headlong into 2006............

well it's twenty to eight in the evening on New Years Eve & we are going out soon to the downtown Canmore New Years Eve party, live bands are promised & fireworks - promises to be good

back in London they are already several hours into 2006 & over in Sydney it's probably lunchtime - hope the hangover is OK Rob!

i struck out again into the wilds of the Rockies today, crossed the border into British Columbia & then crossed the continetal divide a little further down Highway 93

stopping a few times for photos & exploratory hikes it was a pleasant afternoon, but the sting in the tail was a flat tyre on Highway 1 on the way back - luckily I'm covered under my Audi protection thingy & was able to call out roadside assistance. changing a tyre on the wafer thin hard shoulder, with huge road trains whistling past at breakneck speed is not for the faint hearted.

time i think to post up my track of the year on this top 26 countdown.

here is a band i have slavishly followed for a few years now, in my book they are the best band on the planet right now but seem to be hugely under appreciated in their native America and worshipped back in the UK (just look at Uncut for proof of this)

i had the pleasure of recieving an advance copy through a good mate at Faber & Faber of the new, debut novel - The Motel Life - by Willy Vlautin the lead singer / songwriter with Portland, Oregon based band Richmond Fonatine. Like his songs, the book wove a wonderful but desperately sad tale of broken down, out of luck, fucked up but lovable characters - i read the final few pages as i flew home one night crossing the snow capped mountains & it brought tears to my eyes

as well as writing this book Willy & the band released another epic album - The Fitzgerald - this year, reading like a graphic novel & again full of sad tales, beat up characters and tales from the flip side of the American dream

one song in particular leapt at me & haunted me for days, even now it's desolate narrative has no joy, no redemption but is ultimately a subtle way of underlining that bond between father & son & the incalcubable sense of impending loss that lingers in any relationship

god this is bleak for new years eve, i better get out & watch those fireworks & hug my wife & daughter

No.1 Richmond Fontaine - Incident at Conklin Creek

Happy New Year.

slip, slidin' away.....................

i have been churning my way through the billions of "best of 2005" album lists onthe web - amazing how nearly every Top 10 list i have seen has been a re-jig of the same 10 or so albums! Sufjan Stevens, New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Wolf Parade, Spoon etc etc etc

these are obviously the "in" bands at the moment but you'd think with so many relesases & so much music available to everyone on the 'net these days that the choices for people's top 10's would be really, really diverse - this is not the case!

i still ache from my first proper cross country ski-ing work out last night, i am a self confessed star on a snowboard - backwards, sideways any which way on the gnarliest of terrain & I can control that board with my eyes closed -BUT put me on two skinny little skis & point me down the gentlest slope imaginable & i'm all over the place - i embarrasingly slid off the trail last night & about 40 yards into the car park before finally crashing to the ground in an undignified heap

more practise required methinks

I am now at No.2 in my end of year favourite tracks & this song divides the BCR household - i love it but it sends my wife & daughter into a deep sleep mode after the 2nd minute

Espers hardly seem to exist out there in mp3 blog-land although an honourable mention to Shake Your Fist who have played tracks of their's recently & there is indeed some argument to be had (yet again!) as to whether this is a 2004 or 2005 track, I am including it in my 2005 list because it was released (possibly re-released) in the UK on Wichita in 2005 - oh well i suppose these are the top 26 tunes i heard in 2005 for the first time!!

they of course fit in nicely with this super trendy psyche folk thang that is going on at the moment, and i love the way this gentle, pastoral song is overtaken by a judddering spacemen 3 esque breakdown about 2/3rds of the way through before the folk takes over again at the end

play loud!

