Given how fickle I can be, and the emotional, mood-inducing nature of music, the following albums can, for all intents and purposes, be considered freely interchangeable with positions 8 through 10. I probably didn't write about them cos they were too challenging/less interesting/too similar to other higher-ranked albums.

No Age - Nouns
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
The Dodos - The Visiter

There's a ton of stuff that just seeped through the cracks...Hot Chip's Made in the Dark, Fennesz's Black Sea, The Mae Shi's HLLLYH, Air France's No Way Down, Max Tundra's Parallex Error Beheads You...I could go on forever. Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago would have been in contention for top spot had I not listened to it in its entirety already when it was self-released in 2007. Similarly, offerings by Robyn and Plush were first released prior to 2008.

As always, the list is merely my personal opinion. Merit counts of course, but merit is based on my preference. All in all, I'd say it was a fine exercise in self-indulgence and much-needed language practice - I referred to the humble pocket dictionary more in the past 10 days than the rest of the year combined. I make no apologies for my abiding adoption of alliteration, vague rhyming of stanza-like paragraphs, and repeated use of the almighty dash.
Trend-wise, the pop renaissance of 2005 continues to envelope the industry. Dance music, especially disco, continues to enjoy huge success - this year at the level of the right-field, blog house, everyday indie-kid who has surely graduated from 2006's dance class. Hard rock, metalcore, and all the combination of various pre- and suffixes therein, experienced a revival of sorts, gaining great exposure in public consciousness through the likes of Harvey Milk, F***ed Up, Titus Andronicus, and Protest the Hero. I don't listen to that stuff much so you'll have to look elsewhere for insight. On the other hand, hip-hop is back on its slippery slope downwards (a good thing, imho), with only 'Lil Wayne and Kanye West releasing anything I'd even bear listening to.
There weren't exactly any new themes I could observe, aside from perhaps sentiments I have previously brought up - a move towards more accessible, radio-friendly song structures, the appeal of optimistic lyrics with an air of belief and buoyancy, and a general embracing of quiet, sentimental works. Much of this has more to do with the global state of affairs in 2008 rather than any overarching or dominant musical movement. Than again, music is entwined in our consciousness and perception of everything else eh? Overall, I'd say it wasn't quite the bumper crop of diverse and essential albums of 2007, but still a greatly enriching one which opened up its fair share of doors and stairways. I wish you a similarly-satisfying experience and discovery for the year ahead. Merry Christmas.

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Back in Feb there was an unmistakable buzz surrounding Fleet Foxes and teaser EP Sun Giant. When I heard the first few seconds of hymnal bliss of its title track on MySpace, I knew Fleet Foxes would end up being one of my favourite bands. One always fears a case of flavour of the month syndrome, especially in music that sounds as intimately familiar as Fleet Foxes', and there were periods where their debut LP's brilliance was overshadowed by more "fun" and "exciting" albums (and there was a plethora of those this year).. but it's been six months since Fleet Foxes, and about a year since I first heard them; and I still remember how my jaw dropped on that warm June 21st. Over the past year I've recommended the band to friends more often than any other act since The Arcade Fire, and I've been reaching for their colourful, well-worn CD sleeve more often than any others. This puts Fleet Foxes rather comfortably as my favourite album of 2008.
The band's sound has been praised and analyzed by writers far more insightful than I; and in fact I feel inadequete to comment on music as steeped in Americana as this. Aside from the unavoidable comparisons to folk rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, critics have name-dropped a host of influences from Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys-like block harmonies) to Fleetwood Mac (the suite-like classic rock meets folk interplay of Ragged Wood) to Robert Plant (there's more than abit of Kashmir-esque sorrow and wild abandon on Your Protector). With such a rich and diverse group of influence, one might expect Fleet Foxes to sound a tad contrived or indulgent. But restraint is at the forefront here, a subtle, adept mastery of songcraft which distills their lush soundscapes into 3-4 minutes pop songs. The most prominent component is obviously the band's pastoral vocal harmonies. In particular, chief songwriter Robin Pecknold has a pristine, confident voice, and is equally comfortable letting out a passionate bellow as he is nestling in the confines of his bandmates' voices. This sense of dynamics is further complemented by the quiet, unassuming, yet integral guitar work of close friend Skye Skjelset. These two elements form the backbone of majority of Fleet Foxes, although its best songs combine these with a supple but never overbearing dose of piano and drums.
Pecknold writes in the album credits of the "transportative power of music", and that's exactly what's present on Fleet Foxes - the band takes you across riverbeds by the cool of the setting sun, through dense forests echoing with the nightingale's song, over the expanse of plainlands teeming with life, and up hills and mountains toward the light of the new dawn. Isolating headphones and closing of eyes optional. Supported by lyrical references to meadowlarks, blue ridge mountains, streams, rising suns and wilderness, the vivid imagery elaborates majestic, sweeping songs which remarkably retain the intimacy of the Seattle basement they were written in. This is the splendour of a land of medieval times, of bygone eras, an echo of Eden that will haunt us in dreams to come. The flawless production of Phil Elk (The Shins, Built to Spill, Band of Horses) plays an essential role in achieving this magic, imbueing the voices and instruments with mountainous reverb, strongly reminiscent of My Morning Jacket's Z. But whereas MMJ's reverb-drenched album harkened apocalyptic dystopia, Fleet Foxes resounds with a natural, earthly timbre and clarity.
Despite the above qualities, Fleet Foxes transcends time and place, engendering a sense of adventure and discovery. They never rest on a single idea, beautiful as it may be, throughout a song - the band takes unexpected turns, yet on hindsight one can't imagine a more scenic detour. Strings, bells, and ivory keys roll about like cumulous clouds but they always feel precisely and carefully placed. Take breakthrough single White Winter Hymnal for example, a fireplace carousel which combines the band's rural evocation with a lyrical undercurrent of dark, dramatic melancholy - "Michael you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in the summertime". The words may fail - they do often feel as though they're simply a vehicle for Pecknold and co to showcase their breathtaking voice-and-guitar counterpoint - but the feelings stick. A few years ago I might have begrudged an "indie" band for making it big-time in such a manner - their music blasting from stereos which also play the likes of Nickelback and Mariah Carey - but in the wake of such elegant, austere "baroque pop", I realize that in a year of such frenetic dissolution, this is truly essential music that the world simply needs to hear.

2. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

I have long opined that electronic music is the direction of the future. More specifically, Independent Dance Music - a motley pastiche of pop, rock and electronica which I first caught on to on Chris Ho's old late-night radio show Ear Wax around the turn of the century. Its strength lies in its dynamic, kaleidoscopic interweaving of styles, but so too does its weakness, if it can be called as such. Individual strands of music styles beg to be mislabelled, geography and culture play huge roles in their definition; and if ever there was a scene as bogged by irony and self-consciousness, and tied to the capriciousness of the fashion world, it would be this. Backlash comes hand-in-hand with success, and there's a nagging suspicion that it's collapsing under the very weight of its ubiquity. This, despite (or perhaps due to) the past few years being extremely truimphant ones for dance music, featuring eminent releases by the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Justice, The Tough Alliance, et al.
How timely, then, that Australian outfit Cut Copy follow up their rainbow-chasing debut Bright like Neon Love with a record that is both in vogue and timeless, brimming with optimism in the face of a tarnishing sheen of nay-say and cynicism. Curtain-raiser Feel the Love announces the group's motives right from its title. An effervescent swirl of hazy vocoded vocals and oscillating keyboards segues into a strident dance-rock groove, as frontman and DJ Dan Whitford sings languidly over clean acoustic guitar strumming and throbbing electro synths: "All the girls I've known are crying / But all the clouds have silver linings". The rest of the album follows suit, an involving, hyperactive array of sounds which are impossibly breezy and ebullient. Layers of melodies, beats and effects wash over one another, as new-wave revival meets shoegaze like some giddy Ian Curtis and Kevin Shields matchup.
The glorious opening trio builds up an electrifying, anthemic atmosphere that never lets up; and to Cut Copy's considerable credit, the album, with its seamless transitional pieces and recurring motifs, serves its addictive treats as a complete whole which never grows formulaic. In Ghost Colours always feels welcoming, like a sunkissed beach, rather than an over-eager lover, and DFA producer Tim Goldsworthy surely had a hand in the band's more assured and relaxed delivery. Often, one is too engrossed luxuriating in its simple, resonant melodies to notice what keeps it relentlessly fresh is its perfect balance of electronic and organic instrumentation - as exhibited on tracks like radio hits Lights & Music, an arena rock anthem transformed into a dancefloor classic, and So Haunted, with its disco chorus wedged between unstoppable swaths of fuzz guitar and rock drums.
Cut Copy certainly evocates the sound and demeanour of the '80s, but it never becomes cheesy derivative (*cough* M83) or blatant mimicry, but rather affectionate homage. So too, in attitude - Cut Copy allow themselves to be emotive and sincere, seeking and celebrating the sort of pop perfection that too-cool-for-school left-field electronic artists refuse to be drawn toward. "I've been searching for a love alive / drowning in the silence as we walk the night / Your hand is out and it brushes mine / a moment that is frozen as we hang in time", Whitford croons unabashedly in an gleeful display of sentimentality and vulnerability. Unforgettably gorgeous, you'll remember In Ghost Colours' lush, uplifting tunes well into 2009.

