…so that was the noughties!

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Tippi the cat wearily surveys the vinyl from her perch

There are pedantic sods out there who will say that the next decade doesn’t start until 2011…umm, too bad.

It’s been a busy decade with highs and lows, and soundtracked by some amazing stuff. Odd, considering that at the start of 2000, I was wondering whether I was being left behing as I failed to get into Nu-metal or garage. Thankfully, there’s been lots of brilliant stuff.

So…

Highs: Getting married; moving to Scotland; being my brother’s best man at his wedding; becoming an uncle; getting cats; finally getting to work in a record shop; the invention of the iPod; meeting wonderful new friends in Scotland; the critical re-evaluation of The Cure; starting a blog that’s allowed me to interview people and get free music and into gigs for free; getting a Masters Degree; becoming a fully qualified teacher; Edinburgh’s music scene flourishing; getting to DJ again; going to New York -twice!; seeing my brother’s career in comedy and acting take off; the resurgence of post-punk and its’ infleunce on contemporary indie; setting up my own record label; Obama’s election; Great TV in the form of Life On Mars, The Office, CSI; ‘world’ cinema playing in multiplexes; successfully giving up smoking and drinking; nights out in Edinburgh and Glasgow; The Wire magazine; American Hip Hop and R&B; Grime; Dubstep; Kate Bush finally releasing a new album; finally having my own car; getting to see the likes of the Pixies (twice!), Blondie, Television (Twice!), Dead Kennedys, Julian Cope, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave (also twice!), Morrissey (three times), U2, Lou Reed…

Lows: Death of our beloved Jake the cat; black dog; the NME’s decline for much of the decade; people who showed they could not be trusted; the loss of three music venues in Edinburgh (La Belle Angele, The Venue, The Liquid Rooms); Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; Labour letting us down; George W. Bush’s administration impacting on life here; the BNP; Tommy Sheridan proving to be human after all; the frightening prospect of a Tory Victory in 2010; the continued existence of racism, homophobia and domestic violence (and fuckwits who label any attempt to challenge this as political correctness gone mad)…

There’s been so much music that it’s hard to rank it all – this is just a handful of what’s floated my boat this decade.

The Delgados -‘No Danger.’ mp3

Gnarls Barkley -‘Crazy.’ mp3

The Bug -‘Angry.’ mp3

CSS – ‘Let’s Make Love and Listen To Death From Above.’ mp3

Franz Ferdinand -‘Shopping For Blood.’ mp3

Beyonce -‘Crazy In Love.’ mp3

LCD Soundsystem -‘Losing My Edge.’ mp3

Burial -‘Archangel.’ mp3

Santogold -‘My Superman.’ mp3

Low – ‘California.’ mp3

>Usher -‘Yeah.’ mp3

The Rapture – ‘House Of Jealous Lovers.’ mp3

Radio 4 -‘Dance To the Underground.’ mp3

Interpol -‘NYC.’ mp3

Missy Elliott -‘Get UR Freak On.’ mp3

Estelle -‘American Boy (featuring Kanye West).’ mp3

Skream -‘Midnight Request Line.’ mp3

This is by no means a complete list; I’ve intentionally left out anything from this year. The list could also include M.I.A.; White Stripes; Strokes; Yeah Yeah Yeahs; The Libertines; Dizzee Dascal; Arctic Monkeys; Outkast; System Of A Down; Calexico; Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy; Kylie; Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds… and many of the scottish bands I’ve championed – and those I have signed.

Happy New Year!

xx

If I Had a Club Night


a da da da da da-da-da-da-da-da- da!

Oh sorry, got a bit lost there. It’s been a busy few days, what with being signed back on by the Doctor (so back to school for me in a couple of days), trying to tidy the flat (a Painting a very big bridge kind of job) and doing more wedding preparation with the soon to be Mrs. 17 seconds.

I guess we’re a bit tired rather than too old to go clubbing, but I got to thinking about the days when I DJed (and who knows, I may do again *wishful thinking*) so i was thinking about tracks I might like to play. And – this is for you Rick, if you’re reading – some of these tracks you can dance to!!

Obviously, I would play some tracks that aren’t a few years old, as well as some that are decades older, but here are a few, partioularly from the days when the re-emergence of ‘post-punk’ type stuff was floating my boat, blogging was in its infancy and The Arcade Fire and the Shins were pretty much only known to those who read the blogs. How times change…but some of these tracks are very much likely to make it into my list of best tracks of the noughties.

The Faint -‘Agenda Suicide.’ mp3

The Faint -‘Worked Up So Sexual.’ mp3

Fitness -‘Chauffeur.’ mp3

Juan Maclean -‘By the Time I Get To Venus.’ mp3

Radio 4 -‘Dance To The Underground.’ mp3

The Rapture -‘House Of Jealous Lovers.’ mp3

Links removed April 21.

As always, if you like the tracks, support the artists by buying the bands’ music, whether at iTunes, Amazon or your local independent store.

Oh, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, the jock’n’roll poll is up and running!