What 2008 Has In Store

I’m not sure the mainstream rock/pop landscape promises all that much in 2008. REM have a new album out in April, now rather blandly titled ‘Accelerate’, that promises to portray them as a reinvigorated ensemble. I worry that REM waste too much effort responding to criticism – most critics found ‘Up’ frustrating (although I felt it was by some distance their best record), so they reacted with the much more conservative, conventionally melodic and frequently wishy-washy ‘Reveal’. ‘Around The Sun’ bizarrely concentrated on the weaker aspects of the summery sound of ‘Reveal’, and was justifiably met with complete indifference both critically and commercially. Stipe is right that they had lost their dynamism as a group – but is employing the rather superficial production trickery of Jacknife Lee (the man behind recent efforts from Snow Patrol and Bloc Party) really the right answer? We shall see….

Yet another Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album, ‘Dig, Lazarus, Dig!’ sounds much more promising – with Cave apparently retaining the self-parodying humour that made ‘Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus’ so enjoyable. Morrissey plans to release both another greatest hits collection (will it be a shrewd enough selection?) and a new album. It’s a return to the mid-nineties trip hop sound with new albums finally from Portishead and Massive Attack. Their continuing relevance will no doubt be severely tested this year. A new Spirtualized album is always welcome, but again I doubt whether it can recapture the elemental power of ‘Ladies and Gentlemen…’. I’m hoping that ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’, the upcoming fourth album from Elbow, will forge new paths for the group and fulfil my hunger for epic guitar music. They do this so much more convincingly than the likes of Coldplay and Snow Patrol, who can only grasp at the emotional depth Guy Garvey can muster when at his best. Gnarls Barkley release their second album ‘Atlantis’, which should be one of the pop records of the year, and I may be the only person in the world still excited about the apparent return of the B-52s! What about a new album and tour from AC/DC, seemingly now promised every year for the last five?!

There has been much rumour and gossip about potential albums from Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen in 2008. Nothing anywhere near solid yet – but Dylan was rumoured to have been recording with Rick Rubin, and Springsteen had a whole batch of songs left over from the Magic sessions that may or may not see the light of day.

Elsewhere, there is of course much to look forward to. I’m expecting London’s Loop collective of jazz musicians to extend their influence and reputation in 2008 – particularly with albums expected from Outhouse and Dog Soup. Seb Rochford looks set to be as active as ever – with new Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland albums both due on V2. I’m particularly excited about the former. It’s early days, but Pat Metheny has a new trio set out on Nonesuch at the end of January which should at least be interesting. Another major guitar talent, Marc Ribot, also has a new album of his own due in 2008. The Bruford/Bortslap collaboration also looks highly promising.

If there are new albums from multi-faceted vocalist Jamie Lidell and Type records’ talented Khonnor, then they should be significant highlights of the year. I’d be happy with a new record from Xela too, although I’ve not yet seen anything scheduled. With new records from Boards of Canada, M83, Broadway Project, Fennesz and Autechre, it could be an exciting year for electronic music. I’m already acquainted with the bulk of Hot Chip’s ‘Made In The Dark’, which is oddly both their poppiest and most confusing record so far. I'm not sure whether it will fall more under the 'electronic' or 'rock' banner, but we might finally hear that new album from The Notwist too!

I can’t claim to be a true hip-hop head, but I’m salivating with anticipation at the prospect of new records from Madvillain and Cannibal Ox in 2008, but both were rumoured at the start of 2007 so don’t hold your breath. Solidly confirmed is a second album from the outstanding supergroup Subtle, who made one of my favourite albums of 2006.

Two of my favourite songwriters have new albums out in the early part of the year. Homegrown talent Chris T-T becomes more and more assured and literate with each new release – I’m expecting ‘Capital’, his first album with a band since ‘London is Sinking’ in 2004, to be a real gem. On the other side of the pond, the ever-prolific Stephin Merritt already has a new Magnetic Fields album in the can – ‘Distortion’ would appear to ape the sound of The Jesus and Mary Chain at the time of ‘Psychocandy’.

