Two thirds almost down, 2011 rapidly approaching. Flippit.

So the year is flying by faster than enclosed stink, and I realised this morning that I’ve not posted a half yearly “let’s examine Rick’s world over the past three months” post. I will instead endeavour to summarise the last five months, that is the last time I posted a “wrap up” of any sorts. It has been a strange year, bizarre occurrences constantly boggling my mind, new music occasionally dazzling me and all the while, Cape Town becoming a bigger part of my existence.

So as regular readers will know, we were robbed earlier this year, but luckily I've started getting back onto the technology wagon, although I did manage to wash my iPod amidst an epic hangover last Sunday. So if anyone feels like buying me one for Xmas or just because, that would be sweet. For now I am making do with a 1 Gig iShuffle, a purple one, it does the job, but finding the right song to start your day on, especially for a music nut like me, is pretty damn difficult.

So what bands have come to the fore during the last five months of the year? I don't really remember, because these past few months have been absolutely manic. Luckily I have Last.fm to help me remember, the charts don't lie.

Soooo, apparently I've been super duper indie the past six months, TV on the Radio, Sunset Rubdown, The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Wolf Parade, My Morning Jacket, The Black Keys, The Cramps, The Decemberists, Iran and Elliott Smith.

Besides three of these bands, the others have been in my collection for years, Sunset Rubdown, Wolf Parade and Iran however, have not. So this post will now take a turn towards what you all know has been coming, music. More importantly, one of the most, in my humblest opinion, important songwriters in recent memory.

I've raved about Spencer Krug in a couple of posts, thinking that I've done a whole post on him and I haven't. Very strange considering he's been responsible for my score of 2010. His bands have been on constant rotation, although I have not been as one track minded as usual, his efforts have stuck. I think if I could be in a band, we'd sound like Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade's bastard children. A little indie, a little noisy, but always sincere.

Krug's lyrics are pretty obscure, his stories fantastical, and his voice, regardless of the tempo or mood of the music can deliver as much angst, pain and joy (often all at once) as you are ever likely to hear. I love the fact that while he delivers these wonderful stories, he still manages to experiment with a wide variety sounds and instruments. Too many bands focus on one or the other, lyrics or music. And depending on the band and their sound, that is okay, but mostly bands fail in one of the departments, that however doesn't make them bad bands, it just doesn't make them great. Something I think both Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown are. I hope Krug continues to release records while becoming the next Robert Pollard.

As the year carries on, we need an album of the year, my top ten for 2010 so far would be...in no particular order...

Wolf Parade - Expo 86
Menomena - Mines
Liars - Sisterworld
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - Blood & Fire
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin
Against Me! - White Crosses
Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

If you can get hold of any (or all) of these, do. It's been a great year for music. I don't have anything smart to sign off with, I also realise that their are no links in the post, but think about it, when you read your favourite book, did it have links in? No it didn't. Exactly.

Over.
Rick.