I’m not going to deny that I was excited to hear about their reform, but soon after I felt aggravated. A band reformation is taking away opportunities for a new up and coming band to hit the spotlight. They’re collecting a massive paycheck (and perhaps that’s the only reason why they’re reforming in the first place), while many new artists are struggling to make ends meet, and have to work sometimes more than 1 job to stay afloat. And it’s not just a new epidemic. It feels like these reunions and reformations have been taking place more than usual for the last 10 years.

With each band reunion that happens, it becomes even harder for listeners to let go from the past. We go to reunion shows of bands that we loved as teenagers or young adults, because we perhaps didn’t get the chance to when they were first around, or we were not even aware of their music until a few years or months prior to the reunion. Of course, I’m not suggesting that we should forget about bands from the past because that’s an absolutely insane statement to make, but I’m saying that people should be more open in expanding their musical horizons to music that is out today. And actually more likely than not, some of this new music sounds just like music from 40 years ago…another victim of nostalgia. Nostalgia sells right now, it seems.

I’m not saying that bands should just quit when they quit and be done forever, but if you’re going to reunite, it has to be for the right reasons; and the biggest reason is because you want to make new music. Look at one of my favourite bands as an example: The Smashing Pumpkins. I was absolutely excited to see them play in 2008 when they reformed (albeit with only 2 original members, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin…but honestly they were the only 2 in that band I really care about) and the show was definitely one of the most memorable I’ve ever been to, despite them playing the same set throughout Europe for each show and not even mixing it up just a little bit. They came out with a new album a year or two prior, albeit it’s not as good, but at least they reunited because they wanted to actually combine their musical forces again.

The bands that I have a problem with are the bands who reunite, play pretty much a greatest hits set, then move on to the next city and do it all over again, while raking in probably more money than they made in their prime, or at least in their dying years. While there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of bands out there who play shows to virtually no-one despite promoting the hell out of it; simply because there is a lack of interest in local music. You could say that I’m expressing frustrations at my own situation, and you may be right. When there are bands (including mine) who definitely have the tools, experience and talent to be at a better position than where they are now, but seem to not advance because the music industry is obsessed with nostalgia, how can they, or in fact any new band progress to the next level?

It’s kinda crazy to think that there are actually bands out there who are on a decent indie label but have to still work a second job in order to live. Back in the day, you’d get signed, and you would get a big advance and of course decent royalties from record sales and merchandise/ticket sales. Now, the music industry is in such bad shape that many artists who get signed to a label don’t get much financial aid from it. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of teenagers who look good or ‘hip’, who just walk in to a studio, try to sing and then get auto-tuned to hell, and somehow seem to make plenty of money out of it, because the big labels with the money are behind them. And then, when bands from the past reunite, there is a similar sense of label support, they see the dollar bills floating in their eyes and gravitate towards those artists. It’s a business, after all.

It seems to be more about looks than talent. A band like Black Sabbath (who have also reformed in the last few months) in today’s day and age wouldn’t have had a snowballs chance in hell of making it – let’s face it, they’re not the most attractive looking guys. But it was their MUSIC that stood out. They did something DIFFERENT. They weren’t blatantly copying the music of the time, which many big selling artists do today (like Adele for example, who sounds like she’s right out of 1960′s R&B and soul) they were creating music they loved because they enjoyed it. With Sabbath, heavy metal was born, and we wouldn’t have got that pioneering genre if it wasn’t for them.

That’s another issue I have. Music just seems so stale and stagnant these days. Everything in the pop world is so clean-cut and harmless. Most artists are just looking to the past, rather than create their own genre or style of music. Even the musicians themselves seem to be copying their idols, almost directly at times. There just seems to be a total lack of creative energy, some of us are just trapped in the crap of what this world has become. Musicians, if they are being honest, feel more demotivated than ever before because they just aren’t being given a chance to shine. It doesn’t come for free, and it’s not easy, but when there’s absolutely no interest from the public or from the industry itself, some who want to be successful might think, well, what’s the point? The old cronies get back together, make a ton, then stop touring. It’s relatively easy money. Or, a singer who can’t sing just gets edited in the studio and sounds like a robot, and the pop fans love it and don’t question it.

I just think generally there needs to be a change in how we view music. There needs to be a hunger from the music listener to listen to something new, something different. But until that happens, we’re going to be stuck in the past for the forseeable future.

It’s absolutely insane to think that I met my now wife almost 4 years ago. I wouldn’t call it a whirlwind romance because that implies that we rushed into things, we got married about 18 months after we started dating, and since then, time has flown by so fast. I’m not blaming it on the marriage!

I remember when I was maybe 6 or 7, I was complaining to my mum about being a kid and how I wanted to be an adult already. She said, and I still remember this well too, “you don’t want to be an adult, because every day feels like a year” – well, I’d say those kind of days started and finished in high school for me, I didn’t have the nicest time there and each year seemed to take forever to end. Since leaving high school my life has moved so fast.

I’ve been in several bands, finally settling into a band I love and want to remain in for as long as possible, my aforementioned move to the US that made me leave behind my friends and family but also start a new life and meet my new other family, and FINALLY finding myself a job nearly 3 years later.

Now, I’m 25, and in a depressing way of looking at it, 5 years removed from 30. It just feels so strange that I am this old, because I definitely don’t feel like it half the time. And with 2011 coming to a close in a month, possibly the fastest moving year of my life to date, I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come in terms of fast paced years.

