The Obligatory Best of 2007 According to Sandy - Singles part 2

So we reach the top of the pile - the final five!

5. Stateless - Bloodstream (!K7)

Piece together a truly haunting piano riff that toys with your spine as it swirls around with a sultry, slow chilled beat and desperate, sorrowful vocals that sound a little like Thom Yorke had his sinuses cleared up and this is the glorious result. This is not the sort of track you normally expect to see come from a dance label but what you have is a beautiful plaintive song that benifits from some superb production and subtle shifts in tone to create one of the most moving songs of 2007.





4. Air Traffic - Shooting Star (EMI)

If you want a single that soars higher than an eagle strapped to a jumbo jet this is the only choice. What could have been an utterly saccharine piece of indie-pop turns out to be a hearfelt classic with a chorus that can blow hole in walls and a finishing guitar solo that ties you in knots before pulling the ropes and unravelling you in one gleeful spinning burst. Giddy joy in just over four minutes.







3. Laura Marling - My Manic And I EP (Virgin)

This was so close to the top spot. Laura Marling is a girl with phenomenal talent. In person she is like a ghost, yet put a guitar in her hands and a mic at her doisposal and the only thing epherial is the music. Haunting, moody acoustic tremors delived by a vocalist that can send the most lovely shivers up the spine are her trademark and this EP shows them off at her best so far ahead of a debut album in February. Live she is a revelation as well, transforming a room in the space of a few notes. We were lucky enough to have her in session too and even going solo these songs have the capability to leave you in a totally different dimension. Hunt down the atmospheric 'Night Terror' or the the multi-faceted 'My Manic and I' and see for yourself.

Right here you might expect to find number 2. but there was a problem. However much I tried I couldn't seperate these two singles out. Both of these have been so important to me this year that I couldn't decide so in a complete departure from the rules - I give you my joint #1's:

1.. Arthur - The Blue EP (unsigned)

Ok so technically this wasn't released or recorded in 2007 but to me this is very much a 2007 record and so makes the list (it's my best of 2007 and I can break the rules if I want to). I first found out of this band early in 2007 after hearing their singer would b guesting on the new Reuben album. I had a spare few minutes, checked out their myspcae and was immediately blown away by 'Heart Stopping Specialist'- the lead track from this EP. A few weeks later they were all over the station and topping our charts. Pretty good for an unsigned band still at 6th Form College!

Why is this EP so good? Quite simply it is the best 4 track EP I have ever heard. Fantastic tunes, a voive that is destined to make every teenage kid fall in love with Hannah Shark without even seeing her face, energy and maturity all rolled into an impossible whole this is irresistable. Listen to the desperate coyness and come-hither smile of Heart Stopping Specialist or the heart-breaking chimes of self-deprication of Mirror and if you tell me it doesn't touch you then I won't believe you. It's as simple as that


1. Dead Letter Society - Mr Profound/On Too (unsigned)

Dead Letter Society are Cambridge's best band. Period. And the fact that they are unsigned is absolutly criminal. And to be honest any of their tracks could have got to the top of this list but once again this is one that has shaped my year on CUR1350 - listen to almost any of my shows on even a semi-regular basis and you will have heard this for no other reason than that it is fantastic. Proper British pop music with some lush guitarwork, brilliantly used piano flourishes and a vocalist in Matt Start with rare style and charisma to go with the powerful voice and lyrics.

2007 wouldn't have happened anything like it diod for me without this band and their music. That's why it deserves its place with Arthur at the top of this tree. The album is on the way early next year and I cannot wait - 2008 is theirs. Don't forget where you heard them first

Honorable mentions: Fish Go Deep - The Cure And The Cause, Pendulum - Granite

So the singles are out of the way - tune in from tomorrow for the big ones - thealbums!

What Happens In Aldershot...

