Fun for 2005!
Here are some albums expected in 2005 that I am looking forward to immensely…
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Matt Sweeney – Superwolf: This collaboration between Will Oldham and the former Chavez and Zwan member should be an absolute gem.
Magnolia Electric Co. – Trials and Errors: This is a live recording featuring previously released material alongside new songs. There will also be a new Steve Albini-produced studio set later in the year.
Shivaree – Who’s Got Trouble?: The third album from the tragically underrated Shivaree looks set to slip out with no fanfare whatsoever in mid-January. Not even the patronage of Quentin Tarantino seems to have helped the publicity machine.
Rufus Wainwright – Want Two: This should finally be released in the UK in March. There are lavish extras with the US edition, including a full concert DVD. Will the record company pull out the stops for the UK fans who have been waiting months for this?
Lou Barlow – Emoh – The first Lou Barlow album released without an alias, this promises to be a collection of sweet, sad pop songs with minimal self-indulgence.
Laurent Garnier – The Cloud Making Machine: The techno legend has taken five years to record the follow-up to ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’. It had better be good!
Doves – Some Cities: The word, once again, will no doubt be ‘epic’.
Patrick Wolf – Wind In The Wires: Will this suffer second album syndrome, or will it take the best bits from ‘Lycanthropy’ to new heights?
Broken Social Scene – Windsurfing Nation: One of the big ones. A top 10 contender if it fulfils the promise of ‘You Forgot It In People’.
Kate Bush! No title yet – but 12 years after ‘The Red Shoes’, Kate Bush will return with a new album in 2005. There is really no predicting what this will sound like, although I’m confident that, like everything else she has recorded, it will be completely divorced from all current fads and trends.
AC/DC – Strap It On: Well, if this doesn’t sound exactly the same as the last one, I’ll eat my hat. If there’s another world tour – I’ll be there!
Depeche Mode – No title or song details as yet, but news has been posted on their website stating that they are recording a new album. So much for splitting up then! There had supposedly been a big dispute in the Mode camp about songwriting – will this be resolved in Dave Gahan’s favour or will all the songs still be Martin Gore compositions?
Bruce Springsteen – He’s been at work in Brendan O’Brien’s studio sporadically over the past four or five months. No clues as to whether it’s a solo record or another E Street Band affair though, or indeed whether it will actually see light of day in 2005.
Bob Dylan – The second volume of his autobiography is rumoured to coincide with his first studio album since 2001’s ‘Love and Theft’, although with all the writing and the incessant touring, it’s hard to see how he’s managed to record anything.
Hot Chip – Working on new material already to keep the momentum going.
Low – The Great Destroyer: Coming in January so not long to wait – supposedly heavier and more melodic than the usual slowcore stuff.
Mercury Rev – The Secret Migration: Can Mercury Rev stall the decline following the stodgy and disappointing ‘All Is Dream’?
Teenage Fanclub – The TFC camp have been relatively quiet on this of late. They recorded the songs last spring and summer with John McEntire from Tortoise producing, and it initially looked like the new album would emerge in the Autumn. Needless to say, it didn’t appear – and it doesn’t even seem to be clear now which record label, if any, plans to put this record out. This band are too good to be left floundering yet again by a cynical record industry that neglects its greatest songwriters. It’s also been two years since the greatest hits collection now, and five years since ‘Howdy!’. The cognoscenti have been waiting patiently, but we’re starting to get a little frustrated now!
Television – Have recorded a brand new album!
Elbow – Station Approach: I’m not sure that title is final but I’ve seen it on a number of different sources. Promises to be another step forward from a band moving towards greatness.
Boards of Canada – They are notoriously elusive, so there’s not much info on this one, but it’s certainly about time they followed up Geogaddi.
Scott Walker – Now signed to 4AD. Will it be as challenging as ‘Tilt’?
Pat Metheney – The Way Up: Breaks with Metheney’s established formula by virtue of being one extended composition. Promises to be fascinating.
Esbjorn Svensson Trio – Viaticum: New album from Europe’s premier jazz group.
Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics: Promises less bleeps and trickery, more emphasis on melody. Yay!
Daft Punk – Human After All: Great title – but can their kitsch disco revivalism stand up to a third album?
Cannibal Ox – Despite announcing their own split on stage in London a couple of years ago, the astounding rap duo appear to have been working on new material. If El-P is back in the production seat, it’s a guaranteed must-have album.
