The best album releases of the month, March 2013

These posts are getting harder as 2013 maintains its already high standard for album releases. I managed to get through 27 different albums this month and none of them would've scored below 6/10. I am still limiting this list to ten because that is the rule I have set myself, but I think March has been the most difficult to decide on so far. Where decisions were close, I have gone with the lesser known act, as there were a few big-hitters this month, and every one already knows about them. (I am mainly referring to Mr Bowie's excitingly strong comeback.)


Chelsea Light Moving 'Chelsea Light Moving'
A perhaps surprisingly heavy and intense debut from Thurston Moore's new band.
my review (the 405)
"A four-piece rock band with his guitar playing and his distinctive voice will obviously sound like Sonic Youth, but this album is at times heavier and less complicated than them, and best of all it has a fire and an energy of its own that makes it well worth hearing."


John Grant 'Pale Green Ghosts'
Much has been made of the former Czars front man's new direction, but it doesn't seem that strange or dramatic to me. Overall it sounds more electronic thanks to JG's collaborations with GusGus in Iceland, although the songwriting has a direct link to the wit and detail of 'Queen of Denmark'. This is going to be one of those albums that stays around all year.


Youth Lagoon 'Wondrous Bughouse'
A gently psychedelic treat, reminiscent of the early 90s work of Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips, certainly in terms of feel and atmosphere. Mainly the work of Trevor Powers, this is more complex and less minimal than his debut 'Year of Hibernation', although tunes as strong as 'Mute' and 'Dropla' are bound to win new fans.


Hookworms 'Pearl Mystic'
An intense take on garage rock and Spacemen 3 era psychedelia, Pearl Mystic has anthemic touches and maybe even a hint of hardcore elements as well. Even better live, but this is still a hugely impressive debut album.


Black Pus 'All My Relations'
Billed as a solo album by Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale, this doesn't sound remarkably different from LB. You would expect the skittish frantic drumming, the distorted vocals, but you also get the overdriven riffs as well. I suppose the main contrast is within the song structure, as a lot of these pieces seem to have distant roots in pop music or even anthemic glam rock. If you like Lightning Bolt you should enjoy this, if you've never heard LB this has enough abrasive noise to frighten off casual observers.


Conquering Animal Sound 'On Floating Bodies'
Possibly the most left-field of my picks this month, CAS are a duo based in Glasgow who claim to "make music every day". This is their second album, and it is a collection of experimental pop music focusing on Anneke's distinctive and inventive vocal style and a collage of found sounds and electronica.


Low 'The Invisible Way'
'The Invisible Way' is a Jeff Tweedy production, though the Wilco influence isn't immediately discernable, and this comes across a superb attempt to capture the warmth and power of Low. Of course, it would be nothing without good songwriting, and once again they have kept up their own high standards.



Steve Mason 'Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time'
To be honest this is the first post-Beta Band release that I have really listened to, despite being a fan of then, and seeing their farewell tour, etc. 'Monkey Minds..' is a hugely ambitious, sprawling album which flirts with traditional song structures, spoken word, hip hop and pretty much pulls it off. One of those albums that rewards repeated listens.


Clinic 'Free Reign II'
It always puzzles me why bands feel the need to release remixes of a full album a few months after the original release. 'Free Reign' was a decent Clinic album from November last year, but this remix by the prolific Dan Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never) is subtle rather than dramatic. The songs are intact and recognisable, and if anything he has made them sound more like Can than they ever did before, which is a good thing obviously! It is perhaps a bit strange to put this in my ten choices given the strong field, but I had a feeling this was being overlooked.



Phosphorescent 'Muchacho'
Matthew Houck has stepped sideways from his classic folk and country influences for his sixth album as Phosphorescent, embracing ambient textures and showing lyrical inspiration from an extended stay in Mexico. Much like John Grant, this is another artist who has updated their sound with some success, and I expect this to turn a few heads over the rest of this year as well.

