A tale of two CDs

I bought two albums this week. No wonder I've never got any money.


The first was a bit of a Valentine's present for Mrs Schönberg, Lana del Rey's debut offering "Born to Die". What can I say about the album, after two or three listens on the way up to the Lake District this weekend? Well, somehow I was expecting a brooding, ghostly album in a similar vein to 'Video Games'. Instead, there are a few listenable tracks (expect 'Summertime Sadness' to be the next single), but mainly it's like listening to Gwen Stefani in slow-motion. Mrs S seems to quite like it though, so brownie points awarded all round.

The second album was waiting for me on the doorstep following said trip to the Lake District, "Plumb" is the fourth album by Field Music, and I managed to give it quite a few spins on my way to work the following morning. The album is characterised by the first (and second, and third) songs. When Queen wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, it is said that they shoe-horned three separate songs into the one track, with the new Field Music album it seems like the first track has been expanded to three separate songs. The sudden changes in rhythms, tempos and styles throughout the album are quite reminiscent of Bohemian Rhapsody, the music is very well played, is rich in production and is probably best-described by the term 'avant garde'. Following the lengthy intro, the album just gets better. Next up is current single (and free download below) 'A New Town', which goes to show that when they want to, Field Music can write a pretty good indie single. The album is probably best listened to in it's entirety, and probably sounds great live. I'll let you know when I go see them next Monday...

As I write this, the midweek album chart has Lana del Rey at number one, and Field Music new in at number 39. Thank heavens for supermarkets. What's wrong with the mainstream?

January 2012 Playlist

It used to be a long-standing tradition for WWWTM to produce a quality end-of-month playlist of juicy mp3s that were gracing the iPod of our founding father, Lord Jal of the Shire. This short list of what's been doing the rounds on the Schönberg turntable over the last month is by no means a replacement for the classic WWWTM playlist, just wanted to log what I've been listening to. Enjoy (or otherwise)!

Field Music - A New Town


Friends - Friend Crush

Allo Darlin' - Capricornia


Standard Fare - Suitcase


Lana del Rey - Born to Die


Grouplove - Love Will Save Your Soul


Fanfarlo - Shiny Things


Concrete Knives - Brand New Start


The Chameleons - In Shreds


Bleached - Electric Chair

Schönbys 2011 - Best single

The Schönbys are fictional, made-up awards for me to let you know what I've enjoyed listening to during 2011. Winners and nominations are drawn from music I have seen, heard or bought during the preceding 12 months.


2011 has been a great year for the single, so great that I came up with 15 songs for my top 5 singles of the year. It really was difficult to choose, my first attempt at picking my favourite 5 resulted in an all-female line-up. However, I don't want to be accused of sexism like the Sports Personality of the Year people (congratulations Mark Cavendish by the way!) so I had a few more goes at it before finally arriving at my final choice below.

Those not quite lucky enough to make the top 5 are:

Anna Calvi - Blackout
Tom Vek - Aroused
Pete and the Pirates - Come to the Bar
Young Knives - Love my Name
Kasabian  - Days are Forgotten
Chapel Club - Surfacing
Arctic Monkeys - Don't Sit Down Cause I've Moved Your Chair
Ghostpoet - Survive It
Justice - Civilization
Friends - I'm his Girl

The top 5 are:

Don't Look At Me (I Don't Like It) - The Lovely Eggs

The Lovely Eggs may not make it onto many end of year lists, but "the sausage roll thumb song" was most played on my iPod, primarily down to my 3-year old daughter adopting it as her song of the year. The song is catchy, fun and quirky - perfect for a little girl to jump around to, but delivered with edgy, punky guitars and colloquial vocals (perfect for an ageing rocker like me). You'll either love it or hate it, why not find out?

Don't look at me (I don't like it) by The Lovely Eggs

Still Life - The Horrors

I loved the last Horrors album, Primary Colours, and was worried that any new material would never live up to their mercury prize nominated 2009 release. When Still Life was aired this year, I knew that I shouldn't have worried. A lot of press likened the single's sound to Simple Minds, which in my opinion wasn't a bad thing. From the backwards, swirling opening to the anthemic chorus, this track is a classic.

The Horrors - Still life (BBC session) by mysteryfallsdown

Everything Goes My Way - Metronomy

Metronomy have already scooped my 'best live act' award this year, but their set at the Leadmill in Sheffield didn't include this track. This, I'm guessing, is because the track would not be the same without the guest vocals of Veronica Falls frontwoman Roxane Clifford. There are many great songs on the English Riviera, but Roxanne's vocals bring another layer to the already complex sound.

Metronomy - Everything Goes My Way by dustblaze

Is and Is and Is - White Denim

White Denim are on their fourth album apparently, but this song was my first taste of them. When I heard it on the radio, with it's prog-rock arrangement and powerful riffs, I just had to hear the rest of the album, and it didn't disappoint. If you like things like Wolfmother and, well, I can't think of anyone else, then you'll like this.



And the winner is...

Video Games - Lana del Rey

In a year when Adele made the album that adorns every middle-class coffee table up and down the country and female vocalists became commonplace in the alternative and indie charts, this track stood out above them all. Should it worry me that Lana del Rey (not her real name) is not the "resident of a New Jersey trailer park recently emerged from smalltown USA" that her record company blog stated, but the daughter of an internet millionaire? Probably, but the song sounds great.

Lana Del Rey - Video Games by The Vinyl District