The best new albums of the month, February 2014

I heard a lot more albums in February than I did in January, probably down to the release schedule more than anything else, but it makes whittling down to ten that little bit harder. There were 25 contenders this time, the only one I didn't get around to hearing was the new Guided By Voices, which is annoying as there will be another along in a minute (or mid-May if you are being pedantic). To aid my decision making process, I gave Beck's 'Morning Phase' a bye-ball. It's currently number one, and even though it's good, there is little point in me highlighting it here if most of you are already aware of it. Anyway, on with the ten...

Sun Kil Moon 'Benji'
my review (the 405)
My most played album of 2014 so far. "In nearly every song on Benji, someone dies. Family members, friends, celebrities, people in the news; they all pass away. This album packs a huge emotional punch as it tells its stories, often solely through Mark Kozelek's baritone vocal and his skilful yet gentle guitar playing. It moves, entices and, in some places, even amuses..."

Wild Beasts 'Present Tense'
An immediate inclusion for Wild Beasts fourth album, underlining the fact that they are one of the finest bands in the land. Familiar themes return from their previous albums, and although much has made of the fact that Present Tense was written more on computers than through traditional instruments, it doesn't sound remarkably different. They are still stretching and progressing.

Cheatahs 'Cheatahs'
my review (the 405)
"At times it seems to be too much under the influence of My Bloody Valentine – even the cover art evokes them – and their contemporaries, yet it does what it does very well and it would be harsh to overlook the fact that this is a strong debut in its own right."

St Vincent 'St Vincent'
Annie Clark is back to steering her own ship after last year's well received collaboration with David Byrne. Channelling Prince, Abba, and the inevitable Talking Heads along with her own sound 'St Vincent' took a couple of listens for me, but I'm now convinced it is one of her best records to date.

Angel Olsen 'Burn Your Fire For No Witness'
Her voice is pure country, but it collides with an indie-rock fuzz with impressive results. Another album that I have played a lot this month.

Marissa Nadler 'July'
Marissa's releases are often beautiful and this is no exception. with a collection of memorable, melancholic tunes, and a vocal delivery which is second to none.

SUNN O))) & Ulver 'Terrestrials'
A collaborative album in which the loudest band I have ever seen (SUNN O)) prove they can work with much lower volumes with their friends Ulver. The familiar doom-laden progressions collide against a blissed-out, almost desert-like ambience, where distant mariachi trumpet pierces the wall of sound.

The Notwist 'Close to the Glass'
The first thing that struck me about 'Close to the Glass' was how good it actually sounds, it is brilliantly recorded. There are tunes as well of course, ranging from the fantastic indie-rockers 'Kong' and '7 Hour Drive' to the Eno-esque 'Lineri'. A welcome return.

Death Vessel 'Island Intervals'
Another long awaited follow-up, the enigmatic Death Vessel takes his haunted yet uptempo Americana and gives it a bit of an Icelandic make-over, complete with Jonsi from Sigur Ros sharing vocals on one track. Delighted to see DV return as I had almost written off the chance of another album.

Lost in the Trees 'Past Life'
A smoother, less bleak release than its predecessor 'The Church that Fits Our Needs', this has some lush songwriting and some moodier pieces as well. Another grower.

Best albums of 2012: a top 25 list

I spent this year buried amongst music, I heard 220 albums and could not find a pure 10/10 amongst them, although I still think it was a strong year. The problem is that there were a lot of quality releases and I rated a lot of them 7/10, and any big list would end up being a multiple way tie for 26th place or something. If you want to know more about albums that I have rated throughout 2012, you should explore the posts tagged Albums of the Month. Anyway, although I am fairly clear about my top 5, it has been a very tough process to limit this to a top 25, a lot of good ones have slipped off the page, but here is my final list. I think most of these won't come as a surprise to regular readers.

1. Chromatics 'Kill For Love'

The album that defined 2012 for me. It emerged in March as a delicately sequenced 91-minute file on soundcloud and has stayed with me throughout. It manages to sound cinematic and epic whilst retaining the thrill of well crafted synth-pop songs. The more I explored this, the more I heard. Each piece is like a small-scale movie in itself, evocative and vivid.