In other indie prospects – there’s a second album due from the wise and witty Long Blondes, the return of The Futureheads, Grizzly Bear, The Breeders and Clem Snide and a debut from the much-hyped Foals. I’d like to think we might get something new from The Hidden Cameras as well, although no news as yet.

Above all that though, the album I’m currently most anticipating is ‘The Mande Variations’ from the master Kora player Toumani Diabate (who recently guested on Bjork’s ‘Volta’). Reports suggest that it is tremendous. If it’s even half as good as his collaboration with Ali Farka Toure (which I managed to miss at the time of release), it will be set the standard for the whole year.

Mercury Shortlist Announced

So here it is....

Young Knives
Bat For Lashes
Jamie T
Klaxons
The View
Amy Winehouse
Basquiat Strings feat. Seb Rochford
Dizzee Rascal
New Young Pony Club
Maps
Fionn Regan
Arctic Monkeys

First of all, I'm genuinely delighted for Ben, Emma, Seb and the rest of Basquiat Strings - the album is excellent and deserves to win, but it almost certainly won't. I'm surprised there's no space here for Cinematic Orchestra, The Long Blondes or Bloc Party (and the observational lyrics on The Long Blondes album are surely at least the equal of Alex Turner). Much as I like Dizzee Rascal, that album is not the best example of British grime/hip-hop/dubstep etc - Wiley, kode 9 and spaceape and Skream! albums all superior.

It's actually a rather strange list, inevitably skewed in favour of acts with the full benefit of the corporate and PR machines (so no Jeremy Warmsley, Twilight Sad, Fridge, Broken Family Band, Flipron, Fraud or Curios), yet with some curious choices - the likes of Maps and Fionn Regan etc have hardly made much impact on the record buying public, have they?

There used to be a handful of selections of real insight on the Mercury shortlists (even last year with Polar Bear, Hot Chip and Scritti Politti on the list) - this may be the worst shortlist to date for recognising artistic invention and innovation.

I would say it's probably between Amy Winehouse and Klaxons, with Bat For Lashes as a good outsider's bet.

More Mercury....

Thanks to DJ Martian for, as usual, being the most comprehensive person on the web and constructing this list of albums eligible for the prize (if their respective record labels have put up the cash to enter them of course).

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/djmartian/mercury_music_prize_2007_eligibility

I missed the outstanding Finn Peters and Tom Arthurs albums out of my list of jazz contenders and it also strikes me that Julie Fowlis must be an almost dead cert if there's a token folk nomination. I hadn't realised that the outstanding guitarist and composer James Blackshaw was British - that would be a wonderful selection, as would Ryan Teague's excellent Coins and Crosses which sadly passed me by last September. I'd completely forgotten Acoustic Ladyland's Skinny Grin, a real possibility given that the judges ignored the far superior Last Chance Disco last year in favour of Polar Bear's excellent but, at the time, less well known Held On The Tips Of Fingers album. If they look to recognise the achievement of Seb Rochford again - there's also Fulborn Teversham as well. They're also bound to nominate the ludicrously overrated New Young Pony Club and Simian Mobile Disco too I suspect, particularly as those albums are still so fresh in the mind.

DJ Martian also includes The Tuss, the mysterious act which may or may not actually be the Aphex Twin. Is this a full length album or an EP? I've not picked it up yet - note to self that I must do so ASAP. I also had no idea that Xela were a British act - The Dead Sea is outstanding! Looking at this list DJ Martian has so carefully compiled, it's clear that British music really is incredibly healthy at the moment - it's just that our beloved music critics, who are paid to sort the wheat from the chaff, simply have no idea where to look right now!

Anyway, within about half an hour, we'll know the shortlist.

I'm One Step Ahead Of The Game...

