Best Gigs Of 2019

I didn't go to as many shows this year but it was definitely quality over quantity as there were still so many memorable moments. 

Hawksley Workman at St Pancras Old Church

Hawksley Workman 

St Pancras Old Church, 12 September 2019

When The Borderline sadly closed its doors for the last time last month it left Hawksley Workman without his usual venue, one that he has been regularly playing for the past 20 years. I've seen him play there many times and he had even earned a photo on their wall of fame, something Workman laments tonight, telling us how he impressed friends in the past with the fact that his picture was on display in the middle of Soho. Swapping The Borderline for the much smaller and extremely atmospheric St Pancras Old Church though certainly isn't a bad thing though if this show is anything to go by.

Mounties at XOYO

Mounties

XOYO, 15 April 2015

First off, XOYO is a new club to me. Just a stone's throw from Old Street roundabout (bizarrely it's actually opposite a boy's secondary school), it reminded me of the old grotty venues that smelled of horrible incense I remember going to see bands in back in the 1990s.

Hawksley Workman at The Borderline

Hawksley Workman
The Borderline, 15 June 2012

I've pretty much comes to terms with the fact that seeing Hawksley Workman these days is not about hearing songs from his latest album or surprise additions to the set list. Instead it's about hearing old favourites from his first few albums with lots of audience participation and letting Hawksley tell funny stories in between. And you know, it's a formula that works and is always fun plus, with all Hawksley's often surreal ad-libs and spontaneous additions of other pop songs, it's definitely never boring and the songs always sound different.

Hawksley Workman at The Borderline

Hawksley Workman

Roken Is Dodelijk

The Borderline, 14 February 2011

I've always wondered just why Hawksley Workman isn't a huge star. He writes clever, funny and incredibly tuneful pop songs that are just on the right side of offbeat, sung with a powerful, soaring voice and in concert he's a true showman, full of amusing stories and slightly surreal banter. I can only assume it's because he's not as classically good looking as the Jeff Buckleys and Rufus Wainwrights of the world, especially now with his slightly chubby face and receding hairline. But live he's somehow transformed, he looks younger, like an adorable little schoolboy who can't believe what he's getting away with. "I get to live inside my head for a living," at one point he admits grinning.

Albums of the decade

My favourite albums of the past decade. This has been a really hard task, much harder than I imagined. I've left out some really great albums that I've really enjoyed and loved but after a lot of consideration I think that this is the music that has meant the most to me over the past 10 years.

1. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Mark Olson - The Salvation Blues
3. Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther
4. Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will
5. The Twilight Singers - Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers
6. Neko Case - Blacklisted
7. Lindsey Buckingham - Under The Skin
8. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
9. Joanna Newsom - Ys
10. At The Drive-in - Relationship Of Command
11. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
12. Cat Power - The Greatest
13. Neil Young - Prairie Wind
14. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
15. Rufus Wainwright - Want One
16. The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium
17. PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
18. Stevie Nicks - Trouble In Shangri-La
19. Neil Diamond - 12 Songs
20. Hawksley Workman - (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves
21. Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
22. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
23. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses
24. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
25. The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth

Hawksley Workman at the Luminaire

Hawksley Workman
The Luminaire, 9 May 2009

I always love seeing Hawksley Workman live. The Canadian singer/songwriter is just one of those natural entertainers who seems so at home on stage that he could pull up a chair and stay there all night. Theatrical and grinning, with a soaring voice and surprisingly adept guitar skills, he playfully reinvents songs and even sometimes dramatically interrupts them to tell some far-out story, Hawksley-style.

My Favourite Albums Of 2008

I thought I may as well start off with a list of my favourite albums from 2008, because it probably best sets the scene for what will be on this blog. In order to compile my astonishingly brilliant list I am using this foolproof equation to calculate the perfect top 10: my most played albums on last.fm + the albums I think I like best + whatever ones are the coolest. It's an incredibly mathematical, painstaking process that obviously has taken me weeks to perfect, which is why I'm only posting it now. So at long last, here it is:

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!