2. Sharon Van Etten 'Tramp'

my review (slowthrills.com)
I think that this was perhaps the first album I heard this year and it has also stayed with me all year. Some of the lyrics are extraordinary in the way they focus on the minutae of relationships.
"There is an old adage about albums "growing on you" or "warranting repeated listens". In my experience this is very true of Tramp. Brutally honest and self-analytical, it sounds best when you are on your own late at night. I'm reminded of that old discussion about “who sings better in the dark?” The answer, at the moment, is Sharon van Etten."

3. Swans 'The Seer'

my review (the 405)
"The Seer is a superlative album which ranks with the very best work released under Swans name. With its excessive length it effectively gives two fingers to the commercial music industry. It is simply too much to take in a few sittings, but it is so rich and varied that every new listen reveals more. Thirty years on and Swans are growing, developing and building on their rich legacy."

4. Godspeed You! Black Emperor 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!'

"The overdose of exclamation marks in the title is at odds with the
low key nature of the release, when you consider that their first new
recording for a decade was announced by slipping it onto
the merch table at the first show of their current tour. Maybe they
felt that because the core of the music had been previously heard by
anyone who saw them on their reunion tour and earlier,as the two main
tracks were widely circulated by audience tapers under the titles
'Albanian' and 'Gamelan'.That shouldn't matter,as this is one of the
best things they have ever released, and I cannot stop listening to
it."

5 Sun Kil Moon 'Amongst the Leaves'

my review (slowthrills.com)
"The collection is laced with regret, sadness and quite a bit of humour....
Even way back with Red House Painters, Kozelek has a skill for dropping in little scenes that made perfect sense to the song. Here, that would-be artist or poet is sleeping alone with her laptop beside her, and he admits using up all his minutes in pursuit of the woman in 'Greatest Night'. The little details are set against something which could be life-changing."



6. Lower Dens 'Nootropics' (my review)
7. Woodpecker Wooliams 'The Bird School of Being Human'
8. Dirty Projectors 'Swing Lo Magellan'
9. Meursault 'Something for the Weakened' my review
10. Lost in the Trees 'A Church That Fits Our Needs'
11. Mountain Goats 'Transcendental Youth'
12. Human Don't Be Angry 'Human Don't be Angry' my review
13. RM Hubbert 'Thirteen Lost and Found'
14. Gravenhurst 'The Ghost in Daylight'
15, Julia Holter 'Extasis'
16. Piano Magic 'Life Has Not Finished With Me Yet'
17. Woods 'Bend Beyond' my review
18. Japandroids 'Celebration Rock'
19. Andy Stott 'Luxury Problems'
20. Grizzly Bear 'Shields'
21. Angel Olsen 'Half Way Home'
22. Dead Mellotron 'Glitter'
23. Liars 'WIXIW'
24. Goat 'World Music'
25. James Yorkston 'I Was a Cat from a Book'

For the benefit of the extra-inquisitive people, here is a picture of all the albums I considered for the final chart.

Watch: Mark Kozelek/ Sun Kil Moon appears with the Roots on Fallon [UPDATED]

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the show that offers up so much in terms of decent live performances, managed something a bit unique last night. They got Mark Kozelek aka Sun Kil Moon, who often plays live as a solo artist, to play with the Roots! They played two songs, both embedded below.
The first one, 'The Moderately Talented Young Woman', is from his excellent new album Among the Leaves, and the second is a faithful rendition of Red House Painters 'Mistress'.





and a few days later a bonus track arrived from the same night, just Kozelek on his own this time- here is 'Track Number 8'

The best album releases of the month, May edition

I should retitle this post the best new albums from May, as the My Bloody Valentine re-issues dominated the month for me to such an extent that I haven't got around to writing about them, apart from a few brief mentions on my tumblr. Anyway, happily there were plenty of fine new releases as well and I've listed the best of these below. A Spotify playlist is embedded at the bottom so that you can investigate the ones you haven't heard.

