The best new albums of the month, March 2015 edition

Lightning Bolt 'Fantasy Empire' (Thrill Jockey) buy | stream | my review (the 405)
"In the five years away from the studio they certainly haven't stagnated. Fantasy Empire is the sound of a band modifying their sound rather than totally changing direction and whilst their spontaneity may have been tempered by their new ways of recording, their intensity and creativity remains very much intact."

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat 'The Most Important Place in the World' (Chemikal Underground) buy | stream
The second album from the genial Scotsmen, and a worthy follow-up to the excellent Everything's Getting Older. Bill's arrangements (from ballads to wild jazz) complement Aidan's poetic words so well, and the genuinely alarming 'Lock Up Your Lambs' comes across like an unplugged Liars. This album will be keeping me company all year.

Sufjan Stevens 'Carrie and Lowell' (asthmatic kitty) buy | stream |
Sufjan's other two masterpieces (Michigan and Illinois) were expansive and ambitious records, and Carrie & Lowell sits proudly beside them, although it is a much more personal introspective work, focusing on his long distance childhood relationship with his mum and step-Dad. It reveals new raw details with every listen, and it is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress' (constellation) buy | stream |
Avid fans will recognise the music here as the centrepiece from their 2013 tour, aka 'Behemoth'. It has been honed into four sections and trimmed to a mere 40 minutes - very short for a GY!BE album. Worth noting that this is the first fruit from the post-reformation GY!BE, given that the previous album was material that existed before their hiatus, so it's interesting to note the absence of any voice samples. Now they sound heavier, leaner and still totally essential.

Pile 'You're Better Than This' (Exploding in Sound) buy | stream |
The third album from this New England based bunch sees them in rowdy form, with vocalist Rick Maguire on the edge of a tantrum throughout. Bizarre, imaginative lyrics and an unhinged energy to rival prime period Modest Mouse, Fugazi, Pixies, it's that kind of vibe. Juddering, erratic and a whole lot of fun.

Lower Dens 'Escape From Evil' (Ribbon Music/ Domino) buy | stream |my interview with Jana Hunter from Lower Dens (the 405)
A shift towards left field 80s influenced pop and slightly away from the overtly experimental leanings of predecessor Nootropics. Shades of Motorik and Berlin-era Bowie are evident, but ultimately this is a collection of finely crafted songs with depths and layers underneath that pop sheen.

Matthew E. White 'Fresh Blood' (Domino) buy | stream |
It's fair to say that this isn't a massive departure from Matthew's superlative debut Big Inner - the seventies soul feel, the big arrangements, and his laid-back delivery are all present and correct, and serve to show what a talent this guy is.

Lonelady 'Hinterland' (Warp) buy | stream |
This contains one of the best three-song runs on an album this year, with 'Bunkerpop', the title track and 'Groove it Out' throwing the knock-out punches. The rest is good, if a little samey, but this long overdue second album makes a bigger splash than her debut and proves that Julie Campbell is onto something special.

Modest Mouse 'Strangers to Ourselves' (Epic) buy | stream |
It's almost as if they made Strangers to Ourselves extra-long to make up for time away, and there is the suggestion that they are resting on their indie-rock laurels a little here, but there are enough highlights to keep their fans engaged. The eccentric songwriting of Isaac Brock is something worth cherishing.

Ghostpoet 'Shedding Skin' (PIAS) buy | stream |
This album move from Ghostpoet, as he has left behind electronics and Afrobeat and has chosen to work with a traditional guitar-bass-drums backing this time around. The reasons are cathartic as Shedding Skin is a break-up album and both the instrumentation and his detached vocal delivery suit the bleak mood and make a big emotional impression.

live review: Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, RM Hubbert, Cambridge Portland Arms 27th March 2012

(promo pic by Sarah Bowden)

I had been looking forward to this tour, as it featured Wells and Moffat, the makers of one of my favourite albums of 2011, with RM Hubbert in support, whose recent album Thirteen Lost and Found is likely to be in my end of year list this year. I was privileged to catch the tour on its first night in the intimate surroundings of the Portland Arms, which suited both performances really well.

