Album & Song of the Year

What a very odd year

2010 seen The first coalition government since the first world war, rioting in the streets by students who missed out on Jeremy Kyle for the first time in years and of course the year I proposed to my missus (its a wonder what Rohipnol can do these days isn’t it?)

Anyways, I thought I’d give my opinion on what I see as album and single of the year for 2010. Here goes

Album of the year

My choice for album of the year has to go to the debut album by Them Crooked Vultures

TCV brought back to music the ‘Super Group’. Sadly missing from music since, er, Audioslave! Messer’s Grohl, Jones and Homme jumped onto the scene with the ferocity of a sex starved panther with a bottle of rush shoved up his snout. I believe songs such as “Elephants”, "Scumbag Blues" and "No One Loves Me & Neither Do” optimised the true essence of pure hard rock

In all honesty I don’t think the album has that many really stunning songs, but what really does stand out is the reason behind their decision to record this superb album. John Paul Jones is old enough to be Homme & Grohl’s dad, yet he has stamped his style all over this album and ‘took the reigns’ to show these two fine musicians a thing or two about song writing.

Guitar wise, Homme is simply stunning. He has not bothered changing his own style and started where he left off with (my personal favourite band) Queens of the Stone Age.

As for the drummer (Groh) there’s not really much you can say about a fella who has John Bonham’s Led Zep 4 Sign tattooed onto his arm. As they would say in The Lisbon’s Bog - WHAT a skin pounder

Not really heard anything about TCR following up this brilliant album, but I really do hope they do. Well done chaps

Single of the year

Without a shadow of doubt it has to go to a rather stunning new rock band called Foxy Shazam with their debut sing ‘Oh Lord’.

I usually leave the likes of reviewing music to my Balding Bison friend Neil in Manchester, but in this instance, I simply have to speak about them

Remember 2003 when The Darkness first came on the scene and everyone couldn’t make their minds up to decide if they were a joke band or serious? I get the same feeling with Foxy Shazam.

Tight trousers, hard rocking guitar, massive choruses and extremely high-pitched vocals are gladly in abundance on this song. Its one of them songs that gives you a tingle down your spine when you hear it, bit of a cliché, but so, in a likeable kind of way, is this song

In my opinion it has everything (including a brass section at the beginning that explodes into joyous rock splendour)

As for the chorus, I absolutely love the lyrics

“And there is always a wrong to your right/and there is always a war somewhere to fight” – brave lyrics from a band originating from North America. Political message? Maybe, but in the true spirit of rock music - Who fucking gives a shit!

So, there you have it. I know most of you have, but if you’ve not heard any of the above, give them a listen

All the best

Abby Titmus and a Happy New Rear

Mol

Keith’s Dead Flowers

I’ve just been reading a rather hilarious (and bizarre) article about Keith Richard, an orchid, and a library! Hard to believe, I know, but I just had to tell you all about it in a blog

Anyway, the other day Keith Richard was in New York promoting his autobiography (appropriately named ‘life’) and was speaking to students in a library

After his speech he was allowed to sit ‘back stage’ in the owner’s office while waiting for whatever rock stars do after speaking to the congregation of a library and, as most internationally famous rock stars do, lit up a ciggie in there to pass the time and the boredom of what can only sound like a rather dull setting to spend your time in

Now, Keith being Keith, decided to open a window (as he’s certainly may now know the law after several brushes with it in the past), in order to let his smoke out

But, that is where the good Keith finishes and the bad one come to the fray as what did he does with his ciggie stub? That’s right; he stubs it out in the water tray of a rather rare and delicate orchid that was resting on the owner’s desk... And there it lay in rest ... forever

The owner = not happy

Keith’s reaction = the usually gravelly voice followed by the odd “babe” and of course a healthy donation towards the running (and survival) of the library

Pity you couldn’t say the same thing about the plant.

Then again, maybe Keith is still holding a grudge against plant life after he fell out that tree a few years back!

Dead Flowers, anyone?

Let’s hope he doesn’t forget to put roses on its grave

Mol

The Golden God with the Touch of Class

Sorry it’s been a while chaps. I’ve been too busy emptying the contents of my stomach (and arse) at the sight of Take Splatt and Simon Cowell and his X Factor bastards shoved into my face twenty four seven! You just can’t escape it sometime can you?

Ayways, there’s a saying banded about quite a lot lately when it comes to people of a ‘certain age’ – “too old to cut the mustard, but I can still lick the jar”

Maybe it’s down to new antidiscrimination laws to do with ageism, but there’s also a saying that’s a bit better known – “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”

This is certainly not the case with Robert Plant

Now i know many of you avid readers will know that a few years ago i had a bit of a dig at good old Percy, i would like to take it all back

In case you didn’t know, Planty is enjoying resurgence in his long and glittering career with the rather aptly titled Band of Joy and before that with Alison Krauss and his award winning Raising Sand album

But, there’s one thing that has always been present in Bob’s career that has sadly been missing from many others of his age bracket and of course (without sounding like an arld bastard) today’s youth – class!

I get the feeling these days that fame is, well, cheap! Anyone can be famous. Just look at the talentless twats who grace X Factor and the likes of Big Brother (those two biffs Jedwood and that fucking mong who ‘had’ tourettes syndrome)! People who would sells their Nan’s teeth in exchange for fame and fortune in other words.

This is not the case with people like Planty

Apart from a rather brief excursion during the eighties when he banded about his ‘Big Log’ (oo er missus), I can’t really remember Planty doing anything cringe worthy enough to say “that was fucking shit”. That was his one ‘Tin Machine’ moment)

Even the Led Zeppelin reunion gig at the O2 a few years back was pretty much against his will as he knew ages ago that Zeppelin dies when his best mate Bonham died. But, he never once slagged it off. He got on with it and soldiered on in the name of (true) show business as a favour to Elmert OOOOOO (the fella who signed Zeppelin to Atlantic)

So, good on ye Planty, you’ll always be a true (talented) legend in mine, and many other people’s eyes

Keep up the good work (and the blonde locks)

Mol