dough onto a cutting board and form into a 1/2” thick square. In a small bowl, mix Tahini with the melted margarine and spread half of the resulting goo over your dough. Blend the tahini margarine mix deep into the dough by poking your fingers into it repeatedly. Turn the dough over and repeat on other side. Once you’re done with the all the poking, cut the dough 3” long strips and place ribs on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Turn ribs over and cover them with BBQ sauce, literally smother them. Return to oven and bake another 5 minutes and then remove and baste other side, then again return to the oven for 5 minutes. If you’re making ribs the chances are you aren’t hankering over a nutritionally balanced meal, so I suggest serving with a good sized helping of wilted spring greens, a little mac and “cheese” and why not a side of potato salad. The recipe is also very versatile and if you decide that you want to get creative you can replace the BBQ sauce for hoi sin sauce and you’ve got a Chinese style takeaway rib! Be creative!

This looks stupidly good.

I will start getting more stuff on here soon, including the Lulu review, but I’ve been very busy with my new job.

However, the worst 3 albums of 2011, according to me, were Lupe Fiasco’s “Lazers”, Metallica and Lou Reed’s “Lulu” and, worst of all, “Illud Divinum Insanus” by Morbid Angel. Truly fucking awful. I don’t even want to talk about it.

I started my new job today. Here at the moment. I rather like it. At some point this week I’ll blog up my 3 worst albums of 2011, which will include the Lulu review. I’m going to go Lester Bangs on that piece of shit album.

40. RUSTIE - Glass Swords

Glasgow’s Russell Whyte, AKA Rustie, starts the list off with a collection of ready for the dancefloor tunes. Get the fuck down to this.

39. RAPHAEL SAADIQ - Stone Rollin’

Sounding like it could be a future soul classic, Stone Rollin’ is Saadiq’s best work since the Lucy Pearl album.

38. FERGUS & GERONIMO - Unlearn

Lo-fi psychedelia takes centre stage on Fergus & Geronimo’s wonderfully lazy debut record.

37. THE BLACK SWANS - Don’t Blame the Stars

The Black Swans return with their best album to date, let down only by some pointless spoken word song intros. But it’s not too big a deal, as these guys make some of the best quality Americana folk out there.

36. ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER - Last Summer

An oddball indie-pop masterpiece from The Fiery Furnaces’ Eleanor Friedberger, her unique vocals sounding the best they ever have.

35. MARISSA NADLER - Marissa Nadler

One of the greatest voices in folk returns with more dreamy tunes on an album that, while not working at a level of quality higher than her last record, definitely equals it. An average day for Marissa is an incredible day for most songwriters.

34. STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS - Mirror Traffic

Malkmus drops, arguably, the best record he’s made since his Pavement days, his trademark laconic style combining with a more focused style of songwriting than I’ve seen from him as a solo artist.

33. BOBBY - Bobby

Bobby’s album came out of the blue for me. I only listened to it because of the ambiguity of the name. I’m glad I did, because this little slab of art-folk is beautiful.

32. WU LYF - Go Tell Fire to the Mountain

Released in June to general mystification and intrigue, it seems easy to forget that these Mancunians are carving out some great music. Borderline schizophrenic vocals clash with lush guitars, a crashing rhythm section and perfectly placed organ sounds.

31. ABSU - Abzu

Yes, that’s right. A black metal album in my top 40. And why? Because it’s bloody wonderful, that’s why. High concept, extremely melodic stuff. So what if it’s heavy?

30. SBTRKT - SBTRKT

After numerous singles and EPs, Aaron Jerome finally released his debut full length as SBTRKT this year, and what a record it was. Combining electronica, soul, all the time keeping a minimalist feel to highlight the soulful vocals, this is one of the best electronic releases of recent years.

29. THUNDERCAT - The Golden Age of Apocalypse

Flying Lotus provides us with further proof that he’s one of the hottest producers out there with his work on Stephen Bruner’s electro-jazz fusion piece. Tones of The Weather Report and Roy Ayers jump out at you, and a near perfect cover of George Duke’s For Love I Come enters the mix, while Bruner keeps a cool, space-age sound all of his own throughout.

28. DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI - Rome

Danger Mouse got together with Italian composer Daniele Luppi five or six years ago to make this album, the soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist, based on the music of spaghetti westerns. After that amount of time, you’d hope for something great, and Rome does not disappoint, completely capturing the theme it’s going for, with great vocal performances from Jack White and Norah Jones to boot.

