I’m trying to ease myself into this gently this year. Mostly because this is an even bigger pain to do than it was last year, which is a good thing, as it means that I’ve listened to more new stuff (and, more importantly, enjoyed it) than I did last year. Or, I’ve just been less picky.
I suppose that there’s huge advantages and disadvantages to doing this on my own as opposed to by the committees that decide these things for publications from larger blogs than this (almost all of them, then) right up to the posh glossies. On the plus side, I don’t have to argue with myself about what gets put in and in which order, and what gets left out. On the minus side, I end up arguing with myself about what gets put in and etc etc.
I have had to cut-off at 50 albums because any more than that would have been overkill, and this isn’t a list of Everything I Have Listened To This Year, it’s going to be a list of favourites. And any less would have been missing some stuff that I really wanted to include. And this year, I’ve not included any unique singles and EPs in that main countdown as it felt just as unfair to kick out an album to make room for, in some cases, two great songs. So instead, I’ve whittled down a bunch of great and short releases down to a Top 10 (sort of…), partly to get me into the habit of getting this whole hellish list thing going (and hopefully finished), and also to get me to go back over the year’s music with a fresh set of ears in order to reconnect and re-appreciate a daunting pile of records…
10: Radiohead – TKOL Remix Series
Yeah, it’s now out as an album, but it started life as a series of seven EPs released over a short while, bringing fresh, albeit slightly clinical, perspectives to Radiohead’s strange new album. It’s the inherent strangeness of each of the originals that each remixer exploits with their chosen track(s), giving a weird cohesion to the collection as a whole. Something that makes for an altogether interesting listening experience, if not an especially warm one.
9. Jonathan Meiburg – Why I Love My Home (Songs For Charles Burchfield)
Written after a visit to the opening of an exhibition of Charles Burchfield’s paintings, the two songs on this digital release were written to match the feelings evoked by Burchfield’s images. Shearwater frontman Meiburg certainly puts a lot into these gentle yet powerful pieces that linger long after they’ve finished. Almost stream-of-consciousness in their construction and execution, these are two of my favourite songs of this year.
8. Microdot Gnome – Low Flying Bird / Julian Hades
A recent favourite. The first track is a slight return to the Screaming Trees at their most psychedelically unfettered, the flipside evokes the spirit of Syd-era Pink Floyd with aplomb. I think the thing that I enjoy the most about this single is that it all sounds so happy, giving credence to the accompanying release PR that Gary Lee Conner has won his ten-year battle of “shaking the corporate rock slime from his boots”. It’s good to see him come out the other side victorious.
7. Hammock – Asleep in the Downlights
Another very recent release, and one that I sadly never got round to going on about earlier this week. Hammock are joined here by The Church’s Steve Kilbey and timEbandit Powles to create more huge soundscapes with a very human heart. Huge, spacey post-rock sound sequences married with incredibly personal lyrics may seem like a strange combination, but (as seen elsewhere on this list) they fit together perfectly. Fast becoming a late-night favourite.
6. Tara Busch – The Rocket Wife EP
There’s something about Tara Busch that evokes a whole other era; where electronic music was a science and perceived as being a bit of a male domain, while all the time the real creativity and progression was being done by women such as Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire. Wonderfully geeky antique electronica and Tara’s own voice and approach to songcraft are layered carefully and beautifully to create songs that have a foot each in electronic music’s past and present. And all for a good cause, too.
5. Matthew Ryan and Hammock – Like New Year’s Day
Released on Jan 1st and having a total runtime of 20:11, this 3-track EP featuring variations of the same song certainly seems to be a strange lamentation to be bringing in a new year in with. For me, it was the perfect way to start. It may seem on the surface to be sad, but it lifts and it rises and it continues rising throughout each rendition, Matthew Ryan’s calm and whispered vocals providing an anchor to Hammock’s sound that seems to orbit his voice. I’m looking forward to hearing what future fruits this collaboration will produce.
4. Jeff Klein – Kidbones
From someone fast becoming the master of releasing stuff at the shortest possible notice, Jeff Klein launches another collection of songs upon an unsuspecting populace. An overview of sorts, this contains a live treatment of an old song of his, an alternate – and beautiful – rework of a recent track, a cut from his birthday present to fans through myspace (that’s twice I’ve mentioned that site this week, maybe if I do it a 3rd it might come back. Brrr) a new thing and a weirdy electronic thing, covering more bases in nine and a half minutes than others muster in a whole career. Currently fronting My Jerusalem (and flinging out surprise digital releases whenever seems appropriate), hopefully there’s at least a couple more solo efforts lurking somewhere.
3. Citizen Helene – Citizen Helene
Fusing a very English folky-baroquey pop approach (none more so than in the closing track Stephen Fry, all Robert Kirby strings and much National Treasure-referencing) with Californian Cass/Wilson harmonies and choruses, this debut oozes confidence in the songwriting, arranging and performance departments. I’m glad that all of my top three here are pretty eclectic debuts, it bodes very well for the future indeed when there are records such as this offered as opening gambits.
2. Diagrams – Diagrams
Another thing linking the top three is that none of the artists involved thought to give their records a name. Never mind. This one from former Tuung blokey Sam Genders throws in elements from Bon Iver, Elbow, Peter Gabriel, Jonah Lewie and a general gentle folk to bring an EP that seems to state that this new project is going to go off in whatever direction it bloody well feels like, and good on him for that. It’s impossible to single out just one element to describe Diagrams properly, and that’s the greatest strength of the record.
1. The Local Strangers – The Local Strangers
I have my friend in Seattle for this (and a couple of others in the albums list whenever I get round to it) for pointing me in the direction of this out-of-town twosome and their brand of countrified indie. Vocal harmonies that sound as if they’ve been together for years rather than the short period before this was recorded, arrangements that vary from the “My Jerusalem making a decent fist of Fleetwood Mac” if-it-works-then-it’s-in bigness of Hunted By Ghosts to the intimate All Along, it’s a great introduction to Matt & Aubrey’s abilities as writers and performers, can’t wait to see where they go from here.
Related posts:
Recent Comments