100)Feist - Metals (Polydor)
99)Cornershop - And The Double-O Groove Of (Ample Play)
98)Fatoumata Diawara - Fatou (World Circuit)
97)The Field - Looping State of Mind (Kompakt)
96)Tyshawn Sorey - Oblique 1 (Pi)
95)Wild Flag - Wild Flag (Wichita)
94)Kuedo - Severant (Planet Mu)
93)SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Young Turks)
92)Meg Baird - Seasons On Earth (Wichita)
91)CANT - Dreams Come True (Warp)
90)Africa Hitech - 93 Million MIles (Warp)
89)Cass McCombs - Wit’s End/Humor Risk (Domino)
88) Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica/Ford & Lopatin - Channel Pressure (Software)
87)A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen (Erased Tapes)
86)John Escreet - Exception To The Rule (Criss Cross)
85)Battles - Gloss Drop (Warp)
84)Roly Porter - Aftertime (Subtext)
83)Ambrose Akinmusire - When The Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)
82)Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light Vol.1 (Southern Lord)
81)Phil Robson - The Immeasurable Code (Whirlwind Recordings)
80)Andy Stott - Passed Me By/We Stay Together (Modern Love)
79)Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)
78)Sidi Toure - Sahel Folk (Thrill Jockey)
77)Six Organs Of Admittance - Asleep On The Floodplain (Drag City)
76)Twelves - The Adding Machine (Babel)
75)Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil (ATP)
74)Kode 9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun (Hyperdub)
73)Kairos 4tet - Statement Of Intent (Edition)
72)Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now (Records Records Records)
71)Outhouse & Hilmar Jenssen - Straw, Sticks & Bricks (Babel)
70)Rustie - Glass Swords (Warp)
69)Clams Casino - Instrumentals (Type)
68)Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town (Domino)
67)Moritz Von Oswald - Horizontal Structures (Honest Jon’s)
66)Hiss Golden Messenger - Poor Moon/From Country Hai East Cotton (Black Maps/Paradise of Bachelors)
65)Isolee - Well Spent Youth (Pampa)
64)Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Night Slugs)
63)The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (Rough Trade)
62)St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (4AD)
61)Mara Carlyle - Floreat (Ancient and Modern)
60)Julia Holter - Tragedy (Leaving Records)
59)Avishai Cohen - Seven Seas (Blue Note)
58)Machinedrum - Room(s) (Planet Mu)
57)Vijay Iyer with Prasanna & Nitin Mitta - Tirtha (ACT)
56)Destroyer - Kaputt (Dead Oceans)
55)Keith Jarrett - Rio (ECM)
54)Bill Callahan - Apocalypse (Drag City)
53)Micachu & The Shapes with London Sinfonietta - Chopped & Screwed (Rough Trade)
52)Dean McPhee - Son of the Black Peace (Blast First Petite)
51)Nils Frahm - Felt (Erased Tapes)/Nils Frahm and Anne Muller - 7fingers (Erased Tapes)
50)Sully - Carrier (Keysound)
49)Bill Frisell and 858 Quartet - Sign of Life (SLG)
48)Bon Iver - Bon Iver (4AD)
47)Khyam Allami - Resonance/Dissonance (Nawa Recordings)
46)Kit Downes Trio - Quiet Tiger (Basho)
45)The Weather Station - All Of It Was Mine (You’ve Changed)
44)Aquarium - Aquarium (Babel)
43)Joe Lovano - Bird Songs (Blue Note)
42)Dalglish - Benacah Drann Deachd (Highpoint Lowlife)
41)John Taylor - Requiem For A Dreamer (CamJazz)
40)Phaedra - The Sea (Rune Grammofon)
39)PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (Universal)
38)The Advisory Circle - As The Crow Flies (Ghost Box)
37)Tom Waits - Bad As Me (Anti-)
36)Three Trapped Tigers - Route One Or Die (Blood and Biscuits)
35)Kate Bush - Director’s Cut / 50 Words For Snow (Fish People/EMI)
34)Becca Stevens Band - Weightless (Sunnyside)
33)King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine (Domino)
32)Low - C’Mon (Rough Trade)
31)Thundercat - The Golden Age Of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder)
30)Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (4AD)
29){Ma} - The Last (Loop)
28)Boxcutter - The Dissolve (Planet Mu)
27)Bjork - Biophilia (One Little Indian)
26)Mark Hanslip & Javier Carmona - DosadoS (Babel)
25)Kathryn Calder - Bright & Vivid (File Under Music)
24)Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (Circus Company)
23) Hallock Hill - The Union/There He Unforeseen (Hallock Hill)
22)James Blake - James Blake (A&M)
21)Colin Stetson - New History Of Warfare Vol. 2 (Constellation)
20)Bill Orcutt - How The Thing Sings (Editions Mego)
19)Brad Mehldau - Live In Marciac (Nonesuch)
18)Tinariwen - Tassili (V2)
17)Pinch & Shackleton - Pinch & Shackleton (Honest Jon’s)
16)Matthew Herbert - One Pig (Accidental)
15)Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One (Constellation)
14)Grouper - AIA: Alien Observer / AIA: Dream Loss (Yellowelectric)
13)Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau (ACT)/The Impossible Gentlemen - The Impossible Gentlemen (Basho)
12)Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - We’re New Here (XL)
11)Charles Lloyd Quartet/Maria Fantouri - Athens Concert (ECM)
10)Zomby - Dedication (4AD)
9)tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
8)Alexander Tucker - Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey)
7)Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
6)Marius Neset - Golden Xplosion (Edition)
5)Julian Siegel Quartet - Urban Theme Park (Basho)
4)Craig Taborn - Avenging Angel (ECM)
3)Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 / Dropped Pianos (Kranky)
2)Radiohead - The King of Limbs (XL)
1)Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest (Acony)
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Sunday, December 25, 2011
The 100 (and a bit) Best Albums of 2011 Part 5: 20-1
20) Bill Orcutt - How The Thing Sings (Editions Mego)
Bill Orcutt is that rare breed of artists who can actually break established boundaries on his chosen instrument and seem as if he is approaching it from a new angle entirely. All conventional techniques are abandoned. In their place comes a visceral, almost violent approach, yet at the same time an ability to draw out resonance and emotion as well as tension. The centrepiece of How the Thing Sings is the triumphant, visionary A Line From Ol Man River, one of the most shocking and remarkable recordings of the year.
19) Brad Mehldau - Live In Marciac (Nonesuch)
Recorded in 2006 but only now seeing the light of day, this extraordinary live package was one of the year’s most essential investments, consisting of 2CDs and a DVD. It captures Mehldau in a solo setting, at his most expressive and musical, improvising with extraordinary harmonic and melodic skill and a world away from the neutered Highway Rider. Every quality that has lead to Mehldau being hailed among the greats is here in abundance - his refined touch, his extraordinary separation and integration of parts, the long, fluent lines and his openness to a range of source material.
18) Tinariwen - Tassili (V2)
Opinion seems to have been divided as to whether Tinariwen’s move into a more acoustic sound world compromised their distinctive musical quality. Certainly, one of the most appealing aspect of the Malian group’s approach has been their dogged consistency of tone and attack - a bubble that Tassili defiantly pierces. It’s a bold move - but this album retains the group’s sense of hard won experience whilst expanding their lexicon. For me, it’s something of a triumph.
17) Pinch & Shackleton - Pinch & Shackleton (Honest Jon’s)
Shackleton seems to be building a career on releasing fantastic albums that little bit too late to be considered for most end of year lists. Is this a noble abrogation of the media PR circus? Or is it simply his obvious desire to release as much of his work as possible? Either way, this collaboration with Pinch is dependably brilliant - sometimes dark and oppressive, sometimes sinister, always masterfully controlled. It is a coherent whole rather than a collection of mini-masterworks.
16) Matthew Herbert - One Pig (Accidental)
By some distance the year’s most controversial album, One Pig had already enraged PETA and other animal rights supporters many months before its release. Whilst the idea of recording the life cycle of a pig farmed for meat and making musical instruments from its remains may seem like anathema to some, I found One Pig to be a thought provoking and intelligent statement from a consistently radical and committed political artist. Herbert’s intentions were less to shock and more to once again draw attention to industrial food processes (see his previous masterpiece Plat Du Jour, a particular favourite for this blog) and, most importantly, the sheer level of waste involved in animal rearing. The music itself was tough, abrasive and - at least until the daring irony at the end - entirely unsentimental. One Pig was another imaginative triumph of modern electronica and sampling techniques.
15) Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One (Constellation)
Chicago/New York saxophonist Matana Roberts appears to be the sort of constantly restless musician ideally suited to the field of improvisation. So far, she has yet to establish a regular stable ensemble, instead recording with various groups depending on her musical intentions and location. Coin Coin Chapter One, apparently the first part of a hugely ambitious project in twelve parts that aims to document her ancestral heritage back to the 1700s, was recorded live in the studio in front of an invited audience. It utilises a huge fifteen piece ensemble from Montreal. It has the urgency, passion, excitement and danger of a live recording. Much of it sounds highly liberated. But it also has plenty of compositional flair, clarity and organisation too, much of it dealing with the difficult subject of slavery. The use of the human voice is frequently masterful.
14) Grouper - AIA: Alien Observer / AIA: Dream Loss (Yellowelectric)
Whilst this eerie, beautiful double album doesn’t exactly tear up Liz Harris’ by now established sound, it does suggest that her work is becoming increasingly refined. Some reviewers have suggested that ghostly memories of composers past can be heard buried within these soundscapes (Satie, Messaien). I’m not sure I could pick out any possible samples, but I can be sure that A I A is a tremendous achievement - a consistently enthralling suite of sound.
13) Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau (ACT)
The Impossible Gentlemen - The Impossible Gentlemen (Basho)
Simcock, among the UK’s most virtuosic pianists, has long been a big name in jazz - but 2011 was the year in which he boldly stated his claim to artistic greatness. Whilst the young jazz scene in London is buzzing, it’s hard to see whether there is anyone among the legions of gifted, creative players who might join the ranks of legends or bring jazz to a wider audience. Simcock may now be that musician. On his last album, he was caught a little between his uninhibited improvising and his love for the formalism and rigour of classical composition. Good Days At Schloss Elmau, his first solo piano album, seems to integrate all his musical concerns brilliantly. At last, there’s an energy to his playing here - and a percussive quality that sometimes makes him sound, alone, like a complete ensemble. There’s also an abundant lyricism and an emotional richness to the material here.
Simcock also appeared on the debut album from The Impossible Gentlemen, a transatlantic jazz supergroup that could hardly fail to dazzle. Really, though, this album is all about Mike Walker - a superb guitar player with an incisive sound and a sophisticated composer sadly all too little known at home in the UK. He finds melody in every sequence here, playing with an authority that is genuine and devoid of ego.
12) Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - We’re New Here (XL)
For some, remix albums are ineligible for these kind of lists, and it’s easy to see the argument for this. But Jamie XX’s take on Gil Scott-Heron’s final recorded work felt like a valedictory statement, and a fitting epitaph for a musical legend. Even though the two artists did not meet and communicated by post, We’re New Here still feels like a considered and complementary meeting of minds. Isolated from its original context, and contrasted with earlier recordings (including snippets from the classic Home Is Where The Hatred Is), Scott-Heron’s worn-down latterday voice acquired an even greater authority and lived-in power. Jamie XX’s music - minimal but inspired - pushed him to new artistic levels and showed that his solo career may well prove more fruitful than that of his parent band.
11) Charles Lloyd Quartet/Maria Fantouri - Athens Concert (ECM)
Along with Wayne Shorter’s Quartet, Charles Lloyd’s current ensemble are among the most stable and ceaselessly exciting in contemporary American jazz. Their concerts are completely unmatched for sustained spiritual intensity. This pairing with Greek singer Maria Fantouri is an unexpected setting for Lloyd’s rich and lyrical sound, but it works superbly, with both sides of the collaboration bringing passion, conviction and emotional depth. Lloyd’s latterday catalogue is substantial and inspiring.
10) Zomby - Dedication (4AD)
One of those strangely divisive 2011 albums, Dedication proved challenging not least because it saw Zomby branching far away from the musical approach and character that made his, erm, name - but also because of the necessarily disparate and fragmented nature of the album’s structure. Dealing as it was with issues of grief, loss and memory, this seemed an intelligent and reasonable approach to take, even if it made the experience for the listener unpredictable and strange (quite why this should be a bad thing is something of a mystery). Dedication was haunting, immersive and, perhaps most importantly of all, artistically courageous.
9) tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
Merrill Garbus is so relentless inventive that her manic, exciting music can leave you breathless. w h o k i l l represents a substantial step forward, with studio production techniques making for a big improvement in sound quality. There’s also a feeling that these performances have been well orchestrated and arranged. Yet there’s still a certain roughness around the edges - a looseness and perhaps even improvisatory approach to songwriting that makes it all so unpredictable and wild. Certainly, few artists in the alternative pop field have made so much gold from rhythm and phrasing. She sounds entirely like herself - with little in the way of obvious reference points.
8) Alexander Tucker - Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey)
By far Tucker’s most successful fusion of electronic noise and arcane musicology yet - Dorwytch is a triumphant and innovative record - weird and wonderful at every turn. It’s also a world away from his sometimes stoically combative live shows. This sounds like a real narrative, incorporating drones, songs and some delicate passages of improvisation. What emerges is a fearlessly modern form of chamber folk.
7) Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
This exquisite merging of musical history and modern technology really deserved more attention. Barwick loops her own vocals to create an ecstatic one woman choir - and the results are somewhere between early music and contemporary performance. Certainly, a return to the music of the distant past makes for far more stimulating retrogression than so much of the regurgitation of recent cultural history discussed in Simon Reynolds’ excellent Retromania book. There is a purity and beauty in Barwick’s voice that makes her wordless reveries all the more haunting.
6) Marius Neset - Golden Xplosion (Edition)
Golden Xplosion was undoubtedly the year’s most virtuosic jazz album but it also stood out as uniquely thrilling and involving. The title is apt, given that much of this album sounds like a fireball of bright colours. There is a genuine restlessness at work here, not just in Neset’s tricksy, rhythmically challenging compositions but also in the individual contributions from all the musicians, not least the extraordinary drummer Anton Eger. Barely a bar goes by in which he is not putting in all his musical energy and resources in service of the impact of the ensemble. Neset’s brilliant mentor Django Bates is a characteristically mirthful presence, but is very much in a supportive role here. Whilst Neset is an outrageously gifted and articulate musician, he also finds space for some disarming lyricism and quiet reflection.
5) Julian Siegel Quartet - Urban Theme Park (Basho)
Julian Siegel is one of the great artists in British jazz and ought to be recognised as such. His work with Greg Cohen and Joey Baron is significant enough but, for Urban Theme Park, he formed what can only be described as a fantasy jazz ensemble. With Liam Noble on piano, Oli Hayhurst on bass and Gene Calderazzo on drums, Siegel armed himself with a rhythm section that is at once supportive, propulsive and creative. His compositions are deft and subtle, always seeming slightly elusive and mysterious. Yet there is also a vibrance and spirited interaction at work here that makes this a theme park of thrills and delights, which is exactly as it should be.
4) Craig Taborn - Avenging Angel (ECM)
With Gwilym Simcock’s brilliant Mercury nominated Good Days At Schloss Elmau, Brad Mehldau’s stunning Live In Marciac, Keith Jarrett’s Rio and this, the solo piano marketplace has been crowded with excellence in 2011. Taborn is a world away from Simcock’s hybrid of classical lyricism, gospel energy and jazz harmony however. He is inventing a language for the piano that seems bold and innovative. Whilst his technique is near-flawless and his flow of ideas often intuitive, Taborn is more interested here in a controlled minimalism. Every note is carefully considered and the result is a sparing, unconventional creation.
3) Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 / Dropped Pianos (Kranky)
There are few artists in the field of noise soundscaping more consistently compelling and haunting than Tim Hecker. Where sometimes this musical space can seem cold and forebidding - Hecker imbues it with a sense of longing and curiosity. Whilst the titles of the pieces hint at paranoia and anxiety - the music, particularly in its use of organ, also hints at something more mournful and a sense of faded grandeur. The additional material collected on Dropped Pianos is harsher and more unforgiving.
2) Radiohead - The King of Limbs (XL)
It seems utterly bizarre to have to refer to a Radiohead album as one of the most underrated releases of the year, but this has been the strange fate meted out to The King of Limbs. It is apparently one of the group’s more divisive recordings and can mostly be found languishing near the lower end of top 50 lists. Some found the transparent variation in style and mood between the album’s two halves difficult. In light of the special edition’s two 10” vinyl discs it would appear the track sequencing was entirely deliberate. To my ears, KoL marked a continuation and further development from In Rainbows, an even more seamless and successful fusion of a now super-relaxed, confident and impressive working band and their preoccupations with electronica and modern composition. Seeing the band live in 2012 with Clive Deamer joining as an additional drummer will surely be essential. Perhaps most impressive is how unshowy an album this is - unlike, say, OK Computer - it is completely unconcerned with being seen as important or epochal, and much more concerned with relaxed, consummate musicality. Together with the two additional singles that followed the album release, this represents Radiohead’s best music.
1) Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest (Acony)
Good things come to those who wait. After eight years in the wilderness, Gillian Welch and her partner David Rawlings returned with a near flawless album. Returning to the stripped down bare essentials that characterised their previous masterpiece Time (The Revelator), The Harrow & The Harvest proved a wonderful companion piece to that album, similarly intoxicating and so fluent in the language of traditional American songwriting that any questions of authenticity are simply meaningless. The balance of their harmonies, kept in serene proportion throughout (although in fact more sparingly used here - everything extraneous is jettisoned), the splendour of Welch’s telling lyrics, the sweet elegance of the melodies - everything just sounds so effortless, but behind it is the work of two musicians who have studied their craft with honesty, conviction and determination.
