Call Upon The Author

So, NME have released their annual roundup of the years music. Much like the Kerrang release we reviewed previously, this is a bit of a mish-mash. There’s plenty here to like, especially from the outer fringes of NME’s coverage. There are also bigger names that seem to be here simply to give a smudge of the mainstream, even though they don’t really fit with the indie ethos that “the comic” has these days (hello Green Day, good afternoon Prodigy). This being a release from what was once the bastion of some of the very best music writing in the UK there is, of course, a track from one Mr Peter Doherty (the really rather dull Last Of The English Roses) and the lacklustre title track form Franz Ferdinand’s last album.
Thankfully though, the Radar (the only bit I regularly read – my newsagent hates me) bands save the day, from the ubiquitous Dominos by Big Pink to Dananananaykroyd’s chirpy Black Wax that, in it’s first three seconds, threatens to become The Stones’ Satiafaction, before finding it’s own path. Indie stalwarts like The View and Maximo Park drop in and there are big hitters that have probably evolved far beyond the pages of this collection’s namesake in the form of Muse and Biffy Clyro, as well as vetrans such as Graham Coxon and The Manic Street Preachers. Overall, this is an eclectic disc, there are certainly a few lows, but the highs win out overall!