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12 January 2008

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music: lists

Music and lists, need I say more?

If you don't get it, I cannot explain it to you.
If you do, you probably liked High Fidelity (book or film, I like both) as much as I do.

Fixed features in my world of lists:











New records

The most recent additions:

The Long Winters Friday Mile South San Gabriel
  • The Hold Steady - Boys and girls in America
  • The Long Winters, all four albums on vinyl
  • Jon Auer - Songs from the year of our demise - cd
  • Golden Smog - Another fine day - cd
  • The Long Winters - Putting the days to bed - cd
  • The Gasoline Brothers - Hm! - cd
  • Nada Surf - Let go - cd
  • Aqueduct - I sold gold - cd
  • Starlight Mints - Drowaton - cd
  • Mates of State - Bring it back - cd
  • V.A. - Second time around, a tribute to The Posies - compilation cd
  • Centro-matic - Fort recovery - cd
  • Eef Barzelay - Bitter honey - cd
  • The Wrens - The meadowlands - cd
  • Violent Femmes - Viva Wisconsin - cd

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Concerts

Walker Diver in Wernhout

The fifteen most recent ones:

  • Harold K; 8-1-08; Ekko, Utrecht
  • Mark & the Spies, The Neon Belle; 8-1-08; Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  • Cortez, Walker Diver solo; 12-12-07; Café Borra, Amersfoort
  • John Vanderslice; 17-11-07; Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  • Great Lake Swimmers, Will Johnson; 16-11-07; Hedon, Zwolle
  • Walker Diver; 9-11-07; Swaf, Hoorn
  • Wounded Kite, Walker Diver solo; 4-11-07; Ruigoord, Amsterdam
  • The Horse Company; 12-10-07; Café de Stad, Utrecht popronde
  • Pien Feith, Leine; 9-9-07; Ekko, Utrecht halve finale Grote Prijs van NL singer-songwriter
  • Walker Diver solo, The Light Brigade solo; 11-8-07; T-Huis Valkenbergpark, Breda
  • Danny & Dusty; 2-8-07; Paradiso bovenzaal, Amsterdam
  • Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, Walker Diver; 11-6-07; Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  • David Childers and the Modern Don Juans, Walker Diver; 6-5-07; SJU-huis, Utrecht
  • The Decemberists, Lavender Diamond; 21-2-07; Paradiso, Amsterdam
  • The Long Winters, Storybox; 9-2-07; Willem II, Den Bosch

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Yearlist 2007

To order the concerts is hard as usual, but the top 5 is solid: each of these concerts brought a smile to my face that just wouldn't leave. The low placement for Will Johnson is because a support slot just doesn't do his talent justice. Adding #11 was necessary due to this year's surprise: great Dutch bands in very nice small venues.

  1. The Long Winters; 9-2-07; Willem II, Den Bosch
  2. The Decemberists; 21-2-07; Paradiso, Amsterdam
  3. Danny & Dusty; 2-8-07; Paradiso bovenzaal, Amsterdam
  4. The Horse Company; 12-10-07; Café de Stad, Utrecht popronde
  5. David Childers and the Modern Don Juans; 6-5-07; SJU-huis, Utrecht
  6. Walker Diver; 6-5-07; SJU-huis, Utrecht cd-presentatie
  7. John Vanderslice; 17-11-07; Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  8. Will Johnson; 16-11-07; Hedon, Zwolle
  9. Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3; 11-6-07; Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  10. Cortez; 12-12-07; Café Borra, Amersfoort
  11. Wounded Kite; 4-11-07; Ruigoord, Amsterdam

Surprisingly enough this year I knew more current records than usual, but some of them I found disappointing (Spoon, Wilco, New Pornographers). Not this year's but played a lot: Rogue Wave's Descended Like Vultures from 2005. Out of competition because it's my husband's and thus too close: Walker Diver - Junior Blues.

  1. The Decemberists - The crane wife - cd
  2. Menomena - Friend and foe - cd
  3. The Horse Company - The Horse Company - lp/cd
  4. David Childers and the Modern Don Juans - Burning in Hell - cd
  5. Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Like Love Lust - cd
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Yearlist 2006

If the previous years where a little one-sided when it came to concerts, this year was even worse: about one third of the concerts I saw featured The Long Winters in some form or other. But even if I limit my choice to one or two of those shows, it's hard to pick only 10 - once again it was a good live year. Ranking these shows is nigh impossible, so the order of the top 5 would probably be different tomorrow.

