Tonight, I’ve been wondering about you. I probably shouldn’t, and I don’t know if you do it too, but I’ve been wondering about what if we had never met. How would our lives be different to what they are now?

Would choices that we made back then still be relevant today? Would they mean anything? Would we still be strangers, drinking in the same places, socialising with the same people, walking around the same town?

You could say that every action has a consequence. Maybe consequence is the wrong word. I’m trying to visualise it. I can see a start point and an end point. Between these two points are thousands, hell, maybe infinite pathways. It could be that the pathways are mapped as one decision is made, that the pathways themselves are not predetermined. But the end point is. It always was.

Regardless of how many paths we walk to get there, how many times we stop for a rest or go back on ourselves, the ending is always the same.

Or perhaps, I shouldn’t mistake coincidence for fate. Maybe fate doesn’t actually exist and there’s no such thing as destiny. Or the end point that I mentioned isn’t set in stone after all. Maybe the outcome of that end point is determined by the paths you take to get there.

Or perhaps, I should just get some sleep and stop talking shit. Who knows?

Now Playing: The Perishers – Pills (Feat. Sarah McLachlan)

Nor have I bothered to actually come on here and write something. I need more motivation in my life man, seriously. This is ridiculous.

Right, starting this week, I’m sorting my shit out. I’m actually going to remember I run this site, and stay regular with updates.

Let’s see how long it’ll last this time…

Now Playing: Sarah McLachlan – Full Of Grace

Jacob was first name dropped in season three by one of The Others (“Ben just put his life in the hands of one of them! Shephard wasn’t on Jacob’s list”) but hints were dropped to his existence in season two, with Ben referring to his leader as a “brilliant man” but not a forgiving man. Mikhail also refers to Jacob in this way. Jacob is mentioned many times throughout season three, but his existence is doubted by Locke after Ben tells him that he is the only one who speaks to Jacob and is the only one who knows where he lives. Ben is reluctantly persuaded to take Locke to see Jacob, after Locke beats Mikhail senseless to prove a point.

Ben leads Locke to a cabin in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by a circle of ash, which Ben steps over with care, but not mentioning its purpose. He advises Locke to turn off his flashlight, claiming Jacob does not like technology. Inside the cabin, Ben proceeds to have a conversation with “Jacob”, in reality, an empty chair. Locke believes either Ben is trying to trick him, or he’s genuinely deluded, and tries to leave. As Locke opens the cabin door, a low voice pleads, “Help me”.

Locke is convinced it’s another ploy by Ben, and turns on his flashlight. The cabin begins to shake violently and objects are thrown across the room by an invisible force. A figure suddenly materialises in the chair and Locke flees. Ben follows shortly after and simply says, “That was Jacob.”

The next day, Ben demands to know what Jacob said to Locke. When Locke is still in doubt over what actually happened in the cabin, Ben shoots him. Locke then tells him what Jacob said, and Ben looks panicked and walks off, leaving Locke to die.

As season four begins, Locke seems to have opened his eyes and is a believer of Jacob. Whilst Hurley strays from the group wandering in the jungle, he sees the cabin. When he peers through the window, he sees Christian Shephard sitting in the chair, as another face from inside pops up at Hurley. Hurley turns and runs but finds the cabin now in the other direction. Thinking it a hallucination, it disappears.

Locke later tries to find the cabin, but finds only the circle of ash. After the mercenaries from the freighter destroy the barracks, Locke, Ben and Hurley set off to find the cabin again, this time successful thanks to a dream that Locke has whilst lost and camped out for the night.

Locke enters the cabin alone and spies a figure in the chair. He asks, “Are you Jacob?” to which he receives a negative response. The figure is Christian Shephard, “But I can speak to his behalf.” Christian tells Locke to move the island in order to save it from the mercenary group before they initiate the mysterious “secondary protocol”.

Jacob is mentioned frequently throughout season five but it isn’t until the season finale, we actually see him in a flashback to the nineteenth century. He’s on the beach beside the statue of Tawaret, enjoying a fish when MIB arrives for a chat. He isn’t happy about the arrival of the Black Rock, asking if Jacob brought them here. MIB claims Jacob is still trying to prove him wrong, to which Jacob replies that he is wrong.

MIB: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.
JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.

