Decayed V: 2009

Side 2 of an imaginary time travel tape, taking in the 2000s and terminating today.

Wow, how did I get here so quickly? The past five weekends have been a bit of a blur which ironically is how the whole of the Noughties feels in retrospect. 

2009 saw me at the end of my thirties, married, a home owner, a dad and ending the year leaving the job I'd been doing for the past eleven years. I was the same person, but so much had changed. 

My passion for music was undimmed but i realise with some regret that I went to zero, zilch, no gigs whatsoever in 2009. At least half of the artists featured in today's selection performed in Bristol during 2009 and I missed every single one of them. There was definitely a work/life imbalance that year...!

Lots of great music to listen to, though, whether it was beats, guitars, retro or refreshing sounds I was after. This is reflected in my dozen picks for 2009, spanning comeback kings The Prodigy to new artists like La Roux and Little Boots. 

Again, UK chart placings have been unexpected; Bulletproof by La Roux and Walking On A Dream by Empire Of The Sun both seemed to me to be everywhere that screened or played music. Yet, whilst the former scored a #1, the latter peaked at #64. 

It was no surprise that Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden got to #1, but where's the justice in Method Of Modern Love by Saint Etienne and produced by Richard X, only getting to #56? Sacre bleu!

And whilst it's great that Noisettes reached #2 with Don't Upset The `Rhythm, how come that Zero by Yeah Yeah Yeahs scraped into the Top 50 at #49? It's a mad world, as Curt Smith once sang.

This Rhythm by Filthy Dukes was a grower and I really enjoyed their album Nonsense In The Dark. Au Revoir Simone came to my notice when they guested on the song Paris by Friendly Fires a couple of years before, leading me to their album Still Night, Still Light. 

Dominos by The Big Pink delivered a heavy percussion that evoked the spirit of the 1980s, although I've always assumed that their name was inspired by The Band's 1968 album. And for me, Editors were like Simple Minds fronted by Ian Curtis, another mash-up of 1980s influences that worked brilliantly.

So, as end of decades often seem to, 2009 wasn't unusual in that there was a fairly even mix of looking forward and reaching back. The 2010s were waiting for us, whether we were ready or not...

Thanks for sticking with me these past few weeks, I've had a lot of fun creating this series. I hope the selections have either reminded you that there were some really good songs or introduced you to music and artists that you may have missed first time around.

I've provided links for each year and each series below, covering the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, so there are 31 selections and 370 songs to enjoy for the rest of December.

Today is also a landmark in that, incredibly, the Dubhed blog celebrates it's 5th birthday. 

I never thought I'd be writing those words! 

When I uploaded my first blog post on Monday 7th December 2020, I remarked that "[as] I rapidly approach five decades of clinging to this crazy, spinning planet, it seemed like a good time to start a blog."

Five years, 1,703 posts and over 800 Dubhed 'mixtape' selections later, I'm enjoying it even more than I did when I started. 

Doing this "just for fun" has achieved that, but so much more. I've connected with so many wonderful people as a result, including artists and fellow bloggers, who continue to be a constant inspiration. 

I've also managed to see unforgettable gigs, my vinyl record collection has started growing again, and I still get a thrill when I hear new music. 

There'll be some reflective posts over the coming weeks, as it's also that time to remember what has made 2025 so good - musically, at least, it's been a shitshow in many other respects. And I've a backlog of gig reviews to post.

Thanks to you all for stopping by here, whether it's your first time or a regular stop. Your comments mean a lot and whilst I try and often fail to respond to each one individually, I do read and value every single one. Thank you!

Now, let's see how far I can take this thing...!

1) Bonkers (Radio Edit): Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden

2) Omen (Album Version): The Prodigy

3) This Rhythm (Radio Edit): Filthy Dukes ft. Samuel Dust

4) Don't Upset The Rhythm (Album Version): Noisettes

5) Remedy (Buffetlibre vs. Sidechains Remix By Alex Ferrer): Little Boots

6) Method Of Modern Love (Single Version): Saint Etienne

7) Bulletproof (Album Version): La Roux

8) Walking On A Dream (Album Version): Empire Of The Sun

9) Shadows (Album Version): Au Revoir Simone

10) Dominos (Album Version): The Big Pink

11) Papillon (Album Version): Editors

12) Zero (Album Version): Yeah Yeah Yeahs

15th February 2009: Method Of Modern Love EP (#56): 6

22nd February 2009: Invaders Must Die (#4): 2

1st March 2009: Walking On A Dream (#64): 8

15th March 2009: Nonsense In The Dark (#39): 3

29th March 2009: Wild Young Hearts (#2): 4 

19th April 2009: It's Blitz! (#49): 12 

24th May 2009: Still Night, Still Light (#71): 9 

28th June 2009: La Roux (#1): 7 

23rd August 2009: Hands (#6): 5

24th September 2009: Tongue N'Cheek (#1): 1

18th October 2009: In This Light And On This Evening (#23): 11

25th October 2009: A Brief History Of Love (#27): 10 

Side Two (46:39) (GD) (M)

