Bawley (Hearts) 2011: Top 5 Concerts of the Year: Hummer

5. Jebediah, ANU Bar, Canberra 26/05/2011

Essentially a greatest hits show Jebediah put on a show that was far more fun that I care to admit.

4.Adalita and Amaya Laucirica, Transit Bar, Canberra, 14/04/2011

Adalita's headline performance was good but the night belonged to the brilliant Amaya Laucirica. Playing songs from her Early Summer album Amaya Laucirica silenced the crowd with fuzzy guitars and uplifting lyrics.

3. Deftones, UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney, 28/01/2011

With a powerful new record under their (still low ridding) belts Deftones put on a the kind of performace you expect from bands half their age. Equal parts brutal and beautiful Deftones proved once again that they are more than your average hard rock band. (full review)

2. The Cure: Reflections, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, 01/06/2011

Specially reformed line ups of The Cure playing their first three albums at the Sydney Opera House. This show was always going to be great. I could not have known it was also going to be a lot of fun. As expected the sound was perfect and the band faultless what was a surprise was how fresh and fun the near 30 year old music seemed. The Cure: Reflections was a massive event and massive fun. (full review)

1. Portishead, Harvest Festival, Parramatta, 13/11/2011

The loudest, quietest, most delicate and most physically assaulting show I attended all year was also the best. (full review)

Live Review: Deftones, UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney, 28/01/2011

After catching up with old friends, sinking a few beers while getting a detailed run down of Tool's set from the previous night, I make my way to the UNSW Roundhouse.

I successfully negotiate security and enter the roundhouse, where I'm on The Drug (That Killed River Phoenix) is playing loud, really loud. No, T.I.S.M. have not made a comeback - support DJs The Only are spinning some big club beats mixed with classic shout-along tunes. The Only do seem a strange choice of opening act a metal show but the pair of DJs are successful keeping the under 18s occupied (while the 18+ crowd cram into the bar area at the back of the venue).

A long bar queue later and Deftones spring on to the stage, full of energy and anger. The largely chronological set starts with Adrenaline-era tracks Birthmark, Engine No. 9 and Nosebleed. In the time since I last time I saw Deftones (at Soundwave 2007) front man Chino Moreno has lost some serious kilos and gained a shock of energy - when not running around the stage he is scaling barriers and jumping from speaker stacks.

On bass, Sergio Vega is an adequate replacement for the still semi-comatose Chi Cheng. While Cheng is always missed, the only time I find Vega's performance lacking is when he tries to recreate Cheng's backing vocals (screams) on Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) and My Own Summer (Shove It).

The band play a devastating version of Around The Fur before moving onto the more experimental sounds taken from their White Pony and self-titled albums. Hexagram and Bloody Cape set up the set's massive middle section with Minerva, Diamond Eyes, CMND/CTRL and Royal raising the roof.

Deftones have always swayed between beauty and brutality. Their ability to do this has much to do with Chino's vocals. The smooth Sextape is followed by the caustic Rocket Skates.

If the middle part of the set raised the roof, its climax - You've Seen The Butcher, Hole In The Earth, and Kimdracula - blow the roof right off.

The slower tracks Change (In The House of Flies) and Passenger give everyone a chance to catch breath before the set closes with Chino squealing like a pig on 7 Words.

Deftones have followed up their return to form album with a live show that is perhaps better than anything they have put together before.

Bawley (Hearts) 2010: Bottom 5 album covers of the Year

So many bad album covers this year, Devo and Brian Ferry went for glamor mag gloss, Yeasayer had some kind of brain seizure, Kings of Leon explored phallic island and Kanye West showed us way more than we ever wanted to see. Still nothing was worse than these my Bottom 5 album covers of the year.

5. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

The CD sleeve notes state that the album cover is a photo of X Tecumseh Clark taken by his father, avant-garde composer and poet Todd Tamanend Clark.

Yep about as interesting as it sounds.

4. Deftones - Diamond Eyes

Sadly this is not the soundtrack to Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole.

3. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2. MGMT - Congratulations

MGMT do what Nintendon't - pitchfork media

This scratch and sniff disaster was my early favourite for worst album cover of the year. Who could of thought that worse was still to come.

1. M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\

The cover art on M.I.A.'s /\/\ /\ Y /\ is a bigger disaster than the album itself. The YouTube progress bars had been outdated before this album was released, the Tetris brick walls are horrible and can anybody tell me why MIA has spelt her name out in gold bullion?

One part hilarious ten parts hideous , congratulations to M.I.A.; runaway winner for 2010's worst cover album art.

Deftones - Diamond Eyes

Deftones should no longer exist; the rap-metal genre they helped define went out of fashion more than a decade ago, bassist Chi Cheng remains in a semi-comatose state following a 2008 car accident and after spending some two years and many millions of dollars recording their Eros album the band decided to toss the whole thing in the bin a start again. But somehow the band have rarely sounded as alive as they do on Diamond Eyes.

The album starts with title track Diamond Eyes; huge riffs, epic chorus and soaring vocals the result is massive. Royal and CMND/CTRL manage to deliver all the spite of early era Deftones but with the maturity of a band beyond its 20th year.

Deftones have reined in the experimental influences that derailed parts of their post White Pony work. Pleasingly this has not been done at the expense of the dense sounds of their 2006 album Saturday Night Wrist. You've Seen the Butcher is a great example of what Deftones do today; the huge metal riff is accompanied by crashing percussion and reverb soaked vocals the whole thing swamped in ambient effects.

Deftones have never hidden their love of new wave and British romantic music. These influences can be found in the Cure-esk baseline of Beauty School and Morrissey like vocals of This Place is Death. More than just a Smiths revivalist front man Chino Moreno shows great vocal range across the album after tearing his throat out on CMND/CTRL and Rocket Skates his voice is stadium big on Risk before showing his melodic side on Sextape and 976-EVIL.

Closer This Place is Death is a triumph itself and a more than fitting end to this album of decadent heavy music.

Deftones put on their Rocket Skates

Deftones have just released Rocket Skates their first new song since a car accident left bassist Chi Cheng in a coma.

Sergio Vega has joined the band on bass but I wouldn’t say he has changed the sound much; Rocket Skates is typical Deftones, loud riff heavy and awesome.

The new album Diamond Eyes is out on May 18th I for one am hoping for more of the same (again).

Download Rocket Skates at gunsrazorsknives.com or direct from here, want to win stuff by blogging/facebooking/tweeting about Rocket Skates? You can do it here. (Yes I would have posted this anyway, why? Because Deftones rule.)

A little good comes from accident involving Deftones bassist

Earlier this month Chi Cheng was involved in a car accident leaving the Deftones bassist in a coma. As he recovers in hospital Cheng’s mother and band mates have been using the bands blog to encourage fans and well wishers to do one good deed each day and to wear a seat belt.

In April 2008 the band started recording Eros the follow up to 2006’s Saturday Night Wrist with producer Terry Date.

The Golden Age

Mini Post: With new releases on the way from Bloc Party, Deerhunter, Mecruy Rev, and Deftones the next few months could be the beginning of the new Golden Age, or this could just be an excuse to post a link to the new TV on the Radio single Golden Age from the album Dear Science, due out on September 23rd.