2013

I always enjoy reading the year's 'Best Of' lists as they often throw up music, film or books I might have missed.  Most of the music lists tend to focus on new music, but my 25 Best of 2013 tracks are a combination of the new, the newly-discovered and forgotten classics.

Each track is linked to a video or stream if you'd like to listen to it.  There is also a Spotify list here, if you're that way inclined (without the Nils Frahm track, unfortunately), and, to create an element of suspense, they are in reverse order.  There's no reason why there are 25, other than I struggled to find more and struggled to cross any off.  Oh, and all comments should be preceded with the acronym 'IMHO'.

25. Poor Fractured Atlas - Elvis Costello
2013 was the year I rediscovered Elvis Costello. I fell out of love with him in the late 90s, but a visit to his Spectacular Spinning Songbook brought back all the good times we'd had in the 70s and 80s.

24.Sassafrass – Van Dyke Parks
One of several tracks I've discovered thanks to Steve Lamacq's afternoon radio show on 6Music.  This is decidedly odd, but also rather lovely.

23.  Third Man – The Duckworth Lewis Method
Their first album was good, the second album only so-so, but this was the standout track.  I love Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh dearly, but I think it's time for the DLM to leave the crease.

23.  Jessica [feat. Ezra Koenig] – Major Lazer
I hate white men playing reggae (it probably started with 10cc's Dreadlock Holiday).  On first listen I wasn't impressed with this.  Second time, I realised it wasn't too bad. Third time, I relised there would be a fourth time.

21.  Running to the Sea – Röyksopp
A recent entry into the Top 25.  I 'heart' Röyksopp and all their Norwegian noodlings and this new track bodes well for a tour in 2014.

20.  Mayor Of Simpleton – XTC

XTC are great, aren't they?  This has been one of those 'ear worm' tracks for me this year.  It stuck in my head and I was very reluctant to let it leave.

19.  GMF – John Grant
Not the best choice when driving the kids to school, but for me, the highlight of a slightly disappointing second album.

18.  Fly Like An Eagle – Steve Miller Band

This reminds me of the 70s, my musical prime. For best results listen to the album version with Space Intro leading into Fly Like An Eagle.

17.  Waiting – Alice Boman

Another Steve Lamacq discovery. Her Skisser EP is lovely and I couldn't choose between this track and Skiss 3. I'm not sure I could take a whole album though.

16.  Signal 30 – Public Service Broadcasting

Another track from one of those 'I couldn't eat a whole one' albums.  This sounds great in the car.

15.  Don't Save Me – Haim

2013's Next Big Thing failed to float my boat (it was all a bit too 'AOR' for my indelicate tastes), apart from this track, which had me singing along like nobody's business.

14.  Valentine's Day – David Bowie
He's back, back, back.  I would have preferred The Next Day to be a bit less like Scary Monsters... and a bit more like Hunky Dory, but it's a minor quibble because he's back, back, back.

13.  Apologise – Ben's Brother

I know nothing about Ben's Brother (I didn't even know Ben had a brother) and the internet tells me that this was released in 2009.  This is just a great pop song.

12.  Oh Me Oh My [I'm A Fool For You Baby] – Aretha Franklin

I discovered this, thanks to David Hepworth's excellent Spotify playlist, 1971 - The Annus Mirabilis of the Album. One of those great tracks that slipped under the radar while I was away listening to Yes and ELP in the 70s.

11.  Breathe This Air – Jon Hopkins

Immunity is one of my albums of the year. It's a difficult choice to pick one standout track, but this will do.   

10.  Axis – Pet Shop Boys

I thought I'd lost them, but when I heard this first single from Electric, I knew I was still in love. If I'm honest I would probably have the whole of Electric in the top 25, but I thought I'd give the also-rans a chance.

9.  Big Love – Matthew E. White

Why, oh why do I love his album, Big Inner, so much?  It's slow, sounds slightly gloomy, but has rarely been off the car's 8-track in 2013. Apart from Electric (obviously), it's probably my favourite album of the year.  And then he goes a tops it by releasing a supplementary EP towards the end of the year.  This track sums up his infectious white soul.

8.  The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Is The Light Of An Oncoming Train) – Half Man Half Biscuit

I heard Cammell Laird Social Club for the first time this year (I'm a relatively recent convert to HMHB and I'm slowly catching up).  This is a tale of lost love in the Derbyshire Dales from HMHB.  What's not to love?