Oh dear, the NME has come up with a truly ghastly list of possible Mercury nominations:

Candie Payne - 'I Wish I Could Have Loved You More'
Jarvis Cocker - 'Jarvis'
Jamie T - 'Panic Prevention'
Arctic Monkeys - 'Favourite Worst Nightmare'
Amy Winehouse - 'Back To Black'
Klaxons - 'Myths Of The Near Future'
Gruff Rhys - 'Candylion'
Razorlight - 'Razorlight'
Dizzee Rascal - 'Maths & English'
Editors - 'An End Has A Start'
The Cribs - 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever'
Maps - 'We Can Create'
The Enemy - 'We'll Live And Die in These Towns'
The View - 'Hats Off To The Buskers'
The Twang - 'Love It When I Feel Like This'
Bat For Lashes - 'Fur And Gold'
Cherry Ghost - 'Thirst For Romance'
Kasabian - 'Empire'
Mika - 'Life In Cartoon Motion'
Patrick Wolf - 'The Magic Position'
The Chemical Brothers - 'We Are The Night'
Joss Stone - 'Introducing Joss Stone'
1990s - 'Cookies'
Kaiser Chiefs - 'Yours Truly Angry Mob'
Calvin Harris - 'I Created Disco'
Just Jack - 'Overtones'

Well, credit to them for remembering Patrick Wolf and Bat For Lashes, both of which had slipped my mind - but the rest of it? The Enemy, The View, The Twang, The Cribs - not only is there a common theme in the lack of imagination in their monikers, there's also a common thread in their complete lack of musical inspiration. British guitar music is currently in the worst state it's ever been in during my lifetime if this is the best we have to offer the world. I couldn't really resent a nomination for Jarvis, even if that album was nowhere near as good as I'd hoped. Pitiful copyists Editors can go home, as can the ludicrously overrated Joss Stone. Calvin Harris' embarrassing appropriation of electro-pop merely has novelty value - it can't possibly win a major prize, can it? I'm also wondering if the surprisingly well received Happy Mondays comeback album might sneak a nomination, even if the public don't seem to care for it.

The Usual Pointless Predicting...

According to the Mercury Music Prize website, the nominations for the 2007 award are being announced tomorrow morning. Does anyone actually care this year? The publicity campaign seems to have been almost non-existent.

I'm going to stick my neck out and predict a nomination, and probable victory for Amy Winehouse and 'Back to Black'. I just can't see the award going to yet another tedious and derivative indie record this year, but I usually get these things hopelessly wrong - and Klaxons would also be a highly predictable winner.

It's highly unlikely that Arctic Monkeys will win two years in a row, but I can't see 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' not at least scoring a nomination. I'd also suggest that Dizzee Rascal is likely to get another nomination for the patchy, but occasionally brilliant 'Maths and English'. I'd be surprised if The Long Blondes and Cinematic Orchestra's slow burning triumph 'Ma Fleur' weren't nominated too, the latter being a strong outsider's bet to win.

The real competition this year is for the token jazz nomination, British jazz being in particularly good health at the moment. John Surman, Abram Wilson, Soweto Kinch, Ingrid Laubrock and Tom Cawley's Curios must all be possible contenders. Even more plausible, however, are the superficially skronky Led Bib and the genuinely superb Fraud. I'd like to see the latter win the prize.

Other artists I'd like to see nominated - The Twilight Sad, Jeremy Warmsley, Kode 9 and Spaceape, Skream!, Wiley, Flipron, Broken Family Band (did Track and Field put up the cash for 'Hello Love' to make the longlist?), Basquiat Strings, Fridge, Dani Siciliano, Alasdair Roberts.

Bloc Party's 'A Weekend In The City' took a pretty harsh critical lambasting - will the Mercury Judges see any merit in it?

It's all pointless anyway, how often does the best British album of the year actually win this award?

Interactivity!