27. RHYME PROGRESSION - All I Have is Music

Colorado’s Rhyme Progression’s debut is, without a doubt, a lovely little record. Only 40 minutes in length, it dispenses with any of the filler skits that many hip-hop albums get cluttered up with, and delivers it’s conscious message straight, with no messing about. Featuring some lovely elements of neo-soul and a silky smooth production, All I Have is Music’s old school sounds make it a pleasure from start to finish.

26. BLITZEN TRAPPER - American Goldwing

A slice of pure Americana here, with all the violins and banjos you could ever want. Simple enough stuff, but these songs are so brilliantly crafted that it barely matters. With a throwback feel straddling a perfect balance between the sound of revelry and the pain of heartbreak, this sounds as fresh for an album of 2011 as it would have had it been released back in the 1970s.

25. JAMES BLAKE - James Blake

Probably the most mainstream album on my list this year, James Blake’s self-titled debut is a lovely piece, his fractured song constructions pulling through his soulful yet lethargic vocals to great effect. Described by Shaun Keaveny as future blues, a description I cannot argue with, Blake’s album recalls the memory of Jeff Buckley (especially on the Everybody Here Wants You-esque track, Limit to Your Love) whilst staying very 21st century and up to date.

24. NINE COVENS - On the Coming of Darkness

More black metal, this time courtesy of BM supergroup Nine Covens. The identities of the members is secret, but I’m pretty sure I know who one of them is thanks to info from a friend. That aside, this is great stuff. Old school British black metal, but with some exciting new ideas, elements of post-rock, great melodies and incredibly clear production (something a lot of black metal lacks). Has to be heard to be believed. Cracking stuff.

23. HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE - 17th Street

Remember when metal was good? Well it is again, thanks to Hammers of Misfortune. This is proper metal too, with all the vocal histrionics and OTT riffs and solos that once (arguably) made the genre great. A throwback record, but with enough progressive stuff going on musically to keep it interesting, this is the first time I’ve ever called a metal album charming. And it’s wonderful.

22. BATTLES - Gloss Drop

Battles return for a second round of proggy math madness, this time without Tyondai Braxton. It would appear that his departure hasn’t slowed them down one bit, as Gloss Drop is yet another exciting album packed full of off-the-wall experimentalism. A playful little album with guest appearances from Matias Aguayo, Gary Numan, Kazu Makino and Yamantaka Eye, this is amazing to sit and dig into or equally perfect on the car stereo for a long drive.

21. RADIOHEAD - The King of Limbs

Radiohead decided to surprise us with the release of The King of Limbs in February by announcing its arrival about a week beforehand with no prior warning. Probably their quietest album to date, The King of Limbs is a dense, textured record; one that you have to make a conscious effort to really take in. It’s worth that effort, however, offering eerie chills alongside its beautiful tunes. In my opinion, their best work since Amnesiac.

20. HOSPITAL SHIPS - Lonely Twin

Jordan Geiger’s second album under the Hospital Ships moniker sees him utilising a full backing band this time around, adding new dimensions to his offbeat, psych-pop songs. Given this, Geiger seems to have taken it upon himself to intentionally embellish (and, on occasions, overembellish) pretty much everything he cares to write. If it wasn’t for the fact that his brain is so imaginatively wired musically, this could be his downful. Instead, the result is a preposterously fun album that really feels as if it’s sharing something with you. Charming and truly delightful.

19. YUCK - Yuck

Ex-Cajun Dance Party members Daniel Blumberg and Max Bloom make up for the atrocity that was their previous band with Yuck on this superb debut. This is an album from early to mid 1990s that just happened to be made now. It owes everything to the US alt.rock scene of 20 years ago, with the infuence of Dinosaur Jr, Pavement et al scrawled all over it, but that’s no bad thing. For someone my age who loves those bands and was just slightly too young to catch them at the time, this was a welcome addition to 2011’s musical canon, giving people a chance to experience the feel of an incredible musical era without having to be there.

