20 albums from 2014

I was going to do a list of the best albums from 2014, but everyone does that these days, and they publish them in November, confident in the knowledge that nothing decent is ever released beyond that. As you may have noticed.

So in lieu of a best of list (subjective), here's a list of the albums I listened to most in 2014 (I think). They are not in any order, but every one of them is worth your time, but if I were to pick a favourite three, or even one, I may do so by the time I get to the end of the list. I have also created a spotify playlist with one track from each album, a little sampler if you like, which you really should listen to - if only to decide whether to continue to read this blog throughout 2015, or to dismiss and forget it as the ramblings of...


...well, a middle-aged man.


The list:


Young Fathers - Dead: Anne and I went to see them back in 2013 as I was curious to hear what a Scottish hip hop band sounded like. There were about 30 of us hipsters there, all obviously in on the big secret, that these three Edinburgh boys were going to do things. They sounded like a cross between an angry boy band and a melodic Public Enemy with a really scary stage presence. Anyway since then, they've scored a 2013 Scottish Album of the Year (with Tape 2) and a 2014 Mercury Music Prize with Dead. I knew all along!


Perfume Genius - Too Bright: The first two albums from Perfume Genius were all angsty sparse piano based tunes from a fragile and shy gay singer who wouldn't say boo to a goose. Whilst they were both excellent this one, however, is more of the same but with added attitude, scuzzy guitars and heavy synth. It's, frankly, brilliant.


Jamie T - The Prophet: I'm a fan, a big fan, of Jamie T, it's just that I would feel a bit out of place at one of his gigs. How did someone who is a cross between Joe Strummer and Damon Albarn get such a teen following?


New Build - Pour It On: A bloke from Hot Chip & LCD Soundsystem and another bloke do stuff made for the cool clubs. The ones that don't allow shallow celebs in.


Glass Animals - Zaba: A band from Oxford (probably posh boys) who are the first signing on Paul Epworth's record label. Given that all he touches turns to gold these days, I expected them to be massively popular by now - that they're not is not down to their music - it's dancy, woozy modern indie class of 2014 stuff - which they also do perfectly live. Go and see them if you get the chance, they're nice people.


The Phantom Band - Strange Friend: Talking of nice people... I have seen these guys 3 (three) times in 2014 which is a silly thing to do. The first time I saw them they were playing The Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen (told you I was hipster) and I got a late offer of a ticket to see Prince at the Roundhouse that night. I don't regret my choice*. The second time they were playing in the woods at Latitude and had just had their van broken in to in Nottingham and lost all their equipment, so they were playing with borrowed guitars (from Mogwai) and a Moog synth that was malfunctioning in the heat, yet they were the best received act I saw all festival. The final time I saw them this year was in Cambridge, at the junction and there was a crowd of around 30 there - what is wrong with you Cambridge?! This is a band that deserves to sell out every single gig.


*on reflection, if I'd known I would get the chance to see The Phantom Band twice more within a few months, I may have chosen Prince at The Roundhouse.


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Days of Abandon: Big line-up changes and borrowed musicians for touring has not altered the straightforward joys of this jangly guitar based indy pop band from New York. They make me smile.


Pixies - Indy Cindy: Panned by most critics for not being better than their albums of 20 years ago, this is a decent album, no a very good album, and if the worst that can be thrown at it is that it's only the third best album from the Pixies, then it must be a very good album indeed.


East India Youth - Total Strife Forever: Probably made in the bedroom, but it sounds like the best soundtrack to your favourite film. If any album on this list deserves a set of headphones and your undivided attention, it's this one.


Future Islands - Singles: I was standing by the mixing desk at the small tent in the woods at Latitude watching Eagulls when I noticed a bloke standing next to me and to the untrained eye he was just your average looking Latitude dad, spending a bit of time away from the kids watching the latest bunch of rowdies do their stuff. He wasn't though, he was Samuel T Herring, the greatest living frontman, and extraordinary dancer, of Baltimore based megastars Future Islands. Look them up on Youtube, and marvel at his moves.

I nodded at him, and he nodded back.


Slow Club - Complete Surrender: My most played album of the year and in earlier times this would have been the sort of album that everyone would buy and would play to death, yet never get sick of it. There's not a duff track on it. How does Adele, Florence et al get so huge yet these two remain in the background? Beats me.


