It has been another amazing year for music and everyone seems to be putting out lists of their favorite albums. I'll post a list of mine just before Christmas, but for now, here is a list of this years releases which I have bought.

Vampire Weekend - Contra
Real Estate - Realty
Beach House - Teen Dream
Midlake - Courage of Others
The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock - Tomorrow in a year
Tindersticks - Falling down a mountain
Lawrence Arabia - Chant Darling
Citay - Dream get together
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise
Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The new explosive sound in 1970's Nigeria
Field Music - Field Music (Measure)
Broadcast and the Focus Group
Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate
Lindstrom and Christobelle - Real Life Is No Cool
Bonobo - Black Sands
John Grant - Queen Of Denmark
Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
Caribou - Swim
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
The National - High Violet
Kurt Vile - Square Shells
Tame Impala - Inner Speaker
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
Delorian - Subiza
The Acorn - No Ghost
Harlem - Hippies
Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill
Matthew Herbert - One One
Gonja Sufi - A Sufi and a Killer
Sleepy Sun - Fever
Actress - Splazsh
Julian Lynch - Mare
Phosphorescent - Here's to Taking it Easy
Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
Wild Nothing - Gemini
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Gayngs - Relayted
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
The Love Language - Libraries
Menomana - Mines
Lloyd Miller and the Heliocentrics
Alan Moore - Unearthing
Black mountain - Wilderness Heart
Matthew Dear - Black City
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Woodsist - Welcome Home
Shangaan Electro
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted Peoples EP
Brownswood Electro
Isobel Campbell - Hawk
Wooden Shjips - Vol. 2
Moon Duo - Escape
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Phantom Band - The Wants
Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner
Glasser - Ring
Matthew Herbert - One Club
Sun Araw - On Patrol
Woods - At Echo Lake
Mount Kimbie - Crooks and Lovers
Darkstar - North
Avey Tare - Down There
Girls - Broken Dreams Club
!!! - Strange Weather, Isn't it?
James Blake - Klavierwerke ep
Brandt Brauer Frick - You Make Me Real
The Walkmen - Lisbon
Best Coast - Make You Mine
Best Coast - Something in the Way
Best Coast - When I'm With You / This is Real
James Blake - CMYK EP
James Blake - The Bells Sketch
Soundways Records Presents The Sound Of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz and Molam from Thailand 1964 - 1975
Oniotrix Point Never - Returnal
The Best Of Farout 2010
Kurt Wagner and Cortney Tidwell Present KORT
Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra

Couple of gigs coming up. Hull Ringside on December 12th and Camden Enterprise on December 18th. Should be good, get yourselves down there.

We're playing a special semi acoustic show at The Adelphi in Hull this Thursday (Nov 25th).

It's for the monthly 'folk in Hull' night. We're playing Blues covers and are being billed as 'Horse Guards Blues Parade'. Our set list will be:

Little Red Rooster (Howlin' Wolf / Rolling Stones)

Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson)

Howlin' Wolf (Muddy waters)

Prodigal Son (Rolling Stones)

Smokestack Lightning (Howlin' Wolf)

I've spent the past week finishing off the new Marble Valley album. I've mentioned before that I moonlight in Marble Valley, but for anyone who doesn't know I'll explain. Marble Valley is made up of Steve West - the drummer in Pavement, a Dutch man, a man who isn't Dutch but lives in Amsterdam and four natives of Hull. We have been meeting up once or twice a year for the last ten years to either tour or record. We have played in Britain, Europe and America and are now recording our fifth album which should be out next spring.

We started recording this album in July this year in Amsterdam and this last week everyone has decended on Hull to finish it off. We got loads of work done down at Creyke Lane Studios. I can't wait until it's mixed, it's sounding great already!

Roy's Jeans - Video by Self Edge from Self Edge on Vimeo.

I have managed to refrain from posting anything about clothes on this blog, but this video is too good. Hand made Roy jeans, a snip at $275 from Self Edge in the U.S. of A.

Can't say I'm massively bothered about The Beatles joining Itunes, everyone must have the songs by now anyway. One good thing though is that every time I open safari some great pictures come up!

Great new track and video by David McSherry

David McSherry - U∂+ from Clear Notice on Vimeo.