My Music and Stuff

Best Albums of 2013 so far

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:28:17 +0100

Okay, passed 100 albums for 2013. Here is the top 16 of those I like…….

Num Album Rating Notes

1 Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse 9.00 Very good album

1 Mogwai – Les Revenants Soundtrack 9.00 Stunning

1 The Asphodells – Ruled By Passion, Destroyed By Lust 9.00 Stunning album track 9 amazing

1 Waxahatchee – Cerulean Salt 9.00 A belter

5 Terry Allen – Bottom of the World 8.75 A surprisingly lovely record

6 FaltyDL – Hardcourage 8.50 V good piece of work

6 How To Destroy Angels – Welcome oblivion 8.50 Really good album - atmospheric

6 Kavinsky – OutRun 8.50 Wicked album

6 Mazes – Ores & Minerals 8.50 Very nice album

6 Tegan And Sara – Heartthrob 8.50 Superb Pop

6 Depeche Mode – Delta Machine 8.50 Very good album

6 Woodkid – The Golden Age 8.50 Lovely if a bit over worked in places

6 Rudimental – Home 8.50 Nice, lovely album

14 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II 8.30 Nice piece of work, original

14 Kurt Vile – Wakin On A Pretty Daze 8.30 Pretty good, but perhaps missing the tier 1 polish

Someone for Londoners to go and see in June - Waxahatchee

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:26:52 +0100

Who you say. Well I say. A band or rather artist with musicians (maybe) who has made a brilliant record and who plays a small venue the Shacklewell Arms in (E8) London on Thursday June 13. And for only £8 too, it says here http://bit.ly/10abAfy.

Two reasons for writing this blog. Firstly to say what a great album it is, and secondly to encourage people to go and see her/them live.

So the album. Technically her second album, but her mainstream first and one which I found to be instantly likeable, accessible and well balanced. It cuts across a range of different styles, without getting repetitive and flows from folk, to pop to heavy guitar, with some dreamy beats thrown in too. In short a very good album.

I think this has a great chance of staying in my top 10 albums of the year, and I am very glad she is playing London. So the show, I expect it to be her full band, and playing a small venue will be extra nice. I think there is a touch of the Frank Turner’s about her. A lot of gigs, a lot of record making, a dash of jumping styles and band types, but really the focus on her, as the artiste, that is how it should be.

See you there, pint in hand, singing along.

When a great band plays a bad venue

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 12:06:00 +0100

One of the best bands I have seen live is the National. One of the worse venues I have ever been too, if not the worse, is Alexandra (Ally) Pally.

The National are playing Ally Pally. So my choice is, out of the way with rubbish transport links location, expensive beer, shocking acoustics, low viewing area, crap sightlines, cavernous arena butooooooh maximum number of punters for one night’s profit or not see a band I love.

I am sticking with the later. The thing is, the National are spot on politically, and treat their fans well too. However, their UK booking agent has done them a massive disservice. There will be no 5* reviews in the press. The live shows will win no awards. Their will be a muted and flat atmosphere, and the band will feel as if the Manchester shows were far better in the UK.

This will be true as they have a music venue to play at, now some poxy exhibition centre. Yes an exhibition centre, not built for shows, let alone music ones.

The National, you are a great band and I have high hopes for the album. But someone on your staff has let you down, badly. You may not regret it, but I will, as I do not want to spend (at least) £50 knowing it will be a waste. I’d rather give my money to charity. The nature of the fan in me will see me try and pick a ticket up cheap as some form of alternative justification. But sadly even though it is months away, I feel let down.

Alexandra Palace, I hate you.

Shepherd's Bush Empire

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:46:21 +0100

My venue of choice in London is the Brixton Academy. With the sloping floor, the cavernous space which the sound bounces off. It is a delightful venue, one I can keep going back to.

However, a venue that always makes me sigh when a band/artist is playing at, is the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. I have seen some really good gigs here, in fact one of the best gigs I went to was here. However, every single gig I have seen on the standing floor area has been either pants or a disappointment. Idlewild, The Rifles, and even Billy Bragg. In fact the only show that was okay there was First Aid Kit.