Bill Orcutt is that rare breed of artists who can actually break established boundaries on his chosen instrument and seem as if he is approaching it from a new angle entirely. All conventional techniques are abandoned. In their place comes a visceral, almost violent approach, yet at the same time an ability to draw out resonance and emotion as well as tension. The centrepiece of How the Thing Sings is the triumphant, visionary A Line From Ol Man River, one of the most shocking and remarkable recordings of the year.
19) Brad Mehldau - Live In Marciac (Nonesuch)
Recorded in 2006 but only now seeing the light of day, this extraordinary live package was one of the year’s most essential investments, consisting of 2CDs and a DVD. It captures Mehldau in a solo setting, at his most expressive and musical, improvising with extraordinary harmonic and melodic skill and a world away from the neutered Highway Rider. Every quality that has lead to Mehldau being hailed among the greats is here in abundance - his refined touch, his extraordinary separation and integration of parts, the long, fluent lines and his openness to a range of source material.
18) Tinariwen - Tassili (V2)
Opinion seems to have been divided as to whether Tinariwen’s move into a more acoustic sound world compromised their distinctive musical quality. Certainly, one of the most appealing aspect of the Malian group’s approach has been their dogged consistency of tone and attack - a bubble that Tassili defiantly pierces. It’s a bold move - but this album retains the group’s sense of hard won experience whilst expanding their lexicon. For me, it’s something of a triumph.
17) Pinch & Shackleton - Pinch & Shackleton (Honest Jon’s)
Shackleton seems to be building a career on releasing fantastic albums that little bit too late to be considered for most end of year lists. Is this a noble abrogation of the media PR circus? Or is it simply his obvious desire to release as much of his work as possible? Either way, this collaboration with Pinch is dependably brilliant - sometimes dark and oppressive, sometimes sinister, always masterfully controlled. It is a coherent whole rather than a collection of mini-masterworks.
16) Matthew Herbert - One Pig (Accidental)
By some distance the year’s most controversial album, One Pig had already enraged PETA and other animal rights supporters many months before its release. Whilst the idea of recording the life cycle of a pig farmed for meat and making musical instruments from its remains may seem like anathema to some, I found One Pig to be a thought provoking and intelligent statement from a consistently radical and committed political artist. Herbert’s intentions were less to shock and more to once again draw attention to industrial food processes (see his previous masterpiece Plat Du Jour, a particular favourite for this blog) and, most importantly, the sheer level of waste involved in animal rearing. The music itself was tough, abrasive and - at least until the daring irony at the end - entirely unsentimental. One Pig was another imaginative triumph of modern electronica and sampling techniques.
15) Matana Roberts - Coin Coin Chapter One (Constellation)
Chicago/New York saxophonist Matana Roberts appears to be the sort of constantly restless musician ideally suited to the field of improvisation. So far, she has yet to establish a regular stable ensemble, instead recording with various groups depending on her musical intentions and location. Coin Coin Chapter One, apparently the first part of a hugely ambitious project in twelve parts that aims to document her ancestral heritage back to the 1700s, was recorded live in the studio in front of an invited audience. It utilises a huge fifteen piece ensemble from Montreal. It has the urgency, passion, excitement and danger of a live recording. Much of it sounds highly liberated. But it also has plenty of compositional flair, clarity and organisation too, much of it dealing with the difficult subject of slavery. The use of the human voice is frequently masterful.
14) Grouper - AIA: Alien Observer / AIA: Dream Loss (Yellowelectric)
Whilst this eerie, beautiful double album doesn’t exactly tear up Liz Harris’ by now established sound, it does suggest that her work is becoming increasingly refined. Some reviewers have suggested that ghostly memories of composers past can be heard buried within these soundscapes (Satie, Messaien). I’m not sure I could pick out any possible samples, but I can be sure that A I A is a tremendous achievement - a consistently enthralling suite of sound.
13) Gwilym Simcock - Good Days At Schloss Elmau (ACT)
The Impossible Gentlemen - The Impossible Gentlemen (Basho)
Simcock, among the UK’s most virtuosic pianists, has long been a big name in jazz - but 2011 was the year in which he boldly stated his claim to artistic greatness. Whilst the young jazz scene in London is buzzing, it’s hard to see whether there is anyone among the legions of gifted, creative players who might join the ranks of legends or bring jazz to a wider audience. Simcock may now be that musician. On his last album, he was caught a little between his uninhibited improvising and his love for the formalism and rigour of classical composition. Good Days At Schloss Elmau, his first solo piano album, seems to integrate all his musical concerns brilliantly. At last, there’s an energy to his playing here - and a percussive quality that sometimes makes him sound, alone, like a complete ensemble. There’s also an abundant lyricism and an emotional richness to the material here.
Simcock also appeared on the debut album from The Impossible Gentlemen, a transatlantic jazz supergroup that could hardly fail to dazzle. Really, though, this album is all about Mike Walker - a superb guitar player with an incisive sound and a sophisticated composer sadly all too little known at home in the UK. He finds melody in every sequence here, playing with an authority that is genuine and devoid of ego.
12) Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX - We’re New Here (XL)
For some, remix albums are ineligible for these kind of lists, and it’s easy to see the argument for this. But Jamie XX’s take on Gil Scott-Heron’s final recorded work felt like a valedictory statement, and a fitting epitaph for a musical legend. Even though the two artists did not meet and communicated by post, We’re New Here still feels like a considered and complementary meeting of minds. Isolated from its original context, and contrasted with earlier recordings (including snippets from the classic Home Is Where The Hatred Is), Scott-Heron’s worn-down latterday voice acquired an even greater authority and lived-in power. Jamie XX’s music - minimal but inspired - pushed him to new artistic levels and showed that his solo career may well prove more fruitful than that of his parent band.
11) Charles Lloyd Quartet/Maria Fantouri - Athens Concert (ECM)
Along with Wayne Shorter’s Quartet, Charles Lloyd’s current ensemble are among the most stable and ceaselessly exciting in contemporary American jazz. Their concerts are completely unmatched for sustained spiritual intensity. This pairing with Greek singer Maria Fantouri is an unexpected setting for Lloyd’s rich and lyrical sound, but it works superbly, with both sides of the collaboration bringing passion, conviction and emotional depth. Lloyd’s latterday catalogue is substantial and inspiring.
10) Zomby - Dedication (4AD)
One of those strangely divisive 2011 albums, Dedication proved challenging not least because it saw Zomby branching far away from the musical approach and character that made his, erm, name - but also because of the necessarily disparate and fragmented nature of the album’s structure. Dealing as it was with issues of grief, loss and memory, this seemed an intelligent and reasonable approach to take, even if it made the experience for the listener unpredictable and strange (quite why this should be a bad thing is something of a mystery). Dedication was haunting, immersive and, perhaps most importantly of all, artistically courageous.
9) tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
Merrill Garbus is so relentless inventive that her manic, exciting music can leave you breathless. w h o k i l l represents a substantial step forward, with studio production techniques making for a big improvement in sound quality. There’s also a feeling that these performances have been well orchestrated and arranged. Yet there’s still a certain roughness around the edges - a looseness and perhaps even improvisatory approach to songwriting that makes it all so unpredictable and wild. Certainly, few artists in the alternative pop field have made so much gold from rhythm and phrasing. She sounds entirely like herself - with little in the way of obvious reference points.
8) Alexander Tucker - Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey)
By far Tucker’s most successful fusion of electronic noise and arcane musicology yet - Dorwytch is a triumphant and innovative record - weird and wonderful at every turn. It’s also a world away from his sometimes stoically combative live shows. This sounds like a real narrative, incorporating drones, songs and some delicate passages of improvisation. What emerges is a fearlessly modern form of chamber folk.
7) Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
This exquisite merging of musical history and modern technology really deserved more attention. Barwick loops her own vocals to create an ecstatic one woman choir - and the results are somewhere between early music and contemporary performance. Certainly, a return to the music of the distant past makes for far more stimulating retrogression than so much of the regurgitation of recent cultural history discussed in Simon Reynolds’ excellent Retromania book. There is a purity and beauty in Barwick’s voice that makes her wordless reveries all the more haunting.
6) Marius Neset - Golden Xplosion (Edition)
Golden Xplosion was undoubtedly the year’s most virtuosic jazz album but it also stood out as uniquely thrilling and involving. The title is apt, given that much of this album sounds like a fireball of bright colours. There is a genuine restlessness at work here, not just in Neset’s tricksy, rhythmically challenging compositions but also in the individual contributions from all the musicians, not least the extraordinary drummer Anton Eger. Barely a bar goes by in which he is not putting in all his musical energy and resources in service of the impact of the ensemble. Neset’s brilliant mentor Django Bates is a characteristically mirthful presence, but is very much in a supportive role here. Whilst Neset is an outrageously gifted and articulate musician, he also finds space for some disarming lyricism and quiet reflection.
5) Julian Siegel Quartet - Urban Theme Park (Basho)
Julian Siegel is one of the great artists in British jazz and ought to be recognised as such. His work with Greg Cohen and Joey Baron is significant enough but, for Urban Theme Park, he formed what can only be described as a fantasy jazz ensemble. With Liam Noble on piano, Oli Hayhurst on bass and Gene Calderazzo on drums, Siegel armed himself with a rhythm section that is at once supportive, propulsive and creative. His compositions are deft and subtle, always seeming slightly elusive and mysterious. Yet there is also a vibrance and spirited interaction at work here that makes this a theme park of thrills and delights, which is exactly as it should be.
4) Craig Taborn - Avenging Angel (ECM)
With Gwilym Simcock’s brilliant Mercury nominated Good Days At Schloss Elmau, Brad Mehldau’s stunning Live In Marciac, Keith Jarrett’s Rio and this, the solo piano marketplace has been crowded with excellence in 2011. Taborn is a world away from Simcock’s hybrid of classical lyricism, gospel energy and jazz harmony however. He is inventing a language for the piano that seems bold and innovative. Whilst his technique is near-flawless and his flow of ideas often intuitive, Taborn is more interested here in a controlled minimalism. Every note is carefully considered and the result is a sparing, unconventional creation.
3) Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 / Dropped Pianos (Kranky)
There are few artists in the field of noise soundscaping more consistently compelling and haunting than Tim Hecker. Where sometimes this musical space can seem cold and forebidding - Hecker imbues it with a sense of longing and curiosity. Whilst the titles of the pieces hint at paranoia and anxiety - the music, particularly in its use of organ, also hints at something more mournful and a sense of faded grandeur. The additional material collected on Dropped Pianos is harsher and more unforgiving.
2) Radiohead - The King of Limbs (XL)
It seems utterly bizarre to have to refer to a Radiohead album as one of the most underrated releases of the year, but this has been the strange fate meted out to The King of Limbs. It is apparently one of the group’s more divisive recordings and can mostly be found languishing near the lower end of top 50 lists. Some found the transparent variation in style and mood between the album’s two halves difficult. In light of the special edition’s two 10” vinyl discs it would appear the track sequencing was entirely deliberate. To my ears, KoL marked a continuation and further development from In Rainbows, an even more seamless and successful fusion of a now super-relaxed, confident and impressive working band and their preoccupations with electronica and modern composition. Seeing the band live in 2012 with Clive Deamer joining as an additional drummer will surely be essential. Perhaps most impressive is how unshowy an album this is - unlike, say, OK Computer - it is completely unconcerned with being seen as important or epochal, and much more concerned with relaxed, consummate musicality. Together with the two additional singles that followed the album release, this represents Radiohead’s best music.
1) Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest (Acony)
Good things come to those who wait. After eight years in the wilderness, Gillian Welch and her partner David Rawlings returned with a near flawless album. Returning to the stripped down bare essentials that characterised their previous masterpiece Time (The Revelator), The Harrow & The Harvest proved a wonderful companion piece to that album, similarly intoxicating and so fluent in the language of traditional American songwriting that any questions of authenticity are simply meaningless. The balance of their harmonies, kept in serene proportion throughout (although in fact more sparingly used here - everything extraneous is jettisoned), the splendour of Welch’s telling lyrics, the sweet elegance of the melodies - everything just sounds so effortless, but behind it is the work of two musicians who have studied their craft with honesty, conviction and determination.
The 100 (and a bit) Best Albums of 2011 Part 4: 40-21
40) Phaedra - The Sea (Rune Grammofon)
What an utterly beguiling album this is - at once icy and warm - and perhaps one of the most charming albums in recent years to be so thoroughly preoccupied with death and decay. It’s a beautiful, intensely focused work with a calm but magical presence. Ingvild Langgard already feels like a contemporary folk auteur. Sadly, it appears to have passed by unnoticed in much of the mainstream UK music press.
39) PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (Universal)
It would be easy to be distracted by the ubiquity of Polly Harvey’s dependably beguiling musings on war and empire. There was a crushing inevitability about her becoming the first artist to win the Mercury prize - as if going against the collective wisdom on this occasion would have been tantamount to sacrilege. Still, Let England Shake is a confident, and coherent album - a work of mature, direct and poetic artistry that somehow manages to be accessible and uncompromising in equal measure. What is perhaps more impressive is that it seemed to be a point of consensus in what is now a very disparate, fragmented and over-saturated music marketplace.
38) The Advisory Circle - As The Crow Flies (Ghost Box)
It’s tempting to be a little sceptical about the retrofuturist vision of the Ghost Box label - this new album from Jon Brooks’ Advisory Circle uses seventies and eighties government advice advertisements (from the now defunct Central Office of Information) for its main source material. ‘We make the decisions so you don’t have to’, as the introduction proudly (and somewhat threateningly) proclaims. There are hints of underlying sinister currents (Village of the Damned meets The Midwich Cuckoos, with a touch of Boards of Canada) and the swathes of old school synthesisers brilliantly capture a blend of menace and awe.
37) Tom Waits - Bad As Me (Anti-)
There has long been a sense that Tom Waits has journeyed so far across contemporary music’s wide terrain that there is little truly new ground left for him to cover. Bad As Me somewhat confirms this impression, feeling a little like a career summary in new songs. Still, it’s a typically thrilling, scattershot and engaging trip, made all the more appealing by virtue of being one of Waits’ more concise albums. Most wonderful of all about all this is Waits’ voice, which has never been more versatile or theatrical.
36) Three Trapped Tigers - Route One Or Die (Blood and Biscuits)
Bands of this level of invention and quality in the UK are all too rare in the UK, and often it seems like critics are unprepared to take the risk in investing time and energy in their progress. After a series of mind-blowing EPs, Three Trapped Tigers finally brought their slanted take on heavy post-rock to the full album format. If anything, the intensity seemed to have been amplified even further, to the extent that it’s often hard to believe just how attacking and visceral this music is. At times perhaps a little clinical, but always virtuosic and near-perfect in execution, TTT remain one of the country’s most exciting bands.
35) Kate Bush - Director’s Cut / 50 Words For Snow (Fish People/EMI)
Kate Bush albums, it would appear, are like buses. You wait several years, and then two come along at once. Director’s Cut was almost dismissed by a pop media for whom reworking older material appears to be anathema. It’s hard to understand this attitude, which appears in sharp contradiction to that same media’s obsession with constantly reaffirming the rock and pop canon. In almost any other art form, developing existing works is seen as an essential part of the artistic process. Director’s Cut is not consistently successful - and there are points at which one might prefer the original takes - but it is a challenging, ambitious set. At its best, it offers radical and satisfying reversions (Deeper Understanding, This Woman’s Work). Both Director’s Cut and the patient, graceful 50 Words For Snow are enhanced by the colourful, textural drumming of session legend Steve Gadd. He adds a lightly jazzy tinge that heightens the expressive qualities of the music. On 50 Words For Snow, Bush’s compositions are minimal but elongated - they take as long as required to deliver her typically eccentric, poetic narratives.
34) Becca Stevens Band - Weightless
Stevens is a singer-songwriter from New York deserving of much wider attention. She operates in that hinterland between jazz, folk and Americana beloved of Norah Jones, but doing so in a much more provocative and idiosyncratic manner. Far from coffee table music, Stevens’ own songs can be rousing and touching but are often also mysterious and charming. Even more impressive here are her radical interpretations of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Animal Collective’s My Girls and Seal’s Kiss From A Rose.
33) King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine (Domino)
For plaintive and disarming beauty, few albums could compete with this all too brief but thoroughly delightful collaboration between the eccentric Fife songwriter Kenny Anderson and film composer and arranger Jon Hopkins. Satisfyingly, this seems to have put to rest the brief but disconcerting drive to turn King Creosote into a bankable indie-crossover act. How much more affecting and honest his music is when it takes place in this kind of intimate, personal space. Diamond Mine provides the perfect setting for his peculiar musings (Diamond Mine may be the only album ever to contain a verse about the difficulty in gaining planning permission).
32) Low - C’Mon (Rough Trade)
Even by Low’s doggedly consistent high standards, C’Mon feels like something of a watermark recording. After a succession of detours through territory both more aggressive (The Great Destroyer) and more experimental (Drums and Guns), C’Mon returned them to their most accessible and familiar territory, reaffirming the fundamental strengths of their slow, repetitive songs and the beautiful blend of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s voices and the defiant simplicity of their performances. Yet, C’Mon felt fresh because of its brilliant, irresistible intensity.
31) Thundercat - The Golden Age Of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder)
In which the unfairly reviled fusion genre is reconstructed and modernised with mastery and effervescence. Few albums this year have been quite as overwhelming, quite as brazenly unfashionable or quite as fun as this effort from Flying Lotus’ bass player. It’s not just a set of rapid fire bass solos (Thundercat is astoundingly dexterous and is more than capable of turning the bass into a melodic, frontline instrument) - there is soul and fire in here too.
30) Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (4AD)
Along with Radiohead’s King of Limbs, this probably ranks as among the most listened to albums of the year for me. Its polished diversions and unusual sounds may have proved too much for the Iron & Wine fan drawn in by Sam Beam’s acoustic ruminations, but I can’t help but admire Beam’s adaptability and willingness to absorb influences from outside the American folk tradition. His voice is stronger and more upfront now, although still charmingly understated and he remains a lyricist of peerless invention.
