So, in no particular order, these were my favourite albums of the last ten years.  See what you think…

Your mother wouldn't like it.

Deftones – White Pony (2000)

The best album the American experimentalist have produced so far, this is by no means an easy listen – it’s harsh andcomplex, and downright unsettling in places.  However, it still sounds ahead of its time now, and has long outlasted the pop-metal that dominated the genre in 2000.

OutKast – Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) / Stankonia (2000)

Kanye West – The College Dropout (2004)

Lupe Fiasco – The Cool (2007)

The noughties were the decade when hip-hop went mainstream.  It’s got the same signal-to-noise problems its always had as a genre, but these were some of the stand-out albums of the decade, proving you didn’t have to wave your wallet, handgun and/or dick around the whole time in order to record a decent CD.  Eminem also deserves an honourable mention here, but his Slim Shady LP (1999) was released too early to be counted in this chart.

Like a boy-band, but shoutier

Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (2000)

Although derided nowadays as the first nu-metal boy-band, Linkin Park’s first album is still worth a listen.  While they didn’t invent the field (that dubious honour probably goes right back to the Run DMC’s cover of ‘Walk This Way’), Linkin Park presented a genuinely new take on a sound, simultaneously tighter and more accessible than either Slipknot or Korn, their one-time competitors.  Still, I wouldn’t touch any of their recent stuff with a shitty stick.

Lamb of God – As the Palaces Burn (2003)

Mastodon – Leviathan (2004)

Doing to nu-metal what Outkast did to hip-hop, these two acts cut through a lot of the stereotypical bullshit that went with the genre, in diametrically opposite ways.  Lamb of God produced albums of searing intensity and aggression, with nary an unnecessary note between them; Mastodon instead explored a more intelligent, complex and nuanced sound than had been heard before in metal, with staggering technical skill.  Again, neither are exactly easy listening, and Mastodon have since disappeared into their own egos to record a concept album that would embarrass Rick Wakeman.  As a demonstration of the best of the decade in metal, though, these two are hard to beat…

Tool – Lateralus (2001) / 10,000 Days (2006)

…with one possible exception.  Tool have produced one of the best albums ever recorded, but unfortunately spread it over two discs, filling the remaining space with electronic fuzz and noodly navel-gazing.  Still, when they’re good, they’re very, very good.  Ignoring the random crackling, mystical chanting and random monologues in German, the complexity of the bass-lines, intelligent lyrics and unusual, chopping time-signatures more than qualify them for this list.  The closing (or at least, last real) track of 10,000 Days, ‘Right in Two’, simply cements that.

To be fair, it could only improve her drumming.

The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)

Deserves an inclusion simply for originality – some of the best and most diverse sounds ever to come from a two piece band.  Even if they are both fucking weirdos.

The Streets – Original Pirate Material (2002)

If you don’t fit into a music scene, start your own.  Even if you don’t like Mike Skinner’s spoken-word Mockney style, you can’t dispute that before Original Pirate Material, no-one was doing it; afterwards, you were tripping over urban beat-poets all over the charts…

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not (2006)

Such as, for example, the Arctic Monkeys.  Although there sound wasn’t in itself a revelation, the lyrics were clever, punchy and sharply delivered.  One of their major contributions, though, was to show that you didn’t need the chart delivered to you by some all-powerful record label: with a little patience and a little luck, your band could hack out a niche for itself on its own terms.

Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (2008)

Beat poetry taken almost to its logical extremes, the music is largely there as a crutch for the exposed emotions of the lead singer on a trip around his difficult relationships, late night drinking, and post-late-night-drinking philosophy.  Genuinely beautiful in places.

System of a Down – Toxicity (2001)

Another nomination based on originality, System’s mixture of angry politics, manic energy and Armenian folk music generated a huge fan-base for them in the 2000’s, mostly off the back of this, their second album.

Right, over you to you lot.  There are bound to be omissions – after all, I wrote this after a Christmas party, with a hangover – but what were your CDs of the decade?