The Magic Numbers – There’s a big buzz building around this band. I saw them live at The Birthday Party club with Hot Chip a few months ago and they sounded gorgeously melodic.
Roots Manuva – Awfully Deep: Quite simply, the most significant figure in UK hip-hop right now. I’ve heard this and it’s thrilling.
British Sea Power – I really hope this exciting band realise their potential on this second album.
The Tears – The reunion of Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler could be brilliant, or it could be painfully embarrassing. I’m hoping that Butler has reinvigorated Anderson’s inspiration, which has been sorely lacking over the past couple of Suede albums.
Mu – More Japanese beats and screeching. This should be great – especially if the wonderful ‘Paris Hilton’ is on it.
M83 – Before The Dawn Heels Us – More My Bloody Valentine-inspired electronica. One of the key releases of the first half of the year for me.
Grandaddy – but they have to veer away from the chugachugachuga sound this time!
Jamie Lidell – Warp signing, maverick electronic genius and occasional vocalist for Matthew Herbert plans his second solo LP.
M. Ward – Transistor Radio: Another collection from this outstanding American songsmith.
Prefuse 73 – Surrounded By Silence: We can usually rely on Mike Herren to deliver the goods, and this should be one of Warp’s key releases for 2005. Expect more stuttering beats and plenty of guest rappers.
Solomon Burke – Make Do With What You’ve Got: Not sure what to make of this. Following up his brilliant Joe Henry produced mainstream comeback from a couple of years ago, Solomon Burke has gone into the studio with Don Was. I don’t think anyone, least of all Burke himself, was really expecting another album so soon, and Was’ involvement could be a blessing or a curse. Was made a muddy job of Dylan’s already underwhelming ‘Under The Red Sky’ in 1990 (probably the last time he produced a major legend), but has produced engaging and infectious pop music of his own for Was (Not Was). Will it mean a more ‘modern’ sound? Who has written the material?
Al Green – Everything’s OK: Another Willie Mitchell produced set to follow the surprisingly good ‘I Can’t Stop’. Expect more classic soul nostalgia.
Bright Eyes – Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning: Two new albums from the billboard chart topping and Vote for Change star Conor Oberst. He started to veer away from grandiose oversinging and heavy emoting on ‘Lifted…’ – let’s hope he continues to follow this trajectory.
Erin McKeown – Expected to return with new material in the summer!
Sleater Kinney – Working on new album with Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, Mogwai and Delgados producer Dave Fridmann!
Chemical Brothers – Push the Button: Apparently the best thing they’ve done in ages. To be honest, that wouldn’t be hard, would it?
REM? – There were plenty of songs left over from the ‘Around The Sun’ sessions (all the upbeat ones for a start) – will they be released?
Bjork – There are rumours of another new album to quickly follow Medulla
Monday, January 03, 2005
The In League With Paton Singles Of The Year 2004
The single format may well be dying – but, not usually being that regular a single purchaser, I actually picked up more singles this year than in the past couple of years. Here are some of my favourites….
1) TV On The Radio – New Health Rock EP
A bit of a bonus for fans of this band’s audacious polyglot sound – two tracks not included on the debut album, plus the jazz-inflected madness of ‘The Wrong Way’, one of the album’s real highlights. On the title track, they further their pursuit of excellence with vigour, with inventive production and inspired vocal arrangements.
2) Fiery Furnaces – Single Again
Not on the ‘Blueberry Boat’ album – and, indeed, it’s hard to see how a song this structurally simple could have found a place on that maverick work. Simple this song may be – but it’s still a delight – tinged with irony and malice, and utterly infectious.
3) Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
Derivative maybe – but sprightly, hook-laden and irresistible as well. Looking arty and smart, Franz Ferdinand were a breath of fresh air at the start of 2004, even if they ended it being a bit too ubiquitous for their own good. It’s hard to see where they can take this sound now – especially when this seems to be the perfect three minute encapsulation of their ethos.
4) Morrissey – First Of The Gang To Die
Irish Blood, English Heart may have been the bold returning statement – but this was marginally the better song, romanticising criminality as only Morrissey can, with some crunchy guitar riffing and a stadium-filling singalong chorus. Fantastic.
