Now, here's something scary. There are just ten more editions of the CMU Daily before Christmas. This is partly because we are all buggering off early (21 Dec), but also because the year that's been known as 2005 is nearly at an end. With that in mind, CMU has been busy chatting to the artists behind ten of our favourite albums of the year. You can find out why we liked those albums here in the Daily, and then read the full interviews on our website. And then, of course, you guys have been busy voting for your favourite track of the year. You can still vote on that, meantime check out how people have been voting here in the Daily.
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CMU FAVOURITE ALBUM OF 2005 #1: Princess Superstar - My Machine
Concept albums provide me with something of a dilemma. Part of me loves the idea of an artist approaching an album as more than just ten slots in which to drop the best songs they can come up with during their allotted studio time. But then concept albums frequently end up being all pretentious, with a load of sub-standard tracks that wouldn't have normally made the final edit, but which are included because they "further the concept". But as soon as we heard that Concetta Kirshner was planning a concept album for her fifth Princess Superstar long player, we were confident it wouldn't fall into that trap - because, you see, to make an unpretentious concept album you need a really good sense of humour - and we knew that the rapper behind 'Bad Babysitter' knew not to take anything too seriously. 'My Machine' is set in a clone filled future, where the Princess plots to replace every celebrity in the world with one of her clones, making her the only celeb on the planet. But the plot isn't too important, except that it provides Kirshner with a ton more subject matter than employed by most other players in the hip hop world, which is what makes this album so refreshing in an increasingly formulaic genre. The music is electro biased, but with a real rock attitude. Catchy, loud, quirky and repetitive in the good senses of all those adjectives - the music provides a perfect backing to the album's lyrical content which is, needless to say given the plot, at times surreal but, more often than not, more so satirical. Which brings us back to my starting point. A successful concept album needs to have a sense of humour - and in 'My Machine' Princess Superstar has covered some serious issues without ever getting too serious. Perfect.
Read our interview with Princess Superstar here: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/interviews
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FAVOURITE TRACKS OF THE YEAR #1: Your votes
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (Rough Trade)
"Everytime you close your eyes, waha waha. Epic yet catchy stand out track from the album of the year. New Year Resolution - see them live".
Voted for by: Paul Rice, Z'est Public Relations
System Of A Down - BYOB (SonyBMG/Epic)
"As bombs fall, fallen dictators fester and rock stars cower away from career-damaging controversy, System Of A Down's released this: a thrash metal anti-war anthem with a chorus that's pure, shameless R&B pop fluff guaranteed to rankle the metallers and annoy everyone else. By virtue of their originality and daring, this surely ranks as one of the innovative (and ridiculous) songs of 2005".
Voted for by: Ben Myers, freelance writer / Captains of Industry label owner
The Futureheads - Hounds Of Love (679)
"It's gotta be Hounds of Love...the best cover version of all time, and by far the best anthem of the summer".
Voted for by: Adam Lindsay, Head Of Music, 1431am URF
Vote for your track of the year - send the name of your favourite track, a few words on why, and your name and company to [email protected].