Birdsong

Just finished reading this harrowing tale from Sebastian Faulks and though flawed I thought it was excellent.
Wilfred Owen and co have clearly had a big effect on Faulks' writing - theres no wishy-washy romanticised version of life in the trenches; Falks, even more that Owen, conveys the message the the war was an abberation against nature, an evil thing beyond words that scoops out the soldiers' humanity and leaves them scarred. The sheer relentless tragic conditions where a man expects to die at any moment can, I feel, only really be brought out by prose; the typically brief nature of poetry can't adequately convey the grinding misery.

If anything, the sections with the Granddaughter Elizabeth were even more dispiriting - is the bleak existance of her life really worth the sacrifice of so many men? At least Stephen experienced passion; there seems to be none to be found in 1978 England.

Steven's friendship with Weir was the most compelling in the novel, and Weir the most beliveable character and his death upset me more than any others. His death, with no pomp and circumstance - as is the case with the death of most of the minor characters - makes it all the more tragic.

What else? The Isabelle story petered out oddly, and Jeanne (how is that pronounced? Gene? Jane?) was never developed enough for it to seem likely that she could be in a relationship with Stephen, given how empty he was by the end. The image of thousands of injured English soldiers rising like the dead on the slopes near Amiens was an incredibly powerful image, as was most of that scene in fact. Also, allow being in a tunnel. Especially if your name is Stephen.

Aallssoo, during the whole book Stephen did not kill one German until he set off the explosive right at the end, but that was accidental, in fact the only one he did kill was a mortally wounded man in a shared shell-hole who wanted to go quickly. Furthermore, none of the other characters kill any Germans either. Weird. Maybe Faulks wanted to keep the German presence defined only by their shells, which I suppose makes the war seem futile, though I'm grasping at straws here. Gray even said Stephen was a terriffic fighter. Odd

Best of 2000-09

With night closing in on the noughties, it seems appropriate to make a list of the best song of this decade. A shortlist of 37 songs has been whittled down to just 10. Rules: songs are judged on how good I think they are, and also their influence on the decade. Beatles remasters don't count!

So, in ascending order:

10) Muse - Stockholm Syndrome
It's the best song from Muse's best album, who by the way would steal the best band of the decade award, but will it be the only Top 10 song? I have a sneaking suspicion that won't be the case...

9) The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army
Best bassline of the decade? Certainly the most recognisable. This sparse tour-de-force from the endlessly-creative mind of Jack White takes 9th spot.

8)Opeth - The Lotus Eater
Time for some metal methinks. Memorable mainly for 'just give me some beer!' line, and the funky keyboard section, this is nevertheless a brilliant song. The only other metal album of the last 10 years to touch this is Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death

7)Elbow - One Day Like This
Elbow were undoubtably the band of 2008 (far superior to bleedin' Kings of Leon) and this is the best song from an album-ful of 12 corkers. It shimmers with positivity from the strident, powerful strings and Guy Garvey's uplifting lyics.

6)Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline
The first track from FF's debut, this song ushered in a dazzling new talent who single-handedly kick-started the boys-with-guitars movement - without this band we would have had no Scouting for Girls. From the softly-softly opening to the cutting arpeggios this is class from start to finish. Shame their following albums (mostly) failed to live up to the first.

5)Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Into the top 5, and there was something about Arctic Monkey's open, honest music and Alex Turner's bitingly realistic lyrics that struck a chord with virtually everyone with functioning ear-drums. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the best-selling debut of all time (UK at least) and it was this song that was the song everyone knew from the start.

4)Muse - Bliss
The best moment in this song are the first 14 seconds, but what a 14 seconds they are. The opening, sweeping keys are just staggeringly beautiful, and I find personally there is no more relaxing song or melody or otherwise ever written. One doesn't, however, reach number 4 on the best song of the decade on the strength of 14 seconds of, well, Bliss - the rest of the song, underpinned throughout by that melody, is honest open songwriting at its best, with lyrics that anyone can relate to.

3)The Darkness - Black Shuck
The Archetypical Underrated Band. Seen by many as a novelty act; seen by me as a breath of fresh air, the opening track to Permission to Land grabs you by the balls until you're squealing like Justin Hawkins himself. Perhaps the only band of the decade that brought big riffs and guitar solos into the mainstream at a time when that sort of thing was definately out of fashion, and for this Justin, Dan, Ed and Frankie I salute you.

2)Feeder - Buck Rogers
Maybe a song that is neither among my favourites or especially influential doesn't deserve to come in at number two, let alone the top ten, but there is something about having Buck Rogers so high up that just feels right. At the time of release it was played to death, but as it becomes more forgotten it becomes more loved.

1)The Darkness - Love On The Rocks With No Ice
Love On The Rocks With No Ice is here for the same reasons as Black Shuck - and then some. This is hard rock at its very best: the riffs, the solos, the licks - it's all perfect - not to mention the most powerful vocals Justin Hawkins has ever belted out. Also, the fact that this is something of a forgotten gem - it wasn't a single release - makes it just that bit more special.


Honourable mentions:
Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
It's just the funniest song ever, pure and simple

Kasabian - The Doberman
The first 3:45 of this song is great; the last 1:45 is unadulterated brilliance. The frantic build-up is silenced by a solitary snare-shot, setting up an epic, spanish-tinged instrumental. Kasabian really need to do this sort of thing more often.

Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Radiohead - Faust Arp
In Rainbows is fantastic, buts the songs work better together, hence no showing in the top 10

The Feeling - Sewn

EDIT - what was I thinking putting Opeth at #8?! But what to replace it with? Possibly The Doberman...though tempting to whack butterflies and hurricanes in there

EDIT 2: Okay, what the hell was I thinking? Buck Rogers?! Get outta here! New list:

10)Stockholm Syndrome 9)Outkast - Hey Ya 8) Jet-Are You Gonna Be My Girl 7) Kasabian - The Doberman 6) One Day Like This 5) Jacqueline 4)I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 3) The Darkness - Get Your Hands Off My Woman 2) Bliss 1) Love On The Rocks