MIB then proceeds to tell Jacob how bad he wants to kill him, and one day, he’ll find a loophole to do so and walks off. Throughout the season finale, flashbacks reveal how Jacob has travelled off island and visited the survivors at pivotal roles in their lives; Sawyer’s parents funeral, Jack’s botched surgery on a young girl, Locke’s eight storey fall that paralysed him, etc. An important feature of these flashbacks is touch. When communicating with each of the Losties, he touches him (noticeably, it seems to be his touch that brings Locke back to life after the fall).

Meanwhile, on island in 2007, Locke is leading The Others across the island under Richard’s guidance to meet Jacob. Locke is actually planning to kill Jacob, more specifically, planning for Ben to kill Jacob. Ben admits to Locke that he’s never seen Jacob, that the first trip to the cabin was a charade, and that he was extremely shocked when objects started flying across the room. Eventually the group reach their destination; the destroyed statue of Tawaret. Ben and Locke go inside and there’s Jacob.

Meanwhile, Ilana and the Ajira 316 survivors make contact with Richard outside, showing him Locke’s dead body in the box they’re carrying.

SUN: I don’t understand. If this is Locke…then who’s in there?

Jacob greets “Locke” with, “I see you found your loophole.” Loophole? That sounds familiar. Cast your memory back to Jacob and MIB’s conversation on the beach. Ohhhh. Hi MIB. It appears you’ve been a naughty boy and have taken over Locke’s body. You scallywag. Ben doesn’t know this, and in a selfish rage, stabs Jacob. Jacob breathes his last words, “They’re coming” and is kicked into the chamber’s fire.

So, MIB. Clearly he can take on the forms of others. That sounds familiar…Smoke Monster, anyone? Just a thought. Anyway, more importantly, and more relevant to this blog anyway; Christian Shephard in the cabin. That had to be have been MIB. He’s been there since day one, manipulating everything in the background, tweaking minor and major events in order to get the Oceanic Six back on the island with Locke’s body, so he can finally kill Jacob.

But notice how Jacob didn’t seem overly bothered about being stabbed? I suspect Jacob has been secretly working on a loophole of his own.

JACOB: They’re…coming.

Who? I think he means the Losties stuck in 1977 who are seconds away from causing The Incident, possibly realigning the split timelines, meaning Jacob may end up being very much alive after this. I hope so anyway, because after two seasons of build up, we finally see his character, only for him to be killed off major cop-out!

More to follow…

The “monster” made its first appearance on the survivor’s first night on the island, moving through the jungle cutting down trees whilst making its characteristic howls. The next day, it appears again as Jack, Kate and Charlie trek through the jungle to Oceanic 815′s cockpit where it pulls out pilot Seth Norris, mauls him, and leaves his bloodied body high up in a tree. It then proceeds to chase the survivors through the jungle, seemingly warded away from Kate by her hiding in a banyan tree, and disappears as the rainstorm stops.

Three days later, Locke encounters it in the jungle. To be honest, he really didn’t seem that bothered and was left completely unharmed. Locke later claims that he saw a bright white light and it was beautiful.

Monster activity is quiet until the first season finale, when we catch a glimpse of what it actually looks like; a small wisp of black smoke, seemingly getting larger as it grabs Locke by the leg and attempts to pull him through a hole in the ground. It only realises it’s grip when Kate throws a stick of dynamite at it, causing it to disperse.

So at the end of season one, we know fuck all really; it’s a cloud of black smoke, seemingly relative in size, and comes from the ground. Fair enough.

Smokey (as I’ll lovingly refer to it from now on) makes only one appearance in season two whilst Charlie and Eko are searching for the fallen beechcraft. Smokey appears as a small wisp of black smoke, then gradually increases in size. Charlie insists Eko run (from the safety of a tall tree) but he decides to stand his ground and stare it out. Several images of Eko’s past flash inside the smoke, and Smokey slowly retreats back into the ground.

So at the end of season two, the only new piece of information we have is that somehow Smokey “scans” people and can feed the images back to them.

Smokey’s next appearance came in season three, manifesting itself as Yemi, Eko’s deceased brother as well as several other characters from his past telling him he was being judged, before appearing as its usual black smoke form, disappearing when Locke appears. It later returns when Eko is alone, appearing as Yemi again. Yemi demands Eko confesses for his sins but Eko relents and says he is not sorry for the things he has done, as he did them to survive. Yemi responds, “You speak to me as if I were your brother” and walks off, returning as Smokey (noticeably now over 40 feet in height), before killing Eko.

