Saturday, December 31, 2016

Top 20 Albums of 2016

As usual, I present a highly personal list of the albums I enjoyed most this year (as opposed to the 'greatest' or the most fashionable). Last year's choices, topped by Torres and Sufjan Stevens, can be found here. I'm aware that particularly strong and critically acclaimed Hip Hop records have been released this year, but my choices are heavily influenced by my deep affection for Americana.

1) The Pines: Above The Prairie
This is perhaps an eccentric selection, but it's one of the year's most dreamy, deep records, the one I repeatedly turned to for soothing comfort, and which left me most contented. It also happens to have my favourite cover. A review put it perfectly in saying it 'feels like a roots art record; at times you're asked to consider what Radiohead might sound like if driven by wood and steel rather than ones and zeros.'

2) Hiss Golden Messenger: Heart Like A Levee
This was so nearly my first choice, and is surely the finest album of Americana rock to come out of a nation now sadly so troubled and divided.

3) M83: Junk
This piece of 1980's escapism is surely the most happy, upbeat album on my list. For some time, I thought this would be my top pick, but in the end I chose instead the music which made me feel the happiest. The guest appearance of Christine and The Queens allows me to mention my discovery of the year, Chaleur Humaine (which was excluded for actually being released last year).


4) Angel Olsen: My Woman
I'd previously enjoyed Angel Olsen, but this album, and her extraordinary live performance, propelled her into my consciousness in a totally unexpected way, like St. Vincent before her. It made such an impact that upon my very first listen to this album, I Tweeted that it would be close to the top of my albums of the year, and immediately bought a ticket to her show.

5) Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool
My continued failure to experience a satisfactory live experience with Radiohead (at Primavera Sound in June, they were ruined for me by the terrible security organisation at the event), doesn't prevent me from recognising this as one of the most nuanced, impressive studio creations of 2016. A welcome return to form after King of Limbs.

6) PJ Harvey: The Hope Six Demolition Project
Another choice heavily influenced by the live show, this album was initially criticised for its lyrical misjudgements. However, it has an amazing, almost orchestral production and is above all a collective effort.

7) Bon Iver: 22, A Million
Bon Iver's self titled album was one of my discoveries of 2011, and I was lucky enough to experience it live on more than one occasion. This time around, this is out of my reach, though I've heard that the show adds little. Some have also found the production this time contrived: to me though, it's a work of genius to manipulate folk roots to this electronica.

8) Daughter: Not To Disappear
For me, Daughter is the personification of introversion, and this subtle, shimmering album is incredibly moving, and beautiful.

9) Weyes Blood: Front Row Seat To Earth
Natalie Mering has a glorious voice, and makes just the kind of Laurel Canyon influenced folk rock music that I love. It has a dreamy, even psychedelic vibe, bathing you in a wash of gorgeous harmonies.

10) Julia Jacklin: Don't Let The Kids Win
This debut album from Australia rounds out my top ten, and is one of the discoveries of the year, a must listen for fellow Sharon Van Etten fans, with a country tinge.

11) Heron Oblivion: self-titled
Featuring Meg Baird from Espers, this psychedelic rock album is one of 2016's outstanding examples of Americana. The instrumentals are influenced by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Crazy Horse, but Meg's ethereal, floating vocals are the stand-out attribute for me. I await news of a UK tour with hope.

12) Anna Meredith: Varmints
This Scottish classical composer's debut album was one of the most welcome surprises of the year. An electronic, acoustic blend, it's closer in spirit to the pop of M83 than most of this list. The production is truly insprired, and Anna's live show was wonderful too.


13) MONEY: Suicide Songs
Manchester's Goth rockers have certainly produced one of the more unusual albums of the year, and their despair proves cathartic. The title track is particularly harrowing, but there's a surprisingly calming beauty about the music.

14) Kevin Morby: Singing Saw
One of the live music surprises of the year, this could in part be seen as a tribute to Leonard Cohen, and also owes a debt to Bob Dylan. Kevin also happens to be the bass player in Woods, who have created my album of the year. 

15) Warpaint: Heads Up
I had one amazing live experience with this LA band in 2016, and a disappointing one. I'm not sure that I prefer Heads Up to their self-titled album which featured in my 2014 top ten. Yet, my love is undiminished: this moody, atmospheric rock can be totally absorbing.


16) Lapsley: Long Way Home
Having seen Holly Fletcher performing under railway arch when she first emerged in early 2015, it was a delight to see her play Coachella this year and for her debut album to achieve success deserved success.

17) Porches: Pool
My appreciation of this New York electronic album from an artist with folk roots was inspired by a magical evening in Manchester. I was at the gig for the first act, Frankie Cosmos, from Aaron Maine's partner, Greta Kline, yet I found Porches immersive and uplifting.

