tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5180107122460273932024-03-14T03:07:01.904+00:00Ragged Gloriesiparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-19644059624011505912015-12-25T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-25T10:00:18.537+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Overall Top 10<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /><br /><br />So, here it is. The final post of the final Musical Advent Calendar. Here you'll find the overall top 10 - u</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">sing our patented, mutli-layered and highly sophisticated rating system (one point for a No. 24 nomination, 24 for a No. 1 and everything else in between), we've calculated what the panel rated as the best 10 albums of the year. You can see just how many points each one got below.</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />This year our panel picked between them 164 different albums, one shy of last year's tally. There was a remarkable convergence of picks in the last few days, as Sufjan Stevens, Laura Marling and Father John Misty picked up nominations in bunches. However, only so many of us ended up the same page - o</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">ur winner took 111 points, the lowest tally yet (a record, I suppose, which can no longer be broken). </span><div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Anyway, enough minutiae. This year we've made the decision that this should be the last Musical Advent Calendar. Since I had the ridiculous idea, sat outside a Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson gig in Leeds in 2007, we've had a blast doing this. The enthusiasm everyone brought to it was something I never expected, so a huge, huge thank you has to go to all those who contributed, and all those who read it and commented on it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Why is it coming to an end then? It's not that we've stopped loving it, but each year I know it gets harder and harder for some of the panel to take part in this project, and I was determined it would never be a burden for anyone. I figured it was better to stop it while we're all still having fun than to wait for that to change. A great philosophy in life is to always ask yourself, 'What would Neil Young do?' He told us this:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>"It's better to burn out than to fade away..."</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Thank you again. It's been an absolute pleasure.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty) - 111 points</b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i>What they said:</i> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Dom Farrell:</b> The candour with which he looks back on the happy respite of his childhood summers in Eugene in delicate, sepia tones is almost too much to bear at times. <i>Carrie and Lowell</i> is an unflinching, soul-bearing experience.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Matt Collins:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Carrie and Lowell</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> is a stripped back affair compared to his previous efforts, and this really allows the strength of the songwriting to shine right through. To say this is a breathtaking collection of indie folk songs with lush instrumentation would be an understatement. It is an unbelievable pleasure from start to finish.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Steve Pill:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> To me this is the sound of a man coming to terms with his past and working it all out, stepping forward with hope and clarity. More to the point, while I admire the project, I've also played it endlessly too. So number one it is.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andrew Gwilym:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> It is so nakedly emotional it can bring you close to tears, but you cannot turn it off. It’s too good, too gripping, too essential.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Rory Dollard:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Clearly it's beautiful, dead cert top-10 stuff. I'm not giving any more than that and I still got a little bit bored midway through Illinoise last time I tried. So there.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">2. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union) - 97 points</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUS_NkcfWrfwS7nW_yV93zOFu4Z4MXxJm57-8qc_3Wt08WIkmdLklvjC51Wgl3gW_-wwv3NXEZtnLDSbgEgthppedmHQRtDR6yw6DIVXcvI4rQpYyFYkA7MiV1Vr4_8C7Rgi_Wpm08aw/s1600/fatherjohn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUS_NkcfWrfwS7nW_yV93zOFu4Z4MXxJm57-8qc_3Wt08WIkmdLklvjC51Wgl3gW_-wwv3NXEZtnLDSbgEgthppedmHQRtDR6yw6DIVXcvI4rQpYyFYkA7MiV1Vr4_8C7Rgi_Wpm08aw/s200/fatherjohn.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Steve Pill: </b>What a hero. Josh Tillman settles rather lasciviously into his Father John Misty persona on album number two, a collection of baroque love songs for our self-obsessed age.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><b>Andrew Gwilym:</b> This is easily the loopiest album of the year. Part yearning and lovelorn, sometimes cruel, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes downright bonkers, but all brilliant.<br /><br /><b>Ian Parker:</b> If you'd asked me in April, May or even June for the best albums of the year to date, this might have earned a passing mention. Roll on December, it has found its way into the top five.<br /><br /><b>Dom Farrell:</b> Given Josh Tillman’s stated ambition of writing “about love without bullshitting”, <i>I Love You, Honeybear</i> fulfils its brief in sparkling fashion. Befitting of a record that contains suggested listening settings for each song, complete with recommended hallucinogenics, it’s a bit crackers at times but this attention to detail extends to a magnificent collection of lyrics - touching and poignant one minute, scathing and hilarious the next. Love without the bullshit, indeed.<br /><br /><b>Andy Welch: </b>To think this guy was once 'just' the drummer in Fleet Foxes… The lyrics, the sumptuous arrangements, the humorous live shows, he's a master of it all.<br /><br /><b>3. Laura Marling - Short Movie (Virgin/EMI) - 95 points</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-eTYOno_9pZJCbiDrlBxS0fMrlFKlK__WQBuBdMxHXe4YmhMWybxdVD_JY_6D8j9aKhWchYzzjxEnxoVPcM4IK2K5vdvFNcuDzxmC8_VABCtx9oR6uDZNabjfpbU6VAO1WLqTIxjTSs/s1600/lauramarling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1-eTYOno_9pZJCbiDrlBxS0fMrlFKlK__WQBuBdMxHXe4YmhMWybxdVD_JY_6D8j9aKhWchYzzjxEnxoVPcM4IK2K5vdvFNcuDzxmC8_VABCtx9oR6uDZNabjfpbU6VAO1WLqTIxjTSs/s200/lauramarling.jpg" width="200" /></a><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> This record seems like the culmination of everything she's been moving toward since her debut. There's a coldness and cryptic nature to the lyrics that I love, and musically, it's great to hear all those electric guitars being plugged in.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Ian Parker:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> This won’t be everyone’s favourite Laura Marling album (given the harsher edge it might take many fans time to get their ears around it) but it seems to most neatly explain her own story – that of a restless spirit who keeps pushing herself in new directions, even if the results might not always be comfortable. It’s what makes her the most interesting, most vital artist in her field.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andrew Gwilym:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> I know a few people were sceptical about </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Short Movie</i><span style="color: #cc0000;">, but this just adds further evidence, not that any were needed, that Marling is a bonafide great who will come to be our generation’s greatest artists. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Sonically, </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Short Movie</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> is Laura going electric and wearing a US jaunt of self-discovery on her sleeve. Beneath an altogether louder approach musically is her most vulnerable lyrical persona to date - not quite as strident, touches of regret and acceptance. Another fascinating and rewarding chapter in a truly marvellous career.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Rory Dollard:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> I have no doubt now that she's on track to be our Joni Mitchell, and someone many of us will be talking about in 20 years. But Joni had her off days and this, by her own standards, seems like Marling's first in a while. It's good, but she's so often great. I had a quick check of the Advent Calendar's by-laws just to check you were allowed to vote her as low as 18. You are.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">4. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon) - 91 points</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90Sf1neVCINUqAbduBvUPsF7-cftWM14R5bbwnPFTVCiHOzI2px3JCW08fEqXl6cpiLSTL7JgjGVWKUi9tQp0D31642TcnpCeJb6Jttmd3cnjjCCV840ALFNp3bOY-Se3P_H7RIOVLWk/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90Sf1neVCINUqAbduBvUPsF7-cftWM14R5bbwnPFTVCiHOzI2px3JCW08fEqXl6cpiLSTL7JgjGVWKUi9tQp0D31642TcnpCeJb6Jttmd3cnjjCCV840ALFNp3bOY-Se3P_H7RIOVLWk/s200/courtneybarnett.jpg" width="200" /></a><b style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell: </b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Barnett’s wit is jagged enough to slice through an under-ripe lemon and every bit as sharp as the juice within. It’s all carried by spiky new wave pop that slaps you across the face ('Pedestrian At Best', 'Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party') and gives you a sardonic nudge ('Depreston', 'Dead Fox') to equally great effect. The songwriting is exceptional and rarely misses a beat after the delayed chorus to Attractions-esque opener 'Elevator Operator' sends the record soaring. Like all essential albums, it’s devilishly hard to think of anything else you’d rather be doing that when you’re listening to </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit</i><span style="color: #cc0000;">. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Rory Dollard:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> There's rawness and playfulness, knowingness and vulnerability and a stack of easy-on-the-ear episodic gems. I can't wait to hear more.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Ian Parker:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Just when I wondered if I'd kind of grown out of indie, a time when I figured I only bought such records as reissues to remember a time that had past, </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Sometimes I Sit..</i><span style="color: #cc0000;">. came along to remind how bloody brilliant this sort of thing sounds when it's done right. Thank you, Courtney. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Steve Pill:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> To my mind, this is pure stoner Britpop though - a slacker Sleeper or loose Elastica, if you will. Listen to the bored female vocals, melodic bass lines and skronky chords of 'Pedestrian At Best' or 'Elevator Operator' and you can half imagine it's being played live on Big Breakfast circa 1995. What elevates this is Barnett's Sahara dry, self-deprecating wit in lines like "Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you" or the topical ennui of 'Depreston''s tale of house price woes: "We don't need to be around all those coffee shops... I'm saving $23 a week". While Wener, Frischmann and co. were often flirty and sex-obsessed, Barnett has a matey charm that is clever, winning and just a little shambolic.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch: </b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Like her early EPs, Courtney Barnett's debut is full of nods to Pavement and Mudhoney, but I was amazed to hear the likes of Sleeper and Elastica as influences. And being a big fan of Sleeper and Elastica, very pleased. Brilliant lyrics too.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">5. Guy Garvey - Courting The Squall (Polydor) - 72 points</b></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins:</b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"> Definitely pretty weird to hear Guy Garvey’s voice over anything but Elbow’s radio friendly prog stylings. Apparently he’s now all about the Afrobeat after checking out recommendations from his 6Music listeners. That might be stretching it a bit - Elbow were always a fairly experimental lot, and the title track in particular is an Elbow ballad in all but name. All in all though, a delightfully sparse, synthy, Afrobeat-lite collection of tunes.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Steve Pill:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> The urgent Beefheart-meets-Black Books skronk of 'Angela's Eyes' is a thrilling beginning, but much of the rest could easily have drunkenly snuggled its way onto any of Elbow's earlier albums. However, given that the Bury boys topped my chart last year and Garvey’s duetting partner Jolie Holland came third, you’ll realise why more of the same is no bad thing in my book.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Rory Dollard:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> For the 3mins 44secs of 'Angela's Eyes', it sounds like this solo outing is going to directly address the Elbow haters - it's slinky and funky and angular and not at all fit for a sunset festival singalong. In fact, you could drop a Tom Waits vocal on top and not change a note - which you probably couldn't say for 'One Day Like This'. Largely, that's a red herring because things take a turn for the familiar as Garvey's brooding humanist poetry takes hold. There's a stillness to his writing here, with the ebbs and flows less obvious than in his day job, but delicacy brings its own delights.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> He does hand-on-the-shoulder romance, packed with delicate imagery, better than anyone else I can think of. Blasts of brass throughout and the shuffling, jazzy interlude of 'Electricity' see Garvey continually hit the spot as he deftly picks apart loves old and new - probably no closer to sussing out what it all means but finding richness in the journey. It’s one we should all be happy to join him on.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">6. Bjork - Vulnicura (One Little Indian) - 61 points</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCe80pmKMP_2s9nQZFhRZshyuWIZCfNpZ0Qy71EQaTUlfiIiI2q8CqxXffV11ndfuG26YvKMzghQyEQ0U2Jl2itduG8d4iGQ85hBlDNvcJhMUvwyyInYYzfQKyyETa6hYxLWukGRd1Es/s1600/bjork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCe80pmKMP_2s9nQZFhRZshyuWIZCfNpZ0Qy71EQaTUlfiIiI2q8CqxXffV11ndfuG26YvKMzghQyEQ0U2Jl2itduG8d4iGQ85hBlDNvcJhMUvwyyInYYzfQKyyETa6hYxLWukGRd1Es/s200/bjork.jpg" width="200" /></a><b style="color: #cc0000;">Pranam Mavahalli:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Right at the heart of the record is 'Family'. A song so incredibly staggering that six months on I'm still blown away it every time I hear it. Over the course of its eight minutes, it acts as a microcosm of the album as a whole – mirroring the way the tracks (and I suppose broken relationships in general) move from sorrow and darkness, to acceptance and finally optimism. Starting with dissonant, inchoate, droning strings, the music gradually rises and rises, before reaching a summit of intensity - and collapsing into a scattershot confusion of broken arpeggios that seek resolution yet never quite reach it. Then, as if from nowhere, things coalesce. The key switches from minor to major, the melody rises, and waves of synths gently lap over each other as Bjork sings “I raise a monument of love/There is a swarm of sound/Around our heads/And we can hear it/And we can get healed by it/It will relieve us from the pain”. Goddammit, I think it's incredible. It's about as good as music gets. If you've not heard it, listen to it. If you have heard it, listen to it again. It's perfection.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Rory Dollard:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> This is, quite simply, the best break-up space opera you'll ever hear. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Ian Parker: </b><span style="color: #cc0000;">This is such a personal record, such a raw one - as the cover art suggests - from such a wonderfully complex, demanding artist that it requires a good deal of emotional energy to really do it justice. On those rare occasions you find it in you, the rewards are amazing. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">7. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love (Sub Pop) - 54 points</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NvQw9cWP5Yl6rv5DzltU1Jn3-HDPqe613XvvOhsxi-7Hd0ufgxE5DEY9f2U37MyUvHuKfXdSGa4pP-nlf-J94MOHsuzqBkqaYCiES0f_3U3SjiWE0Mv2_OckMScgrKuSX8GRD4L0dOM/s1600/sleaterkinney2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NvQw9cWP5Yl6rv5DzltU1Jn3-HDPqe613XvvOhsxi-7Hd0ufgxE5DEY9f2U37MyUvHuKfXdSGa4pP-nlf-J94MOHsuzqBkqaYCiES0f_3U3SjiWE0Mv2_OckMScgrKuSX8GRD4L0dOM/s200/sleaterkinney2.jpeg" width="200" /></a><b style="color: #cc0000;">Steve Pill:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">No Cities To Love</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> is superb rock'n'roll music: loud, brash, rousing, fun and just a bit cleverer than it initially seems.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Guy Atkinson:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> I’ve rarely seen such widespread fawning over a band as when Sleater-Kinney made their return earlier this year. Thankfully, no-one was left with egg on their face with the trio delivering a meaty and layered rock album that would, frankly, be beyond many bands going into their third decade.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">John Skilbeck:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> After almost 10 years away, they returned with a record teeming with electrifying force and conviction: a set of instant Sleater-Kinney classics. After going on “indefinite hiatus” in 2006, a step that Brownstein’s book reveals was more agonising than many realised, it was a joy to welcome them back.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andrew Gwilym: </b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Their first album in a decade won rave reviews and it’s easy to see why. Angular, taught, edgy and fiery. As bracing and brilliant as any rock record this year.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">8. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall (ATO) - 49 points</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dkWrsxHR0RNK04yCO-OTgvFbVOyOCRbo5aFppbgZYSdIbsjwyfvaTJWfudGVwX2OVs9Gfhj3EKbBnLDzDkT9LAmm4JM1NcjKA4S9H_UaeJc9RTnumPXDumL6sx8rCFSv6yOV2FjLJrs/s1600/mmj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8dkWrsxHR0RNK04yCO-OTgvFbVOyOCRbo5aFppbgZYSdIbsjwyfvaTJWfudGVwX2OVs9Gfhj3EKbBnLDzDkT9LAmm4JM1NcjKA4S9H_UaeJc9RTnumPXDumL6sx8rCFSv6yOV2FjLJrs/s200/mmj.jpg" width="200" /></a><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">The Waterfall</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> comes close, but this features so high on my list because of 'Thin Line', one of the most beautiful songs I've heard all year. Sublime. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Ian Parker:</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Their constant reworking and reinvention of their sound has kept them vital, and while </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">The Waterfall </i><span style="color: #cc0000;">doesn't quite top the likes of </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Z</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> or </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Circuital</i><span style="color: #cc0000;">, it reminds you why you can still believe that after 16 years, their best record might still be to come. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell: </b><span style="color: #cc0000;">In the post-Musical Advent Calendar age, where I will revert to my previous habits of buying loads of back catalogues en masse, I reckon Jim James and the boys will have a few of my pennies rolling their way now I’ve worked out they’re not Slipknot’s long-time tour support buddies.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andrew Gwilym: </b><span style="color: #cc0000;">For a band who sound remarkable when cutting loose on stage, MMJ almost sounded clinical. Here, the warmth is evident again. Opener 'Believe' and 'In Its Infancy' stretch out, while 'Get the Point' includes wonderful tender vocals from Jim James, who is on superb form throughout. It’s the sound of a great band getting back on track and stepping up the quality control</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">9. Four Tet - Morning/Evening (Text) - 41 points</b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Steve Pill:</b> <i>Currents</i> is a step up again, taking those retro elements and adding moogs, falsetto vocals, wooshy noises and all those other things that people in 1968 thought the future sounded like.<br /><br /><b>Andy Welch:</b> Tame Impala has always been about the vision of one man, Kevin Parker, and his seemingly limitless imagination. Tame Impala's second album perfected what he'd started on the debut, but this is something genuinely exciting and new, moving forwards, like all the best psychedelic music does, rather than endlessly gazing backwards. <br /><br /><br /></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-23956652374925964862015-12-24T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-24T10:00:11.510+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Twenty-Four<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">So here it is, the final full day of the final Musical Advent Calendar. We're going to wait until tomorrow's bonus post - and that all-important overall top 10 - to get overly emotional, because right now we must crack on with our No. 1 albums of the year. Oh yeah, and wish a Merry Christmas to everyone.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Andy Welch<br />Laura Marling – Short Movie (Virgin/EMI)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmch8CiLb25N7C1I8BafmocTCWvmbOzy5hqZSYIHsoMz9q35OQSSkHz_Nps0AxU72FjZb4JWPwBuqFGiGDhmRvAhChkNiVU6S8O-SY4hbNB9qofPAK-RGKn61ElX22ewyKbRriKpvlAU/s1600/lauramarling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmch8CiLb25N7C1I8BafmocTCWvmbOzy5hqZSYIHsoMz9q35OQSSkHz_Nps0AxU72FjZb4JWPwBuqFGiGDhmRvAhChkNiVU6S8O-SY4hbNB9qofPAK-RGKn61ElX22ewyKbRriKpvlAU/s200/lauramarling.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">Never let it be said I'm not predictable. Laura Marling's topped my list a couple of times before, and been a runner up, so in this final year of the Advent, it seems fitting that she should once again reign supreme. This record seems like the culmination of everything she's been moving toward since her debut. There's a coldness and cryptic nature to the lyrics that I love, and musically, it's great to hear all those electric guitars being plugged in. Even in a year as strong as 2015, so packed with greats that I couldn't find room for my beloved Richard Hawley, and weirdly forgot about Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Foals, Bjork, Sleater-Kinney and Destroyer, this still stands head and shoulders above them all. What an artist. What a record.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joanna Newsom - Divers (Drag City)</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Until October 23, Courtney Barnett sat in the number 1 slot. But if this is to be the last Ragged Glories hurrah (am I allowed to throw in an 'if'? … come on Ian, let's talk again about the Ragged Glories podcast) I wanted something more. Something authentically breathtaking and remarkable. Deep down I knew Joanna Newsom would provide it and in truth I mentally slotted her into top spot before the end of track 3. In the past she's been wilfully tricksy - 17 minute free verse, self-referencing triple albums - but here she presents a rabbit warren of literate, lyrical philosophy and virtuoso musicianship in atypically accessible nuggets. This is an album to think to, to drink to, to stop for, to wallow in, to wander in, to ponder on and to marvel at. If there are any parts that don't make me do any of those things, well that's my fault and not hers. When the time comes for the obligatory reunion calendar in 20 years I'll still be unpacking this one.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A new album by Sufjan Stevens is always going to make it to the top of a lot of album of the tear lists just by virtue of the fact that it is his new album. <i>Carrie and Lowell</i> is a stripped back affair compared to his previous efforts, and this really allows the strength of the songwriting to shine right through. To say this is a breathtaking collection of indie folk songs with lush instrumentation would be an understatement. It is an unbelievable pleasure from start to finish.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sifting back through my list, it seems to be more heavily comprised of miserable, whiny white guys than usual. Hopefully I can atone for this early onset male menopause by sticking Courtney Barnett’s tour de force of a debut at number one. The title induces a smirk and a chuckle and there are numerous lyrical gems to maintain this effect throughout. Barnett’s wit is jagged enough to slice through an under-ripe lemon and every bit as sharp as the juice within. It’s all carried by spiky new wave pop that slaps you across the face ('Pedestrian At Best', 'Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party') and gives you a sardonic nudge ('Depreston', 'Dead Fox') to equally great effect. The songwriting is exceptional and rarely misses a beat after the delayed chorus to Attractions-esque opener 'Elevator Operator' sends the record soaring. Like all essential albums, it’s devilishly hard to think of anything else you’d rather be doing that when you’re listening to <i>Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s been a pleasure gentlemen, an absolute ruddy pleasure. </span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm going down (Matador)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This album secured top spot by the time the opening track had finished. ‘Pretty Pimpin’ is the best song I have heard by anyone all year. A guitar riff that worms its way deep into your brain, clever lyrics, expertly delivered. Catchy, wry, funny, and the album never lets up. Vile is on a real hot patch at the moment – his previous two albums were also exceptional – and he is going stride for stride with old pal and War on Drugs cohort Adam Granduciel in making top-notch album after top-notch album. This is only my second year on the advent calendar but I sign off content knowing this cracker is my final choice. Cheers and Merry Christmas folks!</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chastity Belt - Time To Go Home (Hardly Art)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">This Seattle band, four women in their mid-twenties who met at college, got treacherously drunk and started Chastity Belt as a campus joke, are wonderfully wayward and sharp-tongued, or that was certainly how it seemed on their spellcheck-challenging debut <i>No Regerts</i>. Singer Julia Shapiro also plays in Childbirth (find them behind door two) who are, in reductive terms, a feminist comedy band. But while wryly observant themselves, Chastity Belt have a darker side than the side project. Guitarist Lydia Lund plays tricksy, melancholic six-string, garlanding the edges of their post-punk stylings, while Shapiro's woozy voice drips with cold sarcasm one moment, before being flushed with indignation the next. She recoils at “just another man trying to teach me something” on 'Drone', and on the standout 'Joke' there are few laughs to be had. "Let's light everything on fire" is less a call to arms than a moment of breakdown, set atop an incongruously blissful instrumental melody. There are moments of light to partly offset such shade, but <i>Time To Go Home</i> ends with the title track and a dark realisation - "Everything is beautiful, because we're delusional". And on that cheery note, merry Christmas. Whatever will we do at this time next year?</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Africa Express - Presents Terry Riley's In C (The Orchard)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Taking two things you love and mixing them together doesn't always work. Marmite and peanut M&Ms make uneasy bedfellows. So who would have thought that African folk music and contemporary minimal classical could mesh so well? Oh but they do. Even if you have no interest either genre, I urge you to take a listen. This is beautiful, warm, hypnotic, spiritual and life-affirming music, played with verve and a fresh take and a fresh take on the classical canon, which if nothing else proves that music is a great leveller of spirits. In a world that looks increasingly chaotic and fragmentary, this album shines a light on the rare and unique power that music has to unite.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Laura Marling - Short Movie (Virgin/EMI)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There has always been a frenetic element to the way Laura Marling has constantly reinvented herself, but <i>Short Movie </i>is the fullest realisation of that mood yet – stripping away her own comfort zone to truly challenge herself (“When you’re winning, you’re already losing” – from ‘Divine’). The frustration and loneliness Marling felt during a year living in the US - having followed her boyfriend there only to see the relationship end - is expressed in the most forceful, at times outright aggressive, album she has produced to date. This won’t be everyone’s favourite Laura Marling album (given the harsher edge it might take many fans time to get their ears around it) but it seems to most neatly explain her own story – that of a restless spirit who keeps pushing herself in new directions, even if the results might not always be comfortable. It’s what makes her the most interesting, most vital artist in her field.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Wonder Years – No Closer to Heaven (Hopeless Records)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve been accused by one of my colleagues this year of pretending to like certain music to “be cool”. However, if there’s one thing that disproves that theory it’s my ongoing love affair with pop-punk. A staple of my end-of-year lists over the past five years, this latest effort by The Wonder Years continues to move the genre forward and ensures this 31-year-old won’t be growing up anytime soon.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a year of many excellent records but no true standouts, this has as good a claim as any to my top spot. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Individually, the songs are impossibly pretty, harmonically adventurous and heartfelt slices of folk pop, but together they become more special again - a cohesive, conceptual whole in an era of 79p downloads and Spotify playlists. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a series of albums that have been too dominated by gimmicky themes (US states or robots), Sufjan instead tackles his absent mother and unusual family set up on each of these 11 tracks. The details are heartbreakingly precise ("she left me at the video store") and that high, forlorn register in which he sings is also strangely detached or numb in a way, furthering the feeling that the words are being sung without filter. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Some reviews (or friends I've recommended this to) have said how bleak it sounds, but I honestly don't get that. To me this is the sound of a man coming to terms with his past and working it all out, stepping forward with hope and clarity. More to the point, while I admire the project, I've also played it endlessly too. So number one it is.</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-60707235287410787432015-12-24T09:59:00.000+00:002015-12-24T09:59:05.163+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - A Quick Recap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />In order that you might more easily be able to mock panel members for the more glaring omissions from their lists, here's an easy at-a-glance look at their complete top 24s.<br /><br /><br /><b>Andy Welch</b><br /><br />1. Laura Marling – Short Movie (Virgin/EMI)<br />2. Tame Impala – Currents (Fiction)<br />3. Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool (Dirty Hit)<br />4. The Maccabees – Marks To Prove It (Fiction)<br />5. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar)<br />6. New Order – Music Complete (Mute)<br />7. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)<br />8. Half Moon Run – Sun Leads Me On (Caroline)<br />9. The Staves – If I Was (Atlantic)<br />10. Tobias Jesso Jr – Goon (True Panther)<br />11. Pond – Man It Feels Like Space Again (Universal)<br />12. Belle And Sebastian – Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance (Matador)<br />13. Leon Bridges – Coming Home (Columbia)<br />14. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon)<br />15. Blur – The Magic Whip (Parlophone)<br />16. Natalie Prass – Natalie Prass (Spacebomb)<br />17. Ryley Walker – Primrose Green (Dead Oceans)<br />18. My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall (ATO)<br />19. Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color (Rough Trade)<br />20. The Charlatans – Modern Nature (BMG)<br />21. Roisin Murphy – Hairless Toys (Play It Again Sam)<br />22. Will Butler – Policy (Merge)<br />23. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday (Sour Mash)<br />24. Ryan Adams – 1989 (Pax-Am)<br /><br /><b>Rory Dollard</b><br /><br />1. Joanna Newsom - Divers (Drag City)<br />2. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Marathon)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />3. Bjork - Vulnicura (One Little Indian)<br />4. Girlpool - Before the World Was Big (Wichita)<br />5. Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall (Polydor)<br />6. Ibeyi - Ibeyi (XL)<br />7. Public Service Broadcasting - Race for Space (Test Card Recordings)<br />8. Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy (Merge)<br />9. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)<br />10. Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ (Merge)<br />11. Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home (Dead Oceans)<br />12. Ryan Adams - 1989 </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Pax-Am)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />13. Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows (Parlophone)<br />14. Jenny Hval - Apocalypse Girl (Sacred Bones)<br />15. Holly Herndon - Platform (4AD)<br />16. Ghostface Killah and BBNG - Sour Soul (Lex)<br />17. Nadine Shah - Fast Food (Apollo)<br />18. Laura Marling - Short Movie </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Virgin/EMI)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">19. Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes (Rough Trade)<br />20. Jessica Pratt - On Your Own, Love Again (Drag City)<br />21. Songhoy Blues - Music in Exile (Transgressive)<br />22. The Unthanks - Mount The Air (Cadiz)<br />23. Eskimeaux - OK (Carrot Top)<br />24. Wilco - Star Wars (Epitaph)<br /><br /><b>Matt Collins</b><br /><br />1. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Asthmatic Kitty)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />2. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (Sour Mash)<br />3. This is the Kit - Bashed Out (Brassland)<br />4. Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars (Bella Union)<br />5. Adem - Seconds are Acorns (Caroline)<br />6. Everything Everything - Get to Heaven (RCA)<br />7. EL VY - Return to the Moon (4AD)<br />8. Dutch Uncles - O Shudder (Memphis Industries)<br />9. Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Polydor)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />10. Django Django - Born Under Saturn (Because)<br />11. Gaz Coombes - Matador (Hot Fruit)<br />12. Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards (Nettwerk)<br />13. Beirut - No No No (4AD)<br />14. Black Rivers - Black Rivers (Ignition)<br />15. The Charlatans - Modern Nature </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(BMG)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />16. Diagrams - Chromatics (Full Time Hobby)<br />17. Wolf Alice - My Love is Cool </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Dirty Hit)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />18. Jose Gonzalez - Vestiges and Claws (Peacefrog Records)<br />19. Blur - The Magic Whip </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />20. SOAK - Before We Forgot How to Dream (Rough Trade)<br />21. Sweet Baboo - The Boombox Ballads (Moshi Moshi)<br />22. FFS - FFS (Domino)<br />23. The Unthanks - Mount the Air </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Cadiz)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />24. Waxahatchee - Ivy Trip (Wichita)<br /><br /><b>Dom Farrell</b><br /><br />1. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Marathon)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />2. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Asthmatic Kitty)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />3. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Bella Union)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />4. Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Test Card Recordings)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />5. Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Polydor)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />6. Laura Marling - Short Movie </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Virgin/EMI)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />7. Ghostpoet - Shedding Skin (Play It Again Sam)<br />8. Tallest Man On Earth - Dark Bird Is Home </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Dead Oceans)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />9. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(ATO)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />10. The Charlatans - Modern Nature </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(BMG)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />11. Django Django - Born Under Saturn </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Because)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />12. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Jagjaguwar)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />13. Drenge - Undertow (Infectious)<br />14. Destroyer - Poison Season (Dead Oceans)<br />15. Bop English - Constant Bop (Blood and Biscuits)<br />16. The Arcs - Yours, Dreamily (Nonesuch)<br />17. Jessica Pratt - On Your Own Love Again </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Drag City)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />18. Matthew E White - Fresh Blood (Spacebomb)<br />19. Pinkshinyultrablast - Everything Else Matters (Club AC30)<br />20. Leon Bridges - Coming Home </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Columbia)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />21. Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />22. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Spacebomb)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />23. New Order - Music Complete </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Mute)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />24. Paul Smith & The Intimations - Contradictions (Billingham Records)<br /><br /><b>Andrew Gwilym</b><br /><br />1. Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm going down (Matador)<br />2. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Asthmatic Kitty)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />3. Gretchen Peters - Blackbirds (Proper)<br />4. Laura Marling - Short Movie </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Virgin/EMI)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />5. Wilco - Star Wars </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Epitaph)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />6. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)<br />7. Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Merge)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />8. Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart (Virgin EMI)<br />9. Heartless Bastards - Restless Ones (Partisan)<br />10. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Bella Union)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />11. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(ATO)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />12. Bob Dylan - Shadows in the Night (Columbia)<br />13. Jesse Malin - New York Before the War (One Little Indian)<br />14. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free (Southeastern Records)<br />15. AC/DC - Rock or Bust (Columbia)<br />16. Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern (Parlophone)<br />17. Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Dead Oceans)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />18. Buddy Guy - Born to Play Guitar (Sony)<br />19. Idlewild - Everything Ever Written (Empty Words)<br />20. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves (Columbia)<br />21. Craig Finn - Faith in the Future (Partisan)<br />22. Ryan Adam - 1989 (Pax-Am)<br />23. Neil Young & The Promise of the Real - The Monsanto Years (Reprise)<br />24. Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People (Polydor)<br /><br /><b>John Skilbeck</b><br /><br />1. Chastity Belt - Time To Go Home (Hardly Art)<br />2. Hop Along - Painted Shut (Saddle Creek)<br />3. Screaming Females - Rose Mountain (Don Giovanni Records)<br />4. Marina and the Diamonds - FROOT (Neon Gold/Atlantic)<br />5. Joanna Gruesome - Peanut Butter (Fortuna Pop)<br />6. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Most Important Place In The World (Chemikal Underground)<br />7. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)<br />8. Downtown Boys - Full Communism (Don Giovanni Records)<br />9. Kodiak Deathbeds - Kodiak Deathbeds (self-released)<br />10. Tove Lo - Queen Of The Clouds (Island)<br />11. Shopping - Why Choose (FatCat)<br />12. Girlpool - Before The World Was Big (Wichita)<br />13. Ought - Sun Coming Down (Constellation)<br />14. Hurry Up - Hurry Up (Army Of Bad Luck)<br />15. Chvrches - Every Open Eye (Universal)<br />16. Trust Fund - No One’s Coming For Us (Turnstile)<br />17. The Cribs - For All My Sisters (Sony RED)<br />18. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (Interscope)<br />19. The Apartments - No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal (Microcultures)<br />20. Desperate Journalist - Desperate Journalist (Fierce Panda)<br />21. Escort - Animal Nature (Escort)<br />22. Prinzhorn Dance School - Home Economics (DFA)<br />23. Childbirth - Women’s Rights (Suicide Squeeze)<br />24. Dilly Dally - Sore (Partisan)<br /><br /><b>Pranam Mavahalli</b><br /><br />1. Africa Express - Presents Terry Riley's In C (The Orchard)<br />2. Bjork – Vulnicura </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(One Little Indian)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />3. Julia Holter – Have you in My Wilderness (Domino)<br />4. Floating Points – Elaenia (Pluto)<br />5. Andy Stott – Faith in Strangers (Modern Love)<br />6. Alabama Shakes – Sound and Color </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Rough Trade)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />7. Four Tet – Morning/Evening (Text)<br />8. Low – Ones and Sixes (Sub Pop)<br />9. Percussions – 2011 until 2014 (Text)<br />10. Jamie xx – In Colour (Young Turks)<br />11. Kendrick Lamaar – To Pimp a Butterfly (Polydor)<br />12. Owiny Sigoma Band – Nyanza (Brownswood)<br />13. Seven Davis Jr – Universes (Ninja Tune)<br />14. Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa (World Circuit)<br />15. R Seiliog – In Hz (Caroline)<br />16. Panda Bear – Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (Domino)<br />17. Boxed In – Boxed In (Nettwerk)<br />18. Aphex Twin - </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> user18081971 (Self-released)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />19. Glenn Astro – Throwback (Republic of Music)<br />20. Kamasi Washington – The Epic (Brainfeeder)<br />21. George Fitzgerald – Fading Love (Double Six)<br />22. Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band – 21st Century Molam (Studio Lam)<br />23. Holly Herndon – Platform </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(4AD)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />24. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Asthmatic Kitty)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /><b>Ian Parker</b><br /><br />1. Laura Marling - Short Movie </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Virgin/EMI)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />2. Benjamin Clementine - At Least For Now (Barclay)<br />3. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Dead Oceans)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />4. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Bella Union)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />5. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Spacebomb)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />6. Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Marathon)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />7. Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Spacebomb)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />8. Barna Howard - Quite A Feelin' (Loose)<br />9. Bjork - Vulnicura </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(One Little Indian)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />10. Blur - The Magic Whip </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />11. Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Nettwerk)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />12. Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Southeastern Records)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />13. My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(ATO)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />14. Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />15. Leon Bridges - Coming Home </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Columbia)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />16. Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear - Skeleton Crew (Glassnote)<br />17. Smoke Fairies - Winter Wild (Full Time Hobby)<br />18. Kristin McClement - The Wild Grips (Willkommen)<br />19. Neil Young & </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The Promise of the Real - The Monsanto Years </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">20. The Arcs - Yours, Dreamily </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Nonesuch)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />21. Kurt Vile - B'lieve I'm Going Down </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Matador)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />22. Saun & Starr - Look Closer (Daptone)<br />23. Paul Weller - Saturn's Pattern </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />24. Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Rough Trade)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /><b>Guy Atkinson</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">1. The Wonder Years – No Closer to Heaven (Hopeless Records)<br />2. Desaparecidos – Payola (Epitaph)<br />3. Turnover – Peripheral Vision (Run For Cover Records)<br />4. Defeater – Abandoned (Epitaph)<br />5. Deafheaven – New Bermuda (ANTI-)<br />6. Joanna Gruesome – Peanut Butter (Fortuna POP!)<br />7. The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die – Harmlessness (Epitaph)<br />8. The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness (Republic Records)<br />9. Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle (6131 Records)<br />10. Beach Slang – The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us (Big Scary Monsters)<br />11. Lights & Motion – Chronicle (Deep Elm)<br />12. Sleater-Kinney – No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)<br />13. Gallows – Desolation Sounds (Venn Records)<br />14. Wavves/Cloud Nothings – No Life for Me (Ghost Ramp)<br />15. Turnstile – Nonstop Feeling (Reaper Records)<br />16. Blacklisted – When People Grow, People Go (Deathwish)<br />17. Title Fight – Hyperview (ANTI-)<br />18. Chain of Flowers – Chain of Flowers (Alter)<br />19. Caspian – Dust and Disquiet (Big Scary Monsters)<br />20. Toundra – IV (Superball Music)<br />21. Westkust – Last Forever (Luxury)<br />22. Menace Beach – Ratworld (Memphis Industries)<br />23. Annabel – Having it All (Tiny Engines)<br />24. Joey Bada$ - B4.DA.$ (Cinematic Music Group)<br /><br /><b>Steve Pill</b><br /><br />1. Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Asthmatic Kitty)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />2. Four Tet – Morning/Evening </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Text)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />3. Jamie XX – In Colour </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Young Turks)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />4. Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Bella Union)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />5. D'Angelo and the Vanguard – Black Messiah (RCA)<br />6. Jim O'Rourke – Simple Songs (Drag City)<br />7. Tame Impala – Currents </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Fiction)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />8. Beach Slang – The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us (Big Scary Monsters)<br />9. Guy Garvey – Courting the Squall </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Polydor)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />10. Floating Points – Elaenia </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Pluto)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />11. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Marathon)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />12. Rival Consoles – Howl (Erased Tapes)<br />13. Julia Holter – Have You in My Wilderness (Domino)<br />14. Bill Ryder-Jones – West Kirby County Primary (Domino)<br />15. Destroyer – Poison Season (Dead Oceans)<br />16. LoneLady – Hinterland (Warp)<br />17. Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment – Surf (Self-released)<br />18. Nils Frahm – Solo (Erased Tapes)<br />19. Yo La Tengo – Stuff Like That There (4AD)<br />20. Songhoy Blues – Music in Exile </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Transgressive)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />21. Sleater Kinney – No Cities To Love </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Sub Pop)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />22. Blur – The Magic Whip </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Parlophone)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />23. Ryan Adams – 1989 </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">(Pax-Am)</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />24. C Duncan – Architect (Fatcat)<br /><br /></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-1579637713952737392015-12-23T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-23T10:00:16.834+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Twenty-Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirJvkSbPRxY6cICBp3a1PvBxNc_lE-3kHTaqVSgYjiPdz14KrJg4GorQd6WXXC_uepPzLKKbFBQ69ZBODJp0ZPu0Rmvz86YbmkLqdAHImskZIEfFnnqAQYVsg2uAea60Ui2cfAdw65LdQ/s1600/23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirJvkSbPRxY6cICBp3a1PvBxNc_lE-3kHTaqVSgYjiPdz14KrJg4GorQd6WXXC_uepPzLKKbFBQ69ZBODJp0ZPu0Rmvz86YbmkLqdAHImskZIEfFnnqAQYVsg2uAea60Ui2cfAdw65LdQ/s1600/23.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">The nearly men and women, here are the records that had their shot at glory on the final Musical Advent Calendar, but ultimately had to settle for second best behind Door 23. </span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Andy Welch<br />Tame Impala – Currents (Fiction)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaBFp7mYvJiDahF3BsN4BGpYdmI9H4eAzLGMaSXi0WpkLX-VZODoDlEa89bT_k4aT7TEKY7aHwN9cEx8lnardVlNLXUH7F7fGIg-JyJn5gZXya_oz4cpp9RlVFLle4VQ8SziFGJqPLFU/s1600/tameimpala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaBFp7mYvJiDahF3BsN4BGpYdmI9H4eAzLGMaSXi0WpkLX-VZODoDlEa89bT_k4aT7TEKY7aHwN9cEx8lnardVlNLXUH7F7fGIg-JyJn5gZXya_oz4cpp9RlVFLle4VQ8SziFGJqPLFU/s200/tameimpala.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tame Impala has always been about the vision of one man, Kevin Parker, and his seemingly limitless imagination. Tame Impala's second album perfected what he'd started on the debut, but this is something genuinely exciting and new, moving forwards, like all the best psychedelic music does, rather than endlessly gazing backwards. Parker is no retro revivalist. It puts an interesting spin on the heartbreak theme, too, with Parker casting himself as the villain of his own creation. It's not a perspective we hear too much, but he's the one who did the leaving, which only adds to the uniqueness of the music. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sBzrzS1Ag_g" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard<br />Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEydB2KrIK69fp_pxfzqweUZLuBEb2hKWP9g1f9cfWybvdEtatISHTZc9GOUQy3XcG30dprASzgfl2D0fU8LKudH3eEZ_yToFm8uTDsXC9YWdzLNJdHicQT8mZ8t1eqBb9scdJdW_oI8/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEydB2KrIK69fp_pxfzqweUZLuBEb2hKWP9g1f9cfWybvdEtatISHTZc9GOUQy3XcG30dprASzgfl2D0fU8LKudH3eEZ_yToFm8uTDsXC9YWdzLNJdHicQT8mZ8t1eqBb9scdJdW_oI8/s200/courtneybarnett.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This album provided me with proof of two very important things: 1) That I am a dick. 2) That the condition is not irredeemable. I knew, peripherally, about Courtney Barnett for ages. I heard exclusively good things, mostly from good people, but I decided it wasn't my bag. I can't entirely recall why now, but when I finally buckled under the critical mass, I fell hard and fast. There's rawness and playfulness, knowingness and vulnerability and a stack of easy-on-the-ear episodic gems. I can't wait to hear more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1NVOawOXxSA" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (Sour Mash)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi837Lp7YyN-46LXQQ-1PrHPn768wBbJOAhVDlgFmi1H13lMwdLtCbx2iRBLQNAO9E4q4MlC7VeRd1RK3hFHHEEBI_P7dcnrmnnJlk-tOaNmd2ug77Xj1h6qGR9CTcNE0n57a3TcfDnL8I/s1600/noelgallagher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi837Lp7YyN-46LXQQ-1PrHPn768wBbJOAhVDlgFmi1H13lMwdLtCbx2iRBLQNAO9E4q4MlC7VeRd1RK3hFHHEEBI_P7dcnrmnnJlk-tOaNmd2ug77Xj1h6qGR9CTcNE0n57a3TcfDnL8I/s200/noelgallagher.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Album number two from Noel Gallagher as a solo artist has arrived. Pre-release interviews went on about it being psychedelic, and that is definitely an overstated way of referring to a few nice guitar sounds. Closing track 'Ballad of the Mighty I' might be his best song in a decade or more. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bzQYtpjMjSo" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-4lFJyKlQJiaIOFEvn-e0VT4BnbJpQkmW0699mUgai4E_FKIBsUFeBhwCx2erAJ_kgHS2QFNQ5LBWPXlCEQKn0O0KhF8y1s-vP2ZorD0-OAxbehdyanMbAcZJWy20cvFyAxS_aupXwc/s1600/sufjan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-4lFJyKlQJiaIOFEvn-e0VT4BnbJpQkmW0699mUgai4E_FKIBsUFeBhwCx2erAJ_kgHS2QFNQ5LBWPXlCEQKn0O0KhF8y1s-vP2ZorD0-OAxbehdyanMbAcZJWy20cvFyAxS_aupXwc/s200/sufjan.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">An album inspired by the death of Sufjan’s wayward mother was hardly going to be a companion piece to </span><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">We Are All Delighted People</i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">. The candour with which he looks back on the happy respite of his childhood summers in Eugene in delicate, sepia tones is almost too much to bear at times. </span><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Carrie and Lowell </i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">is an unflinching, soul-bearing experience. That you never find yourself longing for one of his gloriously daft songs about Superman or God knows what is a testament to its beguiling brilliance.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dsGODTySH0E" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZFFkq86u72Ir1C7KprOYlBIlfDCVq1uqmCrtabq22N0TpSHT3Uo5dNXB0P2qzSX-b7OQ-PF-2INgQdteJB7h5Ia7fVkuclVJBIjUULKaBxubFakk5gZ1j_uMJfg9lrLnqik3gX8OjSE/s1600/sufjan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ZFFkq86u72Ir1C7KprOYlBIlfDCVq1uqmCrtabq22N0TpSHT3Uo5dNXB0P2qzSX-b7OQ-PF-2INgQdteJB7h5Ia7fVkuclVJBIjUULKaBxubFakk5gZ1j_uMJfg9lrLnqik3gX8OjSE/s200/sufjan.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stevens has always been the sort of man ready to lay bare his emotions. He may hide them under lovely melodies and hushed vocals, but he has already had the ability to unsettle with a turn of phrase or passing detail. Given this record came shortly after his mother died, there are plenty of such moments on <i>Carrie & Lowell</i>. It is so nakedly emotional it can bring you close to tears, but you cannot turn it off. It’s too good, too gripping, too essential.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Se6-q57xJCg" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hop Along - Painted Shut (Saddle Creek)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6N98k70asv_x-bpDDUbHCr1muiC3VcKzK4gMtNMOlEe402JuOUptuEijp_JHDGTPHODF7vDmb457heTWHHBVK70_2Dp-UBtclTacxoHEIWF86TJQ5NMB-aue0eF2FcZK-mKKYYBX6B8/s1600/hopalong.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-6N98k70asv_x-bpDDUbHCr1muiC3VcKzK4gMtNMOlEe402JuOUptuEijp_JHDGTPHODF7vDmb457heTWHHBVK70_2Dp-UBtclTacxoHEIWF86TJQ5NMB-aue0eF2FcZK-mKKYYBX6B8/s200/hopalong.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Frances Quinlan had been building towards her <i>Painted Shut</i> masterpiece for a decade, having formed Hop Along while she was still in school. Initially a dalliance into anti-folk, Hop Along have mutated into what at face value is a standard indie-rock quartet. Yet Hop Along are far from trad, Quinlan sees to that. Her singing voice is extraordinary: lilting and tuneful in places but growing increasingly gravelly (Bonnie Tyler-level gravelly) as the drama soars, the guitars clang loudly and lyrical stormy clouds descend, emoting with the don't-stop-me-now conviction of, say, a Corin Tucker or Tanya Donelly. Visceral and vital.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AU39gpBHMK4" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bjork – Vulnicura (One Little Indian)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At first I found this album quite hard to listen to. Detailing a breakup, at first it felt too emotionally raw, with lyrics frank to the point of being uncomfortable. Listening to it felt almost voyeuristic. Yet the more I heard it, the more I became convinced that it's one of the Bjork's finest records. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right at the heart of the record is 'Family'. A song so incredibly staggering that six months on I'm still blown away it every time I hear it. Over the course of its eight minutes, it acts as a microcosm of the album as a whole – mirroring the way the tracks (and I suppose broken relationships in general) move from sorrow and darkness, to acceptance and finally optimism. Starting with dissonant, inchoate, droning strings, the music gradually rises and rises, before reaching a summit of intensity - and collapsing into a scattershot confusion of broken arpeggios that seek resolution yet never quite reach it. Then, as if from nowhere, things coalesce. The key switches from minor to major, the melody rises, and waves of synths gently lap over each other as Bjork sings “I raise a monument of love/There is a swarm of sound/Around our heads/And we can hear it/And we can get healed by it/It will relieve us from the pain”. Goddammit, I think it's incredible. It's about as good as music gets. If you've not heard it, listen to it. If you have heard it, listen to it again. It's perfection.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLhEry9Tfb-JdCozLNW3d4L3zlN09KdmIdHKy6mVANOY-fdKzM1CSrQr7yY9WEYNBfEtcBVe1t6UzLp59di8gdfRe2uind8haCRRkIOlexzGMH22_qg1KI1IUxeykcSCdO0vvdV4OFPj0/s1600/benjamin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLhEry9Tfb-JdCozLNW3d4L3zlN09KdmIdHKy6mVANOY-fdKzM1CSrQr7yY9WEYNBfEtcBVe1t6UzLp59di8gdfRe2uind8haCRRkIOlexzGMH22_qg1KI1IUxeykcSCdO0vvdV4OFPj0/s200/benjamin.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">I can't quite remember where I first heard Benjamin Clementine's '</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dc5BQ31iLw" style="font-family: inherit;">Cornerstone</a><span style="color: #cc0000;">', his truly beautiful song about his experience of homelessness, but I remember what a project it became to get hold of the actual 2013 EP on which it featured, which I eventually landed some time in early 2014 on import from France. Thankfully a copy of this album was much easier to acquire as it landed in my lap in March, since when it became something of an obsession. Clementine was raised on gospel and classical music, but has found his own voice amid a troubled life which took him from a harsh background in north London to the streets of Paris and back to London again, and he picked up plenty of jazz inflections along the way. Until a few weeks ago, this record was still devilishly hard to get hold of (unless a PR company sends you one). In attempting to buy it as a gift I struck out when trying several shops in and around his native north London and was about to turn back to the import market before a surprise but well-deserved Mercury win persuaded his label it might actually be worth distributing the damn thing. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ugGN_Z1jPoM" width="560"></iframe> </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Desaparecidos – Payola (Epitaph)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Jamie Vardy of my list (without the racism and hideous face). If you’d have told me at the start of the year that a post-hardcore band fronted by the mope from Bright Eyes would be one of my most listened to albums, I’d have thought there was something wrong with you. As it turns out, you’d have been entirely correct.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kieran Hebden continues his quest to make spiritual music for atheists with an album divided into two tracks, 'Morning' and 'Evening', clocking in at about 20 minutes. While the concept sounds deceptively simple, these are not just obvious contrasts. 'Morning' builds slowly, the Indian vocal sample arriving as a shock at first but then weaving into the fabric of the music for much of the duration. There's a warm, analogue glow to the production, but still breathing space for a minute or two of pure electronica and a delicate, burbling coda. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Indian vocals resurface in the 'Evening' side, more fragmented and melancholy this time, but there is still no bruising beats as one might expect for a nocturnal flip. At times you can hear what appears to be a chirruping sound, as if surrounded by crickets in a moonlit field. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm in danger of talking out of my arse a little here, but the music has that effect - you want to match Hebden's ambition and vision with a worthy response. With <i>Morning/Evening</i>, he has crafted two delicate, immersive and unpredictable suites of music here that sound at first like background music yet demand your attention, front and centre. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nWJV83LyBz8" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-42189106865146666792015-12-22T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-22T10:00:14.152+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Twenty-Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Gwilym's dad has the hot tips as we reach Day 22 of the Musical Advent Calendar and the podium section of our top 24s.<br /><br /><b>Andy Welch<br />Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool (Dirty Hit)</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">British guitar music is pretty dire, let's face it. For every Maccabees and Foals, moving things on, there seems to be 10 Catfish And The Bottlemen, clinging on to the 90s like cultural limpets but crucially, forgetting to add anything of their own too. Just as looks as if the game is completely up, along come Wolf Alice, who show that there's life in the genre, providing your 90s record collection goes beyond Britpop and on to the likes of The Breeders and Pixies. It's another brilliantly produced record, too, polished and slick without being overly so. They might not have much competition at the moment, but this is Britain's best new band.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c5P_knK9GKU" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bjork - Vulnicura (One Little Indian)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMiejLvdwVqGf9_IccAPEL2OjC7X6tbMQdHOUCvMzKXjbzZkRY6j-BhK89-tgsWQEyqDYaFDh5M5HJHBoLt3mWKl6r3jSmYDxa5Rq6iodrMTc6qyxrOxiKnV1uVzU2XzbMOPAp3_OLqQ/s1600/bjork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMiejLvdwVqGf9_IccAPEL2OjC7X6tbMQdHOUCvMzKXjbzZkRY6j-BhK89-tgsWQEyqDYaFDh5M5HJHBoLt3mWKl6r3jSmYDxa5Rq6iodrMTc6qyxrOxiKnV1uVzU2XzbMOPAp3_OLqQ/s200/bjork.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">This is, quite simply, the best break-up space opera you'll ever hear. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Increasingly, Bjork seems to be operating at one remove from the rest of us - re-entering our orbit every few years to scatter gems like this. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">This is sad and beautiful - good combo, that - and embraces her inherehent 'otherness' so organically that you wonder if it isn't you that is the alien.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gQEyezu7G20" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the Kit - Bashed Out (Brassland)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Surely one of the most underrated bands around, This is the Kit seem to be stuck on the support slots of bigger bands like the National. It would be nice to think that <i>Bashed Out</i> will change all that (though I’ve said that before), because it really is it a terrific collection of gentle tunes, lush vocals, and exactly the kind of music you would expect to see played on a boat as in the video here. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yME_52X20N8" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Given Josh Tillman’s stated ambition of writing “about love without bullshitting”, <i>I Love You, Honeybear</i> fulfils its brief in sparkling fashion. Befitting of a record that contains suggested listening settings for each song, complete with recommended hallucinogenics, it’s a bit crackers at times but this attention to detail extends to a magnificent collection of lyrics - touching and poignant one minute, scathing and hilarious the next. Love without the bullshit, indeed. However, Tillman could be reciting the phonebook against this impeccable musical backdrop and it would still be a captivating listen. 'Chateau Lobby #4' sounds like a great lost Glen Campbell track, launching the warts-and-all love story that “I Went To The Store One Day” closes in devastating style. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A6NuYJ0RzRg" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gretchen Peters – Blackbirds (Scarlet Letter)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Confession time. My Dad recommended this album to me. Elwyn Gwilym, man of the people, <a href="https://twitter.com/elwyngwilym" target="_blank">Twitter obsessive</a> and a man who has professed a liking for Sheeran and Swift. He beat me to this one. He went on and on about this album so long I eventually caved and bought it. I’m glad I did. Peters has created a melancholy album, but one imbued with an infectious spirit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bOTIjSWTTcs" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Screaming Females - Rose Mountain (Don Giovanni Records)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sixth album time for the New Jersey trio, and with <i>Rose Mountain</i> there were swift accusations levelled at Screaming Females that their sound had been smoothed down. Pitchfork reckoned it “lacks much of their former wildness”. And perhaps the talk was true. What they had returned with was a different, cleaner sound, allowing singer-guitarist Marissa Paternoster’s spectacular shredding to occupy greater prominence, and if that meant it came at the expense of a sound befitting a DIY aesthetic it did not dial down the level of the songwriting. 