My Top 10 Albums of 2005: #1

#1: Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Although there was little doubt in my mind that Bloc Party would be my number 1 for the year, watching their performances on MAX's Later With Jools Holland last night totally confirmed it. Just watching Kele's frantic fingers on Helicopter was incredible. Plus it sounded fantastic.

As I was voting for Triple J's Hottest 100 last week, I considered my top 10 songs for the year. While this year I tried to vote for the littler bands or the Australian ones (to get them into the 100), I still considered the year's greatest songs off the list. In all honesty, my number 1 and 2 would be Banquet and Helicopter, both Bloc Party.

That's the sort of impact Silent Alarm had on me. Some outstanding riffs, such depth to the songs and simply a raw rock sound with a few things I hadn't heard before. The duelling guitars on Banquet actually caught my attention late in 2004 when Triple J played it off their earliest EP. I was unable to find anything to download (especially with my bad spelling of "Block Party") but by the time the album came around, I'd definitely taken notice (as did many others). Like Doves, I downloaded one song, liked it, then another, liked that too, then one more and the album was sold to me.

Gradually I grew to love the whole album, heavily playing a track or two for a week and moving on to another one. Even the ending, which I initially thought was a bit weak, I came to really appreciate. I still think the solo on Positive Tension should have been longer given the 3 or so minute lead-up, but it's still amazing. The whole album's done so well I can't help but heap praise on it.

I'm still cut that I missed out on tickets to their July concerts last year. The tickets went in 2 hours flat. I was left wondering how people had even heard of them, so scarce was radio play at the time. Without a doubt, I'll be there to snap some up the next time they head Down Under. Until then, I'll keep turning to this album: my album of 2005.

Honorable mentions for albums that just missed my top 10 (but I still listened to obsessively at one stage): The Bravery - The Bravery, Foo Fighters - In Your Honor, Kisschasy - United Paper People, The D4 - Out Of My Head and Gyroscope - Are You Involved?

Regular mentions for quality albums I've thoroughly enjoyed go to: Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth, Wolfmother - Wolfmother, Neon - Neon, 67 Special - The World Can Wait, Weezer - Make Believe and Gorillaz - Demon Days.

It's time to burn...

After much to-ing and fro-ing across the Internet, downloading various programs with mixed effect, I have successfully burned a copy of a copy-protected DVD with my new DVD burner in the laptop. Not much of an achievement for most of you, but it feels good. Yarr!

I found neither the Dell-packaged software nor Nero 6 could get around the copy protection, so eventually I found a way by getting DVDFab Decrypter to convert it to a bunch of .vob and other weird extensioned files in a VIDEO_TS folder. Then I got CloneDVD2 to take the VIDEO_TS files, go through the whole thing, select the stuff to include/exclude and then burn it. CloneDVD2 is a 21 day trial, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Anyone know an easier way of doing this?

My Top 10 Albums of 2005: #2

#2: Idlewild - Warnings/Promises
Warnings/Promises starts with Love Steals Us From Loneliness, the opening single and a great intro into Idlewild's bread-and-butter of guitars chiming in and out, lined with original off-beat lyrics in trademark Scottish vocals. The bass lines rumble up and down, the cymbals ring and lead singer Roddy reaches a crescendo with Are you lonely yet?/Are you lone-ly yeh-eh-et? The following track Welcome Home breaks out the acoustic guitar before going into a full band performance (with solo to boot) of the song for drifters. I Want A Warning belts out a powerful rock sound, with deep bass and electric guitars screaming accusations at the song's protagonist. Purely outstanding stuff.

I Understand It steps back a bit, but still keeps all the right elements. Love those lyrics of Have no sense in emptiness/Will you try a little harder? As If I Hadn't Slept is a late-night acoustic call, leading onto the squealing guitar lined Too Long Awake. I begin to wonder if sleep is a theme of the album (Goodnight closes it). They return to their old styles on Not Just Sometimes But Always, again with the acoustic, but with some added strings that add a nice touch. The Space Between All Things builds to a rocking chorus, sick guitar solo and then a smooth bass section. Here I note that this might be why I like Idlewild so much; the way they control tempo and let the vocals build, but allow each member a chance to go nuts on their instrument. El Capitan brings a strong piano line to their fundamentals with a solid but poignant effect.