Caribou - Our Love: A man who has a PhD in Maths from Imperial College makes a perfect album. Some folks eh!


St Vincent - St Vincent: I'm not allowed to go and see a St Vincent gig, as they are apparently full of middle aged men worshipping at the altar of Annie Clark; guitar hero, songwriter, visionary tunesmith and to top it all, she's a bit good at football. This album topped a lot of end of year lists, and it's hard to argue against that judgement.

Mogwai - Rave Tapes: Everyone's heard a lot of Mogwai, although you may not know it. They soundtrack everything; Attenborough, Top Gear, Premier League Football, French Supernatural Drama, Chelsea Flower Show etc. If you listen to this, or any of their albums, play it loud. If you go and see them, stand near the front and prepare for the onslaught. And the intro "hi we're Mogwai, and we're from Glasgow, Scotland".

Ásgeir - In The Silence: Ásgeir Trausti is the Icelandic version of Michael Jackson. Not because he's dead, changed colour, had a disastrous nose-job, sings with his brothers, or is even a particularly good dancer. In fact he's only similar because every house has a copy of this album. The English language version was released early 2014, with translation by the great John Grant, and every time I listen to it I want to go to Iceland a little bit more. See you there in 2015,

Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness: American folk singer picks up an electric guitar and rocks.

FKA Twigs - LP1: The only album I've found this year that's a little bit different, and it's mesmerising. Most people's favourite for the 2014 Mercury Prize, and it was probably a split decision between this and the eventual winners, Young Fathers. Should be huge in 2015.

The 2 Bears - The Night is Young: Disco goodness from another Hot Chip spin-off, this is the 2nd album from Joe Goddard and his pal Raf Rundell. They've ditched the bear costumes but kept the cheesy disco tunes. Put your medallions on and dance like it's 1978.

Fat White Family - Champagne Holocaust: Remember when Thatcher died and a bunch of Brixton anarchists put a banner up in the town hall declaring the witch was dead? That was the Fat White Family. Their gigs are crazy, messy even, but there's proper tunes in amongst the carnage.

Jenny Lewis - The Voyager: Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley, The Postal Service, Jenny & Johnny delivers her 3rd solo album and it's a fine example of American FM radio type music. With class and bite. Just One of the Guys is probably my favourite track from 2014, it's pretty much timeless.

And I'm finished!

My favourite? Probably Slow Club.

Stick with me through 2015, it will be irregular :)

Spotify playlist: One track from each

I'm on the point of giving up....

When I started this it was just meant to be a note of a couple of albums released on a Monday which may be worth listening to. I forgot to consider that the last two months of the year do not fit well with my plan, given the dearth of albums that are not either:

1. greatest hits
2. Christmas collections
3. Re-releases
4. reality show contestants' efforts
5. a bit shit
6. a combination of the above (Susan Boyle's Christmas album anyone?)

So what do I do now?

Well I went to see The Jesus & Mary Chain play the whole of Psychocandy the other day, what a sonic assault that was! Psychocandy came out in 1985, just about the same time as I moved to London. Them being a Scottish band, I was full of enthusiasm for their new sound*, but my new London type mates were not so sure - "it's just noise and awful feedback" they said. "Can't you hear the pop tune underneath?" I said. "Nope".  As it turned out, I was right and these London people wouldn't know a decent band if it hit them between the eyes, which was actually was quite probable at a JAMC gig. 

Anyway, 30 years on I finally managed to see them (when I first moved to London I didn't get to too many gigs, for various reasons) and what a gig! Middle-aged mosh-pit, all in black, dark glasses indoors and big hair (or no hair).  So music, very noise, much reminisce. Wow!

ps - if the noise on Psychocandy doesn't do it for you, try Darklands, which came out 2 years later.


*technically not new, just a mix of Velvet Underground & Phil Spector really. A bit like mixing Guinness and Champagne, nobody thought of doing it, and then somebody did.

A quick one, for it's a difficult week....

Not the best time to be doing a blog on new albums; this time of year is, as I have said before, full of re-issues, greatest hits and Christmas tat.