'Wishing Well' was triumphantly anthemic and contained a great whacking Paternoster guitar solo. Try on 'Hopeless', and its ghoulish video, for size.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Julia Holter – Have you in My Wilderness (Domino)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCZNfyscotK5TrIvgmYEwB5nm2QgrR5Q8TLuqj0ibfOE0DtGwqulWx4UtR-1gTvmo6vQLHnQ1vKarfRTLTWDjz7OGRfxTYR3iSoMGRFJ53C1pa5D4YIwxKb2hElNjx9a7Vu8idW55hCo/s1600/juliaholter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioCZNfyscotK5TrIvgmYEwB5nm2QgrR5Q8TLuqj0ibfOE0DtGwqulWx4UtR-1gTvmo6vQLHnQ1vKarfRTLTWDjz7OGRfxTYR3iSoMGRFJ53C1pa5D4YIwxKb2hElNjx9a7Vu8idW55hCo/s200/juliaholter.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the time of writing, it looks like Julia Holter's album is making it to the top of a lot of end of year polls. I guess the critics got it right. The melodies are beautiful, the production is lush and the arrangements appeal to the jazzist in me. Really I'm not sure what's not to like in this album. 'Vasquez 'is my standout track. When the jazzy abstraction off the verses gently yet unexpectedly morph into the most beautiful of choruses, letting Holter's vocal soar over the strings, my eyes well up and I get goosepimples. Every fricking time. Isn't that what this whole music lark's about?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w8USu4D0dvw" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ryley Walker - Primrose Green (Dead Oceans) </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">With a style that recalls greats like Tim Buckley and John Martyn, Ryley Walker creates records you can get lost in, and I've spent a good deal of 2015 with my head wandering across <i>Primrose Green</i>. Expanding his sound with an extensive cast of musicians, Walker pays homage to his heroes with a blissful mix of psych- and jazz-influenced folk, and in doing so makes a great record of his own. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/96qBM4LL2ps" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Turnover – Peripheral Vision (Run For Cover Records)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhyphenhyphendYXEOHRuaOx6wMzREWV2xHMhezbJRFJooF9nXSXJ8Iarunub30j_P55y5og73-EHOJoGuFj2fS9_veADa2KTdVZ5kvNXAzwZ-RMJr9WxkJMYJzL-zrkEnzKAzoMeKg4qCjgpvYmPI/s1600/turnover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhyphenhyphendYXEOHRuaOx6wMzREWV2xHMhezbJRFJooF9nXSXJ8Iarunub30j_P55y5og73-EHOJoGuFj2fS9_veADa2KTdVZ5kvNXAzwZ-RMJr9WxkJMYJzL-zrkEnzKAzoMeKg4qCjgpvYmPI/s200/turnover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Spearheaded by my favourite song of the year, ‘Cutting My Fingers Off’, this album took everything that was great about their debut and crystallised it into a woozy indie rock masterpiece.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bhQeL54RmXYIa1zoMrJNuhRefaYd3OiMiFuRw7EPRLEjNitf8N_Sd9azEqKtduNoc7vdPnv5iSI0mxuy5fr_0MDO1-zhgRh4FPTe_1_OlJRTR9VifsRpe1KCpMJdY9UHTrHy39s4fcc/s1600/jamiexx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0bhQeL54RmXYIa1zoMrJNuhRefaYd3OiMiFuRw7EPRLEjNitf8N_Sd9azEqKtduNoc7vdPnv5iSI0mxuy5fr_0MDO1-zhgRh4FPTe_1_OlJRTR9VifsRpe1KCpMJdY9UHTrHy39s4fcc/s200/jamiexx.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A Jamie XX DJ set is normally a pretty full-on affair, mixing up garage anthems, electro re-edits, 1990s house and vintage soul into a celebratory, inclusive whole. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">His first album is an altogether different proposition however. This is proper head music, tracks designed for the imagination as much as the feet. He was apparently listening heavily to the first Walls album when he made this and a little of that sun-frazzled ambience has crept in here, aided and abetted by his trademark steel drums. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>In Colour </i>is also surprisingly nostalgic for a record made by a guy in his early 20s. Tracks like 'Gosh' and 'I Know There's Gonna Be (Good Times)' feel like celebrations of a very specific time and place. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">There's something wistful about the production too. It often reminds me of that old REM lyric about being "alone in a crowded room". Several tracks feel as if the party is going on elsewhere, like the beats are being heard through a wall and over a wash of crowd noise and chatter, the first aural recreation of what it's like to be in the chill-out room at a big club night like Warehouse Project. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It could so easily have been too cool and calculating, but the lyrics reveal this to be a very personal, honest and occasionally lonely paean to club culture.</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-90575969873283414682015-12-21T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-21T10:00:08.454+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Twenty-One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br />Dollard has his deerstalker ready and is braced to reach for the HP Sauce but we have a feeling he won't need it as we reveal our No. 4 albums of the year behind Door 21 of the Musical Advent Calendar. </span><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7L-J-8UKSvjztzjMSEw839ybtLyMWDwPFm2Rx2ax7TRSL0L6Xlv59NMztMBVbuvcMgjKgNFLl3R0dqRC-_3W4fwceUvJnG4RNxzGbWxp_bb9s-nmt9hr0_y3z2ANQ42_NHDVauU4gKaY/s1600/maccabees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7L-J-8UKSvjztzjMSEw839ybtLyMWDwPFm2Rx2ax7TRSL0L6Xlv59NMztMBVbuvcMgjKgNFLl3R0dqRC-_3W4fwceUvJnG4RNxzGbWxp_bb9s-nmt9hr0_y3z2ANQ42_NHDVauU4gKaY/s200/maccabees.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Looking at my list this year, it seems to be about bands who started out as one thing and have come good a few albums into their career. Few have matured quite as well as The Maccabees. I didn't care for their debut but have increasingly enjoyed their records since. None have hit the spot like <i>Marks To Prove It</i>, though, which shows they've become brilliant songwriters, but also fantastic producers too, making a huge-sounding, dense record without throwing the kitchen sink at it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">A wonderful, unexpected gatecrasher here in the upper echelons of the blog. The kind of gatecrasher who looks like they're going to get wasted on unbranded vodka and vomit on the cat, before charming everyone and leaving at just the right moment. The shrieky high-school darts of their debut EP reappear only occasionally - and are perfectly welcome when they do - but despite being teenagers when this was recorded there is maturity here too. There is a restraint here - both in the sparse arrangements and the brevity of the songs - but what remains is vividly rendered. If Skillers doesn’t like this I'll eat my hat.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hDprSv9DjxY" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars (Bella Union)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What else would you expect from the new Beach House album but a collection of beautifully concocted songs, laid against a dreamy backdrop? Good job you don't expect anything else, because that's exactly what the new Beach House album actually is. Dive in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jhUUZl_wflM" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space (Test Card Recordings)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyi9aWqKt5rE3vyGRx89ex8XbnjSYhxataIKC9gi0JMUHpBU208ov4zt-cAzpK3ADmaSvS9Ws5M0pRdt2IgV_Jr9qaxQSs2RGlsl2eYP-6Q1CRgZD7I5xov_paaeVqr59uWfQNRad2dUY/s1600/publicservicebroadcasting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyi9aWqKt5rE3vyGRx89ex8XbnjSYhxataIKC9gi0JMUHpBU208ov4zt-cAzpK3ADmaSvS9Ws5M0pRdt2IgV_Jr9qaxQSs2RGlsl2eYP-6Q1CRgZD7I5xov_paaeVqr59uWfQNRad2dUY/s200/publicservicebroadcasting.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A bunch of blokes playing music behind clips of the news? I think I was within my rights to be highly sceptical of Public Service Broadcasting but after repeated, glowing recommendations I took the plunge. <i>The Race For Space</i> is a colossal record. As big, brash and ambitious as its subject matter and probably a good deal more fun than floating around weightless eating Smash. That’s what they do up there right?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know a few people were sceptical about <i>Short Movie</i>, but this just adds further evidence, not that any were needed, that Marling is a bonafide great who will come to be our generation’s greatest artists. The decision to weave in some electric guitar results in a more open album than <i>Once I Was an Eagle</i>, and it is true it lacks some of the bite of its predecessor. But, tracks like ‘False Hope’ and ‘Don’t Let Me Bring You Down’ are among her best work and this is another wonderful album.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N_ImKdCw9J0" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marina and the Diamonds - FROOT (Neon Gold/Atlantic)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivCiJ9ygSCT-gX7Po2lUSK-nWqeI3THR3nGq6HZiMdYY8plOypB7O3mZ73ToSR7dRcHKgIlUILmTN0RqY9snnfaGraW3x6BttZOhLLWeckXs1E7fO_9VuLq8eoPfQnjTNZzVV1nxkwEk/s1600/marinaandthediamond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivCiJ9ygSCT-gX7Po2lUSK-nWqeI3THR3nGq6HZiMdYY8plOypB7O3mZ73ToSR7dRcHKgIlUILmTN0RqY9snnfaGraW3x6BttZOhLLWeckXs1E7fO_9VuLq8eoPfQnjTNZzVV1nxkwEk/s200/marinaandthediamond.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meet an absurdly brilliant pop record. Marina Diamandis has always had a strong voice, but until <i>FROOT</i> she had played characters in her songs. This time it was personal: from an awakening on the opening cards-on-the-table piano ballad 'Happy' (“I believe in possibility, I believe someone’s watching over me”), through the love-split heartache of 'I’m A Ruin', a track built on thumping drums, to the new-wave throb of 'Forget', and hitting a climax on 'Savages' where she signals the warning, “Underneath it all we’re just savages, hidden behind shirts, ties and marriages”. <i>FROOT</i> was sometimes sobering but rarely short of sublime.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/17UL5ks9amY" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Floating Points – Elaenia (Pluto)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUt7p6RjYojwwigYSBikRg5JXCn3TXGwS7NhAQCtUhWsZcaPHRFg_N2JXu3CW9SmBjfQ0bod0u0oi92NGl1GrkcVkvDjGp7I0a1opHVKxViMpmbg3aC1JuXUEszz0gRjM1wEa1LhuNQU/s1600/floatingpoint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUt7p6RjYojwwigYSBikRg5JXCn3TXGwS7NhAQCtUhWsZcaPHRFg_N2JXu3CW9SmBjfQ0bod0u0oi92NGl1GrkcVkvDjGp7I0a1opHVKxViMpmbg3aC1JuXUEszz0gRjM1wEa1LhuNQU/s200/floatingpoint.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">London's Plastic People is a club that gave birth to a generation of UK talent. In the time that it was open, Four Tet, Caribou, Jamie xx, Floating Points, James Blake and Mount Kimbie passed through its doors inspiring one another to produce music with one foot in the past, the other in the other future, but yet sounding uniquely British. Then earlier this year it closed its doors for the final time, and in doing so, sealed its reputation in club history… </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">My sister lived mere spitting distance from this club for about five years. Yet in that time I only managed to go there once. Such is the fate of those who cling to the coattails of the trailblazers. But if I missed out on its greatness, at least the music lives on. Floating Points's debut expands on his wondrous run of 12”s with an album that while rooted in club music, is very much aimed more at the head and the headphones. Jazz, synths, and classical strains coalesce beautifully in a wonderfully structured, elegantly produced debut. I can't to see where this preternaturally talented musician turns to next.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kfYP7uTZX8Y" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMYnV0mgn20YfOitFOfMs3SDEa52Viih6hzomYtTYf7zqluLccPjxCf4RyCQH_bPckZr0yGsiobA1E38gUWZUpRU1JcLiKsg7nMt54c8ZH1mFflMZuMGYnywqKT9kzTBmBKO_co9s-Uyc/s1600/fatherjohn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMYnV0mgn20YfOitFOfMs3SDEa52Viih6hzomYtTYf7zqluLccPjxCf4RyCQH_bPckZr0yGsiobA1E38gUWZUpRU1JcLiKsg7nMt54c8ZH1mFflMZuMGYnywqKT9kzTBmBKO_co9s-Uyc/s200/fatherjohn.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The first Father John Misty, 2012's <i>Fear Fun</i>, sneaked into my top 24 after that year's Advent Calendar had actually started (you get to do that sort of thing if you have the keys to the website), not because I'd not heard it until the start of December, but because it had been such a slow burner that I'd failed to fully appreciate it until it was almost too late. No doubt Josh Tillman got the message and that was his prime motivation in releasing this in February. The same as happened - if you'd asked me in April, May or even June for the best albums of the year to date, this might have earned a passing mention. Roll on December, it has found its way into the top five. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/khk77JHALmU" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Defeater – Abandoned (Epitaph)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-eOVIlXoXOLI7bSUf2l6rjS56c4jQdzWOjNrPQoGzOCv1g9HFeLGwBeUUUVwPXLXzYtCJjWURm2tFPZOXQh39B5hLmULME9P-yWXh-0TIcp4fePCWe7aKS5uFFaeNLLn5thsWKT00mU/s1600/defeater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-eOVIlXoXOLI7bSUf2l6rjS56c4jQdzWOjNrPQoGzOCv1g9HFeLGwBeUUUVwPXLXzYtCJjWURm2tFPZOXQh39B5hLmULME9P-yWXh-0TIcp4fePCWe7aKS5uFFaeNLLn5thsWKT00mU/s200/defeater.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now four albums into their career, Defeater sit alongside Touché Amore as the shining beacons of modern hardcore. This one’s another concept album continuing the story of their first three. Whether or not you’re here for the story doesn’t matter when the songs are this crushing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0_GGI_qopvA" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoG_cSdl9pFbFUyG11ozPjW9P7XSilEydYal93yXcIf7MSt1pcnU7necffd2nnkP5o6f0G61q8DxSigJJwvCNXzjD_m-lhPFKMkCMuOxTz_SVHl6e6-o2-ZrXQtGR8LYLQDJQK0dMp0w/s1600/fatherjohn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoG_cSdl9pFbFUyG11ozPjW9P7XSilEydYal93yXcIf7MSt1pcnU7necffd2nnkP5o6f0G61q8DxSigJJwvCNXzjD_m-lhPFKMkCMuOxTz_SVHl6e6-o2-ZrXQtGR8LYLQDJQK0dMp0w/s200/fatherjohn.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What a hero. Josh Tillman settles rather lasciviously into his Father John Misty persona on album number two, a collection of baroque love songs for our self-obsessed age. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lyrically it's full of arch, barbed put-downs that divide the audience as expertly as Stewart Lee into those who are in on the joke and those who are the butt of it. Things all get a bit meta on 'The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.' but the words are so tightly crafted that they'll be compiling them in an anthology in 20 years' time. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Musically I wasn't sure at first - strings are too often a cover for unimaginative chord changes - but a raunchy, theatrical show at Bexhill's De La Warr Pavilion convinced me otherwise. This was a performance that confirmed he is the illegitimate musical love child of Jarvis Cocker (those lyrics, those hand gestures) and Nick Cave (that dark, quasi-religious lust). Listening to the album since has revealed new layers every time.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A6NuYJ0RzRg" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-38797663628576164392015-12-20T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-20T10:00:21.686+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Twenty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">A sexy set of tunes has Andy ready to hop into bed with his pick (which could well lead to a follow-up record...let's stop this here....), Pranam claims to be organised, and Skillers adopts a scorch-earthed policy. Door number 20 of the Musical Advent Calendar means we're onto our No. 5 albums of the year. Those bigger pictures, it seems, are here to stay, so let's embrace it and bathe in the wonders of artwork.</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch<br />Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSLX22gL7sKr8Bi2ev9qKNlZmtkH3mZ1M3Ypm1TWu-bAZ5VMPr40mSDE76p7evhPaJnTTCYlX4pG4yM6r8uoG17nogKBdfmATU7GoNbi7__5Y6Nf6DPM50Yw85tFHE6gfrKdJzGrwYLc/s1600/multi-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSLX22gL7sKr8Bi2ev9qKNlZmtkH3mZ1M3Ypm1TWu-bAZ5VMPr40mSDE76p7evhPaJnTTCYlX4pG4yM6r8uoG17nogKBdfmATU7GoNbi7__5Y6Nf6DPM50Yw85tFHE6gfrKdJzGrwYLc/s200/multi-love.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">A remarkable backstory accompanies this album – <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/09/unknown-mortal-orchestra-interview-multi-love-three-way-relationship" target="_blank">read about it here</a> if you're interested – but more impressive than anything else is the quality of the music. It's not a completely inexorable change in style, <i>Multi-Love</i> brings out the sort of groove that was on the first two albums, but it's still incredible to think a band that started off with an album of excellent but pretty straightforward indie psych could end up with this sophisticated, dare I say it sexy batch of songs. A brilliant, brilliant record.</span><div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Rory Dollard<br />Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall (Polydor)</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">For the 3mins 44secs of 'Angela's Eyes', it sounds like this solo outing is going to directly address the Elbow haters - it's slinky and funky and angular and not at all fit for a sunset festival singalong. In fact, you could drop a Tom Waits vocal on top and not change a note - which you probably couldn't say for 'One Day Like This'. Largely, that's a red herring because things take a turn for the familiar as Garvey's brooding humanist poetry takes hold. There's a stillness to his writing here, with the ebbs and flows less obvious than in his day job, but delicacy brings its own delights.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CIEhf4n221o" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Adem - Seconds are Acorns (Caroline)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally! A new album by Adem. This one doesn't exactly pick up where he left off about eight years ago, more takes it to a much noisier, chaotic level. The beautiful lyrics and soaring falsetto are still there, he's just set the delicately picked acoustic guitar and picked up an axe guitar and an effects board. A beautiful, noisy collection of songs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mk5wPMZhMtI" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall (Polydor)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rampaging percussion an ear-splitting synth line on 'Angela’s Eyes' gets Guy Garvey’s maiden solo offering off to a surprisingly raucous start. The title track sees the Elbow frontman return to familiar ground in sensational form. He does hand-on-the-shoulder romance, packed with delicate imagery, better than anyone else I can think of. Blasts of brass throughout and the shuffling, jazzy interlude of '</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Electricity' see Garvey continually hit the spot as he deftly picks apart loves old and new - probably no closer to sussing out what it all means but finding richness in the journey. It’s one we should all be happy to join him on.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H-gYHw0-7-Y" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wilco – Star Wars (Wilcoworld.net)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wilco cleverly lulled us into thinking they were enjoying a long break. With Jeff Tweedy making the excellent <i>Sukierae</i> last year and the rest of the gang spread out in various other projects, it was probably going to be a while until we heard from them. Then they released this for free on their website, as you do these days but at least they didn’t just drop it into your iTunes account. Not that I would have minded. This may not be Wilco’s best album, but let’s face it, any Wilco album is better than a lot of other records.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v81vhGTzXKE" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Joanna Gruesome - Peanut Butter (Fortuna Pop)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking music as a conduit for rage, Joanna Gruesome have said they were formed in anger management classes. <i>Peanut Butter</i> is infernal, a rapid burst of eruptions over the course of its 22-minute duration, the quintet aiming to leave behind scorched earth where previously they endured macho maleficence. Behind a wall of wailing guitars, frontwoman Alanna McArdle (who has since left the band) presents vocals that swing unpredictably between gently soothing, an echo almost of Allo Darlin’s Elizabeth Morris, to seething angst. Produced by MJ of Hookworms, this is the second album from the band that formed in Cardiff, and a step up from its predecessor <i>Weird Sister</i>. 'Honestly Do Yr Worst' dances from dissonance to indie-disco and is a beef-settling riot, and 'Psykick Espionage' is incandescent. And in a flash it’s over, but this album’s strength lies in its brevity: a flurry of punches, each hitting the target, make <i>Peanut Butter</i> a knock-out success.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Stott's <i>Luxury Problems</i> was one of my favourite albums of 2014. So it's absence was conspicuous when it was left off my list last year. I'm an idiot, I had a lot on. So to try and get things right this year, I was unusually well organised, and started putting together my 2015 list at the start of the year. Andy Stott's album was at the top and it hasn't strayed much further since. Like all great innovators he's taken a well-known genre (in this case techno) and given it a spin that's uniquely his own. The use of piano teacher's vocals is as haunting as they were on his previous release, and while the beats might not be quite as distorted, the atmospheres are just dark and muggy (this is definitely a good thing).</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6sn1eYzhi_U" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass (Spacebomb)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">More Spacebomb magic! This time from Mr White's buddy Natalie Prass, who was made to wait three years to release this because of White's success but may, in the end, have outdone her label chief and producer. Operating somewhere in a tradition that stretches from Laurel Canyon to another of her former bosses, Jenny Lewis (Prass was in her touring band), Prass has put together a wonderful collection of soulful tunes, all given extra pizazz by that Spacebomb touch. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By some distance, the most abrasive album on my list this year. Black metal has never particularly been my bag, but for large parts this veers more towards the post-hardcore of Envy and post-rock of Explosions in the Sky. A heady combination. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6it-7KIzjmM" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">D'Angelo and the Vanguard – Black Messiah (RCA)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Out last December, Black Messiah arrived too late for our 2014 list but hung around long enough to still hit the top five now. Not so much a collection of songs as a 56-minute mood piece, <i>Black Messiah</i> is a throwback to the ambitious, urgent, politically-motivated soul albums of the early 1970s. Prompted out of a 14-year hiatus by the Ferguson shootings, D’Angelo corralled a series of slow jams, scats, sketches and psych soul stomps into something cohesive, unpredictable and utterly thrilling. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">(As a weird aside, it was the inclusion of 'Devil’s Pie' on Paul Weller’s 2004 <i>Under The Influence </i>comp that first switched me on to D’Angelo. That comp is insanely good, a mix of spiritual jazz, cult R&B, deep soul cuts, reggae classics and The Kinks. I owe it my love of Mingus and D’Angelo too. <a href="http://www.discogs.com/Paul-Weller-Under-The-Influence/master/176944" target="_blank">Worth a look</a> if you can find it in a secondhand shop/on eBay/Spotify/Tidal – delete according to age).</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-91117218498201151012015-12-19T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-19T10:10:59.625+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Nineteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />Here, only slightly breathlessly, is Door 19 of the Musical Advent Calendar. We weren't sure this one was going to happen - between numerous IT issues (enjoy the oversized pictures - they just refuse to shrink) and a review which so completely missed the deadline I got it, uhm, 45 minutes ago (the writer shall remain nameless) this one could have had more holes in it than the <i>Led Zeppelin III</i> cover, but here we are...</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">It was only a matter of time but today, Gwilym reveals himself to be a total hipster, Pranam surrenders himself to the whims of fashion, and Steve admits to some mild sentimentality. Will wonder never cease as we reveal our No. 6 albums of the year? </span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch<br />New Order – Music Complete (Mute)</b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzlA1z77x1CveyNqskAVKfuKBECcVQgb9fqEQKa4k2VzYoCRSqJLsV-Seqe6d6qmrup9JryyzQwMP6TKbQzfsyftuGhmgYRG1R019-c0scQc210T2ny6iPVvgAB7KN8hTP7WA8ho07OI/s1600/neworder.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPzlA1z77x1CveyNqskAVKfuKBECcVQgb9fqEQKa4k2VzYoCRSqJLsV-Seqe6d6qmrup9JryyzQwMP6TKbQzfsyftuGhmgYRG1R019-c0scQc210T2ny6iPVvgAB7KN8hTP7WA8ho07OI/s200/neworder.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Their best album since 1989's Technique, New Order sound fresh and invigorated after a taking taking a good deal of time away from the studio in the earlier part of the 2000s. Perhaps it's shedding Peter Hook? Maybe his stories about the Hacienda became too boring even for them? Whatever the reason - and let's faces if, it probably is getting rid Hook's seemingly negative influence - it's great to have New Order sounding so vital again.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An intermittently gasp-inducing debut album. It's hard to credit that twins Naomi and Lisa-Kainde Diaz were 20 when they dropped this genre-hopping, disorientating effort in February. It's staggeringly mature, and gives rein to all of the Parisian, Cuban and Nigerian influences that contribute to a storied upbringing. It's a melting pot of sounds and styles but always underpinned by an eerie pop sensibility.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins<br />Everything Everything - Get to Heaven (RCA)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRepOe0LwPKmbI8KghtN3AgQYZ2xzlJzy1nah4v-x4z9DStr1OrEjn6AI3Swk2UVQ5iKFTgB-uNzpfeELlIbeH2392fxGWC6c47RUdj0hnblQt3TouKpta5bL3HqwVsEtf2bI2vJbgAk/s1600/everythingeverything2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeRepOe0LwPKmbI8KghtN3AgQYZ2xzlJzy1nah4v-x4z9DStr1OrEjn6AI3Swk2UVQ5iKFTgB-uNzpfeELlIbeH2392fxGWC6c47RUdj0hnblQt3TouKpta5bL3HqwVsEtf2bI2vJbgAk/s200/everythingeverything2.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Did you know that Everything Everything were named after the first two words you can hear on their beloved Radiohead’s <i>Kid A</i> album?. I think that's kind of interesting. The third album by one of the most unique sounding bands of the last five years or so is apparently a little bit darker at lyrically, dealing with topics of impending World War as it does. All the Everything Everything ingredients are there though - the incredible falsetto, the inventive but undoubtedly pop song structures and of course top top tunes. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell<br />Laura Marling - Short Movie (Virgin)</b></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A step down in quality from 2013’s stupendous-to-the-point-of-just-bloody-showling-off <i>Once I Was An Eagle</i>, this is still another fine album from a prolific artist seemingly incapable of anything else. Sonically, <i>Short Movie</i> is Laura going electric and wearing a US jaunt of self-discovery on her sleeve. Beneath an altogether louder approach musically is her most vulnerable lyrical persona to date - not quite as strident, touches of regret and acceptance. Another fascinating and rewarding chapter in a truly marvellous career.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym<br />Sleater-Kinney – No More Cities to Love (Sub Pop)</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am sure no member of the Advent Calendar panel would readily admit they made a purchase because of the hype around an album. But that is exactly what I did when buying Sleater-Kinney’s <i>No Cities to Love </i>and I’m pretty pleased with how that worked out. Their first album in a decade won rave reviews and it’s easy to see why. Angular, taught, edgy and fiery. As bracing and brilliant as any rock record this year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TWc6knXULsw" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck<br />Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - The Most Important Place In The World (Chemikal Underground)</b><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dPU4GHs_bS6ak0GTX5igXWZ-WI0CbnhMKrI5l3bJMczaC7tVD4pmCbnScaypRi85kB9FVhJNKS8paBoHj16EWAXjVOhNcG8-Zl9dO_HEclOaqOpp1Z195P1dstZZ7PYzmFlC1Ttdg0I/s1600/billwells2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dPU4GHs_bS6ak0GTX5igXWZ-WI0CbnhMKrI5l3bJMczaC7tVD4pmCbnScaypRi85kB9FVhJNKS8paBoHj16EWAXjVOhNcG8-Zl9dO_HEclOaqOpp1Z195P1dstZZ7PYzmFlC1Ttdg0I/s200/billwells2.jpeg" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These two sons of Falkirk, Wells the jazz maestro and Moffat the gruff, boozy bard, were an artistic collision waiting to happen. Moffat develops a persona - he denies it is autobiographical - of a seedy yet sage heartbreaker-cum-homemaker. On a darkly delicious second LP from what one hopes will be a long-lasting partnership, he growls world-weary, sharp-witted tales of fear and loathing in Glas Vegas, set to a sumptuous Wells soundtrack.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli<br />Alabama Shakes – Sound and Color (Rough Trade)</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Certainly not an album I would have expected to have been quite so high on my list at the start of the year – but dammit, I can't stop listening to it. Warm sounding, beautifully recorded, and with some angular arrangements, it's an album I've returned to regularly since it was released.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/faG8RiaANek" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b style="font-family: inherit;"> Ian Parker<br />Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Thing, Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4yPnIqjklfN73quBYHhpwZJx9-40wpNrP9hcaljLcRuRNFbW7yofZ4nDOq1Bncl0yJdZ0L-kw8sJlzM1ilGl8FW2-SmlrOfosnBxGDH09diDKpziwqhzaFZczgm8b33Tu-doJhN4SSg/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4yPnIqjklfN73quBYHhpwZJx9-40wpNrP9hcaljLcRuRNFbW7yofZ4nDOq1Bncl0yJdZ0L-kw8sJlzM1ilGl8FW2-SmlrOfosnBxGDH09diDKpziwqhzaFZczgm8b33Tu-doJhN4SSg/s200/courtneybarnett.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It took the last Advent Calendar, and Skillers' planned nomination of </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">A Sea of Split Peas </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">(not actually included in the end - which may have been my fault for telling him it wasn't eligible as a compilation of prior EPs),</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> to turn me on to Courtney's work, but just when I wondered if I'd kind of grown out of indie, a time when I figured I only bought such records as reissues to remember a time that had past, </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes I Sit</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">.... came along to remind how bloody brilliant this sort of thing sounds when it's done right. Thank you, Courtney. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Joanna Gruesome – Peanut Butter (Fortuna POP!)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55HH77k_w8HgC_gTKa_P1CpnuGCB_rgHx4Dj6DM8Gt_4QcYKabNrlU80XThwtDsi1UDDYDJkX8zAV6Vh9EoOW0TdkeE4t3-L46J6X0Ey8ddt13nqS5nYs3ukTlw-Ez8WDEPhVxzhzL-Q/s1600/joannagruesome.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg55HH77k_w8HgC_gTKa_P1CpnuGCB_rgHx4Dj6DM8Gt_4QcYKabNrlU80XThwtDsi1UDDYDJkX8zAV6Vh9EoOW0TdkeE4t3-L46J6X0Ey8ddt13nqS5nYs3ukTlw-Ez8WDEPhVxzhzL-Q/s200/joannagruesome.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dismissed by this punter as hipster nonsense, largely in part to their name, this album proved that I know nothing. Beautifully brief, fuzzy indie pop with tunes the size of mastodons.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9E4lSF9IrRs" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jim O'Rourke – Simple Songs (Drag City)</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While writing 24 reviews every November without getting paid does occasionally feel like madness for a jobbing writer, there are many things I am going to miss about doing this annual festive rundown, including Guy’s ability to choose 24 bands I have literally never heard of, Pranam’s ability to choose 24 albums I wish I’d picked, and those satisfying moments when you first hear an album in May and say to yourself: “I reckon this will definitely be a top five contender…” </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Simple Songs</i> opener 'Friends With Benefits' did just that to me earlier this year. It’s got that whole kinda regal 1970s singer-songwriter thing going on, funky like JJ Cale, clever like Randy Newman, swoony like, well, Jim O’Rourke. To have these songwriting chops and be able to pick and choose when to switch them on to create a full-blown, AM radio masterpiece like this and when to burrow down into exploratory late night experimental collaborative jam sessions like everything else he’s released for the last few years is quite frankly ridiculously to me. The man is a bona fide talent and this is his most listenable, heartwarming album ever.</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-35486580167420283252015-12-18T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-18T10:00:30.305+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Eighteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Proper Bond villains, air drumming, journalistic vigour...it's not clear what is the most out-dated notion behind door 18 of the Musical Advent Calendar, but we've got our No. 7 albums of the year here too so it at least partly makes sense. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Andy Welch</b></span><br />
