The last few weeks have see critics and fans decide on their favourite albums and music moments of 2011, really like most awards it isn’t that important but it is a bit of fun that we seem to be intent on doing every year. I for one love end of year lists to the point of it becoming a bit of an unheathly obsession!

Here is a round-up of the polls and lists The Strokes featured on

Pitchfork Readers Poll

Angles was #8 as the Most Underated Album and Under Cover of Darkness came in at 32 on the Top 50 Songs list. The Strokes were also 5th on the Best Comeback/Reunion poll

NME Readers Poll

Thanks to all the voting done by fans Angles came in at #2 on the NME Readers Best Album of 2011 poll and Under Cover of Darkness  was also #2 on the Top Song, well done everyone.

Angles was listed in the BBC’s Top Album Art of 2011, interesting choice seeing as how many people seemed to outright hate the art when it was first revealed. I was always indifferent to it myself.

You’re So Right won the Best Musical Performance on the Jimmy Fallon Late show

NY Times Concert Moments of 2011 included the spectacular Madison Square Garden show

Other blogs and sites that listed Angles:

What Culture Top 10 Albums
Hyper Vocal’s Top 30 Albums
National Post’s Top 42 Albums

I will amend this post if any other turn up.

For the record Angles was definitely in my own Top 10 list of 2011.

A round up of news/updates you may have missed

Photos

Added quite a few candid photos from the past few weeks including Albert at the premieres for Anonymous and The Rum Diary and Nick DJing at the All Saints/Not For Sale Hollywood launch on October 24

Also some pictures from the Corona Capital Festival last month.

Voting time

Vote for The Strokes in the Best Alternative Band category at the MTV European Music Awards, today is the last day!

Also NME have a best album of the last 15 years poll running so don’t forget to show Is This It some love by rating it 10/10

Live Streams

There are two live streams this coming weekend

The Strokes at Personal Festival (O4 November 2011)

When: 23:20 (Local Time – Buenos Aires) / 22:20 (East Coast) / 19:20 (West Coast) 02:20 (UK) / Other Time Zones 

Live Stream : Watch it here

Recording :  Update: The stream quality is appalling so its very unlikely I will be recording it, sorry!

The Strokes at Planeta Terra Festival (05/06 November 2011)

When: 01:30 (Local Time – Sao Paulo) / 23:30 (East Coast) / 20:30 (West Coast) / Other Time Zones

Live Stream: Watch it here

Note: It seems like the stream is only for Brazil /other Latin American countries and possibly the US so I will not be able to record it which really sucks so if anyone can do it please let me know either here or on Twitter.

Misc

After Stereogum did a  cover/tribute album for Is This It earlier this summer it seems like Rock N Beats  has done its own version with Brazilian bands! More information at their site

Toxic Radio the new domain of the Hard To Explain forum has been down the the last few weeks but fear not it is now back!

Yet more Reading festival news for you as NME went backstage with Julian and Jarvis Cocker as well as reviewing their Reading show

I’ve been adding some old interviews to the site, some you have probably read others you may not have, all enjoyable reads.

2001 Interviews

Q Magazine – September 2001 - The Emperor’s New Clothes? by Bob Gordon

Circuit Magazine – Autumn 2001 – Luck Strokes: Don’t Believe The Hype

Selector – November 2001 – Q&A with the band

NME – December 2001 – A Year Of Living Famously

2002 Interviews

Q Magazine - January 2002 – I Want A Fight by Paul Elliot

Les Inrockuptibles – March 2002

Hot Press – April 2002 – That’s All Strokes by Eamon Sweeney

NME – November 2002 – The Strokes in LA News Special by Steve Sutherland

The Strand - November 2002 –  by Charles Wasserman

2003 Interviews

Mojo - August 2003 - Action. Time. Vision by Andrew Male

NME – September 2003 – The Second Coming by Alex Needham

NME – September 2003 – Trial By Fire by Alex Needham

NME - December 2003 – Setting The Year Alight

2005 Interviews

Rolling Stone (Australian Edition) – December 2005 - Julian talks about FIOE and aliens

CD:UK Interview – December 2005 – Fab and Nick talk about the epic love story of Kermit and Miss Piggy

2006 Interviews

Suicide Girls – January 2006 by Daniel Robert Epstein. Interview with Nick.

Blond – January 2006 –  Albert, Nick and Fab talk about Ubersexuals. Random

The first interview with all the band in this week’s NME, they paint a much more stable picture than previous interviews have and the band genuinely seem happy with Angles and more importantly each other right now.

I honestly don’t care if people think we have troubles. We all get along great. Our friendships are more stable – Julian

When their paths do cross Fab’s with Albert’s, Nick’s with Julian’s – there are big hugs, un-fakeable ear-to-ear gruns and plans to meet up later on “See you onstage in a couple of months! Julian grins to Nick as he leaves – a joke very much for the benefit of NME

Oh Machu Picchu

It all begins with a Moog crescendo that explodes into what Nikolai will describe as “our funkiest song yet”….There are as with all the songs a LOT of twists and turns