The hidden gem of the album has to be Blame It On Obvious Ways. I was entranced by the opening and listened to the song constantly, probably more than any other song this year. Never before had I heard acoustic guitars used so aggressively and the effect builds when teamed with the electric guitar screeching passionately alongside it. Once again, I love the vocals and lyrics. By the end I'm just listening to all of the different layers in this artwork and I just love it all. The album winds down with a country-style slide on Disconnected and fades out with Goodnight and a soft reprise of Too Long Awake.

All in all it's craftily constructed and I enjoy the whole album as a package so much I felt compelled to do a track-by-track analysis rather than generalising their sound. Coming up next: the #1 album of the year for me. Sorry about the delay, just chalk it up to suspense!

My week away from blogging

Since my last real blog, I've been to the tennis twice: last Tuesday when I just chatted with friends the whole time and yesterday night at Rod Laver, where I saw Hingis-Stosur and Federer-Haas in a five setter, but by the third set I was so tired I just wanted it to end. Two hotties Sharapova and Hantuchova battled for my affections on the tennis court. Sharapova won, which was awesome, as she was my favourite anyway. I also went to the cricket at the Dome on Friday. With the roof closed it was unbelievably humid; thankfully Brett Lee's 5-wicket heroics made it a worthwhile evening.

I got my new laptop and watched season 2 of Drawn Together and some more season 4 Family Guy. With TV out and audio out to my stereo, it's a terrific setup in my room. I truly respect the Media Centre concept, as well as the concept of downloading TV episodes aired in America but not yet here. Gold, Jerry! Gold! Now to stack some games on it...

The fresh batch of interns arrived yesterday and holy crap, there's a lot of 'em. They seem pretty with it, albeit some of them significantly nerdier. As Josh points out, they're a bit over-confident, staunchly standing by their principles (be it anti-Windows or pro-Stargate) and wearing them proudly like a glowing neon sweater. They'll soon settle in and become more open to the thousands of opinions held in this place. There's no shortage of people older and wiser around here, and most of them enjoy hitting you with some knowledge, regardless of how cynical or disgruntled it may be. Still, it's an opportunity to pretend I know everything and that's always fun.

With all the heat and late nights, I'm really looking forward to putting the Seattle-Carolina NFL videotape on and having an early night tonight. Even if poor Briony, back from overseas, is trying to make up for lost time with us friends each and every night of the week. But on the other hand, I do really want my beer stein she brought back from Germany...

The Central 2001 Diaries

This is a pretty weird account of our high school's trip to Central Australia: some funny, some boring, some embarrassing. Apologies about the whole Cristiano thing. Hopefully I've changed a little bit since then...

Original Central Diaries
Central Diaries without the horrible background

If you get any red X's instead of pictures, lemme know and I'll fix it. Hopefully they're all there.

Comment this!

Another day passes, another person tells me offline that they read my blog. How many others are there that haven't told me or haven't commented? It's great that people read this blog, that's actually kind of the point, but you know, I didn't convert over to Blogger because it's easier for me. No, nein, non, quack quack quack. I did it ... for you. Because ... I love you. Well, not you obviously.

It was due to public demand (both of them) that I gave you the right to a voice. For you to waive that right is like you're eavesdropping in on my thoughts unannounced. It's people like you that take your freedom for granted. I just worked it out. You're a terrorist. A filthy, possibly French terrorist. I should run you over with a Zamboni.

Wait...this cannot be. Maybe this is bigger than you, me or terrorism. This could just be a diversion by my nemesis, the Sun. Curse you, Sun, you bastard! Stop corrupting my readers with your deceitful gamma rays! Ssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnn!

