The Black Keys - El Camino

El Camino is the seventh album from The Black Keys released in December on Nonesuch Records, and is co-produced by Danger Mouse.
Brothers, although I didn’t mention it in my Top 10 of 2010 has grown to be one of my favourite albums of all time and I couldn’t wait to hear El Camino when it came out and although it’s a real good album, it’s not quite on par with Brothers but I might change my mind after I’ve played it a few more times.
Everything has pretty much been done right with this record, the songwriting is spot on and every song, pretty much like it’s predecesor, has the ability to carry it’s own as a single and it’s for this reason I decided to pick it as my number 1.

Favourite Songs: Gold On The Cieling, Little Black Submarines, Sister, Hell Of A Season & Nova Baby

Foster The People - Torches

Torches is the debut record from Foster The People released on Columba Records in the UK. Arguably the best album released this year the band, initially a solo project of Mark Foster, has developed into something between an indie rock and a synth pop dancefloor band and their sound is quite difficult to pigeon hole.
Pretty much the entire world has heard Pumped Up Kicks which was also the first song I heard (in Topman!) which lead me to listen to the album on Spotify, and it was that good I brought it on CD more or less within a week of first hearing it.
For a very long time I had this down as my album of the year. It’s such a good album. Extremely catchy songs, and although most people will have heard Pumped Up Kicks, it’s about the most down tempo song on the album and the rest of the record it’s much more upbeat.

Favourite Songs: Helena Beat, Call It What You Want & Houdini

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind Of Fix

‘Fix’ is the third album from Bombay Bicycle Club, and if you’ve been following me for the past 3 years you’ll know how much I like them. Their debut was my favourite album of 2009 and the second album, the acoustic record was my number 2 (topped only by Delphic’s debut). Their 3rd record represents yet another transition and although is a return to the electrical guitar based sound on the first record, it’s definitely a development.

Instead of the guitar riff sound on the first album, the presence of synthesizer and pedal loops is much more prevalent on this record as is the inclusion of Lucy Rose on backing vocals, who only serves to strengthen BBC’s sound even further. She made Flaws the record that it was and she also makes ‘Fix’ the album that it is. Her voice perfectly compliments Steadman’s on backing vocals and elevates the record to the next level. Although at times it is easy to get lost in the album, it’s a record that only gets better as you become more familiar with it. Lights Out, Words Gone is easily a contender for song of the year.

Favourite Songs - Lights Out Words Gone, Shuffle, Leave It, What You Want, Still

Thrice - Major / Minor

If Beggars represented the completion of Thrice’s transition into an Alternative rock band, then Major / Minor exists to complete that legacy. An extremely solid album that in my opinion, lacks slightly in lyrical content when compared to it’s predecessor but makes up for it with extremely tight songwriting. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to listen to this as much as I’d like to because I haven’t been able to pick up a copy but thanks to Spotify I’ve been able to hear it before I buy it and it’s definitely on my shopping list for 2012.
This album also marks what could possibly be the end of Thrice as a “full time band” following a statement from Dustin on Thrice.net that the band wasn’t breaking up but taking a break…

Favourite Songs - Yellow Belly, Cataracts & Call It In The Air

The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

The Big Roar is the debut album from Welsh band, The Joy Formidable and released at the start of the year on Atlantic Records.
When I first heard this record I thought i’d already heard the album of the year. It’s an alternative heavy guitar based record that isn’t afraid to deviate at times into a progressive rock behemoth and for a debut record, there is a showcase of musical talent and experience on display.

Although this clocks in at number 5 in my lost, a nod of mention should go to Friendly Fires - Pala, Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones, Metronomy - The English Riveria & She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas which are all great albums but haven’t made it into my top 5.

