Top 10: Manic Street Preachers Albums

Having finally got to see the Manics on their Postcards From A Young Man Tour at Brixton last weekend I have to say I was surprised - despite having seen them live a number of times now - just how great a live band they really are.

Now that the tour is officially over, and in light of last night's Blackwood Miners Institute gig, it feels like the most recent chapter of their story is coming to a close. As such, I'm going to stick my neck out and attempt to place 'Postcards' in the great pantheon of works the band have achieved over their plus 20 year career.

Brace yourself for what will no doubt be a controversial top 10 albums (in fact there are only 10) from the band who like to say 'Yes'!....

Albums
1) The Holy Bible (1994)
2) Everything Must Go (1996)
3) Journal For Plague Lovers (2009)
4) Postcards From A Young Man (2010)
5) Generation Terrorists (1992)
6) Gold Against The Soul (1993)
7) Send Away The Tigers (2007)
8) This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998)
9) Know Your Enemy (2001)
10) Lifeblood (2004)

England's Dreaming

It already feels like a distant memory now, but I couldn't let England's cricketing triumph down-under pass without comment. Although, undoubtedly, our first series victory in Australia for 24 years is memorable for many reasons, perhaps what has struck me most is the surreal nature of following an event that is unfolding while I sleep!

Not having the luxury of Sky Sports, nor the iron constitution to pull an 'all nighter', it's almost as if it's been happening in a completely different dimension!

I can thank BBC 5Live's Test Match Special Podcast for keeping me in the loop but apart from that it's been general practice to wake in the morning and, before all else, nip down to my DAB radio and tune into the post 'close of play' analysis.

The sense of anticipation as I reached for the dial was tangible. What would confront me? An England batting collapse, a bowling display of the highest order or a double century for Alistair Cook?

Thankfully, the news was more often positive than not and it really set up my day for the better as I contemplated my commute to work.

On arrival at the office, a colleague of mine, who's passion and knowledge for cricket could - although hasn't until now - lead me to nickname him 'Wisden', would remark on the night's play, seeking my opinion and giving rise to an unprecedented eventuality: never before has so much been opined by someone seeing so little of the events under discussion!

Somehow, I can't help but think the reality of this success will never truly sink in. The last Ashes series in England was a widely acclaimed success, the previous home soil series led to a celebratory open top bus procession through London!!

I've a certain sadness that this, clearly greater, achievement will undoubtedly be far less lauded by the general public nor even, I expect, prick the nation's wider conscience. I almost wonder if it really happened at all!

Certainly puts a new spin on that most sticky of philosophical wickets...

Has Assange's argument sprung a leak?

We believe that it is not only the people of one country that keep their own government honest, but also the people of other countries who are watching that government through the media. - Wikileaks

I know the whole Wikileaks debate is, like, so last year but I've recently read a couple of interesting articles on the whole 'force for good or evil' debate that ignore the widely regurgitated arguments of whether nations should be allowed to keep diplomatic secrets and focus instead on the potential for Julian Assange's brain child to actually hinder freedom of information.

In particular, I find the below point from this opinion piece quite interesting...

Unfortunately, as Julian tries to paint the broad releases as a noble action, it ironically makes the process more secretive than ever. The fear of “leaks” will drive discussions and information further behind closed doors and off of any documented record. This will ultimately make it even harder, years from now, to gain an accurate picture about what really happened. The history will be lost as fear of leaked information forces diplomats, military planners and others within world governments to keep things “off the record.”

Julian Assange appeared in my 'Heroes of 2010' list - I am applying the innocent until proven guilty ethic to the current rape accusations - but I accept that, regardless of the outcome of any impending trial, maybe I, and the wealth of people championing Wikileaks, might still live to regret it in the long run.

Some blog housekeeping (2010)

So as a new year takes its first fledgingly steps, time to clear out my 2010 lists and start afresh for 2011. Below is the vast majority of my cultural intake for the past year. Pleased to have upheld last year's resolution to read more....

Reading...