<b style="color: #cc0000;">Father John Misty – I Love You, Honeybear (Bella Union)</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBhxDwSwcU30BjPzjB-1BjZq3C8zcPmDxBNGuun-GWMzZTEUk4QV3FAlgnhX23VVS2ALBwYGePgqru4TnPZKQkX8fvkRP3uYfKDV5V0KAehIC7VKw0VHEmDdPDy_YFxI-r_htIhGx3ic/s1600/fatherjohnmisty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBhxDwSwcU30BjPzjB-1BjZq3C8zcPmDxBNGuun-GWMzZTEUk4QV3FAlgnhX23VVS2ALBwYGePgqru4TnPZKQkX8fvkRP3uYfKDV5V0KAehIC7VKw0VHEmDdPDy_YFxI-r_htIhGx3ic/s1600/fatherjohnmisty.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">To think this guy was once 'just' the drummer in Fleet Foxes… The lyrics, the sumptuous arrangements, the humorous live shows, he's a master of it all. 'Chateau Lobby #4' is one of the most perfect songs I've heard in years.</span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space (Test Card Recordings)</b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There's a part of me that sort of feels like this is the best album of the year. Not the part of me that belatedly responds to Ian's pleas for lists, or reviews, but a part nonetheless. They had me from minute one - a sample of the inimitable John F Kennedy - and they deliver on that promise in spades. The method is fascinating - a single story told with journalistic rigour (no sniggering at the back), artistic flair and romantic wonder. Of course there is an element of cut-and-paste to the vocal sampling, but it's nearly always exquisitely selected and intelligently presented. An intellectual and emotional success.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67bVvQ8ce-XnqrFstKMbQ1DQUrZgwDvXHg2UjTNwRbn2bf-q_kF92I-hJ_H95ct5KQXY64SFILNQWllgPsu52dSzWXwrWF_CLk1bM20vLEbzvv0e2H7PrC03AT8wf-rzOcGFZavtavkQ/s1600/elvy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67bVvQ8ce-XnqrFstKMbQ1DQUrZgwDvXHg2UjTNwRbn2bf-q_kF92I-hJ_H95ct5KQXY64SFILNQWllgPsu52dSzWXwrWF_CLk1bM20vLEbzvv0e2H7PrC03AT8wf-rzOcGFZavtavkQ/s1600/elvy.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt from The National has gone all sexy on us. Taking a break from singing about lost loves in a sad crooner voice with the National, he's got his sexy green shirt on and isn't afraid to refer to the bits on record. EL VY, is pretty similar the National’s distinctive sound, just weirdly cheap sounding guitars. And more playful National is surely a project we can all get behind.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0y8S95AxhhFOZ1d8RVN4HcgDQGVRpRju_UZXQKjbSe2O5hM9NenneybCv2hFTzog005Z21wL0vTuSE4hMC2MG7vbyNwx_nUN8nxm6oavj2wQh1avB1ENst5lJmZ1x0U1qAOshDiOARFM/s1600/ghostpoet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0y8S95AxhhFOZ1d8RVN4HcgDQGVRpRju_UZXQKjbSe2O5hM9NenneybCv2hFTzog005Z21wL0vTuSE4hMC2MG7vbyNwx_nUN8nxm6oavj2wQh1avB1ENst5lJmZ1x0U1qAOshDiOARFM/s1600/ghostpoet.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving away from the minimal, icy electronia of his first two acclaimed records, Obara Ejimiwe’s decision to eschew bedroom production and hook up with a live band could easily have gone awry. Thankfully, <i>Shedding Skin</i> is a triumph. A judiciously picked revolving door of special guests never dilute from Ejimiwe’s vision - an subtle and often beautiful state of the nation address via the medium of laconic drawl.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yksZX4qR-AsvYUsM0Rjupae4QFm1H3HTQVd97ql7___KQ38hYaILaqItKOkOyLOGIJ92yGpEM_M10h0MRnEupTmRUj3Cj0KfeOwC0rt8VN0C1qBn_OgEp_KAOaCZque0qFw8e_1t13E/s1600/titusandronicus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yksZX4qR-AsvYUsM0Rjupae4QFm1H3HTQVd97ql7___KQ38hYaILaqItKOkOyLOGIJ92yGpEM_M10h0MRnEupTmRUj3Cj0KfeOwC0rt8VN0C1qBn_OgEp_KAOaCZque0qFw8e_1t13E/s1600/titusandronicus.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Titus Andronicus, and particularly lyricist and vocalist Patrick Stickles, do not do anything straightforward. The Monitor, their best album to date, was a Civil War tale with Craig Finn pretending to be Abraham Lincoln, so you get the picture. They have surpassed themselves with this 92-minute, 29-track epic. I would give you the back story to this sprawling work, but the bottom line is this is every bit as enjoyable a listen without it. Stickles is on biting form but maybe the most surprising part of this how a lot of the raw edge has been removed from their sound. At times they sound like the E Street Band, on other occasions the sound mimics Bat Out of Hell Meatloaf, and it’s thrilling.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">John Skilbeck<br />Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)</b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The box set, the new record, the tour (those life-affirming Manchester and Glasgow shows), the Carrie Brownstein book. Come the year’s end I’ve carelessly started to take the second coming of my favourite band for granted. Maybe they won’t make another record though. If they don’t, this comeback album will prove a fitting finale. After almost 10 years away, they returned with a record teeming with electrifying force and conviction: a set of instant Sleater-Kinney classics. After going on “indefinite hiatus” in 2006, a step that Brownstein’s book reveals was more agonising than many realised, it was a joy to welcome them back.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tRNDB9VqI3Q" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Four Tet – Morning/Evening (Text)</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Every Four Tet album that's been out since the advent calendar has been going has made it onto my list. Maybe I lack objectivity when it comes to his music, but I think it's more that I respect his restlessly inventive spirit and his will to keep pushing forward. Where other artists I've respected have fallen to the wayside, I can always rely on the fact that each new Four Tet record will surprise. The new one's no different. The samples of Indian playback singer Lata Mangeshkar provide an emotional and spiritual counterpoint to the clubby throb of the techno that lies beneath. It's another great release from one of this country's true innovators.</span><br />
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<br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matthew E. White - Fresh Blood (Spacebomb)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQp9Ikrr1muUwPiCh-HFnzFIA0_1FukFs0XtP7mtG1SOeMQ8mXc5oPUykLFMiOe6ZKfjDWr-BfXChfThonnmCJ7dSZIING4CbIGMyd_HaClkJBIFj-XptXGWxzyoTJeIuhVwX1hgYl-8/s1600/matthewewhite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQp9Ikrr1muUwPiCh-HFnzFIA0_1FukFs0XtP7mtG1SOeMQ8mXc5oPUykLFMiOe6ZKfjDWr-BfXChfThonnmCJ7dSZIING4CbIGMyd_HaClkJBIFj-XptXGWxzyoTJeIuhVwX1hgYl-8/s1600/matthewewhite.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a theory that the Spacebomb studios are like the musical equivalent of a Bond villain's lair. Little figures in white coats (everything is white) scuttle around manically seeking an almost unattainable level of musical perfection. I actually </span><a href="https://twitter.com/iparky/status/568732026272133120" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">asked them about it once</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. They said it was true and said I could head over and see for myself. I continue to sporadically check flight prices to Virginia. In the meantime, we have records like this to bring it all to life. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/co4krl2xge0" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The World is a Beautiful Place and I am no Longer Afraid to Die – Harmlessness (Epitaph)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiNxEhoRenTRwzGzU0KosDCHfkX62r1zGKgTbXvdwUHZ4hY3148O4KpNk2M0UkmTLOq8nNEBjd_4CnVxpUssKEOIPVjfxGQWMIJphrUNeXvrSldCLhSR9xTC6eO_mG3WkaEKcJvUmx-E/s1600/worldisbeatifulplaceandiamnolongerafriadtodie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixiNxEhoRenTRwzGzU0KosDCHfkX62r1zGKgTbXvdwUHZ4hY3148O4KpNk2M0UkmTLOq8nNEBjd_4CnVxpUssKEOIPVjfxGQWMIJphrUNeXvrSldCLhSR9xTC6eO_mG3WkaEKcJvUmx-E/s1600/worldisbeatifulplaceandiamnolongerafriadtodie.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sure, it’s emo for the Pitchfork generation but an album of this scope and ambition deserves attention and it got a whole heap of mine this year. Also, that name.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6-wjAYRKW2c" width="560"></iframe></span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beach Slang – The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us (Big Scary Monsters)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLgZAoffr6yOkhBbLXmKTnE0ky66AFMX0ozYsSwHijuKBQ6rHtLmEsfZQiqjC-YLnGSF9hDIzjFpIZPIzYTDVF41Ds1Ir4nS96Gb-LFGFkD9Ni_H_GCUROi9FCjfuSVx2WrVxRh6iISA/s1600/beachslang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVLgZAoffr6yOkhBbLXmKTnE0ky66AFMX0ozYsSwHijuKBQ6rHtLmEsfZQiqjC-YLnGSF9hDIzjFpIZPIzYTDVF41Ds1Ir4nS96Gb-LFGFkD9Ni_H_GCUROi9FCjfuSVx2WrVxRh6iISA/s1600/beachslang.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Call this a nostalgia pick or a momentary lapse of critical faculties, I'm not sure. Beach Slang is a Philly bar band in excelsis: earnest, urgent, heartfelt, thrilling. Lyrically they are no poets - just a quick scan of the tracklisting for this and their other equally ace 2015 mini-album, <i>Broken Thrills</i>, reveals a litany of sound-alike titles: 'Punk or Lust', 'Filthy Luck', 'All Fuzzed Out', 'Dirty Lights'. Musically at times this sounds like the Psychedelic Furs-gone-shoegaze or a trebly 1980s indie version of the Hold Steady, at other times I've mistaken them for Feeder. I should be alarmed by some or all of this, but I'm too busy air drumming to care. </span></span></span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-59500267072922755332015-12-17T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-17T10:00:25.944+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Seventeen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom finds the imperfect soundtrack for a wedding, Pranam finally owns up to why I only get the odd high-five when I see him in Manchester, while Steve wants to know if anyone here could be more of an idiot than him</span>. What more could you want from our No. 8 albums of the year?<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /><b>Andy Welch<br />Half Moon Run – Sun Leads Me On (Caroline)</b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-gxL81X6O0FDkIhyAOtArjyU1BUrErteS_zbD_wmFkKKwXxT8SpxiccfiMbn16aDyBYCBbWSLubixG9G9VRavZAdoFWgqkbNheJ2QoW5Hta4ugKvd2Gpg8iD8n5Wm8ROZvejX0An0oc/s1600/halfmoonrun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-gxL81X6O0FDkIhyAOtArjyU1BUrErteS_zbD_wmFkKKwXxT8SpxiccfiMbn16aDyBYCBbWSLubixG9G9VRavZAdoFWgqkbNheJ2QoW5Hta4ugKvd2Gpg8iD8n5Wm8ROZvejX0An0oc/s1600/halfmoonrun.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">There wasn't as much fanfare around this record as I expected after the way their debut grew and grew. Nevertheless, the years spent touring it have improved the band no end, not least their ability to write wonderful singles. It's interesting to read interviews with them in which they talk about not really being able to stand each other aside from their time together in the studio, but whatever relationship they seem to have, it works.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy (Merge)</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a a twenty-nine song, 92-minute double concept album about manic depression and doppelgangers featuring a knees-up punk Pogues cover and Pink Floyd parameters played on Thin Lizzy guitars. I can, and will, add nothing.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0dX6LL7b8Y0" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dutch Uncles - O Shudder (Memphis Industries)</span></b></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhuYYZytJEiLmsir9Ln53x1-RZi7uuPUegT_6UI3160mVeyA659DkOEgJjNghvTkMczGKXU31BLB5_5XinSLjSdkxQh0Dp9VP2b7w7USBs8HQJhO6lxcPnY57fYrdNeYAGsGY84xWUsQ/s1600/dutch+uncles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXhuYYZytJEiLmsir9Ln53x1-RZi7uuPUegT_6UI3160mVeyA659DkOEgJjNghvTkMczGKXU31BLB5_5XinSLjSdkxQh0Dp9VP2b7w7USBs8HQJhO6lxcPnY57fYrdNeYAGsGY84xWUsQ/s1600/dutch+uncles.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before we go any further, can I just recommend that you go and check out Dutch Uncles live just to see the lead singer dancing? It is Ian Curtis weird, geeky, glorious and incredible all at the same time. Now, onto their latest album. It's another unbelievably danceable collection of jangle guitar proggy indie tunes. It's just brilliant. Go listen to it. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You know when a certain setting can bring a song or an album together in just the right way? I love that. I was already very fond of <i>Dark Bird Is Home</i> - Kristian Matsson, the completely average-height fibber, adding daubs of lush orchestration to his enduring songs of longing without losing any of his charm - before popping it on while heading home from a wedding in the Lake District. Sweeping down the hills towards Kendal on a sunlit evening, these songs born in rural Sweden swelled gloriously amid the craggy beauty absolutely perfectly. I’ve since found out he wrote the album about the break-up of his marriage. Ah well…</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ObZYGfg7vHQ" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Keith Richards - Crosseyed Heart (Virgin)</span></b></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mnXr7VgpqhLzrz0yHTR1Ano5zGqO5rJBLKhiyBEklWX6Jc3VKamyl0EGx3gNpnBZSFa-BAB3uWDhvkooiuPbqbHmJEzEoEsE3zhzZo3VzmfOcy6sxdhV0cnoIwiFjnu1Y5uoiPnMDBM/s1600/keithrichards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mnXr7VgpqhLzrz0yHTR1Ano5zGqO5rJBLKhiyBEklWX6Jc3VKamyl0EGx3gNpnBZSFa-BAB3uWDhvkooiuPbqbHmJEzEoEsE3zhzZo3VzmfOcy6sxdhV0cnoIwiFjnu1Y5uoiPnMDBM/s1600/keithrichards.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">A solo album from a member of the Stones at this period in their lives would normally be something to be highly sceptical of. However, Whereas Mick Jagger spent most of his career trying not to sound like his regular band, Keith Richards has no problem locating the same groove he has mined with such success for over 50 years. It’s that unashamed approach that makes this such an embracing listen. This is ‘Keef’ just doing what he likes to do, what’s it to you? The songs and his voice feel and sound lived in, and there are moments of genuine magic, such as ‘Trouble’. This is a great record which deserves to be recognised as among Richards’ finest work with the Stones or anyone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><b>John Skilbeck<br />Downtown Boys - Full Communism (Don Giovanni Records)</b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxrqZ0a5da0UQvEf3l3y7YiFK0UyN6a1gmoVcsQ3QeGPXyKhy8Jd2YUxIhMWR1ThoqNom0ZO7qAuNq35TAnCG7oAdZBSB7vB0GcLXXgDFAalPL2Sd-gI8ulP_5Lpntu1YMXK_ifsY-oA/s1600/downtownboyd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxrqZ0a5da0UQvEf3l3y7YiFK0UyN6a1gmoVcsQ3QeGPXyKhy8Jd2YUxIhMWR1ThoqNom0ZO7qAuNq35TAnCG7oAdZBSB7vB0GcLXXgDFAalPL2Sd-gI8ulP_5Lpntu1YMXK_ifsY-oA/s1600/downtownboyd.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">This “bi-bilingual political dance sax punk party from Providence” - their description - made a magnificently messy noise this year, kicking out at American social injustice with a voice and message that demanded to be heard, like a modern-day X-Ray Spex with Victoria Ruiz, a bold, brilliant Latina woman, a worthy successor to that band’s Poly Styrene.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwv7QT_IvHvNBlS7j9fSIxD4RPlzH1EZRkWjxE8ySvlvyCrv0KPju6HA3TfiCXE_J9EgWkNR5wXW-jGF-2Z8of1JK4a-4NwK87vKQ1OfaBxHNYjgifyrp4fIuKnFjxj37cypwbid7gcfg/s1600/low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwv7QT_IvHvNBlS7j9fSIxD4RPlzH1EZRkWjxE8ySvlvyCrv0KPju6HA3TfiCXE_J9EgWkNR5wXW-jGF-2Z8of1JK4a-4NwK87vKQ1OfaBxHNYjgifyrp4fIuKnFjxj37cypwbid7gcfg/s1600/low.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I read recently that you only have space in your head for a handful of good friends. Which is why it's likely that the vast majority of 'friends' we have on Facebook are more likely to be people you'd high five in the street than those you’d have a pint with. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Could this concept be transferrable? Do you only have enough head space for a certain number of favourite foods? Or favourite films? Or favourite bands? Over the years I think I've filled my head with so much music, both new and old, that Low somehow got rudely ejected out. But with this album, it's like I've rediscovered what I loved about them in the first place. Beautifully written songs that showcase the band's pared down instrumentation, but with added production and bite that suggests they have plenty more albums in them yet. Welcome back old chums.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x0TJrlemmVQ" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Barna Howard - Quite A Feelin’ (Loose)</span></b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4J75xB3eP9l0o6jxDDNSFNJ6EKBX-p5hbYKqANK-AM5nvIR7R5GXYlZgosEZgu-b_dLTzyx2mInE4BsyteMfuht9HVoBoOuYtPKIr4gCZNH57bCZg8qoU7lmFci_3QrLuYOAhG3BRIsQ/s1600/barnahoward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4J75xB3eP9l0o6jxDDNSFNJ6EKBX-p5hbYKqANK-AM5nvIR7R5GXYlZgosEZgu-b_dLTzyx2mInE4BsyteMfuht9HVoBoOuYtPKIr4gCZNH57bCZg8qoU7lmFci_3QrLuYOAhG3BRIsQ/s1600/barnahoward.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I do like country music. You know, proper country music. None of that modern Nashville pop-in-a-cowboy-hat nonsense (I think we had this conversation around the point I had </span><a href="http://raggedglories.blogspot.co.at/search?q=sturgill+simpson" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">Sturgill Simpson in last year's top 24</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">). Barna Howard makes proper country music. Nashville used to turn out records like this, but it says a lot that Howard left his Missouri home not for nearby Tennessee to make his but instead fled to Portland. During what must have been a pretty lengthy road trip, the results suggest he had Townes van Zandt on repeat during the drive. An outstanding choice. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Weeknd – Beauty Behind the Madness (Republic Records)</span></b></span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Xjh-ALQ1DgKTADRmEtQlhA1-y5Mz26rFimwMYt5bYhbfVy-6tg4bqJKrt9Gk9sSHYztq9dfAOlgIpyoBwOark8CFJzOpoRweBRF2_v-Puspahku0a93lfRk_LqELPwR-kAbnLSfcm4U/s1600/weeknd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Xjh-ALQ1DgKTADRmEtQlhA1-y5Mz26rFimwMYt5bYhbfVy-6tg4bqJKrt9Gk9sSHYztq9dfAOlgIpyoBwOark8CFJzOpoRweBRF2_v-Puspahku0a93lfRk_LqELPwR-kAbnLSfcm4U/s1600/weeknd.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">File under ‘should know better’. The new wave of R&B artists like Frank Ocean, Drake and J Cole have provided an antidote to my staple diet of pummelling hardcore over the past few years, with The Weeknd now joining that elite club.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tame Impala – Currents (Fiction)</span></b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Like all good guests, I am fashionably late to the Tame Impala party, having previously dismissed their retro psych rock shenanigans and mentally filed them under ‘the sort of thing Liam Gallagher would namecheck as a favourite new band, despite them only make music that sounds like it was written in 1968’. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">As my previous track record over some seven years on here will attest, I am an idiot and all three Tame Impala albums have their moments of Zen. <i>Currents</i> is a step up again, taking those retro elements and adding moogs, falsetto vocals, wooshy noises and all those other things that people in 1968 thought the future sounded like. If you don’t like it, you are more of an idiot than me. And that, my friends, is saying something.</span></span></span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-47129955975506822792015-12-16T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-16T10:00:16.018+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Sixteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitL7p7U2HlFglkTcp1cME4PiIxD_epHBPnh17s5_X5RZtgaCZfhnCazqbZ-2YORZUerr8ASJTpZRBmXPdxEbgNyLtAwnFjRwaUW8FT6sis8YruI97TXal5Nd37gdumSPCSj0K4wTDSWE/s1600/16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitL7p7U2HlFglkTcp1cME4PiIxD_epHBPnh17s5_X5RZtgaCZfhnCazqbZ-2YORZUerr8ASJTpZRBmXPdxEbgNyLtAwnFjRwaUW8FT6sis8YruI97TXal5Nd37gdumSPCSj0K4wTDSWE/s320/16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Today Dollard reveals he's too cool to like his own pick, Dom didn't realise he was supposed to like this, while I'm not really sure I can handle loving mine. But at least Pranam has come up with a healthy alternative to caffeine as we reveal our No. 9 albums of the year. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Andy Welch</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>The Staves – If I Was (Atlantic)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcWWsDl-UXJw5Y-YzA4AEoSS4qxvygDFnFR9-45gBfncFRN9ax73GV12ox1PiWZHp_ZWOHipDrplxcC078IijFXrz3R0UhmyNplXwhBLKKzGBi335MdkmjolvqGpBVJw9E18SRCsfiPE/s1600/staves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcWWsDl-UXJw5Y-YzA4AEoSS4qxvygDFnFR9-45gBfncFRN9ax73GV12ox1PiWZHp_ZWOHipDrplxcC078IijFXrz3R0UhmyNplXwhBLKKzGBi335MdkmjolvqGpBVJw9E18SRCsfiPE/s1600/staves.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The Staves' debut could've used a bit of the grit of their live performances. It was a beautiful album, but perhaps a little clean. The follow-up is more ragged around the edges and gets far more of their personality over. Justin Vernon's production is excellent, and the trio's harmonies are obviously brilliant, but the songs stand out, 'Black And White', 'No Me, No You, No More' and 'Steady' particularly. Above all else, it sounds like three supreme talents doing exactly what they want.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Sufjan Stevens - Carrie and Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWCkUInvAmvmqjDy6QwnlYrEupPQqhwmVnmhlTqAHfsn0q4afXk37QBribfPf5-FNqc5h7GzWomlnAMNoQPCRYHuTcLm8JyfJnJcHHrUUs0jzdjxd8C4HIuYOmJupeGh-RD7ssqL9iXw/s1600/sufjanstevens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWCkUInvAmvmqjDy6QwnlYrEupPQqhwmVnmhlTqAHfsn0q4afXk37QBribfPf5-FNqc5h7GzWomlnAMNoQPCRYHuTcLm8JyfJnJcHHrUUs0jzdjxd8C4HIuYOmJupeGh-RD7ssqL9iXw/s1600/sufjanstevens.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">I'm man enough to say Sufjan is a bit of a blindspot for me. I realise his back catalogue is almost certainly brilliant and all-encompassing and demanding of my time and emotional investment. </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">I just haven't been able to give him what he needs from me. I was belligerently set to steer clear of this until I heard No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross on NPR. </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Clearly it's beautiful, dead cert top-10 stuff. I'm not giving any more than that and I still got a little bit bored midway through <i>Illinoise</i> last time I tried. So there.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Matt Collins</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Guy Garvey - Courting the Squall (Polydor)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQuXa-7gtRfWgpf3iNv2ejH6l4tfhFxTDzLOEKICuGBv52WmxU65iWRHP0aXtXgKNhE4NvgqCe518ySOwr2WoOuG3um2hzwZyn7Shrf321fJrhjguKTzDe-Yb69oo6eKSZNSyC6_fxUk/s1600/guygarvey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQuXa-7gtRfWgpf3iNv2ejH6l4tfhFxTDzLOEKICuGBv52WmxU65iWRHP0aXtXgKNhE4NvgqCe518ySOwr2WoOuG3um2hzwZyn7Shrf321fJrhjguKTzDe-Yb69oo6eKSZNSyC6_fxUk/s1600/guygarvey.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Definitely pretty weird to hear Guy Garvey’s voice over anything but Elbow’s radio friendly prog stylings. Apparently he’s now all about the Afrobeat after checking out recommendations from his 6Music listeners. That might be stretching it a bit - Elbow were always a fairly experimental lot, and the title track in particular is an Elbow ballad in all but name. All in all though, a delightfully sparse, synthy, Afrobeat-lite collection of tunes.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</b><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall (ATO)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsybT-LSH9QlBqULu2tjItFbBQiqRHSvjgrBYCqQVYLxhRCtU421zgqk0ZZD81vem8sN1NQXSrXliYHk46wEnaXTv9QN580ZJitxrQXdtEaJn03uWfalR-ElvmDrjbG4oN-R5ifuCtwoM/s1600/mymorningjacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsybT-LSH9QlBqULu2tjItFbBQiqRHSvjgrBYCqQVYLxhRCtU421zgqk0ZZD81vem8sN1NQXSrXliYHk46wEnaXTv9QN580ZJitxrQXdtEaJn03uWfalR-ElvmDrjbG4oN-R5ifuCtwoM/s1600/mymorningjacket.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Inexplicably, I’d always though My Morning Jacket were some ill-advised metal band. I’m still trying to work out who exactly I thought they were (suggestions welcome). Thankfully, Ian set me straight and I found this collection of sweeping, widescreen Americana to be right up my street. In the post-Musical Advent Calendar age, where I will revert to my previous habits of buying loads of back catalogues en masse, I reckon Jim James and the boys will have a few of my pennies rolling their way now I’ve worked out they’re not Slipknot’s long-time tour support buddies.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</b><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Heartless Bastards - Restless Ones (Partisan)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARS9dXUUOZCd-Wqgh8AXwLEjYGCZeqbhMI2tnHrR7meqWUPZ1puZ4nt-opgr0RD_fNTVCWc_qt6kA8A7x2q0ZiB2q0kryRIpoW8ESRBqsyVDi4_ze3XVIf3zf1CTCRjmbHKstn9nQI_A/s1600/heartlessbastards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhARS9dXUUOZCd-Wqgh8AXwLEjYGCZeqbhMI2tnHrR7meqWUPZ1puZ4nt-opgr0RD_fNTVCWc_qt6kA8A7x2q0ZiB2q0kryRIpoW8ESRBqsyVDi4_ze3XVIf3zf1CTCRjmbHKstn9nQI_A/s1600/heartlessbastards.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My first encounter with Heartless Bastards came in the company of Messrs Parker and Farrell when they supported Drive-By Truckers in Manchester last year. Erika Wennerstrom’s wonderful voice and the muscular rhythm section wormed their way into my head and they are still in there. This is the most accomplished work yet from a band you feel have still to reach their peak.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Kodiak Deathbeds - Kodiak Deathbeds (self-released)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfVsNi7WWwIzqUvd7Iz4fZm5FHlrFmeN3ZannM6K7IwA0LuCS5Bl4eKl5f8Xw5JdQneEnqw7dTRMlMHm-__wImGNXRheGUJR35xarjo8HY637c3dwTNogRLCwYv9EcLmF5KwYWTgreuc/s1600/kodiakdeathbeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfVsNi7WWwIzqUvd7Iz4fZm5FHlrFmeN3ZannM6K7IwA0LuCS5Bl4eKl5f8Xw5JdQneEnqw7dTRMlMHm-__wImGNXRheGUJR35xarjo8HY637c3dwTNogRLCwYv9EcLmF5KwYWTgreuc/s1600/kodiakdeathbeds.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Kodiak what now? Amber Webber, of Lightning Dust and Black Mountain, paired with Cave Singers’ Derek Fudesco - at Fudesco’s instigation - for this initially most promising of side projects. The result this summer was a set of gorgeous fireside folk, Webber’s familiar elegant vibrato playing off against the plotted, rustic guitar patterns woven by Fudesco.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Pranam Mavahalli</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoXlA0lhpqwCT68IA6T_Oxk76m_2F4RG9YC5d1LN2BNUHSo6RVhXaRH2lpFIn6wEPE2fMY3WBuxEnCm6wItF17d0XDoLuSrVvasrPfzjbXyx-3_pIPaJs072zZd0tOvY8M1_RTccaB9A/s1600/percussions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoXlA0lhpqwCT68IA6T_Oxk76m_2F4RG9YC5d1LN2BNUHSo6RVhXaRH2lpFIn6wEPE2fMY3WBuxEnCm6wItF17d0XDoLuSrVvasrPfzjbXyx-3_pIPaJs072zZd0tOvY8M1_RTccaB9A/s1600/percussions.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">It's fair to say I travel a good amount for my job. And when that involves getting up early, and my old noggin isn't quite in gear, I need something instant, warm, and to-the-point to kickstart my brain and body into gear. Coffee gives me terrible indigestion, so the Percussions album has proved a more than able substitute. Its four-to-the-floor kick drums, synths and samples get my feet moving while letting my brain idle away in abstract thoughts in my semi-awake morning state.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</b><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Bjork - Vulnicura (One Little Indian)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHzmCIcocSa-nlsqzWxKtsBMWCRlJ6GOP-J3svq_YmvLP-fan7CpnQA9hvvUzn5vlx_MA9sPJBNWnhqgSJLVGXDpqR5IO3S3k6rBWYp7wsvM9YSUB3M9ietbSND04FxfMbJbXmbAoDhl4/s1600/bjork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHzmCIcocSa-nlsqzWxKtsBMWCRlJ6GOP-J3svq_YmvLP-fan7CpnQA9hvvUzn5vlx_MA9sPJBNWnhqgSJLVGXDpqR5IO3S3k6rBWYp7wsvM9YSUB3M9ietbSND04FxfMbJbXmbAoDhl4/s1600/bjork.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Of all the albums to ever make it into a top 10 of mine, I must have listened to <i>Vulnicura</i> the least. Not because it isn't brilliant - maybe in fact because it is. This is such a personal record, such a raw one - as the cover art suggests - from such a wonderfully complex, demanding artist that it requires a good deal of emotional energy to really do it justice. On those rare occasions you find it in you, the rewards are amazing. </span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</b><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Julien Baker – Sprained Ankle (6131 Records)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibC4uHCFa5Io7e0haDB9zGLR6SluMQLo0k5XcP5ZGNoAsZAwdsInjvvmJn8Poy2TdstMFMoq0Tgu0LxoEj1mL-i2jFiu2PXDzFJHj9Q_Wmm3pHfsGBOfMpC0gF7Q6Ev-DWCQbpjHg1fM4/s1600/julienbaker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibC4uHCFa5Io7e0haDB9zGLR6SluMQLo0k5XcP5ZGNoAsZAwdsInjvvmJn8Poy2TdstMFMoq0Tgu0LxoEj1mL-i2jFiu2PXDzFJHj9Q_Wmm3pHfsGBOfMpC0gF7Q6Ev-DWCQbpjHg1fM4/s1600/julienbaker.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">By some distance, the most stripped back album in my list (in truth, it doesn’t really have any competition). What it lacks in instrumental power, it makes up with emotional heft. A powerful listen.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Steve Pill</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Guy Garvey – Courting the Squall (Polydor)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-TDic8nH92CjR_MQDYxrVKUAW8dcdZcVfFXQfjVLgzf_w7Iy-Nikon6xbw6o8e8FmscMmBECUpsNBR2PXDERXBJK0aUlOqTy07oDMkIHMLoyZyMFj_y_vEIYFqISjglsxVzSmkhSo7k/s1600/guygarvey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-TDic8nH92CjR_MQDYxrVKUAW8dcdZcVfFXQfjVLgzf_w7Iy-Nikon6xbw6o8e8FmscMmBECUpsNBR2PXDERXBJK0aUlOqTy07oDMkIHMLoyZyMFj_y_vEIYFqISjglsxVzSmkhSo7k/s1600/guygarvey.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Absence makes the heart grow fonder and Garvey's best lyrics have always come when he’s been missing something, usually his hometown, his girlfriend or his drinking buddies. This solo album finds him in an odd position, then, with a new girlfriend in another city, his drinking buddies turned into his makeshift band and the world at his feet after Elbow’s first number one album. Perhaps the oddest part of it all, however, is that for all his Meltdown-curating and eclectic 6Music playlists, Garvey didn’t push the boundaries further. The urgent Beefheart-meets-Black Books skronk of 'Angela's Eyes' is a thrilling beginning, but much of the rest could easily have drunkenly snuggled its way onto any of Elbow's earlier albums. However, given that the Bury boys topped my chart last year and Garvey’s duetting partner Jolie Holland came third, you’ll realise why more of the same is no bad thing in my book.</span></span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-67890632223638244052015-12-15T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-15T10:00:06.426+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Fifteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Gwilym reveals why maths is not his strong point, and Pranam explains why he's a little screwed up inside. But enough of such piffling nonsense. Today is the turning point. Today is the day we enter our top 10s. It gets serious from now on.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Andy Welch</b><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Tobias Jesso Jr – Goon (True Panther)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-37e_jDEgCn-qp0qWbfCOkyeXCPkcQXfMToFgULukAQeWf3Jt-eH3FBhlNIZsZ1BgeU3mqm5UMmWwD6TrrAhED6X-OPnD03V9g47fMw4fs7pWVvPW-X46ObxjEufu5CYlkhH_AGXKN1Q/s1600/tobiasjessojr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-37e_jDEgCn-qp0qWbfCOkyeXCPkcQXfMToFgULukAQeWf3Jt-eH3FBhlNIZsZ1BgeU3mqm5UMmWwD6TrrAhED6X-OPnD03V9g47fMw4fs7pWVvPW-X46ObxjEufu5CYlkhH_AGXKN1Q/s1600/tobiasjessojr.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If Tobias Jesso Jr stays true to his word, it'll be a horrific shame. He's said in several interviews that </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Goon</i><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is going to be his only album as an artist, and from now on he's going to concentrate on writing songs for other artists. Nevertheless, we'll always have this, his ever-so-slightly shonky collection of Nilsson-esque heartbreak ballads detailing his girlfriend leaving him, his ex-girlfriend not loving him any more, and not being able to get over his ex. It might be one note in theme, and musically quite basic, but there's something very special about this album, one new fans will likely carry on discovering until he's forced out of retirement in 2046.