The best new albums of the month, May 2014

First of all let me say that I dropped the ball a bit when looking back at April, as I heard the Broken Twin and Ought albums too late to include them, but I've listened to both of them a lot since and can definitely recommend them.
May was relatively easy to compile as there were some clear stand-outs over the month. Enjoy the ten...

The Delines 'Colfax'
Essentially this is another side to Richmond Fontaine and fans of that outfit - or indeed fans of Willy Vlautin's fiction - will not be disappointed. The Delines places female vocalist Amy Boone at the heart of the action as the band create a lush country-soul crossover. As always, Vlautin's lyrics tell a beautifully sad story.

Bo Ningen 'III'
my review (the 405)

"seven years and three full length albums on from their early noise-based jams they have refined and re-energized their unique approach to noise-rock with III. It's not punk, acid-rock, shoegaze or metal, instead it's a stranger hybrid of all of these and more. Now that "psych" has come to define garage bands reinventing the music of the past, they don't sit well with that tag either. Bo Ningen are about as futuristic a rock band as you could imagine."

Swans 'To Be Kind'

Nearly two years ago this Swans line-up made a fantastic two hour long album called 'The Seer', which was probably one of the best records made under that name, and Michael Gira even claimed it was the summation of his life's work (I'm paraphrasing, but you know what I mean). Unbelievably, they've done it again - another two hours of revelatory, boundary stretching rock music. Created mostly whilst on tour, these tunes sound more like finely honed jams than anything else. Thirteen albums down the line, they are still a huge creative force.

Bastard Mountain 'Farewell, Bastard Mountain'

Is Bastard Mountain a supergroup or a collaboration? Combining the talents of some of Meursault including vocalist Neil Pennycook, Rob St John and Sparrow and the Workshop, amongst others, they have created a beautiful album that equals much of the recorded output of the separate strands of each act. Three songs from each artist were brought to the sessions and then reworked into a lovely, haunted kind of folk music.

Sharon Van Etten 'Are We There'

This crept up on me in much the same way 'Tramp' did, with the really special moments emerging over repeated listens. Thematically it is similar as well, with her lyrics still firmly focused on the minutiae of relationships. The arrangements, and overall feel, is somehow a bit smoother, as if her earlier folk-rock and indie-rock leanings had had a little polish to make them even more accessible. That's not intended as a negative comment, just an observation, and this has been on constant rotation all month.

La Sera 'Hour of the Dawn'
The return of Katy Goodman, once of the Vivian Girls, with her side project that has now become her main musical outlet. In fact this is the third release under the La Sera name. Summery indie-rock, with a carefully concealed edge.

Oliver Wilde 'Red Tide Opal In the Loose End Womb'

Some confusion over this guy's name - is it Oliver or Olivier? He appears on Spotify as both! Anyway this is an odd but hugely interesting album, and one which I think is in the tradition of English experimental rock music, by which I mean that it manages to sound like Bark Psychosis, Radiohead and Robert Wyatt, often in the course of a single song.

Amen Dunes 'Love'

Essentially a solo project from Damien McMahon, 'Love' is the third and most cohesive release as Amen Dunes. Hints of Syd Barrett, psych-folk and Kurt Vile abound, and the album reveals more layers with each play.

Wussy 'Attica'
It's great to see that Wussy saved up some gems for what is their fifth album but is also essentially their UK debut - all their other earlier albums had been released in the USA only. In particular 'Teenage Wasteland' and 'Halloween' are such great songs that 'Attica' would have got into this list even if the rest of it was poor. Which it isn't of course, and the contrast between the styles of Chuck Cleaver (once of Ass Ponys) and Lisa Walker make for a fascinating listen. Well crafted indie-rock songs - and tasteful pedal steel in places - make 'Attica' so consistently strong that I think it may be an even better intro to the band than the 'Buckeye' compliation from a couple of years ago.

Ben Frost 'Aurora'

Ranging from ice cold electronic noise to barely audible ambient pieces, Ben Frost can claim to have released one of the most arresting albums of the year so far. As well as the synths, 'Aurora' relies heavily (no pun intended!) on the percussive talents of Greg Fox (Guardian Alien, ex-Liturgy) and Thor Harris (swans and many others). Written on a laptop in the Democratic Rep of Congo, mixed in Reykjavik, and one Tim Hecker is credited with "sound design".

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.

