This was featured on Radio One over the weekend, so I can't take any credit for finding it - but it's very amusing nonetheless: Aussie comedy troupe The Axis Of Awesome deconstruct the "magic" four-chord sequence that underpins all great pop writing (except for Sting, who would add a dminished fifth to show how clever he is, and Status Quo, who haven't learnt the fourth one yet).
Happy New Year! Here's what happened on my stereo in the old one...
1) Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp's detour into folksy acoustic ballads may have lost them a few fans, but Seventh Tree is a near-perfect album - from the muted opening bars of Clowns to the hazy coda of Monster Love. One of my musical highlights of the year was simply lying back and listening to this album in the middle of a field in Devon - it's truly the perfect soundtrack to a lazy rural day. As long, that is, as you ignore the (excellent) lyrics about brainwashing cults, suicide attempts and boob jobs.
2) Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke
Maybe its down to the fact that she has Aspergers Syndrome, but New Zealander Pip Brown recreated the very best bits of 1980s synth-rock with unnerving precision on her debut album. On Oh My she sounds like Stevie Nicks, on Another Runaway she is Pat Benatar, on Better Than Sunday she channels Debbie Harry... it really is that good. Only one of the four singles (My Delirium) was a hit, struggling into the top 40 at the end of 2008, but this atmospheric, ballsy pop record deserved more recognition.
3) Lykke Li - Youth Novels
Like fellow Swedish starlet Robyn in 2007, Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson rewrote the rules on what a pop album could sound like. Rather than slapping you about the face with a broken toilet seat going "this is catchy, goddamnit", Youth Novels worked its way into your heart with a series of subtle, genteel ditties. Produced by Björn Yttling (of Peter, Bjorn & John) it is almost entirely acoustic, even down to the inventive, skittering drum lines composed from hand claps, wooden blocks and mallets. Lead single Little Bit was the most affecting love song of the year, while the driving I'm Good, I'm Gone paired sinister, percussive verses with a sweet release of a chorus. Don't believe me? Listen to this acoustic perfomance of the song:
4) Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
Here are some adjectives that have been used to describe Elbow's fourth album: stunning, lush, bittersweet, exquisite, epic, majestic, uplifting, poetic, impeccable, tender, wondrous, unbearably lovely. Get the picture? The Seldom Seen Kid is a modern masterpiece. It opens with Starlings - two minutes of hushed harmonies and muted marimbas that suddenly explodes into a cacophony of trumpets. It's designed to make you sit up and pay attention to the following suite of lovingly-crafted ballads. Guy Garvey is unapologetically romantic throughout - "I was looking for someone to complete me. Not anymore, dear, everything has changed. You make the moon a mirrorball" is just one lyrical flourish in an album full of poetry. Simply perfect.
5) Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Who'd have thought a beardy five-piece vocal harmony group from Seattle would produce one of the best albums of the year? Not me. But Fleet Foxes produced an instant classic with their debut CD - full of haunting choral lullabies, which took as their inspiration starlings, swallows, mountains, snow falls and river banks. The music owed a clear debt to the 1960s folk-rock of Simon and Garfunkel, or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - but its presence in the hustle, bustle and bombast of 2008 provided a reassuring oasis of serenity.
6) Duffy - Rockferry
Possessor of the wildest vibrato since Snow White, Duffy owned 2008 - selling more than 4m records around the world by the simple act of combining Amy Winehouse with the girl next door. Her album is rather unfairly derided as boring in some quarters, but Rockferry is stuffed full of heart-rending ballads, seductive pop hooks and stirring choruses. As the Welsh 24-year-old's confidence grew throughout the year, she transformed from a sweater-wearing wallflower into a slinky seductress pouring herself into Jessica Rabbit strapless dresses. Maybe she's not just a cuddly Winehouse after all...
7) Camille - Music Hole
Painstakingly constructed from samples and loops of her own voice, Camille's album is probably the most audaciously ambitious record on this list. With the exception of a lone piano, every sound is produced by a human using one of their many "music holes", according to the blurb. It could have been a tedious intellectual experiment, but France's Camille Dalmais possesses a great big vat of soul - which lifts her songs above mere gimmickry. Highlights include the playful Gospel With No Lord, the (literally) barking Cats & Dogs, and the Mariah Carey-baiting single, Money Note. Mental in the good way.
8) Ting Tings - We Started Nothing
The Ting Tings broke America when Shut Up And Let Me Go was chosen to soundtrack an iPod advert - but there couldn't be a worse device to listen to their album on. Those massive drums and growling bass lines need a hefty pair of nerdtastic hi-fi speakers before they really come to life. The shouty party songs - We Walk, Great DJ, That's Not My Name - are the best, but Katie's sweetly melodic turns on Traffic Light and Be The One show that the band's got more than one trick up it's sleeve.
9) Girls Aloud - Out Of Control
Out Of Control, or A Drop In Quality Control? Girls Aloud's fifth album seemed a bit rushed - with precious little of Xenomania's usual sonic invention and off-the-wall song structures. But there were still five or six stand-outs: The Pet Shop Boys-penned The Loving Kind is a four-minute slab of moody synth genius, while Miss You Bow Wow is the sort of deranged throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks pop gem that the band probably think they've outgrown. Not their finest hour, but still head and shoulders above anything else a mainstream pop act produced in 2008. Five heads and ten shoulders, to be precise.
10) Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini / Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night / MGMT - Oracular Spectacular / Santogold - Santogold
Bloody hell, I can't decide between these ones... Emiliana Torrini wins points for combining acoustic rock (like Sara Bareilles) and being utterly bonkers (like Bjork). MGMT did the student disco party anthems, with three absolutely stonking singles and a shockingly poor live act. Kings Of Leon were the only band who really rocked in 2008, while Santogold took MIA's trademark soundclash and made it listenable. And I haven't even mentioned Laura Marling, or Kanye West, or Vampire Weekend, or Q-Tip - it really was a vintage year, wasn't it?
Postscript: Not albums of the year 1) Madonna - Hard Candy Madge opened a sweet shop but it only sold aniseed balls - hard and indigestible with a horrible aftertaste.
2) Various Artists - Mamma Mia! OST Abba karaoke. Literally my worst nightmare.
3) Britney Spears - Circus Is this really the best music money can buy? Cripes.
4) Portishead - Third When the end of the world comes, this will be the soundtrack.
5) Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer Actually, I take that last comment back. This will be the soundtrack to armageddon.
Hello! I'm back... and it's time for the annual countdown of my top 10 singles of the year.
It's been a weird 12 months for the singles' chart, with a pretty high turnover of quality songs at number one (Basshunter's Now You're Gone was the only real stinker).
This presents something of a problem for my top 10. Usually, one record stands head and shoulders above the rest as my favourite track of the year - but this time round it's a pretty even field. The chart is compiled using my iTunes play count, and I've done my best to make sure recent tracks get a fair placing. This involves the application of maths - I knew I'd find a use for it one day.
The downside of this system is that I've had to leave Sex On Fire off the list, because I only realised how awesome the Kings Of Leon were about three weeks ago. Shame on me.
1) Goldfrapp - A&E
Goldfrapp ushered in their new acoustic incarnation with this - the prettiest song ever recorded about attempting suicide. True, the middle eight is a bit muddy and the video was a load of nonsense, but the song rose above it all like a dove of peace soaring into the twilight sky. After slitting its throat.
2) Estelle - American Boy
Home to Kanye West's most inspired lyric of 2008: "Dressed up like a London bloke / Before he speak, his suit bespoke". Awesome, even if it nicked the backing track wholesale from a will.i.am album track.
3) Janet Jackson - Feedback
Heralding what should have been Janet's big comeback, this ended up being the only single released from her underperforming Discipline album. But what a single - three minutes of thumping electronic pop, with those trademark Jackson harmonies and a stonking space cadet video. We'll politely ignore the lyric about her menstrual cycle, though.
4) Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl
The third single from Seventh Tree, this was the moment when Goldfrapp stopped being all spooky and sinister and set off for a Summer Holiday with Cliff Richard. "We'll run away, we'll run away you and me," sang Alison accompanied, for no good reason, by a 12-piece choir. A highlight of their live shows, the only problem with Caravan Girl is that it fades out at least three minutes too early.
5) Girls Aloud - The Promise
I'm actually surprised at how high this has reached. It's certainly not my favourite Girls Aloud song ever (Biology, in case you're interested) but it seems to be the public's - The Promise is still in the top 20 four months after it was released. Hitching a ride on the 1960s bandwagon, the band played to their strengths by channelling the Shangri-Las instead of Aretha Franklin. Now, if only they'd cover Leader Of The Pack.
6) Elbow - One Day Like This
AKA The one that should have been number three. More emotionally honest and joyful than any other single released in 2008, Guy Garvey's tale of domestic bliss is one of those songs that will soundtrack montages of great sporting moments for the rest of your life. But don't let that put you off. Here's their triumphant Glastonbury performance as proof of how life-affirmingly brilliant this song is.
7) Lykke Li - Breaking It Up
With its music hall piano, children's choir and deranged woman shouting down her absent boyfriend through a megaphone - this should have been an almighty mess. But, no, it was one of the most infectiously bouncy, unselfconciously quirky pop songs of the year. Nice remixes, too.
8) Duffy - Mercy
Judging by her performances at the end of the year, even Duffy got bored of this song. But come back to it in six months' time and you'll realise what a timeless piece of pop writing it really is - from the yeah, yeah, yeahs to the cheeky guitar twang that announces the arrival of the final chorus.
9) Elbow - Grounds For Divorce
You know, the one that goes woah-oh-woah-oh-woah-oh-woah-oh-woah-ah-oh-aooooh.
10) Dizzee Rascal ft Calvin Harris - Dance Wiv Me
I've always thought Dizzee Rascal's "unique" rapping style makes him sound like Zed out of the Police Academy films, thereby lending his attempts to chat up some bird on the dancefloor an unintended air of slapstick comedy. Still, you can't argue with that bassline (it's a non-sentient musical concept, you idiot) and even Calvin Harris's singing isn't all that bad. This acoustic version is enormously awesome, by the way:
So that's that. Tell me what your top 10 was in the comments box (or pop in a link to your own blog countdown, if you have one). The albums list comes next...
