Archive for 2010
Live review: Arcade Fire @ SECC, Glasgow
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
“Stand up, please stand up,” are the first words ARCADE FIRE frontman Win Butler utters into the microphone to those with the misfortune of having seated tickets, and the majority of those at the back of the venue are more than happy to comply.
I have to admit my expectation levels for this gig were fairly low given how underwhelming their previous show at the SECC was three years ago and how dull I find their latest album The Suburbs.
Matters aren’t helped when they begin with two songs from that record, Ready To Start and Month Of May, but at least there is the extrovert behaviour from the band’s numerous members to provide entertainment, be it the sight of Sarah Neufeld swapping her usual stringed instrument for what appears to be a couple of table-tennis bats or William Butler skipping from one side of the stage to the other while skelping a tom-tom drum.
With it being their last gig of the tour Win is keen to bow out all guns blazing. “Let’s have a gentlemen’s agreement,” he tells the crowd. “We’re gonna leave it all on stage tonight. You need to meet us halfway, right?” The familiar opening jangle of Keep The Car Running ensure the audience’s response is in the affirmative, before Neighborhood #2 (Laïka) and No Cars Go raise the decibels to yet greater heights.
However, the set dips with Rococo, My Body Is A Cage and The Suburbs with its cringingly awful honky-tonk piano, which belongs on a Badly Drawn Boy b-side. In fact, so unmoved were a bunch of irritating 40-somethings standing next to me that they deemed it as good a moment as any to take group photos of their big night out at the SECC. Is this really what one of the most powerful live bands on the planet have been reduced to?
Mercifully, Arcade Fire move up a gear. The Canadians unleash the full force of Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), while Win makes a brief visit to the front barrier for We Used To Wait. He then gives an oddly half-assed vocal performance of Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) before a bombastic Rebellion (Lies) ends with the band encouraging the crowd to join in some a cappella harmonising.
The encore begins with Intervention which is as glorious as it is moving. Win then introduces the last song with an anecdote about one of the first gigs they ever played: “There were five people there – and three of them were my parents. My dad is a scientist so he knows nothing about music but he said he liked the one that sounded like a Scottish war song.” Cue their hands-aloft-anthem Wake Up which, of course, soon turns the room into a joyous mush of boogying Glaswegians.
The set may have been on the brief side, coming in at just 90 minutes, but Arcade Fire sure know how to make an exit.
Arcade Fire – Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son (Serge Gainsbourg cover)
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The best songs of 2010
Sunday, December 12th, 2010
The previous post served up this website’s favourite albums of 2010, and now it’s time to share with you the songs that have soundtracked the year for Team Pop Cop.
It seems a bit unnecessary to describe what each individual track sounds like since it would be just as quick for you to hit the play button and find out for yourself, right?
Admiral Fallow – Squealing Pigs (available on Boots Met My Face album – No.1 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010 – and Music Alliance Pact March 2010)
Bear Bones – Oil & Lacquer (available on Oil & Lacquer single and Music Alliance Pact October 2010)
Broken Records – A Darkness Rises Up (available on Let Me Come Home album)
Emma’s Imagination – This Day (available on This Day single – rerecorded version on Stand Still album)
Endor – Chapel Doors (available on Endor album – No.2 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
Endor – Without The Help Of Sparks (available on Endor album – No.2 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
Freelance Whales – Location (available on Weathervanes album – No.5 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
Frightened Rabbit – The Loneliness & The Scream (available The Winter Of Mixed Drinks album – No.4 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
Galleries – Everything Continued (available on Rocket Science single)
Jimmy Eat World – Movielike (available on Invented album)
Jonsi – Boy Lilikoi (available on Go album – No.8 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
Kid Canaveral – You Only Went Out To Get Drunk Last Night (available on Shouting At Wildlife album – No.10 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
LightGuides – The Lion And The Pocketwatch (available on Past & Present mini-album and Music Alliance Pact July 2010)
Mumford & Sons – Nothing Is Written (available on The Cave single)
Polarsets – Leave Argentina (available on Leave Argentina single)
Robyn – Hang With Me (available on Body Talk album – No.6 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio (available on High Violet album – No.3 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
The National – Sorrow (available on High Violet album – No.3 on The Pop Cop’s best of 2010)
Two Door Cinema Club – Costume Party (available via band’s mailing list)
Washington Irving – Phantom Buck (available on Little Wanderer, Head Thee Home EP)
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The best albums of 2010
Friday, December 10th, 2010
Which method should you use to determine what makes an album the best in any given year? Artistic merit? Originality? Or perhaps you can just divide the number of songs you love on an album by the total amount of tracks it has and see which one comes out with the highest rating?