RM Hubbert is on reasonably early but there is a good crowd for his solo guitar set. He does appear very skilful, mixing up styles of playing as diverse as flamenco and post-rock. It is very natural and acoustic, and it's refreshing to hear so few effects and no loopstation trickery, just a bit of reverb. The set is mostly instrumental though he does perform the very sad 'The False Bride', replacing Alasdair Roberts's vocal with his own.
'For Joe' which he dedicates to his late former father-in-law, is a beautiful instrumental piece and 'Switches part two' shows his impressive technique in coupling a pretty tune with percussive tapping on the body of the instrument.
He talks a bit about his chronic depression and how he plays gigs to cope with it, and how he finds it easier to talk to a room full of strangers as he is a naturally poor communicator. Some of his music is a bit bleak but on both his albums, and in his set tonight, he manages to make instrumental acoustic guitar tunes engaging, and that is a skill worth applauding. He brings out Aidan Moffat for 'Car Song', maybe the best song on the album and the highlight of the set even though Aidan has a "frog in his throat". He plays one more acoustic tune to close and I reckon he won quite a few people over tonight.

There is a slightly unconventional stage set up for Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, with two single drums at the front of the stage, a trumpet, a double bass and a piano. Once they take the stage it becomes clear that the drums are for Aidan who later explains that the regular drummer is busy doing "a degree in feminism" and couldn't make this gig. Aidan steps up to percussion duties for the whole set and does a fine job of it too. The rest of the band are Bill Wells on piano, Stevie Jones on acoustic double bass and Robert Henderson on trumpet.
They feel their way in gently with the instrumental 'Tasogare' leading straight into the excellent 'Let's Stop Here'. The minimal line-up and restrained playing give this a kind of lo-fi jazz feel, and they do actually sound like a distinct band in their own right. By the way, there no pics because of Aidan's style of singing with hand in front of his face, but who cares, if you are reading this you probably know what these guys look like, and their faces haven't changed.
Aidan is suffering from a head cold and goes heavily on the olbas oil for 'Ballad of the Bastard', which is one of the bigger vocal performances.
'Dinner Time' and 'Cages' are the most obviously jazz influenced pieces, their clever lyrics clicked with the crowd too. I got the feeling that they started to relax more after those two tunes were over, and they follow them with the contrast of the pure pop of their Bananarama cover 'Cruel Summer'. It's starting to be a really special gig now and the play a great version of 'The Copper Top' with trumpeter Robert multi-skilling by playing third hand on the piano as well as trumpet with his other hand.
'A Short Song to the Moon' provides a short burst of light relief before they play 'Glasgow Jubilee'; one of the highlights of the album and also one of the most sexually explicit songs of recent years. It is played acoustically in a different arrangement and is even more bare and raw than the album version, and just as poetically filthy.
'If You Keep Me In Your Heart' is another great song as is the main set closer 'The Greatest Story Ever Told'. There's something very fitting about ending the show with lines like "and remember, we invented love, and that's the greatest story ever told".
That IS the end of the set, except the venue is so small that they can't leave the stage and return for an encore so their just turn their backs for a while as the crowd applaud! The encore is worth it as well, we get the story song 'Man of the Cloth' which is the tale of an encounter at a fancy dress party, the succinct and poignant 'Box it up' and then the gentle lullaby 'And So We Must Rest' to end a lovely gig and a fine start to their tour.

When musicians collaborate: a cautionary tale

Yesterday I posted a bite-size review of a collaboration between Deerhoof and David Bazan, which is the latest in the series of releases featuring Deerhoof and invited guests such as Xiu Xiu and Jeff Tweedy from Wilco. The idea is that the guest works new words and vocals around an existing Deerhoof tune.
It struck me collaborations are very much in fashion at the moment. Two of my favourite albums of last year were Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat's 'Everything's Getting Older' and King Creosote and Jon Hopkins's 'Diamond Mine'. Although in both respects the musicians involved are from slightly different genres of music, they blend together beautifully to create something unique and distinct from their other work. In Creosote's case in particular, the finished work is essentially studio-wizz Hopkins's re-arrangements of existing songs from KC's extensive back catalogue. On 'Bubble' for instance, Hopkins's percussion tracks are built from recordings of balls of paper being flicked around a table top.

The first CD I got in 2012 was Darren Hayman's January Songs, his ambitious internet-based effort from this time last year, which took collaborating to new height, enlisting the services of others to help write and record (and make a video!) every day during January. The project's tumblr has over three hours of audio and visual content.