5) The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now
Don’t believe the hype – except that it’s all laid out in this wonderful single – the fraught tension between Pete Doherty and Carl Barat is played out here with disarming honesty (or, if you’re more cynical, is perfectly mythologised for a big audience), but also with a deftly humorous touch. The duelling guitars, still seemingly as much influenced by Chuck Berry as The Jam sound fantastic, and the rhythm section lends this a relentless driving pulse.
6) J Kwon – Tipsy
What a track! Made of not much more than a drum beat and some squelchy synth beats – over which J Kwon delivers silly rhymes about a club party. That such bare simplicity works is inspiring (it’s so easy to make a record these days), and this was the party tune of the year.
7) Destiny’s Child – Lose My Breath
Many people were left disappointed by the Destiny’s Fulfilled album, with its soppy ballad template – but clearly Destiny’s Child have never been an album band. This ranks with their best singles, with its military march drum beat and razor sharp keyboard stabs sounding brilliantly futuristic. It’s also superbly dirty, which is a bonus.
8) Scout Niblett – Uptown Top Ranking
A brilliant reworking of a classic reggae party anthem, morphing into something more mournful and lingering. Scout Niblett’s voice is alternately delicate and harsh, and the stripped back sound lends this recording a distinctive intimacy.
9) Kelis ft. Andre 3000 – Millionaire
A superb piece of electronic music that can’t really be categorised within the current R&B/hip hop conventions.
10) Hot Chip – Down With Prince EP
Proving that they have numerous tricks up their sleeve, Hot Chip released a whole EP characterised by their inventive take on lo-fi DIY recording and self-mocking humour. The title track bemoaned the constant namedropping of Prince from ignorant celebs, whilst The Ass Attack gave plenty of detail on one of Joe Goddard’s biggest passions (eating), with some outrageous rhyming to boot.
11) Outkast – Ghettomusick/Prototype
They continued to milk the Speakerboxx/Love Below goldmine for the entire year, and who could complain when double A sides as brilliant as this were the result? One side was the most audacious track on the whole double set, cluttered, frantic and somehow making weird sense. The other was a slow burning futurist love ballad from Andre 3000.
12) Brooks – Do The Math
Brillaint hi-NRG disco house, with some silky smooth vocals adding to the seductive pulse of its chorus.
13) Modest Mouse – Float On
In it’s own way as groovy as Franz Ferdinand, if perhaps slightly more abstruse, this was one of the surprise quirky hits of the year. With major label force behind them, it looked briefly like Modest Mouse were going to become massive in 2004. That wasn’t quite to be – but this was still their biggest hit by some distance, and in its punchy, crisp definition, deservedly so.
14) Aberfeldy – Heliopolis By Night
Indie-tastic! This brilliant tune relating a classic story of alien abduction was one of the most immediate and charming singles of 2004. Extremely catchy, and with girl backing vocals to die for.
15) Britney Spears – Toxic
The first of the ‘really, I’m not joking’ choices. In which Britney’s producers finally create a mechanical backing that suits her deconstructed, quasi-constipated vocal style and in the process – they create a genuinely intelligent, masterfully constructed slice of pop perfection. Sexy, edgy and impossible to ignore.
16) Hot Chip – Hittin’ Skittles/Back To The Future
Luddites meet The Ballad of Dorothy Parker in a scorching limited edition A-side from the bedroom funkers.
17) Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart
We couldn’t have hoped for a better comeback record – literate (except for the slight confusion of historical detail in the final verse), punchy, provocative and serious. One example of where the heightened production sense improved an already superb song.
18) Jamelia – See It In A Boy’s Eyes
Even with Coldplay on hiatus, Chris Martin still proved to be omnipresent in 2004. He penned the excruciatingly awful ‘Gravity’ for Embrace, and somehow managed to also compose this wonderful slice of pure pop heaven. With an electronic production sheen replacing the stolid, perfunctory performances of Coldplay or Embrace’s terminally turgid rhythm sections, Martin’s songwriting was at last brought to life. Add to this a sultry and nicely underplayed performance from Jamelia herself and you have one of the year’s very best pop songs.
19) Jay Z – 99 Problems
It sounded terrifying and apocalyptic and featured one of Jay Z’s most fearsomely eloquent rants.
20) Kelis – Milkshake
Infuriating, but utterly brilliant – this was almost taking the minimalist aesthetic of R&B to ridiculous extremes – but it worked, revitalising a career that looked dead in the water after the appalling sales figures of her last album.
21) Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – There She Goes My Beautiful World/ Breathless
Of all the superb double A sided singles of the year, this may have made for the most effective contrast. The full-on gospel rush of ‘There She Goes..’, with its deliciously witty lyrics, coupled neatly with the unrestrained romanticism of ‘Breathless’.
22) Kevin Mark Trail – Perspective
Could we now have a distinctively British take on R&B. As much influenced by classic Jamaican roots music as The Neptunes, former singer with The Streets Kevin Trail produced a fresh and distinctive debut that felt celebratory and expressive. There’s the bonus of a faithful Hot Chip remix as well.
23) REM – Leaving New York
What a shame that after so much promise on last year’s awesome tour, ‘Around The Sun’ turned out to be such a turgid album. At least it included a handful of gems, even though they were all taken at a snail’s pace. When I first heard this – I was not expecting it to be the best track on the album – but it is, and it’s also a considerable grower, taking time to weave its mournful, enticing magic. Buck’s arpeggiated guitar-work remains as potent as ever, above which Stipe conjures one of his more straightforward and affecting lyrics.
24) Prince – Cinnamon Girl
Prince’s first fully-fledged pop single for years, and it seems quite wrong that it didn’t even trouble the top 40. This took in the war on terror, amongst other contemporary issues, but threaded it through a nostalgic eighties production with a brilliant chorus.
25) Beastie Boys – Ch-Check It Out
Marvellous! A surefire hit with some of their silliest rhymes in ages – and the interplay between the three remains as quickfire and thrilling as ever.
26) McFly – That Girl
The ‘no, I’m really not joking’ choice number two. It seemed totally unfair that McFly were routinely dismissed as a mini-Busted. Sure, they were manufactured by the same management company and co-wrote their songs together, but the McFly sound seemed more in tune with the rich history of popular music (taking in rock n’ roll, early Beatles, surf guitar and a sanitised sprinkling of punk) and also a good deal more fun. Whilst Busted started to take themselves far too seriously, and began to sound brattish, obnoxious and even slightly misogynistic, McFly sounded naïve and effervescent, and had boundless energy. This was the best of their four singles – expertly produced and crafted by whoever does all the behind the scenes work, and with some wonderfully cheesy backing vocals. The youthful zest of the central narrative – boy sees unattainable girl, gets unattainable girl and loses her again, was a shameless reiteration of the great theme of throwaway pop.
27) Animal Collective – Who Could Win A Rabbit?
Probably the least commercial single in this list – this crazy slice of modern psychedelia threw in a whole range of ideas. It sounded ragged in the best possible way, with a confidence and audacity that belied the pop sensibilities underneath.
28) Mark Lanegan Band – Hit The City
Lanegan joins forces with PJ Harvey to craft a gritty, gutsy piece of overdriven blues-rock.
29) PJ Harvey – Shame
Stripped bare, but benefiting from one of Harvey’s subtle and impressive vocal delivery, this was a sensuous, minimal treat.
30) Charlotte Hatherley – Kim Wilde
I was guesting on a radio show in the week that this was released. First everyone looked at it and said – ‘Kim Wilde? She’s come back – but I thought she was a gardener now’. Are we getting too old? It wasn’t in fact a Kim Wilde record, nor did it really seem to have all that much to do with her – but it was a pleasant surprise. A solo record from Charlotte from Ash with infinitely more poise and ambition than her band have displayed over their last few albums, which have veered towards generic. By contrast, this is a stuttering stop-start, structurally baffling sugar rush of a single.
The single format may well be dying – but, not usually being that regular a single purchaser, I actually picked up more singles this year than in the past couple of years. Here are some of my favourites….
1) TV On The Radio – New Health Rock EP
A bit of a bonus for fans of this band’s audacious polyglot sound – two tracks not included on the debut album, plus the jazz-inflected madness of ‘The Wrong Way’, one of the album’s real highlights. On the title track, they further their pursuit of excellence with vigour, with inventive production and inspired vocal arrangements.
2) Fiery Furnaces – Single Again
Not on the ‘Blueberry Boat’ album – and, indeed, it’s hard to see how a song this structurally simple could have found a place on that maverick work. Simple this song may be – but it’s still a delight – tinged with irony and malice, and utterly infectious.