Slow Thrills: Top 20 gigs of 2012

I've had a bit of a live music binge this year, in total I've been to 56 gigs, three 3-day festivals and I've seen 159 individual live performances.
70% of these have been in London, although I've been to gigs in Cambridge, Belfast, and the two ATP sites at Minehead and Camber Sands.

I have tried to pick out my 20 favourite performances from these and I've put them in order below. Where possible I have linked to my review of the show and I have embedded other people's amateur video footage as well.

1. Swans, Koko, November
An amazing show. the highest compliment I can pay is that it made me not want to see any more live music for while, I couldn't see how anything could follow this.
my review (londonears.com)
Most of the performance is on youtube, though I've embedded the 49-minute version of 'The Seer' below.


2. Boredoms, ATP curated by Jeff Mangum, March
The Boredoms two extraordinary sets at Jeff Mangum's ATP had my number one space for most of the year.
my review (the 405)
Here is a spliced together video of highlights from it.


3. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Forum, November
Delighted to see these guys on my actual birthday. A cracking set from them once again, including an epic new song which may be titled 'Behemoth'. Heavier than their earlier years, but still thrilling.



4. Jeff Mangum, ATP curated by Jeff Mangum, March
It seemed unlikely a few years ago that any of us would see Jeff Mangum play live, but to see him twice in a weekend was something else. As a lot of Elephant 6 people were in the area this was as close as anyone could have hoped to a Neutral Milk Hotel reunion. my review (the 405)

5. Deerhoof, ATP curated by the National, December
This was a performance by a band at their absolute peak, so finely honed at the end of a three month tour. The best show I've seen them play.


6. Orbital, Brixton Academy, December
Quite a spectacle with all those lasers, but perhaps the best thing about this Orbital show was the way they have invigorated their classic material to sound completely contemporary and cutting edge. A bit like Kraftwerk did with the Mix, I reckon.

7. Japandroids, Upstairs at the Garage, May/ Belfast Mandela Hall, August
Two gigs, two different cities. The London show at the start of the tour probably just shades it in terms of live experience, but both were great.
my review (slowthrills.com)

8. Dan Deacon, Scala, September
Certainly the best interactive live experience of the year. Dan Deacon took on the challenge of a sold-out Scala and made the place move on his every whim.


9. Bo Ningen, Portland Arms Cambridge, September
I saw these people twice but their slot as part of the Wish You Were Here festival in Cambridge was a revelation. A genuinely fresh approach to psychedelic noise.

10. Atlas Sound, Scala, July
A jet-lagged rambling solo show by Bradford Cox, full of surprises and underlining his prolific talent.
my review (londonears.com)

11. Cocorosie, Royal Festival Hall, August
my review (londonears.com)

12. Ty Segall, Tufnell Park Dome


13. Grizzly Bear, Cambridge Junction, August
my review (slowthrills.com)



14. Bonnie Prince Billy, Hackney Empire, February
my review (slowthrills.com)



15. Tim Hecker, St Giles Church, January
my review (slowthrills.com)

16. Sharon van Etten, Scala
my review (slowthrills.com)

17. Joanna Newsom, ATP curated by Jeff Mangum, March
my review (the 405)

18. Wild beasts, ATP curated by the National, December
Billed as a gig where they would just play 'Smother' in order, they iced the cake by playing a long encore which featured about half of 'Two Dancers'. That made my night that did.

19. Metz, the Old Blue Last, November
I checked these guys out on the recommendation of a friend and i was amazed by the reaction to them. Cameras everywhere as well, which resulted in this rowdy video.


20. Calexico, Kentish Town Forum, October
my review (the 405)

most visited venue: The Lexington, Pentonville Road, London. (6 shows) The Scala, in the same street, came second with 5 visits. Both fine music venues in my opinion.
most seen band: Bizarrely, no single act managed to make it to three viewings. The acts I have seen twice are: Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten, Tim Hecker, Alexander Tucker, Bo Ningen, Echo Lake, RM Hubbert, Japandroids, Public Service Broadcasting, Sir Richard Bishop, Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat, Peepholes, Darren Hayman, Jeff Mangum, Boredoms and Joanna Newsom.

best support bands: The Men (supporting Lee Ranaldo), Rob St John (supporting Meursault), Cadence Weapon (supporting Japandroids).

The best album releases of the month, August edition

Swans 'The Seer'
my review (the 405)

"The Seer is a superlative album which ranks amongst 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."

