Charles Haddon!

On Friday at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium, Charles Haddon the lead singer of the band Ou Est Le Swimming Pool committed suicide at the age of 22. For many, the band had the "next big thing" label attached to them, and deservedly so. I have managed to see the band twice over the last year or so, and they were pretty damn good. And what with their increasing small army of fans and a number of great ep's and singles under their belts, such as, 'Jacksons Last Stand', 'These New Knights' and the brilliant 'Dance The Way I Feel', they were a band who seemed to be going for the big time. With their debut album, 'Christ died for our synths' originally due out for an october release, it is still unsure weather it will now, ever see the light of day. I hope so, as we will have something to remember them by. If not, and either still, what a waste of a talent that was.

My Top 5 Albums of The Year, So Far....

We are now half way through the year and here are my top 5 albums so far -

5. Tokyo Police Club 'Champion' - This is a great little record, and packs some great punches. From the off TPC always moved away from jumping on the strokes bandwagon, and although this is much more radio friendly than their debut, or second album 'Elephant shell' they still have a unique sound that keeps them apart from their canadian contemporaries.

4. Beach House 'Teen Dream' - This album really fucking annoys me. The lyrics are far from great, the tracks are painfully samey and the vocals are to a personal taste, but i just cant help falling in love with it more and more on every listen, and thats why its at my number 4 spot.

3. Crystal Castles 'Crystal Castles II" - This is up there with 'Merryweather Post Pavillion' for being one of the greatest electronic albums of the last couple of years. A much different and distinct sound than their debut. Pure Magic!

2. Male Bonding 'Nothing Hurts' - I'm really in love with this new lo-fi london scene at the minute, and male bonding seem to be flying the flag for it. A brilliant album with a lovely garage sound to it.

1. Arcade Fire 'The Suburbs' - I think i have said everything i need to about this Gem, so I wont say any more. Utter Classic in every respect!

After The Hype, All Is Still NICE!!!!

So, Arcade Fires 'The Suburbs' has happily grounded itself in at the number 1 album slot for 4 weeks now, but after the hype is it still the album we thought it was going to be, and initially thought it was?

Well Fucking yes, YES IT IS!! And why? because every time you put it on you get a new favourite. It is probably the greatest produced alternative rock album of the last five years! (Produced heavily with a natural feeling to it, courtesy of Markus Dravs)

It really is one of those records which is oh so rare these days, that gives the listener something new on every single listen. At first there were a few songs which didn't get my attention as much as 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' or the punky anthem of 'Month Of May'. However nearly every song grabs me by the balls now and messes with my senses much more then any album of the last year. Songs such as 'Rococo' and 'Modern Man' are making me break the repeat button like the above mentioned songs did at first. Still it is an 'album' album and works well together, much like the band itself. Sprawl II for example is the greatest pop song of the year, FACT!!!. And why it works is the best thing about it, nobody knows. Surely a song that sounds like the best thing the 'Nolan sisters' never wrote, and has the far from perfect voice of Regine singing the lead should get no credibillity, but it does, PLENTY! And its these unpredictable sounds and not knowing exactly how it works which makes, 'The Suburbs' A Classic!!

And on that note, why is no one else stating the fact but saying it. What i mean by this is, why do music magazines and articles feel like they are too important to give albums such as 'The Suburbs' 10/10 ratings when what they are saying about the album, in the article gives it that rating. For example the NME gave it a 9/10 giving no indication that they felt that the album was sloppy for a second, and finished off the article by calling it "Perfect". And the Beeb, (And this really pissed me off) gave it 9.5/10, and finished their article on the album by saying, "This is their 'OK Computer' but arguably its better than that". I'm sorry, but you cant go around making statements like that, then not give the album full marks. Weather you agree with the statement or not is beyond the point, the point is why do these articles always seem to hold back, and exactly what is it their holding back for.