Smokey appears a little while later as a manifestation of one of the island’s Medusa spiders, indirectly killing Nikki. The next day, Kate and Juliet encountered it in the middle of the jungle. Again, whilst hidden in the safety of a banyan tree, Smokey couldn’t harm them but instead hovered over them and flashed white several times before disappearing. It reappeared to the two women the next day as three small wisps of smoke, joining together to create one big cloud but was repelled by the sonic fence, splitting back into three separate wisps.

So, by the end of season three we know: Smokey is a series of, or one giant black cloud, can scan people’s memories and relay the images back to them, can manifest into different forms, and doesn’t like the sonic fence.

Smokey only makes one appearance in season four. After Keamy and his team of mercenaries attack the Barracks and kill Alex, Ben disappears into a secret room in his house and Smokey appears outside, attacking the mercenaries in a giant swirling black vortex. So apparently, Ben has the means to summon Smokey, but not necessarily control it, as he’s pretty intent on fleeing as soon as Smokey’s done with Keamy’s team.

Smokey makes frequent appearances in season five. The first is during the island’s jumps through time, attacking the French Science team in 1988, killing Nadine and then dragging Montand through the jungle into the hole at the base of the Temple wall, right after ripping off his arm. However, it doesn’t kill Montand. He seems fine to be honest, but panicking about not being able to get out. Robert, Lacombe and Brennan follow to retrieve him but only Robert survives, seemingly possessed by Smokey. He refers to Smokey not as a monster, but as a security system for the Temple. He tries to kill Danielle, but she gets the upper hand (albeit by removing the firing pin from his rifle) and kills him.

Cut to present time, 2007, when Frank and Sun arrive at the main island from the Hydra island after the Ajira 316 crash. Smokey is heard, but not seen. Until Frank and Sun meet Christian Shephard and a wisp of black smoke is seen around him. How curious…

Ben later journeys to the Temple wall in order to be judged by Smokey, after summoning it fails to work. In an ancient room full of hieroglyphics, an engraving of Smokey and the Egyptian god Anubis stood above a grate from which Smokey slowly emerges. It surrounds Ben and shows him images of his late daughter and when it appears Ben is truly sorry for letting Alex die, Smokey retreats, manifesting as Alex. “Alex” warns Ben to follow Locke’s every word, and if he doesn’t, he will be killed. When Ben agrees, the manifestation disappears.

So that’s all of Smokey’s appearances in chronological order. What do we know? Well, season five revealed Smokey is tied in to the island’s ancient past, and lives underneath the Temple wall. How about some theories?

This will tie in better when I’ve written a few more entries over the next few days, so bear with it for now. My main theory is that Smokey is linked directly to Jacob’s Adversary. Smokey can manifest into forms from people’s memories and/or from the deceased. Jacob’s Adversary can also do this. Smokey is apparently a security system for the Temple. Jacob’s Adversary certainly seems intent on protecting the island from intruders, as demonstrated when the Black Rock arrives in the 1800s.

When Ben summoned Smokey for the second time, Locke (or rather Jacob’s Adversary in his form) was “on an errand”. Very convenient, seeing as how as soon as Ben summons Smokey, Locke appears. When Smokey doesn’t appear to show up, Locke orders Ben to the Temple Wall, knowing Smokey resides there. Ben falls down a hole, Locke goes to find a rope to pull him out, Smokey appears. Smokey disappears, Locke comes back again. It’s all far too convenient, right? Maybe Smokey and Jacob’s Adversary are one and the same. Or perhaps they are very closely linked.

So what is it? A god? A spirit, or a collection of spirits? We know it pre-dates Dharma by a few thousand years, so that rules out it being an experiment by them. This is what season six really needs to clarify. We know its purpose; to protect and to judge. We know it’s ancient. We just need to know what exactly it is.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading, next entry on Jacob and his Adversary tomorrow!

First topic to come in the next few hours when I think of something I can write about in shocking detail :p

The reason for this being to get 100% and earn my Platinum trophy. I was a complete douche in my first play-through and knocked my Karma levels down as much as possible by detonating the atomic bomb in Megaton.

Little did I realise that there was a Vault-Tec bobblehead in the sheriff’s house that I completely forgot about so there was one trophy I couldn’t get. I also forgot that there are several Neutral and Good Karma related trophies.

What I’m doing now is trying to maintain a neutral karma level throughout the rest of the game, achieving the neutral trophies as I level up, save that, load back a previous save, then travel to Megaton, disarm the atomic bomb to get the maximum good karma followed by the appropriate trophy, discard that save then resume the other save with neutral karma.