For a label, Asobi Seksu normally get slapped with “nu-gaze”. This basically means they are a throwback to the British shoegaze/dream pop bands of the 90s (My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins), but they’re more interesting than that. Yuki alternates between English and Japanese lyrics or often simply uses her voice as an instrument, and singing live she hits every note she did on record (an impressive feat, despite her naturally high range). James sings a bit as well, but his genius is in his melodic, undulating guitar. It’s surprising that one guy drowned in effects can bring about such a tide of auditory sweetness. This is the sound that dominates their performance and sets the audience swaying, until they explode in feedback and instrumental contortion, leaving us to absorb it for a while before the encore.

Having released an acoustic album, Rewolf, earlier that very day, it’s surprising that they didn’t do any acoustic tracks; perhaps a change of pace could have accentuated even further the extremes of their songs. Nonetheless, the well-mixed crowd filling Cargo – an excellent, friendly venue – were in good spirits. After their second stint on the stage, the band finished the set without either of my favourite songs but with the indie-pop-ish lead single from latest album Hush, “Me & Mary”. It doesn’t have the gravity of some of their most recognisable older stuff, e.g. “Thursday”, but it was a catchy and memorable conclusion to a still broadly impressive set; they saw off a satisfied crowd that night.

Hellbent & Hammered rocking out

Arguably the best spot in Camden, though, is the Dublin Castle, a little Mecca for indie-kids and rockers alike.  Last Monday saw it play host to local rockers Hellbent and Hammered, backed up by the normal mix of unsigned night acts – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Opening the night were Watford boys This Life Scandal, a strangely incongruous Goo Goo Dolls influenced stadium-rock band on a heavy metal bill.  Still, they held their end of the bargain up well: a tight, rocky set was capped by a lead singer on excellent form, and the band filled the stage superbly.  The drummer even managed to squeeze a bit of rock posing in around the set list, although the effort of multi-tasking sometimes threw his rhythm a little.  Still, ones to watch: although some of their tracks will sound a little over-familiar to old-school U2 fans, that’s not necessarily a bad band to be compared to.

This Life Scandal

And then came something completely different.  81dB, a successful rock group in their native Italy, joined the bill as part of their European tour.  Although the band are used to bigger venues back home they didn’t seem to mind, liftingthe roof with a folk-tinged metal with the playfulness of System of a Down, only without all the bullshit and cannabis.  The guitarist swapped constantly from a conventional axe to a bouzouki, interspersing heavyweight riffs with high-speed fingerwork, and closing track ‘Supercalifragulisticexpialidocious’ was a genuine joy.  Superb.

They were followed by Cumbrian electro-metallers OurFamous Dead, sounding a little like an early Lostprophets – if you’ve ever sat through the first cut of ‘thefakesoundofprogress’, you’ll know that’s not really a compliment.  The band had recently acquired a new pair of guitarists, and it showed: although the front-man and keyboard player were both throwing themselves around, the axe-men spent the gig huddled at the back, in the shadows, as if hoping we wouldn’t notice them.  Things rapidly descended into a 3-chord electro-punk mess, capped by the most ill-advised Prodigy cover I think I’ve ever encountered, and the only person more grateful than the audience when the show ended was the lead guitarist.

The tone changed again with the arrival on-stage of Hellbent & Hammered, who seemed to have been enjoying their rider a little too much for their late billing.  Still, they pulled off a decent show, despite the bassist having lost the powers of speech and eyesight sometime around 9pm.  Their big, bluesy metal wall of sound kicked off the first mosh-pit of the night, and lead singer Ryan le Roux’s bassy snarling hit the heavy-metal-swagger spot nicely.  Still, don’t take my word for it – the show was recorded, so go and  check it out for yourself.

Their habit of releasing EPs between full length albums are more than stop gaps; over glorified singles to keep their name fresh in people’s heads, they demonstrate a side of the band that maybe didn’t quite fit in with the overall picture of the preceding album. ‘Fall Be Kind’ is in this way is more similar to most of 2008’s ‘Water Curses’ in how the overall laid back feel to most of the songs are probably best displayed in a separate entity.