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2ybYYKBd_40" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ (Merge)</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyfXEqsVuqOKJcG74yzHdozcFFI5G5LR7TvPWml8s6NliXDPHbqdrUxSpma9zW6ftgNPPqJTdC0Zs_sxAN8AXq5osYTJhltJD_iGC3qkJ7oi3RHHbZgId1Y-Wv6OqzeiitHVQsnfSdt8/s1600/mountaingoats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyfXEqsVuqOKJcG74yzHdozcFFI5G5LR7TvPWml8s6NliXDPHbqdrUxSpma9zW6ftgNPPqJTdC0Zs_sxAN8AXq5osYTJhltJD_iGC3qkJ7oi3RHHbZgId1Y-Wv6OqzeiitHVQsnfSdt8/s1600/mountaingoats.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Having not entirely disenfranchised fans with a 2011 album featuring songs based on verses of the Bible, John Darnielle's penchant for the concept album touched even more outre heights here with a 13-song set about professional wrestling. When Bruce Springsteen was asked for a title track to <i style="font-family: inherit;">The Wrestler</i>, he played safe with allegory, metaphor, double speak. Here Darnielle writes about stipulation matches, masks, marketing gimmicks, travel commitments between shows, storylines, fan reaction. Everything but Hulk Hogan, essentially. But there's no escape, it's not about suplexes - it's about life, death, relationships, loneliness, desperation, hope. Like all the best music.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mCqoVN5d1V4" width="420"></iframe></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Django Django - Born Under Saturn (Because)</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx6iJVA1qA0TIEg5-u8gx8rXGQdVcOViKneRoxPgUFsjXI2y4xaMME7lBSSJS-ZTiBM7MqDuEPDfQXlzjsbuDBiBD41IX6P1PJZc8jIVU9CWF3Bz3UiFbfMQRCKYI721mBaZLjIrp67dA/s1600/djangodjango.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx6iJVA1qA0TIEg5-u8gx8rXGQdVcOViKneRoxPgUFsjXI2y4xaMME7lBSSJS-ZTiBM7MqDuEPDfQXlzjsbuDBiBD41IX6P1PJZc8jIVU9CWF3Bz3UiFbfMQRCKYI721mBaZLjIrp67dA/s1600/djangodjango.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’ve never seen a crowd bop up and down satisfyingly till you’ve seen Django Django play to them. Their second album, <i>Born Under Saturn,</i> isn’t quite as instant as their debut, but who cares? It’s not like anyone else is going to churn out a record that sounds just like them. Tracks like 'Shake Tremble' show they still know to deliver their trademark sound better than anyone.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHJFN9jQRxLBwHQrKHBxWMtP3Ni_y7SclPRiflJFF0i66ikoj_w8Q5kXDnxRf1ASZhguNZ5aWb1SBK_TJP0Xdf9n2kCo86oMh_0eXUwFkgRMWWdpFKMyBBl8KoFIiF-07fTrJ7Ou4XR4/s1600/charlatans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNHJFN9jQRxLBwHQrKHBxWMtP3Ni_y7SclPRiflJFF0i66ikoj_w8Q5kXDnxRf1ASZhguNZ5aWb1SBK_TJP0Xdf9n2kCo86oMh_0eXUwFkgRMWWdpFKMyBBl8KoFIiF-07fTrJ7Ou4XR4/s1600/charlatans.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Understandably, the untimely death of powerhouse drummer Jon Brookes in 2013 felt like the end for The Charlatans. Without a creditable album to their name for at least a decade (I love 2004’s <i>Up At The Lake</i>; I’m pretty sure the band themselves aren’t actually too keen on it), robbed of their beating heart and again contemplating death having been hit with bankruptcy, depression and drug addiction along the way, why would the great survivors of Baggy and Britpop bother dusting themselves down again? <i>Modern Nature</i> gave them a beautiful reason to do so. If opener 'Talking in Tones' - which would not be out of place on debut <i>Some Friendly</i> - suggests a retreat towards the comforts of the past, soulful songs of love, hope, joy and companionships unfold with emotional heft throughout the opening two thirds to paint a wholly different picture. You’ll go a long way this year to hear such a purely life-affirming song as 'Let the Good Times Be Never Ending'. The closing stretch is understandably more introspective as Brookes’ brothers in song pitch their sun-kissed eulogy to near perfection.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ffsUG7uWM8SSVfLyIThO4UtvgLblNzj8_FTIR43NEgY2sZECDBwGN6CMT8SKR1p_stDIp6VMJi3T6fy9MVKDv2AlgaWb_Mq8BYJ0sAxwLk0gKJjBxIgB2SkCswKRyj_ukbTSXQi4ULg/s1600/fatherjohnmisty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ffsUG7uWM8SSVfLyIThO4UtvgLblNzj8_FTIR43NEgY2sZECDBwGN6CMT8SKR1p_stDIp6VMJi3T6fy9MVKDv2AlgaWb_Mq8BYJ0sAxwLk0gKJjBxIgB2SkCswKRyj_ukbTSXQi4ULg/s1600/fatherjohnmisty.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">For a long time I was convinced this was nailed on to be in my top three, so I find myself positively perplexed as to how it has ended up as low as number 10. That’s the magic and madness of the Advent Calendar I suppose. This is easily the loopiest album of the year. Part yearning and lovelorn, sometimes cruel, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes downright bonkers, but all brilliant. The sudden changes in tone can be unsettling, no more so than on the incredible ‘Bored of the USA’.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_bPuhCg8As7CNyVE9hH-9JAIFth4jgFMmHChSzrK4Vuei2aNHlnQpGL7MVXyYMxBKKyH2v5dmBDJT58mH2CVpeaK0PIPKpmZCyuJvA3X1gCcMReLyxLI2n_h8P-A8pnkB4Xn3xfA6wc/s1600/tovelo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_bPuhCg8As7CNyVE9hH-9JAIFth4jgFMmHChSzrK4Vuei2aNHlnQpGL7MVXyYMxBKKyH2v5dmBDJT58mH2CVpeaK0PIPKpmZCyuJvA3X1gCcMReLyxLI2n_h8P-A8pnkB4Xn3xfA6wc/s1600/tovelo.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Tove Lo spat out slogans, retorts, cusses, confessions and teases - often all within the same song - on her astonishing debut album. She’s Swedish, from the same bricks-and-mortar music school as Robyn, and after several years writing songs for others </span><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Queen of the Clouds</i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"> marked her coming out as an artist in her own right. Vulgar, violent, sometimes even very funny, it burst at the seams with irresistible hooks.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRct2X1IetLuLuJpFR6NkoF41oV3SdOIgFN77_zMzp2U9rLPI6aHSZD6TBsHKXce8uDcEbCX6dYWh6bS8CD9SkzjnNOCt78zS1cRQR-S4cKPcU3JY71yDYoOfyEP6yxaH6uFN1TPoEePk/s1600/jamiexx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRct2X1IetLuLuJpFR6NkoF41oV3SdOIgFN77_zMzp2U9rLPI6aHSZD6TBsHKXce8uDcEbCX6dYWh6bS8CD9SkzjnNOCt78zS1cRQR-S4cKPcU3JY71yDYoOfyEP6yxaH6uFN1TPoEePk/s1600/jamiexx.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Back in 2013 I saw Jamie xx DJ during the Manchester International Festival. The crowd was a gloriously mixed ragtag of music lovers, hipsters, Guardianistas and old school ravers. At one point he played his stunning remix of Four Tet's Lion. The bass rearranged my internal organs ever so slightly and from that point on I was hooked. There are tracks in this album that I can't help but love. 'SeeSaw' is a perfect collaboration between Jamie xx, Romy and Four Tet, showcasing all three's unique talents. Tracks like 'Just Saying', and 'Hold Tight', while mere vignettes, sound fantastic and to me capture the liminal magic outside nightclubs where night morphs into day... And I love 'Sleep Sound' so much I've heard it a truly embarrassing number of times. But - and there is a but - there are other tracks on here I care very little about and would have been happier if they'd been left off altogether. It's not quite the masterpiece some were expecting then, and it's perhaps a little too diverse to cohere as an album, but it's still a fantastic offering from a one of this generation's best producers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blur - The Magic Whip (Parlophone)</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbtrNCopQAW0ROdmelpxmUs9fF66f9YcpU0p9vqWh-vz6JKY7tR7OnZ2PNH_tnMifRqQSo3awIC5IcFPCoeVv24Vcd6EvK_g4n2XbRPlSKLJFZnG4QrBTSiCi33L05DmPMU5XgB-RDLI/s1600/blur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIbtrNCopQAW0ROdmelpxmUs9fF66f9YcpU0p9vqWh-vz6JKY7tR7OnZ2PNH_tnMifRqQSo3awIC5IcFPCoeVv24Vcd6EvK_g4n2XbRPlSKLJFZnG4QrBTSiCi33L05DmPMU5XgB-RDLI/s1600/blur.jpg" /></a><span class="s1"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">There was a part of me was determined to hate the new Blur album. The will they-won’t they tease of whether or not the four of them could be arsed to gather together in a studio and actually record an album was so tedious that I long ago decided that whatever the results might be, I wasn’t interested. But maybe because the eventual recording of <i>The Magic Whip</i> was largely accidental - the result of the band being bored in Hong Kong after a cancelled festival - is what gives it some spontaneous joy. Where comeback records can be staid and, well, dull,<i> The Magic Whip </i>oozes with ideas, delivered with the assurance of a band who now only have to do what they want to, not what they need to. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Floating Points – Elaenia (Pluto)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRUO4rFRaOwMTHxWrEfBq2itOjzwxkhyAmWIfSUwVSh9yldT4IPPxDzTy1cr2EZbhRz59uMW8XS90wg0v3WmpXRr6hoi0a73RDNZ5ZNAPT7RLif18WfKlGPHXD03k2tMJ-HHhoc4MzHM/s1600/floatingpoint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPRUO4rFRaOwMTHxWrEfBq2itOjzwxkhyAmWIfSUwVSh9yldT4IPPxDzTy1cr2EZbhRz59uMW8XS90wg0v3WmpXRr6hoi0a73RDNZ5ZNAPT7RLif18WfKlGPHXD03k2tMJ-HHhoc4MzHM/s1600/floatingpoint.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I kinda wanted this to be number one. Despite releasing some of the most supple, exploratory and satisfying dance music of the last five years in a series of collectable 12”s, Manchester’s Sam Shepherd has been holding out on releasing a debut album for so long it had driven most online commentators a little wild in anticipation. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The hope was that he would condense the thrill of his seven-, eight-minute workouts into a tighter, CD-friendly package but, as you might expect from a guy who took time out from a DJ and producing career for which most would kill to instead study a PhD in neuroscience, he was never about to take the obvious route. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, <i>Elaenia</i> is an album that falls somewhere between spiritual jazz, ambient classical and a Charles Stepney-produced orchestral soul epic, while at the same time giving us the slightly unnecessary answer to what Radiohead might have sounded like if their sole post-<i>Kid A</i> ambition was to headline the Big Chill festival. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, I’m being harsh. Floating Points is destined to have a brilliant and critically-lauded career in the mould of Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden and Caribou’s Dan Snaith, if he wants it of course. <i>Elaenia</i> is a remarkable achievement for a debut, but you still sense the best is yet to come.</span></span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-13547461031779557432015-12-14T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-14T10:00:04.239+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Fourteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br />Andy explains why his pick belongs to a genre which doesn't exist, Dollard laments a properly pants stage name, and Pranam explains Kendrick Lamar through the medium of 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll'. Here are our No. 11 albums of the year.<br /><b><br />Andy Welch<br />Pond – Man It Feels Like Space Again (Universal)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36-5MxyZOTP7GZDfzTf-cDHtk7-mfsEg63LAUwAfHbjDsXfARA7Z3GdbhBJzR1OvMiS816FjSAXQFJtQmwPvD45giusn0qlciLuWGEKUm8RishhAPUqf_vm4HSiU-hQCvWX89njADsc0/s1600/pond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj36-5MxyZOTP7GZDfzTf-cDHtk7-mfsEg63LAUwAfHbjDsXfARA7Z3GdbhBJzR1OvMiS816FjSAXQFJtQmwPvD45giusn0qlciLuWGEKUm8RishhAPUqf_vm4HSiU-hQCvWX89njADsc0/s1600/pond.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Whether there's such a thing as the Australian psych scene or not – and Tame Impala's Kevin Parker says it's cobblers – there's certainly a lot of great psych coming out of Australia. Pond's sixth record is every bit as exploratory and inventive as their others, and makes their standing as some sort of Tame Impala side-project seem all the more unfair. It's a hugely indulgent record, but then all the best psych records are.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtrnkjCE_f_Jb9EaZP4WjlmJDl3tVByWjGiTx1efR0tumzlSxBUq20ik0QyWdaPQND5Cr4DH-HD5U5ng9su_rOFq3hJSa-oJf-jRN8fvK9bt-G6jyi4tXwSq4QT8UOBhtoIMu1w1lZT4/s1600/tallestmanonearth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGtrnkjCE_f_Jb9EaZP4WjlmJDl3tVByWjGiTx1efR0tumzlSxBUq20ik0QyWdaPQND5Cr4DH-HD5U5ng9su_rOFq3hJSa-oJf-jRN8fvK9bt-G6jyi4tXwSq4QT8UOBhtoIMu1w1lZT4/s1600/tallestmanonearth.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">If there's one problem with this guy it's his stage name. Rubbish. If there's another it's just how easy he makes this stuff seem. It's a little known fact that the biggest pollutant in the developed world is boring bastards with acoustic guitars and well-worn rhyming dictionaries. So much so it's actually incredibly hard to make that blueprint even remotely plausible. Kristian Matsson (let's call him that from now on, ay?) does it with ebullient ease, with a great voice and an instinctive style that mocks the bedwetters and the buskers.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gaz Coombes - Matador (Hot Fruit)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXG2AmxfVJlcRkI5d872Kqv5N9VAhA4TjYc27vow2ay8MdhI4z_3nwvbtNqqRKBM7LsktOSuGb_YIeDQgmzP4ee7lgbbE3aHvDgVXaDpIWYgbeoUbhlnlF6WA1kilmmJmD9SfjxxyaN2o/s1600/gazcoombes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXG2AmxfVJlcRkI5d872Kqv5N9VAhA4TjYc27vow2ay8MdhI4z_3nwvbtNqqRKBM7LsktOSuGb_YIeDQgmzP4ee7lgbbE3aHvDgVXaDpIWYgbeoUbhlnlF6WA1kilmmJmD9SfjxxyaN2o/s1600/gazcoombes.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Supergrass were everyone’s second favourite band. And now Gaz Coombes is officially a solo artist, we can all discover what he’d have liked Supergrass to sound like all this time. The answer is less <i>Caught by the Fuzz</i>, and more their serious moments like 'Late in the Day'. A great songwriter might just have extended his career by another 20 years.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_SRsQRCC38zX2GmYAiYXAxOGXY1xHpMgb5WXWlpqfzzhLk_W_WETmxjqDkj7teOFYIey4FpFjKK_k8m7dP8Q5gCkH_QDGAW59lUxzYEN1XXcIkdLd4iP2e4-uTcuqWlSmUyENiGEGeo/s1600/djangodjango.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_SRsQRCC38zX2GmYAiYXAxOGXY1xHpMgb5WXWlpqfzzhLk_W_WETmxjqDkj7teOFYIey4FpFjKK_k8m7dP8Q5gCkH_QDGAW59lUxzYEN1XXcIkdLd4iP2e4-uTcuqWlSmUyENiGEGeo/s1600/djangodjango.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The infectious surf guitars and hypnotic beats of Django Django’s debut clatter a committed path towards the dancefloor on 'Born Under Saturn' - something underlined by a ferocious live show that packs a considerable and unexpected punch. On record, it’s exciting to hear a band two records in who seem to have honed a sound that is so demonstrably their own. Absolutely comfortable in their own skin so you can shake yours about the place good and proper.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Morning Jacket - The Waterfall (ATO)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4L5edcEZhRkZk5QFs2qVveDxlELM_hK1U-nFxCWwMLYtXuOfOB0Ndagd4MkkmC3PJ3NKZIfogd7mjDE-p1R26kHoF8fVWBkR4AVB3bKW7GZ-C7VZtvbfrQvp6Q5iy_cfbPgy7oBlpiw/s1600/mymorningjacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4L5edcEZhRkZk5QFs2qVveDxlELM_hK1U-nFxCWwMLYtXuOfOB0Ndagd4MkkmC3PJ3NKZIfogd7mjDE-p1R26kHoF8fVWBkR4AVB3bKW7GZ-C7VZtvbfrQvp6Q5iy_cfbPgy7oBlpiw/s1600/mymorningjacket.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At their best My Morning Jacket always exuded a certain warmth, no matter how weird things got. <i>Z</i>, their best record, managed the feat of experimenting with their country-rock sound without the electronic ambient sounding cold. On <i>Evil Urges</i> and <i>Circuital</i>, some of that warmth was lost. For a band who sound remarkable when cutting loose on stage, MMJ almost sounded clinical. Here, the warmth is evident again. Opener 'Believe' and 'In Its Infancy' stretch out, while 'Get the Point' includes wonderful tender vocals from Jim James, who is on superb form throughout. It’s the sound of a great band getting back on track and stepping up the quality control.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_K7RsttseGI" width="560"></iframe><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2yqldiXUXTgTuRobgRZ5chm5GOtuWNLD8GucleBLveAhVYKLXb7UX91Bh_IckTzPOdt5_oHVaOjRdBI7jQ_-v5ZEFkNkUklEsoRI5p22LQMil9OfzAcNSE5BkuMI-bQ_361KEZI_24Lw/s1600/shopping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2yqldiXUXTgTuRobgRZ5chm5GOtuWNLD8GucleBLveAhVYKLXb7UX91Bh_IckTzPOdt5_oHVaOjRdBI7jQ_-v5ZEFkNkUklEsoRI5p22LQMil9OfzAcNSE5BkuMI-bQ_361KEZI_24Lw/s1600/shopping.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Maybe you never liked the Slits. Maybe Delta 5 left your feet motionless. Maybe subtly politicised post-punk just isn’t your thing. Maybe Shopping aren’t selling anything you’d buy. And that’s fine, it’s a niche commodity they trade in; the world would be a peculiar place if we were all, in 2015, shuffling to a death-disco, two-tone beat. Why Choose was a twitchy, at-times unnerving but always fabulously frisky LP. It was not entirely original, but its unrelenting energy and propulsion made it stand out from the crowd.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp a Butterfly (Polydor)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BBfA-oXjJ_0fdCx76KdaV7m3t6eU3QwhQpkxejEO3uQHsbBP1Pnf1JE6hM56-UTcVNXboygD2-3eF15LdjFxrSWaOq-W4xnlxqL9Xq_3XhRJ_JkTagygfurhGPqBDwMz9VyN8d2NBhI/s1600/kendricklamar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6BBfA-oXjJ_0fdCx76KdaV7m3t6eU3QwhQpkxejEO3uQHsbBP1Pnf1JE6hM56-UTcVNXboygD2-3eF15LdjFxrSWaOq-W4xnlxqL9Xq_3XhRJ_JkTagygfurhGPqBDwMz9VyN8d2NBhI/s1600/kendricklamar.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh but you who philosophise, disgrace and criticise all fears / Take the rag away from your face / Now ain’t the time for your tears”. Hearing 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll' changed me from someone who had a passing interest in Bob Dylan to an embarrassing fangirl of the guy. I think it was the fact that the song was grounded on reality that did it. That and the way Dylan repeats the line above after each verse, but then modifies it slightly to devastatingly emotional effect in the final verse. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Similarly, it was on hearing 'The Blacker the Berry' that I truly got Kendrick Lamaar. A song that takes the politically charged true events of the Trayvon Martin case as a starting point, but uses them to talk about black youth culture to powerful effect. And like Dylan, the last line of Kendrick's song carries a twist that gives the rest of the song greater meaning. Incredibly stirring stuff.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4NMcT_Hxjjo" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz348nVMHs-zP9Ff4doOBm7U3abMG4TxH-8ViE3CXDVbjLqGk-FEGicWgVVMHuuOr3b7taEhoEZ8G5Z60JtSlbodPiqcTc4CA9PC2T8ls4MbhCF3yug2KFrm69oC3s6Gx0UADftuwMd9o/s1600/admiralfallow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz348nVMHs-zP9Ff4doOBm7U3abMG4TxH-8ViE3CXDVbjLqGk-FEGicWgVVMHuuOr3b7taEhoEZ8G5Z60JtSlbodPiqcTc4CA9PC2T8ls4MbhCF3yug2KFrm69oC3s6Gx0UADftuwMd9o/s1600/admiralfallow.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Any time a band says they’ve completely ripped up their formula and started over, alarm bells go off for fans everywhere. So imagine the panic when Admiral Fallow, they of the rich but subtle blend of traditional instrumentation, said they'd had ditched the acoustic guitars in favour of loops, effects and, uhm, “big disco party sections”. But <i>Tiny Rewards</i> remains unmistakably an Admiral Fallow record, and another rather brilliant one too. Yes, they use lots of loops. Yes, they use lots of effects. The big brooding sound of ‘Happened In The Fall’, the endless loops on ‘Holding The Strings’ and driving rhythms of ‘Some Kind of Life’ – this is stuff you have never heard the likes of before from Admiral Fallow. But no, they have not lost any of their charm. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VBPDNuRH3gw" width="560"></iframe><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lights & Motion – Chronicle (Deep Elm)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDJXl_NzUg6z5gg5LEx8XwALldfY4XgfdDaj98D5mJHUSZm2LgvLOaly8uOYn2qAIELS-fpXtcyK-QnAWES5co9ukPvTE36IRzlkqkRnzkMbNnIlfsXIxjqqApMqnEoKZDw9DP7M41nc/s1600/lightsandmotion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFDJXl_NzUg6z5gg5LEx8XwALldfY4XgfdDaj98D5mJHUSZm2LgvLOaly8uOYn2qAIELS-fpXtcyK-QnAWES5co9ukPvTE36IRzlkqkRnzkMbNnIlfsXIxjqqApMqnEoKZDw9DP7M41nc/s1600/lightsandmotion.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just beautiful, cinematic post-rock. Music to soundtrack the end of the world.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7YR-A-dTBsyNAP_5_MbQuc2MNhemBwH9EWHk21P3mxB-CzuEzpLadCC5g4DRzz389Jj8K7pK_pbKf6h6m3Jq5H_itHeSwkPxsOD-0Zzuzs0sT_bo2QMoPaVUguzH5GZWwYSyBuvnS8g/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA7YR-A-dTBsyNAP_5_MbQuc2MNhemBwH9EWHk21P3mxB-CzuEzpLadCC5g4DRzz389Jj8K7pK_pbKf6h6m3Jq5H_itHeSwkPxsOD-0Zzuzs0sT_bo2QMoPaVUguzH5GZWwYSyBuvnS8g/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Much has been made of Barnett belonging to some sort of sun-bleached college rock lineage that a heartbreaking cover of the Lemonheads' 'Being Around' only further emphasised. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">To my mind, this is pure stoner Britpop though - a slacker Sleeper or loose Elastica, if you will. Listen to the bored female vocals, melodic bass lines and skronky chords of 'Pedestrian At Best' or 'Elevator Operator' and you can half imagine it's being played live on Big Breakfast circa 1995. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">What elevates this is Barnett's Sahara dry, self-deprecating wit in lines like "Put me on a pedestal and I'll only disappoint you" or the topical ennui of 'Depreston''s tale of house price woes: "We don't need to be around all those coffee shops... I'm saving $23 a week". </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">While Wener, Frischmann and co. were often flirty and sex-obsessed, Barnett has a matey charm that is clever, winning and just a little shambolic.</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-8104668635898487322015-12-13T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-13T10:09:01.647+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Thirteen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Behind door number thirteen of the Musical Advent Calendar, Dom's having a swinging time and Steve's playing Mario Kart, but between all of that we find time for our No. 12 albums of the year.<br /><br /><b>Andy Welch<br />Belle And Sebastian – Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance (Matador)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicunwSFBjwkkH6ruANLoaX6ycIC24gjui5BNHzmrvBeH6KYA7_WV7-ahjyCvogrom8zrlt9NUsg5x21sda74Idwwph6QcWKHtREds3GkInh_tBHkWRW54LOQqcLTF3ZGZ4leoCy09ncmg/s1600/bellesebastian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicunwSFBjwkkH6ruANLoaX6ycIC24gjui5BNHzmrvBeH6KYA7_WV7-ahjyCvogrom8zrlt9NUsg5x21sda74Idwwph6QcWKHtREds3GkInh_tBHkWRW54LOQqcLTF3ZGZ4leoCy09ncmg/s1600/bellesebastian.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Awful title aside, this is the best Belle And Sebastian album since <i>Dear Catastrophe Waitress</i>. Opener 'Nobody's Empire', the most personal song Stuart Murdoch has written, sort of brings the band full circle. It's all about his seven-year struggle with ME, during which many of the songs from the band's first album, <i>Tigermilk</i>, were written. Listening to that now, it's incredible how far their sound has changed since then, and no one, not even Murdoch, could've envisaged a ninth album like this, with its nods to disco and actual dance music, rather than indie music you can dance to. After leaving Rough Trade with a rather limp collection of B-sides, this record proves there's life in the old dogs yet.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ryan Adams - 1989 (Pax-Am)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLihcvQKJhh6wlm7gP0VbjLp5uHrTAqqkO4yNvyeWG97QW8XzSPmBxS0oJvjc7k3RdldGRo2VV2ONDVdq08E2ClRNEkmDsMdqglmXq63Izd6i9hSXUIa8bQqNxoLDlY6tbHho1tXCyis/s1600/RyanAdams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSLihcvQKJhh6wlm7gP0VbjLp5uHrTAqqkO4yNvyeWG97QW8XzSPmBxS0oJvjc7k3RdldGRo2VV2ONDVdq08E2ClRNEkmDsMdqglmXq63Izd6i9hSXUIa8bQqNxoLDlY6tbHho1tXCyis/s1600/RyanAdams.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It'd easy to kick off about the kitsch, get pissy about the provenance or switch back to the Swift but on its own terms Ryan Adams' latest detour is a more simple proposition than all that: it's just a really good record. Don’t question the motives - this is a guy who did a bluegrass cover of The Strokes' <i>Is This It</i> album a few months after its release and once put out eight albums of a capella rap on his website - just listen to the haunted lament of 'I Wish You Would' and tell me it wouldn't sit beautifully on <i>Love is Hell</i>.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Admiral Fallow - Tiny Rewards (Nettwerk)</span></b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthQNGyjnKsTL04SsWnB7_LrLitCLLVlQbMUzHUyggIqUnKBFuPiqNOvXiIoXRxZRke8i6rlnuy2rclnUjPyDrzsHdNRzmepk3po02ovG_N90YWig5NT2BOdFFMtM7DlHeOMYLgLyFmgk/s1600/admiralfallow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjthQNGyjnKsTL04SsWnB7_LrLitCLLVlQbMUzHUyggIqUnKBFuPiqNOvXiIoXRxZRke8i6rlnuy2rclnUjPyDrzsHdNRzmepk3po02ovG_N90YWig5NT2BOdFFMtM7DlHeOMYLgLyFmgk/s1600/admiralfallow.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scottish sons (and daughter - <i>ed</i>) Admiral Fallow are usually pretty adept at classic stompers with fairly outstanding lyrics (and always get extra points for singing in their actual accents). This is a more muted affair, but still has enough to keep the fans going till they cheer up again.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ui_FPGqun94" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar) </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhxKLdvQ6ZmWNrbFdOZVdbLeGl1kANOO4Zkm54Ubhwq6OAHtu16Rnva7YoOsn4_AFNDlDkKKVDnLAM8_WxhZ7m_eEYVWigcx8jFNLqT_y5JFmFaoi2QcWDBbudZ6ZOmGc2o8OaQX0cds/s1600/unknownmortalorchestra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhxKLdvQ6ZmWNrbFdOZVdbLeGl1kANOO4Zkm54Ubhwq6OAHtu16Rnva7YoOsn4_AFNDlDkKKVDnLAM8_WxhZ7m_eEYVWigcx8jFNLqT_y5JFmFaoi2QcWDBbudZ6ZOmGc2o8OaQX0cds/s1600/unknownmortalorchestra.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guitar and production virtuoso writes break-up album. It’s a path trodden many times. But Ruban Nielson committing to record his joy, confusion and heartbreak from a polyamorous relationship he and his wife embarked upon with a woman he met on tour upon chucks us into unchartered territory. Nelson’s fretwork is once again wondrous but it is only one element in a densely layered, neon-tinged collection. UMO’s soulful edge is now emphatically funk and disco bolstered, with most of the rough edges from 2013’s excellent <i>II</i> polished away to shimmer like a whirring mirrorball. The subject matter is, therefore, given a perhaps unlikely singalong, hip-shaking airing - never more so than on the clipped funk tear-up of 'Can’t Keep Checking My Phone'. Throw your keys in the bowl and your hands in the air.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In one way or another, Bob Dylan has been mining the Great American Songbook for a while. Every record since <i>Love and Theft</i> back in 2001 has had songs evoking the classic crooners of the Rat Pack era, be it ‘Bye and Bye’, 'Spirit on the Water’ or ‘Soon After Midnight’. This time he elected to cover rather than try and mimic that era of music with this collection of Sinatra standards. Given this is Dylan, we do not get ‘My Way’ or ‘New York, New York’, we get lesser-known Sinatra tracks, and it works wonderfully. Dylan’s well-worn vocals beautifully match the lovelorn sentiments of 'The Night We Called it a Day' and 'What’ll I Do'. His band are in glorious form making this one of the surprise stand-outs of 2015.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iOxy_hy22CA" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Girlpool - Before The World Was Big (Wichita)</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Passing the buses that spit wannabe starlets onto the clogged streets of Los Angeles, Girlpool left their home city and crossed the United States for Philadelphia during the writing and recording of this debut album. Whether a capricious step, or calculated, relocation has done Before The World Was Big no harm. Girlpool are a stripped down, nonconformist, proposition, consisting of guitarist Cleo Tucker, bass guitarist Harmony Tividad, and their coarse, coagulating vocals. There are no drums here, and yet the teenage duo don’t miss a beat. It’s a scratchy, lo-fi record, Girlpool taking one leaf from the book of the miscreant Moldy Peaches, their spiritual forebears, and tearing another from a nursery rhyme compendium. On the standout Chinatown, the harmonising Tucker and Tividad ask: “Do you feel restless when you realise you’ve alive?” Youthful, on the move, wilfully ignorant of songwriting’s rulebook, Girlpool are going places. On the title track, they chant: “I just miss how it felt, standing next to you, wearing matching dresses before the world was big.” Yet classroom days are over. This is a class-topping graduation.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Owiny Sigoma Band – Nyanza (Brownswood Recordings)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkST4TP-aFvvobboywUdaOZuxm8m31KYErLgaHRn5YImGLTSga12lqFTfcBpdlmeSmyTCQ7pIpBaiTq1N_69guY_4fUI3KbYizldAE1BI-5wR396_ane-NODljwfq5jcAIHkvv9RdYJfI/s1600/owinysigoma.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkST4TP-aFvvobboywUdaOZuxm8m31KYErLgaHRn5YImGLTSga12lqFTfcBpdlmeSmyTCQ7pIpBaiTq1N_69guY_4fUI3KbYizldAE1BI-5wR396_ane-NODljwfq5jcAIHkvv9RdYJfI/s1600/owinysigoma.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I assume that people will only have place for one Afro fusion album on their end of year lists. And for those who are into this sort of thing, I'm guessing that place will go to Mbongwanna Star (my choice a couple of days ago). But if we're comparing like with like, then this record is well worth a shout. It fuses African folk and Western music to winning effect, it's often thrilling and it's incredibly accessible. It might not be quite as out there as Mbongwanna Star, but its rhythmic invention and melodies make it well worth a listen.</span><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z-MPDJ4Glhk" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free (Southeastern)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1BNHsZzs4nQ1DFpUxY1f56J5G11tvla5I5MlatE0mTKuwCi-NuizNFnN6iRW54ObAoPjvoK39Pa17tELPMGC4BTZqXUBOLrB0jny05WoIoC3oc3HNByJqf5COCFPOc9qtvehy4rQuBL8/s1600/jasonisbell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1BNHsZzs4nQ1DFpUxY1f56J5G11tvla5I5MlatE0mTKuwCi-NuizNFnN6iRW54ObAoPjvoK39Pa17tELPMGC4BTZqXUBOLrB0jny05WoIoC3oc3HNByJqf5COCFPOc9qtvehy4rQuBL8/s1600/jasonisbell.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i>Something More Than Free</i> might be Jason Isbell’s fifth record since he left the Drive-By Truckers but in many ways, this felt like it had all the challenges of that difficult second album. Such was the brilliance of 2013’s <i>Southeastern</i>, it must have felt like the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/LHJhyrrUTgc%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E" target="_blank">Elephant</a> in the room when he was working on this. <i>Southeastern</i> had served as Isbell’s Fourth Step on the road to sobriety as he came to terms with the fall-out of his addictions, but <i>Something More Than Free</i> finds him in a very different situation - happily married, a baby on the way, and generally in a much better place. But heck, let’s stop comparing it and instead take it on it’s own merits. Isbell is one of the best songwriters at work today, and he’s maturing all the time. There’s a laid-back feel to the record, with previous big rockers replaced by country stomps, and at times it seems to lack real musical focus, but there isn’t a song on here without significant merits. </span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sleater Kinney – No Cities to Love (Sub Pop)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnTgsLS5Ue91OiEhKe4TVtqt2AY2MLuoOSnvrunwA4kgjUHjYS3aZ47g5xpYlIng7lR59Bac0mR6ADCS3NgMFM-FjY77yt3oY4tpG_z7WSShtshsDyul_1ccz_krBY-nr-urxGyPPCJM/s1600/sleaterkinney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnTgsLS5Ue91OiEhKe4TVtqt2AY2MLuoOSnvrunwA4kgjUHjYS3aZ47g5xpYlIng7lR59Bac0mR6ADCS3NgMFM-FjY77yt3oY4tpG_z7WSShtshsDyul_1ccz_krBY-nr-urxGyPPCJM/s1600/sleaterkinney.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve rarely seen such widespread fawning over a band as when Sleater-Kinney made their return earlier this year. Thankfully, no-one was left with egg on their face with the trio delivering a meaty and layered rock album that would, frankly, be beyond many bands going into their third decade.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rival Consoles – Howl (Erased Tapes)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-EtaYryHglXgFBkJhO65dDfGKl7XmpMcgGEXp3ZAmE9OvdT2BUuifMxIOD1N8UuKUuMyebkkHwVRuMMrY5wy_k5Fcu9b_NGWcltSr6rK5iiSd60teGgKNPUXSZMyNgwn5TapDMGooZAw/s1600/rivalconsoles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-EtaYryHglXgFBkJhO65dDfGKl7XmpMcgGEXp3ZAmE9OvdT2BUuifMxIOD1N8UuKUuMyebkkHwVRuMMrY5wy_k5Fcu9b_NGWcltSr6rK5iiSd60teGgKNPUXSZMyNgwn5TapDMGooZAw/s1600/rivalconsoles.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There was a time when Rival Consoles meant the Mega Drive and the SNES, but I am 35-years-old now and have no time for such madness (apart from the odd quick bash of Mario Kart on </span><a href="http://www.snesfun.com/" style="font-family: inherit;">www.snesfun.com</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">). </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead I must resign myself to headphone commutes in the company of albums like Howl. Coming out of the increasingly ace Erased Tapes stable, this is full of tape loops, church organs, bass drops and other eerie sounds that have a disquieting effect on me while sitting quietly on the Victoria line.