18) Beau: That Thing Reality
This debut album from New York could be described as high energy pop infused folk. The production is reality simple: it relies on melody, and the assertive vocals of the young Heather Golden and Emma Jenney. It has a direct, immediate appeal.

19) Lucy Dacus: No Burden
The Richmond singer songwriter has been supporting Car Seat Headrest and Daughter, which reflect distinct sides to her musical personality. There is an unpolished, raucous quality alongside a warmer, more reflective quality.

20) The Lumineers: Cleopatra
I fell in love with The Lumineers long before they became popular, and I have fond memories of one particular trip to California when I fell in love with their debut album. Now, their shows are too expensive for me to attend, and the lavish production feels at odds with the still simple, catchy melodies. Perhaps it's nostalgia for a less troubled world that leads me to include this album.

Next 20 Favourite Albums

The Magnetic North Prospect of Skelmersdale
The Comet Is Coming Channel The Spirits
Ryley Walker Golden Sings That Have Been Sung
Sara Watkins Young In All The Wrong Ways
The Strumbellas Hope
Claire Maguire Stranger Things Have Happened
Savages Adore Life
Anohni Hopelessness
How To Dress Well Care
Phantogram Three
Bat for Lashes The Bride
Arthur Beatrice Keeping The Peace
Go Go Penguin Man Made Object
Laura Mvula The Dreaming Room
Animal Collective Painting With
Highasakite Camp Echo
Leonard Cohen You'll Want It Darker
Tanya Tagaq Retribution
Groenland A Wider Space
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes Person A

Top 20 Live Performances of 2016

I was fortunate enough to attend 2 large festivals in 2016: Coachella in Calfornia and Primavera Sound in Barcelona. I was also fortuitously given a free last minute ticket to Green Man in Wales at the end of summer. Circumstances mean that I'm more likely to visit smaller venues next year than international festivals, which will help me to re-engage with the grass roots of new music discovery. Meanwhile, these past 6 years of live music have left me with many incredible memories, and made life seem worth living, and celebrating. It seems highly appropriate that I end this year where I began in 2010, with Edward Sharpe. Here are pictures of my top 20 live experiences of the year.

1) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Coachella Day 3, April 2016

2) Grimes, Manchester Academy, 12th March 2016

3) Sigur Ros, Primavera Sound 2016, Day 3

4) M83, Coachella 2016, Day 1

5) Angel Olsen, Manchester Club Academy 14th October 2016

6) PJ Harvey Primavera Sound 2016, Day 3

7) Savages, Primavera Sound 2016 Day 2

8) Kamasi Washington, Green Man 2016

9) Laura Marling, Trades Club, 17th February 2016

10) Warpaint, Green Man 2016

11) GOAT, Albert Hall 22nd October 2016

12) Daughter, Primavera Sound 2016 Day 1

13) Anna Meredith, Soup Kitchen, 24th March 2016

14) Phantogram, Deaf Institute 17th November 2016

15) Kevin Morby, Deaf Institute 22nd August 2016

16) Weyes Blood, Castle Hotel 23rd November 2016

17) Julien Baker, Primavera Sound 2016 Day 1

18) The Oh Hellos, Green Man 2016

19) Surprise of the Year: SZA with guest Kendrick Lamar, Coachella 2016 Day 2

20) Disappointment of the Year: Radiohead, 2016 Primavera Sound Day 2
(runners up: Adele Manchester Arena, Warpaint Albert Hall, Jesca Hoop & Sam Beam RNCM)

Sunday, October 23, 2016

GOAT, Albert Hall Manchester 22nd October 2016 9/10


This expansive evening, spanning almost six hours, had been most intelligently programmed. Each of the four support acts represented a branch of psychedelic music the headliners had synthesised to form their own style. Fellow Swedes Josefin Ohrn + The Liberation were themselves explorers, drawing on eclectic influences, their most conventional element the prominence of the (female) lead singer. The wholly instrumental Liverpudlians Mugstar drew on more uncompromising krautrock influences, notable for the amazing drummer and hypnotic visuals of a mountain range flyover, projected on the screen. Next, Jane Weaver's roots were in folk, and she represented the pop psych. tradition. Yet, it was Leeds band Hookworms who really energised the crowd with their psych. punk: I could appreciate why, for some, they were the main draw of the evening. The banner on their keyboard 'no borders' clearly existed within the political context of Trump and Brexit, but could equally been an expression of the wide ranging artistic expression in this lineup.


We'd been taken on a journey not just of genre, but from the individualism of Josefin Ohrn towards the collective: Hookworms are known only by their initials, whilst GOAT famously performs anonymously. This is where their schtick differs from that of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: GOAT's back story of growing up a small town in Sweden with a history of voodoo worship is a long way from the personality cult of Alex Ebert. A key part of the fusion of styles stems from world music: in their stagecraft as well as guitar work, they reminded me of the amazingly energetic Songhoy Blues. Like this band from Mali, they also relied heavily upon hypnoptic rhythms and frenzied dancing to whip up the audience into a frenzy. Whereas the purer psych. rock earlier in the evening had felt intellectual, and introverted, GOAT inspire outward expression of euphoria. Visually, whereas the others acts made use of computer generated images projected onto a large screen, the outfits of GOAT's two female leads created swirling, mesmerising shapes. There may be no talk between songs, but the leads never stop moving around the stage.


