The 2022 round-up - a prologue

Yep, it's that time of year again. Starting next week, I'll be posting weekly installments of my favourite albums of 2022. It's not been a bad year for music, to be fair. Some really good stuff has come out.  Before all that though, I thought I'd round up a few non-album things that tickled my fancy over the past 12 months...

THE WEDDING PRESENT - '24 Songs'
It's been a while since we had new stuff from our beloved David Gedge and his merry band of troubadors. Six-years, in fact, since the epic 'Going, Going...' LP. They've been busy though. A glut of songs collected over the previous few years were finally recorded and released as their ambitious '24 Songs' project. Emulating their 'Hit Parade' venture waaaaay back in 1992, '24 Songs' saw the release of a brand new 7" vinyl-only single each month. The ever-fluctuating Wedding Present line-up means there is a real range of songwriting styles on there as Gedge shared the duties with his various bandmates. I suspect some of the songs will be compiled and released in album form at some point. I have plenty of favourites among the two-dozen tracks, but one of them is September's We All Came From The Sea.

WEEZER - 'SZNS'
The hardest-working band in rock 'n' roll (probably) released not one, not two, no not even three, but FOUR new records in 2022. Collectively entitled 'SZNS', the project consisted of a quartet of 7-song EPs each released to mark a season - one for Spring, one for Summer, etc. Each record contained a song that incorporated a 'riff' from the relevant piece from Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons'. Saying all that, the Winter EP isn't actually out yet (it's due around Christmastime) but that's just mere pedantry. When it does come out, they will have topped the Weddoes' output by 4 songs, so it's a very noteworthy achievement. This track - from the Summer EP - pretty much sums up my life.

And after those seasoned veterans, it's time for some brilliant youngsters...

DIVORCE - 'Get Mean' EP
Now here's a new band I'm getting rather excited about. Divorce hail from Nottingham and have so far only put out three tracks. But each one is bleddy excellent, especially the most recent, an off-beat alternative country murder ballad called Checking Out which is definitely one of my songs of the year. They don't just make great tunes though, they also make wonderful videos that show off not just a theatrical side, but a very humourous one too. All three songs have just been released together as a digital EP called 'Get Mean'. A 4-track vinyl version is due in May 2023 which suggests another song isn't far away. I have high hopes for Divorce.

And if you loved that (and let's face it - you did!), here are the awesome clips for debut single Services and its follow-up Pretty. And here's where you can buy/pre-order the EP.

PANIC SHACK - 'Baby Shack' EP
This lot also look like they're going to rip up the place pretty damn soon. Cardiff's very own Panic Shack compiled their first six songs to form the 'Baby Shack' EP which disappeared off the record store racks in less time than it takes to play it. Copies are already changing hands for more than £60 a shot! MrsRobster (who is also a big fan of Panic Shack) and I will be seeing them in their hometown supporting Yard Act TONIGHT! Should be raucous and we're both really looking forward to it. Raw and loud like good punk should be, but a lot of fun too.

SPRINTS - 'A Modern Job' EP
Dublin has become a proper hub of great music of late. Sprints are the latest ones to have emerged from the Irish capital seemingly fully formed and taking on the world without a care. 'A Modern Job' was released back in March and is their second EP, following on from last year's debut 'Manifesto' and a series of searing singles, including the brilliant Little Fix.

I also strongly recommend Sprints' latest single Literary Mind which just might be their best track yet.

Next week, the first batch of my 22 favourite albums of 2022.

The rest of 2019

One last post from me until... well, whenever I can be arsed, really. Don't hold your breath. I want to round things off with a list of other records I've really enjoyed this year, plus a few other things that have either excited me or left me a little disappointed. Oh, and I'm not going to mention the 'B' word...

Music-wise, there has been so much good stuff this year - far too much to write about - so here's my best of the rest (in no particular order). Some bleddy good records in here and I'm sure I've still missed some blinders out. Click the album sleeve to sample a track, especially the Karen O & Danger Mouse one, where you will see THE live TV performance of the year! (There's also a Bowie cover in here too, but I'm not telling you where...)

