2012 complementary end of year awards 1/2

Oh hey there, haven't blogged in a while and I'm not sure why because I actually find myself very entertaining and I hope you will too. It seems as if at the end of the year everybody gets a kick out of reflecting whilst handing out bogus awards. I will not differ myself from others as I offer you my take on the year that has just passed us by.

Album of the year: Alt J - An Awesome Wave

The début album from the alternative band from Leeds turned out to be the surprise package of the year. Although I wasn't overly fond of the vocals or the absurd lyric "Triangles are my favourite shape etc etc" it was instrumentally perfect on every level and the album had me hooked on that premise alone. For me, it proved that not only is good music still out there in the charts, there are still bands willing to create new sounds and trying different things because let's be honest with here, its what the music industry sorely lacks right now. 

The band won the Mercury music prize and have been compared to the likes of Pink Floyd and also Radiohead. I would say that An Awesome Wave certainly contends with Pablo Honey but if Alt-J can match The Bends then they will certainly be on the map. But good luck guys, seriously all the best. 

Runners up: Enter Shikari - Flash flood of colour, Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg, Muse - The 2nd Law 

Single of the year: Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks

Yet more brilliant artists from Iceland following the likes of Bjork...Sigur Ros..and that band Bjork was in. Of Monsters of Men really made an impression on me and Little talks was a large reason for that. Little Talks was a huge commercial success scoring top 5 in the 5 different countries including Italy, Germany and of course Iceland. I just found myself listening to it a lot and this is something that will continue in the forthcoming years for me. 

Runners up: Plan B - Ill Manors, The Shins - Simple Song, David Byrne and St Vincent - Who and Black Keys - Little Black Submarines. 

Newcomer of the year: Jake Bugg

I've never heard of this dude a year ago. His début album of the same name went straight to number one in the UK Charts and rightly so. Bugg was swiftly compared to the likes of Bob Dylan and Noel Gallagher and although I find these comparisons slightly unjust, the self titled album is evidence that there are better things to come for this 18 year old singers/ongwriter. 

It will be important to see where he goes from here in terms of his song-writing  His album was a so called "coming of age" album in respect to his experiences and I fear that if he doesn't mature as a songwriter then he will fade into obscurity. I mean, he'll be at least 20 when he releases his next album so surely he should be creating songs about bills and bank accounts? Nevertheless it will be interesting to see where he goes from here and seeing if he can keep his promise by "keeping that X-Factor shit out of the charts"

Disappointing album of the year: The Killers - Battleborn

So me and my girlfriend are enjoying a quite night in and we both agree that we should listen to the new Killers albums, we're both fans so what do we have to lose? We thought we would get something between Hot Fuss and  Day and Age but what we were treated to was something not quite as good as either. 

Battleborn was an album full of fantastic vocals by Brandon Flowers, some great tones and melodies but that's about it. It wasn't engaging whatsoever, it lacked emphasis on the rest of the band and it was essentially an album full of fillers so to speak. It lacked tunes and generally personality, which is harsh because I love The Killers. They're still a fantastic band but Brandon probably should have refrained from releasing the solo album, especially when it is considerably better than the latest offering. I'll probably still see them at Wembley next year, however but I'll probably be there for Sam's Town, like everyone else.

Film of the year: The Avengers

I wont lie, 2012 for me has been a year of discovering classic films as opposed to watching more recent films  and I'm still yet to see Skyfall, The Hobbit and Django Unchained but for me this year the Avengers (Assembled if you're from the UK) has been the film I have enjoyed most this year. 

The film has great Action, dialogue, a fantastic villain accompanied by a fantastic cast and became the 3rd highest grossing film ever. It proved that Comic book films don't need to be edgy any more to be taken seriously and there were just no dull moments in the film, which is a rarity because even in the case of my favourite films of all time there are always the odd boring moments. 

Runners up: The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spiderman, The Master. 

I'll be posting part 2 when I have time or when I can be bothered. Categories include "TV Series of the year", "Hero of the year" & "Shithead of the year". You wouldn't want to miss that. 

Song of the week

I apolagise for those of you who have missed my Blogs, I have been rather busy fixing my life and making it excellent again. So I'll keep this one a brief one and return with something glorious. I saw the movie Leon last week and I genuinely thought it was one of the most enticing films I have ever watched. I couldn't keep my eyes off it and I would recommend it to anybody. As for now, I will leave you with one of the songs lifted from the soundtrack and return with a new song every week for you. This is Bjork.