And that’s why I, and hopefully others reading this, have to realize that life is short. Cliched, I know, but it’s totally true. I’m ready to take life by the horns and just go all out and try and fulfill my dreams. I don’t want to be depressed at 30 because I didn’t give my music career my best shot. I’m doing it now and will strive to keep doing it right until luck comes our way. It’s the only thing I can do at this point.

I, like many others living in the 21st century, rely greatly on the internet. I use it for many purposes, using Facebook/Skype/Twitter/FaceTime to catch up with some friends who are several thousand miles away…or a little closer to where I call home, streaming Netflix or Hulu (on your piss poor 1Mb connection speed but I’ll save that for later), as well as keeping on top of emails for my job, band and personal stuff.

Last Thursday, our Internet randomly stopped working. I wasn’t surprised as we have had many outages in the past since Verizon dumbfoundedly transferred their Internet services in our area to you guys a year and a half or so ago. The outages prior had lasted from a few hours to almost 12 hours, so I hoped by Friday morning when I woke up it would be back to normal. Nope.

So I called customer service, the first of over 10 calls I’ve made in 5 days. I’ve had dealings with some companies who had awful customer service representatives. Congratulations, you’ve won the prize for worst customer service reps EVER. And for a company who prides itself on all jobs being in the US, that’s embarrassing.

The first time I called, the lady asked for an account number which I did not have because we do online billing and your service online sucks so bad we can’t log in to see what it was. And of course when I call back this other lady NEVER asked for anything of the sort. Your company is so inconsistent with protocol as well as clear signs of different rules given to each batch of new trainees for what to say to each customer. Not only was the second woman unaware that an outage had even occurred, she told me to hold the line and directed me to technical support without asking me if I wanted to be redirected. Tech support lady knew there was some sort of server upgrade done prior but ALL of my surrounding area had been fixed and ready to go. First lie, and another example of terrible intercommunication between your staff. We tried all different things to try and get it working, but to no avail. Defeated, I hung up the phone, depressed that I had such sucky Internet providers.

I went on Twitter, searched the words “Frontier Internet” and there were plenty of angry tweets from people within less than 10 miles from where I live saying how much your service sucks and that their Internet had been down since Wednesday. Guess I was a little luckier than them. So obviously the outage was NOT solved in Durham.

Saturday afternoon, and I call again. And again, different protocol in terms of what they ask to confirm your identity: classic case of poor colleague training. Everyone being taught different things makes your company look unprofessional and inconsistent. This was one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb during this whole ordeal.

Anyway, I call and the rep informs me that I had set an appointment the day before for a repairman to come. Unless I did so in my sleep, or I time travelled without realizing, I did not. But, whatever, a repair was due the next day, I was a little more content that it’d be back by the next day at the absolute latest. But wait. It gets better.

As I was on the phone, my wife noticed a Frontier van right outside our apartment. She spoke to the man and he said he couldn’t fix ours just yet as we weren’t “on his ticket” but would be here tomorrow. Ok. Why waste money on gas (an all important thing these days) as well as making the poor man come back right where he was a day prior? He could have fixed it there and then and I would haven’t been as pissed off as I am now. Guess that’s too simple for you guys.

So, Sunday came and the repairman came. He smelled so bad of body odor that we had to light candles and open our doors and windows after he left, his smell was that bad. Obviously that’s not your problem, but it’s a fine indication of your company. Even HE had problems talking to your reps and he works for you! One rep was totally unhelpful and told him something completely untrue from what was meant to be done, while the other rep told him how it was done and sorted out the problem for us. As it turned out, Frontier did not ever clear the remains from the Verizon data in our telephone line/modem, so during the upgrade Frontier did not recognize us anymore because they didn’t do their job properly. Again, another example of poor staff training and poor management.

Monday came, and I demanded a refund for the days that we did not receive Internet. The lady I spoke to, Kim, was (at the time) very friendly and understanding, although she also had a different protocol where I had to now be authorized as a joint account holder. Fine. She immediately took $10 off our bill without hesitation. Afterwards, I let her know my feelings on your service and how we were planning to switch to Time Warner Cable. She then offered to give us your full Internet speed in our area (which she said was 8MB) for $24.99 as opposed to $39.99 to convince us to stay. I thought that was a great deal, she was about to set it up but to her “embarrassment” (her words) her computer had just crashed so she said she’d call me back within the hour to set it all up. She never did.

Later that day, I called back. Again, different protocol from the rep asking me random security questions. I informed the gent that we were given an offer by the rep a few hours ago for 8MB for $24.99. He, as I predicted, had no idea about this, and said we already had a GREAT deal, 1Mb for $19.99. Ha! I let him know that it was really quite awful. Anyway, he said that Kim would call me back in 10 minutes. Guess what? She never did. That was the end of that offer. Or so I thought.

I was determined to get this deal so I wouldn’t have to deal with canceling one service and setting up another. I called the next morning, different questions again from the rep, and get this – I supposedly wasn’t an authorized co-holder on the account. Something I just had to go through the day before! So my wife had to give them permission AGAIN because of their incompetence. At this point it was getting beyond a joke.

So, I explain to the lady the situation so far, and she agrees that it’s been less than satisfactory. Then she delivers the nail in the coffin – all this time, I was lied to by Kim. The fastest we could get in our area with Frontier was only 1MB. Really?! So I was lied to and mislead. Great company tactics, ethics and customer treatment there Frontier. Kim’s computer probably “crashed” cause she knew she was up shit creek without a paddle.