When it came to choosing Admiral Fallow’s debut album Boots Met My Face as the best of 2010, I just went with my heart. I first got my hands on a copy of the record in March and have revisited it again and again throughout the year.
However, I was oblivious to just how attached I had become to these 10 eloquently crafted songs until I was abroad on holiday during the summer, far away from my record collection. It was only then that I realised it was actually possible to miss an album.
It therefore makes me incredibly proud to announce Admiral Fallow as winners of The Pop Cop’s award for the best album of 2010, following in the footsteps of previous recipients The National, Sigur Rós and The Sounds.
Louis Abbott, Sarah Hayes, Kevin Brolly, Joe Rattray and outgoing member Tom Stearn were on hand to pick up their prize.
Louis: “Holy shit! Framed and everything. Beautiful, thank you very much.”
Sarah: “Aw, cool.”
Louis: “I don’t think we’ve ever won anything before. Cheers! We were very lucky getting the Arts Council money to make this record. It wouldn’t have been half as good if we’d had to scrimp on it. So many people to thank.”
Has 2010 exceeded your expectations?
Kevin: “It’s been a standout year.”
Louis: “Every year has always been a nice progression from the get-go but this year has been quite a step forward as opposed to just little baby steps. Right now we’re like a blossoming toddler. The cuteness has gone, the football skills are getting better. Then it’s…”
Sarah: “…off to school.”
Louis: “Yeah, we’ll be getting started on the second record and see where we go from there.”
So here are The Pop Cop’s top 10 albums of 2010, each described in Twitter-friendly 140 characters:
1. ADMIRAL FALLOW – BOOTS MET MY FACE
Immaculately paced folk-tinged guitar-pop of the highest order. This album revels in its heartbreak and its warmth. Above all it feels real.
Subbuteo
2. ENDOR – ENDOR
An incredibly close contender for top spot. Endor’s debut is a triumph of beautifully written indie-rock. A gorgeous album, lush and varied.
Chapel Doors
3. THE NATIONAL – HIGH VIOLET
It took me the best part of six months to finally fall under this album’s spell. A grower, yes, but the wait made it all the more rewarding.
Afraid Of Everyone
4. FRIGHTENED RABBIT - THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS
It’s been the year of the Rabbit as they took major strides towards indie-rock stardom with an album of singalong choruses. And sing we did.
Skip The Youth
5. FREELANCE WHALES – WEATHERVANES
Since there’s no sign of a second Postal Service album, this is the next best thing – lo-fi indie with an electro edge and dreamy harmonies.
Generator ^ First Floor
6. ROBYN – BODY TALK
Body Talk collected the best of Robyn’s fantastic 2010 EPs to make the most credible, cliché-free mix of pop/dance/electro you’ll ever hear.
Dancing On My Own
7. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB – TOURIST HISTORY
Everybody needs a modern party album. Silent Alarm was once the favoured option, now it’s Tourist History. It’s fresh, urgent and addictive.
Something Good Can Work
8. JONSI – GO
It doesn’t sound that much different from a Sigur Rós album (always a good thing). Jonsi’s solo effort is more playful but no less powerful.
Go Do
9. DAN MANGAN – NICE, NICE, VERY NICE
The Canadian’s second album is a work of rare quality in a packed genre. His sincere, hearty voice will get you willingly lost in his world.
The Indie Queens Are Waiting
10. KID CANAVERAL – SHOUTING AT WILDLIFE
Kid Canaveral make writing killer pop choruses look easy, which it clearly isn’t given the amount of bands who try. A total joy of a record.
Good Morning
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