2009: Songs of the Year - #50 to #11

Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone video

This song just got a million times better, thanks to this video. "Cornerstone" is likely to be the Arctics' next big hit, and you can expect more than a few parodies of the above video over the coming months. He may look like a bit of a knob these days but it's hard not to love Alex Turner for stuff like this.

"The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem..."

As you can (hopefully) tell from the title, I've been watching High Fidelity. It involves girls and music, how did I not find it/start worshipping it earlier? In fact, I can pretty much see my life being like that in 10/15/20 years, should I make certain decisions. Hell, it's pretty much my life know...just minus the constant stream of women (more like being drip-fed one per year) and my very own record store (more like this blog and the rest of the internet).

Anyways what it relates to is the Spotify mix playlists that I have created for you lovely people...at least I'm hoping you're lovely...to just spread a bit of aural goodness around. No, I don't see myself as some sort of musical Maharishi, imparting pearls of great music to you, the unenlightened. Being honest, most of you reading this will probably know infinitely more about this than I ever will and should you open one of the playlists, laugh in scorn at my woefully "mainstream" choices. But who gives one? I just want to share stuff I think is freaking awesome with anyone who wants to listen, hopefully convert a friend or two into liking a band and kill a bit of boredom.

Playlist Numero Uno is full of more well known bands/tunes of this year, with the odd suprise. So expect "Bonkers", "Dog Days Are Over", "Run This Town" and "Zero", though not "Bulletproof" or "In For The Kill" by La Roux. Even I'm sick of them by now.

Enjoy!

Playlist Nummer Zwei is the best of the lesser-known, "weird indie shit" (as I'm certain some acquaintances would call it) to appear this year. So album tracks from slightly less mainstream bands, obscure groups you're not sure how to say the name of (hello, Dananananaykroyd!) and basically good stuff. I've gotta say though, listen to the Noah & The Whale album in one go, as it is, not shuffled. You'll thank me later.

Enjoy even more!

Hopefully you'll enoy them, go buy the various albums/singles, see the bands live and, y'know, be a proper music fan. Or, if you're disgraced by my tastes, feel free to send me a playlist back to "educate" me. It could be fun. And these playlists will over there in the sidebar should you ever feel like downloading in the future and can't be bothered to click a few times right this second.

Oh and if you don't have Spotify, I reccomend you get it. Now.

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

These days, virtually every big record has a collection of buzzwords mentioned in every preview, review, interview and article associated with it, and "Humbug" is no different. Mentions of Turner & co's third effort have never been far from the words "dark", "mature" or "Josh Homme". Regular producer James Ford has been reduced to involvement on just three tracks, whilst band idol Homme has guided them to somewhere a world away from the Sheffield nightclubs and dancefloors associated with the Monkey's debut. It would appear Britain's biggest band of the moment are growing up.

Pre-album hype may have been just that, as mutterings of Black Sabbath and psychedelic influences aren't exactly at the fore of "Humbug". If anything, it's more Last Shadow Puppets than QOTSA in places. Opener "My Propeller" could have comfortably slotted in on "The Age Of The Understatement" had a string section been tacked on. It gives the biggest hint that Turner's songwriting and ear for a melody has been honed to perfection thanks to his work with Miles Kane. "Mardy Bum" it ain't. That's not to say it's wholly inaccessible, pretty much the opposite in fact. It's very easy to imagine the Monkeys hitting the upper echelons of the charts should they pick their singles well from "Humbug" (perhaps unsuprising to discover the most chart-friendly tracks are the Ford-produced ones). For the casual listener (a.k.a your mum/dad/uncle with questionable taste/chavvy cousin who liked "When The Sun Goes Down"), this album will take a fair few more listens to "click" than the previous two. This may be a bit of a cop-out but it's a grower.