This rant-on-demand was brought to you by Leigh. If you've got a topic that you know really grinds my gears, or yours, or whatever, comment or mail me.

My Top 10 Albums of 2005: #3

#3: Faker - Addicted Romantic
Faker had been sitting in the corner of the metaphorical room since 2001, creating great little pop-rock tunes, perfecting their lineup and patiently waiting for the time they would stride into the limelight. It was this year that the pieces fell into place and Faker announced themselves to Australia. I wasn't the only one swept up and impressed by their stuff along the way as the Sydneysiders played support after support before the release of their debut album and a bunch of headlining spots to follow. Well supported by Triple J and earning a J Award nomination, Faker hit all the right notes.

I find their music addictive. The album encompasses a range of moods, so there always seems a companion track for anything I'm up to. Importantly, I've seen that energy that Faker have live, and it carries over to the album too. It's that sort of energy on Enough that got me interested in Faker's music, from a free download off their site. Other budding bands should take note and do the same!

Quarter To Three is a song that's got it all and could win them fans anywhere in the world. Kids On Overload is another nugget from an earlier EP. The Familiar and Hurricane are two more songs with great appeal and heavily rotated on Triple J. I can't single out the whole damn album, but it feels nearly necessary! Addicted Romantic is just a well constructed album, with that solid rocking start (Bodies) and the semi-epic ending (Ghosts) I like so much.

It's actually hard to know if I want bands like Faker to be a huge success, such is the regularity that I have attended their trips down to Melbourne. If the follow-up album is close to this, I'll be very impressed. So at least from this reviewer, Faker have created the best Australian release of the year, beating the likes of End of Fashion, Wolfmother, Kisschasy and Gyroscope.

Reminiscing over old blogs

Ah, reminiscing. A word that provokes all kinds of emotions, including frustration at the difficulty of the spelling. I became sidetracked reading Josh's blog and desperate for a new post, I decided to go back and view the earliest post I could find. It was back in ye olde 2002. Consequently, I wanted to see what my posts were like back in the aforementioned Ages. This was back in a time where flaming on "The Warren" (our old forum) was rampant, when I'd dislocated my knee, when the indoor soccer team was in its infancy, when "Norwood Survivor" was on, when I was poor and when the term "dykhuis" was used. A long time ago.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to me but my blog entries were as eloquent and witty as they are now (judge for yourself), just a lot briefer so the delivery is a bit better. My angry rants were sharp and concise, covering very random topics, from the "Horses' Birthday" to women's sanitary pad commercials (why don't they carry a Chux around if they're going to spill liquids everywhere?). It's full of one-liners that (at least) I find humourous. Stuff like "more riveting than in a metalwork class", "is it ironic to forget Remembrance Day? Or to enjoy a song called Music is Crap?" or "he's giving away shifts like some kind of warmed gateau". And one of my favourite posts, just this one line: "Cabbage managed to stick 11 pens into his hair today. That's a new record. I think he'll beat it by Friday." How did I get 96.1 as an ENTER again?

I traversed through to mid 2003, where the entries do more pondering (wonder what uni subjects are like, can't wait to get an xBox etc). I actually remember a bit about this tale when we were at Ben L's: "I had so much fun playing FIFA 2003 on xBox last night. I hadn't scored a goal at all, and was enduring some criticism, so when I finally got one (arguably a "bitch goal") I got up, did a small aeroplane and tried to slide across the carpet on my stomach. Dean was crying with laughter, and the other two both needed to pee with such laughter. And I made it a double not long after. I hope it's one of those great moments that I keep remembering for ages." Yesterday night was fucking hilarious too. I can't even remember a lot about it now, but I was laughing very hard. That was one of those times I should try to remember as well. Must blog more with stories, less when bored, although a few too many people from work read this...

Has anyone else done something like that?

My Top 10 Albums of 2005: #4

#4: Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better...With Franz Ferdinand
Quite simply, Franz Ferdinand have done it again. Critics will talk about the sophomore album blues and the difficulty of producing new material that remains true to your sound. Rightly it is then that the critics do rave. By this definition, and by my own, this one's a winner.

