Moments of 2010

1) Seeing Paul Banks of Interpol fiddling with the tuning of his guitar for the pitch-bends in the song The New is possibly one of the most amazing things I have witnessed. Only Interpol.

This is the gig I was at. So the quality could be better. But I was here! So you are having this one.

2:31 for those amazing pitch bends.





2) Whilst attending Leeds Festival this year was something I did a lot of complaining about when I think back to it I definitely do not get all nostalgic and think of it for something better. It was dirty. I was cold. But, fuck me, Funeral Party were incredible. An absolute force. I cannot wait for their tour in the spring and their album which you can pre-order here!

Giant Song by Funeral Party



3) Which leads me onto my next moment. The moment I discovered SoundCloud... Well, probably not so much that moment in the moment, but it certainly had major repercussions after. A brilliant medium to discover new artists and share them. Or hoard them to yourself. Whatever works for you.

Without SoundCloud I wouldn't have stumbled upon the next artists when I did.



4) The first time I heard Odessa by Caribou I knew my life was going to be irrevocably changed thereafter. Words fail me. I cannot adequately express what this album has come to be to me. But suffice to say it is seminal.

And here is the bloody whole album thanks to SoundCloud!

Swim by Caribouband



5) I've only gone and possibly saved the best til last!

Gold Panda has literally rocked my world. Upon discovering You I wondered what the point in continuing with this whole musical journey was. A bit how I felt after discovering The Field. And whilst not a million miles away from one another. I think Gold Panda is wholly more accessible and gives me much more the inclination to dance.

The pinnacle moment was seeing him live. In that funny little club The Cut in Newcastle. Seeing him jump about and hit those buttons with perfect precision for his awkward rhythms and the crowd absolutely lapping it up was the best gig I have been to in a long time. Sometimes your idols fail to inspire you and there is that cliché that goes along with it, but Derwin Panda has made my 2010. I am very grateful.

Here is the infamous You, followed by Snow & Taxis:

You by Gold Panda

Snow & Taxis by Gold Panda

Caribou

Obviously I have been living under a rock or something equivalent. And I don't just mean my most recent characteristic period of blog neglect. I have never had Caribou in my life until very recently.

WTF! FFS! And other such acronyms.

I am a thorough Caribou devotee now. But apparently not devoted enough to be able to attend any of the upcoming UK tour dates. I'd give my ability to logic and reason (which is admittedly pretty poor of late) to go to the Manchester date at The Warehouse Project where the line-up also includes - you'll have to excuse me whilst I sob gently through genuine hurt at not being able to come up with the funds to go - Four Tet, James Holden and - I'm biting my quivering lip at this one as I've never seen him live - Nathan Fake. It might be too early for this level of upset. I'm not sharing the Caribou tour dates because I would just be too jealous if you were to go. Go and Google it yourself, you show-off twat!

Uncalled for, I know.

I have a feeling that rather than playing with research proposals I'm going to be looking at cheap ways to get to Manchester. Accommodation is out of the question. And although I have never got free entry to a gig through writing this blog, if it were to happen now, for this, I'd definitely say yes. Just in case. You know.

Less about my needs.

Here is the latest Caribou album Swim:

Swim by Caribouband

And whilst I probably like the single Odessa more, I love this video:

CARIBOU - Sun from Caribou on Vimeo.