7.  Alive – Empire Of The Sun

I've never been that keen on Empire Of The Sun.  They always promised more than they delivered.  I bought their Ice On The Dune album and only listened to it twice, but this is a standout track.

6.  Stranger In Blue Suede Shoes – Kevin Ayers

I wasn't a big fan of Kevin Ayers in his prime, but his death early in 2013 prompted me to revisit his oeuvre.  I like this very much.

5.  Reflektor – Arcade Fire 

On first hearing I thought this was about twice as long as it needed to be.  This just builds and builds and really gets under your skin.

4.  Where Are We Now? – David Bowie

The biggest surprise of the year was turning on the car radio to find that, not only was Bowie still alive, but he'd released a new single that morning. Where Are We Now? is very Bowie and very good.  My only disappointment is that the rest of the album wasn't more in the same vein.

3.  Says – Nils Frahm

Electronic ambient is not everyone's cup of tea, but this is a classic. Reminiscent of Tangerine Dream in their prime, it starts very quietly and develops into something very beautiful.

2.  Get Lucky – Daft Punk

How effing good is this? Very effing good, is the answer.  This is the one track this year that can justly be called a classic.  In 20 years' time there will be programmes on BBC4 about how they made this track.

1.  Love is a Bourgeois Construct – Pet Shop Boys
The best record ever made (I may be exaggerating a tad, but it's certainly entered my Desert Island Disc selection with a bullet).  I love you Neil and Chris and want to have your glitterball-headed babies.

Joan

I have a nice family.  I don't mean that most of the family members are nice with one or two 'black sheep', like most families.  I mean that every member of my family, without exception, is nice.  And the lodestar for niceness on my Dad's side of the family has always been my Auntie Joan.

Joan died recently.  She was 92 and died peacefully at home.  She was one of the kindest women you could ever hope to meet, and lived her life with dignity and love.  She was not a prude at all and never showed anger, but we all grew up knowing that, when we were in her company, we didn't misbehave, swear or do anything that could possibly disappoint her.  My Dad would wind her up regularly with one of his (many) humorous sayings, "I don't swear, but our Beryl (their sister) is a bugger at it".  This would always be met with a stern, "Stanley!" from Joan and he always knew not to cross the line.

We all loved her and respected her.  And while people say that 92 is a 'good age', her loss will be felt very deeply.  There's now a vacancy for the 'Sydenham lodestar' and, while there's no obvious single candidate to fill it, I suspect we will get by with the collective niceness that Joan developed.

Scam

I was the victim of an Internet scam yesterday.  Not a huge one, but it cost me £40 and I gave a lot of my personal details to the company that runs it. The money isn't that important, the damage to my pride may take a while to heal.

I would describe myself as being very Internet savvy. I used to work in IT and continue to keep an eye on what is going on as an enthusiastic amateur. And when it comes to IT my maxim is "don't trust it". I'm almost anal about taking back-ups, protecting passwords and sharing personal information.  So it was completely out of character that when I Googled "passport renewal" I jumped straight into the site at the top of the list and gave them all my details.

The site looked official, the link on Google said they were official, but it was a scam.  Perfectly legal, but in my eyes and that of the Guardian, a scam. This company (I won't name them, they might have super-intelligent spambots ready to strike), takes all your details and fills your passport application form in for you. They then charge you £40 and send the completed form for you to send on to the Passport Office.  That's it. £40 for filling a form in that a child of 6 could complete for free in 10 minutes on the UK Passport Agency's website.

I've thought about this since it happened and not only am I disappointed in myself, I'm disappointed in Google.  The link I clicked on came through AdWords, a Google service which allows companies to ensure their links are at the top of any relevant Google search. I suppose I trusted Google (although I can't understand why) and expected that they would weed out these sorts of scams before they hit the unsuspecting surfer. 

Anyway, it won't happen again.  And it feels better to have got it off my chest. Thanks for being there. 

Creed

My wife and I have just returned from a very nice holiday in Mallorca.  It's one of our regular holiday spots and a place where we know we will start to relax as soon as the flip-flops are unpacked.  As I sat on the beach overlooking the Mediterranean, listening to the new Boards of Canada album on the iPod, my mind turned to higher things.  I started to think about how I live my life and what lessons I would pass on, if asked.

I have outlined my creed in the 20 rules below.  This is not a definitive list and is likely to change once my Mediterranean horizons change back to the East Midlands, but please feel free to print a copy off to stick up in your kitchen with a fridge magnet.