It still doesn't surpass the raw impact of their self-titled debut, but it's still full of surprises as their meteoric rise continues. You can tell they're becoming more accomplished performers, exhibiting a greater range of riffs and styles, particularly the guitars. The band still enjoys "wearing" their inexperience on their matching tight red-and-black horizontal striped sleeves, making it sound like a few mates having a laugh and getting used to this whole worldwide phenomenon stuff.

They know how to write thumping good rock songs like Evil And A Heathen. They can do lighter pop ballads like Walk Away. They've also kept true to the original vision of "creating music to dance to", trumpeted through their massive hit Do You Want To. To be honest, that's probably their greatest quality: universally, people get involved with the music, each in their own way.

There's a sliver of points deducted for omitting the in-between albums single Can't Stop Feeling, released only in the UK. I really got into that song last year and would have loved a good quality version instead of my crappy concert bootleg. As it is, the album is well rounded enough anyway to earn some very high marks. Franz Ferdinand just make it seem so easy! Turns out I can have it so much better...with Franz Ferdinand.

NFL Playoff Predictions: Divisional Weekend

Again it's American football on the brain; I'm taking a stab at picking the outcome of this week's encounters. For those playing along at home, Wikipedia is fantastic for helping you understand most NFL teams and terms. If you guys don't give me something to talk about, this'll happen every week for the next three weeks, you know!

New England Patriots at Denver Broncos
Both teams have been crying out for some more respect from the media, but personally I think they've gotten what they deserve. The Broncos snuck under the radar into second place in the AFC, consistently beating poor opponents and making steady progress through their running-back tandem offense and their fierce secondary. In the only clash I saw this year, they struggled to beat Dallas late in the game and were most unimpressive, requiring some field goal misses by the Cowboys to get the win.

New England holds a 10 game playoff win streak, having won the last two Super Bowls and three of the last four. Despite a poor start and being ravaged by injuries early on in the season, the Patriots powered home down the stretch to win the easiest division and then take out the easiest AFC playoff opponent, Jacksonville, last week. They are a more complete team than the Broncos but can still appear a little shaky. Their playoff experience, astute coaching from Bill Belichick and Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer's shakiness will push the Patriots over the line. Pats 31 Broncos 20.

Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks
I'm taking the Seahawks in a blowout. The Redskins were pathetic last week, recording only 120 offensive yards, the lowest ever to win a playoff game. They beat Tampa Bay thanks to some big turnovers and a score on defense, but the multiple-pronged Seattle offense will give them more to think about.

The Seahawks' offensive line can run-block for Shaun Alexander and pass-block for Matt Hasselbeck. Any big defensive plays will probably have to come from Redskin safety Sean Taylor, whose effect may be diminished against Seattle coach Mike Holmgren's West Coast Offense style of play unless the 'Skins put "eight in the box". Seahawks 38 Redskins 10.

Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears
The most intriguing match of them all. The Panthers have looked rejuvenated of late, finally finding a running game from DeShaun Foster to compliment their aerial threats like wide receiver Steve Smith. Carolina's tough defense got them into a Superbowl a few years ago and they looked nearly as threatening against the Giants last week as they did then.

The Bears are an X-Factor this playoffs, with strong defense all season long but an unknown quantity on offense. Starting QB Rex Grossman returned in the past month after a broken leg and on his day, proposes a significant threat to any defense. Unfortunately, I believe Chicago's lack of playoff experience will be the determining factor, particularly if they get behind early. Panthers 24 Bears 17.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts
It's hard to believe in miracles when you look at the considerable talent on the Colts team. It took a super-human effort for anyone to beat them this year and the Steelers need everything to click to upset QB Peyton Manning. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has been fantastic in recent weeks, but had Cincinnati's star QB Carson Palmer not been injured last week, I believe the Steelers would already be on the couch. Look for the early leader to control the tempo and run the football a lot. Fingers crossed that it's the underdog Steelers ahead. Indianapolis 31 Pittsburgh 17.