3. TV on the Radio - Dear Science,

In 2006 I proclaimed TVotR's breakthrough Return to Cookie Mountain as my favourite of the year. An elaborate masterpiece overfilling with dense textures and ambitious ideas, it elevated TVotR well above the underground scene; and perhaps they have become America's unofficial indie house band - their precise, pointed lyrics a political and social commentary tempered by obfuscating imagery and allegory. Unravelling over the course of dozens of listens, it slowly revealed its quietly optimistic core, and still tells a new chapter each spin. We all wondered how this lavish opus could be topped, but TVotR have cleverly taken on a leaner, catchier sound; and the greatness of Dear Science, has much to do with how effortlessly natural the band does it while still surprising us.
From the get-go, opener Halfway Home sprints off on a fusillade of streaking guitars and house beats. On the way to Lover's Day - TVotR's most brash, cocky yet sensual closer, featuring Celebration's Katrina Ford - they take us on a thrilling course through a ragged landscape encompassing a multitude of genres. David Sitek tackles the production with usual aplomb, veering away from the requisite organic spaciousness of Cookie Mountain to a lush crystalline clarity that eases, rather than bore its way, into one's head. The production values reflect an apparent compartmentalization of the band's myriad sounds, previously fused in a fuzzy experimental haze. Afrobeat funk gives way to synth fuzz chords, anthemic violin swells and epic guitar noise washes build up to climatic horn passages courtesy of the Antibalas Orchestra. Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone are in outstanding form, complementing each other perfectly whether whispering, sighing, rapping, growling or crooning.
The new lightness in music initially suggests a lighter mood as well. On the brilliant Golden Age, Adebimpe awaits an age of miracle and sound, singing, without a trace of irony, "love's light is laughter / like the sun spittin' happiness into the hereafter". The pun in Dancing Choose's title falls in line with it's musings on "breeding butterflies, broken dreams and alibis", espousing the obvious catharsis of dancing on one's troubles. The very comma in Dear Science, seems to suggest an open-ended realm of positive possibility. But - perhaps as should have been expected of TVotR - this facade of hope and embrace turns out to belie a thorny record with even darker reflections on dread and death. Family Tree's titular plant proves to be a gallows for some forbidden love, DLZ cynically ponders the pitfalls of capitalism - so apt in view of the current economic crisis - while Crying turns the album's catchiest song on its head to mock a generation crippled by laziness and apathy.
On Red Dress, so resplendent in its tribal rap and horns arrangement, Malone cries, "**** your war / 'cos I'm fat and in love / and no bombs are fallin' on me for sure / But I'm scared to death / that I'm livin' a life not worth dying for". This emotional undercurrent keeps Dear Science,'s brainy, if endearing, ambivalence in check. TVotR sonically capture the sheer confusion, self-doubt, and fear of the future of a nation at a precipe; and extend a global invitation to find solace and release in music. Dear Science, stands in the eye of the storm, and, well, once in awhile some of that starry-eyed optimism still comes through.