29) {Ma} - The Last (Loop)
Among top level US jazz musicians, a debate has been raging recently over the quality (or lack thereof) in contemporary jazz. Some have conservatively criticised the prevalence of hybrid forms, something increasingly common in the thriving London jazz scene. The Last seems to be a prime example of just how well hybrids can work - improvised music with reference to the jazz tradition but placed in vivid and compelling new contexts. The blend between Matt Calvert’s bristling electronics and Tom Challenger’s fluent, sometimes caustic improvising is brilliantly executed. The textures are multi-faceted and exciting and this feels like a complete work with a detailed, filmic quality.
28) Boxcutter - The Dissolve (Planet Mu)
One of 2011’s most criminally ignored achievements, The Dissolve shared with the stunning Thundercat album unfashionable preoccupations with fusion, jazz-rock and heavy seventies funk. It addressed these concerns through the prism of UK bass music, in which area Boxcutter has been an underrated pioneer. The vocal tracks should perhaps have reached a wider audience, whilst the music here is consistently intricate, nuanced and forged with a great sense of enthusiasm and fun.
27) Bjork - Biophilia (One Little Indian)
These days, Bjork releases, whilst still infrequent and conceptually extravagant, have delivered something dependable, with a diminishing sense of the shock of the new. Perhaps, long into a career that has consistently hit the highest levels of artistry, we no longer have the right to expect the breaking of new ground. Biophilia attempts to change the way music is consumed and utilised - with its technological and educational dimensions. The music itself is more of what we’ve come to expect from Bjork - detached and intellectual whilst also wonderfully intimate and tender. The arrangements are superb, with Bjork reunited with the Icelandic choir that helped make Vespertine such a masterpiece. If anything, Biophilia is more of a grower, its tracks highly nuanced and taking a while to reveal their magic.
26) Mark Hanslip & Javier Carmona - DosadoS (Babel)
A refreshing improvised duo session, with Carmona’s free flowing textural percussion providing the perfect counterpoint for Hanslip’s eloquent, occasionally visceral saxophones. There’s a real empathy and understanding between these two musicians and the results - captured permanently on disc but never to be replicated - are thrilling.
25) Kathryn Calder - Bright & Vivid (File Under Music)
Still woefully under-promoted in the UK, Calder (a member of New Pornographers and of the sadly now defunct Immaculate Machine) is undergoing a remarkably rapid development as a solo artist. Are You My Mother? was an affecting and mature debut - but Bright & Vivid succeeds in making a bolder, more ambitious, more cinematic musical statement. Again, the songwriting is infectious, melodic and touching, and the arrangements and production detailed and clear. This is indie-pop without any of the regression and introversion that sometimes stifles the genre. It is bold and brilliantly executed songwriting.
24) Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (Circus Company)
James Blake may have been the name to drop for downtempo electronica in 2011, but the more stealthy choice may have been this superb album from Nicolas Jaar, another impossibly young and prodigious musician in this field. With a childhood spent in Santiago and influences ranging from Satie to Mulatu Astatke, Space is Only Noise presented a poised balance between reflection and rhythm.
23) Hallock Hill - The Union/There He Unforeseen (Hallock Hill)
Tom Lecky’s two albums as Hallock Hill were prime examples of composition through improvisation. The Union was a meditative, haunting reflection made up of layered guitars whilst There He Unforeseen somehow both broadened the canvas and managed to create a more claustrophobic atmosphere. Lecky also has an assured and confident hand when it comes to complex and intricate structure. His music is beautiful, spacious and compelling.
22) James Blake - James Blake (A&M)
Few albums seemed to divide opinion quite as sharply as this debut long player from the much feted Blake. Perhaps the criticisms sprung from subconscious resentment - Blake is young, having only recently graduated from a Goldsmith’s music degree, tall and handsome, and had been given a big PR boost through the BBC sound of 2011 poll. There was also his frequent creative use of vocoder - something that fascinated some but irritated many (although it bears repeating that he wasn’t using the device as an autotune). Even without the technology, his voice is decidedly odd, yet appealing in its inherent vulnerability. The most cursory listen to this debut should establish Blake’s musicality - he has embraced the song form with as much thought and intuition as he did production at the edges of UK bass music. He’s a master of space and tranquility, two qualities so rarely found in contemporary mainstream music, and he clearly understands harmony very well. Repackaged later in the year with the broody, strange Enough Thunder EP (which included a collaboration with Bon Iver), the album became a substantial, impressive document.
21) Colin Stetson - New History Of Warfare Vol. 2 (Constellation)
Saxophonist of choice to the American indie scene (he has spent much of the year playing as part of the massive extended Bon Iver ensemble), Stetson is a hugely creative musician in his own right. Occupying a hinterland somewhere between jazz, improv and contemporary composition, this second part of the New History of Warfare series was compelling and imaginative. Stetson approaches his instrument more percussively than melodically, challenging convention and building a broad palette of sound.
What an utterly beguiling album this is - at once icy and warm - and perhaps one of the most charming albums in recent years to be so thoroughly preoccupied with death and decay. It’s a beautiful, intensely focused work with a calm but magical presence. Ingvild Langgard already feels like a contemporary folk auteur. Sadly, it appears to have passed by unnoticed in much of the mainstream UK music press.
39) PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (Universal)
It would be easy to be distracted by the ubiquity of Polly Harvey’s dependably beguiling musings on war and empire. There was a crushing inevitability about her becoming the first artist to win the Mercury prize - as if going against the collective wisdom on this occasion would have been tantamount to sacrilege. Still, Let England Shake is a confident, and coherent album - a work of mature, direct and poetic artistry that somehow manages to be accessible and uncompromising in equal measure. What is perhaps more impressive is that it seemed to be a point of consensus in what is now a very disparate, fragmented and over-saturated music marketplace.
38) The Advisory Circle - As The Crow Flies (Ghost Box)
It’s tempting to be a little sceptical about the retrofuturist vision of the Ghost Box label - this new album from Jon Brooks’ Advisory Circle uses seventies and eighties government advice advertisements (from the now defunct Central Office of Information) for its main source material. ‘We make the decisions so you don’t have to’, as the introduction proudly (and somewhat threateningly) proclaims. There are hints of underlying sinister currents (Village of the Damned meets The Midwich Cuckoos, with a touch of Boards of Canada) and the swathes of old school synthesisers brilliantly capture a blend of menace and awe.
37) Tom Waits - Bad As Me (Anti-)
There has long been a sense that Tom Waits has journeyed so far across contemporary music’s wide terrain that there is little truly new ground left for him to cover. Bad As Me somewhat confirms this impression, feeling a little like a career summary in new songs. Still, it’s a typically thrilling, scattershot and engaging trip, made all the more appealing by virtue of being one of Waits’ more concise albums. Most wonderful of all about all this is Waits’ voice, which has never been more versatile or theatrical.
36) Three Trapped Tigers - Route One Or Die (Blood and Biscuits)
Bands of this level of invention and quality in the UK are all too rare in the UK, and often it seems like critics are unprepared to take the risk in investing time and energy in their progress. After a series of mind-blowing EPs, Three Trapped Tigers finally brought their slanted take on heavy post-rock to the full album format. If anything, the intensity seemed to have been amplified even further, to the extent that it’s often hard to believe just how attacking and visceral this music is. At times perhaps a little clinical, but always virtuosic and near-perfect in execution, TTT remain one of the country’s most exciting bands.
35) Kate Bush - Director’s Cut / 50 Words For Snow (Fish People/EMI)
Kate Bush albums, it would appear, are like buses. You wait several years, and then two come along at once. Director’s Cut was almost dismissed by a pop media for whom reworking older material appears to be anathema. It’s hard to understand this attitude, which appears in sharp contradiction to that same media’s obsession with constantly reaffirming the rock and pop canon. In almost any other art form, developing existing works is seen as an essential part of the artistic process. Director’s Cut is not consistently successful - and there are points at which one might prefer the original takes - but it is a challenging, ambitious set. At its best, it offers radical and satisfying reversions (Deeper Understanding, This Woman’s Work). Both Director’s Cut and the patient, graceful 50 Words For Snow are enhanced by the colourful, textural drumming of session legend Steve Gadd. He adds a lightly jazzy tinge that heightens the expressive qualities of the music. On 50 Words For Snow, Bush’s compositions are minimal but elongated - they take as long as required to deliver her typically eccentric, poetic narratives.
34) Becca Stevens Band - Weightless
Stevens is a singer-songwriter from New York deserving of much wider attention. She operates in that hinterland between jazz, folk and Americana beloved of Norah Jones, but doing so in a much more provocative and idiosyncratic manner. Far from coffee table music, Stevens’ own songs can be rousing and touching but are often also mysterious and charming. Even more impressive here are her radical interpretations of The Smiths’ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, Animal Collective’s My Girls and Seal’s Kiss From A Rose.
33) King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine (Domino)
For plaintive and disarming beauty, few albums could compete with this all too brief but thoroughly delightful collaboration between the eccentric Fife songwriter Kenny Anderson and film composer and arranger Jon Hopkins. Satisfyingly, this seems to have put to rest the brief but disconcerting drive to turn King Creosote into a bankable indie-crossover act. How much more affecting and honest his music is when it takes place in this kind of intimate, personal space. Diamond Mine provides the perfect setting for his peculiar musings (Diamond Mine may be the only album ever to contain a verse about the difficulty in gaining planning permission).
32) Low - C’Mon (Rough Trade)
Even by Low’s doggedly consistent high standards, C’Mon feels like something of a watermark recording. After a succession of detours through territory both more aggressive (The Great Destroyer) and more experimental (Drums and Guns), C’Mon returned them to their most accessible and familiar territory, reaffirming the fundamental strengths of their slow, repetitive songs and the beautiful blend of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker’s voices and the defiant simplicity of their performances. Yet, C’Mon felt fresh because of its brilliant, irresistible intensity.
31) Thundercat - The Golden Age Of Apocalypse (Brainfeeder)
In which the unfairly reviled fusion genre is reconstructed and modernised with mastery and effervescence. Few albums this year have been quite as overwhelming, quite as brazenly unfashionable or quite as fun as this effort from Flying Lotus’ bass player. It’s not just a set of rapid fire bass solos (Thundercat is astoundingly dexterous and is more than capable of turning the bass into a melodic, frontline instrument) - there is soul and fire in here too.
30) Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (4AD)
Along with Radiohead’s King of Limbs, this probably ranks as among the most listened to albums of the year for me. Its polished diversions and unusual sounds may have proved too much for the Iron & Wine fan drawn in by Sam Beam’s acoustic ruminations, but I can’t help but admire Beam’s adaptability and willingness to absorb influences from outside the American folk tradition. His voice is stronger and more upfront now, although still charmingly understated and he remains a lyricist of peerless invention.
29) {Ma} - The Last (Loop)
Among top level US jazz musicians, a debate has been raging recently over the quality (or lack thereof) in contemporary jazz. Some have conservatively criticised the prevalence of hybrid forms, something increasingly common in the thriving London jazz scene. The Last seems to be a prime example of just how well hybrids can work - improvised music with reference to the jazz tradition but placed in vivid and compelling new contexts. The blend between Matt Calvert’s bristling electronics and Tom Challenger’s fluent, sometimes caustic improvising is brilliantly executed. The textures are multi-faceted and exciting and this feels like a complete work with a detailed, filmic quality.
28) Boxcutter - The Dissolve (Planet Mu)
One of 2011’s most criminally ignored achievements, The Dissolve shared with the stunning Thundercat album unfashionable preoccupations with fusion, jazz-rock and heavy seventies funk. It addressed these concerns through the prism of UK bass music, in which area Boxcutter has been an underrated pioneer. The vocal tracks should perhaps have reached a wider audience, whilst the music here is consistently intricate, nuanced and forged with a great sense of enthusiasm and fun.
27) Bjork - Biophilia (One Little Indian)
These days, Bjork releases, whilst still infrequent and conceptually extravagant, have delivered something dependable, with a diminishing sense of the shock of the new. Perhaps, long into a career that has consistently hit the highest levels of artistry, we no longer have the right to expect the breaking of new ground. Biophilia attempts to change the way music is consumed and utilised - with its technological and educational dimensions. The music itself is more of what we’ve come to expect from Bjork - detached and intellectual whilst also wonderfully intimate and tender. The arrangements are superb, with Bjork reunited with the Icelandic choir that helped make Vespertine such a masterpiece. If anything, Biophilia is more of a grower, its tracks highly nuanced and taking a while to reveal their magic.
26) Mark Hanslip & Javier Carmona - DosadoS (Babel)
A refreshing improvised duo session, with Carmona’s free flowing textural percussion providing the perfect counterpoint for Hanslip’s eloquent, occasionally visceral saxophones. There’s a real empathy and understanding between these two musicians and the results - captured permanently on disc but never to be replicated - are thrilling.
25) Kathryn Calder - Bright & Vivid (File Under Music)
Still woefully under-promoted in the UK, Calder (a member of New Pornographers and of the sadly now defunct Immaculate Machine) is undergoing a remarkably rapid development as a solo artist. Are You My Mother? was an affecting and mature debut - but Bright & Vivid succeeds in making a bolder, more ambitious, more cinematic musical statement. Again, the songwriting is infectious, melodic and touching, and the arrangements and production detailed and clear. This is indie-pop without any of the regression and introversion that sometimes stifles the genre. It is bold and brilliantly executed songwriting.
24) Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (Circus Company)
James Blake may have been the name to drop for downtempo electronica in 2011, but the more stealthy choice may have been this superb album from Nicolas Jaar, another impossibly young and prodigious musician in this field. With a childhood spent in Santiago and influences ranging from Satie to Mulatu Astatke, Space is Only Noise presented a poised balance between reflection and rhythm.
23) Hallock Hill - The Union/There He Unforeseen (Hallock Hill)
Tom Lecky’s two albums as Hallock Hill were prime examples of composition through improvisation. The Union was a meditative, haunting reflection made up of layered guitars whilst There He Unforeseen somehow both broadened the canvas and managed to create a more claustrophobic atmosphere. Lecky also has an assured and confident hand when it comes to complex and intricate structure. His music is beautiful, spacious and compelling.
22) James Blake - James Blake (A&M)
Few albums seemed to divide opinion quite as sharply as this debut long player from the much feted Blake. Perhaps the criticisms sprung from subconscious resentment - Blake is young, having only recently graduated from a Goldsmith’s music degree, tall and handsome, and had been given a big PR boost through the BBC sound of 2011 poll. There was also his frequent creative use of vocoder - something that fascinated some but irritated many (although it bears repeating that he wasn’t using the device as an autotune). Even without the technology, his voice is decidedly odd, yet appealing in its inherent vulnerability. The most cursory listen to this debut should establish Blake’s musicality - he has embraced the song form with as much thought and intuition as he did production at the edges of UK bass music. He’s a master of space and tranquility, two qualities so rarely found in contemporary mainstream music, and he clearly understands harmony very well. Repackaged later in the year with the broody, strange Enough Thunder EP (which included a collaboration with Bon Iver), the album became a substantial, impressive document.
21) Colin Stetson - New History Of Warfare Vol. 2 (Constellation)
Saxophonist of choice to the American indie scene (he has spent much of the year playing as part of the massive extended Bon Iver ensemble), Stetson is a hugely creative musician in his own right. Occupying a hinterland somewhere between jazz, improv and contemporary composition, this second part of the New History of Warfare series was compelling and imaginative. Stetson approaches his instrument more percussively than melodically, challenging convention and building a broad palette of sound.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The 100 (and a bit) Best Albums of 2011 Part 2: 80-61
80) Andy Stott - Passed Me By/We Stay Together (Modern Love)
These two EPs/mini albums were repackaged together as one long album towards the end of the year. Bass heavy and influenced by dub, but in an altogether distinctive space of its own, Passed Me By is singularly detached and agitated, filtering soul, reggae and r&b through all manner of abstract textural intrusions.
79) Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)
The hazy dub of Peaking Lights proved to be one of 2011’s more straightforward pleasures, and one that did a great deal to enhance the reputation of the Not Not Fun label. The cascading, incandescent sound of much of 936 is immersive. Whilst the duo tend to eschew verse-chorus song structure, there were plenty of imaginative vocal hooks here too.
78) Sidi Toure - Sahel Folk (Thrill Jockey)
Sahel Folk was the first internationally distributed album in sixteen years from the artist hailed by Bassekou Kouyate as a ‘worthy successor to Ali Farka Toure’. Sahel Folk is a series of duos with a variety of collaborators, and this setting seems to suit Sidi remarkably well. The music is relaxed, sensitive, unshowy and unobtrusive but also quietly authoritative.
77) Six Organs Of Admittance - Asleep On The Floodplain (Drag City)
This may have been overlooked simply by being one of Ben Chasny’s most inviting and least foreboding albums under the Six Organs moniker. It’s mostly an album of soft drones and calm reveries that have a cumulatively hypnotic effect. Chasny may be at his least provocative here, but he is also at his most musically eloquent and articulate.
76) Twelves - The Adding Machine (Babel)
A great example of where freedom and flexibility meet discipline and control, Twelves’ second album is both supple and fascinating. With new guitarist Rob Updegraff adding a gritty, incisive undertow to the ensemble sound, The Adding Machine further develops the group’s inspired balance of knotty compositions, melodic development and turbulent free improvisation. A strong sense of narrative is apparent throughout.
75) Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil (ATP)
Having already achieved so much, there seems to be little that Deerhoof can do now save for repeating themselves, although each release now seems to veer further towards what might be described as accessible pop territory. There’s still plenty of infectious quirkiness here though, and the band are as innovative as always with rhythm. With every release, their sound gets crisper and more dynamic.
74) Kode 9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun (Hyperdub)
Spaceape is less of a rapper and more of a surrealist storyteller. When paired with the claustrophobic soundscapes of Kode9, his words assume an even greater potency. Black Sun is another album to veer beyond the conventions of UK bass music and microgenre classifications, often emphasising texture more than the lower end frequencies. Over on musicOMH, I described the effect of Black Sun as being a kind of ‘disaster idealism’ - a dystopian urban vision tinged with the hope that something better and more sustainable will emerge.
