Un-ortho-dox - Top 10

I need to start writing more or else I'll forget how to structure a sentence and then I'll be everything I ever hated. Not being pretentious or out... DAMN!

Right, ok, so, I'm really creative with my ideas and therefore following on from NMEs post about the top 5 albums this year; I'm going to do a countdown! Nobody saw this coming... Best 10 albums this year - with justified decisions and everything! So this is basically me trying to advertise the bands which I think you listen to... So, excluding, 'Best of' hits, let's get to it.

#10 - Submarine - Alex Turner

Arguably not an 'album' in the sense of the word, but it is. The soundtrack to Richard Ayoade's debut masterpiece. When choosing somebody to record the sounds for his film, Ayoade said it was down to a flip of a coin; one side Alex Turner (of Arctic Monkeys), and the other Jay Kay (of Jamiroquai). Comprising of 5 full songs and an intro, if genius came in the form of a CD, this would be the definition. It has become an instant chill out classic and a song from here also made it onto the Arctic Monkeys album, 'Suck it and See'.

Highlight: 'Stuck on the Puzzle'

#9 - The People's Key - Bright Eyes

After an impressive 7 studio albums, in February this year, Bright Eyes released a follow up album to Cassadaga, 4 years after that was released. This is truly magnificent. It unveils itself as a science problem which the 15 year old inside yourself cannot comprehend; but as the album progresses, it becomes, well, no clearer... but we are taken through the many different sides of Bright Eyes as a band, exploring numerous different genres that have made up Connor Oberst's career - from the ever-present charm of folk which he has made his name in, to the synth-drowned joy in which is most detectable in songs like 'Shell Games' and 'Jejune Stars'. Top album!

Highlight: 'Triple Spiral'

#8 - Pala - Friendly Fires

Not as strong as their debut album which was self titled, but Pala came in at #6 in the UK charts and received sound reviews. Adding to their already established collection of hits; 'Live Those Days Tonight', 'Hurting' and most favourably, 'Hawaiian Air', this is an album which - with a few listens - can become treasured and can keep its place in your all time favourites. With this album, you must have a viable imagination, just so you can envision Ed Macfarlane shaking his midriff as he so famously does live. With that, picture the sweat dripping from the beard of drummer Jack Savidge as he smashes the drums backdoors in... so to speak.

Highlight: 'Hawaiian Air'

#7 - Playing in the Shadows - Example

3 Albums in, and Example (real name, Elliot Gleave) is only really just starting to get the credit he deserves. Playing in the Shadows is the finest of his work so far and chart music is changing for the better; no longer do I have to hear moaning-mongering tossers such as Rihanna or Gaga over and over again... decent music is kicking in! Example has transformed my music library from indie-filled, alternative rock, to something much more powerful. Like Fatima Whitbread. Not only this, but when I put Example on at house parties, I dont get butter thrown at me. Successful.

Highlight: 'Stay Awake'

#6 - Outside There's a Curse - Ben Marwood

My most underground choice, yeaah. Discovered this guy when he supported Frank Turner on a couple of tours in the UK and instantly fell in love with his sound. Acoustic singer-songwriter Ben Marwood has displayed the titanic degree of determination required to be successful in the industry and has produced one of the finest albums I may have ever heard. Songs about lost loves, having killer hangovers on public transport and there's even a song about Avril Lavigne in there for good measure, this is an album people should definitely take note of and share with the world. Even your gran will like it!

Highlights: 'I Will Breathe You In', 'Oh My Days'

#5 - Smother - Wild Beasts

Hailing from Kendal, these 4 lads offer an alternative view of music and a seemingly different way of life. Complex drums hold together the calming twang of the vocals (taken in turns by Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming) and the trance enfixing guitar riffs. They still continue to reveal sexual gratification via the poetic words and tones only really associated with that of Shakespeare and such. When performing live, everyone within ear range of the Beasts are completely immersed in a sense of satisfaction; imagine sitting on a deck chair in the middle of a luke-warm lake with everything you hold dear and that allows you to unwind, and that is pretty much the sound of Wild Beasts. Smother is a drug. Class A most likely.

Highlights: 'Deeper', 'Albatross'

#4 - What Did You Expect from the Vaccines - Vaccines

Along with professional critics jumping on the Vaccines bandwagon, widely renowned bands such as White Lies, Strokes and The Maccabees have joined in the fun. Zane Lowe praised them from day one after they uploaded a demo of 'If You Wanna' on to Youtube and since have become a massive band supporting Arctic Monkeys and playing along side Miles Kane. This album epitomises rock and many of the tracks are short and sweet; 'Norgaard' a prime example being just over 90 seconds long. Having witnessed them live as well, its clear they are on to something and will no doubt be headlining the major festivals in years to come. This really is half an hour of pure, passionate, timeless music and the year they have been around is just the beginning of something inconceivable.

