radio free midwich

rfm’s 2011 round-up: the zellaby awards

An end of year list is irresistible isn’t it?  No matter how fallacious and arbitrary, it is nigh on impossible not to flick forward or scroll down to the number one slot.  And who am I to deny you that festive pleasure, eh?  They can also be incredibly useful.  For example, The Wire assigning top spot last year to that awful album by Actress finally freed me from any obligation to read that silly publication again.  What a time-saver!

Last year my round-up was all encompassing and fairly hefty.  This year I’m keeping it to the point and, as far as music goes at least, well within the no-audience underground.  This adds a bonus frisson to proceedings as many of you reading this will have reason to take my meaningless judgements personally.  Mmmm… what could be more delicious?  Maybe a warm mince pie with brandy butter…

And hasn’t it been a cracking year?  Along with the people and releases detailed below I have to mention a few other non-categorizable inspirations.  The consistently great writing to be found at Idwal Fisher is such a huge influence on this blog that I’m hoping Mark believes imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.  I’ve been delighted by the return of the paper fanzine to my doormat in the form of indescribable packages from Spon and Hiroshima Yeah!  I have been awestruck by the all-or-nowt work ethic and decision making of Simon DDDD who not only created DDDD’s unfathomable online presence but then deleted the lot in a breath-taking act of self-immolation once he decided it had run its course.  There then followed the even more jaw-dropping New Luddite Tapes project during which he created 72 releases – all recorded himself – within four months.  This has now also imploded, though some remains can still be picked over at the website.  Who knows what will come next?  Not me, that’s for sure.  And on that bewildering note, on with the show… 

(Methodological aside: the music mentioned below may not have been released this year, although most of it was.  To qualify it just had to be heard by me for the first time in the calendar year 2011.  There are five award categories ending with a prize, yes you heard right: an actual prize, for the album of the year.)

5.  The “I’d never heard of you 10 minutes ago but now desperately need your whole back catalogue” New-to-RFM Award is shared by…

Plurals and Eyeballs

Of Plurals, RFM said: “…one of the most striking things I’ve heard this year…” (full review here) and the verdict was similar for Eyeballs “…intelligent, wryly humourous and unashamedly ambitious…” (see here and here and here).  If you ever feel inclined to pay attention to what I say, I urge you to check these guys out.

4.  The “Astral Social Club” Award, given for maintaining quality control over a huge body of work making it impossible to pick individual releases in an end of year round up goes to…

Astral Social Club

Of course it does.  Neil’s ability to crank out such class at such a fierce pace remains inspirational.  Honourable mentions must also go to those snorting workhorses Culver/Inseminoid, Andrew Perry and Posset.

3.  The Special Contribution to Radio Free Midwich Award is shared between Andy Robinson of Striate Cortex, Seth Cooke of Bang the Bore and RFM’s North East correspondent Joe Posset.

Andy has generously provided review copies of some of the most intriguing and involving music that I have heard in years.  His brain food has nourished a selection of my most baroque, gushingly lyrical and borderline nonsensical reviews.

By agreeing to publish the lovely article Pete Coward had written about FFR then expertly conducting the interview that followed, Seth Cooke not only helped me put that era to bed – the definitive account is now on record – but inspired me to reactivate midwich too.  New releases and live appearances are in the works and it is, to a large extent, his fault. 

Finally, I would like to officially acknowledge the work of Joe Posset, RFM’s North East correspondent.  As well as providing a stream of his own terrific recordings, Joe’s tiggerish enthusiasm and selfless generosity have hipped me to many great acts and labels, including Fuckin’ Amateurs and Andrew Perry.  His efforts have been very much appreciated.

2.  The Label of the Year Award

Well, given what I said above, it will come as no surprise to hear that the winner is… Striate Cortex.  I needn’t say any more.  Everything I have written about Andy’s enterprise can be read by clicking here.

Honourable mentions must also go to: Sanity Muffin (on hiatus, but I’ve heard some great stuff due up next), Memoirs of an Aesthete, Medusa (more great tapes), Bells Hill, Infinite Exchange and our Mexican cousins Oracle.