My Top 10 Albums of 2005: #5

#5: Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
I've always had a thing for quirky pop tunes. Maybe I'm just paying more attention to what's on offer, but Hot Hot Heat sure are a throwback to the times of, say, 1997, when I enjoyed classics like Harvey Danger's Flagpole Sitter, Third Eye Blind's Semi-Charmed Life and Barenaked Ladies' One Week. Witty, unconventional lyrics, pokey little bass movements and a dash of keyboard for good measure. It doesn't mean they can't deliver a mean guitar solo if required, but it sure gives them an edge in letting you enjoy the music as you're listening to it.

There are many other quirky pop/rock indie-but-not-really bands out there; I struggle to explain why I found Elevator so great. Only the lyrics really set them apart from their contemporaries. They're not even lyrics most of the time, spanning from the conversational You Owe Me An IOU, the storytelling Island Of The Honest Man or even the onomatopoeic Jingle Jangle. The bass also intrigues me, unspectacular on its own but somehow mesmerising me in combination with the rest of the band. Amongst it all, songs like Middle Of Nowhere package the band into an easier to listen to form, one that should probably propel the band to greater heights. But alas, bands like this only seem to develop their own cult following, substantial as it may be. Mass suicides excepted, I'm sold on this one.

Elevator also deserves extra credit for its album structure. There's room for an intro and a pounding start, spattered with slower moments but never losing energy, as though each track builds and descends with perfect control. Just as it starts to get away from you at the end, they conclude with Elevator, a ripping track that sticks with you after the music stops. Great albums have that powerful effect on me.

EA vs 2K sports games rambling

The sports video game battle between EA and 2K has raged on in gamers' hearts for years. IGN recently posted 10 pages of reader emails and opinions to a few questions about the series, sparking more debate about favoured games, exclusivity rights and company ethics. The majority of it was biased rubbish and probably requires my loose change opinion to settle the score.

As pigheaded as fanboys can get, I think that both EA and 2K are doing a good job. Both are highly playable games and for a number of reasons, people seem to start with one game and fall in love with it, totally dismissing the alternative (if there is one). It used to be a case of arcade vs sim, but in recent times the divide between them seems to be closing. Aspects such as team chemistry have appeared on both ice hockey games, so any little innovation or improvement is likely to be integrated into the opposition pretty quickly.

The NFL signed a big money deal allowing only EA Sports to exclusive team and player licencing rights at NFL and college level. Consequently, last year's NFL 2k5 was the last version of SEGA/ESPN/2K Games until 2011. The series had been well appreciated but I'd only played a little bit of 2k3 a long time ago, so it didn't come as a huge loss. Madden is a 5-star game and although there's more work to be done, particularly non-quarterback positions, it is a complete football package that will bring fans to Madden and NFL in general. I am against exclusivity, but it hasn't yet truly bothered me.

However, if Madden was lacking, that would be a disaster for football fans. Unlike many IGN readers opinions, I don't think it allows them to be lazy per se. I don't believe the EA board gave the development money to buy the rights and will just incrementally rebadge the series as Madden NFL 200x. Gamers always seem to demand new features or gameplay and I demand bug fixes, so the work will continue. As the incumbent, they are unlikely to make radical innovations in case of a flop, so the face of the game probably won't change much in the next few years. That may well suck.

I am delighted that the NHLPA (players association) recently shot down the idea of awarding exclusive hockey rights to EA Sports, an idea the NHL supported. This is where I got a little more animated. It's about the greater good of the game. Playing great sports games will inevitably get you interested or involved with the sport and the NHL needs all the viewers it can get right now. They could not afford to be screwed over by the exclusive rights holder. As it turns out, my favoured 2K series is testing my patience. I've enjoyed the past two efforts immensely, despite 2k4 being plagued with bugs or freezes. The gameplay is fantastic and with the help of sliders, you can customise the game to the way you like it played.