Even if you find yourself enjoying it on the first few times, repeat listening is required to appreciate how far the band has, pardon the pun, evolved. Turner has turned into an unusual mix of Nick Cave and Morrissey in the body of Jim Morrisson, Jamie Cook is growing into a damn good guitarist whilst the rhythm section of Matt Helders and Nick O'Malley dominate a hefty chunk of the album, in particular "Pretty Visitors", possibly the band's heaviest track to date. Turner's vocals have gone from the spikey adolescent quasi-rap that characterised their debut, to a smooth, almost-lounge lizard croon that undoubtedly suits the tone of the record. The darker, sexed-up likes of "Dangerous Animals" and "Fire And The Thud" wouldn't exactly suit the mile-a-minute delivery of yesteryear. That's not to say that everything on the album is "mature" i.e. darker, moody etc, as two standout tracks are possibly the most obvious ballads Turner has ever written. If you shut your eyes "Secret Door" and "Cornerstone" could be offcuts from the Last Shadow Puppets, and as both bands progress, it's likely that the similarities will keep on increasing.

"Humbug" is nowhere near the difficult album some are making it out to be. To those with a wide taste, or even those who just like good songs the new set of songs will be immediately accessible. But any fan lusting after songs about "Topshop princesses" and being "thrown in the riot van" will be severely disappointed for the remainder of the Arctics' career. As they stated a few years ago "We'll stick to the guns/ Don't care if it's marketing suicide/We won't crack or compromise". If that results in more of the same as "Humbug", then good on them.

9

Leeds mutha'uckas!

Leeds. Was. Awesome. But that's stating the obvious considering the line-up, which was suprisingly unpopular with large chunks of the ticketgoers. But without further ado, here's a review of the entire weekend.

FRIDAY
Fightstar - 12:45 - 13:15 - Main Stage
I think I prefer Busted. Seriously. You can't look at Charlie Simpson without hearing "Year 3000". Fightstar are what you imagine the metalheads/emo kids two years below you in school would make if they had a ion of talent. Not to say they were any good. Murky and muddy through most of the set, the only thing of interest was the growing size of the first mosh pit of the festival.

The Rakes - 13:30 - 14:10 - Main Stage
Last seen; supporting Franz Ferdinand, Manchester, Oct 2006
For all their great tunes, The Rakes have never really gotten "big". Sticking them on the main stage, this early probably won't help that. Considering the arena was still mostly made up of hardcore kids left over from Fightstar/still waiting for Enter Shikari, The Rakes were never going to be too popular. Alan Donohoe's vocals don't really seem to have the same effect live as they do on record, going from lively and cool to shrill and fairly annoying. That said, they still put in a pretty good performance, just it'd be much more enjoyable in one of the smaller tents.

Eagles of Death Metal - 14:20 - 15:05 - Main Stage
Josh Homme's other other band (after QOTSA and Them Crooked Vultures). Although that is a slight fallacy seeing as he only plays on their records and never live. Not that it's noticeable, with frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes more than filling Homme's stage presence and acting the classic rock & roll frontman. Most people (including myself) only know two songs, but that doesn't matter as EODM make up for the lack of tunes with showmanship and a good-time feeling. An unexpected highlight if only for the phrase "I just want to shake my dick and make you all feel happy."

The Chapman Family - 15:00 - 15:30 - Festival Republic
Unfortunately I only caught "Kids", having forgotten their stage time and needing to get back to camp. But as expected, The Champans did not disappoint and were furiously superb for that one song. With a new single and tour this October, I can only hope I get to see an entire set.

The Courteeners - 16:00 - 17:15 - Main Stage
Oasis had broken up, but noone seemed to notice or heard at Leeds with The Courteeners doing a pretty good job of filling in. Not direct descendants of the Gallaghers per se, but with enough swagger to replace them, The Courteeners look to be going from strength to strength, especially with the confidence to chuck away their two biggest songs as set openers. Judging by the new songs on show, the second album should be a treat.

Ian Brown - 17:35 - 18:20 - Main Stage
Despite taking an age to arrive on stage, King Monkey provided the best set of the day so far. Okay, it wasn't a set for casual fans but the triple whammy of "F.E.A.R", "Stellify" and "Fools Gold" ("this one's good for boppin'. Whatever happened to boppin'?" went the introduction from Brown) made sure it left a lasting impression.