If you've missed any of the previous posts in the Decayed series, you can jump straight to them here

Prelude   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007   2008

And here are all ten Decadance posts

1990   1991   1992   1993   1994   1995   1996   1997   1998  1999

Finally, Decade, the mistapes that I recorded in 1990 that started this whole thing off

1980   1981   1982   1983   1984   1985   1986   1987   1988  1989

La Roux Sans Voix

Some La Roux for you today, in another post inspired by my participation in #SynthPopSeptember over at the House of Musk.

I don't own any of the three albums to date: La Roux (2009), Trouble In Paradise (2014) and Supervision (2020). However, I do have a lot of singles, remixes and, which had kind of passed me by, a large number of instrumental versions from the first two albums.

 

I'm largely ambivalent about instrumental versions. So often they feel like a lazy way of supplying a B-side or, more cynically, a way of getting an airing on Sky Sports or some car advert. 

Often, the removal of the vocals reveals more of the music within and become just as enjoyable as the full-throated version. Surprisingly, this was the case when I started pulling together this La Roux selection. Elly Jackson's voice may be an acquired taste for some - I like it - but the 1980s-inspired music that underpins the songs is much more rich and layered than I'd expected.

I've limited today's selection to eight songs and a smidge over half an hour, with a focus on Trouble In Paradise which I'm less familiar with and the inclusion of a trio of hits from La Roux's eponymous debut.

 

It sounds like the soundtrack to an imaginary film circa 1986, possibly starring Steve Guttenberg and Lori Singer, with a romance, some slapstick and probably a life-or-death moment at the top of a very tall building or a bridge. Likely straight to video in the UK, too. Well, I can dream.

 

1) In For The Kill (2009)

2) The Feeling (2014)

3) Uptight Downtown (2014)

4) Quicksand (2009)

5) Kiss And Not Tell (2014)

6) Let Me Down Gently (2014)

7) Bulletproof (2009)

8) Paradise Is You (2014)

La Roux Sans Voix (33:38) (KF) (Mega)

Slip Into Something More Comfortable...

June 2015 mix, re-posted on my Mixcloud page in 2020, which includes the Hannes Fischer remix of Summertime Sadness that I mentioned in Sunday's post. Starting with Christopher Guest as Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnell and finishing with John Thaw as The Sweeney's Jack Regan, and slipping in a few of my amateur edits along the way. Simplesmente is a simple splice of two Tom Middleton mixes. I like the Edie Sedgwick/Nightmares On Wax mash-up and I think the Shift K3y/Lana Del Rey segue works well although in retrospect I maybe should have extended the intro of the latter. And, of course, any excuse to shoehorn in a Julian Cope song...

 

1) "This one goes to 11…”: Spinal Tap (1984)
2) Slip Into Something More Comfortable (Original Instrumental Version): Kinobe (2000)
3) Edie Sedgwick Bleu My Mind (Khayem Mash-Up): Nightmares On Wax ft. Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol & Merv Griffin (2015)
4) Irganda (Red Snapper Remix): Songhoy Blues (2015)
5) Once In A Lifetime (Luxxury Edit): Talking Heads (2015)
6) Simplesmente (Tom Middleton Balearic Cosmos Remix) (Khayem Re-Edit): Bebel Gilberto (2015)
7) “Let’s face it Roger, that dress is you”: Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder & Christopher Hewett (1967)
8) Get Lucky (Live Medley @ MTV Awards): Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers & Stevie Wonder (2014)
9) Not Into It (Original Mix): Shift K3Y (2014)
10) Summertime Sadness (Hannes Fischer Radio Edit): Lana Del Rey (2013)
11) Au Pays Des Merveilles De Juliet (Psychemagik Tour De Force Remix): Yves Simon (2014)
12) I Left My Wallet In El Segundo (Independence Mix By Norman Cook): A Tribe Called Quest (1990)
13) Rhythm & Blues World Service: Alexis Korner (1967)
14) State Of Independence (Long Version By Quincy Jones): Donna Summer (1982)
15) The Forest (Richard Norris Remix): Black Rivers (2015)
16) Wonderwall (Liam Gallagher & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra IDC Mix): Oasis (2014)
17) Let Me Down Gently (Prins Thomas Diskomiks): La Roux (2014)
18) Burning Disaster (Groove Armada Bedtime Story Mix): Language Lab (1999)
19) Sunspots (Album Version): Julian Cope (1984)
20) “Get your trousers on, you’re nicked”: John Thaw (1975)

 

Slip Into Something More Comfortable... (1:21:11)