Holy Other 'Held'

Another mysterious electronica producer who invites comparisons with Burial, partly for the insistence on anonymity but mainly because of the music.
This is a ghostly ambient dubstep album, and the best full length of its kind since Balam Acab last year. Incredibly atmospheric, and at its heart it is downbeat and melancholic.

Dan Deacon 'America'

'America' projects Dan Deacon's electronic sounds on to a much bigger canvas. This album is harmonically rich and filled with strong tunes, as well as incorporating elements from American composers, particularly on the ambitious four-part 'USA' suite. I guess that comes across as a pretentious touch, but it works very well, and never feels forced. 'America' is going to reach people who have previously dismissed this guy.

Goat 'World Music'
A seamless and powerful album touching on psych-rock, voodoo, afro-rock and krautrock, which is straight out of Sweden, of all places. I suspect this will creep up on more people as time passes, but for now I'll just tell you that is an essential listen for anyone interested in the music I've shamelessly pigeonholed it within.

Dead Can Dance 'Anastasis'

The first album in 16 years from this talented duo, and they've chosen the Greek word for resurrection as its title. It carries on where they left off, with Eastern and medieval influences to the fore and the two dramatically diverse and spellbinding voices of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. There is even a rare duet between the two, 'Return of the She-king', which is worth seeking this album out for alone.

Willits + Sakamoto 'Ancient Future'
my review (the 405)
A collaborative effort between Christopher Willits and Ryuchi Sakamoto.
"At 32 minutes in length, it feels quite brief, especially as the tracks merge so well together, but to make it any longer would have just been extending it for the sake of it. In a way, Ancient Future is a musical exploration of the very art of collaborating itself, as it works with its divergent parts in an interesting way and ends up creating something worthwhile and often quite beautiful."

James Yorkston 'I Was a Cat from a Book'
Due to the timing of this release, this new album is in the shadow of the superlative 'Moving Up Country' album which was reissued earlier this year, and I do hope people try to seek this out as well. No Athletes this time around, but an assembled band including Luke Flowers from Cinematic Orchestra and guests such as Kathryn Williams, lend their hand to Yorkston's skilful songwriting.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 'Mature Themes'
The thing is, Ariel Pink was always into agitating and annoying, and now that he has moved on from the classic rock influences of 'Before Today' some people have been unfairly hard on 'Mature Themes'. There are some naggingly catchy earworms on this album, and another rich palate of influences. This time I'd guess they have been listening to the Byrds and 80's goth for a start. Closing track 'Baby', a cover of Donnie and Joe Emerson's obscure love song from the 1970s is taken somewhere odd but it's still passes as pop music. Mr Pink has still got it, though I reckon some recent converts may pass this one by.

Six Organs of Admittance 'Ascent'
Well, to my ears this sounds more like Comets on Fire than Six Organs, as Ben Chasny delivers an impressive array of guitar solos and riffs that blur the boundaries between psych-rock and metal. Some lovely noise, even if I was expecting something more centred around drone or trance.

Bill Fay 'Life is People'

In a story that will be familiar to fans of Vashti Bunyan and Mark Fry, here is another folk artist put back into the public eye after a few decades away, thanks to the support of fans like Jeff Tweedy and David Tibet.
'Life is People' is only Fay's third album, his second release actually came out in 1971, and I must admit I had never heard of him until a few weeks ago. His music fits comfortably beside the likes of Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman, although some of the bigger arrangements hint at the bond with Wilco and Tweedy does actually feature on it.

Jogging 'Take Courage'
One of the defining bands of Dublin's excellent, sadly defunct Richter Collective, Jogging are perhaps the most hardcore punk of that lot, yet they have a neat line in catchy, uptempo guitar riffs. 'Take Courage' is their second album and it is a pretty intense listen at times. Forceful, upbeat and impressive.

Four Tet 'Pink'

Pretty much a compilation of tracks that have been released as 12"s over the last year or so, with a couple of new tunes for good measure. This marks his transition away from the jazzy samples and live drums towards something fully electronic. Steady elongated grooves.

Yeasayer 'Fragrant World'

A lyrically bleak third album from Yeasayer, though one that sees them move from experimental/ prog leanings towards a strange sort of pop music, with big influences from disco and current rnb. I think there is enough oddness and edginess to keep old fans happy. 'Henrietta' will probably make it onto my top 50 at the end of the year I reckon.