From this week's list I have therefore highlighted five albums that may be worth a listen, and two that should be avoided, if only on principle as they may be good but I'm just not giving them the opportunity.

I'll try not to be so lazy next week.

This week's releases:

Alfie Boe - Serenata 
Andy Stott - Faith in Strangers 
Ariel Pink - Pom Pom 
Armin van Buuren - Armin Anthems - Ultimate Singles Collected 
Bette Midler - It's The Girls 
Bloodbath - Grand Morbid Funeral 
Bo Street Runners - Never Say Goodbye - The Complete Recordings 1964-1966 
Bruce Springsteen - The Albums Collection Vol. 1 (1973-1984) [CD] 
Bryan Ferry - Avonmore 
Captain Beefheart - Sun Zoom Spark: 1970 To 1972 
Carcass - Surgical Remission- Surplus Steel 
Dame Shirley Bassey - Hello Like Before 
Daniel O'Donnell - Stand Beside Me 
David Bowie - Nothing Has Changed 
deadmau5 - 5 years of mau5 
Depeche Mode - Depeche Mode Live In Berlin 
Emigrate - Silent So Long 
Fugazi - First Demo 
Hans Zimmer - Interstellar (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 
In This Moment - Black Widow 
Jeff Wayne - Highlights From Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds - The New Generation 
Joris Voorn - Nobody Knows 
Katherine Jenkins - Home Sweet Home 
Kings Of The South Seas - Kings Of The South Seas 
Kristin Chenoweth - Coming Home 
Luther Vandross - The Greatest Hits 
Michael Ball - If Everyone Was Listening 
Nickelback - No Fixed Address 
Old Man Gloom - The Ape of God I 
One Direction - FOUR 
Pentatonix - That's Christmas To Me 
Robert Wyatt - Different Every Time 
Savages and Bo Ningen - Words To The Blind 
The Jam - Setting Sons 
The Kinks - The Anthology 1964 - 1971 
The New Basement Tapes - Lost On The River 
The Stranglers - Here and There: The Epic B-sides (1983-1991) 
Thompson - Family 
Trisha Yearwood - Prizefighter: Hit After Hit 
TV On The Radio - Seeds 
Various Artists - Christmas Words For You 
Various Artists - NOW That's What I Call The 90s 
Various Artists - 80s Mix 
Various Artists - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 
Various Artists - Anthems House 
Various Artists - Punk Goes Pop 6 
Various Artists - American Music Library (Hits of 1962) 
Various Artists and Bob Dylan - The Art Of McCartney (Amazon Deluxe Exclusive) 
Voices - London 
Whiskey Myers - Early Morning Shakes [UK Version] 
Within Temptation - Let Us Burn (Elements & Hydra Live In Concert) [2cd + Blu-Ray] 
Zac Brown Band - Greatest Hits So Far...

Two final albums, ever.

#1 daughter said to me the other day, "dad, stop comparing everything to Robyn", well this week I don't have to, for she's only on the last ever album by Röyksopp, called appropriately The Inevitable End - the Norwegian kings of electronic music have always been better live than on an album, but they are always, or maybe mostly, worth a listen. I'll miss them, but will always try and catch up with whatever they do next.

The other final ever album this week is from Pink Floyd. It's a lazy money making exercise of a collection of tracks that weren't deemed good enough to get onto The Division Bell, which was released over 20 years ago. Listen if you must, it's called The Endless River, which seems to describe a lot of their output.

Another big name with a new album this week is The Foo Fighters, with Sonic Highways. It's the poppy side of rock, and there's loads of guests on the album, but I like Dave Grohl, and he seems to be having fun, so why not carry on as before. Nothing new here.

If that lot doesn't tickle your fancy you could always try Christmas at Downton Abbey (seriously), Now That's What I Call Disney, or Cheryl's new album, Only Human.  In fact, here's a good game: listen to Cheryl's album, then search out a recording of Cheryl singing with no autotune, or production of any kind, and compare what you hear, then ponder the album title.

It's Tuesday

I had a busy day yesterday, and to be honest I was struggling to find a decent album to talk about from this week's releases. There's Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Wings, The Doobie Brothers and a cover version of Sgt Pepper's by the Flaming Lips - all a bit 70s and beyond.