No. 2 Espers - Byss & Abyss

perfect smiles in a town called Malice.............

well I'm hooked, hooked i tell ya & i'm only about 2 years behind the times but i love Deadwood

sure it's a soap opera with a grimy collar & a filthy mouth but the writing's good, the characters strong & the tension is ratcheted up at times to sweaty palm point

what puzzles me though is how in a town without sanitation, with a doctor relying on herbs for his medicine & more rags wearing ruffians & ne'er do wells than you could shake a stick at - just how does every inhabitant in this cess pit of a town have a perfect set of dazzling white teeth?!!

well it's top 3 time in my tracks of the year & at No.3 I have chosen a song by Gravenhurst - i kept hearing good things about this band but it wasn't until i bought their "Fire In Distant Buildings" LP that i realised what all the hype was about

the second track on this album in particular burrowed it's way into my conscience & this I have chosen for my No.3 track of the year

hear for yourself on my radio player to your left

No.3 Gravenhurst - Velvet Cell

staying in the tracks for now......

i did something new today, cross country skiing & it was certainly fun - hard work & given that i haven't worn a pair of skis in probably the best part of 8 years I think i did OK. we live a few minutes walk from the Nordic Centre in Canmore so this will become a regular thing i bet - it'll improve my fitness no end as it really is a good upper body & legs workout - also if we get more snow it'll avail opportunities to explore the area

after lunch we headed out along Highway 1A & stopped near Seebe to make the journey by foot to the base of Mount Yamnuska - it was a beautiful afternoon & there was hardly a soul to be seen in the surrounding wilderness - i love the fact that from Canmore you can be in the middle of nowhere surrounded by such natural beauty within a very short time

we did the same yesterday, took the road up to Spray Lakes & struck out into the snowy landscape, a vigorous Boxing Day & post Christmas Day hike for sure

i was feeling a bit tired after getting up at 5.30am on Boxing Day morning to watch Charlton unluckily lose to the referee in their game with Arsenal - oh well 7 losses in 8 games surely it can't get any worse????!!!!!

we watched a good film on Christmas Day night - The Assassination of Richard Nixon - despite it's similarity in parts to Taxi Driver it was a quietly understated & somewhat depressing film & i like Sean Penn's work (& ethics) more each time - definitely recommended if you come across it in your local Movie Rental store (the DVD not Sean's ethics)

so without further waffle we go to the Blue Canadian Rockies end of year countdown

at No.4 we have The Super Furry Animals who released an immensely enjoyable LP this year in Love Kraft .In addition Pete Fowler the man behind the Furry's artwork compiled & released a fantastic compilation of oddball psych antiquities in The Sound of Monsterism Island

to make my Super Furry year complete one of my last London gig's before heading out here was the boy's themselves at Brixton Academy in which they treated us to new songs from Love Kraft & the usual assortment of classics - to add to this they arrived & left the stage in spacesuits, driving a moon buggy - not normally my kind of rock theatrics but it works for them!

Ohio Heat has an insanely catchy riff running throughout it & soundtracked my last few weeks in the London metropolis - I love it.

No.4 Super Furry Animals - Ohio Heat

This is a picture I took this afternoon of Mount Yamnuska to the north west of Highway 1A near Seebe. 

do you want a bear or moose on that?...........

man have i felt tired today! all this travelling about has finally brought me down & I'm in need of a few days of just doing nuthin' - but i also badly want to get up the ski hills this weekend & ride, ride, ride

i did some last minute Xmas shopping today, i shop well under pressure & some good choices were made - i mean Canmore is not exactly Oxford Street or Bluewater but it has enough shops to keep you interested - if you are in the market for anything bearing images of moose or bears this is the place to come

weirdest thing i saw was a mini golf game which you seemingly play whilst sitting on the lavatory - i want to make it clear I didn't buy it, but if i was back in England I would know some people who would appreciate this kind of thing - hello Bernie!


rightio as i'm so goddam cream crackered without further ado it's top 5 time in the Blue Canadian Rockies songs of the year

i absolutely love The Broken Family Band - these guys are geniuses (or is that genii - who cares)

hailing from Cambridge, UK they play witty, acerbic & just plain awesome country music. now this might sound corny coming from East Anglia as opposed to Tennessee, but far from it - they put most americana bands totally to shame & their live concerts are a joy - they often play in London so i really recommend that you get out and see them at the next opportunity

this year they released Cold Water Songs - which could easily have contributed at least another 2 or 3 songs in my top 5 but i have chosen Devil in the Details which is a beautifully bittersweet song

No. 5 The Broken Family Band - Devil in the Details

I'm dreaming of a brown christmas........