73) Kairos 4tet - Statement Of Intent (Edition)
Remarkably now winners of the MOBO award for best jazz act, Kairos 4tet have had a busy, impressive year. That all this has been achieved as a result of an album considerably subtler and more refined than its urgent, memorable predecessor is all the more satisfying. Now with Ivo Neame’s graceful, considered touch on the piano, and still benefiting hugely from the experienced, empathetic rhythm section of Jasper Hoiby and Jon Scott, Adam Waldmann’s compositions have taken elegiac and unpredictable turns here.
72) Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now (Records Records Records)
Steven Adams has managed to weather the quiet storm of the Broken Family Band split with consummate ease, forming a new band and simply getting on with business as usual. Singing Adams (initially a solo side project but now a band of the same name) inevitably share some qualities with BFB - Adams’ barbed humour and his deft hand with a tune being one. Some of the shuffly or chuggy rhythmic urgency remains too. But there’s also a sense that Everybody Friends Now is a less forthright, more reflective affair - perhaps the start of Adams’ maturity as a singer-songwriter. He certainly deserves more attention.
71) Outhouse & Hilmar Jenssen - Straw, Sticks & Bricks (Babel)
The Loop Collective’s flagship band continue their brilliant explorations of groove, texture and communication here, this time working in collaboration with Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jenssen. Jenssen adds an air of menace and threat, whilst the band sound increasingly confident and controlled. The album is often brooding and mysterious but also fleet-footed and intuitive.
70) Rustie - Glass Swords (Warp)
Of all the wild electronic music released in 2011, Rustie’s long awaited debut album came brimming with the most fun. This is a sly, insanely over the top stew of retro synthesisers and modern awkwardness that is unashamedly entertaining. As the year draws to a close, it seems, perhaps surprisingly, to have moved outside genre circles to be picked up by major publications such as The Guardian.
69) Clams Casino - Instrumentals (Type)
2011 seems to have been the year of the ‘mixtape’ (even as I write this, singer-songwriter Marques Toliver has just unleashed his own rather splendid series of mash-ups), compilations of material released online, usually for free. Perhaps this format is where we’re headed in this new technological age - ‘albums’ becoming less important, but ‘selections’ of material both old and new becoming increasingly prevalent. This was a selection of beats that Mike Volpe sent to various rappers - but it’s pretty much like nothing in hip hop right now - and completely far from being generic. Although it’s termed a set of instrumentals - one of those instruments is certainly the sampled human voice, of which Volpe makes highly creative use. Much of this music is bold, intense and brilliantly arranged.
68) Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town (Domino)
Will Oldham’s music seems to assume greater subtlety as he enters his mature period. After the red herring of the direct and bold opener No Match, much of Wolfroy Goes To Town is so subdued as to almost be vaporous. Whilst it’s one of his least immediate recordings to date, it does yield significant rewards. The highlight for me is the wonderful, quietly evocative New Whaling, a song largely unlike anything else he has recorded so far. Overall, this may be the best result of his experiments with female vocalists so far, the balance of the voices being remarkably complementary.
67) Moritz Von Oswald - Horizontal Structures (Honest Jon’s)
Horizontal Structures made for a marked contrast with Oswald’s previous trio release, the more propulsive Vertical Ascent. If the music here was more challenging and less immediate, it proved equally successful on its own terms. Horizontal Structures mostly eschews rhythm in favour of stark textures and rumbling undertones. These sound collages mix found sound, live instrumentation, improvisation and programming to brilliant effect.
66) Hiss Golden Messenger - Poor Moon/From Country Hai East Cotton (Black Maps/Paradise of Bachelors)
Although clearly informed by the American folk tradition, there’s something extra - something more intuitive and mysterious - about MC Taylor’s work as Hiss Golden Messenger, much of which finally saw the light of day here in the UK in 2011. From Country Hai East Cotton was a delicate and vulnerable affair, patiently unfolding and admirably understated in its execution, but with some lush string arrangements and a soulful vibe. Much has been written about Taylor’s understanding of bluegrass and folk - but less seems to have been written about the soulful side of his music, which echoes writers such as Dan Penn and Tony Joe White. His language is rich and evocative and his delivery soft and almost conversational. These two albums are an absolute delight.
65) Isolee - Well Spent Youth (Pampa)
Given the impact wearemonster had a few years ago, it’s bewildering just how ignored this latest, supposedly long-awaited Isolee album has been. Perhaps it’s too straightforward and lacks cultural currency in an electronic world that has been dominated by bass music trends in the period between Isolee albums. On the other hand, it really ought to be invigorating to hear an electronic album with rather different concerns. Well Spent Youth strikes me as being thoroughly enjoyable, and rich in melody and a careful ear for sound. It’s depressing when albums this strong are dismissed by those demanding an instant classic.
64) Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Night Slugs)
This austere but thrilling album from Toronto’s David Psutka felt like an artist challenging himself and rising even above his already lofty reputation (at least within bass music circles). In fact, Bible Eyes is largely free from dubstep cliche - instead reaching into other areas of minimal electronic music. It’s a confident, refreshingly consistent album.
63) The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (Rough Trade)
This is the sort of unassuming, straightforwardly decent album that is all too easy to neglect when making these round-up lists, especially as it was released very early in the year. Still, it’s worth noting that this is a rare case of a ‘reaction’ album actually working very well - it’s a definite retrenchment after the theatrical excesses of The Hazards of Love. It’s a real reminder of Colin Meloy’s narrative and melodic gifts as a songwriter, and the playing is frequently marvellous, including a guest appearance from Peter Buck.
62) St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (4AD)
It’s immensely satisfying that Annie Clark’s odd, angular take on pop music seems to have reached a surprisingly wide audience this year. For all of Strange Mercy’s tricksiness, it also comes armed with some superb hooks and melodies, even if Clark often tries to hide this by dressing them in very elaborate, unpredictable arrangements. Clark is adept at using the studio to its full potential.
61) Mara Carlyle - Floreat (Ancient and Modern)
The long-awaited Floreat (first shelved by EMI as far back as 2008) makes me wish I had taken more notice of Mara Carlyle much earlier. She is an idiosyncratic and bold singer-songwriter, keen to explore a wide variety of musical spaces. There are hints of early jazz and show tune stylings - but also a decidedly modern touch and approach. Carlyle has a bite and a sense of humour that brilliantly undercuts her more florid, theatrical moments.
These two EPs/mini albums were repackaged together as one long album towards the end of the year. Bass heavy and influenced by dub, but in an altogether distinctive space of its own, Passed Me By is singularly detached and agitated, filtering soul, reggae and r&b through all manner of abstract textural intrusions.
79) Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)
The hazy dub of Peaking Lights proved to be one of 2011’s more straightforward pleasures, and one that did a great deal to enhance the reputation of the Not Not Fun label. The cascading, incandescent sound of much of 936 is immersive. Whilst the duo tend to eschew verse-chorus song structure, there were plenty of imaginative vocal hooks here too.
78) Sidi Toure - Sahel Folk (Thrill Jockey)
Sahel Folk was the first internationally distributed album in sixteen years from the artist hailed by Bassekou Kouyate as a ‘worthy successor to Ali Farka Toure’. Sahel Folk is a series of duos with a variety of collaborators, and this setting seems to suit Sidi remarkably well. The music is relaxed, sensitive, unshowy and unobtrusive but also quietly authoritative.
77) Six Organs Of Admittance - Asleep On The Floodplain (Drag City)
This may have been overlooked simply by being one of Ben Chasny’s most inviting and least foreboding albums under the Six Organs moniker. It’s mostly an album of soft drones and calm reveries that have a cumulatively hypnotic effect. Chasny may be at his least provocative here, but he is also at his most musically eloquent and articulate.
76) Twelves - The Adding Machine (Babel)
A great example of where freedom and flexibility meet discipline and control, Twelves’ second album is both supple and fascinating. With new guitarist Rob Updegraff adding a gritty, incisive undertow to the ensemble sound, The Adding Machine further develops the group’s inspired balance of knotty compositions, melodic development and turbulent free improvisation. A strong sense of narrative is apparent throughout.
75) Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil (ATP)
Having already achieved so much, there seems to be little that Deerhoof can do now save for repeating themselves, although each release now seems to veer further towards what might be described as accessible pop territory. There’s still plenty of infectious quirkiness here though, and the band are as innovative as always with rhythm. With every release, their sound gets crisper and more dynamic.
74) Kode 9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun (Hyperdub)
Spaceape is less of a rapper and more of a surrealist storyteller. When paired with the claustrophobic soundscapes of Kode9, his words assume an even greater potency. Black Sun is another album to veer beyond the conventions of UK bass music and microgenre classifications, often emphasising texture more than the lower end frequencies. Over on musicOMH, I described the effect of Black Sun as being a kind of ‘disaster idealism’ - a dystopian urban vision tinged with the hope that something better and more sustainable will emerge.
73) Kairos 4tet - Statement Of Intent (Edition)
Remarkably now winners of the MOBO award for best jazz act, Kairos 4tet have had a busy, impressive year. That all this has been achieved as a result of an album considerably subtler and more refined than its urgent, memorable predecessor is all the more satisfying. Now with Ivo Neame’s graceful, considered touch on the piano, and still benefiting hugely from the experienced, empathetic rhythm section of Jasper Hoiby and Jon Scott, Adam Waldmann’s compositions have taken elegiac and unpredictable turns here.
72) Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now (Records Records Records)
Steven Adams has managed to weather the quiet storm of the Broken Family Band split with consummate ease, forming a new band and simply getting on with business as usual. Singing Adams (initially a solo side project but now a band of the same name) inevitably share some qualities with BFB - Adams’ barbed humour and his deft hand with a tune being one. Some of the shuffly or chuggy rhythmic urgency remains too. But there’s also a sense that Everybody Friends Now is a less forthright, more reflective affair - perhaps the start of Adams’ maturity as a singer-songwriter. He certainly deserves more attention.
71) Outhouse & Hilmar Jenssen - Straw, Sticks & Bricks (Babel)
The Loop Collective’s flagship band continue their brilliant explorations of groove, texture and communication here, this time working in collaboration with Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jenssen. Jenssen adds an air of menace and threat, whilst the band sound increasingly confident and controlled. The album is often brooding and mysterious but also fleet-footed and intuitive.
70) Rustie - Glass Swords (Warp)
Of all the wild electronic music released in 2011, Rustie’s long awaited debut album came brimming with the most fun. This is a sly, insanely over the top stew of retro synthesisers and modern awkwardness that is unashamedly entertaining. As the year draws to a close, it seems, perhaps surprisingly, to have moved outside genre circles to be picked up by major publications such as The Guardian.
69) Clams Casino - Instrumentals (Type)
2011 seems to have been the year of the ‘mixtape’ (even as I write this, singer-songwriter Marques Toliver has just unleashed his own rather splendid series of mash-ups), compilations of material released online, usually for free. Perhaps this format is where we’re headed in this new technological age - ‘albums’ becoming less important, but ‘selections’ of material both old and new becoming increasingly prevalent. This was a selection of beats that Mike Volpe sent to various rappers - but it’s pretty much like nothing in hip hop right now - and completely far from being generic. Although it’s termed a set of instrumentals - one of those instruments is certainly the sampled human voice, of which Volpe makes highly creative use. Much of this music is bold, intense and brilliantly arranged.
68) Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town (Domino)
Will Oldham’s music seems to assume greater subtlety as he enters his mature period. After the red herring of the direct and bold opener No Match, much of Wolfroy Goes To Town is so subdued as to almost be vaporous. Whilst it’s one of his least immediate recordings to date, it does yield significant rewards. The highlight for me is the wonderful, quietly evocative New Whaling, a song largely unlike anything else he has recorded so far. Overall, this may be the best result of his experiments with female vocalists so far, the balance of the voices being remarkably complementary.
67) Moritz Von Oswald - Horizontal Structures (Honest Jon’s)
Horizontal Structures made for a marked contrast with Oswald’s previous trio release, the more propulsive Vertical Ascent. If the music here was more challenging and less immediate, it proved equally successful on its own terms. Horizontal Structures mostly eschews rhythm in favour of stark textures and rumbling undertones. These sound collages mix found sound, live instrumentation, improvisation and programming to brilliant effect.
66) Hiss Golden Messenger - Poor Moon/From Country Hai East Cotton (Black Maps/Paradise of Bachelors)
Although clearly informed by the American folk tradition, there’s something extra - something more intuitive and mysterious - about MC Taylor’s work as Hiss Golden Messenger, much of which finally saw the light of day here in the UK in 2011. From Country Hai East Cotton was a delicate and vulnerable affair, patiently unfolding and admirably understated in its execution, but with some lush string arrangements and a soulful vibe. Much has been written about Taylor’s understanding of bluegrass and folk - but less seems to have been written about the soulful side of his music, which echoes writers such as Dan Penn and Tony Joe White. His language is rich and evocative and his delivery soft and almost conversational. These two albums are an absolute delight.
65) Isolee - Well Spent Youth (Pampa)
Given the impact wearemonster had a few years ago, it’s bewildering just how ignored this latest, supposedly long-awaited Isolee album has been. Perhaps it’s too straightforward and lacks cultural currency in an electronic world that has been dominated by bass music trends in the period between Isolee albums. On the other hand, it really ought to be invigorating to hear an electronic album with rather different concerns. Well Spent Youth strikes me as being thoroughly enjoyable, and rich in melody and a careful ear for sound. It’s depressing when albums this strong are dismissed by those demanding an instant classic.
64) Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Night Slugs)
This austere but thrilling album from Toronto’s David Psutka felt like an artist challenging himself and rising even above his already lofty reputation (at least within bass music circles). In fact, Bible Eyes is largely free from dubstep cliche - instead reaching into other areas of minimal electronic music. It’s a confident, refreshingly consistent album.
63) The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (Rough Trade)
This is the sort of unassuming, straightforwardly decent album that is all too easy to neglect when making these round-up lists, especially as it was released very early in the year. Still, it’s worth noting that this is a rare case of a ‘reaction’ album actually working very well - it’s a definite retrenchment after the theatrical excesses of The Hazards of Love. It’s a real reminder of Colin Meloy’s narrative and melodic gifts as a songwriter, and the playing is frequently marvellous, including a guest appearance from Peter Buck.
62) St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (4AD)
It’s immensely satisfying that Annie Clark’s odd, angular take on pop music seems to have reached a surprisingly wide audience this year. For all of Strange Mercy’s tricksiness, it also comes armed with some superb hooks and melodies, even if Clark often tries to hide this by dressing them in very elaborate, unpredictable arrangements. Clark is adept at using the studio to its full potential.
61) Mara Carlyle - Floreat (Ancient and Modern)
The long-awaited Floreat (first shelved by EMI as far back as 2008) makes me wish I had taken more notice of Mara Carlyle much earlier. She is an idiosyncratic and bold singer-songwriter, keen to explore a wide variety of musical spaces. There are hints of early jazz and show tune stylings - but also a decidedly modern touch and approach. Carlyle has a bite and a sense of humour that brilliantly undercuts her more florid, theatrical moments.
The 100 (and a bit) Best Albums of 2011 Part 1: 100-81
100) Feist - Metals (Polydor)
Metals didn’t quite have the same personal impact on me that The Reminder had (save for The Bad In Each Other, a truly remarkable song placed first that rather overshadows the rest of the album). That said, it was still a remarkably refined and controlled offering full of exceptional songwriting. Occasionally, it veered out into rawer, less polished territory, with intriguing results.
99) Cornershop - And The Double-O Groove Of (Ample Play)
These days, Cornershop seem entirely comfortable with their status as more-or-less one hit wonders. Brimful of Asha hardly seems to be an albatross around their necks. Rather, it has freed them to veer off in more artistically fruitful directions. In fact, this collaboration with Bubbley Kaur may be the highlight of their career. The fusion of traditional Indian sounds with funky grooves is surprisingly successful.
98) Fatoumata Diawara - Fatou (World Circuit)
Although born in the Ivory Coast and of Malian heritage, Fatoumata Diawara now resides in Paris and this may explain the refreshingly diverse, cosmopolitan and summery sound she achieves on this delightful album. It’s one of the most accessible albums to have emerged from the World Circuit staple in recent years - immediate, light and catchy - but this is by no means a criticism. Diawara seems brilliantly assured and her vibrant songs deserve a wide audience.
97) The Field - Looping State of Mind (Kompakt)
Axel Willner here continued his persistent explorations of repetition and cumulative intensity. Yet with every release as The Field, he continues to give the sound a slight new twist. Looping State of Mind has ratcheted up the intensity and energy levels to offer something yet more muscular and insistent.
96) Tyshawn Sorey - Oblique 1 (Pi)
Sorey is one of New York’s most astonishing, visionary drummers, having concocted the sort of rhythmic support that seems so proficient as to be near-physically impossible for the likes of Steve Lehman, Fieldwork, and Steve Coleman. This is his first album as bandleader (his solo work Koan is an entirely different beast altogether), and the work shows him to be an intelligent composer as well as a gifted musician. Sorey studied with Anthony Braxton at Wesleyan University, and Oblique 1 demonstrates a contemporary approach to composition, perhaps inspired by musicians such as Henry Threadgill, in which cells and intervals are the founding blocks for development rather than melodic lines. By Sorey’s own description, many of these pieces are ‘strategies for improvisation’, and the resulting performances are turbulent and inspired.
95) Wild Flag - Wild Flag (Wichita)
This collaboration between Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney and Mary Timony ended up being much greater than simply a Sleater Kinney album minus Corin Tucker. Anything powered by Janet Weiss’ irresistible snare drum thwack is always going to be an enjoyable listen - but Wild Flag distinguished themselves by adopting a poppier approach. Many of these songs are blisteringly exciting but also memorable and enduring.