When not yelping, Noah Lennox’s harmonies could easily be said to venture into beach boys territory, evidence here can be found in the swirl of ‘Graze’. The second track ‘What Would I Want? Sky’ features the first licensed sample of The Grateful Dead, which after a three minute intro strolls into a jolly sample laden pop gem.

‘Bleeding’ has a very similar theme to it as ‘Daily Routine’ and their similarity in their ideas probably mean its a good thing that these two songs have been split onto separate discs. Progressing through the album to ‘On a Highway’ and ‘I Think I Can’ more complex melodies that grow rewardingly with successive listens.

Probably not the best place to start if you know the name but still haven’t checked out this band. Essential listening if you already like what you’ve heard from the Collective.

It makes sense too, considering that her music balances on a fine line between being crispy-fresh and interesting, yet not so overly cutting-edge that it sounds alien beyond comprehension. It’s clear that La Roux follows the carefully tried, tested and proved formula of pop song-writing but unfortunately, this skilful technique also results in the pop-song syndrome. That is, her songs will only sound good once they have been played on the radio, or to put it otherwise, the audience will only react if the song has received over-exposure to the radio waves.

This had a direct consequence on the ambience of the show. The relatively unknown songs of the set were received with borderline indifference, which was most unfortunate for Ellie Jackson herself as she told of her current state of illness, therefore explaining her need to sip water between each song. Nevertheless, the tame crowds during these album songs did not stop La Roux from throwing some serious shapes onstage and showing off her sparkly gold dancing shoes, as she impressively managed to sing almost pitch-perfect whilst simultaneously co-ordinating her angular limbs and dealing with illness.

And in good time, as soon as the ultra-sound beats began to throb for radio favourite ‘In for the Kill’, La Roux received rapturous cheers and applause, as well as what might be considered as dancing by our British standards. It’s a shame that this hit, along with fellow pop anthem ‘Bulletproof’, did not feature earlier in the set because it might have lifted the mood earlier in the show, instead of ending the show on such an abrupt climax.

-Joanna Cai

-Tom Jennings

Sound of Rum were first on stage, providing a jazzy backdrop to their hip hop front. Zingy and erratic drum beats were supported by layers of funky guitar hooks, with confrontational part-troll frontwoman Kate Tempest spitting out rhymes like it was her last performance. She wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea and probably would have crushed my bones to death if she had decided to jump off that stage but she did ignite the stage with passion and tried to teach us about Prometheus.
The Correspondents were the evening highlight despite being second on the bill, comprising solely of a DJ hidden at the side of the stage and some kind of double-jointed insect-legged man doing crazy dancing all up and down the stage. They did remixes of 1920’s swing numbers and a special cover of I Wanna Be Like You from The Jungle Book with rapping and scat singing over the top! His over-enthusiastic dancing made him look like a puppet being pulled in all different directions and drove the audience wild with laughter and happiness.

David E Sugar did an electro DJ set from the stage which was a major mistake as he had a very catchy range of club tunes but the audience didn’t know whether to commit to dancing or looking at him. On top of that he did have a bit of an ego, proceeding to tell us exactly how he was putting each track together whilst he twiddled with his knobs. A saving grace was when he brought out his laser harp and dazzled us with his smoke an flashing lights, only for a member of the audience to have a go himself – it was closed up seconds afterwards!

The headline act was Dan Le Sac (named after his testicles) and Scroobius Pip (named from the Edward Lear poem), using techno and spoken word poetry to bring things that frustrate them about the world to our collective consciousness. As enjoyable as their classic material was, they were restricted to a 30 minute set and it was difficult to keep up with the Pip’s flow-etry when you didn’t know the words. Swigging rose wine on stage during performances, the Pip charmed the crowd by pouring several of the front row a drink out of his bottle, even being asked by one enthusiastic young lady if she could “suck on it” – “wrong night of the week love” he replied.

-Tom Jennings