</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-16620184243114171582015-12-12T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-12T10:00:07.443+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Twelve<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRclfzaXsapRLEkFrtYZTljBMVdPGY-6o6B2bqAvhlLZEOPEA4od3BTN4fuZJuDo3VUd3jxZmXPbH2YZtFeiAS_h-KSioKbzfYtxLOd7SBJHH3HrCrzWICGWeQIJ2JbZueyWCbQVngZQ/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRclfzaXsapRLEkFrtYZTljBMVdPGY-6o6B2bqAvhlLZEOPEA4od3BTN4fuZJuDo3VUd3jxZmXPbH2YZtFeiAS_h-KSioKbzfYtxLOd7SBJHH3HrCrzWICGWeQIJ2JbZueyWCbQVngZQ/s320/12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just how long can an episode of <i>The Apprentice</i> last? While Dollard is figuring that out Dom is having his dinner for breakfast and Steve has the insect repellant out. Try not to be too distracted as we run through our No. 13 albums of the year. </span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Welch</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leon Bridges – Coming Home (Columbia)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrRpWtYHs1r9wiNoXWV-Y-o3D2ZcmuBODhIm89r9KJF5kd06NbtFVLbAx4Olwu6Jgl4nn2FcMKrAmOKRMnccYxlQVSAM8SrWH8UWvvWhlvEPd2xy6oLdmY16-w_oZ4TuK8d7Ieqrz00v8/s1600/leonbridges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrRpWtYHs1r9wiNoXWV-Y-o3D2ZcmuBODhIm89r9KJF5kd06NbtFVLbAx4Olwu6Jgl4nn2FcMKrAmOKRMnccYxlQVSAM8SrWH8UWvvWhlvEPd2xy6oLdmY16-w_oZ4TuK8d7Ieqrz00v8/s1600/leonbridges.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There's nothing new here, Leon Bridges sounds like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, but it's no soulless pastiche. Quite the opposite, and 'Lisa Sawyer' is as beautiful a tribute to someone's mum you're going to hear. I'm a sucker for a backstory, too, and the idea of him washing dishes by day, slaying open mic evenings by night is hugely romantic. Probably isn't strictly true, but that's never stopped me being drawn in before.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jPdzSFEVQss" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadow (Parlophone)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXq9UQyl_67vQQqb5foyCIWw9QSp60ZVrs2Ni0A_MHB2iwNQJ4MJFEFlIe4FE6STY7l1FCXApvPJa2RBB6Zgz3KZx-XNAKn1uKmh-yabxZ0vJOVpy5aK0JQGRBybtHMk5MNVZebYchEA/s1600/richardhawley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqXq9UQyl_67vQQqb5foyCIWw9QSp60ZVrs2Ni0A_MHB2iwNQJ4MJFEFlIe4FE6STY7l1FCXApvPJa2RBB6Zgz3KZx-XNAKn1uKmh-yabxZ0vJOVpy5aK0JQGRBybtHMk5MNVZebYchEA/s1600/richardhawley.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm still watching <i>The Apprentice</i> by the way. I started five days ago, in Ragged Glories terms. Spooky. I'll tell you who'd hate <i>The Apprentice</i>, Richard Hawley. That show is all bullshit, he's all heart. It's full force consumerism to his whole-hog romanticism. It's Alan Sugar versus something really sweet. We all know by know he's not reinventing the wheel, or even reinventing Richard Hawley at this stage, but it's still a pleasure to hear him at work.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v2bmgTXkGeQ" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beirut - No No No (4AD)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuX3eAnph5IVNE8kluIleAoqcqz_VhnUHogCO0XRmpFtTEPfB1Yl8RpYuSIuimMyYQ3DR8WSC6RQz2XRLOs4sKtZP3SSFLfpkxS13O3kbvbufNueDBoEXGeruLyOLmG7HLfPYVzLBhk64/s1600/beirut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuX3eAnph5IVNE8kluIleAoqcqz_VhnUHogCO0XRmpFtTEPfB1Yl8RpYuSIuimMyYQ3DR8WSC6RQz2XRLOs4sKtZP3SSFLfpkxS13O3kbvbufNueDBoEXGeruLyOLmG7HLfPYVzLBhk64/s1600/beirut.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Beirut are a reliable source of swaying brass led life affirming music. And while I definitely don't approve of taking away your best sound by losing the brass for the most part, their foundations of simple and effective swaying songs remain intact.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WfE156KQBa0" width="560"></iframe> </span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drenge - Undertow (Infectious)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PtMAUmizVc7zm1WyzVVTWBRAgVhP8KCxemEjFb2qD6QOpWrTUUY69mtweU0IyPT0JP92n3riiyABDGiAdptJ0JbQa2xChbzAJSNZK4ePK9lCPY3qtE0pCOF11EPKVDWOyI1iHqm_8Q0/s1600/drenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3PtMAUmizVc7zm1WyzVVTWBRAgVhP8KCxemEjFb2qD6QOpWrTUUY69mtweU0IyPT0JP92n3riiyABDGiAdptJ0JbQa2xChbzAJSNZK4ePK9lCPY3qtE0pCOF11EPKVDWOyI1iHqm_8Q0/s1600/drenge.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If music is the food of the soul, <i>Undertow</i> is the sound of having bacon cheeseburger for breakfast and not giving a toss. The feedback-drenched one minute 12 seconds of instrumental intro are a worthy fuse for the powder-keg thump of 'Running Wild' and from that point you are clattered uncompromisingly around the chops by a record that rarely labours in getting to the point. The high point might very well be the unlikely Libertines-Motorhead hybrid of We Can Do What We Want. An absolute riot.</span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesse Malin – New York Before the War (One Little Indian)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVjhjXEXybIGmop-PGF-ZZOs8hYpQ8y-ZciBiP4gp3OyDyZ5kUPJ0R7TMiJ76gfIfAM0h1X_4QUYMRMaMiMDzH7dosVCkZSSWzxjZWn9I5zNwsbunYbfI29kUt7lzyflASDcJxp61yzo/s1600/jessemalin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrVjhjXEXybIGmop-PGF-ZZOs8hYpQ8y-ZciBiP4gp3OyDyZ5kUPJ0R7TMiJ76gfIfAM0h1X_4QUYMRMaMiMDzH7dosVCkZSSWzxjZWn9I5zNwsbunYbfI29kUt7lzyflASDcJxp61yzo/s1600/jessemalin.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jesse Malin decided that 2015, after a period of relative inactivity, was the time to announce his return, releasing two albums into the bargain. While <i>Outsiders</i> has its merits, this is the better of the two. Malin has always been a rocker at heart, and here he gives full vent to it. 'Turn Up the Mains' is a fantastic Stonesesque track, combining acoustic guitars with strident electric work and a memorable chorus. 'The Year I Was Born' is bar-room rock that Craig Finn would be proud of, while 'The Dreamers' shows Malin has not completely foregone his thoughtful side. It’s great to hear him brimming with energy again.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9fjishmb2wQ" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ought - Sun Coming Down (Constellation)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52rPKtrtDa5Z8HAa8E8EDyyNMeTrwh6ENPh45Nzs_r9EkbOd9v4ZrUwmGWVjMkdBH_8DERKaRgHowfBljA3UKxG08rraOS5x5o4MWprRYh5IiNt8vuMAo0bTPJue05dswWnj6EW1UWnM/s1600/ought.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52rPKtrtDa5Z8HAa8E8EDyyNMeTrwh6ENPh45Nzs_r9EkbOd9v4ZrUwmGWVjMkdBH_8DERKaRgHowfBljA3UKxG08rraOS5x5o4MWprRYh5IiNt8vuMAo0bTPJue05dswWnj6EW1UWnM/s1600/ought.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Ought’s wonderful debut LP <i>More Than Any Other Day</i> debut was a brilliant sprawling racket, living on the edge of its nerves, tense and tumultuous, hinting at influences from Television, Joy Division - certainly not Chucklevision. <i>Sun Coming Down</i> is thrillingly a great follow-up, on which singer Tim Darcy channels the snarl and apparent abandon of Mark E Smith, all the while helming a band that couldn’t be tighter. Missing the days of great Fall records? (Because they’re gone, right?) Then here’s a band you Ought to know.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Seven Davis Jr - Universes (Ninja Tune)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Apparently Seven counts Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr among his biggest influences. But don't worry this isn't the kind of music you'd expect to hear Parkinson play on Radio 2. It sounds like what might happen if Daniel Johnstone grew up listening to Prince and house. This is music made for the clubs, yet it's a wonky original take that's refreshingly sincere and instinctive rather than overthought. Release your inhibitions and embrace it.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nI4kP55nxaZYW2L0ZRXc5j9038vRdToTVFAQhy5xN6m6wvSQlFI0bra4rIV1PQzWU1Li9RTSeiREsh9mlIsEX2nXuSmb639OCmu0nT-jEb9uQ9_qm40TfYgBTT578F6UFDkpr3aNXZo/s1600/mymorningjacket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nI4kP55nxaZYW2L0ZRXc5j9038vRdToTVFAQhy5xN6m6wvSQlFI0bra4rIV1PQzWU1Li9RTSeiREsh9mlIsEX2nXuSmb639OCmu0nT-jEb9uQ9_qm40TfYgBTT578F6UFDkpr3aNXZo/s1600/mymorningjacket.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">My Morning Jacket have been many, many things since I first heard Jim James' beautiful vocals emerging from beneath a wall of hair at what I will always call the Hop & Grape in Manchester, somewhere between the release of debut The Tennessee Fire and the outstanding At Dawn, which makes it somewhere around 15 years ago. Their constant reworking and reinvention of their sound has kept them vital, and while The Waterfall doesn't quite top the likes of Z or Circuital, it reminds you why you can still believe that after 16 years, their best record might still be to come (Regardless of whatever </span><a href="http://raggedglories.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-musical-advent-calendar-door-number_3.html" target="_blank">theories Steve might have drunkenly concocted</a><span style="color: #cc0000;"> with folks from Milwaukee). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gallows – Desolation Sounds (Venn Records)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn’t think I’d still dig a Gallows record in 2015, but then I didn’t think that they’d bring in Wade McNeil from Alexisonfire and deliver an album that so effectively combines raw, aggressive hardcore with more straight-up ‘commercial’ rock. </span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Julia Holter – Have You in My Wilderness (Domino)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMz03thHAnFvnl68FDULAlkpzx2-R3Fq_BMTplyNaaG7U6dySmxXOjW9NJJnfWppoCnhTKhmRXQsUG5Mrv7hEZvP-3sJhtsUNEa-6fFL08M2i_S2AB5IHhjPkZ3AC8FAQ0L2JPiJoSG4/s1600/juliaholter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMz03thHAnFvnl68FDULAlkpzx2-R3Fq_BMTplyNaaG7U6dySmxXOjW9NJJnfWppoCnhTKhmRXQsUG5Mrv7hEZvP-3sJhtsUNEa-6fFL08M2i_S2AB5IHhjPkZ3AC8FAQ0L2JPiJoSG4/s1600/juliaholter.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve seen this labeled album of the year in some quarters, which seems a little ambitious but this is dead lovely nonetheless. Silhouette sounds like <i>Two Weeks</i>-era Grizzly Bear recast as a Victorian melodrama, while Vasquez has a sort of drowsy beauty that sounds a bit like Joni Mitchell covering 'Riders on the Storm'. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s the sort of album that I wouldn’t have quite known what to do with 10 years ago but I find myself increasingly drawn to, like a moth to that spray I bought that kills moths.</span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-66705161968153691112015-12-11T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-13T11:29:47.967+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Eleven<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our No. 14 albums of the year come with a content warning. Cupcakes are involved. </span></span></div>
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<b>Andy Welch</b></span></span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, Sometimes I Just Sit (Marathon)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHYE_-5Yvsnbaad6bWepNgHVsgDjun0yNhFT-RkjC1_huJqu7wWzpS-yGEurB3oc9QyNy6gNZMCEy5yWoePwfrT0q2Kt69Ti9Pi0jyB6MXYq3Bb8GYG6DvHAV6l1YP_-DfZM1mrJ8kp8/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHYE_-5Yvsnbaad6bWepNgHVsgDjun0yNhFT-RkjC1_huJqu7wWzpS-yGEurB3oc9QyNy6gNZMCEy5yWoePwfrT0q2Kt69Ti9Pi0jyB6MXYq3Bb8GYG6DvHAV6l1YP_-DfZM1mrJ8kp8/s1600/courtneybarnett.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Like her early EPs, Courtney Barnett's debut is full of nods to Pavement and Mudhoney, but I was amazed to hear the likes of Sleeper and Elastica as influences. And being a big fan of Sleeper and Elastica, very pleased. Brilliant lyrics too.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jenny Hval - Apocalypse Girl (Jenny Hval Music)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1Br0PwGROpvwEZXsEtV0CW4rL36E06Q0Y0Bm3EvIdY5uaWoJHK3MArZSs-aXhILpVuWcOW5d4a1aUm5DV4CWVacbypB1Ft2JluT8CBxqK-Oj8M_f6Rimn6oC-O-rcRJbt4-1pvbikoo/s1600/jennyhval.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ1Br0PwGROpvwEZXsEtV0CW4rL36E06Q0Y0Bm3EvIdY5uaWoJHK3MArZSs-aXhILpVuWcOW5d4a1aUm5DV4CWVacbypB1Ft2JluT8CBxqK-Oj8M_f6Rimn6oC-O-rcRJbt4-1pvbikoo/s1600/jennyhval.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">"What is soft dick rock?" asks Hval, Norway's arch provocateur.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">"I place four big bananas in my lap," she says.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;">What now? "I beckon the cupcake, the huge capitalist clit."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">And that's just on 'Kingsize', the first song here. She's utterly mental, completely obtuse, wilfully indulgent. And none of that’s bad.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Black Rivers - Black Rivers (Ignition)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHJ1U_cZtO9P8o4MzsovlO_SxkoxDZyI5NaQzwSkDhd9Dq4ElMauxJOT6LKY_gRVtjo0MAajG022njv1VjdRxAqXFWGniH_b30GNNcftQ0TXPs9xZD6gvTSgZzVVekqDJ-PkLhpWqhI8/s1600/blackrivers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHJ1U_cZtO9P8o4MzsovlO_SxkoxDZyI5NaQzwSkDhd9Dq4ElMauxJOT6LKY_gRVtjo0MAajG022njv1VjdRxAqXFWGniH_b30GNNcftQ0TXPs9xZD6gvTSgZzVVekqDJ-PkLhpWqhI8/s1600/blackrivers.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Formed out of the ashes of Doves while Jimi Goodwin pursues his solo career. And like Jimi, you can tell exactly what band Black Rivers came from. Trying to sound like a rockier, faster early Doves is no bad thing mind you, although lyrics are pretty patchy in most places. A handy stopgap until the inevitable Doves reunion. </span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Destroyer - Poison Season (Merge)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8pLvBVDj_R2w5F1Jhu_lHlm-8FnIX2jS_o57_0OS_7s-AIgHN9ftm_YXjMXN9CneWaJur8F-FqyaWxIg31CXhn9RF9hUwmXWzDR7i3bxCVZVw3VzpltaECxcyiUQP9pdnHUItbNP0zE/s1600/destroyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8pLvBVDj_R2w5F1Jhu_lHlm-8FnIX2jS_o57_0OS_7s-AIgHN9ftm_YXjMXN9CneWaJur8F-FqyaWxIg31CXhn9RF9hUwmXWzDR7i3bxCVZVw3VzpltaECxcyiUQP9pdnHUItbNP0zE/s1600/destroyer.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m still wrestling with whether <i>Poison Season</i> sounds like Lou Reed doing Bruce Springsteen or Bruce Springsteen doing Lou Reed. Either way, what’s not to like? Similarly, if you’re going to spend four years between albums, you might as well put together magical, Sinatra-style sweeping string arrangements to embellish much of the eventual offering. Dan Bejar can sometimes tie himself in knots with his restless invention but there are more hits than misses on the whole.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free (Southeastern)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FXosEhX3m7ruZApMVOQ7HOuMwMI5wJg1Q0JZZ2UP4emxdtoern-qRAcZQgdoOhpHkL1HOFboakHrQhfB756Ad32vjHwuscL4pwrb7RDWHDZXnI7pvODHUV7vcCP7Hn0bVef5RL93vxk/s1600/jasonisbell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FXosEhX3m7ruZApMVOQ7HOuMwMI5wJg1Q0JZZ2UP4emxdtoern-qRAcZQgdoOhpHkL1HOFboakHrQhfB756Ad32vjHwuscL4pwrb7RDWHDZXnI7pvODHUV7vcCP7Hn0bVef5RL93vxk/s1600/jasonisbell.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jason Isbell’s <i>Southeastern</i> was a brilliant but unexpected success for a songwriter who had struggled to top his Drive-By Truckers output as a solo artist. His records with the 400 Unit were enjoyable, heck they were the work of a fine craftsman, but there was something missing. Isbell found the answer when he stripped everything back to the bare bones and laid out his personal demons. <i>Something More Than Free</i> is a less cathartic experience, you wouldn’t want Isbell to put himself through those experience every time he made an album, but he has recognised the strengths of stripping things back and this is a sign of real content and ease here. Opener 'If It Takes a Lifetime' is a pleasing stomp, while '24 Frames' is a cold reflection on self-destruction. 'Children of Children' showcases Isbell’s guitar hero abilities, recalling Neil Young, while 'To a Band That I Loved' perfectly rounds off another strong set from the former Trucker.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YIC4KY4Ak6s" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hurry Up - Hurry Up (Army Of Bad Luck)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOI6uVyBKoOXffTmloJlp2FL9hw3xEVCbhvpEu7lmrk52jJy-LNNm8UPOX0cquKeZADWNYDI-qz7p3SV6WJBcFWSzO523ikLdBo43ET5WIBt5FuowwXrcZd8mN3h-yMl4w52Qf73hD_mk/s1600/hurryup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOI6uVyBKoOXffTmloJlp2FL9hw3xEVCbhvpEu7lmrk52jJy-LNNm8UPOX0cquKeZADWNYDI-qz7p3SV6WJBcFWSzO523ikLdBo43ET5WIBt5FuowwXrcZd8mN3h-yMl4w52Qf73hD_mk/s1600/hurryup.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hurry Up are Maggie Vail of Bangs and Westin and Kathy from The Thermals. They stuck out 500 or so LPs over the summer on a tiny label, that sounded at times like their respective other bands and at other times like the Stooges. They’ve each got bigger things going on, this was a side project, made for the love of making and playing music, and boy did that shine through.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Pranam Mavahalli</b></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa (World Circuit)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0FIotKDpSSvlAI7gzyOG8dp51rHODsH5pgCimkmN18YiFz9FvvTMoJdPOhUmNFzj2FSkkZHuZ4SagfyNJLFJHUj7kNgNkw-_pSoRJwX9Xe7L16dLmcpIrYpKR4WIOJ2BaMBfSecJJjU/s1600/mbongwanastar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0FIotKDpSSvlAI7gzyOG8dp51rHODsH5pgCimkmN18YiFz9FvvTMoJdPOhUmNFzj2FSkkZHuZ4SagfyNJLFJHUj7kNgNkw-_pSoRJwX9Xe7L16dLmcpIrYpKR4WIOJ2BaMBfSecJJjU/s1600/mbongwanastar.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Introduced to me by a friend, I first listened to this album with no knowledge of who the band are nor where they come from. I urge you to do the same. Mixing traditional African music with blues and electronics, it sounded to me neither like music from the past nor music from the future, but like something that mixes the two. Dense, ambitious, experimental, it reveals more layers with every listen.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows (Parlophone)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwhyh8ITp0wDZ2ATijQVUkM6JiDRoh5jebXDDKpEhAAV1x45keReF-C2kBlG2PD7HhDpj3mxriIyCUVMKdZMcjO3dZrKJjGMQIBXBi0Ee8Llslw8FnQ8QmtrARybt1M3gG3MP_gwFcSc/s1600/richardhawley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwhyh8ITp0wDZ2ATijQVUkM6JiDRoh5jebXDDKpEhAAV1x45keReF-C2kBlG2PD7HhDpj3mxriIyCUVMKdZMcjO3dZrKJjGMQIBXBi0Ee8Llslw8FnQ8QmtrARybt1M3gG3MP_gwFcSc/s1600/richardhawley.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gone are the loud guitars and feedback squalls of <i>Standing At The Sky’s Edge</i> as Hawley returns to more familiar ground, and right away it's both effortless and wonderful. But he's not left all of that big noise behind, and makes sure things don't become too one-paced by occasionally unleashing the likes of 'Heart of Oak' and 'Which Way'. </span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Wavves/Cloud Nothings – No Life for Me (Ghost Ramp)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ds3hYIGtT0Sa4orQoU33ui6zRKui3qTSLIxNx4_nzCiZr66e8_s03q8BMIgNvRGmvMggrIfzVBRLoID3kknxKtRBc8qb75tGqpOnMYeOwFsO_iFuU3UiN50oKmfiJvuH6msV02iNg18/s1600/wavvescloudnothings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ds3hYIGtT0Sa4orQoU33ui6zRKui3qTSLIxNx4_nzCiZr66e8_s03q8BMIgNvRGmvMggrIfzVBRLoID3kknxKtRBc8qb75tGqpOnMYeOwFsO_iFuU3UiN50oKmfiJvuH6msV02iNg18/s1600/wavvescloudnothings.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay, it’s not as good as Cloud Nothings’ <i>Here and Nowhere Else</i>, but then little has been over the past five years. Scuzzy, lo-fi indie pop that acted as a more than adequate stop-gap before the band’s next full-length. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gwgW8yZgHnw" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bill Ryder-Jones – West Kirby County Primary (Domino)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUaukU7VzHL7h9J5xneInSoi6KuTCVaLbGhRZEKQMhoXnpYQxFT_IwSOD30JbU3KQ3WZtywBQDyJkr1QxDyDqcJ2m-yjlWaHVEk7g2b_JRe_GNXPMK7vXkuDq-IHI-4AgF8pmNMnoVXU/s1600/billryderjones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUaukU7VzHL7h9J5xneInSoi6KuTCVaLbGhRZEKQMhoXnpYQxFT_IwSOD30JbU3KQ3WZtywBQDyJkr1QxDyDqcJ2m-yjlWaHVEk7g2b_JRe_GNXPMK7vXkuDq-IHI-4AgF8pmNMnoVXU/s1600/billryderjones.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From The La's to Shack to the Coral themselves, there is a rather under-appreciated strand of stoned Scouse melancholy that ties together many of Merseyside's finest albums. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the case of ex-Coraller Bill Ryder-Jones, I’ve previously thought he sounded a bit too half-arsed to join that elite Liverpudlian hall of fame, but <i>West Kirby County Primary</i> is the point at which he joins that elite and nails his heart to the mast - and the map. So specific are the locations and situations that they somehow unlock universal feelings, be it a wistful one-way bus ride to Birkenhead or worrying about waking the neighbour who works nights. Musically things are stronger too, with a woozy Pavement-esque fuzz to several of the best tracks. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe it’s the influence of touring with the Arctic Monkeys that has caused Ryder-Jones to up his game? Whatever the reasons, this is something special.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5a7TcW_2b9s" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-55020095798264944582015-12-10T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-10T10:00:00.936+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Ten<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Though Dollard is struggling in the deep end, Gwilym is on the safest ground he knows as we reveal our No. 15 albums behind Door Number Ten of the Musical Advent Calendar. </span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Welch</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blur – The Magic Whip (Parlophone)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Poor old Damon Albarn. If only everyone were as interested in his other projects as they are in Blur. If only his other projects were as good as Blur. Of course, this is no classic Blur album, but a second tier record from them is better than most other band's top drawer. Just imagine what would happen if Albarn would stop pretending he wasn't having much fun with his old mates and wrote some belters?</span></span><div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Holly Herndon - Platform (4AD)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyU-VhwrvJ5ajcE7yFEoLUnhABRS0OdYEj-VMhXRuGVPHP8Wf99-kUAAItkjfhu-TIf6Gxzh7wcxDGubHjOxejAI4GNGIBx8lpXe0mqgOK6vOcpiMpMVCMFhJO8H2tknlnx13D0fjmq7A/s1600/hollyherndon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyU-VhwrvJ5ajcE7yFEoLUnhABRS0OdYEj-VMhXRuGVPHP8Wf99-kUAAItkjfhu-TIf6Gxzh7wcxDGubHjOxejAI4GNGIBx8lpXe0mqgOK6vOcpiMpMVCMFhJO8H2tknlnx13D0fjmq7A/s1600/hollyherndon.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm out of my depth here, no doubt about it. I've a vague idea what it takes to pick up a guitar and write a song, and a start point on how you'd go about recording it. As for the kind of micro-processed fuck-you electronia Holly Herndon's doing? I genuinely haven't a scoobie. It’s angular and aggressive and it bludgeons rather than tickles. It's sort of brilliant.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Charlatans - Modern Nature (BMG)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwys9EpVh5GGzJdXkGwuLjt4rNnJDwOLccdLoIbNrHmScHqSXy8BkSKfdFNbsKSQtXm6G7mgs5FlaCG9b4UfyFfVYRpQCHxJdQsP1OZAnMrExbJJ89-6-4a65jgdloJBA-t1e8CymYOI4/s1600/charlatans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwys9EpVh5GGzJdXkGwuLjt4rNnJDwOLccdLoIbNrHmScHqSXy8BkSKfdFNbsKSQtXm6G7mgs5FlaCG9b4UfyFfVYRpQCHxJdQsP1OZAnMrExbJJ89-6-4a65jgdloJBA-t1e8CymYOI4/s1600/charlatans.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's been a long time since The Charlatans came up with a really good album, and this isn't quite it. It is however a pretty good album and definitely a return to form.</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TI3yayV6vhE" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bop English - Constant Bop (Blood & Biscuits)</span></b></div>
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</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My list this year seems to be half made up of side projects - maybe concentrate on making your actual bands better, eh people? Not that you could ever accuse James Petralli from the excellent White Denim of shirking on the day job. Taking time away from almost certainly the world’s finest psychedelic Texan bar band, Petralli dresses his alter ego in a retro Admiral England football drill top (not metaphorically, check the promo pics) and throws up the effervescent melting pot that is Constant Bop. The range of styles here could easily jar but judicious songwriting and production, along with often unfettered joy, knit it all together wonderfully.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/osl4YLCfOKk" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">AC/DC – Rock or Bust (Columbia)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjl6AIfmzqvSmvIFXIY_1ywgBFPsmEu2KQPwp4wipBFa16HNIpig4K3l_Ap8L7T6A3YjJs7McX-53nF5Jm6vM9mRHQbp_BHAAuUKXDCrzw34L2miZU2Rb0ApZQBwp9Fct8zwod7TGvfQ/s1600/acdc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjl6AIfmzqvSmvIFXIY_1ywgBFPsmEu2KQPwp4wipBFa16HNIpig4K3l_Ap8L7T6A3YjJs7McX-53nF5Jm6vM9mRHQbp_BHAAuUKXDCrzw34L2miZU2Rb0ApZQBwp9Fct8zwod7TGvfQ/s1600/acdc.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I made it clear in last year’s Advent Calendar that AC/DC would be on the 2015 list and here are the gods of antipodean rock. Let’s be honest, we all know AC/DC are not on this list due to artistic innovation, this mines the same ground as they have followed over the last 40 years. But, my, what gold they have produced in that time. I have loved AC/DC from the moment I first heard <i>Back in Black</i> and <i>Highway to Hell</i> and own every album, even the ropey mid 80’s efforts. That is to say this would have been on my list however good or bad an album <i>Rock or Bust</i> proved to be. Somehow, in the midst of losing Malcolm Young, the man who has been the foundation of their juggernaut sound, they have made a record worthy of a place in their discography. Angus Young delved into his brother’s list of riffs from the vaults and made it work. The title track and 'Play Ball' roar out of the speakers, while the likes of 'Rock n Roll Thunder' and 'Baptism By Fire' have that gloriously familiar swagger. Against all the odds, this is a winner.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_NdHySPJr8I" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chvrches - Every Open Eye (Universal)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOyNfTJ8muVD4DDpwXClEFj97f9Is8ycDbgS0a15Gav_gsZB7pLVYPQ0YIDv9dIMzSYV0i33e7CH220TPLpCAahIJ_05naq6vd0ZqBsAkHoCtJPBR3pc8dhWz44xYxOI7Y4UwiSFHh2Y/s1600/chvrches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOyNfTJ8muVD4DDpwXClEFj97f9Is8ycDbgS0a15Gav_gsZB7pLVYPQ0YIDv9dIMzSYV0i33e7CH220TPLpCAahIJ_05naq6vd0ZqBsAkHoCtJPBR3pc8dhWz44xYxOI7Y4UwiSFHh2Y/s1600/chvrches.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn’t know much of Chvrches at the start of the year. I don’t know much about Chvrches still now. I suppose I could wiki them, but what I do know is they sound bang at home among the best modern pop acts: Robyn, Tegan and Sara, Taylor Swift. That sort of company. They’ve got a song that sounds like 'Just Can’t Get Enough'. A few that bear a likeness to the Pet Shop Boys. What in the world is not to like?</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">R Seiliog – In Hz (Caroline)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qaD3kNV8IdYyYgWmW8KPyhuTuudpr087z9B8d9Nsmuz8AedejBwwTikJsoapJT0Fj05hajTsS6qswz6eFukyzj-PGcxlT4-JgcqpxhuUQ8N8zjh8zcB2wITJgL0ZNWTEQMFYLvVr_g4/s1600/rseiliog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1qaD3kNV8IdYyYgWmW8KPyhuTuudpr087z9B8d9Nsmuz8AedejBwwTikJsoapJT0Fj05hajTsS6qswz6eFukyzj-PGcxlT4-JgcqpxhuUQ8N8zjh8zcB2wITJgL0ZNWTEQMFYLvVr_g4/s1600/rseiliog.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've been interested in R Seiliog's synth-based music for a while. He's wandered from analog experimentation to kraut rock and has now ended up producing a wonky, psyche-tinged version of techno that appeals to my tendency to want to throw my hands in the air and prance around like a tosspot. There's life in the 4/4 kick drum yet.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leon Bridges - Coming Home (Columbia)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4m7pdZF0qLnTTXGFJmCwKtYAov1W1fsc6O0JR8cz_ilp3ebVJdk7mCFiZv9zQWX_qVotw0M741Uwk7iRVlP07hxEP9mox4lZIpA3X2eHqIl7HyzZjpLjEHH32UjzQ8PTYdxtm3FtesiM/s1600/leonbridges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4m7pdZF0qLnTTXGFJmCwKtYAov1W1fsc6O0JR8cz_ilp3ebVJdk7mCFiZv9zQWX_qVotw0M741Uwk7iRVlP07hxEP9mox4lZIpA3X2eHqIl7HyzZjpLjEHH32UjzQ8PTYdxtm3FtesiM/s1600/leonbridges.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I've spent a lot of time over the years of the Advent Calendar writing about how I don't really care too much when records are criticised for being 'retro' or whatever. If it's a decent record, it's a decent record. So let's say it one final time*</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">*Double-checks rest of top 24 to make sure it won't need saying again.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EC5Lisj1hGI" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Turnstile – Nonstop Feeling (Reaper Records)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdMhPjZLmgmT5UNCn-XVU0Fa6lV5uhNssrzupjdWbbZLlfHRX8YAyZiyxEn1256bKVKdCVE1ahxJVshteqyubGCGzNGUp2In0YlpqhT_e-4y2rk1KNevZKbFauvggcPxgIkBaAdOEu6s/s1600/turnstile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdMhPjZLmgmT5UNCn-XVU0Fa6lV5uhNssrzupjdWbbZLlfHRX8YAyZiyxEn1256bKVKdCVE1ahxJVshteqyubGCGzNGUp2In0YlpqhT_e-4y2rk1KNevZKbFauvggcPxgIkBaAdOEu6s/s1600/turnstile.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hitting the sweet spot between Rage Against the Machine and Black Flag, this evokes memories of why I fell in love with chunky riffs in the first place.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Destroyer – Poison Season (Dead Oceans)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHrjJgPsoeh5ov4yXHN6p9kksMmTUGJPIBhtEB_Ew1ALdgoxtW-cPe7z07R2piRprykAQXR6j7bmPYZnz-iDwphEVTjucJTwCKVxlyVzjA63J2DI5pRXmtUIx7nWAYTAi6d-Bj76Y9sg/s1600/destroyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfHrjJgPsoeh5ov4yXHN6p9kksMmTUGJPIBhtEB_Ew1ALdgoxtW-cPe7z07R2piRprykAQXR6j7bmPYZnz-iDwphEVTjucJTwCKVxlyVzjA63J2DI5pRXmtUIx7nWAYTAi6d-Bj76Y9sg/s1600/destroyer.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh, this is joyous. The triumphant Springsteen horns of 'Dream Lover', the sassy 'Young Americans' shuffle of 'Times Square', the incredibly arch lyrics from start to finish… Not to mention the sheer ballsiness that comes from writing a theme to your own album that repeats several times throughout the duration in different orchestral arrangements and backs up Dan Bejar’s aim to create a “grand cinematic set of songs”. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">He occasionally sings like a Canadian Neil Tennant and gets a little too jazz-hands theatrical for his own good, but in general this is charming baroque pop music of the highest order.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/krpcRnxVCmA" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-16582730618094526792015-12-09T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-09T10:00:09.274+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Nine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><br />As we find our No. 16 albums of the year behind door nine of the Musical Advent Calendar, </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Dollard reports from The 'Hood, Carlisle, and Pranam reports from the middle of the knot he's tied himself in. </span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Welch</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Natalie Prass – Natalie Prass (Spacebomb)</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Although recorded in 2012, we had to wait three years for Natalie Prass' debut. It was delayed due to the solo career of its producer, Matthew E White, took off. No doubt frustrating for Prass, but as a childhood friend of White's, it's likely she doesn't hold a grudge. Not only does it highlight Prass' excellent songwriting, but also the sheer quality coming out of Spacebomb studio. After this, and White's two albums, I can't wait to hear what both she and the studio do next. </span></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXvzhuI6geJXEnBdUi1TpRbnoFfb7vDKVy8Pe7TZCj4XojaJWNRUcBJAvQvNVHP8qVqot0EBqQfcP4DHR0gY3ONOLSqS-DNk8Ua7HekhzASMEAi20toI7JucstfG4kkbHsfrKdYQqqpc/s1600/ghostfacekillah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXvzhuI6geJXEnBdUi1TpRbnoFfb7vDKVy8Pe7TZCj4XojaJWNRUcBJAvQvNVHP8qVqot0EBqQfcP4DHR0gY3ONOLSqS-DNk8Ua7HekhzASMEAi20toI7JucstfG4kkbHsfrKdYQqqpc/s1600/ghostfacekillah.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUVlCqbQh_K6Qkuguxq2rqiz_cMJrgoiKzEfMXrTAURqsO11jqBVYxOTVVkWOVB5U8fx-EVjlJfPuJsH7MtZR9MGc2kr8pj6Y0PmxMPUpa85BFydcA2uc31hDnjg7K0IN1RRDjIrR0mU/s1600/diagrams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">As a 32-year-old white boy from rural Cumbria, I don't feel awfully well qualified to declare hip hop a moribund genre. But if we all went about only saying things we were qualified to talk about we'd be in a tedious old bind. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">So, yeah, it's moribund. It's scorched earth. And if it's not, then frankly someone needs to do a much better job of beating the drum in the musical heartlands of Carlisle, Brampton, Irthington and Great Corby. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Ghostface is, as ever, a gloriously trend-bucking standout. Here he teams with BBNG - an authentic experimental jazz band - and the results are often wonderful. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">He's not only pushing the envelope, he's pushing it all the way to the CA4 postcode.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><br /></b><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6YW_RqTuZMw" width="560"></iframe><br /></span><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Diagrams - Chromatics (Full Time Hobby)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUVlCqbQh_K6Qkuguxq2rqiz_cMJrgoiKzEfMXrTAURqsO11jqBVYxOTVVkWOVB5U8fx-EVjlJfPuJsH7MtZR9MGc2kr8pj6Y0PmxMPUpa85BFydcA2uc31hDnjg7K0IN1RRDjIrR0mU/s1600/diagrams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUVlCqbQh_K6Qkuguxq2rqiz_cMJrgoiKzEfMXrTAURqsO11jqBVYxOTVVkWOVB5U8fx-EVjlJfPuJsH7MtZR9MGc2kr8pj6Y0PmxMPUpa85BFydcA2uc31hDnjg7K0IN1RRDjIrR0mU/s1600/diagrams.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every pleasant flight of melancholy indie. Loveliness of sadness and song in every track.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Arcs - Yours, Dreamily (Nonesuch)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmS1OlM7DmoRRXQtN0NwESSOy7Wc1k4u7BplyrmQaz0Dpo3CcVqewxdrJOJQ3PXiFZJa9crMpFj8fx9tL6foH_GFAdeYNZQK73lEHlfUXnkq09VUmorKiSUUfe-rCpUsUrFEORThIWjc/s1600/arcs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKmS1OlM7DmoRRXQtN0NwESSOy7Wc1k4u7BplyrmQaz0Dpo3CcVqewxdrJOJQ3PXiFZJa9crMpFj8fx9tL6foH_GFAdeYNZQK73lEHlfUXnkq09VUmorKiSUUfe-rCpUsUrFEORThIWjc/s1600/arcs.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPKNjLe6WPiTkYRaUTwg_ZjMmWclEjr2NO8xd1OZTWQOcaw7iayZ7aLW8RN0otvmYE2UZn5WV9a_zAx_NpV5SNfH38PRG7OTDIj3FYvmoSHiyex2M0fxV3Mr_OnGFr-6btD4qbJndppg/s1600/paulweller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jack White might famously have beef with Dan Auerbach but he must grudgingly doff one of his more ludicrous hats towards his fellow retro-blues revivalist on account of their shared prodigious work ethic. Making up half of the decade’s breakthrough arena rock act and lending his hand to a host of acclaimed production gigs has not stopped Auerbach from compiling his West Coast record with an assortment of musical chums during his sparing downtime. In many ways a natural progression from the expanded soundscapes of Black Keys previous outing Turn Blue, there are nods to the past as 'Pistol Made of Bones' outsources the rubber factory to Mexico. As was the case with 2009’s solo debut Keep It Hid, Auerbach proves that taking time away from the act in which he made his name does not have to mean diminishing returns.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1-hJ803XoJw" width="560"></iframe><br /></span><b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paul Weller – Saturns Pattern (Parlophone)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPKNjLe6WPiTkYRaUTwg_ZjMmWclEjr2NO8xd1OZTWQOcaw7iayZ7aLW8RN0otvmYE2UZn5WV9a_zAx_NpV5SNfH38PRG7OTDIj3FYvmoSHiyex2M0fxV3Mr_OnGFr-6btD4qbJndppg/s1600/paulweller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwPKNjLe6WPiTkYRaUTwg_ZjMmWclEjr2NO8xd1OZTWQOcaw7iayZ7aLW8RN0otvmYE2UZn5WV9a_zAx_NpV5SNfH38PRG7OTDIj3FYvmoSHiyex2M0fxV3Mr_OnGFr-6btD4qbJndppg/s1600/paulweller.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Weller’s output over the last seven years has been stunning. The former Jam frontman has always been a musical shapeshifter (although maybe not in the manner of a Bowie or a Dylan), moving from punk, to soul, to acid jazz and trad-rock with ease. He faced arguably his biggest challenge in the post- Britpop era. He had been a musical touchstone for the likes of Oasis and Blur, but once their popularity waned he could have faded into obscurity. A change to songwriting approach followed and Saturns Pattern follows the hot streak of 22 Dreams, Wake Up the Nation and Sonik Kicks. Long Time packs a punch, while Phoenix and Pick It Up have a breezy, hazy demeanour. The Modfather is still going strong.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1AHfVgnA5SU" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trust Fund - No One’s Coming For Us (Turnstile)</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trust Fund released two albums this year, which is rather heroic. No One’s… was the first. And this selected song was 97 seconds of heartbreaking loveliness.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Panda Bear- Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (Domino)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoJMFSUVzxnNZMcp29MUac0KEU0l2KC64tNebW_4KHxu_32_Y99PChnFdwhnWxrjqxyBIuacnG1Ezepog_Bd0xZKSl0Uu_PCmUap-chTGQCzggkQ8HEn2QmfWsUexPvuwBE2ZRTYIXLU/s1600/pandabear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWoJMFSUVzxnNZMcp29MUac0KEU0l2KC64tNebW_4KHxu_32_Y99PChnFdwhnWxrjqxyBIuacnG1Ezepog_Bd0xZKSl0Uu_PCmUap-chTGQCzggkQ8HEn2QmfWsUexPvuwBE2ZRTYIXLU/s1600/pandabear.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recently I saw the new Bond film Spectre expecting great things. I enjoyed the film while watching it but later, and the more I thought about, the more I felt it was lacking. And now just under a fortnight after having seen it, I'd say it was pretty disappointing. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Which brings me to this album which I played quite a bit when it first came out. But months later, and almost a year after it came out, it's got rudely shoved to the back of the pile. Does that reflect the quality of the album itself? Or is it more a problem with the fact that the sheer volume of new and old music we now have access to means that we no longer spend the time listening to albums that we once did? Or is it just that there's something missing at the core, that stops me returning to it?</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9qgshAuvxxg" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ian Parker</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear - Skeleton Crew (Glassnote)</b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you thought about it for too long, there could be something weird about the fact Madisen Ward is in a band with his mum, and not just when it comes to songs like 'Whole Lotta Problems' - in which she offers him some relationship advice in the form of backing vocals. But the slightly unusual set-up really does work. We've rambled on extensively in the past about the special chemistry which exists when siblings perform together, so this is just another twist. And no gimmicks are required to sell their talents, led by Madisen's rich vocals and literate lyrics.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MTRNKsk8xHY" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Blacklisted - When People Grow, People Go (Deathwish)</b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crunching, aggressive hardcore that I doubt a single other person on this panel will get any enjoyment from.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">LoneLady – Hinterland (Warp)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a former Manc dweller, Hinterland is a welcome reminder of the city's unique musical character – industrial, danceable and loose, eclectic, earnest and effortlessly cool. At various points you can hear the influence of local heroes (early New Order, A Certain Ratio) as well as almost all of the greatest art-pop icons of the last 35 years: ESG, Prince, Arthur Russell, Talking Heads, Madonna, St Vincent and more. Julie Campbell assembles all of these touchstones into something far more fresh and exciting than she did on debut, Nerve Up. And by extending most of the songs beyond the five-minute mark, she gives taut, sinuous grooves time to expand and breathe, particularly on the cello-driven Hinterland and the number-1-in-waiting Groove It Out.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zlFe8yfYSHw" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-92023101889871707452015-12-08T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-08T10:21:48.730+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Eight<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">It's door eight of the Musical Advent Calendar, and Matt finds a way to shoe-horn in his love for Bananarama, Dom does his impression of a snake, while Rory won't want this review on his resume next time he's seeking a small business loan. Or something. I know nothing about <i>The Apprentice</i>. Let's crack on with our No. 17 albums of the year. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Andy Welch</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Ryley Walker – Primrose Green (Dead Oceans)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3p2hyphenhyphen6ALdYCypHpOCGfaHZg-RKfxK6hWdW3yYHUMcDuKS2922uaE8qrNttjnUhw0SrxhflREP-pbvMS01OV800U6ryhyiAW7PtZyI9jSBnjhtHPcAL6okyjgJxwNrVUqujPMrtfXNG4/s1600/rylerwalker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3p2hyphenhyphen6ALdYCypHpOCGfaHZg-RKfxK6hWdW3yYHUMcDuKS2922uaE8qrNttjnUhw0SrxhflREP-pbvMS01OV800U6ryhyiAW7PtZyI9jSBnjhtHPcAL6okyjgJxwNrVUqujPMrtfXNG4/s1600/rylerwalker.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Can't imagine I'll be the only person here to have fallen for Ryley Walker's <i>Primrose Green</i> this year. It's no accident that it sounds like a long-lost classic, the production is just so, but the execution is so wonderful I just don't have the energy to be cynical about it. There are shades of John Martyn, Pentangle and Nick Drake, even Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. Calculated, maybe, but a joy from start to finish.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/96qBM4LL2ps" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">I'm watching <i>The Apprentice</i> while I do these next batch of reviews so apologies if I slip into talking about Nadine Shah's 'transferable skills' or her 'multi-platform leadership approach', it's just Karen Brady talking. </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Back in the real world this is a fascinating little oddity. It's tedious to cite PJ Harvey when talking about this album, but it's also kinda true and - by the way - who's going to mind being compared to the deified Polly? </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">There's little smackerels of excitement marbelled throughout the record, if not a fully realised vision. She's got a consensus-forming Ragged Glories No.1 album in her, I'm sure, but we'll never find out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Matt Collins</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROX7CdaugBONGHaafye-O0wk3QBF0BagoCjK_5ZWtzHKVsUwaUXd3y80VtMV_lwrfLJcjf4HpF9tj0GGGOgRcCR5_xVqC4dbr7VsfuSL7CGjsbC-nhiEhQbRcQdmseQlPDm89eKU8yBY/s1600/wolfalice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROX7CdaugBONGHaafye-O0wk3QBF0BagoCjK_5ZWtzHKVsUwaUXd3y80VtMV_lwrfLJcjf4HpF9tj0GGGOgRcCR5_xVqC4dbr7VsfuSL7CGjsbC-nhiEhQbRcQdmseQlPDm89eKU8yBY/s1600/wolfalice.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">This band are a vision of if Bananarama had picked up guitars instead of microphones, and sung about sad stuff instead of happy. Beautifully echoey rock guitars and top melodies to boot. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Dom Farrell</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh314lLdTYv48Sr2L-Hl4mQQnhbB-ul9PUA-g5xnnVTcdwTG020sCc3lRw3ikxVOkSl0bYzPXegTLubCO0JNxMuYUUA5VXBD_QWgDBHvEd6YsJrvLHo4_bA_LIpqvCiNNr2AHCs-fM3MWY/s1600/jessicapratt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh314lLdTYv48Sr2L-Hl4mQQnhbB-ul9PUA-g5xnnVTcdwTG020sCc3lRw3ikxVOkSl0bYzPXegTLubCO0JNxMuYUUA5VXBD_QWgDBHvEd6YsJrvLHo4_bA_LIpqvCiNNr2AHCs-fM3MWY/s1600/jessicapratt.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Hssssssssss. There it goes, all the way through <i>On Your Own Love Again</i>. Lovely, lovely vintage recording hiss. It’s just one of many utterly charming features to a compelling record that rewards repeat listens. I’ve definitely put it far too low down here. The influence of Arthur Lee shines through, even so far as the album title gently aping the genial LA outsider’s seminal 'Alone Again Or', but Pratt has crafted a delicate, haunting palette that is very much her own.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Andrew Gwilym</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Kristian Matsson first caught my attention when he appeared on <i>Later with Jools Holland</i>, stunning all and sundry as he duckwalked his way through '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Twcp46kT4" target="_blank">King of Spain</a>'. There was a distinct hint of early Dylan there, plus elements of Jackson Browne and James Taylor in there. But, like Dylan before him, Matsson has decided to expand from the limitations of guitar and voice and branches out here with a band. That’s not to say the songwriting has changed, these songs would have fit perfectly into the format of albums like <i>The Wild Hunt</i>. But the expanded sound works, with brass, electric guitar and keyboards adding a pleasing depth. In places this almost sounds like Tom Petty, like on the wonderful track ‘Sagres’ and Mattson is going to be a man to keep an eye on as his desire to tinker with his sound follows new paths.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>John Skilbeck</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>The Cribs - For All My Sisters (Sony RED)</b></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArmbP42gkVVoN0aqk6I6hhY0-xedrAdFIMOjkTU77W67u-_C09Mq0JmoZeaqL0F-RDb2dFzlPI7lfEOw4L_MN0h6FS2cw7fDalc7LT9oL8selYnNdh5r1x4zGkptmdplGBN923g3To98/s1600/cribs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArmbP42gkVVoN0aqk6I6hhY0-xedrAdFIMOjkTU77W67u-_C09Mq0JmoZeaqL0F-RDb2dFzlPI7lfEOw4L_MN0h6FS2cw7fDalc7LT9oL8selYnNdh5r1x4zGkptmdplGBN923g3To98/s1600/cribs.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Combustible, cockeyed guitar pop flowed throughout the sixth album from The Cribs. Ric Ocasek, frontman of The Cars, produced the record. It’s probably their best since the S/T debut. But if you weren't won over by any of the first five, I’ll understand if you pass.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Pranam Mavahalli</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Last year I was subjected to a bout of abuse for including an album in my list by a band that I'd recently joined. I learnt my lesson. So let me get my interests out of the way here first. I'm not in Boxed In, but I did once crash at Oli Bayston's flat, and we have a few mutual friends. But before you start criticising me for nepotism, or worse still name-dropping – this album makes my list solely for the merits of the music. There's a lot of great songwriting here, and there are more killer tracks than you'd normally expect from a debut album. Oli's background in production shows in the warmth he gets from the minimal instrumentation. The </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">melodies are great, the hat-tips to krautrock and house music very welcome, and there's variety enough to suggest the next album could go in a number of directions. Well worth checking out.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><b>Ian Parker</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><b>Smoke Fairies - Wild Winter (Full Time Hobby)</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">If you’d asked me a couple of years ago which bands I most wanted to hear tackle a Christmas record, the Smoke Fairies would have been top of the list. There has always been something about their beautiful, ethereal music which sounds better in the winter, so who better to offer an antidote to all that chintz playing down at the shops? <i>Wild Winter</i> does not disappoint, and goes to prove that if there are no jingling bells, and no corny lyrics, there is also no need to stash a Christmas record away for 11 months of the year.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Title Fight – Hyperview (Anti-)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">It was never going to be easy to follow up on stone cold modern classic, <i>Floral Green</i>, and while this doesn’t come close, it’s a solid enough collection of woozy, alt-rock to cements Title Fight’s position as one of the more interesting bands to come out of the American punk scene in the last 10 years. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment – Surf (Self-released)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRvlw_Kj7HkSFivZwbBw6USveiKwuADEqy246aopfwgRxWcvETKrcDPg-37p02GqfvOEzLyozX38AVBuqMAdx5_zfC_p3sajMztCYnArENqLe-Gv_QJ7TmGw3S2LfoMzBwWYONYh_XxE/s1600/donnietrumpet.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbRvlw_Kj7HkSFivZwbBw6USveiKwuADEqy246aopfwgRxWcvETKrcDPg-37p02GqfvOEzLyozX38AVBuqMAdx5_zfC_p3sajMztCYnArENqLe-Gv_QJ7TmGw3S2LfoMzBwWYONYh_XxE/s1600/donnietrumpet.png" /></a></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For the first year in a long while, there were a number of decent hip hop-indebted albums released that could have made my list. I loved the P-Funk freakiness of Kendrick Lamar but it was ultimately a bit potty-mouthed for me; Roots Manuva made a strong comeback assisted by Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden; Paul White marshalled Eric Biddines into some crazy Southern-fried Outkast-style madness on Golden Rules’ <i>Golden Ticket</i>; and Young Fathers brought an alt-rock sensibility to second album, <i>White Men Are Black Men Too</i>. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pick of the bunch was the free-to-download, self-released <i>Surf</i>, made by Chance the Rapper’s touring band and featuring said MC all over the golden harmonies and horn-driven backing. At times, the sheer musicality of the project feels a little overwhelming in the same way that The Avalanches debut album did, as all genres are covered, flipped over and stirred into the mix. The real standout – and one of my tracks of the year – is the awesomely laidback 'Sunday Candy' that bounces along on a bright single-finger piano riff and will file alongside The Pharcyde, De La Soul and Talib Kweli’s 'Get By' for a real mood booster.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i4ooH8frBWg" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-37648628958403406622015-12-07T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-07T10:00:04.315+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Seven<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Listening tip: Skiller's choice sounds particularly good in a second-hand Ford C Max. Meanwhile, Steve considers the artistic merits of whacking things with toilet brushes - these could only be our No. 18 albums of the year, right?</span></b><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch</b><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><i>It Still Moves</i> was the first My Morning Jacket album I heard, and nothing I've heard of theirs since then has quite lived up to it, despite high points on each of their albums. <i>The Waterfall</i> comes close, but this features so high on my list because of 'Thin Line', one of the most beautiful songs I've heard all year. Sublime. </span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Laura Marling - Short Movie (Virgin)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICuBvQj86Gf4LflJuVoDE93huCb0NLCUM5bZvk3Koe-WDrd1Cl-sIp8jGA3mu_KD0tNH1QCvEhx11TW4Ej3erv-_WiSupbwDkhkcDfjgmrcM29CTTwSK79h46D01XK1UxOj6MsvVQci8/s1600/lauramarling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhICuBvQj86Gf4LflJuVoDE93huCb0NLCUM5bZvk3Koe-WDrd1Cl-sIp8jGA3mu_KD0tNH1QCvEhx11TW4Ej3erv-_WiSupbwDkhkcDfjgmrcM29CTTwSK79h46D01XK1UxOj6MsvVQci8/s1600/lauramarling.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The first lady of Ragged Glories is back and I think by now we're all pretty certain where we stand. I have no doubt now that she's on track to be our Joni Mitchell, and someone many of us will be talking about in 20 years. But Joni had her off days and this, by her own standards, seems like Marling's first in a while. It's good, but she's so often great. I had a quick check of the Advent Calendar's by-laws just to check you were allowed to vote her as low as 18. You are.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jose Gonzalez - Vestiges and Claws (Peacefrog Records)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdCj01pcP22XfGsPxkHKb7pPwAbsq-xh9uBugqf5irMLLmwsdGiCtqBV-hbrS0G-gyjlZ_wmIJQE5TBRjfJVHLuKThAjl3cp-R6md4OHp0IiayxyHt3M-m6VbyEUUP0GaY8PyxshdDMQ/s1600/josegonzalez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdCj01pcP22XfGsPxkHKb7pPwAbsq-xh9uBugqf5irMLLmwsdGiCtqBV-hbrS0G-gyjlZ_wmIJQE5TBRjfJVHLuKThAjl3cp-R6md4OHp0IiayxyHt3M-m6VbyEUUP0GaY8PyxshdDMQ/s1600/josegonzalez.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The new Jose Gonzalez album sounds exactly like a new Jose Gonzalez album - that on its own is enough to make it one of the albums of the year. The classical guitar, the stripped back lack of percussion and even some great head nodding action on the likes of 'What Will'. </span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Matthew E White - Fresh Blood (Spacebomb)</b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Spacebomb head honcho Matthew E White picks up where he left off from 2013’s stunning debut </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Big Inner </i><span style="color: #cc0000;">on </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">Fresh Blood</i><span style="color: #cc0000;">’s stately opener 'Take Care My Baby'. Cheeky, chirpy, indisputable sentiments (“Everybody likes to talk shit”) follow infectiously on 'Rock & Roll Is Cold'. Thankfully this sophomore effort is anything but cold - it’s another big bulky winter jumper of an album, with barely a thread or soulful note misplaced.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Buddy Guy – Born to Play Guitar (Sony)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxz0u3i187NyZIJrCd8ip_DvTcKDBKIJ7E_zq_XlgijkhFcQ97BlfJd203ajc13qqkwLuEUqYsTy5vqoB_TJci76fCva_7QMByBYi07sk-HVoEcEY8O4RejqyLwPC1xgBNqzf-n96_0t4/s1600/buddyguy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxz0u3i187NyZIJrCd8ip_DvTcKDBKIJ7E_zq_XlgijkhFcQ97BlfJd203ajc13qqkwLuEUqYsTy5vqoB_TJci76fCva_7QMByBYi07sk-HVoEcEY8O4RejqyLwPC1xgBNqzf-n96_0t4/s1600/buddyguy.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">With B.B. King sadly no longer with us, Buddy Guy stands alone as the last of the true blues masters still kicking. Whereas King played with a soulful, largely clean sound, Guy continues to spew out notes in a frenzied, aggressive fashion. The fire still burns fiercely, he remains in fine voice and – despite several high-profile guest appearances – he completely dominates this album. 'Thick Like Mississippi Mud' is a joy, and his sly boogie piece ‘Wear You Out’, which features ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, may be the best song here. Not bad for a 79 year old.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly (Interscope)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnwhW6j0dZPayV1PwuEukZRXw_m5d38hPVdcUR1rFEKa09e2yMqROyqK5zq7KN_6j-r5RyQDD_Kzi5wnK4H6wbPLu_XcXv_8WR_FDdV9SpLbI6kseKKBli3FiFyIR8kFKZiTxhAV8Too/s1600/kendricklamar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnwhW6j0dZPayV1PwuEukZRXw_m5d38hPVdcUR1rFEKa09e2yMqROyqK5zq7KN_6j-r5RyQDD_Kzi5wnK4H6wbPLu_XcXv_8WR_FDdV9SpLbI6kseKKBli3FiFyIR8kFKZiTxhAV8Too/s1600/kendricklamar.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">On the afternoon I bought my second-hand Ford C Max, I thrust this CD into the player, pumped up the volume and drove through Wakefield with the windows wound down. What an afternoon that was.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Aphex Twin – user18081971 (Self-released)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQY6WAvqqt-SsNvMpAoF5LzchBZVsV563N60s6PufA40W_scfsV4cS1HhnhL8KrsXARUEk4AAhE7G9I-_NbXwPBgcMzB8w3aNiqP3-ndLVCnvCtpMMO4ws_ZZxcxHUSWZFfurswbFv2kc/s1600/aphextwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQY6WAvqqt-SsNvMpAoF5LzchBZVsV563N60s6PufA40W_scfsV4cS1HhnhL8KrsXARUEk4AAhE7G9I-_NbXwPBgcMzB8w3aNiqP3-ndLVCnvCtpMMO4ws_ZZxcxHUSWZFfurswbFv2kc/s1600/aphextwin.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Yes it's a cheat you may say as it's not even an album. But when Aphex Twin dumped hundreds of tracks from his hard drive onto Soundcloud earlier this year, I don't think even the most obsessive of his fans could have expected the sheer breadth and quality. There's so much good stuff that I haven't even got round to listening to it all yet. Head over to the <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user18081971" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a> account, dive in at random and lose yourself.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Kristin McClement - Wild Grips (Willkommen)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SAMOF8AUu8pddCjom4M4CVmn7bTQFL3qP-GKurzy9NLNyXhaCZzIoJbzF9_tFYCAR7ltp1eexdTsDnhpWW0Gthg5ZA7n9Eeyab7PeDPCosdtYHfy0u5Rhx7aJHthDssMWlDxUyNysU4/s1600/kristinmcclement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SAMOF8AUu8pddCjom4M4CVmn7bTQFL3qP-GKurzy9NLNyXhaCZzIoJbzF9_tFYCAR7ltp1eexdTsDnhpWW0Gthg5ZA7n9Eeyab7PeDPCosdtYHfy0u5Rhx7aJHthDssMWlDxUyNysU4/s1600/kristinmcclement.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">There's always one album on the list you never saw coming. I knew nothing of Kristin McClement when I stuck <i>The Wild Grips</i> on for the first time but it took no time at all for me to be, well, gripped. The rich instrumentation is perfectly matched with the drama of the songs. It's a feast for the ears throughout.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Chain of Flowers – Chain of Flowers (Alter)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Largely thanks to their roots in hardcore, there’s something a little more robust and menacing about Chain of Flowers’ take on shoegaze. Nothing here scales the heights of their 2012 single, Chained (which still rips), but it’s still an engaging effort deserving of more attention than it’s likely getting.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Nils Frahm – Solo (Erased Tapes)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJft1x8zDyFH3tQlmVTeyNKO5usazvkO0JqA7kLZrZvBB-zctgyl3vjgrATgam0whOjwl5OU1uxp9Cm_CALF0VxomWilI1YR0k7jXi6OgJh-ec47dtYcELcZyzfxuwpDHASVfitz39Ro/s1600/nilsfrahm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJft1x8zDyFH3tQlmVTeyNKO5usazvkO0JqA7kLZrZvBB-zctgyl3vjgrATgam0whOjwl5OU1uxp9Cm_CALF0VxomWilI1YR0k7jXi6OgJh-ec47dtYcELcZyzfxuwpDHASVfitz39Ro/s1600/nilsfrahm.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">German piano hero Nils Frahm is perhaps the only act on my list to have captivated a sold out Royal Albert Hall this year with a performance that involved banging the strings of his instrument with toilet brushes. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Always understated and surprising, the most productive man in contemporary classical music could have made the list for a number of projects this year, including his heavily-textured soundtrack to Victoria or his collaborations with Olafur Arnalds. His <i>Late Night Tales</i> compilation - not eligible, I guess, but still hugely listenable - meanwhile, is an enlightening trip that takes in 'The Flight of the Bumblebee', 'Dub Tractor' and vintage jazz 78s. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Solo is Frahm unfussy and unfettered, a free download released to celebrate Piano Day (the 88th day of the year, usually 29 March) that saw the young German craft a selection of soothing melodies that have underscored countless Spotify-assisted hours at work. Get your own copy <a href="http://www.pianoday.org/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-79881699856172777572015-12-06T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-06T10:00:02.759+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Six<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today Dom offers a plan for world peace while Pranam transports himself inside an episode of <i>Family Guy - </i>it's day six of the Musical Advent Calendar, and our No. 19 albums of the year.<br /><br /><b>Andy Welch</b></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Alabama Shakes - Sound And Color (Rough Trade)</b></span><div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_pYd7_lzOSSp3-UMvm3xk8wqFYxm99SyySCA8hj4mwgTCOdcJvrw3O7l_CXiTabn68lpkNKkspqopDLhrX5W77IafFu657a_-ERmCLa_ce483FGFeKhl8pwCYNpUmezvUdgd2JsIrlo/s1600/alabamashakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_pYd7_lzOSSp3-UMvm3xk8wqFYxm99SyySCA8hj4mwgTCOdcJvrw3O7l_CXiTabn68lpkNKkspqopDLhrX5W77IafFu657a_-ERmCLa_ce483FGFeKhl8pwCYNpUmezvUdgd2JsIrlo/s1600/alabamashakes.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I enjoyed Alabama Shakes' debut album, but after living with the album for a while I think I was perhaps more in thrall to the idea of them, and their record collections, than the actual band themselves. Maybe that's just the snob in me, annoyed by how quickly they moved from buzz band to Radio 2 playlist staple. This second album is still in homage territory, but they channel a wider, more eclectic range of influences, spreading out beyond the standard Muscle Shoals origins to Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Led Zeppelin and even Erykah Badu. And it really suits them. </span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Rory Dollard<br />Sun Kil Moon - Universal Themes (Rough Trade)</b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">He can be a morose little bastard, Mark Kozelek, but there's got to be a rich sense of humour in anyone who can call their album </span><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Universal Themes</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> then include a nine-minute song about playing themselves in an Italian film set in a remote Swiss resort. I mean, with all the will in the world, that really doesn't strike me as a universal theme, though I await your corrections. I suppose Andy W might have been there, done that. It's not as focused, or as laid-back, as last year's </span><i style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Benji</i><span style="color: #cc0000;"> and his trademark tangents wilfully stretch the point at times. But it's always engaging and always fiercely - uncomfortably - honest. At his best Kozelek hits some very deep nerves with blunt force.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blur - The Magic Whip (Parlophone)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJL66oXkMjNH5cJFYe3e3Ttu7Z10EV2uXuOe2fIvGF8xlbXAbPA7nKSQ-QOOsjRQzMf6_GYxlA-C7hLqTD94jxcSGAMaHhqMSd8VBsmNDhaxmHe9y8OYgKB_DIpQZvXDZ7ZRaOMDyktrQ/s1600/blur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJL66oXkMjNH5cJFYe3e3Ttu7Z10EV2uXuOe2fIvGF8xlbXAbPA7nKSQ-QOOsjRQzMf6_GYxlA-C7hLqTD94jxcSGAMaHhqMSd8VBsmNDhaxmHe9y8OYgKB_DIpQZvXDZ7ZRaOMDyktrQ/s1600/blur.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The long-awaited comeback album from Blur doesn't make it near my top ten I’m afraid, simply not being a patch on their earlier work. But tracks like the comeback single 'Go Out' are more than good enough to warrant a place in the top 24 - I could listen to the mental guitar chaos and skeletal bass of it all day.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pinkshinyultrablast - Everything Else Matters (Club AC30)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKC0Aq98OUNEMlF0asb20FVcxotqTuv9lk_P9oxwfMEPrCC2bH3tWWaYr167MwSX5z-UcrOiPFAnqOIqyUtTq-lYQ8yJ4y4P6jdVLxp3RnyDD0i512scPwFNNK0fEqPL-o61aAoHHHlts/s1600/pinkshinyultrablast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKC0Aq98OUNEMlF0asb20FVcxotqTuv9lk_P9oxwfMEPrCC2bH3tWWaYr167MwSX5z-UcrOiPFAnqOIqyUtTq-lYQ8yJ4y4P6jdVLxp3RnyDD0i512scPwFNNK0fEqPL-o61aAoHHHlts/s1600/pinkshinyultrablast.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Shimmering, luscious shoegaze from Russia - quite the blast, indeed. The towering walls of reverb mean vocalist Lyubov rarely makes a great deal of sense. Perhaps if she did, they’d be thrown into jail a la Pussy Riot. Or maybe Putin just bloody loves shoegaze? That’ll be it! Get the big oaf out for a beer with Kevin Shields before heading down to a Slowdive gig. We’d have a fair number of global problems on the mend by that stage. There’s every chance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z-cISmtXk1M" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span></b></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Idlewild – Everything Ever Written (Empty Words)</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Idlewild’s return after a five-year absence was like clapping eyes on an old friend. It had been too long and in a sense this record reflects a group of guys who spent a long time working on their own projects before heading back to what they know best. There is nothing particularly, daring or innovative here but it burns with passion and its widescreen sweep recalled sections of </span><i style="color: #cc0000;">American English</i><span style="color: #cc0000;">. A welcome return for an under-rated band.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The Apartments - No Song, No Spell, No Madrigal (Microcultures)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPFNnQH-BlYyl3UPH9Up8SrSkuOGQxK_V14GmIUDNOQY9LnEw4rgDwBjVyu2iPyIFRmszCj_qxMBO-AVJ6Pgo-Tc8XKS5MJ4Qu-LKf_glQdsuYDfyIcfIDo93iTCb81OjcUHiaZDRI8Q/s1600/apartments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPFNnQH-BlYyl3UPH9Up8SrSkuOGQxK_V14GmIUDNOQY9LnEw4rgDwBjVyu2iPyIFRmszCj_qxMBO-AVJ6Pgo-Tc8XKS5MJ4Qu-LKf_glQdsuYDfyIcfIDo93iTCb81OjcUHiaZDRI8Q/s1600/apartments.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Robert Forster made a very fine solo album this year, but his former Go-Betweens bandmate Peter Milton Walsh shook out a superior one. Walsh, who once had a short-lived spell in Forster’s rather more storied band, made the first Apartments LP since 1997 worth the wait, cramming it with stylishly dark, lavishly orchestrated pop songs.</span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Glenn Astro – Throwback (Republic of Music)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTRmQmDH5ypE7ifek59ftVSBOjxxTRMOe0UuBBm_087rf7fczDPXogjE62VDam4-fySqQejU0Yzx1xUnB0qvGeA_JQSCxnBfHP26jLE9wAVaVLpRGsNVvDeI-N8bHHadtoTxgx1YmlfE/s1600/glennastro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTRmQmDH5ypE7ifek59ftVSBOjxxTRMOe0UuBBm_087rf7fczDPXogjE62VDam4-fySqQejU0Yzx1xUnB0qvGeA_JQSCxnBfHP26jLE9wAVaVLpRGsNVvDeI-N8bHHadtoTxgx1YmlfE/s1600/glennastro.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you have a soundtrack song? The kind of song you imagine playing in the background as you walk down the street? A couple of years ago, my soundtrack song was 'Airglow Fires' by Lone. An improbably groovy piece of music that's gloriously upbeat. This year that song might get usurped by Glenn Astro's 'Computer Killer', which takes jazz samples, mixes some hip-hop grit, layers sub bass and adds a not-quite 4/4 kick drum underneath. Fantastic. There's plenty more on this record with a similar vibe if you're into that kind of thing (which I very much am). Overlooked album of the year.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SZ8BZF1oEgc" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Neil Young & The Promise of the Real - The Monsanto Years (Reprise)</span></b></span></div>