Having missed their set at Primavera Sound in June, my last experience of GOAT was in April 2014 at Slim's, San Francisco. This was a more intimate venue that Manchester's Albert Hall, and I missed the more immersive view of the lower stage of Slim's. This time, though, there was the chance to experience new music from their just released third album, Requiem. This brings a greater folk influence to their work, as evident in the pan pipes during Union of the Sun & Moon. Live, GOAT's material is expanded in an improvisatory manner, with extended drone rock instrumental sections, as on the closing encore Let It Bleed. More extrovert tracks from World Music, such as Run To Your Mama, or Talk to God, the opener from Commune, most excited the crowd. I draw hope from the omission of Goodbye from Requiem, which some have interpreted as signalling the end of this project. There is a greater need than ever for openness to other cultures and belief systems: it is cross fertilisation that rise to such joyous fusions as GOAT.


Set List
Words
*Union of Sun & Moon
*Try My Robe
*Goatfuzz
Disco Fever
*Trouble In The Streets
Gathering of A Tribes
The Sun The Moon
*I Sing In Silence
Goatslaves
Run To Your Mama
Talk To God
Goatman (1st encore)
Let It Bleed (2nd encore)
(*from Requiem)

Josefin Ohrn

Mugstar

Jane Weaver

Hookworms

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Angel Olsen, Manchester Club Academy 14th October 2016 9.5/10


I haven't been moved to write much of late: a change in my financial circumstances has curtailed my live music opportunities, and the recent gigs I had managed to buy tickets for were disappointing or uninspiring. Yet, occasionally,  a respected, established musician suddenly propels themselves to an exalted level of live performance, and so I feel compelled to disseminate the news. This happened most memorably in early 2014 with St. Vincent: the release of a landmark album in her career coinciding with a tour featuring stagecraft of a new level of creativity. Angel Olsen has with My Woman produced an album which is one of the most exceptional of this year, paralleling St. Vincent's in 2014. Yet Angel is a far less theatrical performer than Annie Clark, not relying on an elaborately crafted pop persona. In fact, she's relatively static: this is not a show filled with dancing or direct interaction with the audience. Early in the set, much of the drama took place off stage, when her tour manager was forced to leap over the barrier and eject some disruptive members of the crowd; the performance continued unflappably.


A more pertinent comparison is with another of my favourite performers who also issued an exceptional album in 2014: Sharon van Etten. Angel has long been suggested for investigation by those who appreciate the Brooklyn artist's style, but tonight was the first time I realised that she deserved to be placed in such exalted company. Like Sharon, she has an exceptionally pure and powerful soprano voice. This 29 year old from Asheville, NC is also a master of the guitar, reinforced by a five piece band with members from all over America. The lavish backing, together with excellent sound and lighting is a statement of intent that her days of playing coffee shops are long past: she'll surely shortly be commanding far larger venues than this one in Manchester. She may have pronounced: 'Angel Olsen is tired this evening', but there was no lack of passion in her delivery; indeed the energy was electrifying. The drama, and her band's drive recalls PJ Harvey, another artist who's enjoying an exceptional year.


The passion burning in songs like Not Gonna Kill You stems from the relationship breakdown which underlines My Woman; it is this pain which has, not for the first time, found powerful expression in art. As she explained to The Guardian: "Music is a wonderful thing to do with your life... but it’s a f*cked-up thing to do to your psyche... This (album) is where I actually loved and lost and came through the crazy storm." Her non-musical relationship with the audience relies on her quirky sense of humour, which feels relatively detached: she's far from long-winded in her chatter. Yet, her inspired third album brings greater extroversion in songs like Shut Up Kiss Me, with chorus and hooks. The emotional  depth of the second half moves me most, with extended songs like Sister. The album's closer is the desolate Pops; however she concluded this gig with the title song, when she sings: "I dare you to understand what makes me a woman." It blends psychedelia with her existing folk-rock style, whilst her first encore Intern introduced synthesisers to her oeuvre. Don't miss the opportunity to experience Angel's mesmerising presence and ability to move you deeply yourself during her current tour; this was surely one of my gigs of the year.


Set List (*from My Woman)
*Never Be Mine
Hi-Five
*Shut up kiss me
Lights Out
*Heart Shaped Face
*Sister
*Those Were The Days
Drunk
Windows
Special
*Not gonna kill you
Sweet Dreams
Forgiven Forgotten
*Give it up
*Intern (1st encore)
*Woman (2nd encore)