What a pleasure it was to listen to the dulcet tones of Beefy, Bumble & even dare I say R.G.D Willis this evening - yes I have discovered that, with precisely Zero more games to go on this tour , England v Pakistan is available on PPV over here! Oh well I fully expect the England v India games to be shown as there is a huge Indian population in Canada. So with Father Ted on nightly, (there's even a Father Ted-athon on New Years Day), regular showings of Charlton's dismal efforts on a weekend morning & now Freddy Flintoff live & direct - I am a happy man.

Calgary is experiencing one of it's regular chinooks at the moment & down in the City folks will be preparing for a brown christmas with any snow long since melted, up here in the mounatins we will have snow on the ground on the 25th - but in the 2 months we have now been here it has only seriously snowed twice & even then it wasn't that much. Worrying for the ski resorts i guess as the only snow is coming from the snow cannons, which is great if you enjoy ski-ing on pulverised ice.

I was delighted to see the plans for drilling in the Alaskan wilderness defeated for the time being - however you just know that when those bastards get the $$ signs in their sights they won't rest until that oil is being pumped out of the ground & the money is lining their filthy pockets.

The No. 6 track in my end of year list comes from the Calexico/Iron & Wine joint LP released in the summer - here we have two great bands, although quite different stylistically, fusing together into a seamless & joyous one. Calexico have always been a favoutrite of mine & I have seen them many, many times aroudn London & even once in Chicago. Iron & Wine I know a little less about - or rather I haven't lsitened to them as much, because I still enjoy & admire Sam Beam's work.

The track here is one of the uplifting numbers from the album.

No.6 Calexico/Iron & Wine - A History of Lovers

fuck the wildlife give me OIL..........

I was amazed to read this morning that the controversial US plans for oil exploration & drilling in an Alaskan National Park are closer to reality. It seems weasel minded politicians in the US House of Representatives used a Military Expenditure bill & the need to fund the opccupation of Iraq, as an excuse to pass the bill.

This remote Alaskan refuge shelters caribou and migratory birds in the summer and a polar bear nursery in the winter - yet the insatiable need for oil, in part to help fuel the grotesque gas guzzlers driven over here is threatening this fragile ecosystem.

I just shake my head in sadness what kind of world will my daughter be living in, in 20 years time?

I was also stunned to here a presenter on a Canadian radio show tonight moaning about the "do gooder's" who try to dissuade drink drivers from (obviously) drinking & driving! His argument seemed to be that with no public transport over here at night, a lack of taxi's & cold weather - people have little choice but TO drink & drive! He stated it was unfair to expect people to curtail their alcohol consumption at the work's Xmas party as this is a once a year celebration & he quizzed a "Doctor" about ways to "sober up" quickly after boozing & before driving home! Amazing stuff.............

At No. 7 in my tracks of the year we have a most English record, which for me at times recalls bands like East Village, The Times, Felt & even Saint Etienne. The Clientele released a gem of an LP in Strange Geometry which took me back to the heyday of Sarah Records

Amongst all the delicately strummed guitars, wistful lyrics & understated tunes on the album was this track - "Losing Haringey" - which tells the story of an evening stroll in the rubbish strewn, fried chicken peddling, muggy North London streets that are so familiar to some of us. A strange & captivating story with a truly psychedelic denouement.