Favourite Songs: The Magnifying Glass, Austere, A Heavy Abacus & Cradle

Okay, here are some fucking examples:

http://www.loyalties.com - this has been purchased by buydomains.com and to purchase you have to phone them up, (and i’m pretty sure the numbers supplied are American dialing codes but I could be wrong) because yes I’m going to want to do that when purchasing a domain for use ONLINE… -next!

http://www.filmforever.com/ - watch free films online! FREE FILMS FILM XX welcome to filmforever.com with a picture of some fucking love hearts. I could make so much better usage of this URL. I don’t even know who registered this and clicking ‘privacy policy’ spams my page with popups. Wow. Cheers Filmforever.com. -Next.

http://www.johnnyw.com - “Future home of something quite cool” and then a illustration of an orange Hawaiian shirt in a venetian wardrobe… …OH KAYY? At least this is an actual website. Next then?

http://apptography.com/ - “Welcome to GoDaddy.com” -the fuck?! “Want to buy this domain? Our Domain Buy Service can help you get it.” Well yes I do, but not through you clowns?! More domain name farming. There should be a law against needless domain parking. They also have apptography.org and apptography.net ¬¬. Next?

http://www.againstthegrain.com/ oh my god. OH MY FUCKING GOD. I really had high hopes for this. I thought yes. Yes. Somebody with an active imagination and the ability to manipulate the internet must have registered this for their business, or magazine, or WOW Clan… Nope. “againstthegrain.com” across a backdrop of a facial spa in the banner with Domainnamesales.com call 1-800… I DON’T GIVE A SHIT. It’s like why bother? Why bother having an imagination? NEXT.

http://www.blowuptheeiffeltower.com/ - For the uninformed, this used to be the website for San Diego Punk legends, The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower and I knew it might still be taken but I tried it anyway. Typing this beauty into your URL bar now spams you with 2 pop ups about Casino or Porn (or both) and redirects you to Searchportal.information.com - what you need when you need it. Well, no Search portal dot information dot com, when looking for “credit card” and “cheap hotel” my first thought isn’t to type: blowuptheeiffeltower.com into my browser. I’ll use Google for that thanks. FAIL.

What have we learned?
Pretty soon, there will be no more logical combinations of dot com URL’s left. They will all be registered to godaddy, searchportal, and freeprons and if you want to have a website dot com URL you will have to register www.ttuhbfjh.com or something ridiculous.

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Go easy on me, I’m majorly over-conscious of anything I do creatively, and take it really personal… :).

this photo is quite old.

does anyone submit to textnovel, I might start doing it?

• Further advancements in medical science and cloning result in a much deeper understanding of the human anatomy and the biological, physiological and chemical structure of the human body. Male pattern boldness is erased. Don’t like your eye color? Have it changed. Speech impediment? Have it fixed. The Human race develops an even deeper understanding of it’s own neurological construction with disastrous consequences. There are no longer such things as characteristics, merely dysfunctions.
• The entire concept of a ‘social network’ is turned on it’s head and “The Central Network” will be developed. Rather than designated portals, each element of your virtual existence is pooled and co-operates with other elements of your virtual experience. Each platform may still exist (possibly?), but instead are accessed via a universal dashboard that simulates your interaction with the physical and virtual world. There will be no need to check your facebook or even supply your contact details on an Amazon order as Amazon will already know your identity and apply it forthwith. You can share what you have just purchased with the rest of your social network effortlessly regardless of whether they have a twitter, tumblr, facebook or bebo.
• The retailing high street as we know it will dramaticly decrease as the population turns to online or virtual shopping as it’s growth and development is promoted as safer, more varied, and more convenient. In future development, entire cubicles will be housed in retail developments, devoted to providing users with access to a limitless consumer network to carry out their shopping, online, bringing about the death of more niche retailers and independant stores. ‘The Central Network’ has it’s own dedicated hypermarket for providing the online retail and visual experience, one located in each developed country of the world.
• Written journalism as we know will dwindle, almost into obscurity as the population grows older, aside from purists who will continue to use it; more easily accessible information, news and journalism will provided directly to the reader via their Smartphone, Laptop or PDA from News corporations whose focus will shift to visual and virtual methods of presenting the news with ‘The Central Network’ providing it’s own newsfeed via an edited, restructured, and sampled version of blogs and independent journalism inputted and collated via it’s network of blogging platforms. What are currently your Tumblr posts of the present become the history of the future…
• The Earth suffers a terrible natural or celestial disaster causing much of the worlds weather patterns to change, presenting a great challenge in living conditions for life in less developed locations of the Earth and forcing more devloped countries to adjust to the dramatic change in weather conditions. It is possible for vast, entire regions of the globe to be rendered inhabitable in a change that almost simply occurs overnight.

Much of this is not so much based on a fact, but more over on what I have read from press releases, predictions and online news stories e.t.c. A huge portion of inspiration comes from http://epic.makingithappen.co.uk/ which I have watched about a hundred times!