This game has turned me into such a geek it’s untrue. At least this will tide me over until March. Then it’s all about Final Fantasy XIII baby!

Now Playing: Eminem – Stan (Feat. Dido)

You’d make your way in, I’d resist you just like this
“YOU CAN’T TELL ME TO FEEL!”
The truth never set me free
So I did it myself

You can’t be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you won’t come any closer
You’ve got to reach out a little

Open your eyes like I opened mine
It’s only the real world; a life you will never know
Shifting your weight to throw off the pain
Well you can ignore it
But only for so long

You look like I did, you resist you just like this
“YOU CAN’T TELL ME TO HEAL!”
And it hurts remembering
How it felt to shut down

You can’t be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you won’t come any closer
You’ve got to reach out a little

The truth never set me free so I’ll do it myself

You can’t be too careful anymore
When all that is waiting for you won’t come any closer
You’ve got to reach out a little more

Me and Mark travelled up there around 5pm and got to the arena towards the end of the first support band’s set (Now Now Every Children), they didn’t sound too bad so was a bit gutted we missed them. Second band (Paper Route) started off well but every song began to sound the same after a while. Third band I’ve never been keen on (You Me At Six) and they didn’t impress me live, to the extent me and Mark began reciting Shakespeare in comedy voices.

After a(nother) trip outside for a cigarette and a very loud burp, the lights went out and I was pretty much deafened by the cheers. The band came on and played a small atmosphere building song (which I’m guessing was played to open every show on this tour) and then erupted into first single from the new album, ‘Ignorance’.

The entire band were full of energy and didn’t slow down, except for their real slow numbers. There was a good mix of songs from all three studio albums and fan reaction to each was phenomenal.

After the song, ‘Turn It Off’, Hayley and Josh (guitar) invited two fans up on stage (Liam and his girlfriend Leona) after receiving a letter from Liam. He then very sweetly proposed to her, followed by the band playing ‘The Only Exception’. Truly magical moment and left everyone buzzing. Congratulations to the lucky couple!

The band finished the main set with ‘My Heart’ (the heavy version with Josh’s screams) before encoring with the acoustic ‘Misguided Ghosts’, ‘Misery Business’ and new single ‘Brick By Boring Brick’, dousing fans in a silver parade of confetti.

This was seriously the best gig I’ve seen and I really can’t wait to see them again. It’s probably worth noting that the gig was filmed, hopefully for a future DVD. If that happens, I’ll be so happy it’s actually ridiculous.

Full Setlist

- Brand New Eyes Tour Opener
- Ignorance
- I Caught Myself
- That’s What You Get
- Looking Up
- CrushCrushCrush
- Turn It Off
- The Only Exception
- Pressure
- Careful
- Where The Lines Overlap
- Decode
- My Heart
- Misguided Ghosts
- Misery Business
- Brick By Boring Brick

YouTube Videos (all filmed by myself)

11. Lady Gaga – The Fame (released 19th August)

Say what you want about Lady Gaga – she has written some of the most catchy songs you will ever hear. Infectious singles ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Poker Face’ dominated TV and the radio, with their abstract inane lyrics and catchy hooks and helped to solidify her position in the charts. Her live performances are exceptional, you get a real show, complete with costume changes, dancers, and boobs that shoot sparks. What more could you possibly want? My favourite track has to be ‘Paparazzi’, a real no-bones-about-it pop song that works both as a pop hit and a rock anthem when backed by her band of extremely talented musicians when performed live.

10. Marilyn Manson – The High End Of Low (released 20th May)

Marilyn Manson returned to music after 2007′s controversial and generally poorly received ‘Eat Me, Drink Me’, reunited with former bassist/guitarist/partner in crime Twiggy. With a recording lineup that included former NIN keyboardist Chris Vrenna and long time drummer Ginger Fish (after being absent for the recording of ‘Eat Me, Drink Me’) the album focuses on the themes (not but necessarily musical style) of 1998′s glam-rock masterpiece ‘Mechanical Animals’. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, love and heartache are all hot topics, delivered with a catchy classic rock styling. The albums heaviest number is covered with second track ‘Pretty As A Swastika’, a two minute track filled with pounding drums and a bassline to make even the most frigid of people orgasm instantly. This is contrasted with track seven, the stunningly beautiful and tragic acoustic ballad ‘Running To The Edge Of The World’, the best acoustic song since 2001′s ‘In The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death’. Another surprise I was delighted to hear was track fourteen ‘Into The Fire’, a piano ballad composed entirely by drummer Ginger Fish. I was so pleased to see his talents put to use outside of the drum riser. As I’m sure many fans will know, Ginger has been responsible for a lot of the electronics and loops since 1995′s ‘Smells Like Children’. The song is complimented by Twiggy’s incredibly moving guitar solo closing the song. To quote Manson himself, “It made me weep.” Whilst certainly not the best effort from the band (personally I don’t think they’ll ever be able to top 2001′s ‘HolyWood’) it’s certainly laid the foundations for them to achieve great things again in the future.