18. JOAN OF ARC - Life Like

Tim Kinsella and co return with another blast of angular indie-rock, this time forming more like a proper rock band and delivering an album of straight up tuneage. Much more accessible than their previous efforts, yet still with their trademark experimental bent, this is the most concise Joan of Arc have ever sounded. Start to finish, it’s an exciting, fun album, encouraging movement and thoughtfulness in equal measures. For those of you unfamiliar with their work, Life Like is a great place to start and work backwards to get to know them. For the already initiated, a wonderful addition to that already awesome collection.

17. SHABAZZ PALACES - Black Up

What? Hip-hop, signed to Sub Pop? No, seriously, it is. And seriously bloody good it is, too. The Ishmael Butler (Butterfly of Digable Planets) led Shabazz Palaces’ debut album fuses modern electronic sounds with old school flow to great effect, delivering one of the most truly unique and challenging rap albums of the year. Equally good for fans of the old school and new school, Black Up consistently delivers tune after tune of cool, laid-back, yet simultaneously dark and creeping hip-hop. Definitely one to get excited about.

16. GILES COREY - Giles Corey

And the award for the most depressing album of the year goes to Have a Nice Life’s Giles Corey. Seriously, this is fucking dreary stuff. There’s a lot of morose moaning, a song about committing suicide and plenty of other dark subjects on offer. So why is it number 16 on the list? I’ll tell you why: Because it’s a work of utter genius. It’s been proven over time that depressing music doesn’t have to be crap, and Corey has clearly taken that idea and run with it. The man is an incredible songwriter and this solo debut uses chamber-pop and slowcore styles to great effect. It might leave you feeling hollow and empty, but it’s pretty fucking shit hot at the same time.

15. LONEY DEAR - Hall Music

Swedish singer-songwriter Emil Svanängen returns with his 6th album of deftly crafted indie-pop tunes. Loney Dear’s music makes no apologies for its sentimentality, addressing some of the more downbeat emotional themes. What sets Hall Music apart from his previous efforts, however, is its sheer expansiveness. Whilst his last record, Dear John, saw him move out of bedroom-musician territory, this time round he sounds totally at home and comfortable in the studio, adding brass and strings to the mix in all the right places to deliver an album that, whilst thematically sad, becomes more and more uplifting in its cohesiveness as it goes along.

14. DAVID BAZAN - Strange Negotiations

My long term love affair with the music of David Bazan continues on Strange Negotiations, his second solo album following the dissolution of Pedro the Lion in 2006. He just doesn’t seem to want to break up with me. 2009’s Curse Your Branches saw Bazan confronting his faith and the Almighty himself in remarkably intense fashion. Conversely, Strange Negotiations sees him changing tack to incorporate a wider vision via a power-trio line-up. Confessional as always, with some backhanded belligerence towards those who have criticised his newly shaped beliefs, I found myself taking side with him more than ever before. But I guess he owed me that much, considering I never turned against him.

13. DOMINIK OMEGA - This Moment in Time

Dominik Omega’s debut LP was criminally overlooked this year. With its blend of old school beats and soul/jazz samples, Omega’s flow takes over the album, as if he’s balancing the music himself rather than being supported by it. With a feel that matches rough with smooth, delivering a conscious message with an aggressive tone and repetitive motifs that bring back the feel of 90s hip-hop. An impressive debut album that hints at a bright future for this ultra-talented MC who deserves a lot more recognition than he’s getting so far.

12. SHINING - VII: Född Förlorare

Yet more black metal on the list. It’s not been a terrible year for the genre. On their seventh album, Shining continue on with their unbelievably fucking misanthropic world view, pushing their depressive black metal sound ever further, whilst combining element of 70s prog rock to keep things interesting. Whilst the title translates to “born loser”, and the lyrics conjure up some startlingly disturbing imagery, Född Förlorare nevertheless has a distinctively warm sound, largely due to the production of the piece, and even softer, acoustic moments and some clean vocals in places. As intense an album as you’d expect from such a band, there are also moments of stark beauty. The best black metal album of the year.

11. CIAN NUGENT - Doubles

Dubliner Cian Nugent presents us with Doubles, a collection of two songs, both exceeding twenty minutes in length, composed completely of instrumental Takoma-style acoustic guitar music. What seems like it would become boring quite quickly is made totally riveting by Nugent’s exceptionally inventive and imaginative playing style, flowing through multiple emotions without uttering a single word. An absurdly beautiful sounding album that managed to fit perfectly length-wise into a bus trip from Frome to Bath earlier in the year and left me alighting the vehicle with a freshness and spring in my step that very few records have given me this year. Against the odds, a remarkable album.