94) Kuedo - Severant (Planet Mu)
Former Vex’d member Jamie Teasdale’s first album as Kuedo shares with Zomby’s Dedication a rather fuzzy sensibility - a series of auditory hallucinations perhaps, or vivid dreams, although it is not as boldly fragmentory as the Zomby album. Throughout, there’s a nostalgia for sci-fi visions of the future that never quite arrived, and Vangelis’ work, particularly for Blade Runner, appears to have been a major source of inspiration.
93) SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Young Turks)
Of all the albums to emerge from the post-dubstep landscape, this is actually one of the most conventional. This, however, turns out to be its refreshing virtue. Working with a range of guest vocalists, SBTRKT works as something close to a pop producer here, and the resulting work shows a great deal of respect for the song, as well as a drive for sonic experimentation. There is a clear sense of intention throughout and the results are immediate and soulful but not overly dazzling.
92) Meg Baird - Seasons On Earth (Wichita)
I had rather casually and unfairly dismissed Meg Baird and Espers because of their association with Devendra Banhart, a musician I’m afraid I’ve never been able to take entirely seriously. This has been a big mistake, for Seasons on Earth is one of the most honest and affecting folk albums in recent memory, one that continues to grow with every listen. Baird’s voice is understated but perfect for this style, and her songs are delicate but beautiful. She is also versatile here, moving from lightness to emphatic authority with apparent ease.
91) CANT - Dreams Come True (Warp)
This side project from Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor may lack the meticulous compositional design and rich harmonies of his parent band, but it more than compensates for that with other examples of musical invention. By simplifying the writing, Taylor is freer to experiment with sound design, instrumentation and texture, the results of which take him some way from Grizzly Bear’s modern folk-tinged psychedelia.
90) Africa Hitech - 93 Million MIles (Warp)
Why has this one slipped through unnoticed? This collaboration between Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek takes slices of post-dubstep and footwork and reworks them through the prism of sleek soul. There’s a really great spirit of exploration here - finding the connections between various examples of human rhythmic experience and electronic production techniques.
89) Cass McCombs - Wit’s End/Humor Risk (Domino)
Cass McCombs has been remarkably prolific and I’d rather lost touch with his output after A, a debut I felt showed some unrealised potential. His music has become considerably less ragged since then. Indeed, County Line from Wit’s End is essentially a soft rock ballad (but an utterly brilliant one) and the production on Humor Risk is crisp and clear. McCombs is still a minimalist at heart - his songs often have little in the way of structure, preferring to repeat phrases and lines until they become very well ingrained in the memory. These two albums together do feel like his strongest burst of creativity yet but, like Ryan Adams, he may need an editor.
88) Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
Ford & Lopatin - Channel Pressure (Software)
Increasingly one of the most discussed and influential musicians at work today, Daniel Lopatin’s journey towards the critical and perhaps even commercial mainstream has been somewhat remarkable. Replica and Channel Pressure saw him journey yet further from the Tangerine Dream-esque dronescapes that made his name, incorporating sound effects, TV advertisement samples and rhythmic trickery, all in the service of his ingenious play on reconstruction, memory and recall. The retro stylings of Channel Pressure ought by rights to be horrifying - yet they are somehow completely irresistible. Any album with a song title like Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me) must revel in its own irony and gleeful subversion and Channel Pressure does exactly that.
87) A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen (Erased Tapes)
This collaboration between the Californian pianist Dustin O’Halloran and Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie has a rather European flavour to it, as well as an overriding sense of melancholy reflection. It’s a sensitive, patient beast - and one of the most haunting and beautiful releases to have emerged from the wonderful ‘post-classical’ staple on Erased Tapes.
86) John Escreet - Exception To The Rule (Criss Cross)
John Escreet is a musician I’ve only approached very recently (having seen his bizarre and compelling opening piano set at the Henry Threadgill show at this year’s London Jazz Festival). I need to spend a great deal more time with Exception to the Rule before I’m in any real position to assess it properly - but on first few experiences, it seems that Escreet is as unconventional a composer as he is a player, juxtaposing extremes for strange and disorientating effect. His touchstones must surely be the great avant-garde piano players (Cecil Taylor and perhaps Paul Bley) but he also seems to an intellectual, considered approach with his contemporary Craig Taborn. The ensemble here includes the great David Binney and the incredibly musical drummer Nasheet Waits - these two musicians alone are prime ingredients for an inspired session, There’s a subtle element of electronic sound here too which is fresh and exciting.
85) Battles - Gloss Drop (Warp)
‘Battles without Tyondai Braxton is like cereal without milk’, so I proudly declared on Twitter when learning of the departure of the group’s nominal frontman. Too often, Braxton has been desribed as the group’s former vocalist, when in fact his musical contributions were equally significant, not least his compositional flair. Without him, the remaining power trio is surprisingly effective. Much of this music is Battles stripped down to its fundamentals, powerful, attacking and imposing. It still grooves righteously, and some of the guest vocalists prove inspired choices (even Gary Numan).
84) Roly Porter - Aftertime (Subtext)
Listen to this next to Kuedo’s Severant and it is hard to believe that the two artists were once both part of Vex’d. Whereas Jamie has gone down the Vangelis-inspired cinematic synth route with Kuedo, Roly Porter has here produced something altogether more uncompromising and decidedly uncommercial. To call this album downbeat would be misleading, as that at least implies some sort of rhythmic impetus. Instead, it is mournful, perhaps even dark - characterised by drones and sustained sounds and often confidently confrontational.
83) Ambrose Akinmusire - When The Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)
Still only 28 years old, Ambrose Akinmusire (who played with Steve Coleman from the age of 19) emerges as a fully formed mature talent on this debut album as a bandleader. There is an immense outpouring of energy, passion and soul on this collection, as well as a fearsome technical proficiency. The set neatly juxtaposes fiery exposition with moments of resonant beauty. With the talents of Walter Smith III, Gerald Clayton, Justin Brown and Harish Raghavan also involved (and with the great pianist Jason Moran producing), this is something of a dream team from this new generation of American jazz pioneers.
82) Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light Vol.1 (Southern Lord)
More of the beautiful same from Dylan Carlson - slow, patient, epic doom rock and windswept desert blues. As with other recent Earth releases, there is a delicious tension underpinning these five long pieces. Some subtle differences occur due to the sweeping presence of cellist Lori Goldston. Carlson remains a brilliantly selective musician, making the space as important as the limited number of notes. Volume 2 is coming early in 2012.
81) Phil Robson - The Immeasurable Code (Whirlwind Recordings)
This impressive Anglo-American ensemble features the superb, mellifluous saxophonist Mark Turner, virtuosic flautist Gareth Lockrane, bassist Michael Janisch and drummer Ernesto Simpson. The result, recorded live, is a combination of imperious groove from a crackling rhythm section and fluent, lengthy improvised lines from Robson, Turner and Lockrane. A tremendous, highly underrated ensemble gem.
Metals didn’t quite have the same personal impact on me that The Reminder had (save for The Bad In Each Other, a truly remarkable song placed first that rather overshadows the rest of the album). That said, it was still a remarkably refined and controlled offering full of exceptional songwriting. Occasionally, it veered out into rawer, less polished territory, with intriguing results.
99) Cornershop - And The Double-O Groove Of (Ample Play)
These days, Cornershop seem entirely comfortable with their status as more-or-less one hit wonders. Brimful of Asha hardly seems to be an albatross around their necks. Rather, it has freed them to veer off in more artistically fruitful directions. In fact, this collaboration with Bubbley Kaur may be the highlight of their career. The fusion of traditional Indian sounds with funky grooves is surprisingly successful.
98) Fatoumata Diawara - Fatou (World Circuit)
Although born in the Ivory Coast and of Malian heritage, Fatoumata Diawara now resides in Paris and this may explain the refreshingly diverse, cosmopolitan and summery sound she achieves on this delightful album. It’s one of the most accessible albums to have emerged from the World Circuit staple in recent years - immediate, light and catchy - but this is by no means a criticism. Diawara seems brilliantly assured and her vibrant songs deserve a wide audience.
97) The Field - Looping State of Mind (Kompakt)
Axel Willner here continued his persistent explorations of repetition and cumulative intensity. Yet with every release as The Field, he continues to give the sound a slight new twist. Looping State of Mind has ratcheted up the intensity and energy levels to offer something yet more muscular and insistent.
96) Tyshawn Sorey - Oblique 1 (Pi)
Sorey is one of New York’s most astonishing, visionary drummers, having concocted the sort of rhythmic support that seems so proficient as to be near-physically impossible for the likes of Steve Lehman, Fieldwork, and Steve Coleman. This is his first album as bandleader (his solo work Koan is an entirely different beast altogether), and the work shows him to be an intelligent composer as well as a gifted musician. Sorey studied with Anthony Braxton at Wesleyan University, and Oblique 1 demonstrates a contemporary approach to composition, perhaps inspired by musicians such as Henry Threadgill, in which cells and intervals are the founding blocks for development rather than melodic lines. By Sorey’s own description, many of these pieces are ‘strategies for improvisation’, and the resulting performances are turbulent and inspired.
95) Wild Flag - Wild Flag (Wichita)
This collaboration between Janet Weiss and Carrie Brownstein of Sleater Kinney and Mary Timony ended up being much greater than simply a Sleater Kinney album minus Corin Tucker. Anything powered by Janet Weiss’ irresistible snare drum thwack is always going to be an enjoyable listen - but Wild Flag distinguished themselves by adopting a poppier approach. Many of these songs are blisteringly exciting but also memorable and enduring.
94) Kuedo - Severant (Planet Mu)
Former Vex’d member Jamie Teasdale’s first album as Kuedo shares with Zomby’s Dedication a rather fuzzy sensibility - a series of auditory hallucinations perhaps, or vivid dreams, although it is not as boldly fragmentory as the Zomby album. Throughout, there’s a nostalgia for sci-fi visions of the future that never quite arrived, and Vangelis’ work, particularly for Blade Runner, appears to have been a major source of inspiration.
93) SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Young Turks)
Of all the albums to emerge from the post-dubstep landscape, this is actually one of the most conventional. This, however, turns out to be its refreshing virtue. Working with a range of guest vocalists, SBTRKT works as something close to a pop producer here, and the resulting work shows a great deal of respect for the song, as well as a drive for sonic experimentation. There is a clear sense of intention throughout and the results are immediate and soulful but not overly dazzling.
92) Meg Baird - Seasons On Earth (Wichita)
I had rather casually and unfairly dismissed Meg Baird and Espers because of their association with Devendra Banhart, a musician I’m afraid I’ve never been able to take entirely seriously. This has been a big mistake, for Seasons on Earth is one of the most honest and affecting folk albums in recent memory, one that continues to grow with every listen. Baird’s voice is understated but perfect for this style, and her songs are delicate but beautiful. She is also versatile here, moving from lightness to emphatic authority with apparent ease.
91) CANT - Dreams Come True (Warp)
This side project from Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor may lack the meticulous compositional design and rich harmonies of his parent band, but it more than compensates for that with other examples of musical invention. By simplifying the writing, Taylor is freer to experiment with sound design, instrumentation and texture, the results of which take him some way from Grizzly Bear’s modern folk-tinged psychedelia.
90) Africa Hitech - 93 Million MIles (Warp)
Why has this one slipped through unnoticed? This collaboration between Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek takes slices of post-dubstep and footwork and reworks them through the prism of sleek soul. There’s a really great spirit of exploration here - finding the connections between various examples of human rhythmic experience and electronic production techniques.
89) Cass McCombs - Wit’s End/Humor Risk (Domino)
Cass McCombs has been remarkably prolific and I’d rather lost touch with his output after A, a debut I felt showed some unrealised potential. His music has become considerably less ragged since then. Indeed, County Line from Wit’s End is essentially a soft rock ballad (but an utterly brilliant one) and the production on Humor Risk is crisp and clear. McCombs is still a minimalist at heart - his songs often have little in the way of structure, preferring to repeat phrases and lines until they become very well ingrained in the memory. These two albums together do feel like his strongest burst of creativity yet but, like Ryan Adams, he may need an editor.
88) Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica
Ford & Lopatin - Channel Pressure (Software)
Increasingly one of the most discussed and influential musicians at work today, Daniel Lopatin’s journey towards the critical and perhaps even commercial mainstream has been somewhat remarkable. Replica and Channel Pressure saw him journey yet further from the Tangerine Dream-esque dronescapes that made his name, incorporating sound effects, TV advertisement samples and rhythmic trickery, all in the service of his ingenious play on reconstruction, memory and recall. The retro stylings of Channel Pressure ought by rights to be horrifying - yet they are somehow completely irresistible. Any album with a song title like Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me) must revel in its own irony and gleeful subversion and Channel Pressure does exactly that.
87) A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen (Erased Tapes)
This collaboration between the Californian pianist Dustin O’Halloran and Stars of the Lid’s Adam Wiltzie has a rather European flavour to it, as well as an overriding sense of melancholy reflection. It’s a sensitive, patient beast - and one of the most haunting and beautiful releases to have emerged from the wonderful ‘post-classical’ staple on Erased Tapes.
86) John Escreet - Exception To The Rule (Criss Cross)
John Escreet is a musician I’ve only approached very recently (having seen his bizarre and compelling opening piano set at the Henry Threadgill show at this year’s London Jazz Festival). I need to spend a great deal more time with Exception to the Rule before I’m in any real position to assess it properly - but on first few experiences, it seems that Escreet is as unconventional a composer as he is a player, juxtaposing extremes for strange and disorientating effect. His touchstones must surely be the great avant-garde piano players (Cecil Taylor and perhaps Paul Bley) but he also seems to an intellectual, considered approach with his contemporary Craig Taborn. The ensemble here includes the great David Binney and the incredibly musical drummer Nasheet Waits - these two musicians alone are prime ingredients for an inspired session, There’s a subtle element of electronic sound here too which is fresh and exciting.
85) Battles - Gloss Drop (Warp)
‘Battles without Tyondai Braxton is like cereal without milk’, so I proudly declared on Twitter when learning of the departure of the group’s nominal frontman. Too often, Braxton has been desribed as the group’s former vocalist, when in fact his musical contributions were equally significant, not least his compositional flair. Without him, the remaining power trio is surprisingly effective. Much of this music is Battles stripped down to its fundamentals, powerful, attacking and imposing. It still grooves righteously, and some of the guest vocalists prove inspired choices (even Gary Numan).
84) Roly Porter - Aftertime (Subtext)
Listen to this next to Kuedo’s Severant and it is hard to believe that the two artists were once both part of Vex’d. Whereas Jamie has gone down the Vangelis-inspired cinematic synth route with Kuedo, Roly Porter has here produced something altogether more uncompromising and decidedly uncommercial. To call this album downbeat would be misleading, as that at least implies some sort of rhythmic impetus. Instead, it is mournful, perhaps even dark - characterised by drones and sustained sounds and often confidently confrontational.
83) Ambrose Akinmusire - When The Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)
Still only 28 years old, Ambrose Akinmusire (who played with Steve Coleman from the age of 19) emerges as a fully formed mature talent on this debut album as a bandleader. There is an immense outpouring of energy, passion and soul on this collection, as well as a fearsome technical proficiency. The set neatly juxtaposes fiery exposition with moments of resonant beauty. With the talents of Walter Smith III, Gerald Clayton, Justin Brown and Harish Raghavan also involved (and with the great pianist Jason Moran producing), this is something of a dream team from this new generation of American jazz pioneers.
82) Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light Vol.1 (Southern Lord)
More of the beautiful same from Dylan Carlson - slow, patient, epic doom rock and windswept desert blues. As with other recent Earth releases, there is a delicious tension underpinning these five long pieces. Some subtle differences occur due to the sweeping presence of cellist Lori Goldston. Carlson remains a brilliantly selective musician, making the space as important as the limited number of notes. Volume 2 is coming early in 2012.
81) Phil Robson - The Immeasurable Code (Whirlwind Recordings)
This impressive Anglo-American ensemble features the superb, mellifluous saxophonist Mark Turner, virtuosic flautist Gareth Lockrane, bassist Michael Janisch and drummer Ernesto Simpson. The result, recorded live, is a combination of imperious groove from a crackling rhythm section and fluent, lengthy improvised lines from Robson, Turner and Lockrane. A tremendous, highly underrated ensemble gem.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
musicOMH Reviews
I should also take the time to post links to some of my musicOMH pieces. It may seem like it has been a bit quite around these parts recently, but this is mainly why! I must get a system in place where I can link to musicOMH reviews as they are published.
Nat Baldwin - People Changes
Junior Boys - It's All True
{Ma} - The Last
Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Pat Metheny - What It's All About
Sebastian Rochford & Pamelia Kurstin - Ouch Evil Slow Hop
Destroyer - Kaputt
JuJu - In Trance
The Impossible Gentlemen - The Impossible Gentlemen
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - The 1st Album
Roy Harper - Songs Of Love & Loss Vols. 1 & 2
Thomas Dybdahl - Songs
Three Trapped Tigers - Route One Or Die
Vladislav Delay Quartet - Vladislav Delay Quartet
Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister
Murcof - Le Sangre Illuminada OST
13 & God - Own Your Ghost
Chrissy Murderbot - Women's Studies
Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain
Tamikrest - Toumastin
Boxcutter - The Dissolve
Jenny Hval - Viscera
Marius Neset - Golden Xplosion
Kode9 & Spaceape - Black Sun
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Phaedra - The Sea
Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now
Outhouse - Straw, Sticks & Bricks
Sebadoh - Bakesale (Reissue)
Nat Baldwin - People Changes
Junior Boys - It's All True
{Ma} - The Last
Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Pat Metheny - What It's All About
Sebastian Rochford & Pamelia Kurstin - Ouch Evil Slow Hop
Destroyer - Kaputt
JuJu - In Trance
The Impossible Gentlemen - The Impossible Gentlemen
Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - The 1st Album
Roy Harper - Songs Of Love & Loss Vols. 1 & 2
Thomas Dybdahl - Songs
Three Trapped Tigers - Route One Or Die
Vladislav Delay Quartet - Vladislav Delay Quartet
Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister
Murcof - Le Sangre Illuminada OST
13 & God - Own Your Ghost
Chrissy Murderbot - Women's Studies
Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain
Tamikrest - Toumastin
Boxcutter - The Dissolve
Jenny Hval - Viscera
Marius Neset - Golden Xplosion
Kode9 & Spaceape - Black Sun
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Phaedra - The Sea
Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now
Outhouse - Straw, Sticks & Bricks
Sebadoh - Bakesale (Reissue)
Anonymity
Zomby - Dedication (4AD)
Who is Zomby? I ask this question not simply because of his commitment to concealing his identity (his real name has never been given out and he masks his face in publicity shots). I also ask it because of the often confounding nature of the music he makes under a consistent alias. Dedication is his second full-length album, but YouTube and other internet platforms are cluttered with other tracks, some half-formed, some fully-flegded, that have never been officially released. By this stage, it's quite clear that he cannot simply be categorised as a 'post-dubstep' artist, or any such fatuous classification critics might use when they are unable to find adequate language to describe music. If Where Were You In 92? offered a sincere paen to the hardcore and rave eras, Dedication is attempting something very different.
