Martin Trimble
22-20s

Top Nine Albums of 2005

(In no particular order)

Willy Mason: Where the Human’s Eat
The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan
Neil Young: Prairie Wind
Doves: Some Cities
Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have it So Much Better
Babyshambles: Down in Albion
Bob Dylan: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
The Duke Spirit: Cuts Across the Land
Graham Coxon: Happiness in Magazines

What was the highlight of 2005 for either you personally or for the band?

Moving to NYC.

What was the low point of 2005 for you?

The final part of touring the last record in the U.S. Playing songs that we recorded two years ago was tough. It’s strange because you get the opportunity to travel all over the place, yet you are at a standstill musically.

What are your hopes and plans for 2006?

We hope to record a far better record. However, planning is pointless in our case.

If you could drop a copy of one album in the mailbox of every American citizen, what album would it be?

The Smiths: The Queen is Dead

Will the iPod, and its ability to combine all genres and its emphasis on individual songs, render the album format irrelevant?

Maybe. I think bands will still record albums, but the listener will have more control over what they listen to. There are very few albums I can listen to in their entirety. I don’t have the patience, for example, to listen to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon backwards (or forwards for that matter).

With Kate Bush, Gang of Four, Ray Davies, Scott Walker, and others issuing new releases, what icon needs to return and make another album?

Too wary of disappointment. I still have a fantasy that the Stones will put out a really un-produced record like Exile On Main Street. It makes so much sense in the current musical climate.

With the mainstream success of artists like Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, The White Stripes, and Franz Ferdinand, has the meaning of “indie rock” shifted? Has the term lost all meaning?

Bands like The White Stripes have shown that they can be artistically independent within the framework of a major label. You either like a band or do not like a band - who cares about the label (with exception of Astralwerks!). ;-)

If you couldn't be a musician, what other profession do you think that you'd enjoy and why?

A film director. I wouldn’t have a clue of how to do it, but to be able to project an idea without having to project yourself is attractive.

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