But 2k6 still hasn't been released here and isn't due until late February! This is ridiculous considering the season started in October and EA's effort was out around then. For the second year in a row, the PAL version has been utterly neglected and it really hurts. Even if it's only $40 or $50 when released, that's not good enough. At times I still can't believe I haven't cracked and bought NHL 06, because it looks a perfectly playable game, even if a tad arcadier. I just get the impression that EA invests more in Madden or NBA Live than in their NHL series, but I still loved NHL 99 and 2003 simply from a fun (non-critical) standpoint.

Ultimately, both companies have made decisions to piss me off. Both have strong games in their lineup and both have strengths and weaknesses. EA gets the nod on presentation, but 2K games are probably more true to the sport. I'd give 2K the nod if I had to, but to give a true indication I think I'd have to try them all out for good. To decisively choose one without all the experience would put me on a par with the poorer submissions to IGN. For another day.

Lack of laptop, nerdiness

For a "professional" (i.e. make money from) software engineer/tester, I'm not much of a nerd, which I should be. Recent tests also show I'm 18.9% of a geek, otherwise known as a nerd without any technical/useful knowledge, which I shouldn't be. A lot of my interests might not be mainstream, but I haven't really got enough practical nerd know-how because I haven't really mucked about with PCs much or game obsessively. I may be a master of finding elusive information on Google, for example, but there's about 100 easy PC things that I've never got around to doing. Subsequently, if a (barely) computer user asks me to set up their firewall, partition their hard drive or sift through the BIOS to solve a problem, it'd take a little learning. So I'm finally about to purchase my first 100%-mine computer and experience the joy first hand.

I've decided a laptop is a good idea, to give me the freedom to take it from my room to uni, to my phone line for Internet (before I set up a LAN etc at home), to the TV in the lounge or a friend's place to watch movies or basically anywhere else. It's not going to be a beast but it should be very useful for the next few years at least, when I intend to buy a desktop PC that may or may not be a beast, depending if I get into online gaming. It's unlikely to have a swish video card, but it'll still allow me to do lots more than at the moment. DivX movies and multimedia to enjoy, either on the laptop or a TV. DVD burning. Extra storage. Late night online poker games. Programming whenever I want. The centre for uni stuff. The ability to play proper PC games. More blogging/HTML tinkering. And most importantly, more speed.

No more patience-testing waits or blue screens of death on loadup like my family's neglected desktop (as they all have laptops of their own so they don't care). That antique currently sits in my parents' room, so sleep-hours use just doesn't happen. It's all the wonderful portability, accessibility and power that I'm looking forward to. I might just buy one tonight.

With $2000 as a rough target, I've had a look online first before hitting the stores. I'm pretty happy with a $1800 Dell Inspiron 6000 1.86GHz Pentium M, 1024MB RAM, 100GB HDD offering from Dell's online store. The downside is a cheap ATI Radeon X300 video card, but as I'm not intending on heavy gaming, I can let it and the slightly lacking processor slide. Memory and storage were always #1 priority for this laptop. Other avenues of investigation have proved to be less than helpful and with my laziness, I may just purchase that baby instead of doing the rounds of computer stores or swap meets. Time is money, too, you know. That's time I could spend watching all those TV series I leeched the other night. Or painting my Warhammer figurines...not! (snortle)

It's the first step of a plan to tech me up with full broadband, Foxtel+Foxtel IQ, HDTV, XBOX 360 and a sweet Wi-Fi paradise. Of course the rest of this probably won't come until I can move out, requiring some serious income and responsibility. But the wheels are in motion and I'm driving. Oh yeah.

NFL Playoffs

The pointy end of the season's here, with Washington and New England posting predictable victories yesterday. I'm not going to praise Indianapolis, even if I too think they'll win Superbowl XL. I'm "taking it one week at a time". Instead I'll predict tomorrow morning's games (both on Fox Sports - score!).