4. Deerhunter - Microcastles

It's interesting that Deerhunter are labelled art/psych/ambient/post punk. Punk seeks to agitate and provoke, while Deerhunter's fragmented ambience and recondite lyrics seems to gravitate toward a certain calmness and stasis that has eluded them yet. Their sonic explorations on breakout sophomore Cryptograms seem to confirm this suspicion - Deerhunter are not so much interested in inventing new sounds as using inventive instrumentation to achieve the sort of subversive pop bliss that Radiohead have mastered. Yes, Deerhunter are as much pop connoisseurs as they are laptop experimentalists, and the truimph of Microcastles is that it reconciles these two disparate elements, bringing to the fore the pop sensibilities that Cryptograms shredded.
Accordingly, the music is appreciably warmer, bathed in gauzy orange hues of snug guitar solos and peppy drumming. The character of this bolder sound is made more apparent in the minimalist album setting - the sunlit psychpop of Agoraphobia segues into the unbearably lonely tension on Never Stops, the frenzied explosion of noise and drums out of murky guitar chords on the title track gives way to pattering percussion and mourning windchimes on Calvary Scars before fracturing into the rueful argepggios of Green Jacket. Elsewhere, shoegaze squalls and narcotic drones propagate the infectious misdirection we've come to love from Deerhunter. Though frontman Bradford Cox's outsized persona is less evident on Microcastles, the feverish dream-pop he surveyed in solo act Atlas Sound has clearly influenced the band's aesthetics.
This shift towards directness parallels yet contrasts the lyrical message. On the outlook, Microcastles might come across as somewhat cold and impersonal, a quixotic fantasy of freedom from aging, isolation, and hurt. Yet it also suggests a dreary, apathetic resignation with a life of frustration and confusion, curiously most evident on the most accessible tracks such as single Nothing Ever Happens: "I never saw it coming / Waiting for something / Nothing". Cox endeavours to find solace in his art, sacrificing his disease-twisted body for it. "I take what I can / I give what I have left" - his personal message of a lonely existence of insults and irreverence is tempered by a hope for change, and that salvation may be glimpsed in such fleeting moments of beauty.

Notes: I haven't had a chance to listen to sister album Weird Era Cont. Cox suffers from Marfan syndrome. Cole Alexander from Atalanta compatriots The Black Lips features on the disorienting monologue of acid-pop cornerstone Saved by Old Times. Sorry about the 1-day break.

5. The Walkmen - You & Me

For any listener who has been paying attention, the most engaging and fascinating aspect of the Walkmen's sound since debut Everyone who Pretended to Like Me is Gone has been their wintry, redolent ballads. But for so long, their music has been tempered, or rather characterized, by biting sarcasm and disdain, particularly from tour-de-force Bows + Arrows. A holiday of sorts then, found them playing around with Bob Dylan and Harry Nilsson's catalog; and the excursion seems to have excised much of that riotous excess in their mod-rock. We welcome them back on You & Me, sounding more comfortable and confident than ever.
Their music, always so effortlessly evocative, plays like a series of vivid postcards - a ruminative beach walk on opener Donde Esta La Playa, a subdued evening on a Latin Quarter balcony on Red Moon, a doorway exiting a cigarette smoke-filled bar on In the New Year. Every moment seems precisely orchestrated and nuanced; and in fact the album feels thematically stronger than any past Walkmen record. They may have written some of rock's finest singles this decade but there's an earnest desire for You & Me to be taken seriously and attentively as an album. Details, cautious as they come, are what engage and reward, like lambent beams emanating from the swirling clouds conjured by The Walkmen's trademark tones - cavernous reverb, vintage piano, and playful percussion - from the shimmering keyboard and reedy whistling on On the Water to the sepia-drenched organ mood on Long Time Ahead of Us. In fact, the most signifacant manifestation of this clarity is in Leithauser's vocals - one can actually make out his words now, aside from hearing his temples bulging.
And it's a blessing, for You & Me is all about growing up. The Walkmen have moved on from the heady after-party days of Bows + Arrow, and the apathy and outright hatred that previous songs were steeped in have given way to acceptance, weariness and regret. "Tomorrow the sun will be brighter / the water will rise and wash us away," he muses on the gorgeous Red Moon, amidst a grandoise brass section and poignant acoustic guitar. It's the perfect distillation of the new Walkmen - deliberate and self-assured, engaging and introspective, sweetly sombre and coyly graceful (or perhaps sombrely sweet and gracefully coy), yet most of all still refreshingly sincere and original.