Maximo Park - 18:40 - 19:25 - Main Stage
A few may have been puzzled at Maximo's high billing as, like The Rakes, they haven't exactly reached Arctic Monkey status with the British public. But by the end of the set, there would have been few unconverted to the Geordies cause. Smart, sharp, fun, funky, and some fantastic dance moves from Paul Smith, the Park showed that they're more than capable of growing and growing to bigger things. The brass band augmenting the end of the set was a masterstroke.

The Prodigy - 20:00 - 21:00 - Main Stage
Bonkers before they'd even started setting up, there's less pushing in a ward of pregnant women. "Omen", which before now had been a minor chant amongst campers, turned into a full-blown festival anthem the minute it was played. Due to the fear of being crushed to death, I made a fairly swift exit. I managed to return for the closing "Out Of Space". There's little more fun than going mental in a field of other people going mental to probably one of the best dance tracks ever. I doubt it was as much fun on the front barrier though...

White Lies - 19:30 - 20:10 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; on the NME Awards tour, Jan 09
Having escaped death by rave, I managed to catch the last few songs of White Lies set. In the space of seven months, they've gone from doomy post-punkers to a rather epic rock band. In a strangely sparse tent, they still managed to bring the house down with "Death" and with a second album, they could definitely move swiftly to headliners of the NME stage or even high on the main stage. You'd be foolish to miss them.

Arctic Monkeys - 21:30 - 23:00 - Main Stage
Last seen; Manchester, Dec 07
The local(ish) boys return to...well, mixed reactions really. There were those who were only there for "Dancefloor", those who were underwhelmed by the performance and pissed off Turner's transformation to cliched arsehole rockstar and then there were those who thought it was a great rock show. I was pretty much in the latter group, having memorised the new album and pretty much every song that was played. Yes Alex Turner is too far up his own backside, coming out dressed in RayBans, leather jacket, awful hair and obviously pissed/coked up to the eyeballs, but that doesn't take much away from the live show. The new songs sound powerful and confident whilst older tracks are given a new breath of life e.g. "Fluorescent Adolescent" is slowed down with a new middle eighth. "Bring on the backlash" has been the Arctics attitude since they first appeared, and whilst the backlash is beginning, I don't think they give a monkey's.

SATURDAY
Vampire Weekend - 17:05 - 17:50 - Main Stage
Yeah, considering VW were fourth from top on the second day, you can tell I didn't get around much. Anyways, the buzz band of 2008 lived up to my high expectations, what with them making my album of last year. Of course, the majority of people only knew "A-Punk" (in the words of my friends, "they should just play A-Punk for half an hour then get off") but for those who, y'know, actually like to delve deeper and listen to albums, the set was a treat. Perfect for a somewhat sunny afternoon and the two new songs have got me and probably a lot of others eagerly anticipating their sophomore effort.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - 18:15 - 19:05 - Main Stage
The eternally hip band. In the mass-music-industry-fap over New York in the early part of the decade, the YYYs were almost gods, even compared to The Strokes and Interpol. But despite their elevated status in the world of indie, there isn't much that comes to mind that justifies a third from top billing on the Main Stage. But they do have the big songs. "Zero", "Heads Will Roll" and "Date With The Night" are all crowdslayers and a beautiful acoustic version of "Maps" should have brought a tear to the eye of even the most wasted reveller. The YYYs just seem like a tent band, they could have comfortably slotted in as headliners at the NME stage this year, and are a bit wasted on a field full of Radiohead fans.

Bloc Party - 19:30 - 20:30 - Main Stage
Or Radiohead Jr, as some seem to view them. Bloc certainly have a similar eclecticism and experimental side to them and can probably lay claim to the affections of an equal amount of indie kids' hearts, but they're an altogether more festival-y band i.e. you can dance around to them. And dancing was certainly the order of their set with only two slower numbers included. The segue of "Song For Clay" into "Banquet" in particular sent the place wild. Though despite all this, BP seem like they're forever consigned to penultimate band status. It's hard to envisage them making the step-up to headliners, seeing as they've played lower down for the last five or so years. But for now, I'll enjoy them wherever they are.