10. BLU & EXILE - Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them

Since Blu & Exile released Below the Heavens in 2007, I’ve been dying to hear a follow up to what I’d consider the best rap album of the century so far. In December, Give Me My Flowers While I Can Smell Them received a digital release totally out of the blue. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor, this is still an incredible record. Blu is one of the finest rappers (if not THE finest) around at the moment, and Exile’s production is equally incredible, having featured on some of the best rap albums of recent years. Coupled together, these two create some of the best hip-hop on offer anywhere, Exile dropping staccato cut beats over smooth 70s soul and jazz samples to great effect while Blu’s thoughtful, philosophical rhymes roll brilliantly over the top.

9. THE COATHANGERS - Larceny & Old Lace

All-girl indie-punk outfit The Coathangers’ third full-length is their best work to date, their angular, messy sound reaching a peak of greatness. Yelping vocals clash with a rolling rhythm section and some of the most inventive guitar lines any punk band has pulled out in a long time to create a scratchy, grubby piece of work that somehow manages to stay accessible and comfortable to listen to throughout. The Coathangers are the band that The Gossip could have been if they hadn’t decided to be so horrifyingly bad. It’s difficult to really say much more about this album, other than you should really listen to it. So listen to it.

8. DESTROYER - Kaputt

Dan Bejar’s Destroyer released Kaputt in January to widespread acclaim. It’s easy to see why. While on first listen, it may sound like a throwback to the early 1980s, with music that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Sade or late era Roxy Music record, it soon because clear that this album is more than just a kitsch homage to the past. Where many current artists are digging into the vaults of yesteryear to find the sound that will influence their next record, Destroyer have instead opted to take everything and throw it into the melting pot. Rather than an album inspired by the music of the 1980s, this basically is an album of the 1980s. No bullshit sentiment, nor a modern take on the ideas of years gone, this is much more than that. This is a record out of its time, a lush, honest piece that sounds as if its been lost for years and just resurfaced. Genuinely magical.

7. ODDISEE - Rock Creek Park

Maryland’s Oddisee pushes his sonic boundaries further on Rock Creek Park, a mostly instrumental piece incorporating jazz, soul grooves and elements of funk. Previous album Odd Seasons saw him moving away from his traditional hip-hop roots, but here he is in full blown genre-hopping mode, creating a soundtrack to the historic Washington DC park of the title. Bobby Womack and the sounds of Motown have clearly had an impact on Oddisee’s music this time around, his song construction matching together with minimal processed beats as he instead goes for a fuller, rounded out sound to create a fully-fledged slice of retro soul loveliness.

6. BILL CALLAHAN - Apocalypse

Bill Callahan’s work since ditching the Smog moniker has been questionable to say the least. Therefore, it was with much trepidation that I approached Apocalypse, his third album under his own name. In the first moments of opener Drover, all was forgiven. This is Callahan’s best work in years, his trademark baritone displaying a little more emotion than usual as he works his way through 7 very intimate songs. America! is a brilliantly ironic song with hilarious lyrics yet still encapsulating Callahan’s love of his country, while One Fine Morning is one of the best closing tracks I’ve heard on an album in a long time. Even for those who don’t know Callahan, this album should still hold some appeal. As always, it’s not 100% accessible to all, but neither does it try to isolate itself from people. End result - brilliance.

5. CO$$ - Before I Awoke

Without a doubt, my favourite hip-hop release of the year, Before I Awoke is an incredible piece of work from one of the best rising stars of the underground rap scene. Co$$ (aka Ca$hUSKing) deals both conscious and street-level hip-hop, speaking ghetto truths with an almost gangsta flow but all the time staying universal, working on a level that will sit will with the thugs and the geeks; innovative and diverse yet grimy and from the corner. This stuff is deep. With production from DJ Playa Haze, Tranzformer, Fonetik Simbol and Beatnick Dee (from Wells, just down the road from me), Before I Awoke draws straight from the heart, the street and the mind simultaneously, weaving tales of tragedy and darkness into positive, forward-thinking messages that will have most rappers running scared for the hills to protect their integrity. Co$$ is destined for great things, just as this album is destined to be a classic of the genre.

4. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

One word: massive. This album is massive. If ever there was a reason to use the word epic, it’s this album. On Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83 (AKA Anthony Gonzalez) has created his masterpiece. I can’t see much scope for him making an album better than this. Although running over the course of its two discs/LPs, it actually only clocks in at about 75 minutes and is in now way demanding of the listener. Gonzalez has discovered a real pop-writing sensibility here, something he displays with finesse, yet doesn’t let any of the urban edge of his work disappear. The streetlights that light this album’s way are all bright neon lights rather than simple street lamps, the album bursting at the seams with ideas; an exciting, expansive proposition of a record.

3. ULVER - Wars of the Roses

For those of you familiar with Ulver’s work, they used to be a black metal band. They are most definitely not a black metal band anymore. Since their 1998 release Themes from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, they have been moving further and further into experimental rock territory, defying any kind of classification. War of the Roses is a much more direct, focused album than their previous experimental works, mixing art rock and dark ambient styles. Opener February MMX is a fairly straight up piano-led indie-rock piece that lulls the listener into a false sense of security before the album drops into a slow-burning, wonderfully mellow album, even incorporating saxophones on Providence, right up until 15 minute closing track Stone Angels ends the album on a wonderfully poetic note. It’s a testament to the quality of the album that it reached number 17 in the Norwegian charts based on sales of just one day after a distribution delay.

2. VLADISLAV DELAY QUARTET - Debut

The Vladislav Delay Quartet album sees Sasu Ripatti straying into experimental jazz. While usually associated with electronic music as Vladislav Delay, this project develops a definite shift in focus, drawing influence from his work as a drummer and percussionist for the Moritz von Oswald Trio. This stuff is probably the most experimental work that Ripatti has ever produced, featuring sparse static and repetitive motifs joined together by percussion, double basses, clarinets and saxophones. While it may sound as if this is a disjointed mess of a record, it is anything but. Indeed, it ventures into the realm of free jazz on several occasions, the album is punctuated by its moments of live instrumentation, creating a sound that totally envelopes you as a listener. Pretentious? Damn straight, but it’s fucking incredible; a real visceral thrill to listen to.

And so, we approach the end…

1. JOSH T. PEARSON - Last of the Country Gentlemen

Ten years I waited for this. Ten years. Ten fucking years. In 2001, a band called Lift to Experience released their one and only album, The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads. I had discovered them via a track on a free CD with a copy of Uncut that I bought at a train station shop. I’ve not bought a copy of Uncut since, but I did buy Lift to Experience’s album. Wonderful it was, too; a massive, grandiose piece of work spread over two discs with noisy, clashing guitars and spiritual lyrical overtones. And then they split up. Frontman Josh T. Pearson continued work as a solo artist, playing shows and festivals all over, but save for a Hank Williams cover on a split single with Dirty Three and an unofficial live bootleg, To Hull and Back, no proper releases seemed to surface. Then, at the end of 2010, I got wind that his long awaited solo debut would be coming out in early 2011. So, after ten years of waiting, did it live up to my expectations? You’re damn right it did. In fact, it exceeded them. Last of the Country Gentlemen is a collection of seven songs spread over an hour, featuring just Pearson on vocals and acoustic guitar with no backing band. This isn’t for the faint of heart. These songs are deep, dark, downbeat, gutwrenching pieces. Pearson wears his heart firmly on his Southern American sleeve as he tells us his tales of love, loss, rejection and his dark little tea times of the soul. It’s a beautiful, beautiful album that I can’t recommend highly enough. In a world where modern music is often noisy and cluttered, Pearson’s stripped back, honest approach is a breath of fresh air that gives a much better opportunity for the listener to connect with the artist. There are no frills, just great songs with a bucketload of emotion. A bonafide masterpiece that I can see myself revisiting again and again. Mr Pearson, I salute you for your effort. Just don’t take so long next time.

Check out a video of Josh in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8CuwxE94F8

THE WEEKND - Mixtape Trilogy: House of Balloons/Thursday/Echoes of Silence

Because I know I’m going to get in the shit if I don’t include these somewhere, I will point out first and foremost that my top 40 list is of albums. I love mixtapes as much as the next guy, and to be fair, The Weeknd’s 3 mixtapes in 2011 do come across as perfectly cohesive albums in their own right. However, the fact of the matter is, they’re mixtapes, so they don’t make the list. I want to point out, for the record, that I am not deaf, however. I absolutely love all 3 of them, it’s some of the best R&B I’ve heard in years, with one of the best soul voices around right now and some beautiful ethereal production to the smooth tunes on offer. And before you ask, no, I can’t pick my favourite of the three mixtapes (even though it’s Thursday). I just couldn’t possibly.