Commentary on this album seems to have been beleaguered by a lack of understanding. It has been dismissed in some quarters as being overly fragmented or incomplete. For sure, the tracks are often brief and many end abruptly and unexpectedly. Yet if Dedication really is a response to grief - the loss of a love one - then the artistic approach adopted here seems to be wholly justified. One's emotions at such a time are often not easily defined or reduced to something coherent and simple. Dedication is a complex beast, flitting rapidly between a variety of styles, colours, textures, atmospheres and emotions. Such techniques are common in acoustic improvised music (although admittedly usually over much more sustained forms), but not so often explored within electronica, with its inevitably more limited dynamic range.
With the music on Dedication, Zomby has found fascinating and original ways of compensating for the music's lack of acoustic properties. Although there are certainly some well-worn influences here (Vangelis, hints at early electronic pioneers such as Daphne Oram), Zomby's work here appears to offer some clear routes away from post-dubstep cul de sacs. It is rhythmically interesting, and predictably dominated by the effects of sound and texture, but melody and harmony are also restored to a prominent place. Sometimes the music here sounds dislocated, withdrawn and distant, sometimes it sounds surprisingly and welcomingly intimate (especially on Natalia's Song).
Although it is fragmented, it is clearly intended to be approached and digested as a whole, rather than through its individual segments. It is completely out of step with the download, attention deficit era. It has a sense of mostly wordless, musical honesty and candour that demands attention and serious consideration. Sometimes it is its briefest moments that provide the greatest interest - I love the melancholy effect of the percussion sounds on Salamander and the pads on Lucifer. Taken individually, these tracks might seem slight, but within the context of the album as a whole, they are potent and imaginative.
Albums such as Dedication remind me that, although I am a committed acoustic musician, there is much to be learned from the techniques used by electronic producers and much to be appreciated and enjoyed. Listen to the polyrhythmic approach on Digital Rain - a track that manages to be at once musically creative, contemplative and gently humorous. Here and on the wonderful A Devil Lay Here, Zomby brilliantly creates emotional impact from the most detached and ambivalent of sounds.
Dedication may only be fully appreciated with the passing of time, something that is rare for the often more immdediate, constantly flucuating trends of electronic music (I fully confess that I cannot keep up with them). It is one of 2011's most underrated releases.
Who is Zomby? I ask this question not simply because of his commitment to concealing his identity (his real name has never been given out and he masks his face in publicity shots). I also ask it because of the often confounding nature of the music he makes under a consistent alias. Dedication is his second full-length album, but YouTube and other internet platforms are cluttered with other tracks, some half-formed, some fully-flegded, that have never been officially released. By this stage, it's quite clear that he cannot simply be categorised as a 'post-dubstep' artist, or any such fatuous classification critics might use when they are unable to find adequate language to describe music. If Where Were You In 92? offered a sincere paen to the hardcore and rave eras, Dedication is attempting something very different.
Commentary on this album seems to have been beleaguered by a lack of understanding. It has been dismissed in some quarters as being overly fragmented or incomplete. For sure, the tracks are often brief and many end abruptly and unexpectedly. Yet if Dedication really is a response to grief - the loss of a love one - then the artistic approach adopted here seems to be wholly justified. One's emotions at such a time are often not easily defined or reduced to something coherent and simple. Dedication is a complex beast, flitting rapidly between a variety of styles, colours, textures, atmospheres and emotions. Such techniques are common in acoustic improvised music (although admittedly usually over much more sustained forms), but not so often explored within electronica, with its inevitably more limited dynamic range.
With the music on Dedication, Zomby has found fascinating and original ways of compensating for the music's lack of acoustic properties. Although there are certainly some well-worn influences here (Vangelis, hints at early electronic pioneers such as Daphne Oram), Zomby's work here appears to offer some clear routes away from post-dubstep cul de sacs. It is rhythmically interesting, and predictably dominated by the effects of sound and texture, but melody and harmony are also restored to a prominent place. Sometimes the music here sounds dislocated, withdrawn and distant, sometimes it sounds surprisingly and welcomingly intimate (especially on Natalia's Song).
Although it is fragmented, it is clearly intended to be approached and digested as a whole, rather than through its individual segments. It is completely out of step with the download, attention deficit era. It has a sense of mostly wordless, musical honesty and candour that demands attention and serious consideration. Sometimes it is its briefest moments that provide the greatest interest - I love the melancholy effect of the percussion sounds on Salamander and the pads on Lucifer. Taken individually, these tracks might seem slight, but within the context of the album as a whole, they are potent and imaginative.
Albums such as Dedication remind me that, although I am a committed acoustic musician, there is much to be learned from the techniques used by electronic producers and much to be appreciated and enjoyed. Listen to the polyrhythmic approach on Digital Rain - a track that manages to be at once musically creative, contemplative and gently humorous. Here and on the wonderful A Devil Lay Here, Zomby brilliantly creates emotional impact from the most detached and ambivalent of sounds.
Dedication may only be fully appreciated with the passing of time, something that is rare for the often more immdediate, constantly flucuating trends of electronic music (I fully confess that I cannot keep up with them). It is one of 2011's most underrated releases.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Playlist
I've been out in Vermont recording with Adrian Roye and the Exiles and the amazing Michael Chorney, so listening recently has partially been inspired by him:
Michael Chorney - Oom-Pah of the Ghost Parade
Michael Chorney - Songs In Secret Ink
Anais Mitchell - Hymns For The Exiled
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness
Becca Stevens - Weightless (2011)
Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake - You Stepped Out of a Cloud
Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Nice Guys
Lhasa - The Living Road
Jenny Scheinman - Crossing The Field
Also some listening inspired by Portishead's ATP event this weekend:
Portishead - Third
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
Beak> - Beak>
Contemporary:
Mark Hanslip and Javier Carmona - DosadoS
Zomby - Dedication
Ambrose Akinmusire - When the Heart Emerges Glistening
SBTRKT - SBTRKT
Ma - The Last
Nat Baldwin - People Change
Seb Rochford and Pamelia Kurstin - Ouch Evil Slow Hop
Pat Metheny - What's It All About
Memory Tapes - Player Piano
Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Marissa Nadler - Marissa Nadler
Battles - Gloss Drop
Michael Chorney - Oom-Pah of the Ghost Parade
Michael Chorney - Songs In Secret Ink
Anais Mitchell - Hymns For The Exiled
Anais Mitchell - The Brightness
Becca Stevens - Weightless (2011)
Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake - You Stepped Out of a Cloud
Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Nice Guys
Lhasa - The Living Road
Jenny Scheinman - Crossing The Field
Also some listening inspired by Portishead's ATP event this weekend:
Portishead - Third
Company Flow - Funcrusher Plus
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
Beak> - Beak>
Contemporary:
Mark Hanslip and Javier Carmona - DosadoS
Zomby - Dedication
Ambrose Akinmusire - When the Heart Emerges Glistening
SBTRKT - SBTRKT
Ma - The Last
Nat Baldwin - People Change
Seb Rochford and Pamelia Kurstin - Ouch Evil Slow Hop
Pat Metheny - What's It All About
Memory Tapes - Player Piano
Gillian Welch - The Harrow and the Harvest
Bon Iver - Bon Iver
Marissa Nadler - Marissa Nadler
Battles - Gloss Drop
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
She's An Artist, She Don't Look Back?
Kate Bush - Director's Cut (EMI)
By audaciously re-recording and repackaging tracks from two albums in her back catalogue, Kate Bush seems to have caused some consternation. First, it's astonishing that in spite of being told that the new material from Kate Bush was not going to be a new album as such, many people still seemed to be expecting exactly that. Secondly, and more significantly, why do so may people seem to think revisiting material from the past is such a musical crime? Jazz musicians do so all the time, not just in re-interpreting the standard repertoire, but in reworking their own material. Wayne Shorter has recorded Footprints several times with a variety of ensembles. I see no reason for a song to be a solid, locked in artefact once it has been recorded. Why can it not be a living, breathing artefact, open to new performances and arrangements as time passes? Bob Dylan has long understood this very well.
Another subjective issue in any asssessment of Director's Cut is the apparent consensus that The Sensual World and The Red Shoes (the two albums from which these tracks are sourced) are the weakest and least admired of Bush's albums. I've never quite understood why this might be. For sure, Hounds of Love set an impressive conceptual and artistic standard - but I've always found an embarrassment of riches across these albums, even when they apparently present Bush at her most conventional. Her songwriting has been consistently strong.
Clearly, there were elements in the production and arrangement of this material that Bush herself was never happy with - Director's Cut has afforded her the chance to go back and make alterations. Some of these are very minor, pedantic changes. Others are massively significant. The result is an album that probably has little chance of rising to the top of fans' favourites, but which offers a brilliant case study of Kate Bush's artistic temperament and attention to detail - and, most interestingly of all perhaps, evidence of the change in timbre in her voice since the original tracks were recorded.
This change is immediately clear on Flower of the Mountain, a new version of The Sensual World in which Bush has finally been given permission to use Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysees. Her voice seems older, perhaps wiser but also less adventurous somehow. Other than the new vocal, there isn't a lot of difference between this new version and the original, and I have to admit that the original sounded more erotic and involving to my ears. It sounds rather as if Bush is struggling to adapt the song to the words she always wanted to use. Her own actually worked more effectively. There are other alterations that seem to spoil the atmosphere of the original songs too - Lily is transformed into a rather lumbering funk-rock track, with superfluous streams of distorted guitar. It actually sounded less dated in its original guise.
Perhaps the most significant change throughout is the drums. These often seemed over-produced on the original albums, but here she has captured a much more natural, warm and acoustic drum sound. This comes across particularly clearly on the wonderful new versions of Deeper Understanding and Song of Solomon. The latter is a great example of how very subtle modifications can have a tremendous impact. The backing vocals of the Trio Bulgarka much clearer, and it has a tremendously detailed mood. The vocoder section of Deeper Understanding (featuring Bush's son Bertie) has caused some controversy. It perhaps makes the song sound less futuristic and even more of its time, however prescient it was when first released. Bush's tale of computer addiction has very much been borne out in the internet age. The mysterious, wordless extended coda, with its lithe, expressive drum pattern, is simply magnificent.
The most substantial changes are sure to divide opinion. This Woman's Work, among her most loved songs, and something of a power ballad in its original form, has been completely transformed into an Eno-esque, spacey, ambient lament. It tugs on the heartstrings a little less, but perhaps its distinctive contemplative melancholy is more nuanced and more realistic. I love both versions - the old one, of course, is very much still there. Less successful for me is Rubberband Girl, now remodelled as a clunky Rolling Stones pastiche. This kind of context just does not really suit Bush's flighty, theatrical approach to singing - it simply shows that she works far better as an idiosyncratic solo artist than as frontwoman in a rock and roll band.
Less transformative, but brilliantly designed nonetheless, is the new version of Moments of Pleasure. This was always a strong song - but even the most die-hard of Bush fans would surely have to admit that the original was a little over the top. This new version retains the piano ballad template, but the delivery and execution are considerably more restrained and elegant. Along with Song of Solomon, Deeper Understanding and This Woman's Work, it is one of the album's great triumphs.
On listening to Director's Cut, I'm reminded of something Ian Carr used to say a lot in his jazz workshops at WAC (now threatened with closure due to Arts Council cuts) - 'sometimes you have to look back in order to move forwards.' It's very wise advice actually, and I wonder when new Bush material does emerge, it might be considerably stronger as a result of her hard work on this project. Even if I'm wrong in this prediction, there's something hugely satisfying in seeing Bush wrongfoot everyone in such committed, steadfast style. Once again, it seems she is restless and on the move.
By audaciously re-recording and repackaging tracks from two albums in her back catalogue, Kate Bush seems to have caused some consternation. First, it's astonishing that in spite of being told that the new material from Kate Bush was not going to be a new album as such, many people still seemed to be expecting exactly that. Secondly, and more significantly, why do so may people seem to think revisiting material from the past is such a musical crime? Jazz musicians do so all the time, not just in re-interpreting the standard repertoire, but in reworking their own material. Wayne Shorter has recorded Footprints several times with a variety of ensembles. I see no reason for a song to be a solid, locked in artefact once it has been recorded. Why can it not be a living, breathing artefact, open to new performances and arrangements as time passes? Bob Dylan has long understood this very well.
Another subjective issue in any asssessment of Director's Cut is the apparent consensus that The Sensual World and The Red Shoes (the two albums from which these tracks are sourced) are the weakest and least admired of Bush's albums. I've never quite understood why this might be. For sure, Hounds of Love set an impressive conceptual and artistic standard - but I've always found an embarrassment of riches across these albums, even when they apparently present Bush at her most conventional. Her songwriting has been consistently strong.
Clearly, there were elements in the production and arrangement of this material that Bush herself was never happy with - Director's Cut has afforded her the chance to go back and make alterations. Some of these are very minor, pedantic changes. Others are massively significant. The result is an album that probably has little chance of rising to the top of fans' favourites, but which offers a brilliant case study of Kate Bush's artistic temperament and attention to detail - and, most interestingly of all perhaps, evidence of the change in timbre in her voice since the original tracks were recorded.
This change is immediately clear on Flower of the Mountain, a new version of The Sensual World in which Bush has finally been given permission to use Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysees. Her voice seems older, perhaps wiser but also less adventurous somehow. Other than the new vocal, there isn't a lot of difference between this new version and the original, and I have to admit that the original sounded more erotic and involving to my ears. It sounds rather as if Bush is struggling to adapt the song to the words she always wanted to use. Her own actually worked more effectively. There are other alterations that seem to spoil the atmosphere of the original songs too - Lily is transformed into a rather lumbering funk-rock track, with superfluous streams of distorted guitar. It actually sounded less dated in its original guise.
Perhaps the most significant change throughout is the drums. These often seemed over-produced on the original albums, but here she has captured a much more natural, warm and acoustic drum sound. This comes across particularly clearly on the wonderful new versions of Deeper Understanding and Song of Solomon. The latter is a great example of how very subtle modifications can have a tremendous impact. The backing vocals of the Trio Bulgarka much clearer, and it has a tremendously detailed mood. The vocoder section of Deeper Understanding (featuring Bush's son Bertie) has caused some controversy. It perhaps makes the song sound less futuristic and even more of its time, however prescient it was when first released. Bush's tale of computer addiction has very much been borne out in the internet age. The mysterious, wordless extended coda, with its lithe, expressive drum pattern, is simply magnificent.
The most substantial changes are sure to divide opinion. This Woman's Work, among her most loved songs, and something of a power ballad in its original form, has been completely transformed into an Eno-esque, spacey, ambient lament. It tugs on the heartstrings a little less, but perhaps its distinctive contemplative melancholy is more nuanced and more realistic. I love both versions - the old one, of course, is very much still there. Less successful for me is Rubberband Girl, now remodelled as a clunky Rolling Stones pastiche. This kind of context just does not really suit Bush's flighty, theatrical approach to singing - it simply shows that she works far better as an idiosyncratic solo artist than as frontwoman in a rock and roll band.
Less transformative, but brilliantly designed nonetheless, is the new version of Moments of Pleasure. This was always a strong song - but even the most die-hard of Bush fans would surely have to admit that the original was a little over the top. This new version retains the piano ballad template, but the delivery and execution are considerably more restrained and elegant. Along with Song of Solomon, Deeper Understanding and This Woman's Work, it is one of the album's great triumphs.
On listening to Director's Cut, I'm reminded of something Ian Carr used to say a lot in his jazz workshops at WAC (now threatened with closure due to Arts Council cuts) - 'sometimes you have to look back in order to move forwards.' It's very wise advice actually, and I wonder when new Bush material does emerge, it might be considerably stronger as a result of her hard work on this project. Even if I'm wrong in this prediction, there's something hugely satisfying in seeing Bush wrongfoot everyone in such committed, steadfast style. Once again, it seems she is restless and on the move.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Case Sensitive
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
It seems as if everyone has been talking about this second album from Merrill Garbus - to the extent that it's almost tempting to veer into stubborn hype avoidance mode and simply ignore it. This would be a massive mistake though, for this album is every bit as wonderful and inventive as Garbus'type-setting is infuriating.
Garbus' solo debut Bird-Brains (OK, I can't be bothered with the upper and lower cases now) gradually worked its way to cult status, its extremely erratic recording quality failing to detract from Garbus' anything-goes approach. If anything, the frequently maxed out distortion added to the record's immense charms.
whokill is a different beast, however. It's more carefully edited, and its relatively concise running time definitely works in its favour. Also, it sees Garbus entering a professional recording studio for the first time, polishing her craft while retaining the essence of her maverick, scattershot style (The backing vocals on Gangsta are as harsh and biting as anything on Bird-Brains). In addition to whatever imaginative, creative merit this album undoubtedly has - the first impression of Garbus' ingenious work is that it is tremendous fun.