Karen O & Danger Mouse 'Lux Prima'	Jade Bird 'Jade Bird'	Imperial Wax 'Gastwerks Saboteurs'	Feet  'What's Inside Is More Than Just Ham'	Gnoomes 'MU!'
Boris 'Love & Evol'	Swervedriver 'Future Ruins'	The Murder Capital 'When I Have Fears'	Sloan Peterson 'Midnight Love vol. 2'	FEWS 'Into Red'
Elbow 'Giants Of All Sizes'	Life 'A Picture Of Good Health'	Sunn O))) 'Life Metal'	Foals  'Everything Not Saved' (pts. 1&2)	Bob Mould 'Sunshine Rock'
Ride 'This Is Not A Safe Place'	Du Blonde 'Lung Bread For Daddy'	Alcest 'Spiritual Instinct'	Yak  'Pursuit Of Momentary Happiness'	Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky 'Droneflower'
Crows 'Silver Tongues'	The Hold Steady 'Thrashing Thru The Passion'	The Y Axes 'No Waves'	Taffy 'Deep Dark Creep Love'	Swans 'Leaving Meaning'

Extra credit:
A few cracking singles that have also tickled my fancy...

beabadoobee - I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus
She's only 19, has blue hair and has been building a large online following, mostly among angst-ridden, lovesick teenagers. But let's face it, any 19-year-old who wishes she was the frontman of Pavement is certainly deserving of respect from old farts like me! Watch out for Bea in 2020 - it could be her year.



Jade Imagine - The News
MrsRobster likes this one - gets right stuck in her head it does.



Lizzo - Juice
No arguments here, OK? This is the best damn pop song of the year, if not the decade! Ya-ya-ee!



And this...
She Drew the Gun - Trouble Every Day
...is the cover version of the year, for sure.



Must do better:

Pixies 'Beneath The Eyrie'
I've already mentioned how disappointed I was with the new Pixies record, especially after I'd pre-ordered the deluxe vinyl box set on the strength of the really rather good single On Graveyard Hill. Most of the other songs on it sound like they were reclaimed from Frank Black's solo years. At least the box set (which is rather lovely, actually) included a second LP of unreleased songs from the sessions, which for the most part is better than the album itself.
Best track: On Graveyard Hill by a country mile.

Hatchie 'Keepsake'
Hatchie's debut release, the 'Sugar & Spice' EP, was undoubtedly one of last year's highlights. Expectation was high for her first full-length, which I pre-ordered on signed clear vinyl - but I'm left underwhelmed. It's just drenched in too many synths to allow the true nature of the songs to break through. There's a lot of anguish and darkness in those lyrics, but it all just sounds too light and fluffy.
Best track: Without A Blush - a really good chorus.

Weezer 'The Black Album'
What is going on with Weezer? They, too, have fallen prey to the 80s nostalgists who insist that synths take centre stage on every recording. What a poor record this is as a result.
Best track: High As A Kite, but even this is weak by Weezer's standards.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 'Ghosteen'
Look, I know I'm risking a right pasting here, but I'm sorry - there's only so much grief-wallowing a guy who suffers from depression can take, especially when it's someone else's grief. I will always worship at the alter of Mr Cave, but I really do not need 'Ghosteen', no matter how beautiful the critics say it is. Apparently a new Grinderman album is in the works. That should wake me up.
Best track: Waiting For You. Devastatingly beautiful ballad like those he's renowned for.


And finally...

I'd like to finish off by remembering the late Mr Timothy Badger who left us all too soon in 2019. A man of great taste, wit and talent and a good friend to this blog. I dedicate this month's posts to his memory.

Right. My cave awaits. Thanks for humouring me this past month, it was nice seeing you all again, but I must retire once more. Have a good one, whatever it is.

Happy Weezer Birthday MrsR...

Yep, 'tis the (far, far, far) better half's birthday today. We celebrate such occasions with music, so today I'm wooing her with Weezer. MrsRobster is something of a Weezer fan, see. She gets quite excited when they pop up on the car stereo. Her favourite bits are the Beach Boys-esque "oooohs", though ironically, she can't stand the Beach Boys. I know, I know, but I love her all the same.