FATHER’S CHILDREN - Who’s Gonna Save the World

This one was bugging me for ages. I really didn’t know if I should include it or not. You see, it was recorded in 1973, but due to the band not getting a record deal thanks to their management company folding, the producer (Robert Hosea Williams) never got paid, so he kept the tapes. Story I heard was that his son found them in his father’s garage earlier this year and now they’ve got a release. What we’ve ended up with is a bonafide would-have-been soul classic. If this album had been released when it was made, I reckon Father’s Children would be a household name. Instead, it wasn’t, and they released a self-titled LP at the end of the 70s that attracted very little interest and disappeared into the ether. Shame. It could have really been something.

BLU - NoYork!

Originally intended to be Blu’s major label debut for Warner Bros, this album instead got dropped for free online, and has since had a limited run on CD. For that reason, I was unsure if I should let it drop into the list. Either way, it’s an incredible piece, seeing Blu straying into some exciting new experimental, electronic hip-hop territory, with production from Madlib, Samiyam and Flying Lotus among others. One of my favourite rappers around, Blu is one of the more prolific artists in the modern underground hip-hop scene, dropping 4 records/mixtapes in 2011 alone as well as guesting on various other productions. NoYork! is an incredible listen, bubbling with new ideas and smooth rhymes over off kilter beats and electro sampling. The boy’s got something special.

RAZIKA - Program 91

This was never going to make the cut, but this record really impressed me, especially as a debut. Recorded on weekends over the course of a year to fit in with the members’ school schedules, these young girls from Norway have dropped a great little album in this. Think an indie-pop version of The Slits, with a bunch of attitude, well written, cleverly crafted songs and some of the tightest playing precision of any group of young musicians I’ve heard in a long time. The record trails off a little in the second half, but where would be the point in making a second album if your debut was flawless? These girls are definitely ones to watch.

AMY WINEHOUSE - Lioness: Hidden Treasures

Not a proper album, just a collection of rarities, and most definitely not concise. However, the good stuff on show here really represents the phenomenal singing talent of the lady. It probably wouldn’t be making the cut if she hadn’t died, but then it wouldn’t have been released if she hadn’t either. The original versions of the tracks from Back to Black featured here are closer to the sound of her debut Frank and give a nice insight to the evolution of sound between her (regrettably, only) two albums. The track with Nas is largely pointless, or, as a friend of mine described it, toilet. The really special things here, though, are the unreleased tracks. Between the Cheats and Half Time both showcase Winehouse’s incredible vocal prowess, and the closer, A Song For You, is really something to be admired. Maybe it’s making the best out of a bad situation, but it’s definitely a more fitting tribute than most posthumous releases.

And so, tomorrow begins the countdown of my top 40 albums of 2011. Hope you enjoy reading…

Yeah, so I’ve been pretty slack on the blog over 2011. Last year’s Top 40 albums didn’t even get finished, I’ve been so slack. However, that’s the past. I’m not going to bother putting up the rest of that list as it’s been a year. My favourite album of 2010 was The Game of Monogamy by Tim Kasher, just so you know. Anyway, my Top 40 of 2011 will be going up in blocks of 10 from January 1st to 4th, with some honourable mentions popping up tomorrow. On the 5th I’m going to pop up a few albums I hated, just for good measure, and after that I’ll attempt to keep blogging more over 2012 to make up for what I didn’t do in 2011. Anyways, keep an eye over the next few week if you care. Merry Christmas, belatedly.

…I neglect you too much.

Sunfactor - Trading Hairbrushes For Hats

I love this band. A lot. I miss them. 

Yeah, I know, first post in ages. Here we go:

10. La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995)
A brutal, intense and ultimately tragic tale highlighting the dangers of the war zone that Paris had become in the 1990s, Mathie Kassovitz’s “La Haine” (translation: Hate) is a devastatingly affecting piece of cinema. You won’t be smiling afterwards, but there’s no doubting the movie’s lasting impact.