Radiohead - 21:00 - 23:00 - Main Stage
Reading gets "Creep". Reading got "Karma Police. Reading got "Street Spirit". Three songs I was pretty desperate to hear live on what was probably the only time I'll see Radiohead live. But this was the only complaint from a phenomenal performance. The lack of real hits dampened the atmosphere somewhat since your common garden Radiohead fan doesn't know "(Nice Dream)" or "A Wolf At The Door" so by throwing them into the set along with other less-known tracks won't exactly increase the bonhomie. But regardless, this was five outstanding musicians playing outstanding songs with an entrancing stage show. If only they'd played "No Suprises"...

SUNDAY
Little Boots - 15:05 - 15:45 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Now you wouldn't imagine big, bold, shiny pop would fit in with rain-soaked, northern fields, but somehow Little Boots made us all forget the horror of barely-cooked beans and pissed-on tents for 40 minutes. Especially by bringing her monumentally wasted brother up on stage to play tambourine. On this evidence, it appears Ms Boots will stick around longer than her counterparts

The Horrors - 16:05 - 16:50 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; supporting Arctic Monkeys, Manchester, Dec 07
A very large jump from blatant pop of Little Boots to dark and moody shoegaze of The Horrors. The last time I had the "pleasure" of seeing them, they were awful, possibly the worst proper band I had ever witnessed. What a difference just under two years makes. No longer goading and insulting the crowd, the band have perfected their look and their sound to make for a superb set, which is slightly lost on the sections of the crowd who only recognise Faris Badwan as "that goffy fella who was shagging Peaches Geldof".

Jack Penate - 17:10 - 17:55 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
From pop to shoegaze and back to pop again. The ever-effervescent Mr Penate attempted to bring a little bit of joy after the gloom of The Horrors. Okay, it did feck all to brighten up a miserable day but it certainly made the NME stage a happier place. Crowd surfing, crazy dancing and a cheesy grin are all part and parcel of a Penate live show and it was no different here. Whilst his newer material may not have brought the carnival that Friendly Fires did later on, it was the best warm up they could ask for. Pity about him losing his shoes though, they were rather snazzy.

The Big Pink - 18:10 - 18:45 - Festival Republic Stage
The Glasvegas comparisons are going to come thick and fast for the winners of the NME Phillip Hall Radar award and it's easy to see why. For one, they've both won the aforementioned award, they both deal in moody, shoegaze-inspired indie, they're got a short frontman in a leather jacket, a creepily slim bassist, a female drummer who's pretty damn good and a tall one. So as you can see too many similarities to ignore. But whilst Glasvegas have been clumped into the lad-rock zone, TBP are much too alternative for drunkards to start hugging each other to. Droney electronic soundscapes surrounding what are essentially classic soul songs; hypnotic on record but blistering in the live arena. It's enough to make me want to start my own band. So you know they've gotta be good.

Florence And The Machine - 18:15 - 19:00 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; NME Awards Tour, Liverpool, Jan 09
Due to being blown away by The Big Pink in the Festival Republic tent and her being forced offstage, I was only able to catch a small part of Florence's set. In comparison to the last time I saw her (crowdsurfing, barefoot, running around the venue) she seems to have matured a fair bit, as well as being pushed into the whole "forest elf" look by someone at her label no doubt. Anyways, it was a good, if unremarkable few songs I heard. That's all really.

Friendly Fires - 19:20 - 20:10 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Last seen; NME Awards tour, Liverpool, Jan 09
If there's one band that deserves a proper summer's day to perform on, it's Friendly Fires. Unfortunately, they had to deal with a wet and miserable Sunday evening although it didn't put a dampener on proceedings. Racing through their fantastic debut, they're a band that you need to be at the front for, or at least nearby, just to join in with the carnival and dancing. A little disappointing that the Brazilian dancers didn't make a return, but they weren't really needed. FF are well on their way to challenging Muse for the 'best live band' tag.

Jamie T - 20:25 - 21:15 - NME/Radio 1 Stage
Okay, scratch that. Friendly Fires AND Jamie T are challenging Muse. Possibly the most energetic performance of the weekend from the "sexy" (according to some...girls are extremely weird) Wimbledon troubador and with only two tracks from his new album (admittedly two bloody great ones). Spitting out lyrics at the speed of a machine gun, he even manages to convince the metalheads who are here for Faith No More, and Faith No More only, to bop along at the very least. Even if you can't keep up with the rapid verses, every chorus is designed for a festival singalong and the crowd doesn't let up. An unexpected delight.