However....

I've found a gem: Run The Jewels 2 by Run The Jewels is filthy sweary hip hop and an absolute belter. I was listening to it on the train home last night (it was quite late) and sitting opposite me was a bloke wearing a Bath University sweatshirt, Beats Solos on his head and a pale blue iPhone 5c in his hand, and he probably thought he was cool as. What he didn't know was that the 50 something bloke opposite was listening to more hipster music than he was. I don't know that for sure, but I'd put good money on it. Make sure you listen to this one, but don't tell your mum it was me that recommended it.

Talking of hip hop, if you've not yet discovered Young Fathers please do so, they have just won the Mercury Music Prize with the wonderful Dead, and they are exciting, in a scary choreographed way, when they play live. Stars*.

Good, Scottish, hip hop <--- words that I never expected to see in the same sentence.



*Anne and I saw them live about 18 months ago, in a crowd of about 30, and we knew then they'd be stars. Take that cool dude in the Bath Uni sweatshirt.

Gloomy Scottish indy rock, dancefloor bangers & Japanese post rock

I'll start with one that I missed last week, just because it was not on the list of releases I work from, but I ended up listening to it most last week, Pour It On, by New Build - electropop from the band that consists of two from Hot Chip, and one from LCD Soundsystem (although one of them was in both bands) so of course, I'm going to like this. This one's a classic case of let it settle in for a bit, it needs a few listens, and you'll find a great album to work/study/run/clean kitchens to, and whatever it is you're doing will be a bit more fun.  The NME gave this album 3/10, so they're obviously dicks.

Remember when Prince released two albums in one week, well it's now a thing. Japanese post rockers, Mono have two new albums out today; The Last Dawn & Rays of Darkness - I'm not sure if there's a difference in style between the two, but you'll probably get lots of soft melodic beginnings, big apocalyptic middles, and either abrupt ends or gentle fade outs. Both will be worth listening to on your best sound equipment. Ideal music for driving through a misty Glencoe and destined to be incidental music in Scandinavian thrillers and David Attenborough documentaries. Personally, I love this stuff.

Then there was The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave. Have you ever heard a more gloomy album name, by a more gloomy sounding band? Jeez - cheer up guys, your music is great, and life's not that bad! Think The National with broad Scottish accents and you'll be there. If you like the sound of that, listen to their first album too, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters (another gloomy title), it's a genuine all-time great.

All albums to get lost in this week, if that's not your thing there's always Taylor Swift's new album, 1989.

The first Christmas albums are here. Really!

Anyone fancy the Elvis Christmas Album by err.... Elvis Presley? No?

Ok, let's try and find something a bit more....   us.  Heard of Mark Lanegan? He's an old style rocker with a great CV, having worked with Kurt Cobain, Queens of the Stone Age and his own band, the Screaming Trees; one of the original Seattle grunge bands. For me, his best moment came with the collaboration with Isobel Campbell, one time singer and cellist with Scotland's finest, Belle & Sebastian. They did three albums together and Ballad of the Broken Seas is one of the best 20 albums of the last 10 years (it's really that good). If you get a chance have a listen, the contrast in their two voices couldn't be starker, one fey Scottish indie whispering and the other sounding like a sack of gravel that smoked 60 Marlboro a day. It's wonderful.

Anyways, Mark Lanegan has a new album out today and it's a bit of a departure (slight) in that there's no bluesy rock, it's more tunes and ballads. But he can play, sing and obviously knows how to put a good album together. So this week's must listen is Mark Lanegan Band - Phantom Radio.

Another one that might be worth a visit is Inspiral Carpets, by Inspiral Carpets - their first album for 20 years. A band that was famous for being one of the lesser lights of the Madchester scene (The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays being leaders of the pack), and also for having a roadie, or guitar technician, called Noel Gallagher. Where's he now eh? If you liked their one big hit "This Is How It Feels", then you should give this album a listen. If you've never heard it, make sure you do - it's a classic of it's kind.

Not much else that I can see in today's releases, and we're getting into Christmas, greatest hits and x-factor failure (that's all of them imho) season - so stay with me through the storm, I'll try and find some light amongst the dark.