So why is it so bad. Let’s start with the low roof by the bar. That ruins the sound. Then we have the sightlines. How low done makes a bad gig, answer, see the SBE floor.

So what is the solution? Easy, go upstairs. I have seen 3 gigs upstairs, all stunning. Inspiral Carpets (who I also saw downstairs and were just okay), Billy Bragg who played a stunning set and I could sit down and enjoy the show, and Frank Turner who rocked the place from start to finish.

There are a few common denominators. Firstly I think sitting down is an underrated gig experience. Secondly it is easy to get a beer, which is nice. Thirdly, once you are in a spot you stay there. Fourthly the sounds flows nicely around you. Lastly the sightlines are great. Views of the stage and the front standing area.

If every SBE gig was a seating one I would enjoy it more, so life lesson #123, always buy a seated ticket at the SBE. You live and learn.

The Best Albums of 2011

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:45:19 +0100

Okay, so it is 2013, but below are my best albums of 2011:

Why so late you so. Well better late than never I say.

1) The Decemberists - The King is Dead (9.5/10)
An album that blew me away right at the start of the year and at every listen reaffirmed why it is such a good album. From start to finish it is an album of the highest quality

2) King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine (9/10)
Lovely, melancholic, delightful, over and over

3) The Antlers - Burst Apart (9/10)
Very very good, an album that sparkles all the way through, will get better with every listen

4) Radiohead - The King of Limbs (9/10)
Beautiful. Wistful, chaotic, charming, and delightful piece of work. Stunning production.

5) Gui Boratto - III (9/10)
Freaking banging tuneage

6) Hearts - I Break Horses (8.75/10)
A real lovely album - varied, thoughtful and crafted with class, very very good

7) Beirut - The Rip Tide (8.5/10)
Lovely, deep and mellow. Orchestrally beautiful.

8) Lanterns On The Lake - Gracious Tide, Take Me Home (8.5/10)
Quality music - vocal masterpieces, well worth a listen.

9) Little Majorette - Rifle Heart (8.5/10)
A non-stop bevy of great pop songs, quite Beloved like, jingle jangle niceness.

10) The Horrors - Skying (8.5/10)
An album I didn’t expect to like, but did, strong.

11) Veronica Falls - S/T (8.5/10)
1980s guitar indie, pretty darn good.

12) Hyetal - Broadcast (8.5/10)
Dark, evocative, sharp dance music - cut above your normal tuneage.

Overall I think the year was okay, the top 3 were very good, but 2011 was not a vintage year for releases, and 2012 was better and 2013 will be a real cream of the crop year.

I did however at the back end of the year get to see King Creosote & Jon Hopkins perform their album live. It was lovely though no Youtube exists, so I nicked something else instead.

Regina Spektor

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 23:26:16 +0100

I remember watching 500 Days of Summer vividly. I watched it in a Paris cinema and a few things still really stick in my mind about the film. Firstly the soundtrack and how good it was. Secondly how pretty Zooey Deschanel was. And lastly why the hell had I not heard of Regina Spektor before.

On returning to London I did my usual thing when I find a new artist. I buy all their albums. I listen a lot to them and and was totally wowed by just how good they are. I think did my next step, I checked to see if they were playing live, and she wasn’t.

In fact I think she was undergoing form of break from music as other than a solitary show in Cambridge I don’t recall her doing any UK shows, till now. On Monday 2 July 2012 I ventured over to the Royal Albert Hall to watch her perform. It was a great show.

She had just the right amount of kooky about her, her voice was excellent and musically the band were sharp. It was very nice to leave a show without my ears ringing too as she played at a lovely volume.

However, the last album I felt was a dash below the previous two releases. Notwithstanding that, there is something fun, bright, pretty and simply lovely about Regina Spektor. She is simply, as the Welsh would say, Lush.