9. Time Regained (Raoul Ruiz, 1999)
Gilles Taurand and Raoul Ruiz’s screenplay perfectly places the story in the tale’s final volume, allowing it the ability to cover the entire, lengthy piece through flashbacks. Visually gorgeous and with some career best performances from Catherine Deneuve, Emmanuelle Béart and Vincent Perez, “Time Regained” is a near perfect adaptation of Proust’s beautiful, multi-volume work, “Remembrance of Things Past”.

8. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
As a child, this film gave me chills, yet there was something about it that I could never look away from. Robert Mitchum is truly terrifying as the Reverend Harry Powell, while Charles Laughton’s gloomy yet wonderfully intriguing direction keeps you pinned to every horrifying twist. More frightening than any horror movie you could care to mention.

7. The Fourth Man (Paul Verhoeven, 1983)
Jeroen Krabbé gives a phenomenal performance as an alcoholic, bisexual novelist who is troubled by visions of the Virgin Mary, prompting him to believe that the woman he has become involved with is a “black widow”, targeting him as her fourth victim. Verhoeven’s movie is chilling and full of suspense, with some intriguing contrasts between religious and occult imagery. Just as well that this was Verhoeven’s final European film, as Hollywood could never have made this work so brilliantly.

6. Badlands (Terrence Malick, 1973)
Loosely based on real events, Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” does an incredible job of juxtaposing the naive viewpoint of a young girl in love with a young man with his sociopathic tendencies as her charms her into accompanying him across America on a killing spree. Martin Sheen is brilliant as the greaser who convinces the easily-influenced Sissy Spacek to join him on his horrifying quest, whilst Malick’s direction takes the viewer on a breathtaking, sweeping journey of the “badlands” of the title.

5. Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982)
Werner Herzog’s masterpiece and Klaus Kinski’s greatest performance (yes, even better than Nosferatu) combined in the same film, “Fitzcarraldo” is a wonderful story of one man’s indominitable spirit against the odds and his obsessive attempt to sale an old steamer through treacherous rapids and obstacles to a hidden area of Iquitos to open an opera house. An odd plot, but a beautiful movie that excites and emotes in equal measures.

4. Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
Leone’s epic Western is a wonderfully gripping tale of good versus evil, corruption, revenge and the nature of progress, featuring a wonderfully cast-against-type Henry Fonda is the villainous Frank, an intensely quiet performance by Charles Bronson, an on-edge Jason Rboards and Claudia Cardinale at her most beautiful. Fantastically paced, with cinematography that manages to make you feel just as grubby as the filthy cowboys of the dusty old West, the movie tops it off with a brilliant soundtrack. Quite frankly, the greatest Western of all time.

3. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
Ridley scott’s sci-fi classic is still just as exciting today as it was when I was younger. Choosing which cut of the movie is difficult, but I tend to move towards the Final Cut or the Workprint Version personally. Harrison Ford’s tired performance in a claustrophobic future of sleaze and darkness tops off a film that manages to far surpass the quality of the book upon which it is based. Let’s be grateful that the original theatrical release’s happy ending was cut out in the later versions of the movie. Visually stunning… It’s Blade Runner, you know the score.

2. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
In my eyes, the definitive Vietnam movie. Of all the first hand accounts I have read of the Vietnam conflict, the one thing that stood out was the madness of the event. Apocalypse Now is, without doubt, a truly crazy film, higlighting the insanity of war and the effect it has on the human mind. Using Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” as its inspiration, Coppola’s movie pulls incredible performances from its cast, leaving you feeling quite gloriously uncomfortable after its thought-provoking final moments.

1. Night Tide (Curtis Harrington, 1961)
Featuring one of Dennis Hopper’s lesser-known roles as a sailor who comes into port in a small town and falls for a local girl, this brilliantly oddball and decidedly wicked movie is a horror movie wrapped in a mystery thriller wrapped in a fantasy. Death, obsession and mermaids all come together in this astonishingly original piece that’s like nothing ever seen before or since. If you thought mermaid movies were all like “Splash”, it’s time to think again.

braidcentral:

We just wanted to do it. Despite that fact that all four of us are pleasantly employed and happy as can be, we just wanted to see what would happen if we got together to write some new songs. Both Todd and Chris are teaching, Damon heads up Warped Tour operations, and I’ve been marketing for…