Creators of Their Own Taxonomic Class,

One of my major mistakes of 2012 was not following music so closely. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I dedicated some hours to KEXP, a station that I listened to for hours on end during my time as a stewdent - those hours were quite magnificent. When music is of a certain standard, hearing a piece for the first time and making my mind up is one of my favourite pastimes, everything is brilliant on first listen.

I heard the Stereophonics new one the other day, I did not enjoy this, it was horrific – a wall of grey – so, my rule doesn’t apply to everything.

By the end of 2013, Teleman should be established, after an album release and some festivals, even the non-investigative journalists should have become aware of their brilliance. Teleman are led by Tom Saunders, the pop genius from the defunct Pete and the Pirates. The first single, Cristina, is instantly recognisable as belong to Saunders, it could easily be a Pete and the Pirates song, although, in this instance, it is a little more mellow and slower. I regret comparing this to Belle & Sebastian but the song has the narrative, the character and the fragility that Stuart Murdoch’s voice often carries.

My top 70 from 2012 is already unravelling; I don’t know where I was when Randolph’s Leap were singing Hermit. They've become part of the Fence Records gang; they’re not out of place there either.