Right, this'll be the last post before I return from my Christmas hols in the magical Winter Wonderland that is Rochdale. Hope Santa brings you everything you asked for, particularly if you asked for the Ladyhawke album or a brand new Domino Rally set.
In the meantime, here's some Christmassy and not-so-Christmassy reading material to tide you over.
:: The writers behind Mistletoe & Wine, Fairytale Of New York and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day reveal how the songs came about - and how much they get paid in royalties every year.
:: Meanwhile, The Guardian interviews a bunch of people who are mentioned in pop songs - including the man/woman who inspired Walk On The Wild Side and the record company executive namechecked in Enya's Orinoco Flow (?!)
:: Just because The Killers film all of their videos in a desert, and Alexandra Burke's budget only stretches as far as buying 50 candles from Poundstore, it doesn't mean the music video is a creatively bankrupt medium. Here's Spin Magazine's list of the year's best ones, which skillfully includes Bert and Ernie's Ante Up lipdub.
:: Speaking of Alexandra Burke, her recording of Hallelujah is approximately the 1,298,388,515th version of the song. Test your knowledge of the others in a quiz I wrote last week.
:: Best bit telly from the last week - Tom Chambers and Camilla "dial her up" Dallerup performing a showdance to If My Friends Could See me Now, from the musical Sweet Charity, in the grand final of Strictly Come Dancing
:: Worst bit of telly from the last week - Girls Aloud slaughter The Loving Kind live on GMTV. Particularly noteworthy is Sarah's bum note at 3:50. Even Cheryl cringes.
:: The Onion lists its worst films of 2008. Bizarrely, it doesn't include The Love Guru.
:: Pedants unite - here's a Wikipedia list of common misconceptions, which debunks so-called facts like "your hair and fingernails continue to grow after you die", and "Gordon Brown says he's a fan of the Arctic Monkeys" (he actually prefers Last Shadow Puppets, fact fans).
:: And, finally, the now-customary silly pet videos.
Prince demanded the presence of Los Angeles radio station Indie 103 at his miniature purple house earlier this week, because he wanted to play them his new album.
One thing led to another, and the tiny tyke decided to let them premiere four of the tracks on Steve "Sex Pistols" Jones' show. And, if you missed it going out live, you can still catch the programme the station's website (scroll almost to the bottom of the page and select the ultra-low-quality audio stream for 18th December).
The first track is a cover of Tommy James & the Shondells’ Crimson & Clover which, for no good reason, incorporates the "Baby, I think I love you - but I want to know for sure" bit of The Troggs' Wild Thing. It uses a very similar guitar sound to Purple Rain, and ends with one of Prince's best solos since 1995's Gold Experience. In other words, it's really good.
Second track, Colonized Mind, is a lugubrious bluesy jam with Prince bitching about "The Man" "stealing" from "artists". We get the message - he's not a big fan of record companies. According to Steve Jones, Prince is looking for a way to release this record without the help of a major multinational corporation. Would it be churlish to suggest he offered it as a download - a bit like he used to before he threw all his toys out of the internet pram?? Probably, yes.
Track three, Wall Of Berlin, kicks off with a slamming drum beat and Prince asking "where am I?" It's more upbeat and playful than the previous two tracks - with the chorus punning "she gets down like the wall of Berlin". But the verses are stupidly verbose - with phrases like "galaxy of monumental delight" and "parallel hologram copyright". In the final analysis, it’s all a bit awkward and cheesy.
Finally comes 4ever, a lush, piano-led ballad with a big old choir on the chorus. Like the other tracks, it sees Prince unleash an impassioned guitar solo towards the end - but it doesn't save the song from being one of those by-numbers pop/gospel numbers he's been turning out for the last decade.
It'd be great if Prince could stick to the rockier template of the first two songs and turn out a late-period classic. But I think even his biggest fans are resigned to the fact that every future Prince album will feature two barnstorming rock-outs alongside a tonnage of mediocre nonense.
Still, Steve Jones' co-host Mr Shovel suggested the finished album would be released in conjunction with a "coupla shows" - and if there's one area in which Prince still excels, it's in concert.
Maybe we'll finally get to see him at Glasto in 2009? Because that would be totally awesome.
If you like your singer-songwriters female and fragile, then you're in for a treat: Here are Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles performing their new duet Winter Song on US TV:
Poor Ingrid, she can't even afford a full-size guitar...
The song is from a compilation CD from hipster LA music venue Hotel Cafe, which also features Fiona Apple doing Frosty The Snowman (awesome) and Katy Perry slurring her way through White Christmas (excruciating).
Infuriatingly, it's not available in the UK. In fact, the copyright restrictions are so severe you can't even watch the cute Youtube animation that accompanies Winter Song if you're outside the US... Although you can see a really poor quality version of it on the People website.
I thought this was the season of sharing and goodwill to all men?
Prince demanded the presence of Los Angeles radio station Indie 103 at his miniature purple house earlier this week, because he wanted to play them his new album. 