Angrier than I had been before, I called Time Warner. The difference in customer service? Night and day. Friendly, simple, to the point. Not patronizing. It was actually quite a pleasant call. We were told in our area we could get up to 50MB. So, there.

And then, nearly 72 hours TO THE MINUTE later, our Internet went down again. I made 2 calls. Both contradicted each other. One said they were aware of the outage and the repairman from Sunday didn’t do the job properly outside “on the field” (if she meant an actual field there aren’t any fields in this apartment complex) and that a repair had been scheduled for tomorrow, and one said they hadn’t heard of any outages whatsoever, put me on hold and “asked others”, and they hadn’t either. Yet another fine example of poor intercommunication.

So to add to that, during that 72 hour outage, I went over my iPhone data plan limit and am now being charged $15 extra. Thanks!

This whole experience has been the worst I’ve ever encountered in dealing with a company. I’ve never experienced a company with so many different protocols and the level of professionalism is shocking to say the least. I’ve also never heard of an ISP being down for over 3 days solid unless it was due to a weather issue which is totally forgivable.

If you continue to keep treating customers this way and not sorting your problems out, you’re going to lose a LOT of customers FAST. You’re about to lose one in me very shortly.

Iain Watt

Ever since I was a small child, I always wanted to be a musician. While I got tempted later in my life to pursue a career or degree in either History, Politics or IT, music was always there for me, and something that was just NATURAL. Of course, I come from a musical family, so it wasn’t hard for me to become musical. My 2 siblings have dabbled or are dabbling in music too. My dad started teaching me some basic music theory and piano lessons when I was around 5. I wasn’t so interested in that. I took up clarinet for many years, I was more than able to play it (after all, it was partly how I got into my music degree in college, playing a piece of music that some clarinet players in my degree course played for their final performance in their final year), I also sang for many years as a child and won various music festivals around Northern Ireland, but I was just striving and searching for something else. It was then that I discovered drums. It was a sheer coincidence how I found them really.

I was at a youth church service (yes, believe it or not this Humanist/Atheist was made to go to church…) and the whole time I was just watching the drummer. Something in my head clicked. I had never felt this way about an instrument before.  I was so engrossed in performing classical music that I had entirely ignored drums. I then finally worked out what it was I wanted to play. I liked creating melodies (and still do), but rhythm was my main passion all along. I literally went to the drums after the service and played the exact same beats the drummer was doing. Please bear in mind I had NO previous experience in playing drums. I wasn’t quite able to play the bass drum patterns yet, but I was more than capable with my hands already. It didn’t take me long to work it out. I was playing every Sunday morning in my church in-front of usually around 50-100 people, and on one occasion, a full house (over 250 if I recall correctly). I was around 14 when I started, and playing to a crowd was just in my blood. It felt NATURAL.

Fast forward a few years later, and I was in my first band. We played some good gigs, and I experienced playing in bars and venues for the first time. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but I learned that I had to work from the bottom up. No shortcuts. It was here that I knew my Plan A. And that was to be as damn successful as a drummer that I could be, and making it my career and ‘money maker’. And here I am, in 2011. I’ve gone through several bands in 2 different continents, some were for pure fun, some were bands with a limited and deliberately so timeframe, and some (including the current band I am in) were a little more serious. I’ve played so many different genres within the 10 years of drumming, from black metal to commercial pop, and everything in-between, it has certainly made me more of a jack-of-all-trades type (and master of at least some!) drummer, as opposed to just playing one style and limiting myself.

My current band, Minor Stars, are about to go ‘postal’. We are all determined, passionate and driven to make this project work. We have the music, the attitude and the aforementioned determination to ‘make it’. We’ve blown people away at every show we’ve played. We’ve got stellar reviews about our live performance, as well as our album (which I wasn’t a part of, but will be for the next one obviously.) All we need is the right ears to hear it. This is my Plan A at full work, and I’m more than determined for this to work out. After all, it is my Plan A. Putting extra effort into a Plan B is worthless at this point because I could be spending that energy on making my Plan A work out better.

I don’t want to be the unemployed bum any longer. I feel that I’m too talented to be lazying around every day. No company wants to hire me because I go and tour in order to fulfill my Plan A. Of course, fulfilling Plan A requires money for touring, and for the meantime I’m somewhat covered for that thanks to understanding parents and me saving some of my small income I make from drum lessons. I’m 24, turning 25 in a month, I gotta make Plan A happen before I get too old and have too many commitments that fulfilling Plan A might become impossible. I will succeed!

Minor Stars hit the road again in late February/early March – this time for 2 weeks. To sum it up, let me put it this way. The first week was AWESOME, with many great bands supporting and playing with us, along with meeting new friends and old alike too, and we definitely partied hard but never let it get in the way of our rocking out! The second week was pretty good fun, the quality of bands we played with weren’t as good unfortunately, and although I think we were all a little drained by the end we still did well (and I picked up a really nasty cold that didn’t want to shake itself off at all.)

I’m glad to say that all 3 personalities on the tour meshed together really well, and I’m really happy to have found 2 great bandmates and friends. In fact, some of the best times of the tour were actually on the road, when we were just being goofy people and bantering on about random stuff. The homecoming gig at the end of the tour was VERY hard for me, the cold/flu was at its worst, and after the show, I headed straight home and I felt like I was about to genuinely pass out, and I was hallucinating when trying to sleep also. Not so fun times, but you gotta do it for the music!