I tend not to travel too far for gigs. I don't have a car and most public transport shuts down just after 11 so quite often it's just not much of an option for me. However when I heard that Reuben were putting on a Christmas spectacular in Aldershot and Arthur were supporting I couldn't resist so my friend Adam and I made the 2 1/2 hour trek from the sussex coast.
So after a long drive in thick fog and a long wait in the carpark (missing the rush hour made so much sense before we arrived 2 hours early) playing I-Spy (I won hands down). We finally got in. Tickets were like golddust, anticipation was high and the venue was intimate and great. So far so good

First up were Extravagatron. Drafted in as last minute replacements for the original openers Audit, nobody knew what to expect. What nobody expected was a lead singer wearing only kneepads, black briefs and a luchadore's mask. I would post a picture here but I realised that would mean having a picture of a muscled, sweaty, near naked bloke in his pants on my laptop and I didn't really want to have to explain that one to my girlfriend, so you're just going to have to imagine this one. The music itself was very varied, ranging from cock-rock to jazz in neat little bursts with lyrics as filthy as the space under my 19 year old brother's bed. Never taking itself too serriously these guys are no maestros but for a bizare 30 minutes I just didn't care. Needless to say this performance was an experience, and a damn fun one at that. See them live and you won't regret it. Unless you feel the need afterwards to scour your eyes.

So onto Arthur. I've been supporting this band for a long time on CUR1350 and for good reason. Arthur have produced some of the finest indie/pop tunes I have ever heard. Youthful and exuberant somehow combining raw energy and passion in a way few bands ever havce into three minute blasts of bliss, this was my first time seeing them in the live arena and I was a little bit worried whether they would live up to my expectations. Cue one magnificent performance to put any doubts to rest within 2 tracks.
The set tonight is wholly build around their newer material, showcasing a greater complexity in their songwriting than previous EPs and it pays off superbly. Tortured Artist' is a manic uncontrollable hook twister while old favourite 'Me and the Minister' is revamped into a new twisted electro shape and seems to like it. The new material is waht stands out tonight though with a song about rocket ships impressing with its brilliant flicks between sections and one of the best vocal hooks I have heard in ages. Even after one listen it sounds like a classic. On record Hannah Shark's vocals are magnificently emotive. Live they have the ability to melt spines and break hearts at will. An most people would gladly let them. To take a crowd of rock fans and make such a good impression is a big feat especially for a band whose members are still in 6th Form college but they really won over the crowd. I've said it a million times. This band deserve it all.

Tonight is Reuben's night though. This is a band on the top of their game after the release of the superb 'In Nothing We Trust' and tonight it is their party. Blitzing through a set made up of material from accross theoir back-catalogue we were promised something special and boy was it delivered. Live debuts for the Brutal 'Crushed Under The Weight Of The Enormous Bullshit' and a passionate 'An Act of Kindness', a rocking little Beatles cover and plenty of tracks that didn't get an outing on the last tour were mixed in with the more familiar singles in a setlist that satisfied the purist and kept faith with those that have just boarded the Reuben train. Combine that with some between song banter that many stand-ups would be proud of and a real regard for the people in front of them Reuben have the crowd around their little fingers but like true gentlemen never take advantage of it. The big fireworks were saved for the end though with a starting with a voice destroying 'No One Wins The War' that threatened to bring the house down from the crowds singing alone. A rare outing for the classic 'Words From Reuben' that breaks your heart before showing you true love and fan favourite 'Everytime A Teenager Listens To Drum and Bass A Rockstar Dies gave way to the most surprising ending that could have been hoped for. 'Shambles'stopped the heart of everybody in the room with its passionate poigniancy befoer exploding in joyus desperation. Faithfulness, and dare I say it, love distilled into sonic form. I could barely speak afterwards and that wasn't just because I'd been singing so hard.

I've reviewed these guys live on this blog before and the effect was the same. A crowd so moved by music that nothing could snap them out of their trance until the band left the stage. On home ground they had nothing to prove. But they damn well did it anyway. What Happens In ALdershot doesn't just stay in Aldershot. When it's this good the experience stays with you for the rest of your life.

[Photos curtesy of the cameraphone of my good friend and chauffeur Mr Adam Pellett]