No 7. The Clientele - Losing Haringey

green is the colour..........

yaletown in vancouver is a really hip little area, it's packed with funky bars & restaurants - with the pacific ocean always within earshot if you listen hard enough - we had a nice evening here in heatwave-esque temperatures (i swear it got to +7C at one stage)

vancouver is awash with political posters on display in people's houses - it seems to be mainly a Liberal or NDP kind of town with the Consevative's posters few & far between - as an outsider it's hard to get too excited - we can't vote & even if we could i haven't a clue who i'd vote for - there is a strong Green party out here & in light of the recent & sadly quite evident news about global warming I'd probably plump for them


at no. 8 in the Top 26 is another Canadian band, Stars are a new band to these ears although i know they've been around a while - i love this Lush type track & the rest of the album is equally strong - if yopu know your music you will know that Canada is at the forefront of a lot that's hip & trendy at the moment - Stars aren't getting as much publicity as compatriots like The Aracade Fire & Broken Social Scene but in my book they are better than these bands & if there is any justice in this world 2006 will deliver a higher profile to this special band

No.8 Stars - Ageless Beauty

the big R is on the horizon...........

another shocking defeat for Charlton on Saturday, this time humped by Wigan & I am afraid to say that I think it's time for Curbs to move on - for his sake as much as ours - i am not sure who we have out there to replace him but it's a big old world & there must be someone who can organise & motivate this team better than Mr. C - as we lurch from one inept showing to amother suddenly the big R is not unthinkable

it's not so much the defeats, it's the pitiful way we are playing - one striker up front, hoping against hope to sit back, soak up pressure & snatch a breakaway goal - well given that our defence has more holes than a string vest - some hope

it all seems a long way away & truth be told, I am not missing it - the dire football we play & the boring predicatbility of the Chelsea Premier League means i feel my Saturday's are more productively spent up here in the mountains

talking of which i went for a long old hike on Saturday round Quarry Lake, through the snow & the still, silent back woods - i wanted to take some pictures but it was so cold that my batteries wouldn't work - still it was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky & the snow really was deep, crisp & even

so below we have a couple more of my tunes of the year

at No.10 we have former Varnaline & Space Needle frontman Anders Parker - with a Spacemen 3 type title for the track, "Don't Worry Honey Everythings Gonna Be Alright"

at No. 9 - the wonderfully talented Steven Adams (more from him later) with his solo project, The Singing Adams.

I won't write too much about either track, you be the judge - they are both on the radio player at the top right hand corner of this page! Enjoy!


No. 9 The Singing Adams - Minus Nines

No. 10 Anders Parker - Don't Worry Honey, Everythings Gonna Be Alright

a warning to the curious...............

i note that the BBC are showing a week of ghost stories on BBC4 in the next week

i implore you, if you are reading this in the UK to tune in and watch "A Warning To The Curious" at 11.20pm on Tuesday 20th - even if you are not in the UK it's easily available on DVD

this film made in the early 70's & based on the classic M.R James tale is easily the most creepy, spine chilling thing i have ever seen, shot on an impossibly low budget 0n the eerie, empty Norfolk coast - it will stick with you for a long time

easily superior to any vastly budgeted Hollywood thriller, this beautifully constructed & shot film is perfect for a dark winter's night & a good old fashioned SCARE!!

M.R James - A Warning To The Curious

hordes of hoodies..........

no post yetserday as I was up in Edmonton and while i was there i popped into the West Edmonton Mall

this place claims to be the world's largest indoor shopping centre but i was less than impressed - i suppose we are a bit spoilt having had Bluewater on our doorsteps in recent years but this mall was a little bit tired & shabby - fine if you want to choose from endless shops selling tacky shell suits, hideous porcelain dolls & "mystical" dragon ornaments but sadly lacking in any real class

it kind of reminded me of a small town English shopping centre (let's say in Doncaster for example) circa 1991

the best shops are in my humble opinion always to be found in the downtown shopping areas, for example 17th Avenue SW in Calgary or Whyte Street/Old Strathcona in Edmonton - although I haven't had a chance to visit this area yet

one positive thingabout the place though was a near absence of chavs, of course there was a smattering of sad, shell suited, rope chain, baseball behatted plebs but not the hordes of hoodies up to no good that you find in every British precinct