I’m still woefully unemployed – at this stage I’m just about ready to give up hope. I’m applying for jobs that I SHOULD be able to get, whether it’s due to job experience or my musical experience, but I either don’t hear back from the job people at all, or get as far as an interview and for one reason or another it doesn’t work out. Case in point – I was being interviewed for what seemed like a perfect job for flexibility and interest – it was teaching music to kids after school. I applied and let them know I was a DRUM teacher, the interview happened for about a minute over Skype and they said they were looking for string teachers only with experiences in band and orchestra teaching. Not me!

It really is not the best time to be looking for a job in this country when you’re not American; they’d rather give the job to one of their own citizens first before giving it to a foreigner. Don’t get me wrong, I understand their thinking, but it’s frustrating to me. It’s been an almost 2 year stretch of applying for jobs since getting the green card, and it’s now been almost 4 years since I was an actual employee somewhere. That might work against me, but it’s the ultimate catch 22 – how are you supposed to get a job, and therefore experience, if a workplace won’t give you a chance?

Some of you might be thinking – why don’t you go into retail or another stinking job like that? The answer to that, my friends, is very simple. I worked in retail, for over 2 years. Never again. Retail made me go from liking people to hating everybody that I was around (excluding my friends of course, but the general public I mean.) On top of that, they would definitely not give me the flexibility I would need in order to keep doing what I love. Just gotta keep on keeping on I guess.

Also, some of my friends have been asking me about what the situation is regarding where I am living in the future. After much discussion, and one or two compromises along the way, Colette and I have decided to move back to Northern Ireland in 2012; so Colette can obtain her Masters Degree in Conflict Resolution from Trinity College Dublin, with this campus and course being taught in Belfast. So, obviously that means that I’ll have to sadly leave the band I am in (unless we happen to get signed by then…) and also leave the friends I have made here, on top of probably having to leave behind many personal items too, as it’d be too expensive to ship over.

We’re still hoping to eventually ship our dog Moose over there, but we have a few concerns about that. First of all, it’s going to cost around $3,000 – money that we probably won’t have, unless something lucky comes our way. Even if we DID have that money, he isn’t exactly the most calm and confident dog, and we think and worry he might have a panic attack or worse because he’d be confined for so long without getting to see us. And apparently you’re not allowed to drug up the animals before flight, so unless we get a special exception we’d have to deal with it, and hope for the best. So as of right now, we’re probably going to have to keep him here with a family member until we can afford to ship him over. We just really hope that we don’t have to give him up – he’s been through a hard enough life as it is, moving to another home or none at all would just really mess him up.

Still, despite being sad that I might have to leave my band and friends here, a small part of me is really excited about going back home for a little while. There’s just something about Northern Ireland (and I guess anywhere you’re from) that I love so much, that is not so existent here in America. I guess it is the practicality of things like travelling. You don’t NEED a car to get around (although it is helpful for grocery shopping.) You don’t HAVE to tip in bars/restaurants. Things and people just generally, at home, seem MUCH more simpler and less annoying, obnoxious and complex. I’ll definitely miss a few things about the US, but I miss far more things about home. That said, I am happy that I have found two great homes, and while I’d consider America my home for the meantime, in my heart Northern Ireland will always be home to me.

Anyway, I think that’s all for now.

The song first got its taste of exposure thanks to Daniel Tosh (from Tosh.0 fame) posting it on his blog, regarding terrible song lyrics, from what I gather. After that, within days, the video had millions of views, and is still weeks later one of the top worldwide trending topics on Twitter. By all accounts, I would be happy that a 13 year old musician was getting exposure, but then you listen to the song and realize it’s not positive exposure.

Almost everyone knows the lyrics are what can only be described as written by a 6 year old who hasn’t quite figured out how to write logically and coherently. But the lyrics were actually being wrote by an adult ‘songwriting team’ known as The Ark Factory. Delving deeper into this, Black’s parents PAID The Ark Factory over $2,000 to record, write and produce the song, as well as shooting the video for it. So basically, it is parents with lots of money to spend, probably forcing their daughter to do this so they can also get a ton of money off of it from their pre-pubescent child. Shame the song sucks though, parents.

It’s clear that the Ark Factory are looking for the female Justin Bieber. The similarities are staggering, especially on the “Friday” song. Simplistic, synth-pop driven music with a ‘special appearance’ by a hip hop artist, and a nice serving of auto-tune (which I will get into later). However, if this song was a flash in the pan, a few days of chatter then slowly fizzled out, then I would be fine with it. It is several weeks since it became popular, and it’s only becoming more popular by the day. This worries me.

Initially, I laughed my ass off when I listened to this song. I shared it on my Facebook and Twitter, and people similarly found it funny or ridiculous. But, now I think with all the press the song has received, including an appearance on Jay Leno by Rebecca herself, our society has, albeit subtly, accepted the song as a feasible representation of music. If this is what mainstream music is going to be like in the future, I worry for future generations and their development of musical talent.

Not only are schools in the US cutting back on arts funding, kids and adults today can make songs within minutes, using computer software. While I find software like Cubase, Reason and Pro Tools to be a great aid for making and producing music, I feel that too many artists today are relying on it, and laziness takes over. It’s especially bad for those with no musical talent at all – because creating a song using computers is real easy. Once something ‘sounds good’, they usually leave it be and don’t work on it much further. After all, all they have to do is hit the undo button if they don’t like anything they do choose to add to it. Simple, right?