Starting with the 5am start of Carolina Panthers vs New York Giants, I'm backing the Panthers. They've got recent Superbowl experience, good offense and defense alike and also that explosiveness to generate the game-winning touchdown or interception. They've got what it takes to shut down Giants running back Tiki Barber and if they do that, they're only a couple of Eli Manning interceptions away from the win. Expect Jake "Daylight-come-and-me-wanna Delhomme" to find wide receiver Steve Smith for a couple of touchdowns.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals is a closer one. The Bengals have been entertaining and victorious all season...until the last few weeks. They're inexperienced in playoffs and some pundits have jumped off the bandwagon - but not I. They should be second in the AFC if not for the past month, but I still think they can pull out a big game here on both sides of the football. Pittsburgh knows how to grind out wins with Ben Roethlisberger in charge, but they'll need the Bengals to be below their best to snatch a victory in this one. Statisticians speculate that the Steelers-Bengals encounters have been the only ones in NFL history for both teams to feature a 14-letter-surnamed player, in T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Roethlisberger. I simply hope the winner smashes the *holding glass in front of mouth* "Denver Broncos" next week.

You like RSS?

Even if this blog is just crap about indie music, podcasting and Bloglines, I'm going to keep serving it up to you. Some of it is for your own good. Subscribe to my feed using Bloglines if you want. It works now. All the Pat served straight to you.

My Top 10 Albums of 2005: #10 - #6

#10: Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabies To Paralyze
Queens of the Stone Age again delivered their bizarre brand of rock, albeit a little more atmospheric than headbanging than I'm accustomed to. The whole album's given a nice touch that I thought could endear them to many new listeners, but perhaps the quirkiness or simply the band's experimental approach to music (they swap instruments around for basically every song) will leave them a little in the shadows. As with the other Queens records, I can't like it all as the styles vary so much, but it's packed with terrific tracks such as I Never Came, Little Sister and In My Head. It snuck into my top 10 because I've liked it for so long and expect that to continue to in 2006.

#9: The Futureheads - The Futureheads
There's something about the Futureheads that I really like but have difficulty defining. They're witty and often nonsensically enjoyable. Their music chops and changes, even in the 2 minute songs that line the album. The signatorial Queen-like harmonies are fantastic and their Northern English accents have become endearing. After initially finding their music a little difficult to listen to, this one has really grown on me, with great songs like Meantime, Carnival Kids and the awesome Decent Days And Nights, which I love even more after seeing Hot Hot Heat cover it. The Futureheads' pure originality (at least to my ears), plus it's a "grower", have secured it in my top 10.

#8: Coldplay - X & Y
Coldplay may have been lambasted by the critics, who claim they churned out another samey album full of cliches and have played it safe. The opening single Speed Of Sound didn't exactly help to dispell that argument either. However, as they've designed this album to be played to arenas packed with thousands, the songs are more epic and less innocent. It doesn't really muck about. It matches their status as one of the biggest bands in the world. I just so happen to really love amped up stadium rock, so White Shadows, Talk and Square One all hit the spot. If anything, I felt they could lose the 30 second piano slowdown endings on the rockier tracks as is done on another great track, Low. The little gem on the "Y-side" is The Hardest Part, which I think combines the piano and lead singer Chris Martin's vocal range best. Incorrectly harsh Internet reviews of this record (and Oasis' Don't Believe The Truth) have made me completely discount any Internet critic's opinion on music, particularly if I've already heard them before.

#7: End of Fashion - End of Fashion
I've followed End of Fashion from their earliest EP and they have done a tremendous job of getting out the album. The new tracks compare well with their old stuff and O Yeah proved to be a hit that might lead them offshore sometime. The album's production certainly hints at that goal. Other new tracks like In Denial and The Game are fantastic and the whole album is very well balanced. Yet I'm still left feeling a little disappointed. The EP tracks I heavily enjoyed have been rerecorded slower and deliver a different impact now. It's as if they haven't defined their style enough on the album and lost a bit of that rock punch that the old tracks delivered. The feeling is comparable to reading a book, then seeing the movie. It still is a great album though. It's one that I'll be listening to for a while and I'll continue to trumpet out the band's praises.