I spend a lot of time on this blog criticising professional music journalists, unpicking their casual assumptions and questioning the dubious agendas of some of the publications they write for. I'm an amateur writer with no editors or shareholders to answer to, so I can afford to do that. It also means that I really should take more time to identify real quality in music writing when I come across it. Right now, I'm particularly inspired by those professional writers who have embraced the opportunities of blogging rather than joining the Paul Morley school of unreasonable suspicion (Simon Reynolds, Marcello Carlin, the folks over at Plan B). There are lots of flaws in Uncut magazine - but John Mulvey's Wild Mercury Sound new music blog over on their website is brilliant. It's ventures like this which allow writers to build a closer relationship with their readers, and find out what they really think, rather than what the marketing brains behind the publications believe they think. This post on Elliott Smith, written in response to a reader's comments, is particularly fascinating:

http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=6&p=91&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#more91

I completely agree with the poster Sam about the melodic and harmonic intricacy of Smith's songs, and that his songwriting was a great deal more ambitious than most writers have suggested. The posthumous 'From A Basement on The Hill' collection for example contains a wealth of ambitious writing and dexterous guitar playing that went largely unnoticed as people focussed, understandably, on Smith's troubled state of mind.

The debate on criticism which these comments have prompted is of wider significance, though. Whilst I am a musician (albeit one whose grasp of musical theory is probably more spurious than it ought to be - I will concede I write and play more from instinct or feeling than any conceptual process), I would certainly never argue that non-musicians are not qualified to express considered opinions about music. Indeed, a non-musician writer of real distinction such as Mulvey can avoid being enraptured with technical and theoretical concerns, and really grasp the cultural and emotional significance of music. It does require an open mind, however - and Mulvey undoubtedly has this , as the range of his posts, so far encompassing Rufus Wainwright, Sly and The Family Stone and post-rockers Battles, confortably demonstrates. There's sometimes a tendency in rock critics to eulogise primitive angst, or the rejection of virtuosity. Neither virtuosity nor untutored fury are virtues in themselves - it's much more a matter of how contrasting styles and techniques can be deployed to create an impact.

I try and keep an open mind about music too. A good friend once asked me, slightly incredulously, how a three minute pop song could possibly move me as much as a great symphony. Quite easily in fact, especially if it finds some universal truth with which I can identify. Whilst there's a lot about the techniques of composition that I don't quite understand yet, I can recognise that there are common elements between the best popular music and serious composition, and that's why I'm quite happy to go and see any form of music performed live, performance is often where the true magic really shows.

One forthcoming album that seems to show no respect for classification whatsover is David Torn's Prezens, forthcoming on ECM (thanks to DJ Martian for a heads-up on this one). You can hear a couple of tracks on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/prezens
It seems as much inspired by metal and post-rock as by free improvisation, jazz-rock and electronica. This is clearly a challenging record that occupies its own unique space. I'm looking forward to hearing it in full, not least because it features world-class drummer Tom Rainey, and the outstanding Craig Taborn on keyboards (also a mainstay of Chris Potter's Underground).

I'm hoping that John might give us some thoughts on new albums from Bjork, Panda Bear, The F*cking Champs, etc...

What The New Year Has In Store

Happy New Year to all readers of this blog!

First thing to do is quickly summarise what we can look forward to in 2007.

There is speculation as to whether or not there will be big new albums from the likes of Blur, Radiohead, REM and The Pixies. After their live shows, I have modest expectations of the new Pixies material, and the Blur and Radiohead albums are far from confirmed. Surely much more exciting is a new album from the original, seminal line-up of Dinosaur Jr. At the very least, I look forward to some squalling J Mascis guitar solos and hearing the combination of J and Lou Barlow's vocals again. I do hope that Barlow has more creative input this time around though. REM definitely plan to begin recording in 2007, but it's by no means guaranteed that the album will appear in the same year. Let's at least hope they find a new path away from the plodding monotony of 'Around The Sun'.

It looks increasingly likely that Portishead will finally return next year, and Massive Attack will also release their 'Weather Underground' album, delayed from 2006 thanks to a contractual greatest hits collection. Will these records sound dated or will they capture something more contemporary?

Unbelievably, The Stooges have made a brand new album, 'The Weirdness'. It could well be terrible...

