Features

Strange times, I guess, when the third Howlin Rain album appears to have been delayed to some degree by the small business of Adele. But then, the fact that Ethan Miller’s band have fallen under the enigmatic and somewhat digressive tutelage of Rick Rubin means that, commercially speaking, there are more pressing matters than the construction of the dream 1970 throwback rock record.

Happy new year, everyone. A bit of housekeeping first: if you haven’t posted your 2011 Top Tens on this thread, please do so asap – I’m going to start adding up the votes end of this week.

An unsentimental tribute to the silent era...It is very easy to become consumed by a cosy nostalgia for the silent era. We all know Gloria Swanson’s anguished protest as the ageing silent queen from Sunset Boulevard: “We didn’t need dialogue. We had faces!” We’ve seen Chaplin’s bow-legged walk, Keaton’s stony-faced escape-artistry and Harold Lloyd dangling from the clock face.

I suspect this will be the last playlist of 2011, so thanks once again for all your encouragement and support over what has been a slightly erratic year of blogging.

Thanks for all your kind responses to my 100 Albums of 2011. In case you missed it the other day, one of the blog’s most diligent regulars, Nick, has put together a Wild Mercury Sound Spotify playlist with most of the 100 featured. Enormous thanks again, for that; let me know, of course, what you all think.

The last in our series of transcripts from the judges' discussions: Gillian Welch, "The Harrow And The Harvest".

And after 100 to 76, 75 to 51 and 50 to 26, here's my rough top 25. Thanks for indulging me.

Part three of my rundown. Check out 100 to 76 and 75 to 51, too.

This morning, a look at what the Uncut Music Award judges said about Paul Simon's "So Beautiful Or So What".