6. Portishead - Third

I first heard Portishead about 8 years back, a few years after their seminal sophomore album. I had no idea then that their unique brand of sample-heavy music was called trip hop; and in light of the retrospect offered by Third - their third album after an 11-year wait - the tag was somewhat misleading. Though Portishead were often compared alongside compatriots such as Massive Attack, Amon Tobin and Tricky, the truth is they never operated within the confines of the genre. On Third, they all but shed the noirish style completely; and sound simply like Portishead - inventive, experimental, startlingly original with a fondness for psychedelia and krautrock.
Despite the new moody, disquieting pallete, Third sounds strangely natural, and a big part to this is Beth Gibbon's haunting, chanteause voice - an aching quiver especially suited to expressing paranoia and vulnerability; and sounding more at ease along abrupt experimental sounds than simply with organic instruments. Her raw, wounded tone communicates the album's sense of helplessness and isolation perfectly. The music is a contrasting foil to the bleak lyrics, with guitar sounds and analogue instrumentation featuring more prominently on a soundscape that is constantly unsettled and esoterically creepy. A wailing theremin and goosebump-inducing Moog bassline harmonize with Gibbon's warped sigh on The Rip, frazzled drums and keyboards float above the cacophonous layers of percussive distortion on Machine Gun, while a ukulele leads Deep Water. Between the music's sinister grandeur and the pathos Gibbon imbues the lyrics with are some of the group's harshest, heaviest industrial numbers as well as their most eerie and frail ballads.
Portishead have, by their decade-long absence from the spotlight, become something of a legend. Unlike say Morcheeba who release an album every other year and feature guest vocalists ranging from Thomas Dybdahl to Judie Tzuke, their silence has made their return seem all the more like a radical transformation. Contradiction pervades Third on other levels. The music's lack of any tonal balance makes for an almost cerebral experience, yet it is alluringly human. The anxious, abrasive songwriting elements demand an attentive listen to appreciate the album as an ultimately absorbing redefinition of art pop. And Portishead, in keeping to their inimitable stylistic tendency, have crafted a record that is both riveting in its uniqueness and comforting in its familiarity.

7. Hercules and Love Affair - Hercules and Love Affair

Indie and pop producers, DJs and dance experimentalists alike have been pilfering the fringes of disco for years. Such periphery forays have certainly yielded their fair share of forward-thinking music, but the lack of an attempt on disco's unabashed-guilty-pleasure jugular has certainly been a disappointment. Hugely maligned in history and underrepresented in the hipper-than-thou dance scene, the genre - in the vision of pioneer Arthur Russell - has been granted an overdue revival in 2008, and the architect-in-chief is Andrew Butler. He is joined by a disparate but complementary vocal trio of the androgynous Antony Hegarty, lesbian DJ Kim Ann Foxman and transsexual songster Nomi...well, how else would one nail that disco diva sound?
What cannot be stressed enough is that Hercules and Love Affair leaves behind the cheesy trappings of disco, but highlights its musicality. Never stooping to cheap theatrics, the album carries itself by the finesse of its songs. Lead single Blind serves as an infectious sample of the group's aesthetic, a pulsating dynamite that envelopes as it grooves, toying with Hegarty's voice and a subtle, snaking trumpet line. The artistry enfolds the lyrics as well, with a particularly wistful pean regarding hope and optimism to dread and realism - "as a child I knew / that the stars could only get brighter.....now that I'm older / the stars should light upon my face / but when I find myself alone / I feel like I am blind".
Incredibly self-assured and self-contained, Hercules and Love Affair is pimped with wordless vocal samples, octave-tripping bass lines (featuring Tyler Pope from !!!), supple horns, beaming keyboards, and a slew of fresh heartbreak - hardly the most original of material, but Butler and DFA producer Tim Goldsworthy's idiosyncratic construction achieves a record as muscular and sultry in parts as the Greek gods they reference. The opening quintet permanently belong on any forward-thinking DJ's playlist, while slow-shifting pair Iris and Easy charm with subdued flamboyance. Addictive and gregarious, Hercules... evokes a four-to-the-floor impulse that tingles long after the lights go out. One more!

8. Sun Kil Moon - April

Mark Kozelek hasn't changed his style of reflective folk rock in two decades, yet each of his albums bears a refreshing new mood that slowly unwinds, inviting attentive listening by virtue of its austere beauty and moving narratives. While his debut under Sun Kil Moon, Ghosts of the Great Highway, suggested a steering towards lighter, more concise acoustic showpieces, April recalls more of his older material under Red House Painters - sprawling, intense, and certain to require many repeats, in no small part due to its length.
Famed for his guitar touch, Kozelek once again displays an astounding deftness of touch - the breadth of emotion he invokes from three chords slowly loping through ten minutes is amazing to behold. In particular, his blending of electric and acoustic tones is tastefully done, capturing a dynamic tension that never feels taut; and it's a marvel how the songs remain gentle under a layer of warm distortion. Lost Verses and The Light serve as effective introductions - twenty minutes of languid reflection further justifying the ceaseless Neil Young comparisons - which enrapture one with nuanced arrangements and tender melodies. That April sounds a fair bit more musically varied than Ghosts... is helped by the emphatic rhythm contributions of Anthony Koutsos and Geoff Stanfield, as well as guest turns by Bonnie Prince Billy aka Will Oldham, Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard, and Eric Pollard of Retribution Gospel Choir.
But it is Kozelek's fragile, fractured voice that carries the record, and his plaintive musings are the quintessential force that grants his music their immense resonance, keeping it from sounding quaint or "slowcore". Nobody will disagree with me that Kozelek is amongst the most sincere of songwriters, and on April - a spring record which harkens back to autumn and winter - he's evidently intent on bearing his soul and getting lost in communicating his emotions. Even on Ghosts... it was clear that memories are what drive Kozelek, and the personal truths he lay bare on this record catch one between feeling emphatic and embarrassed for him. "Lost verses well up my eyes and ears" - an honest, heart-wrenching admission of all the memories Kozelek fears he may leave out. Regardless of whatever superlatives I can lob, it is better simply to incline one's ear and listen as this artist intimately recounts his lonesome trek.