Now, there are some people who refuse to accept that Weezer were any good after their first two albums, that 'Pinkerton' was their finest moment. Which is, of course, absolute rot. Everyone with a set of functioning ears knows that 'The Green Album' was their best, and I'm not going to hear any arguments. It is, and that's it! MrsR is rather fond of the band's more recent work too, so here is a track from each of their last three albums in glorious technicolor.

First up, from last year's 'Pacific Daydream' is Mexican Fender. Now, I'm not a big fan of this album, it's a bit lightweight and poppy for me, but she-who-knows-best likes it so who am I to argue. The video features a beautiful woman on a beach and a besotted seagull who tries to win her affections. It doesn't end well...



California Kids was the opening track off 2016's 'The White Album' which I reckon is their best record since the green one. The "ooohs" in this really gets MrsR going! The video references the previous three vids made for songs from the album so if you don't get it, perhaps look them up - Thank God For Girls | King Of The World | LA Girlz :



Next, it's Go Away from 2014's 'Everything Will Be Alright In The End' in which Rivers Cuomo is joined on vocals by Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast. While the song details a break-up - Rivers pleading for another chance after seriously fucking up, Bethany telling him to just go away - the video shows a hapless Rivers, assisted by his bandmates, trying to win the affections of Bethany via a dating app.



And finally, my favourite Weezer video, and possibly my favourite video by anyone ever: Keep Fishin' from 2002's 'Maladroit'. Because nothing - NOTHING - beats the Muppets!

From Inside The Pod Revisited #7

I've made much of the part R.E.M. has played in my life on this blog, but back when I was doing From Inside The Pod, they broke up. I marked the news by compiling a podcast of R.E.M. cover versions. It was one of my most popular postings when it first appeared.

Here it is again for your enjoyment, complete with the original notes. Enjoy.

Pod 19: A Carnival Of Sorts
(first published 23 September 2011)

REM split up this week. In a way I'm glad. They kind of lost the plot a while ago, and of the last five albums, there's only one I think I can honestly say I truly like - 2008's 'Accelerate'.

But I used to love REM. I mean really, really, really love them. When I was 16, a mate at college lent me the cassette of 'Document'. It was REM's fifth album, but the first thing I had ever heard by them. It blew me away, and for the next 15 years or so, I was a hopeless addict, a "DiStiple". When I think of the time and money I spent tracking down rare early singles, promos, collectables, bootlegs, videos... you name it, if REM had as much as breathed on it, I had to have it.

When Bill Berry left, something changed but I carried on regardless, defending the rather bloated 'Up' album in 1998 to the hilt. But when 'Reveal' came out in 2001, I just couldn't do it any longer. It was a poor, poor record by their standards, and by then, I had discovered the White Stripes who were infinitely more exciting. I hoped it was a one-off, but sadly, 'Around The Sun' was so stupendously dire, it was the first REM record I never bought. The candle was burning out.

Today, I still listen to 'Document', 'Lifes Rich Pageant' and 'Fables of the Reconstruction' (my top 3) with great fondness, and all those 80s records, going right back to Radio Free Europe in 1981, really mattered. REM mean a lot to me for all kinds of personal reasons too (which I won't bore you with here), but the time was right to call it a day.

So, as a mark of respect, I dedicate this very special, hastily-compiled podcast to one of the most important and influential rock & roll bands of my lifetime. A collection of REM covers by a myriad of artists ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, which in essence I suppose kind of sums up REM's career. I've tried to avoid most of the obvious ones - great songs they may be, but I'm just so utterly sick to death of Losing My Religion, Everybody Hurts and Man On The Moon - and in the interests of brevity (a technique REM should have employed a little more often in their later years), I've kept it to 9 tracks which still takes it over the magic 30-minute mark.

The eagle-eyed among you may notice that for the first time there is no Welsh artist here. That's because I couldn't find any good REM covers by Welsh acts. The nearest I got was Feeder's Everybody Hurts, but aside from it being one of those aforementioned tracks, it really wasn't very good. However, Gene vocalist Martin Rossiter is Welsh. Not enough to merit a little Welsh flag though...