driving back yesterday into Canmore, down Hwy 1, we were treated to the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, the sky above the mountains was literally crimson & the clouds streaked across the sky captured the different shades of the setting sun's rays - it was awe inspiring, even though it was -10C I stopped near a First Nation's Indian Reserve & took a couple of pictures I'll post them up later

briefly I'll waffle about Nos. 12 & 11 in my festive countdown

at No.12 we have the good, old Teenage Fanclub - probably my favourite band ever, if i was marooned on a desert island & could only take one record with me "Songs From Northern Britain" would probably be that choice - they released another stand out LP this summer, Man Made & the great & good from the Greenwich scene were there to see them - It's All In My Mind kicked off that show & kick's off the LP & is my choice for No.12

Neil Young has been around for ever, he's a Canadian as well which right now is cool in my book - he survived a near fatal brain condition in April & after recovering released Prairie Wind his umpteenth album - all in all it's a pleasing set of songs, very inward looking & you get the feeling he is winding down, accepting old age & looking back at a chequered past - I love Neil, he's undoubtedly put out some crap in the past but he's also penned & sung some amazing songs

far from home is my pick for No. 11 & indeed it finds Neil in wistful mood, thinking about that final trip back home to the prairie's

No 11. Neil Young - Far From Home

No. 12 Teenage Fanclub - It's All In my Mind

come with me to a place no eyes have ever seen.....

it's an absolutely glorious day in Canmore today, the sun is shining brightly on the mounatins, which themselves are dusted in snow - I'm off to Edmonton real soon so not much to talk about today

at No. 13 in this years "Festive 26" is an old, old track re-released this year

ian brown seems to have risen from the ashes of the legendary Stone Roses & carved out a solo career of ever improving quality, i was & am a massive Roses fan - saw them live from their early pre-first LP days & that debut LP would easily sit in my top 3 albums of all times

so imagine my delight & suprise to hear Brown's version of Where's Angels Play on the B-side of one his single's this year - in all honesty this version neither improves or detracts from the original, it's just great to hear this song again

No 13. Ian Brown - Where Angels' Play

do two wrongs make a right?..........

it was strange last night going to bed after watching coverage of the upcoming execution of gang leader Tookie Williams, the guy was still alive as i drifted off to sleep & by morning he was gone after a, by all accounts, difficult execution

my instinct as a liberal kind of guy is that any state approved murder is wrong, and in this case there seems to be some debate as to his guilt or otherwise - however on the other hand I would find it hard to argue against sending cold-blooded murderer's such as Ian Huntley, Anthony Walker's killers & the guys who killed the policewoman in Bradford the other week, off to the chamber

ultimately i suppose if you take a life deliberately & you live in a place where the punishment for that crime is death - you have little in the way of arguments against the punishment you will recieve BUT and it's a big but - you are then reliant on the courts & justice system identifying the guilty & freeing the innocent - in the UK we have a chequered history of punishing the wrong guys & therein lies the problem with capital punishment.

i missed yesterdays Top 26 post so today is a double header

first up we have the only song in the list not actually released this year - it's a 2004 track but i include it in tribute to Hideaki Sekiguchi aka Bass Wolf, bassist with legendary Japanese rock monsters Guitar Wolf - Bass Wolf died of heart failure this spring at the age of just 38. Guitar Wolf, like Om, are an acquired taste but they often blow you away with the sheer untamed brutality of their music - screaming banshees would be put to shame by the wail these guys create & yet it is so right - in an age of bland, manufactured "corporate punk" doled out at the kids we need something like this to remind us that music is not about $$$$ but is a state of mind - Bass Wolf R.I.P

next we have The Reigning Sound out of Memphis, TN who produced a quite brilliant garage rock inspired LP in 2004 (Too Much Guitar) & then followed it up this year with Home for Orphans which veered off down a country lane & contained some impeccable alt.country - it's rare for a band to be accomplished at such different genres but these guys manage it & I love "Find Me Now"