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I feel duty bound to mention those that just fell off the page. David Bowie's The Next Day and Suede's Bloodsports have plenty of admirers elsewhere, and if I'm honest I wish Bowie's album was more like the excellent first single 'Where Are We Now?'
Daughter's debut 'If You Leave' seems impressive but hasn't quite stuck with me just yet, Devendra Banhart's 'Mala' needs more listens, although 'Daniel' sounds like a classic, and Suuns 'Images du Futur' is good but loses points for just being too derivative of Clinic.
Finally, I only heard Foot Village's latest, 'Make Memories', on March 31st and some of it blew me away, so maybe I will write more about that very soon. Meanwhile April is doing a good job of overwhelming me with new releases already...

The best album releases of the month, November edition

As the rest of the blogosphere starts to assemble albums of the year list, I'm here wading through quite a few decent albums which have come out in the normally dull month of November. By the way, the only reason the new Guided by Voices isn't in this list is because I haven't heard it. This is a very varied list and there are some pretty challenging ones here, so delve in...

Emeralds 'Just to Feel Anything'

my review is here

"Just to Feel Anything is the sound of a band moving forward whilst holding on to the elements that make them special. At times it feels very different to their earlier work, yet still manages to fit perfectly with their other releases, and that's quite a good trick to pull off."

Jessica Pratt 'Jessica Pratt'
This almost slipped past me. It's a curiously out-of-time record that is really impressive; a young female singer who sounds old and wise. A delicate folk record that sits amongst the recent best of that genre. Surprisingly gentle and beautiful given that this is the first release on Birth records, the imprint of Tim Presley of White Fence.

Clinic 'Free Reign'
Great to see Clinic return, and this new album has lots to recommend it, not least the song title of the year 'Seamless Boogie Woogie, BBC2, 10pm, rpt'.
Overall though, it comes across as a mellower kind of Clinic than on some of their earlier albums, but that's not a criticism, in fact it's interesting to hear where they are taking their music these days.

Andy Stott 'Luxury Problems'
Full length debut from the pioneering techno producer, building on the strengths of his 2011 EPs. This doesn't give much of a nod to the dancefloor, it would rather get into darker, deeper and down right BASS-ier places.

Tim Hecker, Daniel Lopatin 'Instrumental Tourist'
I didn't see this one coming but this is a collaborative album between the two leading lights of experimental synth-based drone, 'Uptown Psychedelia' doesn't disappoint, full of experimental manipulations of instruments from around the world, stretched and distorted into something new and often pretty.

Holly Herndon 'Movement'
Considered up until now to be a voice-based artist, 'Movement' sees Holly Herndon work her vocal compositions around challenging electronic arrangements. The result is an album which explores the conflict between the natural and artifical. There isn't much of it which could be filed under "conventional songs", but as a whole it rewards repeated listening.

Darren Hayman and the Long Parliament 'The Violence'
Yet another ambitious project for the incredibly prolific Darren Hayman. This one is a 'concept' album about the 17th century Essex witch trials. It comes across as a prime example of modern English folk music, but it has a lot of touches that evoke Hayman's back catalogue, and fans of Hefner should investigate as well.

Oneida 'A list of the burning mountains'

Two tracks, 40 minutes total running time, this resembles a cut-away portion of some of the gentler moments of one of Oneida semi-legendary jams. The drums of Kid Millions are central to it all, as the band weave a shifting, cacophonous fuzz around them.

The North Sea Scrolls 'The North Sea Scrolls'
An unusual collaboration between Luke Haines, Cathal Coughlan and Andrew Mueller. Whilst Haines is fresh from his concept album about '70s wrestlers, I haven't heard Coughlan from his days in the under-rated Fatima Mansions and Microdisney. The album has grown out of an Edinburgh theatre show based on the premise that historical documents showing a different version of history were passed to Haines and Coughlan by the actor Tony Allen. It's original and intriguing to say the least!

Bjork 'Bastards'

Yes, I know it's a "remix" album, and Bjork has been pursuing a very singular trajectory of late. The contributors here have reshaped the material from 'Biophilia' and made a very varied collection. Includes contributions from Omar Souleyman, Matthew Herbert, Death Grips, Hudson Mohawke. As far as I know, all material has been previously released, but as I'm far from a Bjork completist, I thought it was worth investigating.