#6: Doves - Some Cities
In essence, Doves were the new Coldplay for me, with their own approaches and sensibilities without Chris Martin's overly political garbage lyrics. There's social commentary of living in industrial Manchester on the two opening (and best) tracks, Black and White Town and Some Cities, but it doesn't come across as heavy, just inspired. With much prompting from Triple J and Rage, I fell in love with Black and White Town. I love everything about that song: the vocals, piano, drum beats, effects, guitar lines and the solo. The rest of the album maintains their spark; if pressed I'd choose The Storm and Almost Forgot Myself as other favourites. I picked up their two older albums before the concert, so to find a band that had been around for over five years out of the blue is the musical discovery of the year for me.

Ross and Terri

One of my favourite radio shows, and indeed radio partnerships, was Ross Noble and Terri Psiakis on Triple J last January. The show only ran for two weeks, as Ross is a globe trotting comedian, but by the end of those two weeks I was listening religiously. I've become used to tuning into my favourite TV shows on regular occasion, but to listen to an entire two to three hours of radio from start to finish is another kettle of fish (or a kettle full of something that would normally be placed in a kettle. Like water).

I've seen Ross doing his comedy act live and he is absolutely tremendous. His style of tangential, whimsical and nonsensical comedy tales that drift into outer monologue both astounds and entertains audiences everywhere. Terri, herself an accomplished local comic, is an ideal foil as the light hearted and witty host to keep the show on track, but also supplies a long leash to Ross' brain to wander verbally. Together on radio, hilarity often ensues as they overuse the term "borange", fade out all the listeners who call them or release a floating cardboard Nanna over Flinders Street.

I haven't gone mental from nostalgia alone, they're coming back again to the J's from midday Monday for another two week stint. Even better, you can subscribe to a podcast for this year's episodes (music free) and download last year's eps as well! As my need for quality podcasts increases, these ones are going straight to the pool room...on my iRiver. Note to self: create folder named "Pool Room" reserved for favourite podcasts.

Check Ross and Terri's page with all the episode and subscription links.

Scraps for the blog hungry

As you've been starved of blogs in recent occasion, please accept these scraps. Sit! Good boy.

I've returned from the now traditional trip away. Had fun, drunk lots of booze, got 2-1 up in my War On The Sun and you know, survived. As usual, I picked up a bit more about the others there, noticed a few things about humans in general and learned a couple of things about myself. Also as usual, I shook most of it off as I returned to my regular routine. I'm not in a self-changing mood and even if I was, I don't think I collected that many clips of ammo to work with.

This roughly falls in line with Robbie's Cost-Benefit Principle, which I've recently heard about and indeed, dubbed it a principle, as it is awesome. Rather than the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" adage, I see it as "go for the cheapest and easiest solution that works" in accordance with the cost to benefit ratio. Feel free to clarify this Rob.

Returning to work today was a little odd too, as it somehow felt like my first day again, as though it all looked a bit new. The friendly reception I got from my aisle was pleasantly surprising; I think the holidays have put a bit more chirp into a lot of people and it's nice to catch up again.

I've also been setting up the 2 days a week thing here for next year. Combined with 2 day/nights of uni, I'm not sure if it'll be an easier or harder week than it is currently. There's also the potential problem of Tuesday night classes (until 9:30pm) interfering with volleyball. I hope it's a skip-able class and I'll just get the textbooks. But be it 5 days work or 2 work, 2 uni each week, either way is better than uni and pizza delivery.

I can also officially do Sudoku. I had tried and not understood before, but I get it now. I did an easy, medium and a hard in front of the cricket yesterday. I comprehend and respect why it was "the craze that swept the world", even if it has now been surpassed by more complex, more Japanese puzzles.

Finally, I'd like to belatedly wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, particularly to those who left comments at some stage. You're my favourites.