2011: Resolutions

As inevitable as the regret that comes to you on New Years Day, as you realise you've spent £100 on an incredibly lacklustre, overly busy, overly expensive night out that has given you the biggest hangover of the year, come new year's resolutions.

2011 will be the 21st year of my life, and I still don't really get the big deal with resolutions, or more to the point, I don't understand people who come up with outlandish ones. For example, 2 years ago I decided I was going to learn Italian. Why? Well, I still don't really know. I wasn't going to visit Italy, I had absolutely no need to learn a new language, but deep down I think it was because I've watched too many films where the handsome leading character can talk to anyone in a foreign tongue with ease.

Anyway, rather than learn 10 musical instruments, or work out to the point where I look like Sylvester Stallone, this year I've decided to keep things simple. I want to get a degree, I want to go abroad, and I want to preserve as of my dignity as I possibly can. That way I think it's possible to get much more done.

But this is a music blog, so obviously I've got to come up with some music-based resolutions. So here are a few things that I have promised myself to do or not do in 2011:

1. I will not get too excited over Beady Eye

Because it will only result in disappointment. Oasis were a great band, and although they probably should have split up in 1997, they have an excellent back catalogue. Beady Eye scare me a little bit, Liam did write some good songs for Oasis ('Songbird', 'I'm Outta Time' etc.), but a whole album is another matter entirely. I won't mind if I grow to love the album, but I'm not going to let myself be disappointed if it's the audio equivalent of milk that's been left out for three months.

2. I will make it to a festival
A good one as well, not one of those crappy ones in North Devon that makes you question your very existence for a whole rainy weekend in June while you watch a middle-aged band play 'Sweet Child O'Mine' and many other uninteresting songs. No, this year I want to go to a big one, which may be a problem seeing as camping fills me with unadultered rage. But you have to suffer for your art, right? Anyway, Bennicassim looks amazing this year, with The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Primal Scream and Arcade Fire all set to play. Plus it would tick off the 'go abroad' resolution.

3. I will never buy a Glee CD

This resolution may as well stay with me for the rest of my life. The fact that heavily auto-tuned cover versions on a TV show will be compiled into an album that will make it to number one in the charts makes me utterly irate. I hope 2011 will become the year that popular culture implodes and everyone in Britain wakes up and starts listening to music again. I'm not holding out much hope though, so I'm just going to leave it at not buying a Glee CD, and my next resolution, which is:

4. I'm might hibernate when Lady GaGa's next album comes out

Because it is heavily likely to destroy my soul. She gets coverage in the tabloids every day when she hasn't released a single for nearly 8 months. I dread to think how many column inches she'll get by the time Born This Way gets released in May. Either way, I want to take as little involvement in the whole charade as I possibly can.



I think it's best to make a small amount of attainable resolutions, which is why I'm going to stop now. I can't see any of them falling down, but I'll let you know if they do (unless I'm too utterly, utterly ashamed to admit I've got Glee: The Music on repeat). Happy new year!