33revolutionsperminute by Dorian Lynskey - Blog
Going Deaf For A Living by Steve Lamaq - Blog
David Mitchell (Guardian) - Column
Charlie Brooker (Guardian) - Column
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
1977 - David Peace
No Country For Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Liver - Will Self
V for Vendetta - Alan Moore and David Lloyd
1974 - David Peace
Johann Harri - Blog
The Clash - Strummer * Jones * Simonon * Headon
The Books of Albion - Peter Doherty
Watchmen - Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Disgusting Bliss: The Brass Eye of Chris Morris - Lucian Randall
Touching From A Distance - Deborah Curtis
Kings of the King's Road: The Great Chelsea Team of the '60s and '70s - Clive Batty
The Hell of It All - Charlie Brooker
It's Only A Movie - Mark Kermode
marbury: a british commentary on the obama presidency... amongst other things ... - Blog
Frank Skinner (timesonline) - Column
Caitlin Moran (timesonline) - Column
Mozipedia: The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths - Simon Goddard

Listening...

The Ashes with Test Match Special (BBC Radio 5 Live) - Podcast
New Boots and Panties - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
Serotonin - Mystery Jets
His 'N' Hers - Pulp
Inside The Huddle (NFL UK) - Podcast
The Russell Brand Radio Show (talkSPORT) - Podcast
Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4) - Podcast
The Decline Of British Sea Power - British Sea Power
Postcards From A Young Man - Manic Street Preachers
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Open Season - British Sea Power
The Chaos - The Futureheads
Total Life Forever - Foals
Your Future, Our Clutter - The Fall
Butterfly House - The Coral
Baddiel and Skinner's Absolute World Cup Podcasts - Podcast
Plastic Beach - Gorillaz
Congratulations - MGMT
Imperial Wax Solvent - The Fall
Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You - Lightspeed Champion
The Bugle (timesonline) - Podcast
Collings and Herrin - Podcast
Answer Me This! - Podcast
Off The Wall/Thriller/Bad - Michael Jackson
Contra - Vampire Weekend
Autobahn - Kraftwerk
Substance - New Order
Unknown Pleasures - Joy Division
Scott 4 - Scott Walker
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison Live - Johnny Cash

Watching...

The One Ronnie - BBC1
Being Ronnie Corbett - BBC1
Peep Show [Series 7] - C4
Upstairs, Downstairs - BBC1
Eric & Ernie - BBC2
Toast - BBC2
Kick-Ass (DVD)
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (DVD)
Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll (DVD)
Anvil! The True Story of Anvil (DVD)
The Trip - BBC2
A Single Man (DVD)
Harry Hill's TV Burp - ITV1
New Tricks - BBC1
An Idiot Abroad - Sky1
Back To The Future (25th Anniversary Re-Release)
Later with Jools Holland - BBC2
QI - BBC1
Have I Got News For You - BBC1
Never Mind The Buzzcocks - BBC2
The Apprentice - BBC1
Cemetery Junction (DVD)
Four Lions (DVD)
A History Of Horror With Mark Gatiss - BBC4
The Inbetweeners - E4
The Infidel (DVD)
Ponyo (DVD)
Sherlock - BBC1
Toy Story 3
Precious (DVD)
The Road (DVD)
The Wire - Complete Series (DVD Boxset)
The Hurt Locker (DVD)
Me and Orson Welles (DVD)
The Day Today - Complete Series (DVD)
Frank Skinner's Opinionated - BBC2
An Education (DVD)
Let the Right One In (DVD)
There Will Be Blood (DVD)
Outnumbered - BBC1
New Tricks - BBC1
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (DVD)
Up (DVD)
The Invention of Lying (DVD)
District 9 (DVD)
Moon (DVD)
Mad Men - BBC4
Being Human - BBC3
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (DVD)
Frost/Nixon (DVD)
The Woody Allen Collection (DVD Boxset)
Scandalous - Russell Brand (DVD)

And so this is football....Merry Xmas (love is over)

[I wrote this blog before Christmas but have only just got round to posting it. Apologies for the slightly less than topical nature (not to mention its essay like length), although Blatter's recently revealed intention to establish an anti-corruption commitee at FIFA has prompted more debate of some of the issues]

***

A while back, it was proposed by my good friend Gareth (@tokyobeatbox) Watts, that an interesting topic for a blog might involve trying to answer something along the lines of the following question....