Garbus' approach is both brutally direct and wondrously wayward. Sometimes it feels as if she is throwing absolutely everything at the wall - whokill has avant garde saxophone freak-outs, Nigerian hi life style guitars and thunderous lo-fi drums. What holds it together is the element that reigns triumphantly over the melee - Garbus' jagged, unconventional voice. It's hard to find parallels for Garbus' style, but it seems to be influenced as much by hip-hop and dancehall toasting as by soul and more traditional forms of soundcraft. It is likely to be as polarising as the strange, intervalic daring of Dave Longstreth or the saccharine swoop of Joanna Newsom. For me, Garbus' versatility alone makes her an important vocal talent - she can be overpowering at one moment, the next expressing stark, naked vulnerability. When Riotriot stops and she belts out 'there is a freedom in violence I don't understand' with all the force in her lungs, it is genuinely disturbing, and yet somehow also strangely euphoric.
For all its sonic onslaught, whokill also has moments of disarming tenderness. Powa begins with strummed guitars and Garbus' fragile falsetto, before moving into more gutsy territory (Garbus' warped take on classic rock perhaps). Wooly Wooly Gong is more delicate still - a beautiful, haunting moment amidst some turbulent surroundings. These juxtapositions are always handled with thought and are carefully constructed. Garbus is clearly constantly alive to the possibilities of sound and timbre.
This is an important record - one that really establishes Garbus as a major female talent to watch alongside the likes of Bjork and Kate Bush. She is a true idiosyncratic individual, fully deserving of the hype and attention.
It seems as if everyone has been talking about this second album from Merrill Garbus - to the extent that it's almost tempting to veer into stubborn hype avoidance mode and simply ignore it. This would be a massive mistake though, for this album is every bit as wonderful and inventive as Garbus'type-setting is infuriating.
Garbus' solo debut Bird-Brains (OK, I can't be bothered with the upper and lower cases now) gradually worked its way to cult status, its extremely erratic recording quality failing to detract from Garbus' anything-goes approach. If anything, the frequently maxed out distortion added to the record's immense charms.
whokill is a different beast, however. It's more carefully edited, and its relatively concise running time definitely works in its favour. Also, it sees Garbus entering a professional recording studio for the first time, polishing her craft while retaining the essence of her maverick, scattershot style (The backing vocals on Gangsta are as harsh and biting as anything on Bird-Brains). In addition to whatever imaginative, creative merit this album undoubtedly has - the first impression of Garbus' ingenious work is that it is tremendous fun.
Garbus' approach is both brutally direct and wondrously wayward. Sometimes it feels as if she is throwing absolutely everything at the wall - whokill has avant garde saxophone freak-outs, Nigerian hi life style guitars and thunderous lo-fi drums. What holds it together is the element that reigns triumphantly over the melee - Garbus' jagged, unconventional voice. It's hard to find parallels for Garbus' style, but it seems to be influenced as much by hip-hop and dancehall toasting as by soul and more traditional forms of soundcraft. It is likely to be as polarising as the strange, intervalic daring of Dave Longstreth or the saccharine swoop of Joanna Newsom. For me, Garbus' versatility alone makes her an important vocal talent - she can be overpowering at one moment, the next expressing stark, naked vulnerability. When Riotriot stops and she belts out 'there is a freedom in violence I don't understand' with all the force in her lungs, it is genuinely disturbing, and yet somehow also strangely euphoric.
For all its sonic onslaught, whokill also has moments of disarming tenderness. Powa begins with strummed guitars and Garbus' fragile falsetto, before moving into more gutsy territory (Garbus' warped take on classic rock perhaps). Wooly Wooly Gong is more delicate still - a beautiful, haunting moment amidst some turbulent surroundings. These juxtapositions are always handled with thought and are carefully constructed. Garbus is clearly constantly alive to the possibilities of sound and timbre.
This is an important record - one that really establishes Garbus as a major female talent to watch alongside the likes of Bjork and Kate Bush. She is a true idiosyncratic individual, fully deserving of the hype and attention.
Playlist
Enjoying lots of great music at the moment and struggling to find time to write about it.
Grouper - A I A (Yellowelectric)
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Night Slugs)
Bibio - Mind Bokeh (Warp)
Vladislav Delay Quartet - Vladislav Delay Quartet (Honest Jon's)
Murcof - Le Sangre Illuminada (Infine)
Tindersticks - Claire Denis Soundtracks (free sampler with Sight & Sound)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister (Nonesuch 3 disc box set - their first two albums plus a disc of extras and rarities)
Look, Stranger! - If You're Listening EP (http://lookstranger.bandcamp.com)
Low - C'Mon (Sub Pop)
Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now (Records Records Records)
Boxcutter - The Dissolve (Planet Mu)
Kode9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun (Hyperdub)
Chrissy Murderbot - Women's Studies (Planet Mu)
Paul Simon So Beautiful Or So What (Decca)
Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain (Nonesuch)
The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh (Bella Union) - finally checking this out properly in light of their brilliant QEH gig last week, a review of which should be going up on musicOMH shortly.
TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light (Polydor)
Cass McCombs - Wit's End (Domino)
Avishai Cohen - Seven Seas (Blue Note)
Metronomy - The English Riviera (Because)
How To Dress Well - Love Remains (PIAS) - something else I should have checked out ages ago!
Grouper - A I A (Yellowelectric)
tUnE-yArDs - w h o k i l l (4AD)
Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Night Slugs)
Bibio - Mind Bokeh (Warp)
Vladislav Delay Quartet - Vladislav Delay Quartet (Honest Jon's)
Murcof - Le Sangre Illuminada (Infine)
Tindersticks - Claire Denis Soundtracks (free sampler with Sight & Sound)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Tell My Sister (Nonesuch 3 disc box set - their first two albums plus a disc of extras and rarities)
Look, Stranger! - If You're Listening EP (http://lookstranger.bandcamp.com)
Low - C'Mon (Sub Pop)
Singing Adams - Everybody Friends Now (Records Records Records)
Boxcutter - The Dissolve (Planet Mu)
Kode9 & The Spaceape - Black Sun (Hyperdub)
Chrissy Murderbot - Women's Studies (Planet Mu)
Paul Simon So Beautiful Or So What (Decca)
Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargain (Nonesuch)
The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh (Bella Union) - finally checking this out properly in light of their brilliant QEH gig last week, a review of which should be going up on musicOMH shortly.
TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light (Polydor)
Cass McCombs - Wit's End (Domino)
Avishai Cohen - Seven Seas (Blue Note)
Metronomy - The English Riviera (Because)
How To Dress Well - Love Remains (PIAS) - something else I should have checked out ages ago!
Friday, March 04, 2011
Implosion
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now (Warner Bros)
The critical consensus surrounding latterday R.E.M. continues to mystify me. The general belief is that the group lost their way when Bill Berry left, recording a couple of albums that did not really 'represent' them (Up and Reveal) before making the first genuinely bad album of their career (Around The Sun) and finding their true voice as a 'rock' band again with Accelerate. My highly personal regard for Up aside, the generous reaction to Collapse Into Now is even more confounding. Around The Sun begins to look like a solid gold masterpiece when placed next to this. Reviews on both sides of the Atlantic have suggested this is R.E.M. sounding like themselves - and that it is the best album we can hope for them to make at this stage. This is hugely uncritical, and in some ways disrespectful to both the band and their longstanding fans.
Of course it's unreasonable to expect R.E.M. to make music that ranks with their greatest works (and I would include New Adventures In HiFi and Up in this list, along with everything from Murmur to Automatic For The People, perhaps even Monster as well - they have been a remarkably consistent band). It's not unreasonable, however, to expect something a little more than mere third rate facsimiles of their history. It's not unreasonable to expect a decent and sympathetic production. It's not unreasonable to expect some good songs, or some maturity and insight at this stage in a career.
The biggest problem here, it pains me to admit, is Michael Stipe. His voice and lyrics have often been one of the band's great assets, even when he preferred a subdued and sometimes incomprehensible voice. If anything, his lyrics have been on the decline since Up. That album was intensely personal, honest and powerful and it would appear to have exhausted him. Reveal's musings on man and nature were a little glib and Around The Sun was dogged by benign platitudes. Here, he reaches a new nadir of self parody, often resorting to the worst aspects of his nonsense doggerel or lazily assumed profundity. It Happened Today is the worst example of the latter, with Stipe allowing himself to rhyme 'this is not a parable/It is a terrible....a terrible thing') because he has earned his wings. When the grand chorus of Stipe, Eddie Vedder and, unexpectedly, Joel Gibb from the Hidden Cameras, takes over with a chorus of aaaahs which lasts for half the song, it's almost as if Stipe has recognised what a disaster it is and can't be bothered to finish it. This is a long way from Find The River.
Cliches abound elsewhere too. Uberlin finds him 'flying on a star', Blue's detour into spoken word represents a flagrant attempt to reprise E-Bow The Letter (it even features Patti Smith for heaven's sake). Disoverer is a little better, a reminder that Stipe once wrote songs where the meaning was opaques, but where it at least felt there was a meaning somewhere. A number of the lyrics on Collapse Into Now feel clipped and underwritten, as if he was lacking inspiration. His voice sounds tired and uninterested throughout.
As for the music, it's largely ruined by Jacknife Lee's production. This makes me desperate to hear the demos the band supposedly recorded with Tucker Martine, a producer far more likely to capture the band sensitively, instead of applying heavy compression and stadium bombast. Lee was kept at bay a little on Accelerate (although both he and the band did seem to confuse distortion with radicalism) - here he is allowed to run riot. The worst moment is the hilarious Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter, featuring uncomfortable guest vocals from Peaches. It's an attempt to recapture the strident glam rock of the Monster-era, but its ludicrous rhyme scheme ('alligator/escalator') is more reminiscent of U2's 'mole in a hole' fiasco on Elevation, for me one of the worst songs in recent memory and not a good role model. It all suggests that the band are, in spite of refusing to tour this album, looking for a way back into the stadium big league that feels unnatural and unforced.
Some have suggested that Collapse Into Now feels like a band comfortable with who they are, perhaps because it is balanced between upbeat rockers and acoustic numbers (with mandolins!). For me, it feels like a band trying to recapture what they were. Uberlin is a direct facsimile of Drive but it has no bite, instead just floating by aimlessly. Oh My Heart is shamelessly self-referential, alluding to a song as recent as Houston. It's at least a hearfelt piece about New Orleans and Katrina - and arguably the strongest thing here. Mine Smell Like Honey sounds like The Wake Up Bomb with less energy and some very silly lyrics. The portentously titled Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I is regrettably forgettable. There's a distinct lack of strong melodies here - far more so than on Up.
What a shame that every R.E.M. album since Up has been hampered by self consciousness, and an attempt to make the band what people seem to expect them to be. On Reveal, it sounded like they wanted to move through the doors they had boldly opened with Up, but they had to temper this movement with some breezy, summery pop with a heavy Beach Boys influence. The whole has its moments, but is a little wishy-washy overall. Around The Sun was purposefully ballad heavy, in an attempt to be another Automatic For The People (although they seemed to have forgotten that that album had Ignoreland and The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, and was never as relentlessly plodding). Accelerate was a blustery reaction to the criticism meted out to Around The Sun. Collapse Into Now is a desperate attempt to collect everything they have already achieved in one place - it just seems so half-hearted and browbeaten.
Perhaps there is pressure from Warners given the astronomical amount of money they invested in the band just as they were beginning a long commercial decline. But it says much about the status of R.E.M. in 2011 that there is a good deal more interest in the new Elbow record than in Collapse Into Now. I'm not for a minute suggesting they should stop making music - their artistry has sustained them well beyond the lifespan of most bands and has made them immeasurably important. Yet they should at least make the music they want to make - move to something more reflective and mature. It seems unlikely now that they will ever finish the job they started with Up.
The critical consensus surrounding latterday R.E.M. continues to mystify me. The general belief is that the group lost their way when Bill Berry left, recording a couple of albums that did not really 'represent' them (Up and Reveal) before making the first genuinely bad album of their career (Around The Sun) and finding their true voice as a 'rock' band again with Accelerate. My highly personal regard for Up aside, the generous reaction to Collapse Into Now is even more confounding. Around The Sun begins to look like a solid gold masterpiece when placed next to this. Reviews on both sides of the Atlantic have suggested this is R.E.M. sounding like themselves - and that it is the best album we can hope for them to make at this stage. This is hugely uncritical, and in some ways disrespectful to both the band and their longstanding fans.
Of course it's unreasonable to expect R.E.M. to make music that ranks with their greatest works (and I would include New Adventures In HiFi and Up in this list, along with everything from Murmur to Automatic For The People, perhaps even Monster as well - they have been a remarkably consistent band). It's not unreasonable, however, to expect something a little more than mere third rate facsimiles of their history. It's not unreasonable to expect a decent and sympathetic production. It's not unreasonable to expect some good songs, or some maturity and insight at this stage in a career.
The biggest problem here, it pains me to admit, is Michael Stipe. His voice and lyrics have often been one of the band's great assets, even when he preferred a subdued and sometimes incomprehensible voice. If anything, his lyrics have been on the decline since Up. That album was intensely personal, honest and powerful and it would appear to have exhausted him. Reveal's musings on man and nature were a little glib and Around The Sun was dogged by benign platitudes. Here, he reaches a new nadir of self parody, often resorting to the worst aspects of his nonsense doggerel or lazily assumed profundity. It Happened Today is the worst example of the latter, with Stipe allowing himself to rhyme 'this is not a parable/It is a terrible....a terrible thing') because he has earned his wings. When the grand chorus of Stipe, Eddie Vedder and, unexpectedly, Joel Gibb from the Hidden Cameras, takes over with a chorus of aaaahs which lasts for half the song, it's almost as if Stipe has recognised what a disaster it is and can't be bothered to finish it. This is a long way from Find The River.
Cliches abound elsewhere too. Uberlin finds him 'flying on a star', Blue's detour into spoken word represents a flagrant attempt to reprise E-Bow The Letter (it even features Patti Smith for heaven's sake). Disoverer is a little better, a reminder that Stipe once wrote songs where the meaning was opaques, but where it at least felt there was a meaning somewhere. A number of the lyrics on Collapse Into Now feel clipped and underwritten, as if he was lacking inspiration. His voice sounds tired and uninterested throughout.
As for the music, it's largely ruined by Jacknife Lee's production. This makes me desperate to hear the demos the band supposedly recorded with Tucker Martine, a producer far more likely to capture the band sensitively, instead of applying heavy compression and stadium bombast. Lee was kept at bay a little on Accelerate (although both he and the band did seem to confuse distortion with radicalism) - here he is allowed to run riot. The worst moment is the hilarious Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter, featuring uncomfortable guest vocals from Peaches. It's an attempt to recapture the strident glam rock of the Monster-era, but its ludicrous rhyme scheme ('alligator/escalator') is more reminiscent of U2's 'mole in a hole' fiasco on Elevation, for me one of the worst songs in recent memory and not a good role model. It all suggests that the band are, in spite of refusing to tour this album, looking for a way back into the stadium big league that feels unnatural and unforced.
Some have suggested that Collapse Into Now feels like a band comfortable with who they are, perhaps because it is balanced between upbeat rockers and acoustic numbers (with mandolins!). For me, it feels like a band trying to recapture what they were. Uberlin is a direct facsimile of Drive but it has no bite, instead just floating by aimlessly. Oh My Heart is shamelessly self-referential, alluding to a song as recent as Houston. It's at least a hearfelt piece about New Orleans and Katrina - and arguably the strongest thing here. Mine Smell Like Honey sounds like The Wake Up Bomb with less energy and some very silly lyrics. The portentously titled Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I is regrettably forgettable. There's a distinct lack of strong melodies here - far more so than on Up.
What a shame that every R.E.M. album since Up has been hampered by self consciousness, and an attempt to make the band what people seem to expect them to be. On Reveal, it sounded like they wanted to move through the doors they had boldly opened with Up, but they had to temper this movement with some breezy, summery pop with a heavy Beach Boys influence. The whole has its moments, but is a little wishy-washy overall. Around The Sun was purposefully ballad heavy, in an attempt to be another Automatic For The People (although they seemed to have forgotten that that album had Ignoreland and The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight, and was never as relentlessly plodding). Accelerate was a blustery reaction to the criticism meted out to Around The Sun. Collapse Into Now is a desperate attempt to collect everything they have already achieved in one place - it just seems so half-hearted and browbeaten.
Perhaps there is pressure from Warners given the astronomical amount of money they invested in the band just as they were beginning a long commercial decline. But it says much about the status of R.E.M. in 2011 that there is a good deal more interest in the new Elbow record than in Collapse Into Now. I'm not for a minute suggesting they should stop making music - their artistry has sustained them well beyond the lifespan of most bands and has made them immeasurably important. Yet they should at least make the music they want to make - move to something more reflective and mature. It seems unlikely now that they will ever finish the job they started with Up.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Playlist
Some things I must get round to writing about, either here or elsewhere:
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (Circus Company)
Vijay Iyer with Prasanna and Nitin Mitta - Tirtha (Act)
Gwilym Simcock - Good Days at Schloss Elmau (Act)
Joe Lovano Us Five - Bird Songs (Blue Note)
Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here (XL)
Isolee - Well Spent Youth (Pampa)
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
Destroyer - Kaputt (Merge)
Trichotomy - The Gentle War (Naim Jazz)
REM - Collapse Into Now (Warner Bros) - I suspect my review of this is not going to be too positive unfortunately.
Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky)
Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise (Circus Company)
Vijay Iyer with Prasanna and Nitin Mitta - Tirtha (Act)
Gwilym Simcock - Good Days at Schloss Elmau (Act)
Joe Lovano Us Five - Bird Songs (Blue Note)
Peaking Lights - 936 (Not Not Fun)
Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx - We're New Here (XL)
Isolee - Well Spent Youth (Pampa)
Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
Destroyer - Kaputt (Merge)
Trichotomy - The Gentle War (Naim Jazz)
REM - Collapse Into Now (Warner Bros) - I suspect my review of this is not going to be too positive unfortunately.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
England's Dreaming
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake (Island)
Much as I really admire the writing and expertise of Rob Young, I can't help but question his assessment of the new PJ Harvey album in this month's Wire magazine. It's good to read a balanced review that steers clear of hyperbole or cynical attacks but his assertion that Let England Shake feels unfinished feels like a mistake to me. As is often the case with PJ Harvey albums, the music is raw, direct and sometimes combative but to me this feels like one of Harvey's most cohesive and successful artistic statements. It's impressive that so far into a recording career of perhaps surprising longevity, Harvey is continuing to develop and expand her horizons.
Thematically, Let England Shake could be presented as a logical extension of the concerns of its predecessor, 2007's White Chalk. On that album, Harvey seemed preoccupied with images of the English landscape - concerns that seemed to inspire her to traverse new musical terrain too, finding a new, higher vocal register and basing many of the arrangements around her rather rudimentary piano playing (even starker and less finessed than Joanna Newsom's). Some of those thoughts recur - as Harvey sings of the white cliffs of Dover for example - but Let England Shake seems to be aimed at broader concerns. Here, PJ Harvey addresses both imperial history and a war-dominated present, perhaps suggesting that England's glory has been blighted by war.
Few songwriters would have the historical impulse to make reference to the doomed Galipoli campaign, but sometimes Harvey's lyrics feel more impressionistic than some writers have suggested. On 'The Last Living Rose', she risks sounding like a Daily Express leader - 'Goddamn Europeans! Take me back to beautiful England'. Presumably, her attention is ironic, drawing attention the nation's imperial decline (for which reason I'm never quite sure whether she really means England, or is in fact speaking more generally about Britain).
Perhaps the most interesting feature about Let England Shake, the element that most reviews have bafflingly ignored, is how it sounds. Harvey has always had a tremendous gift for getting maximum results from the bare minimum of material. That she seems to do this without ever really repeating herself makes this all the more impressive. Whereas White Chalk foregrounded rudimentary piano, the guitar and Harvey's autoharp are at the heart of Let England Shake. Much of the music is based on very basic strumming patterns - yet it sounds primal and urgent rather than purely reductive. A finely balanced degree of reverb adds to the sense of impending doom.
Another common feature is call and response vocal techniques, which are used to superb effect on both The Glorious Land and The Words That Maketh Murder (on which Mick Harvey joins in), two of Harvey's finest songs to date. Basic rock and roll music is transformed into something more mysterious - something much closer to an English folk tradition.
Harvey also adds elements that seem incongruous - sometimes they are very obviously exactly that. The sample of Niney's Blood and Fire that underpins Written On The Forehead is not matched to the song's pitch or tempo and neither is the bugle clarion call on The Glorious Land. Elsewhere, baritone saxophone seems like a more forceful presence than bass guitar, especially on the ominous, drifting All and Everyone.
The quality and depth of feeling of the music here is remarkably consistent, but a few songs stand out nonetheless. On Battleship Hill is remarkable. It veers between a gentle, relaxed strum that might seem twee in any other context and some freer, subliminal moments on which Harvey's high register vocal sounds desperate. It ends with the devastating assessment that 'cruel nature has won again'. It's a startling, unpredictable, deviously clever piece of writing. England is a poignant, melancholy lament that demonstrates the great versatility of Harvey's voice on this album. Here she sounds more ragged and unhinged. Hanging In The Wire is simply beautiful, whilst Written On The Forehead is just disarmingly weird.
PJ Harvey seems to be one of those artists that just seems to get better as she matures. There is a case for her being right up there with Kate Bush and Bjork in the pantheon of great contemporary female artists. Sometimes in the past, her work has tended to be raw to the point of being difficult. Let England Shake is brilliantly realised - a Harvey album that can be loved as much as it can be admired.
Much as I really admire the writing and expertise of Rob Young, I can't help but question his assessment of the new PJ Harvey album in this month's Wire magazine. It's good to read a balanced review that steers clear of hyperbole or cynical attacks but his assertion that Let England Shake feels unfinished feels like a mistake to me. As is often the case with PJ Harvey albums, the music is raw, direct and sometimes combative but to me this feels like one of Harvey's most cohesive and successful artistic statements. It's impressive that so far into a recording career of perhaps surprising longevity, Harvey is continuing to develop and expand her horizons.
Thematically, Let England Shake could be presented as a logical extension of the concerns of its predecessor, 2007's White Chalk. On that album, Harvey seemed preoccupied with images of the English landscape - concerns that seemed to inspire her to traverse new musical terrain too, finding a new, higher vocal register and basing many of the arrangements around her rather rudimentary piano playing (even starker and less finessed than Joanna Newsom's). Some of those thoughts recur - as Harvey sings of the white cliffs of Dover for example - but Let England Shake seems to be aimed at broader concerns. Here, PJ Harvey addresses both imperial history and a war-dominated present, perhaps suggesting that England's glory has been blighted by war.
Few songwriters would have the historical impulse to make reference to the doomed Galipoli campaign, but sometimes Harvey's lyrics feel more impressionistic than some writers have suggested. On 'The Last Living Rose', she risks sounding like a Daily Express leader - 'Goddamn Europeans! Take me back to beautiful England'. Presumably, her attention is ironic, drawing attention the nation's imperial decline (for which reason I'm never quite sure whether she really means England, or is in fact speaking more generally about Britain).
Perhaps the most interesting feature about Let England Shake, the element that most reviews have bafflingly ignored, is how it sounds. Harvey has always had a tremendous gift for getting maximum results from the bare minimum of material. That she seems to do this without ever really repeating herself makes this all the more impressive. Whereas White Chalk foregrounded rudimentary piano, the guitar and Harvey's autoharp are at the heart of Let England Shake. Much of the music is based on very basic strumming patterns - yet it sounds primal and urgent rather than purely reductive. A finely balanced degree of reverb adds to the sense of impending doom.
Another common feature is call and response vocal techniques, which are used to superb effect on both The Glorious Land and The Words That Maketh Murder (on which Mick Harvey joins in), two of Harvey's finest songs to date. Basic rock and roll music is transformed into something more mysterious - something much closer to an English folk tradition.
Harvey also adds elements that seem incongruous - sometimes they are very obviously exactly that. The sample of Niney's Blood and Fire that underpins Written On The Forehead is not matched to the song's pitch or tempo and neither is the bugle clarion call on The Glorious Land. Elsewhere, baritone saxophone seems like a more forceful presence than bass guitar, especially on the ominous, drifting All and Everyone.
The quality and depth of feeling of the music here is remarkably consistent, but a few songs stand out nonetheless. On Battleship Hill is remarkable. It veers between a gentle, relaxed strum that might seem twee in any other context and some freer, subliminal moments on which Harvey's high register vocal sounds desperate. It ends with the devastating assessment that 'cruel nature has won again'. It's a startling, unpredictable, deviously clever piece of writing. England is a poignant, melancholy lament that demonstrates the great versatility of Harvey's voice on this album. Here she sounds more ragged and unhinged. Hanging In The Wire is simply beautiful, whilst Written On The Forehead is just disarmingly weird.
PJ Harvey seems to be one of those artists that just seems to get better as she matures. There is a case for her being right up there with Kate Bush and Bjork in the pantheon of great contemporary female artists. Sometimes in the past, her work has tended to be raw to the point of being difficult. Let England Shake is brilliantly realised - a Harvey album that can be loved as much as it can be admired.
Chain Links
Here are some of my most recent pieces for musicOMH:
Moritz Von Oswald Trio
Six Organs of Admittance
Aurelio
Gruff Rhys
Moritz Von Oswald Trio
Six Organs of Admittance
Aurelio
Gruff Rhys
Sunday, February 06, 2011
One That Got Away
Partikel - Partikel (F-IRE)
Amazon has the official release date for this debut album from London jazz trio Partikel as October 2010, but somehow it's only just passed under my radar. It's a shame I didn't pick up on it earlier as it should undoubtedly have been included in my albums of the year list.
Partikel are a young band and it would be an easy argument to suggest that they might perhaps have recorded their debut album too early, before the individual players had really found their compositional or improvisational voices (they are recent graduates from Trinity College of Music's jazz course). This proves emphatically not to be the case, however. Saxophonist and composer Duncan Eagles, bassist Max Luthert and drummer Eric Ford honed their skills hosting jam sessions at the Hideaway venue in Streatham, South London, and so emerge as a fully formed, empathetic and interactive unit on this thrilling debut album.
Eagles' writing is melodically accessible and direct, thus potentially introducing new audiences to more sophisticated rhythmic techniques and to more interactive performance. This is a world where Luthert's propulsive lines and Ford's creative drumming (often incorporating an interesting range of auxiliary percussion instruments) have fundamental and vital roles in the ensemble. There are other contemporary jazz groups operating in a similar area - Kairos 4tet spring to mind as the most obvious contemporary comparison point. Partikel are exploring these avenues with a similar commitment to creativity, energy and accuracy.
Although the melodies may be direct, this is not to say that they are without depth. Oojimaflip has lines that seem straightforward - but it is a real skill to write compositions this immediate, but which serve as an inspiring springboard for improvisation and experiment - rhythmic modulation is a common feature of the band's daring and exciting music.
The band make great use of the space and freedom afforded by the piano-less trio format. Eagles plays with an impressive dynamic range and a full bodied sound, with consistently imaginative phrasing. He is more than ably supported by Luthert and Ford, the former a completely dependable presence, anchoring the music, while Ford plays creatvely and expressively throughout. Often, as on the track that gives both the band a name and the album its title, the band create a wealth of material from very minimal foundations - in this case a simple riff built from very few notes. Even when the music veers into freer territory, there is still the sense that the band are still exploring outward from the basis of the original idea.
The album is bookended by two short segments recorded at soundchecks, perhaps there simply to demonstrate the band's open-mindedness and continual development. In between are compositions rich in variety. Highlights include the unexpected twists and turns of Cryptography and the delicate, graceful lilt of The River.
Amazon has the official release date for this debut album from London jazz trio Partikel as October 2010, but somehow it's only just passed under my radar. It's a shame I didn't pick up on it earlier as it should undoubtedly have been included in my albums of the year list.
Partikel are a young band and it would be an easy argument to suggest that they might perhaps have recorded their debut album too early, before the individual players had really found their compositional or improvisational voices (they are recent graduates from Trinity College of Music's jazz course). This proves emphatically not to be the case, however. Saxophonist and composer Duncan Eagles, bassist Max Luthert and drummer Eric Ford honed their skills hosting jam sessions at the Hideaway venue in Streatham, South London, and so emerge as a fully formed, empathetic and interactive unit on this thrilling debut album.
Eagles' writing is melodically accessible and direct, thus potentially introducing new audiences to more sophisticated rhythmic techniques and to more interactive performance. This is a world where Luthert's propulsive lines and Ford's creative drumming (often incorporating an interesting range of auxiliary percussion instruments) have fundamental and vital roles in the ensemble. There are other contemporary jazz groups operating in a similar area - Kairos 4tet spring to mind as the most obvious contemporary comparison point. Partikel are exploring these avenues with a similar commitment to creativity, energy and accuracy.
Although the melodies may be direct, this is not to say that they are without depth. Oojimaflip has lines that seem straightforward - but it is a real skill to write compositions this immediate, but which serve as an inspiring springboard for improvisation and experiment - rhythmic modulation is a common feature of the band's daring and exciting music.
The band make great use of the space and freedom afforded by the piano-less trio format. Eagles plays with an impressive dynamic range and a full bodied sound, with consistently imaginative phrasing. He is more than ably supported by Luthert and Ford, the former a completely dependable presence, anchoring the music, while Ford plays creatvely and expressively throughout. Often, as on the track that gives both the band a name and the album its title, the band create a wealth of material from very minimal foundations - in this case a simple riff built from very few notes. Even when the music veers into freer territory, there is still the sense that the band are still exploring outward from the basis of the original idea.
The album is bookended by two short segments recorded at soundchecks, perhaps there simply to demonstrate the band's open-mindedness and continual development. In between are compositions rich in variety. Highlights include the unexpected twists and turns of Cryptography and the delicate, graceful lilt of The River.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The Backlash Blues
James Blake - James Blake
In some quarters of the media, the blogosphere and on twitter, James Blake has become a victim of cynicism. It's all very tempting of course - and I've no doubt been guilty of it myself. Given some of the selections that have graced the annual BBC tastemaking polls, it would be easy to dismiss Blake as a novelty or a pastiche merchant. The Quietus have been tweeting seemingly dismissive jokes about his use of autotune, whilst others have candidly decided that this debut album is either dull or indulgent. I had my own suspicions on hearing Blake's cover of Feist's 'Limit To Your Love', but that turns out to be something of a red herring. It's fine enough, but easily the most conventional track here.
What Blake appears to be doing with the rest of the album is something a good deal more ambitious than the Feist cover's take on Massive Attack esque modern soul. There are hints at R&B throughout the rest of the album, but as Blake himself admits, he has also been strongly influenced by the likes of Bon Iver and Laura Marling. Much of this courageous and well defined debut seems to be an attempt to combine the emotional punch of modern folk songwriting with some of the stylistic traits and minimalism of electronic production. In doing this, Blake will wrongfoot some of the admirers of his early EPs which, perhaps misleadingly, had been assumed by many to fall under the dubstep or post-dubstep banner. It's perhaps worth noting at this point that the outstanding Klawierwerke already gave some hint of what was to come on this full length. 'James Blake' the album demonstrates that Blake still has much in common with producers such as Jamie xx or Mount Kimbie, but he is also acutely aware of the power of the human voice and the purity of a simple melody.
Two tracks, both operating largely on the power of repetition and manipulation of a simple phrase, neatly sum up Blake's approach. 'The Wilhelm Scream' is a miniature masterpiece of minimal arrangement - spacious but cumulatively intense. 'I Never Learnt To Share' is similarly electrifying. It's built almost entirely around what seems like a candid confession ('my brother and my sister don't speak to me...but I don't blame them') but which assumes a stranger sentiment in the knowledge that Blake is in fact an only child. Much like 'The Wilhelm Scream', the song has a sense of a gathering storm. Blake generally eschews conventional song structures - these are arranged pieces rather than sets of verses and choruses.
Blake has a strong sense of harmony and rhythm. The gospel and blues undertones to the tantilisingly brief 'Give Me My Month' or the beautiful closer 'Measurements' suggests he has absorbed a far wider range of music than many commetators have given him credit for. He also has a keen sense of sound and a hugely impressive attention to detail that make even his most subtle pieces (such as the two parts of 'Lindisfarne', where his voice is electronically altered) have a depth of feeling and a real strength in commmunication. Anyone who closes their minds and ears to this excellent debut is missing the work of a talented and adventurous musician - one that could have career longevity simply through an ability to move in completely unpredictable directions.
In some quarters of the media, the blogosphere and on twitter, James Blake has become a victim of cynicism. It's all very tempting of course - and I've no doubt been guilty of it myself. Given some of the selections that have graced the annual BBC tastemaking polls, it would be easy to dismiss Blake as a novelty or a pastiche merchant. The Quietus have been tweeting seemingly dismissive jokes about his use of autotune, whilst others have candidly decided that this debut album is either dull or indulgent. I had my own suspicions on hearing Blake's cover of Feist's 'Limit To Your Love', but that turns out to be something of a red herring. It's fine enough, but easily the most conventional track here.
What Blake appears to be doing with the rest of the album is something a good deal more ambitious than the Feist cover's take on Massive Attack esque modern soul. There are hints at R&B throughout the rest of the album, but as Blake himself admits, he has also been strongly influenced by the likes of Bon Iver and Laura Marling. Much of this courageous and well defined debut seems to be an attempt to combine the emotional punch of modern folk songwriting with some of the stylistic traits and minimalism of electronic production. In doing this, Blake will wrongfoot some of the admirers of his early EPs which, perhaps misleadingly, had been assumed by many to fall under the dubstep or post-dubstep banner. It's perhaps worth noting at this point that the outstanding Klawierwerke already gave some hint of what was to come on this full length. 'James Blake' the album demonstrates that Blake still has much in common with producers such as Jamie xx or Mount Kimbie, but he is also acutely aware of the power of the human voice and the purity of a simple melody.
Two tracks, both operating largely on the power of repetition and manipulation of a simple phrase, neatly sum up Blake's approach. 'The Wilhelm Scream' is a miniature masterpiece of minimal arrangement - spacious but cumulatively intense. 'I Never Learnt To Share' is similarly electrifying. It's built almost entirely around what seems like a candid confession ('my brother and my sister don't speak to me...but I don't blame them') but which assumes a stranger sentiment in the knowledge that Blake is in fact an only child. Much like 'The Wilhelm Scream', the song has a sense of a gathering storm. Blake generally eschews conventional song structures - these are arranged pieces rather than sets of verses and choruses.
Blake has a strong sense of harmony and rhythm. The gospel and blues undertones to the tantilisingly brief 'Give Me My Month' or the beautiful closer 'Measurements' suggests he has absorbed a far wider range of music than many commetators have given him credit for. He also has a keen sense of sound and a hugely impressive attention to detail that make even his most subtle pieces (such as the two parts of 'Lindisfarne', where his voice is electronically altered) have a depth of feeling and a real strength in commmunication. Anyone who closes their minds and ears to this excellent debut is missing the work of a talented and adventurous musician - one that could have career longevity simply through an ability to move in completely unpredictable directions.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Richard Thompson Interview
A few days ago, I was lucky to have a brief telephone conversation with the incredible Richard Thompson. The results of that chat can be found here.
Richard had plenty of informed and inspiring things to say about social commentary, the folk music tradition and the idea of music being a process of constant exploration. He is clearly deeply immersed in music and deeply committed to every aspect of his work. I respect him even more as an artist now.
Richard had plenty of informed and inspiring things to say about social commentary, the folk music tradition and the idea of music being a process of constant exploration. He is clearly deeply immersed in music and deeply committed to every aspect of his work. I respect him even more as an artist now.
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