9. The Fray – The Fray (released 3rd February)

Was never that big a fan of The Fray, aside from the hit single ‘How To Save A Life’ until their single ‘You Found Me’ was used in a trailer for season 5 of Lost. Loving this track, I headed out to purchase the new album and was extremely impressed. Building upon the previous album’s strengths, and ditching it’s many weaknesses, The Fray created a beautiful 40 minute epic that is diverse in sound and rich in texture. As previously stated, ‘You Found Me’ is an album highlight as well as the poignant ‘Never Say Never’, progressive ‘Say When’ and arguably one of the most depressing songs ever, album closer ‘Happiness’. Very much looking forward to hearing what this band has to offer in the future.

8. Paradise Lost – Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us (released 25th September)

British gothic metal founders Paradise Lost returned this year with an album that built upon the heavier sound of 2007′s ‘In Requiem’, truly bringing them back to their metal roots, after many years of experimenting with electronics. Whilst personally I’m more of a fan of their electronic era, their heavier sound is what made me fall in love with the band, so it’s nice to see them experimenting with it again and doing it so well in a time where a lot of metal sounds identical and boring to me. The album opens with ‘As Horizons End’, a furious and shaking song that introduces the listener to their heaviest work yet, whilst maintaining their melody. The album peaks at track six ‘The Rise Of Denial’, coincidentally the opening song for the current tour. Nick Holme’s vocals are on form, switching between hard and soft with precision unmatched by any vocalist I can think of. The album is noticeably devoid of any electronics, but the superb orchestration makes up for it – noticeably, for the time ever, the band recorded with a live orchestra and it certainly shows in title track ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’. On another note, I had the pleasure of seeing them for the eighth time in October, with new drummer Adrian Erlandsson (ex-Cradle Of Filth) and they are as finely tuned as ever, providing a fantastic and fun night for all. This band has been going since 1988 and I hope they have many more years left in them.

7. Snow Patrol – Up To Now (released 6th November)

Wasn’t really too sure about having a compilation album in the top ten, but in this case I’ll just do it, seeing as it’s one of the best compilations I’ve ever seen. The typical compilation is comprised of hit singles and a B-side or two and not much else. This is where Snow Patrol have outdone themselves, as well as pretty much every other band that have released a half-arsed compilation album. ‘Up To Now’ spans over two discs and includes (typically) hit singles such as ‘Run’, ‘Chasing Cars’ and ‘Spitting Games’ but it’s not riddled with much more than that. Instead, the band have taken that extra time and effort to compile the literal best-of, spanning all five albums; 2008′s ‘A Hundred Million Suns’, 2006′s ‘Eyes Open’, 2004′s ‘Final Straw’ as well as lesser known albums ‘When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up’ (2001) and ‘Songs For Polarbears’ (1998) as well as several new tracks, unique live versions of classic hits and the odd B-side here and there. This is how compilations should be done and many other artists should take note.

6. Mumford And Sons – Sigh No More (released 6th October)

I was introduced to this London-based folk band quartet by Carl and was pretty damn impressed. In a genre where most of the leading artists are quite frankly, shit, Mumford And Sons have probably single handedly saved their respective genre from both over-saturation and extinction. There’s not a great deal to say about their debut album ‘Sigh No More’ except that it excels in every style they experiment with. It’s rare for folk to be catchy, but after one listen of songs like ‘Little Lion Man’, ‘I Gave You All’ and ‘Roll Away With Your Stone’ you’ll have to listen to more, over and over. Great debut from an extremely talented band and hopefully will offer more great things in the future.

5. Between The Screams – Our Last Days On Earth (released 5th October)

Debut album from Southend based Between The Screams was a particular highlight of my year, not only because they’re all sexy, sexy boys, but because quite simply they are the best local band that is around, or has been around in a fucking long time. ‘Our Last Days On Earth’ provides the best in progressive metal, tuned and refined from extensive touring both locally and across the UK. There’s something on their debut effort for everyone, brutal riffage, inspirational ambient soundscapes and superb melodic vocals, as well as screams that make you feel afraid to listen in the dark, courtesy of vocalist Adam Ralph.