Sun Kil Moon 'Among The Leaves'

I love this album a lot. My review is here
"Maybe it's because I felt I was there as some of the songs took shape, but I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a set of new songs so much...It's a deeply personal album, taking minor details from the songwriter's life and making them into something larger and more significant. The collection is laced with regret, sadness and quite a bit of humour. I won't hear a finer album of this kind all year, I'm sure of that."

Dead Mellotron 'Glitter'

my review on the 405 here
Musically, Dead Mellotron are a noise-pop band who aren't afraid to embrace ambient textures and melody. It is hard to play music like this and escape from the giant shadow of MBV, but Dead Mellotron shouldn't be passed over as copyists.
They have taken some aspects of their sound, but Dead Mellotron are savvy enough to realise that cool guitar sounds go well with strong melodies, just as MBV did, and Glitter is a fine piece of work in its own right.

Mount Eerie 'Clear Moon'

I wish I had heard this prior to seeing Phil Eleverum play it as the centrepiece of his set at Mangum's ATP. Then it seemed minimal and distant, but here in a fuller band context it works much better. A lot of lovely melodies, and a fairly ambient drift occasionally disturbed by some great noisy guitars. 'Over Dark Water' is actually an attempt at doom-metal.

Beach House 'Bloom'
Seemingly everywhere thanks to internet streams and leaks prior to its release, I've had quite a while to digest these songs. The bottom line is that Beach House's sound hasn't changed from their initial blueprint, but I think 'Bloom' has some of their best songs on it. Very lovely.

Gravenhurst 'The Ghost in Daylight'

Another really lovely album, the first since 2007 from Bristol based songwriter and soundscapist Nick Talbot. The arrangements are rather refined this time around, and I would have liked a bit more of the feedback of earlier albums, but it's especially good when stripped back to the bare melodies.

I Like Trains 'The Shallows'

A shift in sound for the Yorkshire band, as they introduce synths to their mix in a major way. Still great at brooding dramatic songs which draw you in and reward your patience. I always like their big sweeping melodies, which they manage to pull off without being too bombastic.

El-P 'Cancer 4 Cure'
Sometimes you think are there no new ways to express yourself left, then you hear a new El-P album with lines like "Pardon the fuzz I’m distorted, contorted, pardon the hiss/don’t let ‘em Henson me, enter me and control how I twitch." It's a fantastically busy, convoluted record which takes a few listens to get to grips with. Hip-hop album of the season, and hard to ignore lines like “I’ll rugby-kick the shit out your groin, boy.” Good beats, and a lyrical treat as well.

Allo Darlin 'Europe'

A fine set of songs, stronger than their debut, and particularly influenced by the Lucksmiths and the Go-Betweens, which goes against the title I guess. In fact, the lovely, minimal ukelele song 'Tallulah' is a vivid memory of life in Australia. Once again I prefer the rawer, emotional songs, rather than the standard indie-pop fare. However this is a big, impressive step forward.

alt-j ∆ 'An Awesome Wave'

This is one of those albums that's going to be everywhere for the rest of the year. Best British debut album, and all that. These people write some interesting songs, and aren't afraid to try new things with production and especially vocals, which do raise an eyebrow on first listen. There's an awful lot of strong songwriting here too, 'Tessalate', 'Breezeblock', 'Matilda' amongst the highlights.

Ghosting Season 'The Very Last of the Saints'

my review on the 405 here
From the guys who sometimes record as worriedaboutsatan, "It hints at the dancefloor yet it remains eerie and dark in places, and its fondness for straight forward 4/4 rhythms make it more lively than other ambient electronica efforts. That it manages to pull these together and work as a whole is impressive in itself."