How low would the state of football, and the actions of footballers in particular, have to stoop before you would prefer not to promote an interest in the game in your own son?

I'll let that digest for a moment....

The question was prompted by a number of well documented scandals regarding high-profile superstars of the English game.

From the philandering of John Terry - consequently losing his position as England captain - to the 'expolits' of players such as Andy Carroll, Steven Gerrard, Joey Barton et al.

However, at the time it was posed, I could see how, despite possible caveats, I would ultimately argue the dubious actions of individuals - even though they admittedly appeared to be increasingly widespread - should not deter from the appreciation of the wider beauty of the fundamentals of the game.

Since then, there have been a couple of significant incidents that make me question that view.

First on the rap sheet, one Wayne Rooney - and not for his otherwise dubious granny-gabbing, nor his wider penchant for 'playing away' - who, in this blogger's eyes, did far more to undermine the integrity of the game than any of the previously highlighted suspects.

His, and his agent's, unethical tactics in renegotiating the terms of his contract with Manchester United were, quite frankly, beyond the pail.

Insisting he wanted out of the club, he then performed the swiftest u-turn since Nick Clegg on tuition fees, and, with the most lucrative weekly wage in English football assuredly in his pocket, implored fans that he had received the necessary reassurances from the club consequently convincing him to stay.

Now I'm not naive enough to believe that such under-hand money grabbing tactics haven't taken place before in football, but never has it been so blatantly to the disrepect of the fans, worse still, it seems to have set a precedent for other agents to follow.

We have seen Manchester City's Carlos Tevez, club captain no less, pretending he desired to leave for Argentina, citing homesickness as his cause, only to withdraw his transfer request when offered a new contract.

Unfortunately, clubs are setting themselves up for more widespread use of this tactic in the future. Would Cloughie, Revie, Shankly, Busby et al have stood for it? I'm still surprised that Fergie did! 'No one player is bigger than the team' - an adage I still believe in as a fan but sadly, it seems, the Managers and Directors of our clubs have less time for.

Yet, it's not Directors, Managers, Players or even Agents that take this commentator's shitiest of shitty biscuits....

Sepp Blatter signs off FIFA's mission statement, proudly displayed on their most corporate of websites, with the following....

"We see it as our duty to take on the social responsibility that comes hand in hand with our position at the helm of the world's most loved sport.

Join us in uniting forces to develop the game, touch the world and build a better future!"

In handing the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, I would suggest that FIFA has, at worst, fully undermined any integrity the above statement might have, and, at best, grossly over-estimated the influence it can have on the governments, peoples, and belief systems of the world.

Qatar is a nation fraught with social problems, which, FIFA would argue, is the very reason the World Cup should go there. However, what, in reality, can FIFA hope to achieve in the few weeks the circus comes to town?

Is it not better to reward those countries who have freed themselves from tyranny? Could the World Cup not act as an incentive, financial or otherwise? Surely that was the case with South Africa and, in a different manner entirely, Germany. Both were nations with troubled pasts, screaming out to showcase their new found 'unity' and 'social responsibility', an opportunity to rid themselves of a global image that no longer relflected reality.

With Qatar, this is simply not the case, and were Sepp Blatter not to betray his mission statement by making disrespectful comments regarding the activities of homosexuals, you might simply be able to disregard the move as a delusion of grandeur. The fact Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world however, leads to more sinister accusations.

So, returning to the question posed at the beginning of this blog - Do I really want to encourage my child to idolise people who are, in their various guises, corrupt, greedy, adulterous and violent?

It's a tough, tough one to call, but as with this year's revelations about the Catholic Church and the harm it has caused to the image of those with a belief in God (I don't think the horrendous actions of Catholicism should necessarily prevent people idolising the 'true' concept of God; similarly, I believe in the ideal of communism, but I accept that the reality is unworkable); undoubtedly, the ill intentions of those that follow an ideal shouldn't necessarily mean that, as a concept, that ideal has no value.