4. Morrissey – Years Of Refusal (released 16th February)

Former Smiths-frontman returned to form in February after the hit-and-miss effort of 2006′s ‘Ringleader Of The Tormentors’. Opening with catchy, fast-riffed ‘Something Is Squeezing My Skull’ detailing the downfalls of depression and the evil medication that can come with it leaves you with that feeling that 2004′s opener to ‘You Are The Quarry’ left you with; this is going to be good. Highlights come in the form of ‘Black Cloud’ featuring guitar work by Jeff Beck and previous single ‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’, a sombre, lonely song that invokes the same emotions as a classic such as ‘Everyday Is Like Sunday’. The ballad ‘It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore’ provides the best in Mozza tragic dry wit with the chorus lyric, “It’s not your birthday anymore, there’s no need to be kind to you, and the will to see you smile and belong has now gone, it’s not your birthday anymore, did you really think we meant
all those syrupy, sentimental things that we said?” No future album from Morrissey can top ‘You Are The Quarry’ in my opinion, but this comes bloody close.

3. The Veronicas – Hook Me Up (released 12th October in the UK)

Whilst technically this album has been out for over two years, hardly anyone had heard it, nor the band until this year. No dispute, Brisbane-born twin sisters Lisa and Jess Origliasso make infectious pop music. And they’re fucking great at it. To quote Jess on her Twitter profile, they’re “Spreading pop like an STD”. Lead single ‘Untouched’ was a sensational hit that came completely out of blue and paved the way for further singles ’4ever’ and ‘Take Me On The Floor’. Whilst the album has a strong electronic sound, the songs take on a completely new life when performed on stage with a stupidly talented live band that includes drummer Vik Foxx, of Vince Neil Band fame. This is a truly talented group who can sound as commercial and manufactured as possible on record (out of choice, might I add) then rock as hard as the rest of them live on stage. I should know too, I was there. And it was incredible.

2. Paramore – Brand New Eyes (released 25th September)

After 2007′s sensational hit ‘Riot!’ and the following year’s rough non-stop touring schedule which almost led the band to calling it a day, Paramore returned with ‘Brand New Eyes’ in September, stronger, more mature and tighter than ever. Gone for the most part are the catchy pop-punk anthems that dominated ‘Riot!’ (although some still remain in tracks such as ‘Where The Lines Overlap’ and ‘Looking Up’) and they’ve been replaced with more technical and honest songs. A strong theme on the album is the band themselves, and the difficulties of the previous year’s events, especially in lead single ‘Ignorance’ on which vocalist Hayley Williams commented, “In my eyes, this song is a huge turning point for the band. The truth of it is, growing up is not easy. We’re five different people who have to work towards the same goal on a daily basis. There were a lot of times when I felt really alone or angry or insecure. I don’t always feel good at confronting people, especially people that I love, like these guys. Sometimes it takes songs to get the point across. The song is from one person’s perspective. It’s unfair that I’m the one who gets to talk about it but it helped me a lot.” The biggest and the best surprises from the album came from acoustic ballads ‘The Only Exception’ and ‘Misguided Ghosts’, probably the most unique and diverse songs they’ve ever written. Similarly, whilst not in theme with the previously mentioned acoustic tracks, album closer ‘All I Wanted’ is simply the most moving song in their entire discography, beating 2005′s ‘My Heart’ hands down.

1. Moby – Wait For Me (released 30th June)

An interesting choice for me, especially for my number one. I had always been a casual fan of Moby, but hadn’t really been impressed by anything he had recorded since 1999′s ‘Play’ and always thought 2006′s ‘Go – The Very Best Of Moby’ would always be the definitive collection of his material. How wrong I was. I checked the new album out after seeing the TV commercial and being impressed with the orchestral song that was featured on it. I bought the limited edition which featured an ambient version of the album and I was simply blown away. The album begins with ‘Division’, a beautiful orchestration leading into second track and first single ‘Pale Horses’. Moby has crafted so much emotion in his attention to detail and with his choice of vocalists, especially on ‘Study War’ and title track ‘Wait For Me’. The ambient version of the album is exactly that, the core songs stripped of electronics, and makes for the best chill out album I’ve ever heard. The second half of my year would have been completely empty without this album, and I urge everyone to give it a listen.