Now, my mind isn't what it was when I entered the noughties that is for sure. This is obviously due to the sheer amount of amazing beats and soothing samples I have been blessed with over the last ten years but I will try my best to remind myself of the pearls that were uncovered. THE BIGGEST find of the decade has to be The Strokes who I am pleased to inform you, if you haven't been slammed in the face with this info, will be reforming this year to headline all the latest and greatest festivals that will get the Topshop birds and Burton lads raving, bopping and jiving to for definite.
I think I may well have to whittle this post down as I go along because the more I think about the last ten years the more my small mind fills with bands, gigs and festivals that I have been lucky enough to attend. So shooting from the hip for the second smashing ensemble has to be Kasabian. Oh my goodness what an amazing collection of eclectic, hard hitting, emotionally charged bangers. This year’s album - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum - is by far and away my favourite album since N*sync - Celebrity, I jest, since Oasis - Definitely Maybe, David Gray - White Ladder or Blur - Parklife. I don't seem to get bored even on the 5th play back. Vlad the impaler, which is about to drop as their next single, is like the best cut crystal that your mumma only busts out for Christmas. A true master piece that has it all. If you haven't bought, stolen or spotified this album you are missing the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle on an amazing decade of music.
Then I must commend the Arctic Monkeys on their stupendous rise to stardom and indie domination. What an entrance from a newbie band bustling onto the scene with great aplomb. Too many lines and riffs to scream about here but "which came first the chicken or the d*ckhead" is definitely up there! Other acts to slam their stamps and marks on the last year include Twisted Wheel - the Manchester three piece who have laid down some stormy stone rose oasis esque tracks on their debut album - self titled. Cracking live and well worth your investment.
Onwards, The Maccabees brought their second album, The Wall of Arms, to the table after a hugely successful debut with Colour it In. The boys really are maturing into what we/I had hoped. The latest album is a moody, dark but highly charged affair that really connects. From the first album the winning line has to be ... I'll win your heart with the wit woo. Won my heart there and then.
As I continue to fall down the list of what has hit me over the last ten years I am finding myself reflecting on where I was when I first listened to the likes of Elliot Gleave, aka Example, The Streets, Kate Nash, Queen of The Stone Age (I remember this one, I was one of those little upstarts at Reading Festival 2000), Lily Allen, Pull Tiger Tail (RIP), Dartz! (RIP), Officer Kicks, Cajun Dance Party, Jack Penate, Loose Caboose, Pete and the Pirates, The Kooks and on and on. Most take me back to the early MySpace days, cramming myself into my father’s dressing room among the ironed shirts, Corby trouser press, the lead window with its one pane missing and the constant supply of brewed home tea. Good bloody times. I digress and as I do Roots Manuva comes smashing into my mind, one of my all time favourite albums and one that I found under my Christmas tree one year in the form of Run Come Save Me. Truly magnifique! An absolute banger which has really made me appreciate UK Rap/Hip Hop and Dub for the first time.
The Gorillaz and Damon Albarn must gain a mention because where would we be without the master that is Mr Albarn. Kids this is one person to learn the art of revival, reincarnation and reinvention. Without him we wouldn’t have enjoyed the Blur era, Blur revival and the Blur blur. Nor would we have been blessed with The Gorillaz or The Good, the Bad and the Queen. Albarn, simply put, living legend.
For me, the noughties was about finding my musical feet and finding genres that made me think deeply about my life and escapism from the daily grind. I have particularly enjoyed annoying the world with my tinny headphones on many a commute to the big smoke.
I have loved being at gigs with each and every one of my friends that shares my passion for these arrangement of bass, breaks and beats. All the genres I have floated through from the sublime to the ridiculous. As the millennium dropped, the UK Garage seen was huge and hearing the old skool bangers still gets me up and bouncing. I went through the early zeros thinking that I was part of the So Solid Crew and being Oxide & Neutrino – it was a messy matter for a while with me spinning round in my rat and bass powered motor that was the Seat Ibiza and ending most sentences with blud. Enough. And now I am a far calmer individual who is more likely to be found listening to Indie Folk melodies than hard hitting samples and huge basslines.
Away from London and my naff car, Frightened Rabbit it has to be said are one of my best finds. Some big sets played over the last two years and an intimate tour in the latter part of 2009 to give some love back to the loyal fans was exceptionally well received. I seem to have turned into a big lover of the motherlands music over the past 12 months. We Were Promised Jetpacks are another band that have grabbed my attention. Big things to come from both I feel. Anyone of you who like Maximo Park, Feeder, Ocean Colour Scene will enjoy both of these.
Then come back to my homeland and Jamie T has made me appreciate and feel a new and true love for panic attack kids and modern day troubadours. The Wimbledon boy will hopefully continue to produce these beats for a few more years as long as his mind stays in one piece.
I am not going to detail all of the bands that I know I need and should do but one that I really should, although reviews on her are rife, is Florence + the Machine who I saw at Secret Garden Party in 2007. She truly deserves all the praise that she has received. One amazing voice! Others I feel I would like to mention include the vastly experienced Elbow who have managed to gain the press they deserved eventually. Their early albums, Asleep in the Back & Leaders of the Free World really show how good an outfit they are. Cheap as chips now so get this into your download wishlist and fill your mind with some eclectic beats and chill out toons.
Oasis, again, where would we be without the best band to walk the planet since the Beatles. 12th July at Wembley, on the barrier with the boys, simply the best day of my life. An absolute pleasure to have seen them so many times and lucky to have seen them in 2009 just before the big bang split.
The Twang should also be shouted about as they lie low in the music scene. They have produced two unstoppable and well written albums. If you ever want a slice of real life and/or need waking up to what is really going on around you when you are out getting leathered or high as a kite then you need these guys in your ears.
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