It was about ten years ago (I think that’s a lie because I’m sure I have only just finished school) when I really started to get into music into a big way. Ok, prior to when I was 16 I bought the odd single but to be fair, they were shocking in the real terms of music.
I think the first single I bought was ‘Some Girls’ by Ultimate Chaos and my first album was ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson. But the past ten years have probably seen my largest learning curve with regards to what I listen to and enjoy.
At the beginning of the decade there was Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Foo Fighters, Lost Prophets, Nine Days, Eve 6 and many more. I listen to very few of them bands today (excluding Foo Fighters and Lostprophets). Don’t get me wrong I was still listening to bands such as Oasis, Weezer, White Stripes etc. I guess my knowledge of music in 2000 came from the ‘common room’.
My first ever ‘proper’ gig was Funeral For A Friend at the Lead Mill in Sheffield with Tilly and a few others; to say it was epic is an understatement. I got a rush from it and experienced what live music should be and that music had another dimension.
If I had to choose an artist/musician for just pure unadulterated genius then it would have to be Jack White. He is a modern Dylan, a pioneer in music. He refuses to use modern recording methods and is an artist in the true sense of the word. He has a record company (3rd Man Records) and opens up record shops in places he may be spending an extended period of time. From these shops he presses vinyl’s that are ultra rare straight away. He prints t-shirts there and then which become instant collectables. His works include The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, Dead Weather, The Upholsters, The Go including many more and has worked with Beck and Alicia Keys (not a fan of her but I am a fan of the James Bond Theme they created). He is a god and can do no wrong.
The noughties saw the Arctic Monkeys rise and shine with their first two albums and possibly the best album to have been released in the UK in the last 15 years. It said what the now generation wanted to say. It portrayed the chavs, bullies and wankers of modern society in a common but eloquent way. ‘Whatever You Say I am Thats What I’m not’ is a masterpiece of the clubbing youth of Britain.
2007 was year I really started to gig it big time. My first ever gig at the infamous Fibbers was Hell Is For Heroes a month before my first Leeds Festival. The stand out moment the amazing gig was when halfway through ‘We Can Climb Mountains’ the power cut and the rest of the crowd finished the song. It was a seminal moment and one I will never forget. There was no looking back after that. The Dykeenies had that personal touch and the Leeds festival followed, which remains the greatest weekend of my life. In the past 3 years I have seen bands/singers/artists that a lot people wouldn’t see in a life time. My rocking friends from Doncaster to my gigging compadre, Sir David have allowed me to live the dream of live music and gigs.
So here’s to another ten years of listening to music, watching live music, finding that gem or hearing something that should only come out of an arse.
(In alphabetical order)
1. Alkaline Trio – Good Mourning
2 . Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
3. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever people Say I Am Thats What I’m Not
4. Biffy Clyro – Blackened Sky
5. Biffy Clyro – Puzzle
6. Bloc Party – A Weekend In The City
7. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
9. Cribs, The – Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever
10. Dears, The – Gang Of Losers
11. Dears, The – Missiles
12. Doves – The Last Broadcast
13. Dykeenies, The – Nothing Means Everything
14. Eagle-Eye Cherry – Desireless
15. Ed Harcourt – Apple Of My Eye
16. Eels – Daisies Of The Galaxy
17. Elbow – Asleep In The Back
18. Flight Of The Conchords – Flight Of The Conchords
19. Frank Turner – Love Ire & Song
20. Funeral For A Friend – Hours
21. Gaslight Anthem – The ’59 Sound
22. Hold Steady – Girls and Boys In America
23. Hold Steady – Stay Positive
24. Hundred Reasons – Ideas Above Our Station
25. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American
26. Manchester Orchestra – I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child
27. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
28. Manic Street preachers – Journal Plague For Lovers
29. Mumm-ra – These Things Move in Threes
30. Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
31. New Pornographers, The – Electric Vision
32. New Pornographers, The – Twin Cinema
33. Rival Schools – United By Fate
34. Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
35. Ryan Adams – Gold
36. Scott 4 & Magic Car – European Punks LP
37. Shins – Wincing the night away
38. Shout Out Louds – Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
39. Silver Sun Pickups - Carnavas
40. Strokes – This Is It
41. Sufjan Steven – Illinois
42. TV On The Radio – Dear Science
43. Vex Red - Start With A Strong And Persistent Desire
44. White Stripes – Elephant
45. White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
46. White Stripes – White Blood Cells
47 . Wilco – A Ghost is Born
48. Wintersleep – Welcome To The Night Sky
49. Witness - Under A Sun
50. XX, The – XX