Why I love R.E.M.

It's no secret that R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands. Like many other bands their music has flaws & it doesn't really appeal to everybody but I have loved them for years which is something that is not about change anytime soon. After 30 years of being a band its hard not to admire them but people really underestimate their influence and R.E.M. as a band in general especially since they have influenced the likes of Radiohead, Sonic Youth & Nirvana.

R.E.M. were the first real band I got into growing up. I was about 13 when I heard Man on the Moon and things just progressed from there. My friends at the time were into artists such as Akon, Sean Paul and The Black eye peas so it was certainly worth getting the shit ripped out of me for listening to R.E.M. as my friends couldn't quite comprehend the "gibberish" that Micheal Stipe dared call lyrics. At times I can barely understand it myself but if you listen to "E-Bow the letter" you'll understand where I'm coming from. Weird lyrics aside, R.E.M. were the kings of the American alternative music scene  and became pretty successful for what some considered to be a "College band".

R.E.M. went on to become a mainstream success with such songs as "Everybody hurts", "Losing my religion" and "Shiny Happy people". People still remember these songs but they weren't all R.E.M. had to offer as a band. They recorded politically orientated singles like "Orange Crush" which concerned the Vietnam war. R.E.M. have also dabbled in a heavier form of alternative music with the album "Monster". As well as the many anthems and ballads they have produced its indisputable that R.E.M. are versatile.

In the 30 years they spent as a band they managed to produce 15 albums, 7  of which were number one albums in the UK, 4 live albums and have made 3 Greatest hits albums. Out of all of them I have hand selected 3 songs I have listened to a of lot lately. Enjoy my friends!

R.E.M. - Uberlin 

Uberlin was one of the bands last singles before they split up. It features Aaron Johnson of Kick ass & Nowhere boy acting like a dickhead for four minutes. It's not my favourite song but its still rather significant in terms the timeline of the band.

R.E.M. - The One I love

What I love about the song is the simplicity of the lyrics in contrast to the fantastic instrumental in this guitar heavy anthem. I would love to be able to play this on the guitar and that's not to say it would be an easy song to sing either, because its not. 

R.E.M. - The Sidewinder sleeps tonite 

I would say everybody misinterprets the lyrics in this song. It's fucking weird man but I fucking love it. The hook is fantastic and its one of those pop songs you don't mind having in your head for a while. 

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A Brief introduction to The Doors

The Doors
Vocals - Jim Morrison 
Piano & keyboard - Ray Manzerak 
Guitar & vocals - Robbie Krieger 
Drums & percussion - John Densmore 

The Doors were the quintessential 60s rock-band. At a time when British music was dominating the charts with such bands as The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks and The Stones the Americans answered with The Doors who would offer something entirely different to the mix. The Doors were aggressive, raunchy, controversial, unpredictable and completely versatile. Not that other bands weren't but that Doors had all of that and were enigmatic in the process. 

I've only been a Doors fan for 5 years or so. I invited myself round my friends house once during "Film time" which meant I had to sit, shut up and watch the film...I had great friends. The film was Oliver Stone's "The Doors" which featured Val Kilmer who was essentially a Carbon copy of Jim Morrison and I really enjoyed it as I knew that if this portrayal was accurate then The Doors were obviously an incredible band. I was not wrong either. I remember hating the name "The Doors" because I generally thought it was an idiotic name but then I found out the origin of the name which was lifted from the William Blake quote "If the Doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite". So needless to say I was the one who felt the idiot after finding this out. Jim Morrison 1 Kelsey 0.

The first album I listened to of theirs was their debut self titled album "The Doors" and I loved it. I was literally in aw at the amazing songs included on the album, songs that I had heard before and could never put my finger on it. Sounds that literally griped me like a warm hand (Excuse the relevant pun) and they inspired and motivated me. "The End" is 11 minutes of atmospheric, poetic musical brilliance and is a certain recommendation for anybody who is not familiar with The Doors. "End of the night" is perfect after a drunken night out when you come home and reflect on the night you had however brilliant/crap.