2013 the YEAR of MUSIC

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 22:49:37 +0000

So, 2013, a year of great expectation for music fans. For the older and sometime hip generation we have the return of Fleetwood Mac. For those either side of 40 we have the second tour of the Stone Roses.

For all folk we have the return of Glastonbury, and a whole range of new releases from superb bands like The National and Phoenix. This is without the range of debut albums, always a plus for me, of hot tips like Frightened Rabbit.

I have more gigs lined up than I normally do by now. Biffy Clyro, The Postal Service (yes they are back), The Stone Roses, Kasabian and My Bloody Valentine. Possibly I am a bit heavy on nostalgia, but if those five were headlining across a festival you would be very happy. I am also sniffing around some Diiv tickets, and will catch a few more this side of July.

I think this year will be seen as a great year for music fans. More bands have realised that touring makes money, that releasing more music makes money, and finally musicians are stopping being stupid and actually getting off their arse and touring. Looking at you Ben Gibbard and Kevin Shields.

2013, make me proud.

The Postal Service - redelivery?

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:29:56 +0000

So, underground wonder kids The Postal Service are hinting heavily that they will be back for some tour dates in 2013, as they have updated their website http://www.postalservicemusic.net/ I am very very excited.

Their album Give Up is a classic. And one of my favourite albums of that year and any year. If they tour you must see them.

So why are ten years are they doing it again, money, time, or just because they realise they made a bloody good record and should do it again, or at least tour properly with that record. However, who cares, so long as they do come back.

Dawn Richard - Goldenheart

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 20:20:43 +0000

The first good album of 2013, Goldenheart by Dawn Richard. A rich blend of beats, vocals and top notch production.

A touch different to my usual stuff, but this is good.

The National - An American Treasure

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:39:10 +0000

Sometimes you see a video, hear a single or catch a gig and you sit there, wondering, why is this group not considered world class by more people. To me the greatest example of this is The National.

From Ohio, this 5 piece have produced some outstanding pieces of work over the last few years and have a superb live show in support of this, yet they are very popular across the music followers, but not by the public mass. However, I feel this is due to a number of reasons, they don’t tour as much as they could and the focus on the live shows is the music, rather than a grandiose light show and over the top stage.

The first time I remember encountering The National was at the start of 2010 when they released their latest album High Violet. I saw the reviews and thought this will be interesting, I gave the album one listen and then decided that they were a band I wanted to see. Luckily for me I did not have to wait too long, December that year at the always super Brixton Academy. It was a great night in more ways than one as I had a few beers with my old pal, the lead singer of Seafood.

Embarrassingly I have to wonder why the hell I wasn’t into them before. I listen to the entire back catalogue, a lot, and didn’t find a long play of theirs anything other than superb. In fact the debate for National fans is which of their albums is the best, with the debate raging between in most cases Boxer and High Violet. However Alligator is excellent and has a number of what I consider to be my preferred works.

In years to come people will reference The National like they do The Pixies. A band that has an amazing body or work, that is superb live and one that deserve far more mainstream success than they achieved.

They are also in my top 5 bands or artists of all time. But that is another blog for another day.

If any band deserves an anthem, it is The National.

Glastonbury - just why is it so popular?

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:44:30 +0100

I went to Glastonbury in 1993. I have been to V (98 I think) and Reading (94) and by a clear distance even 19 years ago, Glasto was the best.

However, just why is it so popular? This is due to a number of reasons, these include:

It is a proper festival with roots - unlike V which is well a product show
It has a wide variety of music - unlike Reading which has clear bias towards a rock/indie crowd
It draws stellar names - rather than just headliners
It is constantly innovative in what it shows

These are important reasons why a music fan would go, but what about people who just want to go to a festival. I think this is a more subtle and varied set of reasons as to why it is popular, these include:

The wall to wall BBC coverage
The cool factor by folk like Kate Moss being seen there
The fact that it is the first big festival of the summer

These are all great reasons. But the key for me is the fact that you are simply not allowed to say anything bad about Glastonbury. It was John Peel’s festival, we all loved John Peel. It is not for profit and has charity aims, dare speak up against that. The music is varied, what do you mean you want to spend a million on the bleeding Libertines!