There are certainly some albums I'm very excited about - Spiritualized, The Postal Service, The New Pornographers, Gillian Welch, Lucinda Williams, Wilco, Feist, Patrick Wolf, The Earlies, The Shins, Low, Wheat, Bloc Party, LCD Soundsystem, Aesop Rock, EL-P, Cannibal Ox, Animal Collective, Annie, Andrew Bird, Doves, Feist, Fridge, Madvillain, Magnetic Fields (continuing Stephin Merritt's prolific output), Blonde Redhead, Rufus Wainwright, Tortoise, Underworld, Spoon, PJ Harvey and The Breeders all have albums scheduled.

I may be the only person in the world interested in the imminent return of The B-52s.

Nick Cave has a new hardcore band called Grinderman - should be interesting....

'The Neon Bible' is the title of the second album from The Arcade Fire. Will 'Funeral' prove to be an albatross around their necks, or will they exceed its undoubted brilliance?

I'm still investigating jazz releases - but the return of Alice Coltrane is surely one of the most exciting prospects for the year!

Fun for 2005!

Here are some albums expected in 2005 that I am looking forward to immensely…

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Matt Sweeney – Superwolf: This collaboration between Will Oldham and the former Chavez and Zwan member should be an absolute gem.

Magnolia Electric Co. – Trials and Errors: This is a live recording featuring previously released material alongside new songs. There will also be a new Steve Albini-produced studio set later in the year.

Shivaree – Who’s Got Trouble?: The third album from the tragically underrated Shivaree looks set to slip out with no fanfare whatsoever in mid-January. Not even the patronage of Quentin Tarantino seems to have helped the publicity machine.

Rufus Wainwright – Want Two: This should finally be released in the UK in March. There are lavish extras with the US edition, including a full concert DVD. Will the record company pull out the stops for the UK fans who have been waiting months for this?

Lou Barlow – Emoh – The first Lou Barlow album released without an alias, this promises to be a collection of sweet, sad pop songs with minimal self-indulgence.

Laurent Garnier – The Cloud Making Machine: The techno legend has taken five years to record the follow-up to ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’. It had better be good!

Doves – Some Cities: The word, once again, will no doubt be ‘epic’.

Patrick Wolf – Wind In The Wires: Will this suffer second album syndrome, or will it take the best bits from ‘Lycanthropy’ to new heights?

Broken Social Scene – Windsurfing Nation: One of the big ones. A top 10 contender if it fulfils the promise of ‘You Forgot It In People’.

Kate Bush! No title yet – but 12 years after ‘The Red Shoes’, Kate Bush will return with a new album in 2005. There is really no predicting what this will sound like, although I’m confident that, like everything else she has recorded, it will be completely divorced from all current fads and trends.

AC/DC – Strap It On: Well, if this doesn’t sound exactly the same as the last one, I’ll eat my hat. If there’s another world tour – I’ll be there!

Depeche Mode – No title or song details as yet, but news has been posted on their website stating that they are recording a new album. So much for splitting up then! There had supposedly been a big dispute in the Mode camp about songwriting – will this be resolved in Dave Gahan’s favour or will all the songs still be Martin Gore compositions?

Bruce Springsteen – He’s been at work in Brendan O’Brien’s studio sporadically over the past four or five months. No clues as to whether it’s a solo record or another E Street Band affair though, or indeed whether it will actually see light of day in 2005.

Bob Dylan – The second volume of his autobiography is rumoured to coincide with his first studio album since 2001’s ‘Love and Theft’, although with all the writing and the incessant touring, it’s hard to see how he’s managed to record anything.

Hot Chip – Working on new material already to keep the momentum going.

Low – The Great Destroyer: Coming in January so not long to wait – supposedly heavier and more melodic than the usual slowcore stuff.

Mercury Rev – The Secret Migration: Can Mercury Rev stall the decline following the stodgy and disappointing ‘All Is Dream’?

Teenage Fanclub – The TFC camp have been relatively quiet on this of late. They recorded the songs last spring and summer with John McEntire from Tortoise producing, and it initially looked like the new album would emerge in the Autumn. Needless to say, it didn’t appear – and it doesn’t even seem to be clear now which record label, if any, plans to put this record out. This band are too good to be left floundering yet again by a cynical record industry that neglects its greatest songwriters. It’s also been two years since the greatest hits collection now, and five years since ‘Howdy!’. The cognoscenti have been waiting patiently, but we’re starting to get a little frustrated now!