Strange Days is arguably their second best album along with LA Woman which was released shortly after the death of Jim Morrison. The Soft Parade was arguably The Door's worst album in their 8 years of being a complete quadruple but it still performed fantastically commercially which was symbolic for the disintegration of Jim Morrison as he surrounded himself with controversy (See Miami indecent and the New Haven indecent).

Jim Morrison was arguably the major selling point of The Doors. He was artistic, charismatic, good looking, creative and most importantly Poetic which was evident in his lyrics and the album "The American Poet". Jim Morrison was not the most important member of the band however as everyone of them had contributed in some way. Ray Manzaerak the pianist had helped provide a very particular sound that helped distinguish the band from most guitar orientated bands. Robby Krieger was an incredibly gifted guitar player but he could also write music. He wrote "Touch me" and "Light my fire" which is arguably The Most famous Doors song there is.

The Doors were incredibly important to American music, The sixties and Rock as a genre. So if I haven't sold you The Doors yet maybe this song will:

Some Doors Trivia for you:

• Jim Morrison was the first rock artist to be arrested on stage during a performance
• The Band have sold over 100 Million albums worldwide
• "Light my fire" was almost never released as a single as it lasts 7 minutes in total. The song was then edited down to create a 4 minute version which allowed for it to be aired on the radio.
• The Doors were banned from The Ed Sullivan show. When performing Light my fire Jim Morrison refused to change the lyrics from "Higher" to "Better" as it conflicted with the bands artistic views. 
• Johnny Depp narrates the 2010 documentary "When you're strange" about The Door's time as a band.
• Jim Morrison referred to himself as "Mr Mojo Risin" which is an anagram of  "Jim Morrison" 
• The Doors entered the Rock & Roll hall of fame in 1993

Coming soon: The top ten songs of The Doors. 

Here are some great films I don't rate

Apart from music and radio the other genuine passion I have in life is film. I'm the type of person who would disregard a Saturday night out on the town in order to stay in and watch a movie. That may be a testament to my somewhat boring personality but the fact still remains, I just fucking love films. Classic films mostly though, I like to watch a film that has been around for years and kind of challenge it in my own mind and every now and then I'll give a new film a try although many of them let me down. This is what motivated me to write this blog entry, you see many'o times I have been let down by films in the sense that they don't live up to expectations or I find that they are all hype. An example of this would be Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" which I thought at the time would be a thrilling horror about a crazed machine in space, what I got was hour long surreal cinematic sequences. Although I would never include that film in my list because it was a complete game changer, it still proves my point. Films can let you down despite the hype, and the following have let me down in the past and certainly did not live up to my expectations.

Beetlejuice 
I like Tim Burton, I enjoy his films and it took me a while to get round to watch what was called by many "His finest work" but when I ended up watching it I thought was a pile of shit. I enjoyed the zany humour,  the complete sense of surrealism throughout the film and and younger, thinner Alec Baldwin but to me it seemed like it was trying too hard to be "out there". Despite this it is arguably Tim's most creative film to date  but it just wasn't for me.

Ice Age
Everybody loves Raymond, but I don't like him in this film. I don't enjoy the Ice Age franchise and to this day I can't really understand why. Its your standard animated family film and I like most films in its genre but just not this one. I felt the squirrel detracted from the main story too much that it became more annoying than funny. The only good thing about the film is the fact that everybody knows somebody that looks like Sid the Sloth (pictured above) and it can fill you with endless hours of entertainment.

Signs
I love a good film about Alien invasions and I also like M.Night Shyamalan films but I hated this film with a passion. It had a slow build up, which I don't mind as long as there is some kind of climax towards the end of the film but there wasn't. Turns out the Alien didn't like water, The End. I thought it was a genuine insult to films from the same genre and I really felt that M.Night should have took a second glimpse at Mel Gibson's original script, which was essentially the same thing just with Jews instead of visitors.

Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppala is a fantastic director, Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen were both brilliant so what's the problem here? Not a lot really but I just felt like the film was really long winded especially after such a strong start. I didn't feel that the end result was worth the length of the film. This is the case with a lot of films.

The Birds
So you're going to shred an Alfred Hitchcock film are you? Yes I am. I paid a fair amount for this classic film and I was thoroughly disappointed. I can appreciate how innovative the techniques used were back in the 1960s but the overall story-line/lack of story-line left me completely bewildered. It made me wonder how such a poor film became so iconic and if you think about it Birds aren't really that great of an antagonist for a film are they?