Highlights: 'Norgaard', 'Post Break-Up Sex'

#3 - England Keep My Bones - Frank Turner

I could type and type and type until I achieved infamous 'claw hand', but I'll keep it (relatively) short. This is Frank Turner's 4th studio album and he seems to be at his very best. I've been going to a hell of a lot of his gigs over the passed couple of years and witnessed utterly majestic songs; but this list of tracks seem to have him most at ease, and this is what Frank Turner is about. He has done more in the music business than anyone else, achieving over 1000 shows in 6 years and travelling to the ends of the earth to play. Pure grit. His success has not come over night, he has grafted and grafted to get to where he is and has created a soundtrack to a generation. His passionate voice ever-present in a number of songs which have him struggling for breath at the songs climax and his abilities with 'the axe' shine through in songs like 'Nights Become Days' and 'Rivers'. "At least I f*cking tried" a notable lyric of his from 'The Eulogy' is an understatement, he's come so far in active years and is sticking round for a lot longer. You MUST get to one of his gigs. Stunning every time.

Highlights: 'I Still Believe', 'I am Disappeared', 'Balthazar Impresario'

#2 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Oasis' split left millions devastated, but not surprised. Liam cropped up post-Oasis with his band 'Beady Eye' and were taking the business by storm. But then Noel arrived back on the scene much to the delight of many (myself included) and made Liam's work look like manure from all different kinds of animals mixed into one; impressive but poor in comparison (poor analogy but the red bull is wearing off). This album is absolutely BOSS. Not a bad song on there, not 2 songs alike and not a Liam in sight! Despite receiving mixed reviews, this is some of Noel's finest work and arguably his best since the Morning Glory days. Oasis' split was heartbreaking, but if Noel and his High Flying Birds continue to make music of this magnitude, the UK charts are in for a shock; no shit music topping the tables. Wonderful.

Highlights: 'If I Had a Gun', 'Soldier Boys and Jesus Freaks', 'AKA What a Life'

#1 - Suck it and See - Arctic Monkeys

Gone are the days of Alex Turner's shyness, songs about chavs with snooker cues and general saturday nights. We are here, now, with an album so magnificent it makes 16 year old girls cry. The debate continues as to whether their first album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is still their greatest, but modern music has changed, and this - in my opinion - could well be the finest albums of the past 20 years. This proves that guitar music still has a place in society and the Arctics' natural charm and charisma still has a place in the seemingly dystopian world of today. The accent is still there, the humour is still there and the metaphors and idioms for love still have people swooning. Men and women. Naming no names. Thing is, Arctic Monkeys always had a job on their hands to deliver and after being overly successful when they first started out, they had to keep on top of their game. They couldn't carry on with the same sounds and this album depicts their rise to the big time by not mentioning any classic reeboks or underage drinking. Instead, we're entised by the sounds of heavy similies ringing through our ears accompanied by sick drumbeats and brave string plucking. Truly fantastic album, and seeing it being played live is an honour.

Highlights: 'Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair', 'That's Where You're Wrong', 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala'

So there. I should also mention; Chase and Status - No More Idols, Ed Sheeran - +, Scroobius Pip - Distraction Pieces, Ben Howard - Every Kingdom and Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!

BEST of the BEST. (i.e. The BEST)

Money is drying up, its getting harder to travel places and my throat hurts. These are the 3 reasons I have tried to tell myself why I haven't been to a gig in a while; frankly, this isnt good enough. However, why I've been looking into gigs for the future (which include, Frank Turner, Stone Roses and hopefully, Foals) I've decided to reveal my personal 3 greatest gigs/bands I have seen live. Tense moment... And by the way, choosing 1st and 2nd place could well have been harder than deciding where to go to university.

3. MUSE (Main Stage, Leeds Festival 2011)
Friday headliners at Leeds and sunday headliners at Reading; Muse were the band that stood out over the whole festival, which is a hell of an achievement for them because The Strokes were set to play the festival 2 days later.

The intro was mesmorising, flashes of light which provided a glance of charismatic-god that is Matt Bellamy rifled through the eyes of the tens of thousands of punters. The brief flashes were accompanied by a sinister Tom Wait track, with the words, "What's in there? What's he building in there?" ringing in the ears of everyone. This soon led to the mellow keying of Mr Bellamys piano for 'New Born' and the beginning of the epic setlist. They smashed out the hits, everything from bass-destroying, 'Hysteria' to the deafening cover of 'Feeling Good'.

This set in particular was eagerly anticipated, due to it being the 10th anniversary of critically acclaimed album, 'Origin of Symmetry', in which Muse announced they will play all the way through for the last time. 'Showbiz', 'Bliss' and... Well, you know, just look at the back of the CD case to find out what else they played. They killed it, the crowd loved it and I have only really just got over it. Incredible. (that photo above; I took myself and edited it because i'm so overly pretentious with my photos)

2. ARCTIC MONKEYS (Sheffield Don Valley Bowl, June 2010)
The second greatest gig I have ever been to. VERY closely matched with my first choice. The atmosphere certainly topped my first choice, but overall, this just missed out. Taking nothing away from Alex and the boys; these lads absolutely, 100%, unequivocally nailed it.