And so therefore, do I neither feel that corruption in football, no matter how widespread, should prevent our youngsters from believing in the true joy that competing in such a wonderful sport can bring. Its lessons of accepting victory and defeat with grace can't be overvalued and an appreciation that sport, like art, can be truly life-affirming is a precious thing indeed.

As George grows up, I have to hope that, should he take an interest, he will see the dividing line between the good and the evil in football. As his father, I will have to simply trust his judgement.

I suppose you could call it the gift of free will.

The Best (and worst) of 2010....

Albums

- The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

- Postcards From A Young Man - Manic Street Preachers

- Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You - Lightspeed Champion

- Contra - Vampire Weekend

- Butterfly House - The Coral



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Films

- Toy Story 3

- Four Lions

- A Single Man
- Anvil - The True Story of Anvil
- Cemetery Junction





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TV
- A History of Horror with Mark Gattis - BBC4

- The Trip - BBC2

- Mad Men (Season 4) - BBC4

- Sherlock - BBC1

- An Idiot Abroard - Sky1

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Heroes

- Lisa Robinson

- Aung San Suu Kyi
- Lionel Messi
- Julian Assange
- Nicky Wire

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Villains

- Nick Clegg

- David Cameron

- Rev Terry Jones

- Sepp Blatter

- Kim Jong-Il

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News Events

- 33 Chilean miners trapped after the collapse of the San José mine are rescued successfully.

- The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest in human history, occurs in the Gulf of Mexico.

- Widespread flooding in Pakistan kills over 1600 and displaces millions from their homes.

- North Korea shells South Korean Yeonpyeong Island, escalating tensions between the two nations.
- The UK General Election produces 'no winner' with the first non-majority result since 1974.

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Sporting Events

- Chelsea win a League and FA Cup 'Double' (only the 7th team to do so).

- John Isner beats Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the final set of the longest Tennis match in history at Wimbledon.

- Graeme McDowell beats Hunter Mahan in the final singles match as Europe defeat the United States 14½-13½ to regain the Ryder Cup.

- At 52, Steve Davis beats reigning Champion John Higgins, in the 2nd Round of the Snooker World Championship at the Crucible, to become the oldest Quarter-Finalist since Eddie Charlton in 1983.

- Germany destroy a much fancied Argentina side, including Lionel Messi, 4-0 in the Quarter-Finals of the Football World Cup.

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Personal Events

- Seeing The Libertines perform at the Reading Festival.

- Watching Germany's World Cup defeat of Argentina at Old Street's Bavarian Beerhouse

- George's 1st birthday party.
- #moktoberfest2
- Taking and passing my First Aid Course.

Album Review: Serotonin - Mystery Jets

***
Mystery Jets are an indie band that have operated under my radar for some time but, thanks to their billing under the Libertines, the Cribs et al at the Reading Festival - at which I was in attendance of course - I have recently forced myself to investigate further.

In doing so, I discovered Serotonin, an album chock full of the most wonderful, melodic pop songs I've heard in some time. The title track and 'Flash a Hungry Smile', in particular, are indie standards worthy of wider audiences, although, surprisingly, neither have been released as singles to date.

The tracks furnished with that prestigious status are 'Dreaming of Another World' and 'Show Me The Light', archetypal in demonstrating the Eel Pie Islander's talent for crafting a catchy number and with such self-assured inventiveness as to send imaginations skyward.

In fact, Mystery Jets' penchant for a flight of fancy is very reminiscent of Super Furry Animals, especially on lines such as 'Have you heard the birds and bees/Have all caught STD's?' and, indeed, these moments, when the album shows the band's more eccentric side, are key to their success.

Elsewhere however, Serotonin does risk sounding like the work of just another indie also ran, bringing to bear further lovelorn malady on an industry already drowning in guitar driven drivel.

Yet overall, there's a tangible and infectious joie de vivre about the album which just avoids the tipping point into sentimentality, and even though some of the well-worn tales of heart break and loss offer little originality, it's impossible not to find yourself slipping into a jaunty reverie and simply enjoying the ride.