Nightmare before Christmas
Tim Burton fans are really going to hate me after this but I must stress at this point that I do in fact like Tim Burton and his films, I just didn't like BeetleJuice and this film right here. I found one song to be rather catchy  but overall that was about it. The story failed to hook me in and I just generally wasn't interested.  I don't think its the worst film ever made, I can see why people like it. It just did not appeal to me.

Superbad
Again, I can see why people may like this I just don't see how it lives up to its hype. All I heard consistently was "You have to see Superbad man!" and I saw it and I barely chuckled which is a bad thing because it doesn't take much to make me laugh. My interpretation of the film was that it was just Micheal Cera being awkward (Surprise) and Jonah Hill was swearing a lot for about 90 minutes. It's certainly worth a £1.50 buy from Play.com  to add to your collection but its not worthy of any top ten list, says this observer.

Reservoir Dogs
Again, I like Quentin Tarantino and I like both Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth but there was just something missing...Oh yeah! Like real suspense. It just didn't engage me and I'm admittedly easily reeled in. Like the other day parent was watching "Cash in the attic" and I just thought to myself "Boy this would be a real treat" and I genuinely sat down and watched the entire programme. Not to say that this film doesn't top Cash in the attic but it just didn't grip me like it has so many other people.

I'm not going to be using my blog for the next couple of weeks in fear of vengeful Tim Burton fans but if you like you can tweet me as always. Coming soon: a list of films I actually like. 

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The Best of the Beatles...Post Beatles

"I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me". This is from The John Lennon song "God" in which John Lennon denounces his faith in everything, except himself. Yoko & himself. The quote however essentially announces his intention to distance himself from The Beatles furthermore. Obviously there was never to be a Beatles reformation with the original line of the Fab four but the music that they had made Post Beatles was spectacular and Beatles fans tend not to appreciate what fantastic music they created individually. So what's happening is, I'm going to show you some of my personal favourites from the Post Beatles era in the hope that you can appreciate that the end of the Beatles really wasn't the extent of their talent.

John Lennon - Jealous Guy
I thought starting at perhaps the most famous Beatle was too easy but fuck it. Jealous Guy is universally relatable, whether you're man or woman, whether you've been in a relationship or you're just a creepy onlooker waiting for the day that you'll finally pluck up the courage to talk to someone you like its just easy to relate to this song because everybody gets jealous at one point in their lives. "Imagine" is considered to be the highlight of John Lennon's solo career but this song begs to differ.

George Harrison - I'd have you anytime
I loved this song the second I heard it. It's perfect for those who are in a relationship or are aspiring to be in one. It's a very romantic song and this is coming from somebody who is romantically crippled. I love the Country music vibe it gives off randomly and I just really love the album "All things must pass" altogether because its just such a complete album from start to finish. There are no dull moments and arguably his finest solo work

Paul McCartney & Wings
I can never understand why this song is the highlight for me off the entire Band on the Run album but it is. It's one of those songs that stick to you and you can't even comprehend why. It;s a fantastic song to listen to at night. Give it a try.

John Lennon - How do you sleep?
An incredibly angry and hostile single from such a humble human being. This song, if you didn't know was written about Paul McCartney following the break up of the Beatles as it showed an angsty side to John Lennon we had never seen before. In the original recording he even went as far as to say "How do you sleep ya cont?" which if you didn't know was Liverpublian for "Cunt". Proving yet again that John Lennon could write a great song about any emotion.

Paul McCartney - Here today
From an incredibly angry John Lennon to the other side of the spectrum. Paul McCartney sings about his love for John Lennon after he was murdered in 1980. It's very touching from the perspective of a Beatles fan and especially if you are aware its about John Lennon. Take John out of the equation and its still a very moving song but the fact its about John Lennon makes it more Bittersweet.

More Great songs: 
John Lennon - Instant Karma
John Lennon - Imagine
John Lennon - Oh my love
John Lennon - Just like starting over
Paul McCartney - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
Paul McCartney - Maybe I'm amazed
Wings - Jet
The Travelling Wilburys - Handle with care
George Harrison - Isn't it a pity
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
Ringo Starr - It don't come easy

Wish to commend my choices or call me names because of the lack of Ringo in this blog post? You can do so by tweeting me : www.twitter.com/citizen_kelbel

My Top Ten songs...ever.