No. 14 The Reigning Sound - Find Me Now

No. 15 Guitar Wolf - Jet 13

good drunk, bad drunk.........

the flight back from Toronto to Calgary this afternoon was spoilt by this absolute twat of a bloke who couldn't handle his drink, he was removed from his seat next to the emergency exit by the air hostesses & made to sit at the back because he was so drunk - he then proceeded to scream & shout & argue with the girls - they were absolutely brilliant, totally professional in the way they dealt with this nutter & told him in no uncertain terms that anymore fuss & the plane would land at the nearest airport & he'd be facing jail & a $20,000 fee for the emergency landing

he still continued to sit there & mutter until we landed, i have to admit that i would have had no hesitation in punching the living daylights out of him if he'd got violent with the girls - (he was only a puny little weed of a bloke - tee hee!) - and threatened our safety in any way whatsoever

happily there were a whole host of mean looking cops waiting for him a Calgary & I guess that'll be his last Air Canada flight

landing in Calgary we were suprised to be greeted by a glorious spring afternoon, the sun was shining, the snow long since melted & the drive back home was pleasant in that it felt like we were going home - this feeling of still being here on holiday is wearing off

so to matters music & today's entry in the Festive 26 is by a band I have only recently discovered, Halfway are that rarest of rare things - an Aussie band that are actually good! Actually as I flippantly write that i start to recall loads of other good bands from down under so that statement is probably a bit harsh

Drunk Again has the usual ingredients that light up the smile on our faces, booze sodden lyrics, weeping pedal steel & that dusty old twang we know & love. So some consolation here for our freinds down under, they may have been whipped in the Ashes during the summer but they have here a mighty, fine band....

No. 16 Halfway - Drunk Again

and thinking about it, what an apt song after the events earlier today, it's a darn shame that not everyone can handle their drink

man! these eggplants are awesome........

yes the very words above were uttered tonight in a hip little Thai restaurant in downtown Torronno by Canada's newest Canadian, Mr. Peter M

now just 2 days ago our hero would surely have commented that the aubergines he was eating were really rather spiffing, but such is the speed of naturalisation for us Brits to this wonderous country that petrol quickly becomes gas, cash points are ATM's, mobiles are cell phones and anything remotely pleasing is instantly AWESOME!

we had an awesome day tripping round Toronto with a liberal sprinkling of bars & restaurants including quite the most inept display of pool ever seen in a bar in these parts - Paul Newman this was not.

well it's late & I can't be bothered to write reams, so i will get strainght to the point because spiralling in at no 17 in the BCR Top 26. is a quite brilliant tune by UK hip hop wizards The Herbalise.

again this track is taken off an equally good long player called Take London, it has the same smooth lyrical flow & cool as fuck rap skills as a band like let's say, Jurrasic .

it's definitely a top tune & maybe deserving of a higher place in this list, but there's still a load of great stuff to follow - stay tuned folks

no. 17 The Herbaliser - Generals

the secret service comin' at ya.................

i spent yesterday in the company of Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin - Paul is up for re-election & is touring Canada touting for votes - so he found himself here in Mississauga at the same hotel as me

actually i say i spent the day with him, i spent the day in the same hotel as him & i could for all i know have shared a lift with him or queued up behind him for the buffet lunch or even stood next to him at the urinals!

unfortunately i would not know him from Adam so i can't say for sure that any of the above events did or didn't happen

however he is obviously an important figure because the hotel was flooded all day with mean looking, dark suited, shades wearing Secret Service guys who eyed you suspiciously even if you dithered between choosing the egg salad or the chicken kievs

in the evening we headed to downtown Toronto for an enjoyable evening meal in a bizzare Cluedo style, it was a dinner mystery murder where you spent the evning in the company of a load of hammy actors in a kind of whodunnit theatrical performance - it was all good fun but my tired mind couldn't follow the plot & i was lost long before it was revealed that the butler did it.

so as a result i neglected to post number 18 & 19 in the BCR Top 26. So without further ado:

No. 18 Black Mountain - No Satisfaction

No. 19 Son Volt - Six String Belief

SonVolt have been around for years of course, ever since the great Uncle Tupelo fractured into Wilco & SV back in the 90's. Jay Farrar has had a hit & miss time since with some top LP's & some patchy one's too. However this years Okemah & The Melody of Riot was generally above par. We saw them live in London in about May & they rocked - obviously in an alt.country way & the track I have selected reflects the pleasure this album & that performance in May has given me this year.

