The George Lite Zone

For what it's worth, and before the chimes of Big Ben toll in the New Year, here are my top 12 albums of 2010. 1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs I first came across Canada's Arcade Fire when I saw the video of Rebellion from their debut album funeral. The Suburbs is a work of genius, hence it hitting the number one spot in my list of the year. 2. John Grant - Queen Of Denmark I saw John at Botanique this year and he was amazing. I defy anyone to find a more beautiful song than Marz and others like Where Dreams Go To Die make this a stunning solo debut. It was a close call between this and Arcade Fire as to which was my favourite disk of 2010. 3. The Young Gods - Everybody Knows On to Switzerland for number 3 and a band that I'd not heard before. A potent cocktail of post-industrial electronica and balls to the wall rock liberally spiced with sound samples, they will take your head for a spin and park it on the dark side of the moon. Thanks Maj for the...

Gentleman Of Verona were amazing tonight. One of the best Belgian bands I've heard for years. Come to think of it, one of the best bands, I've had the pleasure to hear, period. High octane music delivered with cruise missile precision, by a band who were tight as a kangeroo's khyber, and a female vocalist who kicked ass bigtime. Reminiscent of L7, Hole early Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and Susie And The Banshees this is a band to watch out for in the future. Their new album Brutally Honest is out now on CD and, to be brutally honest, it's bloody brilliant. Their first album, the eponymous Gentlemen Of Verona , is available for download from iTunes and is also of a very high quality. If you like good music, buy them!

John Grant's The Queen Of Denmark is an extraordinary work, melding Grant's wonderful voice and tinkling piano with sublime backing from Midlake. Chicken Bones, Sigourney Weaver, Marz, this has to be one of the finest debut's I've ever heard. Lyrically exceptional, sonically awesome, buy it!!!

So, the Vatican's response to a recent Foreign Office memo regarding his visit is "One has to question whether the action taken is enough.". Is that the same pope who, when a cardinal heading the Vatican office dealing with sex abuses, did not respond to letters from an archbishop regarding a case of a priest thought to have abused some 200 deaf boys? Yes, one has to question whether the action taken was enough. The memo suggested that the pope should officiate over a gay wedding. As Benedict, has stated in the past that homosexuality is an intrinsic moral evil , that would show a tolerance for other people's beliefs which would be commendable. As to the idea of a Benedict condom, brilliant idea, they should ship them to Africa where thousands die of AIDS each year, following the churches misplaced guidelines on birth control. Benedict XVI was heavily criticised after saying that condoms "aggravate" the spread of the disease. Britain's leading medical jo...

Go Nige! Bitch Song launch party at Churchill's bar in Brussels on Sunday May 2nd. Buy one as a present for next Valentine's Day. The Bitch Song and other great Belgian music videos can be seen at Ming's favourite website, Music Brussels . To quote the great Arno, if you go there you'll be "Dancing in the streets of Belgium, Brussels where they eat sprouts, and raw mussels.".

Check out Together Magazine 's interview with Music Brussels. Hard rock, the classiest of rock. Music Brussels, the classiest of music websites. Churchill's, the classiest of bars. Put them all together and you've got class in a glass. Cheers!

Thanks to all you Satan worshiping goat lovers out there who voted for the Narcotic Daffodils in the race for the palace. I'm happy to announce that after a play off today at KultuurKaffee they were chosen along with 2 other Brussels bands, Five Easy Days and OPMOC , to grace the Place des Palais near the Royal Palace on May the 7th!!! It's just as well they won mind, if they hadn't then someone would have had to deal with Nursie from Dr Poembak. The Narcotic Daffodils, space rock fit for a king.