It is above criticism, it sits astride the whole festival world and says, we are the best, we do what we want and no matter what, they will come. This Sunday, people will queue, online, to get tickets for the 2013 festival. And you know what, no one knows who will be playing. Because, the artists are not the draw, the festival is the draw. Thus the dancers, the artists, the playwrights, the actors, the showmen and ladies, the jazz, grime, dance, rock, indie and all the other musicians will play second fiddle to the festival. In many ways its own backdrop is itself, a cunning and perhaps unintended consequence of the last 20 years as it has got bigger.

A great way to showcase the variety of names, big names that play is to simply go to YouTube and search for Glastonbury the results are amazing, and means my choice for obligatory video is hard.

However, I have chosen the group who are believed to have drawn the biggest crowd when they headlined, a record which may have changed since crowds got a bit bigger, but these boys had the audience packed, and they are also owe some of their success to some of the original Glastonbury crowd.

Best Albums of 2012 so far

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:41:00 +0100

This list could be a very long list of the albums I have liked, as in my view 2012 has been a great year. A number of artists have released great albums, both debut and otherwise. And the below are my current top 4 for the year.

Errors - Have Some Faith in Magic
First Aid Kit - The Lions Roar
Of Monsters & Men - My Head is an Animal
Scuba - Personality

I could list another 50 or so I would say you should listen to, but as we enter the last quarter of the year, then these are the top 4, with the Errors being top of my list, for now.

Of Monsters and Men - Icelandic Bright Lights

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:58:43 +0100

Sometimes an album, a debut album makes you sit up and think, these guys have it, and Of Monsters and Men with My Head Is An Animal does that.

I first played it a while ago and thought it was a solid 8, but after turning to it as my de facto playlist it is now a 9. They are what we would traditionally call a folk band, but that does them a disservice, they are far more. They have layers of sound, they have melodies, harmonies and are backed by skilled musicians, with no one aspect dominating the sound.

I could show you so many clips of why I think they are great, I’ll use this one, one which I think shows their quality.

Iceland, the land of Bjork and Sigur Ros (apologies for absence of correct lettering) have a new star.

Diiv - Oshin

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 08:10:00 +0100

As regular readers will know, I love my music (the hint is in the title) and I particularly love being ahead of the curve when I find a new band, with a great album that has gone under the radar.

With that in mind I bring you Oshin by Diiv.

An album of stunning quality from the first bar onwards. Heavily influenced by the bass driven sounds of New Order, it is an album that belies the fact that it is a debut.

From Brooklyn in New York they are a four piece, in the classic rock group set up, the 13 song long play is great from start to finish. There is something really polished and connected about the record. Sometimes you hear an album and you think, yes, this band has it. And in spade loads do Diiv (first called Dive) have it. I predict this one will appear very high in the end of year lists, and I would agree.

They are certainly on my watch for list for live shows.

Enjoy.

Musical Bucket List #1

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:57:08 +0100

I didn’t know where the phrase Bucket List came from. A bit of research tells me that it comes from the following film The Bucket list

A description of the film says ”Two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.”

My view, why wait till you get ill, best to make good use of your life now.

In short it is the things you want to do before you kick the bucket, i.e die. And boy do I have a long list. However, I’ve never written it down.

So back to my list.

This is the music section and there are a number of of bands and festivals I want to see or attend, they are my Musical Bucket List …..

Glastonbury
Kraftwerk
Daft Punk
Ride (if they reform)
Coachella
Jeff Mills (DJ)
See Bob Mould perform Copper Blue

These are my current top 7, and I am sure if I sat down and thought about it I would have a load more to add. But, for now, these top 7 are fine for me, and hopefully Glastonbury 2013 will be a great start to ticking them off.

The Beastie Boys - now just two

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 11:04:00 +0100

The Beastie Boys. A band I recall watching on my TV screen when they arrived in the UK. I recall the UK media horror as VW cars were vandalised for their grill badges!