1. Be nice to people.  It really is easier to be nice than to be horrible.  Plus, it feels good
2. Gossip is healthy, provided you don't break rule 1. Follow the principle of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, "If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me"
3. Don't ridicule people's beliefs. Nobody knows what happens when we die and all the religions of the world are just guessing. I, for one, don't want to look a fool should the Great Lord Tharg return one day in a big spaceship to take us all back to our home planet. 
4. The human body, in all its shapes, sizes and colours, is a lovely thing. Don't bugger it up with tattoos
5. Don't trust BMW drivers. Nice, sane people go a bit funny as soon as they get behind the wheel of a BMW
6. Audi and VW Golf drivers are just bitter because they can't afford a BMW
7. Don't kill things for fun or convenience.  The wasp that you've just crushed could have been one of your ancestors (see rule 3).  And it's much easier to let it out the window rather than go through the palaver of cleaning up squashed wasp
8. There is no good music and no bad music, only music one does or does not like.  There is only one exception to this rule...
9. The Stereophonics are rubbish
10. Celebrate our culture of multi-ethnicities. Understanding people and how they tick makes us all better people
11. Ditto our culture of different sexualities
12. If you want to get ahead, get a hat.  And a well-fitting suit
13. If you want to look good and feel good eat good things, don't eat too much of it and exercise. It's that simple
14. Celebrate nature, it is a wonderful thing.  As I look at the world and the loveliness of nature, I'm tempted to believe that someone had a hand in all this.  The Great Lord Tharg did a pretty good job
15. The main reason children are badly behaved is because of their parents.  Children are not little adults, they need boundaries.  Letting them run riot, screaming while other people are trying to enjoy a pre-prandial cocktail overlooking the Mediterranean is not 'charming', it's bloody rude
16. Having said that, don't patronise children when you talk to them.  You can learn a lot from talking to a child and they can learn from you
17. Men over 50 should not wear band t-shirts. No...make that 40.
18. Ditto 'Budgie Smugglers'
19. Cherish your family while they are here.  When they've gone you can't get them back, so talk to them, learn about their past, love them and enjoy time with them while you can
20. Cherish your friends in the same way.  Keep in touch with those people that enrich your life. You'll miss them if you ever lose them

Stubborn

It has taken years of hard work and practice, but I think my family is almost there. There have been some setbacks along the way and a few naysayers who never believed it would ever happen, but, at last, we're reaching the pinnacle of our training programme.

All it needs now is for the International Olympics Committee to confirm that Stubbornness is a recognised event in Rio 2016 and we are confident that Team GB will be bringing home a clean sweep of medals in one event for the first time.

If anyone from my Dad's side of the family is reading this, I'm afraid you must forget immediately any prospect of a trip to Brazil.  It is my Mother's side of the family, the de Cani's, that should be practising their Portuguese and dusting off the skimpy swimsuits ready for the between-event downtime on Copacabana Beach.

There are plenty of medal contenders in our family.  My Auntie Joyce has showed great promise, but if I'm honest she lacks the consistency needed to get past the qualifiers.  My Uncle Rod is something of a dark horse, as I have not been able recently to assess his performance in training.  His wife assures me he is ready, however.  My sister, Helen,  is assured of a semi-final place, and at times shows the sort of application and dedication that could push her onto the podium.

One of our best hopes is my Mum.  Seasoned analysts are confident it will be at least a silver if we can convince her that it won't be too hot and she'll be able to get some 'proper' food and a copy of the Daily Telegraph.  The extent of Mum's dedication is illustrated by our weekly trip to The Third Circle of Hell (that reminds me, I still haven't heard back from Morrison's about my suggestion that they change their advertising strap-line).  No matter how big The Shopping List is, we still have to go up and down every aisle, still have to spend 20 minutes choosing the yoghurts and we still have to buy a bottle of sherry, even though she has more sherry in the cupboard than there is on the Morrison's shelf.  Any suggestion that we change the routine to finish more quickly is deftly batted aside.  There's dedication for you.

I love my Mum a great deal and she has found it very hard since my Dad died a couple of years' ago. I want to make her life as comfortable and as happy as I can and I know that I can do this with a few changes in her life, but she's in her mid-80s and is, understandably, reluctant to change.  This comes across as stubbornness, but I know it's simply because she wants to continue the life she had with my Dad as far as she can and is happy with the way things are.  I'm going to keep trying, however, and  eventually I'll succeed.  I know this because I am more stubborn than the rest of my family put together and I'm going to win a gold in 2016.