Black Mountain provide an altogether heavierbrand of psyched out rock, they come from Vancouve. No Satisfaction is desrcibed in one review as "nodding gently to the Stones and Velvet Underground" - it's certainly one of the lighter cuts from the disc. A band with a huge amount of potential & evidence that Western Canada has as much to offer as the incredibly hip bands coming from Toronto & Montreal at the moment.

adding the O to besity..........................

we looked around the diner tonight & noticed that practically everyone else in the joint was fat & not just fat but obese....huge waists, quadruple chins & big chubby faces

now don't get me wrong I'm not fattist & if they are happy, so be it but compared to your average European there is a definite girth advantage over here & then we looked at our plates - huge portions, millionsof calories & this was with us just slecting a main course - no appetisers & no desserts

it would be insanely easy to pile on the lb's out here & that is the problem - obtaining food is no problem & in most of the places littering the cities it's not about taste, it's about bulk

of course it's easy to find good restaurants if you are in a city like Toronto but it's even easier to find yourswelf in one of the many, many well designed comfortable chains out here - no doubt tucking into your mountain of ribs & fries with a chocolate, cream & god knows what else chaser

calories are definitely cheap out here

at No. 20 in my tunes of the year is an old man, a legendary figure who played bass in one of the greatest bands to come out of the US in the sixties - Chris Hillman may not be a name known by everyone but he had staying power in the ever changing line up's of The Byrds between, oh i reckon, 64 & 73 - the lifespan of this wonderul group.

well this year Chris released a new LP with a liberal sprinkling of mellow, countrified tunes & i really love the opening track, his re-invention of a Byrds classic - Eight Miles High - his reworking of this song, presents it as if The Byrds had delayed it's original release by a few years & placed it on "Sweetheart of The Rodeo".

No. 20 - Chris Hillman - Eight Miles High

lounging in the T Dot..............

Toronto & it's surrounding suburbs is a huge city - as you fly in it stretches forever & the flight in last night in crystal clear skies was beautiful. We are here for a few days & on Friday a very good friind of mine flies into town to hook up again with his lovely g/friend. We are all going downtown T.Dot on Saturday which will be fun - i have really enjoyed the few visits i have made to this City, it's cosmopolitan, clean, cold & we should get a bit of Xmas shopping done - alternatively we may just spend the day touring the bars of Little Italy/Kensington etc

As internet access is a bit hit & miss I will waste no time with No.21 in my songs of the year. Venerable indie schmindie dance troupe Saint Etienne have always been at the forefront of my musical tastes, year after year they steadily churn out great, under-rated albums & this years "Tales From Turnpike House" is no exception.

Side Streets is an ace track from this LP, as Sarah Cracknell delves into the delights & perils of taking the short cut home. Not an obvious song subject but it works I reckon.

No.21 Saint Etienne - Side Streets

a bit ahead of myself

as i am flying to Toronto tomorrow i may not get a chance to post up No. 22 in the list so here it is a few hours early

coming at you from deepest South East London is the Shortwave Set, whom legend have it scour the local markets & charity shops, (and there are plenty of those in that part of the world), for records & instruments with which to create their thing

this rather lovely beaten up track is a product no doubt of that D_I_Y ethic.

no. 22 - The Shortwave Set - Sling Shot

a transportive series of differentiated verse with sets of solid groove...........

