THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS

I was intending to sit down and compose a long diatribe about the past 12 months, but I don't really have the stomach for it, and besides an e-mail that came in that changed my mind about the final post of 2010.

I cant deny that the year has been dominated, personally, by the sudden death of my brother David in a car crash in Ireland back in July. In among the grief and sorrow, I took great heart from the many many messages that were left on this blog and via e-mail. Thanks again to all of you for your very kind words and thoughts.

The year also ended badly for me. My best mate - not someone I mention much on the blog as he is not a music buff by any means - finished 2010 in hospital. It was 16 months ago that he received a bone marrow transplant to help him fight off leukaemia, and all seemed well until his six-weekly routine check-up showed up something the medical team didn't like. As a result he was taken back to the specialist hospital in Glasgow and the fight for his life has begun all over again. This was a totally unexpected development as he was feeling great even on the day of his check-up. Its knocked the stuffing out of me somewhat and is partly why I haven't been in the mood too much for posting in recent weeks.

These two events are what I will most remember 2010 by. And yet.....there was so much else happened that could have made this one of the best years ever.

Football wise, all three of my favourite teams achieved something special this year - I got to see Raith Rovers in a Scottish cup semi-final, I made it to Wembley to see Southampton win silverware while I watched from afar as Rochdale got promoted for the first time in living memory.

Music wise, well I cant get past the fact that I've befriended all the musicians in Butcher Boy and been in the privileged position of hearing their new record just as it has been recorded as well as see them play a number of great gigs.

Then there's the Edwyn/Orange Juice stuff - meeting and talking to the great man and his missus earlier in the year at a book-signing event and then I was stunned to see my name in a list of 'thank yous' from Domino Records within the booklet that was with the Orange Juice boxset.

Then there was the bit of DJ-ing in the summer which gave me a big kick, while I also met, for the first time, a couple of American readers (hi there Jeff and hi there Tricia) who came to Glasgow for one reason or another and that was great fun.

And I cant forget that friendships with Comrade Colin, Ed, Drew, Mike and Matthew have all been cemented over beers and gigs, while the likes of Davy, Simon, Greer, Webbie, Adam, Anglopunk, Lee, Richard and Rol, among others, have been great to 'talk to' by email.

So there was loads of small things on the plus side.......but they were, without any question, more than counter-balanced by two big things on the minus side.

So that's my take on 2010. Sorry if you came in expecting loads of talk about which songs were great and which were rubbish. Anyway, there's plenty other blogs and sites out there willing to talk at length and in a far more coherent sense than I can about what music made them tingle this past 12 months.

But here's a handful of songs that I have enjoyed:-

mp3 : Kid Canaveral - Good Morning
mp3 : Orange Juice - Bridge (Kid Jensen Session, February 1984)
mp3 : The Scottish Enlightenment - Earth Angel-With Sticks in Crypt
mp3 : Gorillaz feat Mark E Smith - Glitter Freeze

And finally, the one song that I'm willing to call my favourite of 2010:-

mp3 : Stornoway - I Saw You Blink

That might have surprised a few of you.......but there's something about its simplicity and loveliness that gave me a bit of inner peace this year.

And finally for 2010, a big favour to ask you all. Again.

Regular readers will know that I support a charity through TVV called the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, something I was inspired to do after Acid Ted temporarily went off-line. Many of you will know the story, but if you don't please click here.

Anyway, here's what the big favour is all about:-

On 1st January, ctel (aka Acid Ted) will be hosting an exclusive bit of music to raise money for research into brain tumours, in memory of his son Lawrence who passed away in October 2007.

He is offering everyone the chance to get an exclusive mix from the marvellous but mysterious Error Operator. This mix will not be available anywhere else. All you have to do is make a small donation to charity.

The instructions on how to get this download will be given in the actual posting.

I really would be grateful if as many of you as possible could get 2011 off to a great start by supporting this venture.

Thanks once again.

And Happy New Year when it comes round.