We are enabling talentless morons because it’s funny, meanwhile ignoring those with real talent, because it’s maybe ‘boring’ to some. I have never been a fan of the YouTube musician – I’ve never understood why anyone finds it at all interesting to watch some guy in a room playing along with a song, usually with highly distorted sound and a bad picture quality. ‘Sorry for the shitty quality’ is usually on most video descriptions. Here’s a thought – how about you wait a while, save some money, buy a good video camera and mixing desk if you’re dead serious about people ‘hearing you’? Some people deserve to be heard, and the internet provides them with that, but the vast majority of musicians online today do NOT deserve to be heard, because I feel they do not have the talent to be heard, but usually these people are because it’s ‘funny’ and an ‘epic fail’. Is society becoming more accepting of people and their failures? Seems like it.

I’m not saying that music should be serious and only performed by those with talent, but there has to be a line drawn. I believe the average musician or wannabe musician can HAVE fun, but ONLY when they have the talent to do so. Those who have plenty of fun and write bad music are usually the ones most heard, because of them being obnoxious and ridiculous. Meanwhile those who write better music but perhaps do not have as much fun are deemed ‘boring’ and ‘buzz killers’. People today are more ADD than ever, they strive for the latest fads, latest technology, latest funny YouTube video, then, like junkies, search for their next fix of fun when the fad or meme dies down.

Coming back to the subject, The Ark Factory did little to no publicity of Friday, and all it took was one comedian to post the link on his blog, and millions followed. The power of word of mouth today is significant, despite the words probably coming from a screen than an actual person, but I digress. There are plenty of people to blame here for this horrible song and its acceptance into society. The songwriters, the parents who paid the money in the first place, and the general ‘dumbed down’ population.

There’s really no point in analyzing the lyrics, because they are too nonsensical. But, how the lyrics are approached are what really bothers me. The verses are monotonous, almost robotic in delivery, with heavy use of auto-tune, or as I like to call it, the cancer to the art and heart of music. Her voice is whiny, and has this weird country/valley girl hybrid, much like similar autotune queen Kesha (no I’m not doing the $ sign for her s). Seriously, if auto-tune is going to be featured in all pop music today, there is no point in the person even trying. It can make the most tone deaf singer turn into, well, someone who isn’t tone deaf. If this is another ‘fad’, it’s a horrible one, but I can accept it if it will run its course eventually. Much like heavily reverbed and gated drums in the 1980s were like, the fad died down. That one wasn’t anywhere near as bad though.

For many years, I have genuinely worried about the state of the commercial music business. This song is yet another stab in the heart of mainstream music, and I’m not sure if commercial music will ever recover. Within days of the song being released on iTunes, the song was downloaded over 1 MILLION TIMES. We laugh at the song, we ridicule it, we buy it, Black, her parents and The Ark Factory laugh all the way to the bank. Any respectable musician, artist or band would LOVE that form of attention. But, now they have to make an epic fail of a song with stupid lyrics and badly green-screened music videos. It makes me sick.

A lot of you might be thinking ‘why are you always going on about commercial music?’ – well, simple answer, because it’s where a lot of kids start hearing music. The Beatles early music was deemed commercial music back in their day, and those songs are some of the best ever written. Now we have talentless teens or slutty girls with autotuned crap and a song that was written in probably 10 minutes. Nothing wrong with writing a song in 10 minutes, so long as it’s GOOD.

I’m 24 years old, coming 25 in July, I have been involved in music my whole life. Ever since I was a child all I wanted to do was perform music to an audience. I have been lucky to have done so for pretty much my entire life, from playing school concerts to playing to big and small crowds in rock clubs. I still feel like I have a LOT to learn, and am learning new things about music and the art of performing every day, and at every gig. I’ve met some really cool people on tour, and all of the good bands I’ve saw all have the same passion and desire – to make it. Sadly, not many people seem to care about gigs anymore. The scenes are over-saturated, and unfortunately the less talented bands get farther because they know more people. Seeing a 13 year old make a terrible song get millions of hits in a few weeks angers me, simply because I have literally poured blood, sweat and a few tears, and look where it’s got me.

Apologies if I came off bitter in that last paragraph, I really am not bitter. Just angry. I know I have to keep at it and eventually I will succeed. I just hope that the general listening public just wakes up and realizes there is great music right in front of them, rather than autotuned, over-produced crap that is called commercial music today. Go out and see a local show, support local bands, make some new friends, be open-minded about new music and old music too, as well as other musical genres that you think you might hate. You never know, you might find an artist that just taps into your way of living and musical thinking.

These albums are in alphabetical order, sorted by artist name.

1)  Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

This was one of the few albums that really blew me away this year. I’m really glad that Arcade Fire have improved with each album; as it seems that fewer of my favourite bands are not doing that anymore. The production in this album is fantastic, there’s simply no other way to put it. Owen Pallett once again adds some subtle yet effective string passages, something he has done in all of Arcade Fire’s albums. And look at that great album art; it has such a retro vibe, and it really matches the music within well. There’s some great radio-friendly tracks here; “The Suburbs”, “City with No Children”, “Modern Man” (which itself has a great 4/4 to 5/4 riff) and “Rococo”, and some classic Arcade Fire style tracks like “We Used to Wait” and the “Sprawl” series. While I much preferred Funeral over Neon Bible, I think The Suburbs is a Funeral beater. One of the few albums of 2010 that deserves repetitive plays.