In no particular order the following ten songs are essentially my favorite songs ever. They may not be the best songs ever written, I don't even feel that most of them deserve that title but they mean a lot to me personally. They remind me of times and moments in my life that became integral to the person I turned out to be. According to my I-Pod I had listened to this collection of songs over 2000 times since I've owned an I-Pod which is remarkable, even for me because I didn't even know I listened to music that much. So if you have a wee bit'o time on your hands have a scroll down and enjoy the music and hopefully you may empathize with my admittedly strange musical preference:

Radiohead - Let Down
I love this song more than words will ever permit me to say. At one point in my life I had to physically refrain from listening to it because I was in such a shitty place and I knew that it would leave me in tears. I can wave goodbye to whatever masculinity I had prior to that last sentence but I'm not too concerned because this song is beautiful. These are facts.

Radiohead - Knives out
This song isn't even Radiohead's finest work. It featured on possibly their worst album and it's a song about cannibalism. Who can relate to that? Apparently I can although I've never eaten anybody in my life..yet. The music video is directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind) who is a fantastic directer but not only that, what I love about this song is Johnny Greenwood's almost distorted Guitar riff which eventually becomes the focal point of the song. I could listen to it for days and never get bored

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
I heard this song at a very strange time in my life. I was literally in Limbo, in the sense that I was neither happy or sad and then this song came along and reflected that. It's very somber in its message but very uplifting in its musical content. It's no secret I love the Piano and this song emphasizes that.
"So can you understand why I want a daughter while I'm still young. I want to hold her hand and show her some beauty before this damage is done. But if its too much to ask then send me a son". These are very agreeable and relevant lyrics. The video was also directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) who is incredibly talented.

R.E.M. - Nightswimming
This is another Piano orientated tune that I simply am in love with. The riff is irresistible and It's one of those songs you can never skip when it comes on shuffle. It's a song about skinny dipping and teenage adolescence, one that I can not really relate to but a man can dream. A man can dream.

The Beatles - And I love her (Take two)
This was the first Beatles song I ever heard. It came free with a Packard bell MP3 player I received for Christmas almost ten years ago. The Guitar Solo simply astounds me and ten years later it still does. I prefer it to the original version and I can't quite understand why it isn't the original version.

The Doors - People are strange
"Women are wicked, when you're alone" This is a lyric you can relate to if you've been single for 2 and a half years. Although that point in my life is almost over I will always be able to relate to this song in one way or another. Jim Morrison's unique and genuine voice creates an amazing atmosphere as you can genuinely believe what he is singing about to be true.

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony 
This is the ultimate walking song, for obvious reasons I may add. The Verve were one of the first real musicians I became interested in at a young age as I transcended from a little dickhead listening to my local commercial radio station to the more open minded, musically inclined man you're reading from now. It's very symbolic in that sense from a personal perspective. Yeah the song may have been lifted from The Andrew Oldham Orchestra's cover of The Rolling stones "Last time" and yes its now becoming a commercial ploy for ITV Football but fuck, it's still such a brilliant song and very symbolic of the 90s British music scene.

Tom Waits - Goin out West

Okay this song is lifted from The Fight club soundtrack but that isn't why I like it. The way I interpret the song is that Tom is very aware of his own shortcomings, but hes essentially saying "Fuck it, here are some reasons why I am a winner". It's very positive in that sense and its almost empowering.
"My friends think I'm ugly, I've got a masculine face" pretty much emphasizes the point I am making. The guitar riff is insanely brilliant and Tom's voice is raw and extremely powerful. It's a manly song for those who are very conscious of their own faults.

The Pixies - Where is my mind?
Ahh shucks, another song from Fight Club. This song is just a brilliant piece of song writing from such an unappreciated and underrated band. If it wasn't for songs like this then there would never have been a Nirvana. That was a bold statement I agree but the song in general is a bold statement in itself. Remove Fight club from the equation and what do you have? A song about somebody losing their mind and literally singing about nonsense which is accompanied by a brutally awesome guitar riff.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody 
Unlike the other songs prior to this, I can honestly say that I think that this is one of the best songs ever written. It's indescribable. So much so that I refuse to add superlatives to this song because nothing I say will ever do it justice. It just appeals to me on so many levels, plus I can sing every Freddy bit on Karaoke. Beat that.

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