The Utopian ideal of world peace, commonly regarded with cynicism and a dash of derision, took a bad round of battering this year. 2 days ago, the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research, a private think-tank at the Dept of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg, published an annual report, announcing no less than 9 full-scale wars and almost 130 violent conflicts across the globe. Ideological difference is, not surprisingly, cited as the most common trigger at all levels of conflict.
There are many Peace Theories; and I'm fairly sure numerous unis offer them as modules, running the gamut from Democracy to Capitalism to MAD, but religion is something often glossed over at any politically-correct level. Discussion forums on the other hand are rife with (anti)religious discussion, ignorance and bigotry. We're not getting into that here, but sth that has really caught hold of me this year is the appaling amount of persecution against Christians, most notably in the Third World. Well, the roots of the Cross may lie in persecution; and "all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2Tim 3:12), but it is nevertheless disheartening to read of any form of persecution. Most have doubtlessly heard of the much-publicized cases in India, China, and the Middle East, but a quick google will reveal many more sordid details. I've been following Open Doors for awhile, and while it is encouraging to hear of those who remain steadfast in the face of persecution, the huge list of troubled nations (many which I've nvr even heard of) is depressing.
We're really blessed to be here in SG where the govt and ppl are tolerant and open to different religions. Nonetheless let us remember to pray for our brethren facing persecution; and in this season of peace, goodwill and forgiveness, remember that second greatest of commandments:
"...love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
If you wish to receive newsletters and updates from Open Doors, do contact them at singapore@od.org or call 6456 0042.

"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

9. Spiritualized - Songs in A&E

A brush with death would change most people. Emergency wards are downright terrifying, but it is in the process of healing where perspectives change, priorities realign and strength is found in second chance. Jason Pierce spent most of the last 5 years since Amazing Grace (considered largely mediocre and indicative of a bad case of writer's block) battling bilateral pneumonia, and the ordeal certainly colours the tone of Songs in A&E. Most interestingly, while much of the lyrics were written before he took ill, the music and recording were done after, and they impart their effect on the record: the Spiritualized sound has long been associated with self-indulgence, grandeur, and overwrought embellishments, but while these trademarks are still evident, the emphasis has clearly shifted to a beautiful message of renewal.
The Spaceman has rediscovered the value of subtlety; and it is in the unfolding of the quiet moodiness of acoustic guitars, the haunting pauses preambling the swooning crescendos, where he draws one closest to that calm, white world he resided between death and life, blissfully unaware of the maelstrom surrounding himself. Backing vocals float about Pierce's voice like a celestial choir, imbueing him with a newfound authority, while the melancholic strings that always used to suffocate his records take a gentle, lilting bow further in the mix. This joyful haze propagates into deliruim on the psychedelic rock tracks, where Pierce drops his usual sonic props with renewed vivacity. Fear, atonement, bitterness feature strongly on the album as well, but the presiding emotions appear very much to be jubilation and gratefulness.
Special mention goes to Soul on Fire, a moving tribute to the passion of life and easily one of the most inspired pop gems this year. The opening turn of phrase alone - "You were born on a black day / shot through with starlight", The Beach Boys would be proud - is worth the price of admission. "I've got a hurricane inside my veins / and I wanna stay forever". It's said that no artist's statement is worth more than the one most bare. This album is Pierce's most purposeful, vulnerable work, and it resounds with the redemptive music of healing.

It's that time of the year again. I'll forsake an intro in favour of a conclusion this time round, seems to fit this format better; and gives me more time to take stock of the year.

10. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

So, what hasnt been said about Dig...? Much has been made - and with good reason - of long-time guitarist/pianist Blixa Bargeld's departure, and the cathartic release of side project Grinderman. Perhaps freed of Bargeld's dislike for rock conventions, Cave proceeded to pick up the guitar and churn out one the most bellowing, angsty blues-rock albums in recent memory. Stripped of the piano polish that came with double-LP Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, Cave and band continue with their newfound momentum and passion, married to the wit and literary focus of vintage Nick Cave.
Dig... is in parts an unhinged, swaggering rocker where guitars puncture an otherwise impenetrable wall of distortion, and in parts an eerie, atmospheric balladeer with strings and organs imitating toxin clouds. It's a sonic marvel that a record held together by shakes, rattles, and dissonant rumbles remains so focused and resolute. Lyrics are wicked, with the requisite religious slant. Cave may be a wordsmith in the mould of Morrissey, but his penchant for destructive sexuality and tortured Biblical overtones makes his work much more effective at unsettling. That Cave is a first-class enunciator provides his words - the metaphors and couplets, the cast of characters he conjures, the lit critic namedrops - with the delivery - from a sardonic drawl to a passionate whisper to a downright ballsy growl - they require to be convincing.
Many will regard Dig..., and haunting, hallucinatory closer More news from Nowhere in particular, as a definitive summary of Cave's career and tortured genius. But more than that, it represents a collective voice of human frustration and decadence - the intellectual bewildered with the Bible while questioning his own fascination, the everyman inability to reconcile the need for suffering, the tapestry of palliation one weaves around oneself whether in imagery, characterization, or enforced opinion. As Cave sings, "It's strange in here..Yeah, it gets stranger every year." Whether a lamentation or a snivel, who's gonna argue with that?

Gibson unveils the intriguing Dark Fire on Monday. Initially conceptualized as the second-generation Robot Guitar - it now tunes up in under a second o.o - it has since been revealed to be a fully digital-integrated guitar featuring Chameleon Tone Technology. Gibson's press release is more aureate than informative, but said technology appears to be a combination of the Dark Fire's impressive pickup array, the Gibson Robot.Interface.Pack. and the bundled Ableton Studio Live and N.I. Guitar Rig 3 software.

The exclusive nitrocellulose finish and dual-black binding look gorgeous, but the Dark Fire appears to be a guitarist's guitar in every aspect. The chambered mahogany body is lighter and more resonant, while the neck is slim-tapered and sports a satin finish which should make for faster play. Even these traditional elements have a decidedly modern sheen - inlays and pickup covers are acrylic made to pass off as carbon fibre, while the nut is a pseudo-Teflon compound. Between the neck P90 and bridge Burstbucker - two of Gibson's most beloved and versatile models - and a bridge piezo pup, Gibson claims you'll be able to reproduce "every imaginable guitar sound". Well, you can read up the details for yourself.
Well, regardless of hype, the limited-edition Dark Fire probably represents the pinnacle of forward-thinking guitar engineering of the last few decades, and everyone looks forward to all that onboard technology being made more common in the next couple years so even starving students can enjoy something similar for a few hundred dollars. It may not be as unique as the Moog Guitar, but it has alot more universal appeal, and probably isnt gonna cost USD$6.5k. And it looks way sexier.