3) Franz Ferdinand – Take Me Out
Derivative maybe – but sprightly, hook-laden and irresistible as well. Looking arty and smart, Franz Ferdinand were a breath of fresh air at the start of 2004, even if they ended it being a bit too ubiquitous for their own good. It’s hard to see where they can take this sound now – especially when this seems to be the perfect three minute encapsulation of their ethos.
4) Morrissey – First Of The Gang To Die
Irish Blood, English Heart may have been the bold returning statement – but this was marginally the better song, romanticising criminality as only Morrissey can, with some crunchy guitar riffing and a stadium-filling singalong chorus. Fantastic.
5) The Libertines – Can’t Stand Me Now
Don’t believe the hype – except that it’s all laid out in this wonderful single – the fraught tension between Pete Doherty and Carl Barat is played out here with disarming honesty (or, if you’re more cynical, is perfectly mythologised for a big audience), but also with a deftly humorous touch. The duelling guitars, still seemingly as much influenced by Chuck Berry as The Jam sound fantastic, and the rhythm section lends this a relentless driving pulse.
6) J Kwon – Tipsy
What a track! Made of not much more than a drum beat and some squelchy synth beats – over which J Kwon delivers silly rhymes about a club party. That such bare simplicity works is inspiring (it’s so easy to make a record these days), and this was the party tune of the year.
7) Destiny’s Child – Lose My Breath
Many people were left disappointed by the Destiny’s Fulfilled album, with its soppy ballad template – but clearly Destiny’s Child have never been an album band. This ranks with their best singles, with its military march drum beat and razor sharp keyboard stabs sounding brilliantly futuristic. It’s also superbly dirty, which is a bonus.
8) Scout Niblett – Uptown Top Ranking
A brilliant reworking of a classic reggae party anthem, morphing into something more mournful and lingering. Scout Niblett’s voice is alternately delicate and harsh, and the stripped back sound lends this recording a distinctive intimacy.
9) Kelis ft. Andre 3000 – Millionaire
A superb piece of electronic music that can’t really be categorised within the current R&B/hip hop conventions.
10) Hot Chip – Down With Prince EP
Proving that they have numerous tricks up their sleeve, Hot Chip released a whole EP characterised by their inventive take on lo-fi DIY recording and self-mocking humour. The title track bemoaned the constant namedropping of Prince from ignorant celebs, whilst The Ass Attack gave plenty of detail on one of Joe Goddard’s biggest passions (eating), with some outrageous rhyming to boot.
11) Outkast – Ghettomusick/Prototype
They continued to milk the Speakerboxx/Love Below goldmine for the entire year, and who could complain when double A sides as brilliant as this were the result? One side was the most audacious track on the whole double set, cluttered, frantic and somehow making weird sense. The other was a slow burning futurist love ballad from Andre 3000.
12) Brooks – Do The Math
Brillaint hi-NRG disco house, with some silky smooth vocals adding to the seductive pulse of its chorus.
13) Modest Mouse – Float On
In it’s own way as groovy as Franz Ferdinand, if perhaps slightly more abstruse, this was one of the surprise quirky hits of the year. With major label force behind them, it looked briefly like Modest Mouse were going to become massive in 2004. That wasn’t quite to be – but this was still their biggest hit by some distance, and in its punchy, crisp definition, deservedly so.
14) Aberfeldy – Heliopolis By Night
Indie-tastic! This brilliant tune relating a classic story of alien abduction was one of the most immediate and charming singles of 2004. Extremely catchy, and with girl backing vocals to die for.
15) Britney Spears – Toxic
The first of the ‘really, I’m not joking’ choices. In which Britney’s producers finally create a mechanical backing that suits her deconstructed, quasi-constipated vocal style and in the process – they create a genuinely intelligent, masterfully constructed slice of pop perfection. Sexy, edgy and impossible to ignore.
16) Hot Chip – Hittin’ Skittles/Back To The Future
Luddites meet The Ballad of Dorothy Parker in a scorching limited edition A-side from the bedroom funkers.
17) Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart
We couldn’t have hoped for a better comeback record – literate (except for the slight confusion of historical detail in the final verse), punchy, provocative and serious. One example of where the heightened production sense improved an already superb song.