I remember the shear craziness of them, but oddly I didn’t recall the music at the time. Well apart from Fight For Your Right. I got into the Beasties in the early 90s at university. But I didn’t really listen to the back catalogue, until the last year or so.

They always were a band I wanted to see live, but didn’t. This is a superb video of them doing one of my favourite songs. And shows what an intense set of talented performers they were.

So, who were the Beastie Boys. Well much has been written on them, and my summary would be three talented people, who made a life in music, without falling for the perils that come with fame. They also spent alot of time making use of themselves because of their fame. In short they were people I admired.

Gone, but never forgotten.

The modern record shop, it is more than just shifting CDs

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 22:48:00 +0100

When I was growing up, a trip into the local town was never complete without a trip to Our Price. It was only a small store, but it stood out for its breadth and depth of music in comparison to Woolworths and the like.

My first purchases included such greats as The Frog Chorus by Paul McCartney and The Lady in Red by Chris de Burgh. The later was a Christmas Present for my Mum, so I may forgive myself that. The first two albums I remember buying were Invisible Touch by Genesis and the self titled Tracy Chapman, by surprisingly Tracy Chapman.

Neither did anything of merit after these albums, though Tracy Chapman is still performing (seeing her do the album live may be one for the bucket list, which will follow in a later blog) and I don’t recall hearing much of Genesis these days. They may reform is Phil Collins keeps wasting money on divorces at the rate he is going!

Growing up and moving to London in the early 1990s I spent a fair amount of time on Berwick Street, full of quality music shops, stocked high with quality indie music. The thing back then was I always felt the prices were a little higher than elsewhere. I was fairly generic in my indie tastes, taking my guide from the writers of NME, back then you either read that or Melody Maker. And I was firmly in the NME camp.

I loved nothing more than spending a couple of hours scouring the vinyl for something to buy. Often I was not actually searching for anything in particular other than getting Madchester singles and albums I didn’t have. Madchester was my ‘home’ genre within indie, having fallen in love with the Stone Roses on first listen (more on that here). Often I was more aiming to just get myself informed on what was being sold and seeing if a band t-shirt was worth buying. I have only a few items of vinyl left having sold some in the late 90s and early 00s. I have not looked at it in a while, but I know that I have a stack of Inspiral Carpet and Happy Monday’s 12” singles. These were days when bands released music

Towards the end of the 90’s the record shop offered little to the consumer and began to fade away from the high street, as people bought outline and then downloaded music. The last few years however has seen a few bright spots appear for the music buyer, my favourite being the Rough Trade East shop in Truman Brewery, by Liverpool Street station. Well located less than a ten minute walk away from work it has excellent vinyl, cd, book and other paraphernalia for sale, not at low end prices. But it really is a music shop for musos.

It also has some other cracking revenue streams. They do art workshops, speaker building sessions, including for parent and child and they also do a wide range of shows during the lunchtime and evening shows based around album and book launches. These events, create a vibrancy and life around the shop, and will draw more people in, and when they come in, if they are like me they will spend every time they enter.

One of these events I went to was an in-store by music legend Bob Mould, a man who I much admire. The event was Bob, his guitar and the sound system. He started with the classic Hoover Dam and ended with the equally classic If I can’t Change Your Mind. He also played a song I recognised but didn’t remember from which album it was from, and a new song. The new song sounded great; hopefully they will tour with it. But it was the two classics from Copper Blue which totally blew me away and made me realise that the new Record Store at Rough Trade East is a superb concept and one that I will visit as often as possible.

Music, as ever, always evolving, and the latest incarnation, is a good one.

Bob Mould - The man with Sugar on top

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:54:45 +0100

Bob Mould is a man who can make pop, hardcore and folk records.

He is also someone I have really admired for 20 years now. Originally part of the power trio Hüsker Dü in the 1980s, he formed Sugar with David Barbe and Malcolm Travis after Hüsker Dü split following a period without a band.