Quiet

I've just finished reading a book that was written about me.  I don't mean it was written specifically about me of course, as my memoirs are still being ghost-written (the working title is A Dish Best Served Cold), but the book I've just read is an owner's manual for how I work.

Quiet - The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking by Susan Cain, looks at the critical role that introverts play in everyday life and why, contrary to the popular opinion when I was growing up, introverts should not be encouraged to become more extrovert.

One of the most interesting things I've learned from this book is that we all, introverts and extroverts alike, need to schedule regular breaks in our day for 'Restorative Niches'.  A Restorative Niche is the time we need to do something completely in line with our personality and which  recharges our batteries. An introvert at a party feels drained at the end of the evening.  An extrovert feels just as tired by long periods of solitude and quiet. The Restorative Niche brings us back to our true selves.

My Restorative Niches are all centred on time alone or with my wife.  I need quiet and, paradoxically, I need noise.  Loud music refreshes me as much as total quiet, provided I am on my own.  An evening on my own at a Rammstein gig is my idea of heaven (even though I don't particularly like Rammstein).  An evening entertaining clients who I don't know is not.

I wish this book had been written earlier in my lifetime, because it would have helped me understand myself better.  I recommend this book for both introverts and extroverts.  And if you've got quiet children it should be a compulsory read.  There's a lot in this book about how you can help introverted children.  Not by encouraging them to be more outgoing or forcing them into situations totally at odds with their personality, but by building on their strengths and teaching them to how to live in a noisy world.  If you would like to borrow it, let me know.

Vinyl

I realised today that, sometime over the past six months, I crossed a rubicon.

I popped into to Nottingham this morning for a bit of a shop. I haven't done this for a while and, if I'm in Nottingham and the love of my life isn't with me, I tend to spend some time looking at the other love of my life in Music Exchange (flicking through the vinyl) and Fopp (buying CD albums I've already got on vinyl).

Not only did I not buy anything in these two shops, but I didn't get the buzz that, until recently, I have always had when shopping for music.  I was slightly tempted by a Winifred Atwell 10inch album which was in pristine condition and looked gorgeous, but I don't particularly like Winifred Atwell and, besides, how could I get it converted digitally so that I could listen to it in the car through my iPod?

In Fopp I needed (yes, needed) to get a copy of Aladdin Sane and The Lodger on CD as I realised this week that I've only got them on vinyl (there are some of you reading the last sentence thinking "why does he need more than one version of an album?" and other soul-mates that are thinking "my God! Why has he left it so long to get Aladdin Sane and The Lodger on CD?").  They were each £6 and the download version is £4.99.  And all I would do is to load the CDs into iTunes and they would then gather dust.

As I browsed through other Fopp stuff it occurred to me that this really doesn't have the same attraction as it once did.  I've changed, and I believe many like me have changed.  I would be very surprised if either the Music Exchange or Fopp were still in Nottingham in 10 years' time. And I would also be very surpised if I still had my turntable and my CD player.

This made me sad.  However, my mood was lifted considerably when I checked my Twitter feed while sipping a skinny decaf caramel frappuccino and eating a biscotto in Starbucks.   One of my on-line chums who knows what pushes my buttons had recommended an album of early English royal funeral music.  I downloaded it there and then and I'm listening to it now.  I've seen the future and it's digital.

Muse

The creative muse has left me.  When I started this blog there were loads of things that I needed to get off my chest, but recently I've struggled to come up with the high-quality posts my loyal readership has come to expect (a big shout out to each of my 7 followers!).

There are a few obvious subjects that still need to be addressed.  Retirement plans are never far from my mind at the moment.  I've done blogs on Bowie and the Pet Shop Boys, so The Beatles have to be next.  I also need to tell the world about my mum in the same way I did about my dad.  I've tried with each of these, but not managed to come up with the right words.  So I figure that I should leave them and, at some point, the muse will return.