RANT WARNING. I'm just gonna type as I go along, expect minimal structure. I don't know what's the point of this post, so maybe don't read unless you're as bored as I am. Yes, I bought a new headphone amp; no, it probably wasn't the most efficient use of $280. In any audio rig the most important components are the source and the speakers - I've known this for the longest time, and i'll justify my purchase later. The most cost-effective way to get a better sound is to upgrade these two and skip the stuff in between. I've been through 4 different interconnects (why aren't they just called cables??) ranging from a $60 DIY Mogami to a $150 ALO cryo silver, and they all sound practically identical. Yes, copper is slightly warmer and dynamic, silver is more balanced and analytical, but these differences - already minute even at higher volumes - practically vanish when you're on the bus/train. If you're talking about differences between different types of copper, silver and crystal, they're even more negligible. As long as you aren't using some cheapo oem cables thinner than clothes hangers, you'll be fine. Paying 3digit sums for an IC is, well, lame. Hello, it's a few inches of metal, its spsd to be cheap!
Amps suffer a similar problem, and I suspect most ppl purchase based on the mojo factor as well. To put it simply, portable amps suck. The basic designs are identical, the variations are circuit implementation and design, and component quality. I've never heard the Lisa or a Pico, but I've heard the RSA amps many times, including the feted SR71. So too the Corda Move and of course my recently acquired iBasso D3. They all suck. The price in relation to sound, compared to dedicated desktop or home units, is pretty abysmal. It's an unfair comparison, but a universal truth in terms of absolute SQ. And once again, whatever improvements in bass extension and definition, airiness, imaging, and whatever fancy superlatives you can throw in - and there are improvements, certainly - get obscured by background noise.
ICs, amps, caps (external capacitors! can you imagine it, it's like carrying a freaking bomb around! And after all the effort Apple puts into shrinking their players down..) - none of them will truly give you a instant "wow" effect on the go, which is what they were intended for. You'll hear more improvement changing eartips to get better isolation. Granted, I don't have golden ears..but I do think I'm more experienced than the majority. And yes I see the folly of investing too much in the head-fi hobby. I've nvr liked the term audiophile, it somehow depicts one who is more in love with the sound than with the music. Well, listening to Westlife on a pair of Stax electrostatic cans isn't gonna make me suddenly like them..at the same time, I still enjoy my music even through the terribad Kenwood system in my parent's car.
The main reason I bought the D3 is cos good portable sources are kinda non-existent. Apple's pre-amp, even on their latest iPod range, falls short. Cowon, Zune, Creative, Sanza etc are too ugly, expensive, or difficult to use, and most of them don't have a true line-out, one of Apple's trump cards. So unfortunately, short of getting an iMod, the only way to improve my source is to get an amp. The .22 was alright but honestly not much better than the iPod by itself. In the event I get a larger headphone, I'll also need an amp to drive it so i'll just take it as an investment for the future. A good portable DAC is also sth I've been eyeing for a long time, since using headphones on computers without one just kills your ears. The Go-vibe was decent, but once again the D3 is alot cleaner and clearer.
I recently tried the legendary-before-it-was-made Westone 3, and the soon-to-be-legendary Sennheiser IE8. Both are ~$600, and sound better than any IEM i've tried, regardless of amping. The best universals - one balanced armatures, the other dynamic driver - cheaper than most amps. I was sorely tempted to get either (or both o.o) but I still enjoy my atrio alot so I'll resist the upgraditis. In any case, they won't sound 2x better than the atrio even at over 2x the price - diminishing returns is a painful reality, so is financial responsibility. Anw, I've made a couple of resolutions regarding audio equipment for the coming year(s): 1. No more upgrading of amp/DAC/IC. 2. Save for the W3/IE8 and forever be satisfied, covet not after customs. 3. Save for a very good pair of headphones and forever leave head-fi. 4. Never, ever, wander into home hi-fi territory until I have over $50k in savings. 5. Stop looking at new guitars. Thx for reading, sorry about your eyes. I like this font type and size!

Ok exams finished on friday, they didnt go very well and i'll keep my fingers crossed about passing dreaded circuits & electronics. Actually this felt like the toughest exam period I've been through; and even the exams seemed custom-designed to test the areas I had merely skimmed through. As expected Joseph Chang pulled the biggest stun of all, but really all the papers were much harder than in past years. And with all the distressing daily news, it really seemed like one of those doom-and-gloom episodes right out of a South African editorial. I was feeling particularly down after screwing up Dynamics, a mod I expected to do fairly well in, but God encouraged me with Jeremiah 31 in its entirety - the restoration of Israel, Rachel's cessation of mourning, the new covenant, the Church that never falls.

".."I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.. ..Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded," declares the Lord.."

Through it all, I know Jesus loves me, and has a wonderful purpose for me better than anything I can imagine. There was more to come in the next few days:

"You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."

"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near."

God has led me through all these years of my life, and been with me both in times of tribulation and peace; and I know His promise stands firm: "Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt 28:20). I'm thankful that I've drawn closer to Him during this difficult period and learnt to trust Him even more - in my results, my friendships, and everything I do. When I'm stumbling in the dark, He will not merely wait at the end with a light, but will uplift me and provide me with a lamp. In this Advent season, let us prayerfully remember Christ's coming as a man to be amongst us, and consider His glorious return. Emmanuel - God with us - even to this very day, the Lord will be with those who seek Him. It is precisely the promise needed in these troubled, uncertain times; the reassurance desperately needed by the lost and the broken who've yet to hear of Jesus. May we be convicted to share the message of hope this Christmas, and be a source of joy and inspiration to others in these somber days.

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