Please may I continue to apologise for the sparse updates on my blog. In the second half of the year I have been short of spare mental energy, mostly due to concentrating very hard on drawing comics. No matter how many years I spend drawing, it seldom feels like a beautiful and natural process to me.
I had a fine dream the other day where I managed to make another one of my stand-alone books for people, unchained to the exhausting meter of daily comics. But dream it will have to remain because while I would start on page one declaring this a thing of simple beauty and a joy forever, by page six it would be punk rock mayhem, every panel a mess of cross-hatching and intemperate haiku. I may have to attend some kind of retreat in order to remember how not to fill every page up with madness.
As the end of the year looms, thoughts turn to my end of year charts. This year I must must must remember not to elect something baroque and virtually unlistenable to the top slot. The year I stated that "Blueberry Boat" by the Fiery Furnaces was the best release of the year remains a critical low point. You could easily argue that there were about 6 very very good minutes among the 77 on that particular long-player, though ascertaining which ones they were took an awful lot of effort.
My comics: Bad Machinery - Scary Go Round - Giant Days :: My Shop :: My Flickr Sketchblog :: My Last.fm
11 comments:
I have not now, nor have I ever been, a listener to "Blueberry Boat." Communist, maybe, but never "Blueberry Boat."
I have a roommate who swears by this "Blueberry Boat" record. Silly, silly man. It's like they fed classic Who through a device that utterly destroys good music. Twice.
Don't make me rough you up, Allison. I'll do it. I'll keep asking why you took Talkie Walkie off of your revised best-of list, too.
Tom, it just didn't stand the test of time, it was a pleasant wash of sound and nothing else.
Does "We Are the Pipettes" count since their first album was released this year, even if the singles go back to early '05?
The rule is that the album has to have been released in 2006 according to Amazon.com or co.uk (which means I can cheat when things get a later US/UK release).
The Pipettes definitely qualify for this year.
I only brought "Blueberry Boat" a couple of weeks back, right now I love it.
I find the idea that there will be a future time when I don't find myself needing to listen to 'Chief Inspector Blancheflower' at 2 a.m. a deeply disturbing concept.
I'd probably go for Metric as album of the year. Right now anyway, I'll of changed my mind by the end of the day.
Tool - 10000 Days?
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam?
Too soon?
:)
Would it be possible for re-issues to nab spots on your list?
I ask only because Pavement has reissued not one, but two albums.
And I enjoy pavement.
Reissues would ruin contemporary chart comp-ilations! What if there was another reissue of Exile On Main Street or Pet Sounds?
PLUS:
1992 #4 SLANTED AND ENCHANTED - Pavement
1994 #1 CROOKED RAIN, CROOKED RAIN - Pavement
1995 #6 WOWEE ZOWEE - Pavement
1997 #18 BRIGHTEN THE CORNERS - Pavement
1999 #13 TERROR TWILIGHT - Pavement
--
2001 #8 STEPHEN MALKMUS - Stephen Malkmus
2003 #8 PIG LIB - Steve Malkmus + Jicks
No second bite of the apple for these nicene creeders.
Disaster, Blueberry Boat is still an alltime favourite after it was introduced to me by your good self.
Now I find you've banished it to 11. Disaster indeed.
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