oh dear, oh dear the sudden & not unexpected decline of Charlton Athletic continues - we have ridden our luck early in the season on the back of some hit & run away performances but Curb's persistence with this awful 4-5-1 negativity is costing us dear - we sit back & invite the opposition to attack, our defence is a shambles & we concede soft goals - is it any wonder that, when belatedly we switch to 4-4-2, we end up conceding more while desperately chasing the game

hopeless & I have to say Curbs has never pulled us out of a slump in recent seasons - only the summer break has consistently saved us, so is there any reason why he can do it this time? - the time for a change looms - sentementality or not

i am about to lose most of my Top 26 audience here i fear with No. 23 in my tracks of the year - because here we have 29, (yes 29) minutes of the best stoner rock track this year

Om are formed from the ashes of Sleep, a legendary stoner rock band & "On The Mountain At Dawn" is described by the band themselves as "a transportive series of differentiated verse with sets of solid groove" - the result is an utterley freaked out heavy incantation that rumbles deep into your sub-conscious - once hear never forgotten

so make of it what you will because here we have

No 23. Om - On The Moutain At Dawn

minus 26............

yep minus 26 on the car thermometer as we headed down the Trans Canada to Lake Louise this morning, and it felt every single degree of that ridiculous temperature up on the mountain - still the snow was crisp & the riding free & a fun time was had by all

in at no.24 in the Blue Canadian Rockies baker's double dozen is the standout track from Brighton based hip hop maestro DJ Format, as usual assisted by a load of dope rappers from Canadia

No 24. DJ Format - Another One Of Those Songs

the mist rolling in from the Bow.......

well the thermomemter has crept up to -19 this morning, but with all the snow thats fallen in & around the Bow River valley happily it's locals for free day at Lake Louise tomorrow. my boards waxed, edges tuned & helmet polished - can't wait

then on Sunday we are Cross Country ski-ing for the first time, we have bought baby T an attachment for her new chariot - basically a pair of ski's which attach to the bottom of her buggy so we can tow her along the ski trails - it's gonna be interesting I will post up some piccies

so in at No.25 in the BCR Top 26 is & i have to admit this is a massive suprise to me, The Rolling Stones - they have been cack for years, not since Some Girls in 1978 have they put out an even half listenable album

then kapow! out comes A Bigger Bang this autumn, chock full of tunes taking us back to prime early 70's Stones & it's been throbbing through my amps on a regular basis ever since

pick for me is the opening track, Rough Justice & this is No.25 in the RCR 2005 Hit Parade

No. 25 The Rolling Stones - Rough Justice

crashing in at No. 26.......................................

vancouver is a really, really cool city - i love it if you get the chance go there, mountains, the ocean, masses of great shops, bars, coffee shops & cultures from all over the world

we watched the hockey game as well last night on a TV in a bar near the stadium , i quite like ice hockey - it's fast moving, skillful & has the same kind of feel as football (that's soccer not that long winded stuff they play over here with lots of men with headsets & radio-mics). the canucks won 5-2 & i was glad, i shouldn't admit this as an albertan now but i like the vancouver canucks, they are i am beginning to feel - my team. they were the first canadian hockey team i saw live & that's kind of stuck with me

it's really cold here in canmore tonight, the thermometer outside my window is hovering near -20C, which is the kind of temperature you'll find inside the freezer in your kitchen - despite the perishing cold our postie still does his rounds in a pair of Bermuda shorts, thats postmen for you i suppose

well i have dedided to start my countdown of my songs of the year on Dec 1st with the winner being announced on or just before New Years Eve. The choice is pretty arbitary but i have got it together & kick off proceedings tonight with a track by Danish rockers The Ravonettes

i don't know much about this band i have to admit, they have kind of passed me by a bit but i like this twangy, surfy song from the album they released this summer

so at No. 26 in the Blue Canadian Rockies Tunes of the Year we have

No. 26 The Raveonettes - Love In A Trash Can

all songs will be added to the BCR Radio Player as they are revealed here so hear for your self right here --------------------------------------------------------->