18) Jamelia – See It In A Boy’s Eyes
Even with Coldplay on hiatus, Chris Martin still proved to be omnipresent in 2004. He penned the excruciatingly awful ‘Gravity’ for Embrace, and somehow managed to also compose this wonderful slice of pure pop heaven. With an electronic production sheen replacing the stolid, perfunctory performances of Coldplay or Embrace’s terminally turgid rhythm sections, Martin’s songwriting was at last brought to life. Add to this a sultry and nicely underplayed performance from Jamelia herself and you have one of the year’s very best pop songs.
19) Jay Z – 99 Problems
It sounded terrifying and apocalyptic and featured one of Jay Z’s most fearsomely eloquent rants.
20) Kelis – Milkshake
Infuriating, but utterly brilliant – this was almost taking the minimalist aesthetic of R&B to ridiculous extremes – but it worked, revitalising a career that looked dead in the water after the appalling sales figures of her last album.
21) Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – There She Goes My Beautiful World/ Breathless
Of all the superb double A sided singles of the year, this may have made for the most effective contrast. The full-on gospel rush of ‘There She Goes..’, with its deliciously witty lyrics, coupled neatly with the unrestrained romanticism of ‘Breathless’.
22) Kevin Mark Trail – Perspective
Could we now have a distinctively British take on R&B. As much influenced by classic Jamaican roots music as The Neptunes, former singer with The Streets Kevin Trail produced a fresh and distinctive debut that felt celebratory and expressive. There’s the bonus of a faithful Hot Chip remix as well.
23) REM – Leaving New York
What a shame that after so much promise on last year’s awesome tour, ‘Around The Sun’ turned out to be such a turgid album. At least it included a handful of gems, even though they were all taken at a snail’s pace. When I first heard this – I was not expecting it to be the best track on the album – but it is, and it’s also a considerable grower, taking time to weave its mournful, enticing magic. Buck’s arpeggiated guitar-work remains as potent as ever, above which Stipe conjures one of his more straightforward and affecting lyrics.
24) Prince – Cinnamon Girl
Prince’s first fully-fledged pop single for years, and it seems quite wrong that it didn’t even trouble the top 40. This took in the war on terror, amongst other contemporary issues, but threaded it through a nostalgic eighties production with a brilliant chorus.
25) Beastie Boys – Ch-Check It Out
Marvellous! A surefire hit with some of their silliest rhymes in ages – and the interplay between the three remains as quickfire and thrilling as ever.
26) McFly – That Girl
The ‘no, I’m really not joking’ choice number two. It seemed totally unfair that McFly were routinely dismissed as a mini-Busted. Sure, they were manufactured by the same management company and co-wrote their songs together, but the McFly sound seemed more in tune with the rich history of popular music (taking in rock n’ roll, early Beatles, surf guitar and a sanitised sprinkling of punk) and also a good deal more fun. Whilst Busted started to take themselves far too seriously, and began to sound brattish, obnoxious and even slightly misogynistic, McFly sounded naïve and effervescent, and had boundless energy. This was the best of their four singles – expertly produced and crafted by whoever does all the behind the scenes work, and with some wonderfully cheesy backing vocals. The youthful zest of the central narrative – boy sees unattainable girl, gets unattainable girl and loses her again, was a shameless reiteration of the great theme of throwaway pop.
27) Animal Collective – Who Could Win A Rabbit?
Probably the least commercial single in this list – this crazy slice of modern psychedelia threw in a whole range of ideas. It sounded ragged in the best possible way, with a confidence and audacity that belied the pop sensibilities underneath.
28) Mark Lanegan Band – Hit The City
Lanegan joins forces with PJ Harvey to craft a gritty, gutsy piece of overdriven blues-rock.
29) PJ Harvey – Shame
Stripped bare, but benefiting from one of Harvey’s subtle and impressive vocal delivery, this was a sensuous, minimal treat.
30) Charlotte Hatherley – Kim Wilde
I was guesting on a radio show in the week that this was released. First everyone looked at it and said – ‘Kim Wilde? She’s come back – but I thought she was a gardener now’. Are we getting too old? It wasn’t in fact a Kim Wilde record, nor did it really seem to have all that much to do with her – but it was a pleasant surprise. A solo record from Charlotte from Ash with infinitely more poise and ambition than her band have displayed over their last few albums, which have veered towards generic. By contrast, this is a stuttering stop-start, structurally baffling sugar rush of a single.