  1. Spoon; 17-5-06; Paradiso, Amsterdam
  2. The Long Winters (solo); 21-5-06; Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht
  3. Nada Surf; 29-3-06; Tivoli, Utrecht
  4. Jon Auer; 15-11-06; Ekko, Utrecht
  5. Centro-matic; 20-5-06; Tom Tom, Heythuysen
  6. The Long Winters; 3-11-06; Paradiso upstairs, Amsterdam
  7. pEp; 13-10-06; Popronde Café de Stad, Utrecht
  8. Big Star,; 21-2-06; Tivoli, Utrecht
  9. John Vanderslice; 21-10-06; Ekko, Utrecht
  10. Caesar; 4-2-06; Ekko, Utrecht


As for CDs, I barely know any from this year, and there are even less that made me all gooey inside, so here's my Top 1 (it's a tie):

  1. The Long Winters - Putting the days to bed
  1. Centro-matic - Fort Recovery


Special mention for the four vinyl albums of the Long Winters, beautiful artwork now in a beautiful size!




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Yearlist 2005

Once again it was an excellent year for concerts. A bit freakish again, seeing four South San Gabriel shows this year. And in fact those four could have been #1-4, but I had to give some other gigs a chance as well.

  1. South San Gabriel; 15-8-05; Paradiso bovenzaal, Amsterdam
    Any of the other SSG gigs could have been here, but this one (the third that I saw) had me with the surprise cover of Lionel Ritchie's All Night Long.
    At every gig they played their album The Carlton Chronicles in its entirety, which might sound boring third or fourth time round, but it was in fact better than listening to the album at home.
  2. Wilco; 12-9-05; Paradiso, Amsterdam
    Scarily tight gig, they held a sold-out room in trance for well over two hours
  3. Clem Snide; 24-6-05; Ekko, Utrecht
    Surprise of the year - even more so taking into account the really hot weather that day
  4. The Posies; 18-8-05; Tivoli De Helling, Utrecht
    Bit of a nostalgia trip, but also a solid rock show. And I got to hold Jon Auer's guitar (not that I knew what to do with it)
  5. South San Gabriel; 10-5-05; Ekko, Utrecht
    6. This was one of the first gigs of their tour, and they said they were not entirely sure how well they knew the songs... fuck that, they were good. Go and check them out, seriously.
  6. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists; 29-3-05; Ekko Utrecht
    They were support act, can you believe it? Total energy!
  7. Great Lake Swimmers; 15-5-05; Live in the Living Utrecht
    Ah, the intimacy of a living room gig, no amps, just two guys and a guitar and a banjo. I saw them twice more this year, but it never got as good as this...
  8. Harold K (cd-presentation); 16-2-05; Café de Stad, Utrecht
    I finally got to see local singer/songwriter Harold K this year, and realised instantly that I had denied myself some great stuff. Great atmosphere at this cd-presentation, too.
  9. Gitbox; 25-6-05; Dianaland, Wellerlooi
    Another revelation, at the most intimate of festivals
  10. John Vanderslice; 26-11-05; Rotown, Rotterdam
    This should have been higher on the list, but the audience just wouldn't shut up, which was a crying shame


As for CDs, it was hard to decide what to make #1, but ultimately there was just one choice. It was a year of some disappointing albums which didn't make it anywhere near my top 10 (The Posies, Teenage Fanclub), but also some real gems. Significantly, four of these records aren't released (yet) in Europe, and I wouldn't have known them if it wasn't for the Internet. Also, a great year for artwork, with special mention for South San Gabriel and Harvey Danger