1.  The Album of the Year Award

This is the biggie so I’m going to do a proper reverse-order run-down for added anticipation.  It goes without saying that everything by the artists mentioned above automatically makes the longlist for this award.  In addition to that cavalcade of excellence honourable mention must also be made, in no particular order, of the following:

• Seabuckthorn – A Mantra Pulled Apart
• Waz Hoola – Multiply Reality by Infinity
• Perpeteia – Music for Mesmer
• Foldhead – Drugs Paint Alcohol
• The Zero Map – Felis Cattus Domesticus

All terrific.  Click on a title to be taken to my review.  Now on to the big three:

The 3rd best album of year is:

The Piss Superstition – A Themepark for Whatever Happened Before

I wrote:  “For me, Julian’s work has always called to mind machinery, often on an unimaginable scale, working to some forgotten purpose, on the brink of being overwhelmed by entropy and halting altogether … It is an absolutely brilliant way of conveying the devastating effort it takes to feel something – anything – in this alienating world we live in.”  Full review and article here.

The 2nd best album of the year is:

Ceramic Hobs – Oz Oz Alice

I wrote: “This band is not only ‘going there’ but doing so willingly and, whilst there, using some voodoo power to create this music for the rest of us.  My mind boggles – rather them than me.  Simon suggests that this might be the last Ceramic Hobs album.  I very much hope it isn’t but, if so, it would be a magnificent way to bow out.”  Full review and article here (wierdly, still my most popular post ever).

..and finally, The Zellaby Award for Album of the Year goes to:

Ashtray Navigations – Cinderella Stamps

I wrote (in a post titled, fittingly, ‘ashtray navigations are my favourite band: empirical fact’): “…it is almost comical to me how perfectly it ensures that I get my groove on. Pretty much every musical element I dig is there, distilled and combined.  One finger piano?  Check.  Expansively tangerine wob-wob synths?  Check.  Red-hot tropical guitar?  Check … Imagine Phil and Mel soundtracking the adventures of an interstellar Buddha, preaching the eternal truths to bewildered alien races on Chris Foss style space-arks…”  Full review and article here.

To be honest, given the quality of their work, Ashtray Navigations and associated projects could have featured heavily in every category (except ‘newcomer’, of course) but I kept ’em out of it knowing that the most glittering of prizes would be theirs in the end.  Speaking of which…

The Award Ceremony

Some background: in early November I gave up drinking diet coke and in late November it was my dear Grandmother’s 92nd birthday and the combination of the two factors led to the first Zellaby Award for Album of the Year.  Now, I realise that last sentence doesn’t make any sense at all, so allow me to join the dots.

For years I have drunk at least half a litre of that nastily acidic, highly caffeinated ‘delicious beverage’ (original phrase removed at the insistence of RFM’s legal team) every day.  Finally, I convinced myself that this was a foolish thing for a grown man to be addicted to and ‘may have been’ (lawyers again) detrimental to my health.  So I went cold turkey.  The caffeine withdrawal not only gave me a bitchin’ headache for days but also led to a few decaffeinated moments of clumsiness and doziness.  For example: I dropped a load of eggs on the kitchen floor whilst attempting to open the fridge with my elbow, I put some delicate bedding in the tumble drier and it is now no longer King size (or even Queen or Jack size, more like Nine of Clubs size.  The pillowcases look like crocheted iPhone covers.) and then I made a mistake in Marks and Spencers…

I was in the process of assembling a parcel of birthday goodies to send to my Grandmother.  It was to contain a long handwritten letter, some photos, a birthday card and some easily postable presents, one of which was to be a M&S voucher.  I dutifully trotted down to the shop, made my purchase and it wasn’t until I got on the bus home that I realised I’d picked a card that said ‘Merry Christmas’ on it.  “Bollocks,” I said out loud to my fellow passengers and went back the next day for a ‘Happy Birthday’ one.

My grump lifted when I decided that it might be funny to award the spare token as a prize to the artist responsible for RFM’s album of the year and, when I realised I saw that band in the pub most Thursday lunchtimes, the possibility of getting a photo of the ‘ceremony’ for the blog was irresistible.  So here we are.  I handed over the prize at lunchtime today and the reaction of bewildered delight was exactly what I was aiming for:

The official photo, Phil & Mel remain a little suspicious as to what I’m up to…

…the realisation that they have actually been given something of worth…

…the descent into emotional delirium as the moment proves too much for Phil.

And on that happy note I’d like to call the 2011 Zellaby Awards to a close.  Thank you all for being such a beautiful (no-)audience.  Goodnight, comrades.