Kings Of Leon - 21:30 - 23:00 - Main Stage
As expected, the mass exodus to see the Followill clan began the second Jamie T dropped his mic, resulting in the biggest crowd of the weekend, stretching back to the burger vans and one awkwardly placed ice cream truck, eventually destroyed during "Red Morning Light". As with Radiohead, KoL are in essence a group of good musicians playing good songs, and what more could anyone want? Well judging by a few members of the crowd, "Sex On Fire" played 20 times apparently. Even so, the audience "blew Reading to hell" according to Caleb Followill, although that wasn't hard considering the crowd down south had been less accepting of the band. Suprisngly the songs from the fourth album sounded alright and actually worth singing along to, whilst every single older song seemed injected with a renewed passion and feeling. That fifth album may be a while away but my guess is it'll be worth the wait.


Notes on a festival

• To guys: Stop wearing bandanas! You are not a hippie, you are not in MGMT. And anyways the craze for them was last year
• To girls: Stop wearng flower headbands! You aren't Florence Welch, you're not a hippy, this is not woodstock!
• Please don't walk around topless. Okay we get it, you're fit and tanned, stop making everyone else fell inadequate and burying your face in the toilets
• Dropping heavy metal in a DJ right after The Streets "But You Know It" goes down suprisingly well
• To those of you who suddenly started saying "I love dubstep, me", stop it. Just because Nick Grimshaw has been banging on about it this week, doesn't mean you should to! Stick to your white, middle-class unimaginative pap.
• Avoid the Relentless tent, unless you love donk or one of those aforemention "dubstep lovers"
• If you're going to start burning people's tents on the last night, be polite and ask first
• People should know that shouting for a band to play something will never result in them playing it
• The "Green Army!" shout only works when lads do it. This is a proven fact.
• Half the festival were walking around wearing The xx t-shirts. They were getting given out for free during their set. I now regret missing them.
• Campsite rumours: Oasis had split (true), Barry Chuckle was found dead in a brothel (false), KoL had cancelled and Kasabian were being flown in to replace them (false)
• If you're going to go to someone's camp and make friends, don't blank them the rest of the weekend. It's a bit mean.
• Bring spare sleeping bags. Somehow, people forget to bring their own.
  

Maybe the new hairstyles were a good thing...
>>>Arctic Monkeys>>>Crying Lightning>>>
To surprisingly little fanfare, Arctic Monkeys slipped back onto the music radar with "Crying Lightning"'s first radio play. No big advertising campaign, no countdowns, just an announcement on their website and Zane Lowe's tweets. Which is surprising, as a) they're probably one of the biggest bands in Britain, b) they're headlining Reading & Leeds and c) this is quite different. Whereas previous Arctics material has been characterised by a taut, funky rhythm section and either spiky guitar stabs or crunching powerchords, "Crying Lightning" sees the band return with a swagger.

The plodding bassline, revealed in an early form in one of the band's "The View From..." video blogs, is up there with their best whilst the lead guitar snakes in and out of the track, hinting that Josh Homme's influence on the new album will be fairly noticeable. It bares more resemblance to "Matador" and "Too Much To Ask" than "Fake Tales..." and whilst it may not be a big sing-a-long moment at gigs like the latter (seeing as the lyrics seem to be more pre-occupied with "gobstoppers" and various other confectionery) it'll be a welcome change of pace. It's all too tempting to call it a "Crying" shame (and thus produce one of the worse Arctics puns) but all signs point towards a hat trick of classic albums.
("Crying Lightning" is available to download from iTunes now. So go get it, now.)
8/10

PREDICTIONS OF THE NEAR FUTURE

Forgive me for the awful pun on Klaxons debut album title. This year is shaping up to be an extremely good one for music (not so much for the economy). With so many new artists readying debut albums for release and a lot of established artists returning with new material, music fans are in for a treat.

