Bobbysix.com's End of Year Review 2011 - Celeste Macdonald

Having split her year between the UK, The States, Europe and Australia, Celeste Macdonald is well-placed to give her opinion on what's been the best of 2011. Check back on New Year's Day for the overall winners of best album, song, film and gig, as voted for by you:

Top 10 albums

1. El Camino – THE BLACK KEYS
2. Making Mirrors – GOTYE
3. Prisoner – THE JEZABELS
4. To The Horses – LANIE LANE
5. Come On Board – JEFFREY LEWIS
6. Bad As Me – TOM WAITS
7. Let England Shake – PJ HARVEY
8. Bon Iver – BON IVER
9. Rain On A Humming Wire – THE PANICS
10. I Want That You Are Always Happy – THE MIDDLE EAST

Top 10 songs

1. Video Games – LANA DEL REY




2. Lay It Down – THE RUBENS
3. Run Right Back – THE BLACK KEYS
4. What Do I Do – LANIE LANE
5. Somebody That I Used To Know (featuring Kimbra) – GOTYE
6. Golden Revolver – SAN CISCO
7. I Follow Rivers – LYKKE LI
8. Brother – MATT CORBY
9. Second Chance – PETER, BJORN AND JOHN
10. Tongue Tied – GROUPLOVE

Top 5 Gigs

1. JEFFREY LEWIS - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton
2. DARK HORSES - Concorde2, Brighton
3. THREE TRAPPED TIGERS - Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton
4. PURITY RING - The Green Door Store, Brighton
5. CARL BARAT - The Prince Albert, Brighton

Highlight of the year
Having the privilege of spending nearly nine months of 2011 traveling around Europe and the United States, I stumbled upon maybe the greatest place on earth, Budapest. Added to its greatness, I had the pleasure of being there with Bobbysix himself.

2011 in words
Fantastically amazing year for music, incredibly disappointing year for Hollywood.

Prediction for 2012
After 2011 came out with the highest number of Hollywood sequels ever, (yes, EVER) Hollywood decides to stop making sequels and instead take a chance on original, independent and thought-provoking cinema...fingers crossed.

Celeste Macdonald - Contributor

Celeste likes to travel to world. She knows her stuff about music, movies and TV. She is deadly with a pool cue.

Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell Me

If you don’t know who Jessica Lea Mayfield is then pay attention, because hers is a name you are likely to be hearing a heck of a lot in the future. Fans of The Blacks Keys will perhaps already know of her, as she was the first guest voice ever to be heard on one of their records at the age of just 17. Tell Me is the second album from the now 21-year-old country singer from Kent, Ohio and, just like her acclaimed debut, is produced by Dan Auerbach, who also performs some vocal duties as well as playing moog and guitar.

With her tendency to deliver bleak, dark yet beautiful songs at such a tender age, Mayfield comes across like Laura Marling’s country-lovin’ American cousin. Her melancholic words certainly have a similar weight and weariness as she is perpetually trailed by ominous storm clouds. "I can't let you fill my head with lies," she sighs on Grown Man. Her words may be cynical, but they are contrasted interestingly by some lovely, melodic country-folk-indie tunes, not least the raw guitars and thumping drums of opener, I'll Be The One That You Want Someday. When light does occasionally shine through the cracks in what is a largely dark and bruised album, it leaves a lovely glow. "This heart of mine is ready for the Spring... suddenly I can see blue skies again," she sings hopefully on Blue Skies.

Tell Me is shrouded in beautiful, dark emotional resonance, and the fact that it was authored by someone so young makes it an even more impressive achievement. A marvellous record.

Review by Rob Townsend

Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid

DAN AUERBACH
Keep It Hid

While touring The Black Keys’ most recent album, Attack & Release, guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach filled much of his spare time writing the songs that have gone on to comprise his debut solo record. Including multiple instruments played by Auerbach, including guitar, drums, keys and percussion, the 14 tracks depart ever so slightly from the dirty electric blues of his band and go on a journey through his musical influences, while all the time retaining an undeniable sense of familiarity.

Opening track Trouble Weighs a Ton is a gentle, downbeat gospel ballad which eases you in before the bone-shuddering I Want Some More bulldozes it out of the way. Heartbroken, In Disrepair is next with Smiths-like guitars making it sound like How Soon Is Now’s beardy American cousin. When The Night Comes is The Black Keys doing Van Morrison, and The Prowl offers psychedelia before things are rounded off sweetly with the delicate acoustics of Goin’ Home.

Even though Auerbach has clearly paid homage to some eclectic influences, and there is indeed some creative exploration here, one wonders whether he could have ventured just a little further from the safety of the sound he has so firmly established with his other band. Sure, it’s cool to hear the result of him dusting off his record collection, but many of these songs could still easily slot into a Black Keys album. Still, I suppose that really should be seen as an indication of the quality of Keep It Hid rather than as a wasted opportunity or a lack of vision.

The Black Keys and Gomez at Luna Park

Here's an extended version of my Black Keys and Gomez review that appeared in Drum Media:THE BLACK KEYS
GOMEZ
ASH GRUNWALD
DR. DOG
Big Top, Luna Park
09/01/09

There are plenty of reasons to dismiss Dr. Dog: the shit name, the straw hats and neckerchiefs, their blatantly signposted influences. However, while all the nuances of their music were washed away by the ugly, booming Big Top sound, there was still plenty to enjoy in their country-rock reminiscence. The Philadelphia five-piece’s intelligently-crafted tracks had alternating lead vocals and some were played with bounce while others, like The Breeze, were more slowly built-up.

“I won’t be long dude. It’s alright,” Ash Grunwald joked with a bored-looking Gomez fan in the crowd. With his dreadlocks and shorts, he wouldn’t have looked out of place busking in the tunnel under Central Station, but it wasn’t long before his bone-shaking blues won the crowd over. Half-an-hour and a broken string later, Grunwald made way for a band that seemed to be the main draw for a large section of the crowd.

Gomez received a rapturous reception as they took to the stage. Anyone hoping to hear the big-hits from their debut album, Bring It On, would have been disappointed though, as the band was clearly saving them up for the special tenth anniversary show the following night. Still, Silence and Rhythm & Blues Alibi sounded great. While they might look more like school teachers than rock stars nowadays, new song Back Seat Driver showed they still have fire in their bellies. The most notable aspect of their performance was Ben Ottewell’s vocal. Even ten years after he first unleashed his rich, gravelly voice on an unsuspecting music public, it still sounds extraordinary.Under the backdrop of a massive dream-catcher and totem-pole, The Black Keys set about ripping the room apart with their garage-blues. Drummer Patrick Carney was an absolute monster – all arms and legs – as he bashed the skins harder than anyone has ever hit anything. Meanwhile, beardy guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach came up with one catchy blues riff after another. An extended version of the delicious Girl Is On My Mind was a highlight, as was 10am Automatic. It was visceral stuff, like The White Stripes back when they were thrilling and dangerous.

Two scruffy dudes with drums and one guitar doesn’t sound like the kind of music that would be irresistible to dance to, but there didn’t seem to be a single person in the room who could keep still during their hour-long set.