Under some pressure from friends (who have been very kind about my efforts) I've started posts on topical subjects or stuff that has struck me as interesting. If I consult the detailed planning notes that I prepare in advance of each post I can tell you that you've narrowly avoided my thoughts on the following:

• The passing of the Guardian newspaper.  I've read it all of my adult life but the recent price increase to £1.40 is a step too far
• BMW and Audi drivers.  They drive too fast, too close and generally annoy me
• The fact that I have become 'asocial'.  I like people and I'm not anti-social, but I prefer my own company and that of my wife
• My hairstyles through the years.  During 2012 my hair started receding faster that the sea at Weston-Super-Mare.  I thought a tonsorial ramble down memory lane might be interesting
• The wonders of tinnitus

I'm sure I could have cobbled together a few words on any of these subjects interspersed with the occasional witty aside, but my heart wasn't in any of them.

I'm also conscious of the need for a level of 'quality control'.  Blogging is a wonderful thing, but do people really want to read that I find the Guardian a bit expensive or that I have a ringing in my ears?  This feeling is reinforced when I look at the wonderful blogs from my some of my on-line chums and, this week in particular, A Drake's Progress.

I've written it before and I'll write it again, but Carolyn's blog about her daughter who has Prader-Willi Syndrome is a thing of beauty.  Always interesting, always funny, plus you get a free video with each post. This week's post is probably one of the most moving things I've read for some time.

So, while you're waiting for me, go over there this minute.  Start with this week's post, followed by the first post and then work your way forward.  Just make sure you keep popping back here to see if my hair-loss is getting any better.

Heroes

It's been a week of contrasting surprises from two of my musical heroes.

On Tuesday, my drive to work was considerably happier than the usual gloom when I discovered that David Bowie had not just recorded new material, but released a new track earlier that morning.

I have been smitten with Bowie since he appeared on Top of the Pops singing Starman with the Spiders from Mars.  What grabbed me was a combination of his hair, his clothes and the fact that he had his arm around the lead guitarist .  And the bassist had dyed grey sideburns down to his shoulders.  How could a young man fail to be impressed?

Since he had a heart attack in the early noughties he's been keeping his head down in New York.  I'd reconciled myself to the fact that his recorded output was probably over.  It wouldn't have surprised me if this week's surprise announcement had been of a different sort and accompanied by obituaries.

But he's back.  The first track from the new album is wonderfully melancholy and I can't wait for the album in March.  Welcome back, old chap, I've missed you.

On Wednesday my 'Bowie is Alive!' joy was negated by an announcement that Wilko Johnson, former Dr. Feelgood guitarist, has terminal cancer.

Wilko is one of music's great characters.  He's funny, intelligent and has a stare that can burn woodwork.  I saw him and his band at the Lexington in Islington last year and I'm ashamed to say I was too in awe of him to say hello in the bar before he went on.

Wilko's guitar style has to be unique.  It's difficult to believe at times that one man can can play both rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.  And if that's not enough he still has the energy to scuttle across the stage whilst burning woodwork at 20 paces.

The announcement of his cancer makes no pretence that Wilko is going to come through this.  I will try to see him again if he tours, as he plans some 'farewell' gigs in the UK.  I'm sure he's not going to read this, but in case he does, I'd like to thank him for the great deal of pleasure he's given me since the 70s.  I'd also ask him to concentrate on himself and those he loves over the coming months.

Resolutions

So, another year has raced by, taking me inexorably closer to a lonely, painful death and an eternity of nothingness.

I must apologise.  I always feel a bit gloomy at this time of year.  The nights are dark, it's cold outside and I've got to go back to work tomorrow.  It's also the time when I review the resolutions I set last year and realise that, yet again, I have failed miserably.

The problem I have is that, firstly, I always resolve the same things (get fit, eat more healthily, etc.), secondly, they're always as boring as hell and lastly, they're definitely not what a management consultant would call 'SMART' (if you're not familiar with management objective setting, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound).

So I'm going to have a fresh look at my resolutions for 2013.  I'm not going to bore you with them all but as an example, 'get fit' has become 'play squash once a week plus 30 minutes exercise (running, cycling) at the weekend'.  'Eat more healthily' becomes 'only eat crisps with two meals a day (except at weekends)'.

I also have a long list of resolutions to implement at work.  I'm definitely not going to outline these here as my colleagues and other stakeholders (sorry, I'm getting a bit carried away with this management-speak) may read this blog.  Let me just say that mind-mapping is the way forward and revenge is a dish best served cold.

2012 wasn't bad for me and hopefully 2013 will be great.  I hope you and yours have a wonderful, happy and healthy 2013 and if there's anything I can do to help you achieve that, let me know.  I'd be glad to help.