Admiral Fallow 'Tree Bursts in Snow'

Comparisons to a few people I don't like led to me giving this lot a wide berth for a while. I actually only listened to this the day after I failed to go and see them live, and felt bad that I had missed them. They are more folk-based contemporaries of fellow Scots the Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit. Worth further investigation.

review: Sun Kil Moon 'Among The Leaves'

As most of you are aware, Sun Kil Moon is the band name used by Mark Kozelek, once of Red House Painters, and Among the Leaves is their 5th album release. It is an epic collection of 17 new songs, featuring mostly Kozelek with his nylon stringed guitar, although a couple of tracks do feature a full band.
Last summer I saw Kozelek play two solo shows at either end of the country, a week apart. One was at London's Field Day festival, one was in the Black Box in Belfast. He is known for his grumpy on -stage demeanour and it was obvious that he wasn't happy at either show. At Field Day he had a point – you could hardly hear him, but in Belfast he had the attention of a seated room and he played a very long set. I'm a long standing fan of his and I didn't recognise a lot of the songs, some of which were works in progress, but I knew that I wanted to hear those songs again. That night it seemed that Kozelek was deciding to write spontaneously and was documenting exactly what was happening to him in his job as a travelling songwriter. The results are here on 'Among the Leaves' and those gigs are documented here as one of the highlights – 'UK Blues'.
Maybe it's because I felt I was there as some of the songs took shape, but I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a set of new songs so much. This review is about a week late because I would rather sit and listen to the album than write about it. I'm only putting words on the screen so that I can persuade you to listen to it as well.
As I said, these are 17 new songs, no AC/DC or Modest Mouse reversions or cover songs in sight. Musically it fits very well with Kozelek's other releases, and fans of his voice and guitar playing will be very happy. It's a deeply personal album, taking minor details from the songwriter's life and making them into something larger and more significant. A word of caution though, if anyone is writing this off as one long moan, because Kozelek has managed to temper his depressive tales about getting older and the pains of touring and writing with a large dose of humour. One track, about an age-gap friendship, is entitled 'The Moderately Talented Yet Not So Attractive Middle Aged Man'.
It's hard to single out specific songs, because with every listen new delights emerge. 'Sunshine in Chicago' was written just before he went on stage in that city and combines memories of his long years as a travelling musician with stories he has heard about his father's upbringing. 'That Bird Has A Broken Wing' is about the tendency to lapse into casual encounters when you are out of your routine - “we're all half men, half alley cats.”
'Elaine' is a beautiful song about someone battling addiction, whilst 'Song for Richard Collopy' is a lovely homage to San Francisco's guitar repair man. 'King Fish' is the electric guitar tune, when they resemble a very fluid version of Crazy Horse as the guitars entwine, and 'Black Kite' is a beautiful closing song, with a beautiful acoustic guitar arrangement.
The collection is laced with regret, sadness and quite a bit of humour. I've already mentioned 'UK Blues', which is actually two separate songs about that period, and although it details the trials of that tour there are plenty of genuinely funny lines there.
'I Know It's Pathetic but that Was the Greatest Night of My Life' bares the detail of a long distance relationship formed whilst on tour, and 'Not Much Rhymes with Everything's Awesome at All Times' questions the credentials of a potential poet who is just too damn happy to be genuine.
Even way back with Red House Painters, Kozelek has a skill for dropping in little scenes that made perfect sense to the song. Here, that would-be artist or poet is sleeping alone with her laptop beside her, and he admits using up all his minutes in pursuit of the woman in 'Greatest Night'. The little details are set against something which could be life-changing.
Red House Painters struck a chord with me nearly 20 years ago, and I'm delighted to find that I'm feeling the same about Sun Kil Moon right now. I won't hear a finer album of this kind all year, I'm sure of that.

DOWNLOAD: Sun Kil Moon 'UK Blues'

In years to come my children will ask me, "what did you do during the summer riots of 2011?" And I will reply "I saw the great American songwriter Mark Kozelek play two grumpy gigs at either end of the country." Happily he has chosen to immortalise this particular jaunt in a song called 'UK Blues' from the forthcoming Sun Kil Moon album. The title is slightly misleading in that it is actually a story song documenting his European tour, featuring such tongue-in-cheek lines as "Denmark, Denmark, everyone rides bikes and everyone is white", and "London, London, it's all the rage if your favourite colour's beige." The song documents his barely audible Field Day set and his visit to Belfast, which were the two gigs I saw.

'UK Blues' appears on the upcoming Sun Kil Moon album, Among The Leaves, out May 29th on Caldo Verde. Download it at the link below (via Stereogum)

DOWNLOAD Sun Kil Moon 'UK Blues'