They went on to make the NME album of 1992, Copper Blue. This remains his piece of work that I love the most. The seminal album Copper Blue is a long play of sheer majesty. It is an album that would make my top ten albums of all time without a shadow of a doubt.

As part of the recognition of this album’s importance and popularity, Mould will be touring with it with a new band (i.e. not Sugar). He plays London the day I depart for a week long holiday so sadly I will miss him. However, with all my fingers crossed I will get to see him perform at Rough Trade East at an acoustic show at lunch the day before.

I did see Sugar when the played a festival in Finsbury Park, which had the Cure headlining. My abiding memory, other than it being hot, was how bleeding loud they were. A quick Google search tells me it was called the Great Xpectations Festival. I did find one Sugar song here.

Sugar to me were the encapsulation of 1990s American guitar music. Three minute power songs, played with as much heart as you could muster, without fluff, but sonically and lyrically superb. I love them and all of their work, including the tougher, more muscular Beaster.

I could play you anything from the last 30 years that Mould has done, but it is the meaning of his words which draws me back to him to every time. And so it is him, his guitar and an amp that I am showcasing.

Bob Mould, a guitarist rated by other guitarists, a songwriter, still producing after 30 years. I salute you.

Ps. I decided after watching it that the next video was also a must as it shows the pure energy that make Bob Mould so magical.

Orbital - Back with a Stormer

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:39:23 +0100

Orbital. The band that can play Dr Who, the Chimes of Big Ben and Belinda Carlisle are back with a new album, Wonky. And it is anything but.

Wonky is an album that is as good as their better rated albums like the Brown and Green Albums. In fact having listened to it a few times it really reminds of of a live set they would do, and I think this is what they have tried to capture.

It starts with One Big Moment, and this one is heading for the start of the main set. It is superb, and at just over 6 minutes long will allow them to do something funky with it. The album ends with Where is it going? Which is an anthemic set finisher, without being kitsch at all. It is my favourite song on the album and one of their best yet.

Having seen Orbital the most out of any band I can recall (4 or 5 Brixton Academy shows, a NYE party in 1996 and a Headline slot at V in 1999) they are a band who can bring me out of a slumber and make me dance faster than most (note - I dance badly before anyone wonders), but their last show at Brixton (a comeback show?) was poor by their standards, nothing like the previous sets.

I think the best time I saw them was their last ever before the “retirement” show at Brixton, they were superb, and everyone was absolutely loving it. It is just a shame they didn’t come back with a bang the first time round. They are playing Brixton again later in the year and I fancy going, but after the last show, not sure if anyone will fancy it, will wait and see I think.

So, how good is the album a very very good 8.5/10 for me.

The Stone Roses - Feast or Famine?

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:47:27 +0100

The Stone Roses are a band I love, really love. Perhaps the first band I fell in love with, after their release of what I consider one of the two best debut albums of all time with their self titled album in 1989. I concede that Guns n Roses with Appetite for Destruction is also a contender for this title, however I digress.

It is the baggy record of all time, better than Pills’n Thrill, better than Life and better than anything the sub-genre set of bands produced (looking at you Northside).

When I heard the news that they were reforming, what did I think, well firstly I was excited, and secondly I though, oh my God, what a big mistake. And now, well I am somewhere in between. I have a ticket for the Friday night at the Heaton Park concert but am not sure if I will go. I was hoping that the Manchester shows would be their first shows of all time, but they are not, they are doing a whole range of festivals beforehand, but also after.

I am also told, and have been told this from a couple of people that they will be playing the O2 arena in July. I have checked the dates and I am free, but also, the O2 is not booked. What we are waiting for I am told is for the V Festival to sell out, as all of their shows are being released on a venue by venue basis. This means they can gauge demand, add in more shows, and still not reach all of the fans that want to see them.

So should I go? What if it is great, my big fear and I don’t. Or, what if it is pants and I go, will that sully the memory?

They remain a band I can listen to all day long, especially the early stuff and up and the first album. In fact I have long argued their pre-1st album is superb and was good enough for an album of material anyway.

Big decisions.