2) Black Country Communion – Black Country

This album is a great classic rock and roll sounding album, with a modern twist. This could be in part due to Jason Bonham’s drumming, which is aggressive and pounding in nature, but just as solid as his father’s legendary playing, with great guitar work by Joe Bonamassa and the usual rocking keyboard style of Derek Sherinian. This was the first time I was exposed to bassist and singer Glenn Hughes, and a part of me is now asking why I hadn’t heard of this singer before. He has a really powerful, distinctive voice that definitely has a Dio style sound to it. I’m not surprised he had stints in Deep Purple and Black Sabbath, his voice fits that kind of music perfectly. The album opens with a statement of intent with “Black Country” – it’s fast, relentless, and nearly dangerous sounding. ‘One Last Soul’ is a great rock radio song, and other highlights on this album include “Stand (At The Burning Tree)” and “Song of Yesterday”. A great hard rock album that’s sure to please any classic rock fan, young or old.

3) The Black Keys – Brothers

The Black Keys were one of the many, many bands who I heard lots about, but never really took an interest in checking them out. Until this year, that is. I heard many rumblings about this album through various music websites and forums, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. Many people saying that it was already their favourite album of 2010. I took this as a hint for me to check it out. And I definitely can’t disagree with those who said that. This is a fantastic album from start to finish; I can’t really put a finger on their style, I could say Garage Rock, or Indie Rock, or maybe even Blues Rock, but I just think they have their own unique style of music. “Everlasting Light” is definitely one of my favourite tracks of the year, such a great happy vibe, with a vocal melody that is sure to stick with you for a long time. Other favourites from this album include “Howlin’ For You”, “Next Girl” (which has a great riff), and “Ten Cent Pistol”. iTunes recently named this their album of 2010, and I may go out on a limb here and agree with them. A fantastic album that I think almost anyone with a good taste in music will enjoy.

4) Brandon Flowers – Flamingo

Yes, Brandon Flowers from The Killers is on my list. Whilst I have pretty much sadly given up on The Killers’ new music (but still LOVE Hot Fuss as much as I did when it was released), this album is a little different than The Killers. A little more mature, more synth and keyboard driven (which is what was expected, as Brandon plays keyboards in The Killers), and there’s definitely not much of a ‘rock’ sound here at all. I guess it is slightly ‘adult contemporary’ pop/rock, in the vein of Coldplay; a little heavier than that though. Brandon’s vocal melodies are still as catchy as ever. A nice album to play in the early evening.

5) Caribou – Swim

I discovered this album through Pitchfork; which admittedly I’ve been keeping more of a tab on this year, due to discovering some fine albums through their “Best of” lists. This was another album they ranked highly, and certainly does not disappoint. The music itself is somewhat psychedelic and shoegaze, but it’s mostly an electronica album. This album could be played at a party, at a lounge bar, in a restaurant, retail store, masseuse parlor, anywhere really. It has that cross-appeal. This album takes you on a trip from start to finish, and I’m sad I missed them when they came to the area a few months ago. A must for anybody who likes trippy music and/or is in need of a good chill-out party album.

6) The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards

One of the few good follow-up albums this year. I think their first album was a little disjointed at times, but still enjoyable, where-as this one has a more distinctive style. The opener “Blue Blood Blues” has got a great riff and beat to it, you’re sure to be tapping or nodding your head along with it. Jack White and Alison Mosshart’s voices really compliment each other well, and each singer really sing the ‘right’ songs for their styles. And of course, I really love Jack White’s drumming here – it makes me think he should just make The White Stripes a one-man band! This is just a great grooving album that is probably a little under-appreciated by yours truly sometimes.

7) Gayngs – Relayted

When I heard that Bon Iver was in a new band, my curiosity was raised as to what band it was. I found out that it was this band, Gayngs. A really cool feature about this album is that all the music is in the same tempo, 59 BPM, which doesn’t seem that way because of how they manipulate the tempo. Quite ingenious, really. And it also makes for a smooth listen and transition into separate tracks. The music within is just a total chilled out psychedelic trip, that is sure to make you feel real sleepy after a few songs. I really enjoy this album, and it’s difficult to listen to just one song on shuffle without having to listen to the whole album.

8) Girl Talk – All Day

While it’s arguable that this album was made in 2010 due to it being a mashup album of songs from various years and decades, the album itself was released in 2010. Like any mashup; especially from Girl Talk, the possibilities are endless; and Girl Talk has really raised the bar here, that they raised with 2008′s Feed the Animals. Some of the mashups are just insane, such as mashing Rihanna with Fugazi, 2 completely different artists and genres, but somehow making it all sound natural, as if the song(s) were meant to sound like that from the beginning. If anyone wants a party album, this is it. Girl Talk knows how to get people dancing, and it’s simply phenomenal how he was able to think about which songs would go well with another. It’s arguable that mash-ups are a higher form of musical art, due to making completely new songs out of existing sections from songs of the past, and I would tend to agree that mashups are certainly unique, and perhaps the future of electronic music. Whatever you listen to, you will find something in here that you’ll know and/or appreciate. Another top album from 2010. And the best thing is, you can get this album for free, from the Girl Talk website.