The most-hyped new star has to be Florence And The Machine. Already awarded the Critic's Choice award at the Brits, she looks set to be a name on everyone's lips and in everyone's music library, seeing as that award was previously given to Adele, who was undoubtedly successful last year (if overshadowed by Duffy). Her previous two singles "Kiss With A Fist" and "Dog Days Are Over" are two totally different creatures; the former being the kind of punky track to throw yourself around like a madman to at a gig and the latter is something of a Kate Bush-channeling, folky piece of pop. If the rest of her debut follows on from this, then it's future classic time. Another solo star showing promise through a run of early singles is Esser, the ex-drummer of Ladyfuzz (who? exactly). He's gone from a universal indie shoulder shrug with his old band, to a genre-challenging, pop mastermind with the likes of "Headlock" and "I Love You" (sample lyric: "You bring me up then you tear me apart/Still, love is no excuse for bad art"). Look out for him support Kaiser Chiefs on their arena tour this year, the guy is a superstar in the making.

Continuing on the theme of solo stars, Scandinavians Lykke Li and Jens Lekman should be huge in the next 12 months. Okay, Lykke Li is already pretty big in the "alternative community" but her album "Youth Novels" is perfect pop mixed with a healthy dollop of electro and is beautiful in places, a definite 8/10 at the very, very least. Lekman is pretty similar. "Night Falls Over Kortedala" is kind of like Morrissey at his dreamy, melancholic best, an album that's sweet, sour cheerful, miserable and pretty perfect. And on the subject of perfect misery, there's two bands who will be slugging it out this year for the most comparisons to Joy Division, Editors et al. White Lies and Red Light Company are the kind of bands with a knack for writing sky-scraping gloom-laden, radio-friendly anthems to fill stadiums across the country, although it has to be said the latter don't appear to be the kind of band to be too down about being famous rockstars. White Lies' debut "To Lose My Life" has already received the same amount of hype as an Alex Turner yawn, which is quite a fair amount. Tracks leaked from the album sound quite promising as do a reviews floating around the blogosphere. RLC, on the other hand, haven't had too much hyperbole foisted onto them but singles "Scheme Eugene" and "Arts & Crafts" hint at a very good album and some festival anthems for the summer.

A lot of big hitters are set to return this year with new albums, which are already highly anticipated by their core fanbase. The obvious one being Arctic Monkeys. A third classic album will definitely cement their place as the most important band of the decade (not that my poll didn't already do that). There are positive signs already, with band hero Josh Homme possibly producing the album and songs being played "loud and fast". Fingers crossed for that one. On to a totally different band now with Foals, and their follow-up to acclaimed debut "Antidotes", which Yannis claims will be "eager" and "optimistic", as well as sounding "like the dream of an eagle dying" (now that's a song title for all you emo bands out there). Make of that what you will. Klaxons! Yes, those "new rave" gurners are back and apparently their sound has changed slightly but with no real evidence apart from blurry Youtube videos, it's hard to tell exactly what they'll come out with. As long as it's got more tunes, I'll be pleased. U2 have a new album out this year too. "No Line On The Horizon" or something. I'm saying it now, it'll be mind-numbingly average, maybe 2 or 3 okay singles but that's it. Oh, and so do the Manic Street Preachers and Franz Ferdinand. You'll get more about them sometime soon, as I'm already just too excited about that to put it into words.

On the live circuit, there's quite a lot to look forward to. Oasis' stadium tour as well as three nights at Wembley and three gigs at Manchester's Heaton Park will please the lad-rock contingent; Blur's return with reunion shows at Hyde Park and heavily rumoured Glasto headline spot will be the events of summer and then we come to the festivals themselves. Whilst Glasto seems to have ignored any band formed before 1990 with its supposed headliners of Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and, as mentioned, Blur, Reading & Leeds look to want to appeal to the young'uns this year with rumours flying about that the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Green Day, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, Kings Of Leon, Muse and even Kaiser Chiefs topping the bill at the sites.

Hopefully some bands might call it a day this year too. Here's hoping Johnny Borrell breaks up Razorlight for a solo career then loses the ability to speak or sing, Crystal Castles get unplugged, Chris Martin stays good to his promise and finishes Coldplay before he turns 33 and Interpol stop ripping off Joy Division. But a few reported splits, such as The Maccabees, Good Shoes, Bloc Party and We Are Scientists, won't be so pleasing to hear. But that's just the way music goes.