John Vanderslice South San Gabriel The Long Winters Friday Mile

  1. John Vanderslice - Pixel revolt
    This was released in the USA in August, but I was lucky enough to get an advance copy a couple of months earlier, and it tugged at my heart instantly. It should be released in Europe early 2006.
  2. Clem Snide - End of love
    After seeing them live, I bought this album and it's full of incredibly good songs. It had taken me a couple of years to get to like Eef Barzelay's voice though.
  3. South San Gabriel - The Carlton chronicles
    A concept album from the perspective of a cat? Trust Will Johnson to pull it off.
  4. The Long Winters - Ultimatum - ep
    Doesn't feel like much of a unity, this ep, but hey, it's The Long Winters so it's still really good. Should be released in Europe in 2006, but what I'm really waiting for is that new album, due in Spring 2006. Hopefully.
  5. Friday Mile - Using up our trust
    I might have never checked out this Seattle artist, had it not been for his cover of a Long Winters song, which he posted on their forum. I'm so glad I did, this album was a morning favourite for weeks and well deserves a top 5 ranking.
  6. Harvey Danger - Little by little
    Okay, so I was of the opinion that Harvey Danger better come up with something damn good for Sean Nelson to leave The Long Winters. They did.
  7. Harold K - Mengsmering
    Great Dutch and Limburg dialect lyrics. My only and fairly serious complaint is that the record is too short.
  8. Spoon - Gimme fiction
    I'm still not sure if I really like Spoon or not, but for a band I'm not sure about, I've played this record quite a lot, and I caught my toe tapping.
  9. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The tyranny of distance (2001)
    Okay, so sue me for only getting to know this now, but it is one of my faves of the year, and therefore eligible for this 2005 list
  10. Nada Surf - The weight is a gift
    This only made it to our household two weeks ago - I haven't had enough time to be able to judge it fairly against the rest, so this is a compromise last place


Single and video of 2005:
The Decemberists - 16 military wives




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Yearlist 2004

Must say that this year I found very few albums really interesting from start to finish, but the top 3 was amazing. As usual I´ve been playing lots of other stuff besides proper (2004)releases, and my list reflects some of that; from 4 to 10 the order is kinda arbitrary.

  1. Sufjan Stevens - Seven swans
  2. Will Johnson - Vultures await
  3. Grand Champeen - Battle cry for help (2001)
  4. Andy Pratt - Andy Pratt ('73)
  5. Ken Stringfellow - Soft commands
  6. Daniel Johnston - Continued story: Hi, how are you ('85/'83)
  7. Sophia - People are like seasons
  8. The Long Winters - live in Boulder CO, 5 Oct '03, bootleg
  9. A.C. Newman - The slow wonder
  10. Rhizomatic compilation

Now, the live top 10 was a whole different thing. What an amazing concert year this has been!
In any other year, numbers 4 to 7 would each have made a fine number one, with #8 to 10 great runners up and I had to leave out some cool gigs by local bands. But the top 3 were really amazing experiences, and very close contenders for number 1. However, there´s just no beating great songs, great banter, a piano and a late afternoon sun through gothic windows on a Sunday.

  1. The Long Winters; 16-05-04; Beauforthuis, Austerlitz
  2. Sufjan Stevens; 06-06-04; Paradiso upstairs, A´dam
  3. Will Johnson/Brother Danielson; 20-12-04; Ekko, Utrecht
  4. South San Gabriel/Whip/Anders Parker; 29-01-04; Patronaat, Haarlem
  5. Ken Stringfellow; 10-12-04; Paradiso upstairs, A´dam
  6. The Decemberists; 23-11-04; Ekko, Utrecht
  7. Death Cab For Cutie; 02-03-04; Ekko, Utrecht
  8. The Bigger Lovers; 06-10-04; Ekko, Utrecht
  9. Fountains of Wayne; 07-03-04; Melkweg Oude Zaal, A´dam
  10. Sophia; 27-03-04; De Helling, Utrecht

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Yearlist 2003

As usual my record list consists of cds and records that I got to know this year, which doesn't mean they came out in 2003

  1. The Long Winters - When I pretend to fall
  2. Centro-matic - Love you just the same
  3. The Long Winters - The worst you can do is harm (2002)
  4. Brendan Benson - Lapalco (2001)
  5. Paper Moon - The lost parade ep (2002)
  6. South San Gabriel - Welcome, convalescence
  7. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome interstate managers
  8. Autumn K Dial - Wanted (2000)
  9. Jon Auer & Ken Stringfellow - Private sides (for the 'A-side')
    Ken Stringfellow - Down like me 7" (2001) (for the B-side Airscape)

Concert list is kinda screwed up this year, having seen The Long Winters 6 times and South San Gabriel thrice...

  1. Paper Moon, at our wedding
  2. The Long Winters/South San Gabriel, Paradiso Amsterdam (November)
  3. R.E.M. - HMH Amsterdam
  4. Brendan Benson, Ekko Utrecht
  5. The Long Winters/Sandusky, Ekko Utrecht
  6. Centro-matic/Orange Black, Ekko Utrecht
  7. The Long Winters/South San Gabriel, Rotown Rotterdam (August)
  8. Ford's Imaginary Inferno, Wellerlowlands Wellerlooi
  9. Walker Diver, Wally's Roosendaal
  10. The Gasoline Brothers, DB's Utrecht



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