9) Goldfrapp – Head First

I’ve always been a big fan of Goldfrapp, and I actually didn’t know she was coming out with a new album until the week it came out; and I just so happened to see what albums were being released that week. This album is actually my personal Goldfrapp favourite now; all of her previous albums always took me a long time to enjoy and appreciate, this album was an instant like for me. All of her trademarks are here, synth-driven pop/electronica with catchy choruses and vocal melodies, and dreamy ambient samples in the background during the more mellow songs. A fun, happy feeling pop album.

10) Jonsi – Go

Sigur Ros, over the past 4/5 years, have been a rather huge influence on my composing, and obviously their music is simply fantastic. So when I heard that Jon, the lead singer from Sigur Ros, was making a solo album, I was intrigued. Admittedly, there is not much of a difference here from Sigur Ros’ actual music, the music is a little more livelier, much like their 2008 effort which is too impossible to type! There are some really fine tunes on this album, such as “Tornado” and “Grow Till Tall”, that really stand out as memorable tunes. Another enjoyable, ambient album for any fan of the Ambient and Post-Rock genre.

11) The National – High Violet

This album might just be my favourite album of 2010 – or #2 to Brothers. The National were another band who I heard a lot about, but just never took the time to really listen to anything significant by them. By chance, I started listening to their previous album, Boxer, a mere few weeks before High Violet came out. After really enjoying Boxer, I knew I had to listen to High Violet. And, at first listen, I was blown away. Very few albums have that effect on me these days, but this is one of them. There’s something really dark and brooding about this album, and some songs like “Anyones Ghost” is just haunting at times. The instrumentation and arrangements in this album are just superb, making great use of reverb pretty much throughout the entire album. Usage of classical instruments like the clarinet added with reverb makes for a chilling sound that has to be heard to be appreciated. Musically, the album is perhaps The Nationals most musically accessible yet, with some radio friendly songs like “Bloodbuzz Ohio” being a good starting point for anyone wanting to hear this band for the first time. I’ve always been a fan of baritone voices, and Matt Berninger’s is definitely one of the best I’ve ever heard. And, I love the album art, too. I highly recommend this album for any Indie Rock fans.

12) Portugal. The Man – American Ghetto

This was one of my more anticipated albums of the year, and it definitely did not disappoint. I’ve been a huge fan of Portugal. The Man for a really long time, and I’ve felt that with each album, they improve, and really don’t have any albums that sound similar to each other. This album definitely does not break that trend. On their last album, The Satanic Satanist, they went for a more summer time, good-time feeling album that featured a lot of retro sounding guitar effects and similar keyboard patches. This album sounds a little more ‘modern’, with many samples and loops being used to create some great Indie songs, and within those loops and samples there is certainly a little bit of a hip-hop influence within the beats, and John Gourley’s distinctive and unique voice brings everything together. “All My People” is one of my favourite tracks of 2010, with a chorus so catchy you’ll be caught singing it for weeks after. One of the few ‘amazing’ albums of this year. Definitely in the top 3.

13) Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way

Now, here’s something I thought I would never add; a soul album! I discovered SJ&TDK (just because it’s a long name!) through watching The Colbert Report; and I instantly took a liking to Sharon’s voice and personality. Plus, her backing band, The Dap Kings, sounded so tight and together that I knew I had to check them out further. And I’m really glad that I did. Soul isn’t exactly my top favourite genre, but I’ve always enjoyed listening to it at times, and this is one of the few albums that I’ve really dug from that genre. In a world of Pro Tools and Auto-Tune, SJ has taken those technologies and threw them in the trash, and would much rather use retro microphones and ‘old school’ recording and production techniques, that really make this album sound straight out of early 70s Detroit. A really refreshing sounding album in a world of sterile, over-produced music dominating the airwaves today.

14) Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History

It’s always great hearing bands from Northern Ireland getting the recognition they at times deserve, and TDCC are certainly one of those bands. I saw these guys a few times when I was back home, and they always played music that I enjoyed. Once I knew their album was out, I had to get it. And it’s really a great sounding album, with quite a positive vibe. The album seems to have done really well all over the world, which is great for them. Their music at times really remind me of early Minus the Bear (whose new album, OMNI, released this year, was a huge let down) and they have a great ear for melodies and knowing what will attract radio and mainstream attention. It’s no wonder these guys ‘made it’; they have great talent and know how to get people dancing. Another feel-good album, in these dreary times.

15) Vampire Weekend – Contra

I can hear it already; ‘everyone has this album as a favourite of 2010′. Well, you are right. But it’s because it deserves to be one. I got into Vampire Weekend last year, and was so super excited to hear they were bringing out an album this year. And, whilst “Holiday” has been used in car commercials and seems to be played a lot everywhere, and “Cousins” has been used in movies, the album as a whole is just great – it feels like a natural progression from their self-titled released 2 years prior. There isn’t much else to say other than this is a fine Indie-Rock album that has the usual catchy as hell melodies and riffs you’d come to expect off Vampire Weekend. Great album from start to finish, with a rather odd album cover.

16) Wolf Parade – Expo ’86

This is another album that I was told about; but never really got round to listening much of until lately. And I’m sad that I didn’t listen to it more often this year. This album has pretty much everything I look for in an album – accessible melodies, driving rock rhythms, crazy synth patches, and a tight rhythm section. It’s sad to hear that the band is taking a hiatus, after releasing this gem of an album. Perhaps when they return they will record an even better album. Maybe.

