One of the few things that I actually managed to organise prior to my heading to France last week was my holiday playlist. I confess that I threw it together rather quickly and it ended up as an overly lengthy, slightly random assortment of albums (some new & some older) that I wanted to catch up on listening to. Hastily put together or not, it proved rather satisfactory and will probably continue to serve me for at least the next week, especially since I didn’t get to listen to everything.

Blitz Kids - Vagrants & Vagabonds

Brave, brave record. Much respect for them putting out a live recorded debut album. It’s got some good tunes and, even if it can get a little monotonous without a studio production job, it’s most definitely a success in my eyes.

The Cape Race - Now, Voyager

Lots of promise here, some lovely tunes and only one song that, for me, misses the mark. Bright future from these boys. Needs more listening!

Alkaline Trio - Damnesia

What can I say about this record? I’m a massive Alk3 fan and I love it, especially the ‘Every Thug Needs A Lady’ re-work. Won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it was never going to fail for me.

Moving Mountains - Waves

I’ve listened to this before, but only once, and a live session track I saw on Youtube the other day caused me to add this. Didn’t get round to listening to it in the end but will do so soon.

The Dear Hunter - The Colour Spectrum (complete collection)

I firmly believe that Casey Crescenzo is a genius. I got one complete listen of this done but it’s too huge and vareied for me to say anything about right now. From what I can tell, it seems like it might be an absolute beaut.

Forgive Durden - Razia’s Shadow ( a musical)

This I’ve been intrigued about for some time, as I was a fan of ‘Wonderland’. I got once through it this week. It’s completely mad and I’m not sure that I actually like it yet but I’ll definitely listen again. Not something to be consumed in pieces though, what with the story arc and all. Geat cast including Brendon Urie, Greta Salpeter, Danny Stevens and Casey Cresenzo.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

It shames me that I’ve never got to grips with this record and again, I just didn’t get around to listening to it. I will. I will?

Panic! At The Disco - Vices & Virtues

This became my running music. For all it’s faults, and the variable quality of the songs, it proves that on occasion, P!ATD really are creators of some of the finest pop hooks around. ‘Mona Lisa’ is great but for me, ‘Memories’ might be the stand out chorus. Great tune.

Cuba Cuba - Where Else Is Safe But The Road

Only one listen for this, but it certainly convinced me to listen again. Yes, I’ve heard seveal of the tracks before, and I’m slightly afraid that ‘Home Is The Fire’ is still the best song they have, but it sounds consistently quality and I think they could be another band with a bright future.

Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See

This got added on a whim as I saw their superb Tea In The Park performance online. I’ve never been their biggest fan but this is… pretty good. As British guitar bands go, I’m not sure that they have an equal?