Here's to a fine '09 after a great '08! (I'm expecting the bad joke police to be questioning me tomorrow).

IF YOU FOUND THIS, IT'S PROBABLY TOO LATE (TO VOTE IN THE POLL...)
Congrats to the frozen simians, or Arctic Monkeys as they prefer to be known. Despite a general disdain towards the band from a large section of the "indie community", they are now officially (well in the eyes of the four people who read this) the best band of the 21st Century, with 50% of the votes. Comiserations to Kings Of Leon in second place, although methinks that may be because they're flavour of the month in the mainstream press. Slightly gutted for The Killers, Kaisers, Bloc Party and Girls Aloud, all in joint third. And the rest of the bands with 1% or less? Well I'm presuming barely anyone's heard of them really.

The next two polls will be the best album of the Noughties and best name for a band (that may or may not be for help with my own band.)

Mainly for my own benefit.....

...as I'll hopefully be going next year, but here's some possibilities for headliners and big acts playing Reading & Leeds 2009.

Kings Of Leon

• Firmly planted in the mainstream as the new, big stadium band
  
• Proven headliner credentials at Glasto last year
• "Only By The Night" is specifically aimed for a sea of drunken festival goers
  Playing?: 9/10 Headlining?: 9/10
  

Muse

• Festival veterans having headlined in 2006, and played two other times
• Currently working on fifth album out in the second half of 2009 or early 2010, so might need a break from the studio
  Playing?: 6/10 Headlining?: 8/10

Franz Ferdinand

• New album out early next year, their first in four years
• Also headlined in 2006 and also played two times before
  Playing?: 7/10 Headlining?: 8/10
  

Oasis

• New album
• Haven't played a festival in a while
• It's Oasis
• ...but might clash with their stadium tour
  Playing?: 6/10 Headlining?: 9/10?
  

Blur

• Recently reformed
• Huge fanbase
• Possible clash with a future tour or may be headlining Glastonbury?
  Playing?: 5/10 Headlining?: 9/10
  

Radiohead

• First British festival since the release of "In Rainbows"
• Haven't played the festival in over a decade
• Might headline Glasto instead
• May not play any shows next year
  Playing?: 4/10 Headlining?: 9/10
  

Arctic Monkeys

• It's Arctic Monkeys...
• Possible third album next year
• Haven't headlined Reading and Leeds yet
  Playing?: 7/10 Headlining?: 8/10
  

MGMT

• Apparently the biggest band of this year
• Popular live
• Good set at this years festival
  Playing?: 9/10 Headlining?: 6/10
  

The Cribs

• Festival regulars
• Possible new album; first with Johnny Marr
• Not big/popular enough to headline
  Playing?: 8/10 Headlining?: 5/10
  

Manic Street Preachers

• New album out; all lyrics written by Richey
• Headlined the NME stage last year
• Big enough back catlouge to headline
• May not be touring next year out of respect to Richey.
  Playing?: 6/10 Headlining?: 6/10

Foals

• Very popular
• Not big enough for the main stage?
• Not enough songs?
  Playing?: 8/10 Headlining?: 3/10

Glasvegas

• Big sound, perfect for festivals
• Britain's best-loved band, according to NME
• Either love them or hate them.
  Playing?: 8/10 Headlining?: 5/10
  

Kaiser Chiefs

• Popular
• Perfect festival band
• Haven't played since 2006
• New album not as good/popular as previous two
  Playing?: 7/10 Headlining?: 6/10
  

Morrissey

• New album out next year
• Becoming a regular on the festival circuit
• Has only played R&L once in 2004, but didn't headline
  Playing?: 6/10 Headlining?: 6/10
  

The Strokes

• First album in 3 years out next year possibly
• Popular choice for headliner
• Big enough back catalouge Playing?: 7/10 Headlining?: 6/10
  

Vampire Weekend

• Highly popular at festivals this summer
• Summery sound
• Possible new album?
• Not big enough to be main headliner?
  Playing?: 8/10 Headlining?: 6/10
  

The View

• Popular at festivals
• New album out early next year
• Have never played the main stage
  Playing?: 7/10 Headlining?: 6/10