2015

So another year is almost over. And to celebrate a frenetic year on the "You can't make a soufflé..." blog (next year I promise), I've pulled together the music that has given me the greatest pleasure in 2015.

The list is in no particular order. There's something old (Andrew WK, The Saints), something new (New Order, Django Django), something borrowed (Seinabo Sey, from the always-excellent Daddy or Chips' 2015 selection) and something blue (Tom Waits, Randy Newman).

The whole list could have been made up from Sufjan Stevens' Carrie and Lowell, which is a really lovely album, but I've limited myself to just two tracks, as well as two from Father John Misty and Public Sevice Broadcasting, another two highlights. And there's David Bowie, doing what only David Bowie does.

The list is on Spotify. Alternatively, you can click on each track to see or hear it through YouTube.

Party Hard - Andrew WK
This Perfect Day - The Saints
I Love It (featuring Charli XCX) - Icona Pop
Tutti Frutti - New Order
Bored In The USA - Father John Misty
Younger - Seinabo Sey
Feeling Good Is Good Enough - Matthew E. White
Martha - Tom Waits
Eugene - Sufjan Stevens
The Other Side - Public Service Broadcasting
Shut 'Em Up - The Prodigy (featuring Public Enemy)
Who Are You? - Spring King
First Light - Django Django
Curse Curse - James
Queen and Wonder - Federico Albanese
For - C. Duncan
Should Have Known Better - Sufjan Stevens
Texas Girl At The Funeral Of Her Father - Randy Newman
Go! - Public Service Broadcasting
Chateau Lobby #4 (In C For Two Virgins) - Father John Misty
An Ocean In Between The Waves - The War On Drugs
Blackstar - David Bowie

Change

I always find the New Year a time for reassessment of my priorities. This year I have only two New Year's resolutions. Firstly, I'm going to update this blog more frequently. Secondly, this year will be a year of change in my life. I know I could be happier, so a few things have to change.

Happy New Year.

2014

I've been a bit quiet on the old blog this year, but I move into 2015 with a renewed enthusiasm for sharing my deepest, darkest thoughts with the few friends I have left.

To get me started, I thought you might be interested in the music that has been floating my boat in 2014. For me, this year has not been a great one for new music (mind you, I think I've been saying that every year since Elton John was heterosexual), but there are three clear themes in my list below. There's plenty of Röyksopp, because they released two of my favourite albums of the year, plenty of tracks from Erased Tapes, because they're a fantastic label, and plenty of piano music because I've started to learn to play the piano in 2014. I'm also conscious that there's a definite quiet and reflective feel to many tracks, but, hey, that's the kind of guy I am.

I couldn't decide on 10 or 20, so this is my Top 14 for 2014. There's a mix of new and old and they're not in any particular order (the Naughty Boy track is probably my favourite). If you're interested there's a Spotify playlist over here (minus Lubomyr Melnyk).

• Do It Again - Röyksopp and Robyn
• Home - Naughty Boy featuring Sam Romans
• Little Monster - Royal Blood
• The Bain of Constance - Half Man Half Biscuit
• Happy - Pharell Williams
• I Had This Thing - Röyksopp
• Atomos III - A Winged Victory For The Sullen
• 4 + 20 - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
• Boulder to Birmingham - Emmylou Harris
• Evertina - Lubomyr Melnyk
• Immunity (with King Creosote) - Jon Hopkins
• Lonely Press Play - Damon Albarn
• Burnt - Kiasmos
• Says - Nils Frahm

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