17) Yeasayer – Odd Blood

This is another album of the year candidate for me. It looks like this year has been filled with great psychedelic, shoegaze albums. I really love all the tracks on this album very much, and songs like “Ambling Amp” and “ONE” have really picked up a lot of plays on my iTunes. I really like the production in this album, all the songs sound very air-y and are given plenty of room to breathe and allows the listener to really know what is going on. I love all the vocal melodies in this album, and really this whole album is a statement of intent: Yeasayer want to conquer the world with their sound. A must for any MGMT or Passion Pit fan.

So, there you have it. The albums I feel that really shaped my 2010. I would have an honorable mentions list, but I don’t think many of the other albums released in 2010 I gave enough of a listen to to be able to judge what they are really like, so these are the ones I knew and loved the most. List your favourite albums in the comments!

The reason I am actually in Cancun right now is because my wife Colette is working at the COP16 Conference, the United Nations Global Climate Change Conference. Never one to turn down an offer of tagging along for some sunshine and sunbathing, I came along. So, for me, this is 10 days of pure relaxation and I guess a chance to reflect on 2010. I’m sad my wife is working a lot as I’d like to spend time with her here too. But that’s life.

My 2010 on the whole has been rather mixed. I’m now a drum and cymbal endorsed artist, I’ve gone on a tour of the East Coast with my new band Minor Stars, and I’ve made and met some really cool friends and people.

However, on the job front, it’s been pretty demoralizing. I am still teaching drums, but the quest for a “real” job has been poor, having come so close to some jobs, or just never hearing back from companies frustrates me greatly. I’m also waiting to hear back from a temp job agency who guaranteed me a great job due to my computing and people skills.

While a job would admittedly purely be a money maker for me so that I can continue to support my chosen career path, I obviously can’t go without one for too long, otherwise I’d have issues going on tour and buying any drum stuff I may need. So it’s really getting near crunch time for me to get a job ASAP.

My first whole year of being married has been great; Colette and I continue to get closer as friends, and it just feels like we’re best friends who live together, which to me is great. Arguments are rare, and the art of compromise has really helped us get through any potential volatile situations. She’s been so supportive of me wanting to reach my goal of “breaking it” within the music business. At gigs that she’s been able to attend, she basically acts like my roadie, and she knows where to put things and how to set hardware etc down. It’s incredible, and I’m so appreciative of her help every time.

In February, we decided to get ourselves a dog, Moose. He is a dachshund mix, we’re not sure just what he’s mixed with, either a Catahoula or a Whippet, or possibly some other fast type of dog. Moose has been a blessing in some ways, but also a little bit of an annoyance! He’s a very sensitive soul, and gets scared very easily. He was clearly abused in the past, and all year we have tried building his confidence in himself and his faith in people. At times it seems like he isn’t improving at all, actually getting worse, but we know that change doesn’t happen overnight in messed up rescue dogs. He’ll hopefully improve next year. Once he gets over the initial fear of meeting people, he loves to be on their laps and cries whenever they leave!

He’s been a great friend and companion to me whenever I am home alone, except when he growls and barks at people or at nothing sometimes. But most of the time he’s just adorable. It’s good for me to also get up and do something like feeding him or taking him out for a walk, as prior to getting him I had a hard time getting out of bed some mornings/afternoons!

He’s come a long way though in our care, he has learned to walk on a leash, and has learned that he can be left alone because we always come back. He’s still anxious at times, but he’s improved.

So, my first ever tour. It really couldn’t have gone much better than it did. I got to visit new cities, meet old friends, and play to some great crowds, and hear some amazing bands and meet cool people in the process. It’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to do for so many years I’ve lost count. You frequently hear about so many horror stories about bands on tour, but we didn’t have any major incidents or mishaps. I got some mean callouses, blisters and cuts on my hands and fingers if that counts. And only broke one pair of drumsticks (ironically I bought them a week prior to tour, whereas I used a pair I’ve had for 8 years and they’re still going strong!)

Despite us not having a bass player due to some personal differences on that tour, we are convinced 2011 is going to be a great year for us. Not “our year” as many bands like to claim, we’ll just see how it goes. We just know we have the right tools, attitude and songs to get noticed on a major scale, and starting in the new year you’re going to hear a lot more about Minor Stars. We’re sending the album and promotional materials to as many major and indie record labels that we can, along with sending stuff to magazines and other places of interest. We’re going postal!

The music itself is what makes me most passionate about the band – it’s hard to put a finger on the style, some say psychedelic indie rock, with hints of classic rock and alternative rock. I would also add a very big 90′s hard rock and grunge sound into the mix too. Either way, it sounds great, and I think you’ll love it. Check out www.minorstars.com !

Within the band, we are working and thinking about new songs, and revisiting demos and past written songs and perhaps adding something different to them. All I can say is you’ll be hearing a lot of my influence in regards to my own compositions and electronic inspired music within them. Very exciting!

I’ve also got some other projects up my sleeve, which I won’t be revealing just yet until everything is confirmed. But it’ll be exciting and may put an end to one big problem in my life if it goes well.

So that is all from sunny Cancun for now. It’s so strange to be in such hot and sticky weather in December, especially when it’s snowing in Durham right now. Signing out!

Iain

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This means that my blog posts here may become even more irregular, if that’s possible. But we’ll see!

Iain