KEANE

Jesse’s Best of 2011 23 February 2012

We continue our run through the Keane members' 2011 highlights with Jesse's choices.

1. Favourite album of 2011?
Can we have favourite ALBUMS? Um, LOADS. The Vaccines, The Harrow & The Harvest by Gillian Welch, Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes, Let England Shake by PJ Harvey, A Creature I Don't Know by Laura Marling etc etc.

2. Favourite single?
I'm an album kinda guy. Haven't kept up with singles since the Top 40 turned into a giant pile of steaming elephant dung. Not that I'm a music snob or anything.

3. Best gig you saw?
Paul Simon at Hammersmith Apollo. Or Arcade Fire in Hyde Park.

4. Best moment in the studio?
Doing the drum overdubs for OTR with Tim at RAK. Or nights staying up late with Rich drinking Curious Brew and listening to '90s hip hop at a million decibels on Tim's big studio speakers. 

5. Best film you saw?
Shame with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan was very, very good and challenging. I liked True Grit too.

6. Best journey you made?
I spent a day with my Dad in the Summer, just riding around Suffolk on our motorbikes for the hell of it. Glorious.

7. Best TV show you watched?
Trailer Park Boys. Hands down. Closely followed by Parks & Recreation and then Downton Abbey.

8. Best thing you heard on the radio?
Nothing. There was only adverts and people saying 'Brap'.

9. Best book you read?
I've had a bad year for books. I don't think I've finished a single one. That's awful isn't it! I started reading Any Human Heart by William Boyd in the Summer and STILL haven't finished it!

10. Best thing you bought yourself?
A 1963 Ludwig Super Classic drum kit.

11. Best thing someone else bought for you?
I turned 30 this year so it was a good one for presents! My Mum and Dad bought me a really lovely old record player. My wife bought me a wristwatch from the 1940s which is beautiful and Tim bought me a Yamaha RX5 drum machine. I used to own one that I used constantly until it had a meltdown and died and I've missed it ever since. Such a great present. I'm a lucky boy.

12. Best website you visited or app/podcast you downloaded?
My friend Alan just introduced me to this site. I really like it. www.abeano.com

13. Best thing that happened in 2011 for Keane?
We made the best Keane album so far.

14. Best thing that happened in 2011 for you?
I became a Dad.

15. Finally, what are you looking forward to in 2012?
TOUR.

- Click for Richard's Best of 2011

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