Various Artists: NME The Album 2009
Various artists appear on NME The Album 2009
Also In The News
|
By Darren Estwick. |  |
Sunday, 15, Nov 2009 04:03
Rhino, out now.
What's it all about?
NME needs to pay for its website with something other than advertising and magazine sales, assumedly, and so dishes up everything necessary for a worry-free musical Christmas present.
Who's it by?
Everyone ever. Pretty much the entire so-called indie crowd have turned out for this one, whether you like them or not. Some seem to be coming back because they haven't had anything out properly in 2009 despite it being a compilation for this year, releasing 2008 stuff, but what're you gonna do?
As an example...
"You're a zero/What's your name? No-one's gonna ask you/Better find out where they want you to go." - Zero, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
What the others say
"In many ways this is an accurate reflection of a bitty year in which nothing really shook the earth, save the death of Michael Jackson." - The Music Fix
"If you like Radio 1 you'll love this. If you like bands because NME tell you to you'll probably buy this. They'll be playing this inoffensive background music in a Harvester pub any day now." - Purple Revolver
So is it any good?
It's a bit of a cut-and-dry one this, really. There's absolutely no way that you'll hate all of this or love the full thing either, though the selection is still pretty damn good.
I mean, it's hard to argue with strong offerings from such bands at the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Zero), Ian Brown (Stellify) or the Prodigy (Warrior Dance). It's essentially a grouping of bands who have saturated the airwaves enough for you to love the songs - or at least tolerate them - after blasting out of such stations as Absolute, Radio 1 and 6Music.
The best thing about this kind of thing is it also provides a gateway for people wanting to get into this kind of music. Like the song? Get their album. I know it's a very general point to make about this album, though given the strength of the bands available - Animal Collective, Bombay Bicycle Club, the Cribs and Temper Trap, for example - there's bound to be something.
Despite this, there are a few crap bands on there that NME shouldn't be supportive of. Paramore, anyone? Glasvegas? Enter Shikari? Definitely a bit questionable, though it's a useless exercise to single them out - after all, you can't win them all.
There are a couple of baffling additions to the album which make the compilation well after the tunes have passed their sell-by date. There are too many to list in regards to this, though Esser's Headlock felt like it was out absolutely ages ago (summer of 2008). Again, Ulysses by Franz Ferdinand has been floating around for a long time and makes the album feel a little more stale than it should. Poor show, NME.
Still, it's a pretty safe bet for parents wondering what to get their repressed, sulking teenagers, or for naive young couples to get each other for Santa's Big Day Out. It's Christmas, for goodness sake; tuck in and be merry.
It'll pay for itself in time, even if you end up using it as a tiring backing track for a party or barbeque in a few months. Pretty much everything will be stale by then, though you'll be used to that in part as soon as you receive it, so it's not all too bad.
8.5/10
Matt Gardner