In contrast to these efforts, there are two elephants in the room when we talk about collaborations. One is the very recent release from Skillrex and the Doors 'Breakin a Sweat', which is remarkable for the fact that the Doors are still making music 42 years after their frontman died, but also for the astonishingly poorly edited (and constantly used) sample of Ray Manzarek saying “C'mon baby light my fi”. It's just NOT GOOD!
The other one is the much talked about, and much reviled, collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica, 'Lulu'. It was a sitting duck for critics and fans alike, and it has been savaged all over the media, although there is a small school of thought that thinks Lou is back at his impish streak and is delighting in pissing people off again, much like he did on Metal Machine Music, or when he reversioned his classics on his Rock n Rock Animal live album, or when he tried to rap on the Original Wrapper, etc etc...
Never mind his past efforts though, this current album 'Lulu' doesn't really work for me. Both camps are well past their best and Metallica especially just sound so compressed and slick that they bore me, and unfortunately some of these somgs are very very long. It's also unfortunate that they chose the most easily mocked tune as the lead track, here it is complete with arty video by Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream)

The View is at least amusing because he has made James Hetfield sing “I AM THE TABLE” over and over. My problem with it isn't necessarily with Lou's lyrics or monotone delivery - hell, those are two of the best things about him! - it's really to do with the way the musicians collaborate. Over the course of the album they don't sound like they are in the same room. This was exacerbated by their appearance on Later and their attempt at White Light White Heat, which sounded like a lost old man wandering in on a metal band rehearsing and playing cover versions for practice.

Anyway, It's not like me to be negative on these pages. Here are some collaborations that I actually like.

Broadcast and the Focus Group. Two distinct units coming together to do something unique.


Aesop Rock featuring John Darnielle. You can argue that these guys don't sound like they are in the same room either, and this is more of a cameo from chief Mountain Goat John Darnielle than a collaboration, but I just wanted more people to hear it. (Warning: vid is an OTT horror spoof and may make you queasy)


Gang Gang Dance with Tinchy Stryder. I just love the way these guys fire off each other, although this for me was an unlikely collaboration at the time, it totally works.

That difficult "album of the year" post

Despite what some might think, I found 2011 to be a cracking year for music; in particular for good old fashioned album releases. Since I also started reviewing music again after a long break, I heard more albums this year than I had for a while, and my long-list of those I liked came to 56.

I've already contributed to a few end of year lists and votes, changing my mind every time! So, for my own purposes, I've selected five albums that could easily be my album of the year, and I've listed some more which received heavy rotation and attention from me over the last year.

Albums of the year
Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat 'Everything's Getting Older'
Moffat is one of the finest lyricists of his generation and his voice is sounding better than ever, working well with Wells's jazz-influenced arrangements.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins 'Diamond Mine'
An album that I heard very early in the year and it stayed with me throughout. Great songwriting, plus the clever audio manipulations that Jon Hopkins adds tend to yield something new with each listen.

Eleanor Friedberger 'Last Summer'
The album that the Fiery Furnaces should've made after Gallowsbird's Bark. I reviewed it here

Fucked Up 'David Comes to Life'
Billed as a punk-rock-opera, this epic album tells the fictional tale of David and Veronica. The strong tunes and cracking guitar sounds mean that you can easily give it a couple of listens to let the abrasive vocal style get under your skin. Once you have got it, it's hard to put down.

Colin Stetson 'New History Warfare Vol 2: Judges'
Essentially a solo bass saxophone performance, this record delivers so much more than that description suggests. A stunning album.

and the runners up in no particular order...
Gang Gang Dance 'Eye Contact'
Tim Hecker 'Ravedeath 1972'
Low 'C'mon'
Wild Beasts 'Smother'
John Maus 'We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves'
Oneohtrix Point Never 'Replica'
Thurston Moore 'Demolished Thoughts'
Slow Club 'Paradise'
Destroyer 'Kaputt'
EMA 'Past Life Martyred Saints'
Wooden Shjips 'West'
Real Estate 'Days'
Summer Camp 'Welcome to Condale'
Lanterns on the Lake 'Gracious Tide Take me Home'
Fight Like Apes 'The Body of Christ and the Legs of Tina Turner'
Thee Oh Sees 'Carrion Crawler'
Atlas Sound 'Parallax'
Bonnie Prince Billy 'Wolfroy Comes to Town'
Wilco 'The Whole Love'
Peaking Lights '936'