Television – Have recorded a brand new album!

Elbow – Station Approach: I’m not sure that title is final but I’ve seen it on a number of different sources. Promises to be another step forward from a band moving towards greatness.

Boards of Canada – They are notoriously elusive, so there’s not much info on this one, but it’s certainly about time they followed up Geogaddi.

Scott Walker – Now signed to 4AD. Will it be as challenging as ‘Tilt’?

Pat Metheney – The Way Up: Breaks with Metheney’s established formula by virtue of being one extended composition. Promises to be fascinating.

Esbjorn Svensson Trio – Viaticum: New album from Europe’s premier jazz group.

Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics: Promises less bleeps and trickery, more emphasis on melody. Yay!

Daft Punk – Human After All: Great title – but can their kitsch disco revivalism stand up to a third album?

Cannibal Ox – Despite announcing their own split on stage in London a couple of years ago, the astounding rap duo appear to have been working on new material. If El-P is back in the production seat, it’s a guaranteed must-have album.

The Magic Numbers – There’s a big buzz building around this band. I saw them live at The Birthday Party club with Hot Chip a few months ago and they sounded gorgeously melodic.

Roots Manuva – Awfully Deep: Quite simply, the most significant figure in UK hip-hop right now. I’ve heard this and it’s thrilling.

British Sea Power – I really hope this exciting band realise their potential on this second album.

The Tears – The reunion of Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler could be brilliant, or it could be painfully embarrassing. I’m hoping that Butler has reinvigorated Anderson’s inspiration, which has been sorely lacking over the past couple of Suede albums.

Mu – More Japanese beats and screeching. This should be great – especially if the wonderful ‘Paris Hilton’ is on it.

M83 – Before The Dawn Heels Us – More My Bloody Valentine-inspired electronica. One of the key releases of the first half of the year for me.

Grandaddy – but they have to veer away from the chugachugachuga sound this time!

Jamie Lidell – Warp signing, maverick electronic genius and occasional vocalist for Matthew Herbert plans his second solo LP.

M. Ward – Transistor Radio: Another collection from this outstanding American songsmith.

Prefuse 73 – Surrounded By Silence: We can usually rely on Mike Herren to deliver the goods, and this should be one of Warp’s key releases for 2005. Expect more stuttering beats and plenty of guest rappers.

Solomon Burke – Make Do With What You’ve Got: Not sure what to make of this. Following up his brilliant Joe Henry produced mainstream comeback from a couple of years ago, Solomon Burke has gone into the studio with Don Was. I don’t think anyone, least of all Burke himself, was really expecting another album so soon, and Was’ involvement could be a blessing or a curse. Was made a muddy job of Dylan’s already underwhelming ‘Under The Red Sky’ in 1990 (probably the last time he produced a major legend), but has produced engaging and infectious pop music of his own for Was (Not Was). Will it mean a more ‘modern’ sound? Who has written the material?

Al Green – Everything’s OK: Another Willie Mitchell produced set to follow the surprisingly good ‘I Can’t Stop’. Expect more classic soul nostalgia.

Bright Eyes – Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning: Two new albums from the billboard chart topping and Vote for Change star Conor Oberst. He started to veer away from grandiose oversinging and heavy emoting on ‘Lifted…’ – let’s hope he continues to follow this trajectory.

Erin McKeown – Expected to return with new material in the summer!

Sleater Kinney – Working on new album with Mercury Rev, Flaming Lips, Mogwai and Delgados producer Dave Fridmann!

Chemical Brothers – Push the Button: Apparently the best thing they’ve done in ages. To be honest, that wouldn’t be hard, would it?

REM? – There were plenty of songs left over from the ‘Around The Sun’ sessions (all the upbeat ones for a start) – will they be released?
Bjork – There are rumours of another new album to quickly follow Medulla