Finally, I could find no covers of any REM songs post-'Monster'. That in itself is telling...

1. Editors Orange Crush (2006, 'Q: Covered - 86/06')

original from 'Green', 1988

R.E.M.'s first Top 40 hit in the UK, it saw them debut on Top Of The Pops. At the song's conclusion, the moronic presenter that evening said: "Mmm, that would be nice on a hot day - 'Orange Crush' by R.E.M.", completely missing that the song was about chemical warfare and the use of the nerve gas Agent Orange in the Vietnam war! Editors' brilliant full-blooded cover was so well liked by Messrs Stipe, Buck and Mills that they returned the compliment and covered the Birmingham band's single Munich.

2. The Decemberists Cuyahoga (2011, free download only)

original from 'Lifes Rich Pageant', 1986

The latest album from the Portland, OR. folkies was not only heavily influenced by R.E.M., but also featured a certain Peter Buck. This version of Cuyahoga simply oozes the folk traditions the band tries to emulate while staying true to the utterly wonderful original which is one of my faves.

3. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Stand (1999, 'Plays the Music Of R.E.M.')

original from 'Green', 1988

The RPO have made a number of tribute albums, most of which are patchy, but contain the occasional gem. This is undoubtedly one of those gems. It's so unashamedly upbeat, it makes the original sound almost funereal!

4. Weezer Oddfellow's Local 151 (2008, b-side of Pork And Beans)

original from 'Document', 1987

'Document' has to go down as one of the most significant records in my life. It was my epiphany in so many ways. The first time I heard Stipe's rasping voice I was unsure what to make of it, but by the time the album's closer came around, with its almost desperate strains of "FIIIRRRRRRREHOOOOOOUUUUUUUSE!", I was totally convinced this was a band I would adore for a long time to come. Weezer's Rivers Cuomo doesn't attempt to emulate Stipe's conviction, but the menacing muted guitars are retained.

5. Grant-Lee Phillips So. Central Rain (2006, 'nineteeneighties')

original from 'Reckoning', 1984

This has to be right up there with the Editors on my list of best R.E.M. covers. While the original shimmers with Buck's Rickenbacker arpeggios, Grant-Lee Phillips' beautiful rendering adds a dark, almost vulnerable tenderness to the song and seems to also incorporate an element of Drive from 'Automatic For The People'.

6. The Moog Cookbook The One I Love (1996, 'The Moog Cookbook')

original from 'Document', 1987

I know I said I'd tried to avoid the obvious songs, but I just couldn't resist this. If it doesn't make you grin like a fool, you're probably dead. The Moog Cookbook were a duo who used nothing but vintage analogue Moog synths in their music. They released a couple of covers albums in the 90s, this version of R.E.M.'s breakthrough hit appearing on their debut.

7. Gene Nightswimming (1997, b-side of Where Are They Now?)

original from 'Automatic For The People', 1992

Despite being touted as a Britpop band, Gene had an awful lot more about them than the vast majority of others in that short-lived scene, releasing some of the best singles of the decade. The Morrissey-esque delivery of Martin Rossiter was definitely suited to Michael Stipe's paen to skinny-dipping in the dark.

8.Pavement Camera (1994, b-side of Cut Your Hair)

original from 'Reckoning', 1984

Californian indie legends who were simultaneously loved by fans and critics and loathed by the likes of Mark E. Smith, Billy Corgan and Beavis & Butthead! This re-styling of Camera featured on their classic single Cut Your Hair and features some rather, erm, challenging vocal work from Stephen Malkmus...

9. Blanche Find The River (2007, 'Drive XV: A Tribute To Automatic For The People')

original from 'Automatic For The People', 1992

At one time voted the best R.E.M. song of all time by fans, Find The River closed their biggest-selling and most well-known album, and it somehow feels appropriate to round off this tribute to the band's amazing career. This version appeared on a Stereogum covers project for 'Automatic For The People''s 15th anniversary, and is performed by Detroit's very wonderful Blanche who really do need to release a third album soon. It's been too long.

Grab this Monster here!