Vaccines and Miles Kane supported, much to the delight of everyone there. The boys kicked off their show after Turner echoed "Let's start from the beginning shall we..?", which kicked off 'A View from the Afternoon' and it was magic from there. 'Dont Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair', 'Brianstorm' and 'Still Take You Home' all rang out from the beginning. Every single word which came out of Alex's mouth was tinged with a northern slant, which really comes through when he cracks out the mind-blowing lyrics.

Helders was once again on form leaving me with the impression that he is inhuman... especially after declaring he only began playing drums because it was the only instrument left. Songs from all 4 studio albums to date were pranged out with added confidence due to them being in their home town.

The original set ended, and they came back out for a horrifyingly excellent encore which included 'When the Sun Goes Down', 'Fluorescent Adolescent' and my ultimate favourite, 'A Certain Romance'. It was clear this was a give and take gig; during fans fave 'Mardy Bum', AT forgot the words to which the thousands of adoring fans sung the words back at him, awesome moment to be part of.

The crowd loved every minute, and thousands were left with injuries, sweat soaked shirts and a decreased amount of dignity. It were definitely siiick.

1. DOVES (Manchester Central, December 2009)
Here it is. The best thing I have ever been to... in my opinion. Still sends shivers down my spine when thinking about it. This gig was honestly pure genius. An absolute joy to behold.

A homecoming gig is different to anything ever experienced; it means more to the artist and more to the fans. On first glance, GMEX looks like a knackered old train station; because it is... but the closer you get, the more impressive it actually is and when you actually venture inside, you're on the floor. Dazed. Confused. Enough about that. Widely unheard of, 'Delphic' were the support act, along with widely heard-of, 'Super Furry Animals'. These guys impressed, and got the crowd buzzing for when Jimi and the boys were to take to the stage.

The band formally known as 'Sub Sub' came on stage to a rapturous applause which they soaked up for a minute or 2, and then proceeded into something so amazing, so stunning, so... superlative-busting, astronauts would sit on the floor and die because they couldnt handle what they were to witness. Not only were Doves slamming out the tunes which have made their name over the past decade; they were joined by the London Bulgarian Choir, with whom they had previously worked with at the BBC Electric Proms. The set astounded many, and overwhelmed many more. With songs such as, 'Kingdom of Rust', 'Snowden', 'Firesuite' and 'The Cedar Room' all coming and going, the thousands of supporters were left screaming for more... 'Pounding', 'Black and White Town' and 'There Goes the Fear' all getting the GMEX shuddering and shaking like "the old days". Hours passed and Doves left the stage, only to come on and play a few more before leaving again. And, due to the high demand, they came back for the 2nd time that night to finish with a song - in the words of Mr Goodwin, "wouldn't be homecoming without..." - called 'Spaceface'.

The night ended and I for one was left in a trance. This gig was UNREAL and it takes something special to beat it...

Woop!

The Resurrection

As I type this, there are tickets on sale for a particular band which could make the seller of these a relatively wealthy man. BusinessLAD.

A few days ago, arguably the most famous Madchester band reformed; and with that, 2 shows were announced for June next year in Manchester's Heaton Park. Tickets went on sale today (9:30 GMT) and this was more anticipated than a good episode of Hollyoaks. Like, a REALLY good episode, with fights, a psycho, ruined weddings and an injured child (nothing funny about youths getting hurt of course... is there? no. no.)

220,000 (give or take) tickets sold out in 68 minutes and this is record breaking, equalling the fastest selling rock gigs in UK history! This too was after they added a 3rd show! (how true this is I don't know, but its more impressive to say).

Back to my starting point; currently there is a single ticket on sale for the saturday show, going at £20,000! I very nearly choked on my cheese roll (not a euphemism) when I saw this. Now, this could be a bid from an absolute, die-hard fan who will stop at nothing to get his/her ticket OR it could be a bid from some tosser who doesn't really want the ticket and is now making a name for himself/herself on ebay and will be entered into the draw for the popular, less-than-coveted award, 'Most Pointless Prick 2011'.

To pay that much money to gain access to a gig is just quite frankly insane. Never really knew anybody to have that capacity to love, especially for a band. It really is quite a titanic degree of affection.

Yeah, this is of course INCREDIBLE news that they're back together, and they will play a killer show, everyone will have a good time and it will go down in history even more so than it already has... (hopefully you were waiting for a 'but' there... not happening. Its going to be INTENSE). Roll on summer 2012!

By the way as i've finished typing this article, the ticket in question has risen to £10,000,000. The person who bid that should be made to pay that regardless of if s/he wants to go. Banter backfires.