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If the wonderful <i>Psychedelic Pill</i> proved that Neil still had it in him to belt out that glorious noise that only he seems to hold the key to, it also proved that his increasingly clunky lyrics don't need to be an impediment to a fine record. Which is a good thing, because clunky lyrics are absolutely all over <i>The Monsanto Years</i>. Neil loves a good protest record, as fans of <i>Living With War</i> will know, but while that raged against George W. Bush's foreign policy, now we've got a very different target in GMO giant Monsanto. All Neil wants to do, it seems, is have a cup of coffee without feeding the corporate machine. But in between rants about Starbucks and Citizens United there is a magnificent noise, aided by Willie Nelson's boys doing their best impression of Crazy Horse. </div>
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/217629369&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Caspian – Dust and Disquiet (Big Scary Monsters)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Certainly not my favourite record of theirs – put that down to an irritatingly wonky guitar effect on the first few songs – but there’s enough evidence on display here to prove that they’re one of the standard-bearers for modern post-rock.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fmFCUiC5uqA" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yo La Tengo – Stuff Like That There (Matador)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEr7Sj5lYwG9V4S__ZzWgPY4_iJiIjNEYUBJx-sZDJB_Rm3aWSXdGtqFFZEnXHizyP3-q97aQNpo4AeozZoXHTk3qgNq3FdyZPJRxTSZquF6mJrlCFkKXaO5XIuCpTiVV-4GBXI-2Ayf4/s1600/yolatengo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEr7Sj5lYwG9V4S__ZzWgPY4_iJiIjNEYUBJx-sZDJB_Rm3aWSXdGtqFFZEnXHizyP3-q97aQNpo4AeozZoXHTk3qgNq3FdyZPJRxTSZquF6mJrlCFkKXaO5XIuCpTiVV-4GBXI-2Ayf4/s1600/yolatengo.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">As I think I've previously mentioned on Ragged Glories, Yo La Tengo remain a relatively new discovery for me and the excitement is fresh. This is a second collection of covers, originals and reworkings of their own back catalogue, following on from 1990's <i>Fakebook</i>. Highlights include a beautifully twee shuffle through Darlene McCrea's 1964 soul single 'My Heart's Not In It' and a fond acoustic version of The Cure's 'Friday I'm In Love'. There’s a touch of REM's <i>Dead Letter Office</i> compilation to the knockabout atmosphere, though leavened by a little more humour and country pedal steel. Occasionally the songs are so lackadaisical or drowsy that they feel as if they might just fall apart in the middle (a whispery reading of Hank Williams' 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' in particular is so sparse as to barely exist), yet this simply adds to the charm. <i>Stuff Like That There</i> may not be hugely original or groundbreaking, but there are few albums I have reached for as often this year - think of it as a balm for a sore head or a little light on a rainy, grey day. </span><div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-57626041891991416762015-12-05T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-05T10:00:00.910+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Five<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Day five of the Musical Advent Calendar sees Skillers reveal himself to be a Desperate Journalist. Wait. What's that, Skillers? Oh. A Desperate Journalist <i>fan</i>. Our mistake... Here are our No. 20 albums of the year. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Andy Welch<br />The Charlatans - Modern Nature (BMG)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enough has been written about The Charlatans terrible fortunes over the years, and the way they've always bounced back, without me adding to it. But just as they returned after Rob Collins' death with the brilliant </span><i style="font-family: inherit;">Tellin' Stories</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">, this return to form came after Jon Brookes' premature passing. The background is one thing, the songs are another, which, regardless of the circumstances in which they were written, are among the best in the band's already spectacular career.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YLEGsayAXKw" width="560"></iframe></span><br /><br /><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Rory Dollard<br />Jessica Pratt - On Your Own, Love Again (Drag City)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJE3koEZiWwsEEd9HzGB0qRR-CFxeQNlfQZnCg1VGJtU5pShgOQThBnyEqvgiZ_ZJCeWmHTP6pbvVptWLLgM9-0uvOYHRt9JysdtGOSA3XufKZryQKCUgtxXhx_9CjHq9OCf5uVz6DYc/s1600/jessicapratt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJE3koEZiWwsEEd9HzGB0qRR-CFxeQNlfQZnCg1VGJtU5pShgOQThBnyEqvgiZ_ZJCeWmHTP6pbvVptWLLgM9-0uvOYHRt9JysdtGOSA3XufKZryQKCUgtxXhx_9CjHq9OCf5uVz6DYc/s1600/jessicapratt.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A delicate, highly-strung slice of American folk that could have landed at any point from 1960 onwards. Some are sure to be put off by Pratt's stylised vocals, but those left standing should find plenty to unpack in this densely-woven nine-song set.</span><br /><br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/acI_oP07RIU" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">SOAK - Before We Forgot How to Dream (Rough Trade)</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sFu5hpvV7jhG35WxjJtpC3xgshdLL9US7zU_qZoaIbCimDTJLLAp2G1IFU2ugzbXg3ITVxrhER5sKwMrAh6KRqPRofJ7K0PIQtvmdWt19djenl_FtB4DAkiCVwH-XaujP-_2_RBlCpk/s1600/SOAK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sFu5hpvV7jhG35WxjJtpC3xgshdLL9US7zU_qZoaIbCimDTJLLAp2G1IFU2ugzbXg3ITVxrhER5sKwMrAh6KRqPRofJ7K0PIQtvmdWt19djenl_FtB4DAkiCVwH-XaujP-_2_RBlCpk/s1600/SOAK.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">SOAK sound a lot like Daughter, which is probably the main reason I love them. Delicately picked acoustic guitars, echoey electric guitars, scared and mournful songs of love lost. All in that slightly throaty tone that is de rigeur at the moment.</span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dom Farrell</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Leon Bridges - Coming Home (Columbia)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPrVoJLSeyP88YQT9VDw6bXpUo0cYqzeJWWJvN3RCB7FuSJNB5uV-P0zvmJdWhaYUpOwvApVs-Vv6taWQ2tv1_F-z2bj7UxZzdSuW647MQzK9QJLnAaI4rPf488b_S4vWm0Jb2PZFozs/s1600/leonbridges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPrVoJLSeyP88YQT9VDw6bXpUo0cYqzeJWWJvN3RCB7FuSJNB5uV-P0zvmJdWhaYUpOwvApVs-Vv6taWQ2tv1_F-z2bj7UxZzdSuW647MQzK9QJLnAaI4rPf488b_S4vWm0Jb2PZFozs/s1600/leonbridges.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">From the heavy Sam Cooke stylings to the vintage clothing and recording equipment, it would be easy for <i>Coming Home</i> to fall on its face in a fashion befitting of some risible, pastiche farce. Thankfully, it’s largely executed with a joyful brilliance. Fine songs just about withstand the historical weight attached to them. Just tremendous, wonderful fun.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HYplnRjMVhM" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves (Colombia)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aj6YpsjG5q8-SGLqkTj6cVZa1OAbW6rcNhgoM1cekXcNws5BIe17SClVdi6oPD21Zv_hriBmNfjA7NVGITEMtr-5OUlpPJ0X0US4-JB5nOp9t6z2Fp3LuGaKc9rs-J5qCN1lsbng-mE/s1600/modestmouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aj6YpsjG5q8-SGLqkTj6cVZa1OAbW6rcNhgoM1cekXcNws5BIe17SClVdi6oPD21Zv_hriBmNfjA7NVGITEMtr-5OUlpPJ0X0US4-JB5nOp9t6z2Fp3LuGaKc9rs-J5qCN1lsbng-mE/s1600/modestmouse.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">There were times over the last eight years where you wondered what on earth had happened to Modest Mouse. <i>We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank</i> and <i>Good News for People Who Love Bad News</i> had marked them out as an innovative, eccentric and intriguing. Then, they disappeared. Isaac Brock talked about making an album with Big Boi, but didn't. Guitar-for-hire Johnny Marr got bored of waiting and released two solo albums. The longer the wait, the more difficult to meet expectations and so it proves with <i>Strangers to Ourselves</i>. This is a fine record, but it is more a case of individual songs standing out than this being a cohesive work. Not that it doesn't make for a compelling listen, particularly on 'Shit In Your Cut' and 'The Tortoise and the Tourist'.</span><br />
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<b style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Skilbeck</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Desperate Journalist - Desperate Journalist (Fierce Panda)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaH3_bwy-VcBvA5_sngWsaTKcNLOwZrhMeUqdQ-ywr76ImTIA4dWoJqOpTEEXP7xJfND79lah5fj_YXdW4dlw9_9U16PYAdAkrzTdbUHrZY98h21DcCGTGwJtkEboycCBZmIfAdy6DsH8/s1600/desperatejournalist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaH3_bwy-VcBvA5_sngWsaTKcNLOwZrhMeUqdQ-ywr76ImTIA4dWoJqOpTEEXP7xJfND79lah5fj_YXdW4dlw9_9U16PYAdAkrzTdbUHrZY98h21DcCGTGwJtkEboycCBZmIfAdy6DsH8/s1600/desperatejournalist.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">This curiously slid from number five to number 20 in the course of an evening’s deliberation. Reminds me of the wonderful The Organ. I liked this album a lot, its freshness and vigour enough to challenge the sense it had been all done before.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Kamasi Washington – The Epic (Brainfeeder)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhWuqtokM1i5IpUsoNXCKl8tgm0CFwsgRZXI-0c6dH6FaRXscUhnLT31-lTPCfU4JPKJO69xAu7yXQAuesVqAbPEQsXTnX_jAUb-7xgkL0yDQVX9qXBtdeVJAR0wxmm_TAhQF_Sxph_k/s1600/kamasiwashington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKhWuqtokM1i5IpUsoNXCKl8tgm0CFwsgRZXI-0c6dH6FaRXscUhnLT31-lTPCfU4JPKJO69xAu7yXQAuesVqAbPEQsXTnX_jAUb-7xgkL0yDQVX9qXBtdeVJAR0wxmm_TAhQF_Sxph_k/s1600/kamasiwashington.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">I'm a worrier. And one of the things I worry about is the effect of mobiles and devices on my concentration-span. To remedy this, last year I decided to read some VERY LONG BOOKS, in an effort to prove to myself that I can think with sustained effort if I needed to. At times this felt like an ordeal (I didn't enjoy <i>Parade's End</i> at all), but then in other cases it was a complete joy (<i>Anna Karenina</i>/<i>Moby Dick</i>). Which brings me to the debut three-hour long, triple album that is Kamasi Washington's <i>The Epic.</i> Yes it looks daunting. Yes you might not think you have the time. And yes, it's jazz. But don't let that put you off. There's lots to appreciate here, the band backed by choir often swell to, well, epic proportions, and if it lags at times you know there's another moment around the corner that will make up for it.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The Arcs - Yours, Dreamily (Nonesuch)</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrj-p1_Zi4DK792ebw_U2eb2-460Y6AsIRkFls2bJBWRUA3QKTfPh6vCHesEXS2UZGQ0utSQApLe9S_nH7xxmLkejlCSWMNztDCcOpSGsIKJEQvSOiHb-7yM7wkmTBi4JcYyK7hu5SjUY/s1600/arcs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrj-p1_Zi4DK792ebw_U2eb2-460Y6AsIRkFls2bJBWRUA3QKTfPh6vCHesEXS2UZGQ0utSQApLe9S_nH7xxmLkejlCSWMNztDCcOpSGsIKJEQvSOiHb-7yM7wkmTBi4JcYyK7hu5SjUY/s1600/arcs.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">What to do when your drummer has broken his leg (particularly when, you know, your drummer is the only other guy in your band)? Why not form a new one and bash out a record in a couple of weeks? The Arcs don't sound a million miles off recent Black Keys records, but the idea is not to make a Black Keys record, and Auerbach has also brought in a bunch of Daptone regulars (we already touched upon how great Daptone can be) to send this in a more soulful direction. The results are exactly what a side-project should be - a whole heap of fun. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Guy Atkinson</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Toundra – IV (Superball Music)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhDYpBT0L0QjMA6GP8b2DGAiY1L507p7zH_mHOG-kBBF_wpXj7ptqHhTYmEJF0AVCGeOufbFo5i1tiBa2biCuj6mbxP4EJMmwr7WlFgUWk8V9W73S_tJsoFZBdI9AxnQhbh0uql_xZOY/s1600/toundra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhDYpBT0L0QjMA6GP8b2DGAiY1L507p7zH_mHOG-kBBF_wpXj7ptqHhTYmEJF0AVCGeOufbFo5i1tiBa2biCuj6mbxP4EJMmwr7WlFgUWk8V9W73S_tJsoFZBdI9AxnQhbh0uql_xZOY/s1600/toundra.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">As has been the case for the last five years or so, one genre has dominated my listening again this year: post-rock. I don’t remember where I first heard about this Madrid-based band, but I do remember the flight back from Spain earlier this year, where this crushing album served as the perfect soundtrack.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Songhoy Blues – Music in Exile (Transgressive)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimawHaMC6gypvn121pbFNx4zTGARVXRoY4FU9CYfxSf6h5Mifmyla44Z8ANBNcHqrBvrz1DldWBFba1MSrSNTIu7HQtImErmtjUMgUFw0mRMXnMF8Kiil2yCKw_dMtMQUZIbMrkLU8po/s1600/songhoyblues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhimawHaMC6gypvn121pbFNx4zTGARVXRoY4FU9CYfxSf6h5Mifmyla44Z8ANBNcHqrBvrz1DldWBFba1MSrSNTIu7HQtImErmtjUMgUFw0mRMXnMF8Kiil2yCKw_dMtMQUZIbMrkLU8po/s1600/songhoyblues.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">The Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner was an unlikely choice to produce this debut by Songhoy Blues, a Mali blues band he discovered during one of Damon Albarn's excursion to West Africa.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">In the nicest possible way, his presence can barely be felt on <i>Music in Exile</i> beyond the odd fuzzy guitar line and a decidedly New York-style break in Irganda. From their message to their sound, Songhoy Blues sound startlingly cohesive, as if the band were simply recorded live in a room, and all the better for it. Highlights include 'Jolie', which echoes the groove from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Massive Attack-assisted 'Mustt Mustt' as if played around a campfire at 3am, and the awesome 'Desert Melodie', the most intricate, rousing and downright fun slice of African desert blues since Amadou & Mariam's 'Wati'.</span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-18603662689206850992015-12-04T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-04T10:00:10.658+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Four<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Day four of the Musical Advent Calendar and, besides our No. 21 albums of the year, it seems it's already time for Dollard's inevitable world music pick, though it is at least something we've all heard of this time. Meanwhile Matt nominates a Welsh windbag, and Pranam considers a road not travelled.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andy Welch</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Roisin Murphy – Hairless Toys (Play It Again Sam)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7RyvjsOszJOWtdXkDMhPoFRP46EfAfPyJqlGkerc7vDyY6CejiPRWmI3NBIppHYagAhlPaQ0MTsjJ7-YHl1Rluc3P3tlZj00aLSaSwDNoyMMIJjUU92bT0qrTeAFyPXDwWMVoRjoBeU/s1600/roisinmurphy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX7RyvjsOszJOWtdXkDMhPoFRP46EfAfPyJqlGkerc7vDyY6CejiPRWmI3NBIppHYagAhlPaQ0MTsjJ7-YHl1Rluc3P3tlZj00aLSaSwDNoyMMIJjUU92bT0qrTeAFyPXDwWMVoRjoBeU/s1600/roisinmurphy.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Like a lot of people, I quite liked Moloko and their Balearic big singles, but never really investigated any further than that. I've paid a lot more attention to Roisin Murphy's solo material, though, and Hairless Toys is her best yet. There's deep house, Italo and Studio 54-style disco, even country in what sounds like a bizarre twist but works perfectly. A great record.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgv_LldM-RvuMBARYMLATfe3dZuV7XypBgaih4ZuLuejyKk9Zo9sWEMzdIlPyWK9l942n99YfnlVaiOpx5YZAlZurg5XnfOB78ak6WHk89V9d22irRmPkdQuJc8nwGP74w7U3N_B3cxoE/s1600/songhoyblues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgv_LldM-RvuMBARYMLATfe3dZuV7XypBgaih4ZuLuejyKk9Zo9sWEMzdIlPyWK9l942n99YfnlVaiOpx5YZAlZurg5XnfOB78ak6WHk89V9d22irRmPkdQuJc8nwGP74w7U3N_B3cxoE/s1600/songhoyblues.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Time for the internationally recognised 'Dollard's world music pick' Is it that time already? I'm a long-time sucker for the desert blues genre and these boys from Mali do it in style: slinky, lean guitar lines, hypnotic arrangements and chanted vocals. Just by the by, these blokes were forced out of their homeland by jihadists who attempted to ban music (and alcohol…and cigarettes). Context is always relevant.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtBy56tG1W3v4gRvztZfDQJlxoU2gPGhCtmUbYVmF94atzEX0Tz66QhiJO02wSW56JR5mk-h0hoKsSiJDsjbvH64MyWIAd03FRjR7KmBA5tSbqPYABV4hue_PQdUodCXnxO4TQ0e-C4g/s1600/sweetbaboo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjtBy56tG1W3v4gRvztZfDQJlxoU2gPGhCtmUbYVmF94atzEX0Tz66QhiJO02wSW56JR5mk-h0hoKsSiJDsjbvH64MyWIAd03FRjR7KmBA5tSbqPYABV4hue_PQdUodCXnxO4TQ0e-C4g/s1600/sweetbaboo.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Welsh windbag Sweet Baboo has fantastic knack for story based, twee songwriting with jump up and down melodies. He’s is terrific live to boot. <i>The Boombox Ballads</i> is a fantastically fun collection of songs.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows (Parlophone)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeNJlTtMkH1MB_V-tYR25kqUMFHEFfrFtfuBywf8LUN4SCko5yCCLrL2Z6uYTxDOfdH0vuC9A3z0yALVr-GXEFI5AgUyMUplw6OEP8pJRJsfadtOUQ1z5GRPuFz0yHXsOSWkGZxxtb8s/s1600/richardhawley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOeNJlTtMkH1MB_V-tYR25kqUMFHEFfrFtfuBywf8LUN4SCko5yCCLrL2Z6uYTxDOfdH0vuC9A3z0yALVr-GXEFI5AgUyMUplw6OEP8pJRJsfadtOUQ1z5GRPuFz0yHXsOSWkGZxxtb8s/s1600/richardhawley.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If we were ranking these albums in order of the best promotional interview given, Richard Hawley would have the whole thing boxed off via <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/oct/22/richard-hawley-30-minutes-interview" target="_blank">this rampaging, barmy and heartfelt effort</a> with the Guardian</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">. The follow-up to 2012’s surprisingly but gloriously visceral <i>Standing At The Sky’s Edge</i>, Hawley’s seventh solo outing moves back towards the straightforward crooner territory of <i>Coles Corner</i>. As smooth and satisfying as one of his favourite Sheffield ales, things do get a touch one-paced before the majestic 'Heart of Oak' comes around.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zr2JTS0XQ5Y" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Craig Finn - Faith in the Future (Partisan)</span></b></span> </div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will always go in to bat for Craig Finn. He will probably never top his Hold Steady work on <i>Boys and Girls in America</i>, but he remains, for me, one of the best storytelling songwriters of the last 15 years. This does not threaten to be a career defining piece of work but is more complete than his opening solo effort <i>Clear Heart Full Eyes</i>. '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0zd4VfqfDk" target="_blank">St Peter Upside Down</a>' may be the best song on either record, while 'Sarah, Calling From a Hotel' is a perfect reflection on getting older and includes a nice nod to Hold Steady classic 'Chips Ahoy!'</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">John Skilbeck</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Escort - Animal Nature (Escort)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4jR0DRctipYC7FnMbKoYM1aMTa8b5jcl8Ul9oZCkJbPmvEIBlK_cFsrXl9KgkA5-l-GDAtFM9_ZpJaLezFQbcEa4cahAdWsHN0UC7X2XCBNFyeCafD2HZ_cPYaoHCbJJNbeegExywdhc/s1600/escort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4jR0DRctipYC7FnMbKoYM1aMTa8b5jcl8Ul9oZCkJbPmvEIBlK_cFsrXl9KgkA5-l-GDAtFM9_ZpJaLezFQbcEa4cahAdWsHN0UC7X2XCBNFyeCafD2HZ_cPYaoHCbJJNbeegExywdhc/s1600/escort.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had this New York disco troupe at number two in my 2012 list. The follow-up stalls at 21. Imagine their devastation.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">George Fitzgerald – Fading Love (Double Six)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkTut4_mhbkXAij831v6QxKhTuPEO7g40Xmi-8eIK0CSMNoaWuwARQSXNg01pJeaNIaEEWZyGpaYP8aizPhnbEDQ9B6oWjNToKKJnkXrDCwecWyKThWN0-65LvbzgR2RpXIWT6A9EqX0/s1600/georgefitzgerald.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkTut4_mhbkXAij831v6QxKhTuPEO7g40Xmi-8eIK0CSMNoaWuwARQSXNg01pJeaNIaEEWZyGpaYP8aizPhnbEDQ9B6oWjNToKKJnkXrDCwecWyKThWN0-65LvbzgR2RpXIWT6A9EqX0/s1600/georgefitzgerald.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back in the day you'd see men (it was invariably men) in record shops with a stack of vinyl at the in-store deck, working out whether they'd buy a record from listening to a 30-second snippet. As a youngster I wanted to be part of this strange esoteric group, but felt I had neither the required skill nor the requisite taste. Nowadays when our lives are increasingly time-pressured, it's easier than ever to hit 'skip' when you're bored of a track. Which makes me wonder why I ever wanted to be one of those guys in the first place...In any case, it took me just 30 seconds to fall for George Fitzgerald's latest album. A lovely synth wash sets the tone for the rest of the album – hushed yet punchy, great on headphones, melodic and very addictive.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sC6WgzGAPOQ" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Ian Parker</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Kurt Vile - B’lieve I’m Going Down (Matador) </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7oe7AB3ASB-B2vDYUIxoV8vwPV_4XZKKA7WvUMxYZ3ll9h7WYEPJL1vuegUY4xqP2NqurFkEWkd6qjonr917NQ3qpo0s5_7ohZjPMZ6CnGJpq9HtWTeuzCwYKcFz4AhgaqhGv6J6-Now/s1600/kurtvile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7oe7AB3ASB-B2vDYUIxoV8vwPV_4XZKKA7WvUMxYZ3ll9h7WYEPJL1vuegUY4xqP2NqurFkEWkd6qjonr917NQ3qpo0s5_7ohZjPMZ6CnGJpq9HtWTeuzCwYKcFz4AhgaqhGv6J6-Now/s1600/kurtvile.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The follow-up to the magnificent <i>Wakin' On A Pretty Daze</i> is a rather different beast, with a more acoustic feel and perhaps even a little more order to affairs. Only a little, mind you, as listening to this record is like drifting off into one of Vile's dreams - a wonderful, woozy way to spend an afternoon.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/659pppwniXA" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Guy Atkinson</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Westkust – Last Forever (Luxury)</span></b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPz6kgco_9X3TXy34K5XBet_sIiY7UfEW9lvPk-7YGSirs3ELxvc3oLjUXhX_hJakAXEPxGL88l9IZ8MbUhTQt5uOQq36Vd6jYplZUd0J3Cfgpsg-_qvDgn4H595hHplmMZ6j9fxDTON8/s1600/westkust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPz6kgco_9X3TXy34K5XBet_sIiY7UfEW9lvPk-7YGSirs3ELxvc3oLjUXhX_hJakAXEPxGL88l9IZ8MbUhTQt5uOQq36Vd6jYplZUd0J3Cfgpsg-_qvDgn4H595hHplmMZ6j9fxDTON8/s1600/westkust.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Featuring members of a recent favourite of mine, Makthaverskan, it was never in doubt that I’d fall under the spell of this fuzz-drenched, shoegaze-inspired Swedish outfit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Steve Pill</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Having shamefully never listened to a Sleater Kinney album prior to their triumphant comeback this year, I largely knew them not as original Riot Grrl heroines but as "that Portlandia band". If my abject idiocy hasn't stopped you from reading further, let me just say this: <i>No Cities To Love</i> is superb rock'n'roll music: loud, brash, rousing, fun and just a bit cleverer than it initially seems. How it compares to their back catalogue, I couldn't say – I've not felt the need to look any further than this just yet.</span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-65864294203999922802015-12-03T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-03T10:00:09.556+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Today's theme seems to be drunken conversations in or out of bars, with people who may turn out to be folks from Milwaukee, or may turn out to be folk musicians. Meanwhile, Pranam goes for something reassuringly bonkers...it's day three of the Musical Advent Calendar, and our No. 22 albums of the year. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Andy Welch</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Will Butler – Policy (Merge)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfLnfgFhX-PNhTlzz5X3QWqGa83XFOr3A4Odi4yTiOGUBVSBjRCPjcveS6Oqx0W17UeaLrQKDwuU8Ve-PbmiWEsSJz8gTJnMfB0ABlgTXxOPGc47V2Tz2cZkMg2N-0cgCs9UGF6551g8/s1600/willbutler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfLnfgFhX-PNhTlzz5X3QWqGa83XFOr3A4Odi4yTiOGUBVSBjRCPjcveS6Oqx0W17UeaLrQKDwuU8Ve-PbmiWEsSJz8gTJnMfB0ABlgTXxOPGc47V2Tz2cZkMg2N-0cgCs9UGF6551g8/s1600/willbutler.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">I might be committing some sort of heresy here, but I really don't like Arcade Fire. I've listened to them, and just don't get what the fuss is about. I did, however, really enjoy Richard Reed Parry's solo album <i>Music For Heart And Breath</i>, and continuing my enjoyment of the solo works of Arcade Fire members comes Will Butler's <i>Policy</i>. I love the Talking Heads-style pop of 'Anna', and the way it doesn't really sound like anything else on the record, or indeed Arcade Fire. <i>Policy</i> bounces around between genres and Butler sounds like he's having a blast.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s1udZ-oZQ7VOwZFMh31s31npEEkCAb6IMrge-EPVMbH5kRoDGNCTeeXn_BhUQ_KLpjkN15D3pOdC0h_JWBZOzZ_0WTWJsTbF0eGHuALpOKUG7Sr3OYCxQdR4eyY4uJXqHemxomlAoXw/s1600/unthanks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6s1udZ-oZQ7VOwZFMh31s31npEEkCAb6IMrge-EPVMbH5kRoDGNCTeeXn_BhUQ_KLpjkN15D3pOdC0h_JWBZOzZ_0WTWJsTbF0eGHuALpOKUG7Sr3OYCxQdR4eyY4uJXqHemxomlAoXw/s1600/unthanks.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I met Becky Unthank once. Outside a boozer in Manchester, friend of a friend type situation. Spent the entire 15 minutes talking with her about baking (I can't, she can..from memory). Anyway, he only told me who I’d been talking to after she left. In retrospect I might have done better with that time. It's great that these guys exists, and do well, and put this deliciously broody Northumbrian folk music into a world that didn't even know it wanted it. I don't listen to it as often as I should but it never fails to hit the spot when the time comes.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Matt Collins</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">FFS - FFS (Domino)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUjPkTMGu8_sA6vz1gtB6ZEISrTX7jNI_3FudkPt3vYzxXEBvWtZZjO9M3tTk_tzTlBi8_qsbPHbC0opvjML4yht3dtTEoWi31Z2IwK4KPsIoAwR9m8kBs6O2paoJ81i9KavQBMrbkHQ/s1600/FFS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUjPkTMGu8_sA6vz1gtB6ZEISrTX7jNI_3FudkPt3vYzxXEBvWtZZjO9M3tTk_tzTlBi8_qsbPHbC0opvjML4yht3dtTEoWi31Z2IwK4KPsIoAwR9m8kBs6O2paoJ81i9KavQBMrbkHQ/s1600/FFS.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The collaboration between Franz Ferdinand and Sparks and how good an idea it even is is addressed immediately on the track 'Collaborations Don’t Work'. The fact that such a thing has even happened is great. <i>FFS</i> definitely sounds a lot more FF than S but it's just as bouncy and fun an album as you would expect to hear from these two bands. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass (Spacebomb)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPeF_iqW_aMxb_cMhUyUVNSspsi50179pvWW_JpO7ATY1FKfS6rpUx6pyY4_rzYRtux1JaJogpP26tA3k24evzLjWzrs1OzpLogxnFEmmfKnmu95rH9iIgw5JiiylZSBGKf0EapMHr-0/s1600/natalieprass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTPeF_iqW_aMxb_cMhUyUVNSspsi50179pvWW_JpO7ATY1FKfS6rpUx6pyY4_rzYRtux1JaJogpP26tA3k24evzLjWzrs1OzpLogxnFEmmfKnmu95rH9iIgw5JiiylZSBGKf0EapMHr-0/s1600/natalieprass.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Spacebomb project is one of the most endearing musical tales of our time. The feted Muscle Shoals model re-imagined by a group of chaps who look like they’ve rolled over from Richmond, Virginia’s most recent comic book convention. Their records showcase discerning, retro-tinged wonder - never more so than in the case of 'My Baby Don’t Understand Me', the show-stopping and devastatingly beautiful opener on Natalie Prass’ eponymous debut LP. The easy swagger of 'Bird of Prey' then shimmers into view and, although there are peaks and troughs thereafter, the highs are dizzying.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Ryan Adams - 1989 (Pax-Am)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKpsaX61TiNO-xZHRECwPMujKy4nAphyphenhyphenEoCnTbDJWf_rqreN6zMVI4f3EJ5xXZABvoKH6tLx7n-QBGS38o6FLkeoaj6VkRrdLATHuC8xxMz_wLqLEJkqX6fGnf7vKTmMJccRAZ-H5WIaI/s1600/RyanAdams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKpsaX61TiNO-xZHRECwPMujKy4nAphyphenhyphenEoCnTbDJWf_rqreN6zMVI4f3EJ5xXZABvoKH6tLx7n-QBGS38o6FLkeoaj6VkRrdLATHuC8xxMz_wLqLEJkqX6fGnf7vKTmMJccRAZ-H5WIaI/s1600/RyanAdams.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This had the potential to be a musical nightmare. Covers albums are often hit and miss, but actually recording a faithful reimagining of someone else's work is fraught with danger. The fact that Adams makes a success of his take on Taylor Swift's multi-million seller speaks volumes of his talent, which he has not always made full use of. Adams understands the tenderness and heartache lurking beneath the pop sheen these tunes have been drenched in. His take on songs like 'Bad Blood' and 'Blank Space' are wonderful. It does the job of highlighting not just Adams, but the quality of Swift herself.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">John Skilbeck</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Prinzhorn Dance School - Home Economics (DFA)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">Heard this for the first time while rummaging at Drift record shop in Totnes in June. It’s a great shop, pretty much worth the trek to Devon, and this was a surprisingly whipsmart, if very short, record.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Paradise Bangok Molam International Band - 21st Century Molam (Studio Lam)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIglGxM2AcBAqoDq3A6lDIwlnF0hT0chyphenhyphencV9kUBx-i7Ze4nJza6AT0_PP-Zn6yrHUBGYoOuBVikRHdaWfvn7YV7Q5TfxKXcteALiO5xLnLyjdecuOK8tVdvsNc22medqBNWzZz4-jlGks/s1600/ParadiseBangkok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIglGxM2AcBAqoDq3A6lDIwlnF0hT0chyphenhyphencV9kUBx-i7Ze4nJza6AT0_PP-Zn6yrHUBGYoOuBVikRHdaWfvn7YV7Q5TfxKXcteALiO5xLnLyjdecuOK8tVdvsNc22medqBNWzZz4-jlGks/s1600/ParadiseBangkok.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">A couple of years ago a friend showed me a Youtube of a wedding band from South East Asia playing wild groove laden, psychedelic-sounding music that was as thrilling as it was unexpected. Much later I realised that they were playing morlam music – a genre that I think is unique to the north-eastern part of the country. This record's as rocking and energetic as any other psych album I've heard this hear, and when it veers into disco it grooves in a way that turns me into a grinning idiot.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Ian Parker</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Saun & Starr - Look Closer (Daptone)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0UBqe2jaeWXKEihZSapXR5hKzcGtlNmT6RKyzIXowviVALTNo7NVe7ZFIUFk-xMxhDK1g_jHosTpp2Fk6T-v_X2nDGCyWfwJtAYbrYtjPl8kYgkQJYB5AwWShnBp2Shbq96bX3IlTjM/s1600/saunstarr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0UBqe2jaeWXKEihZSapXR5hKzcGtlNmT6RKyzIXowviVALTNo7NVe7ZFIUFk-xMxhDK1g_jHosTpp2Fk6T-v_X2nDGCyWfwJtAYbrYtjPl8kYgkQJYB5AwWShnBp2Shbq96bX3IlTjM/s1600/saunstarr.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Daptone just don't seem to put out bad records - sticking to a traditional recipe but making sure the retro flavours never become overpowering. Saun & Starr cut their teeth singing backing vocals for the label's star act Sharon Jones, but prove here they are more than capable of shining in their own right. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Guy Atkinson</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Menace Beach – Ratworld (Memphis Industries)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXdQocfIJnwXRSVfCpIsUb7WFzwzzk-suHRW6vLWps6bteacJH7dB_KNj2LYhW7Q57NJLL6hyphenhyphenUea9aWnD6uPSM4fQACLq7e0i5ZcRxbIeOQGhFffNOiG9Mse-dd-MEnuZFy0tC-cZMlA/s1600/menacebeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfXdQocfIJnwXRSVfCpIsUb7WFzwzzk-suHRW6vLWps6bteacJH7dB_KNj2LYhW7Q57NJLL6hyphenhyphenUea9aWnD6uPSM4fQACLq7e0i5ZcRxbIeOQGhFffNOiG9Mse-dd-MEnuZFy0tC-cZMlA/s1600/menacebeach.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The ongoing trend for stealing inspiration from scuzzy 90s alt-rock is one crime I’m willing to let pass if the pop gems crafted from those ideas are as tuneful as this.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b-IixofsLDM" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve Pill</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blur – Magic Whip (Parlophone)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMJW1ruHL5WLqc3D1eayT6ldIix2mDHohgn-XlvKzCrlNwSAWKLKyLaRAB_IhMgQ1fUiu2OjRtRxc06-XRXgPqnFeqFgTEnS-qzaLD3hnHYyxbKEer9yxdpp_S4FjQ12450METutQSnI/s1600/blur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpMJW1ruHL5WLqc3D1eayT6ldIix2mDHohgn-XlvKzCrlNwSAWKLKyLaRAB_IhMgQ1fUiu2OjRtRxc06-XRXgPqnFeqFgTEnS-qzaLD3hnHYyxbKEer9yxdpp_S4FjQ12450METutQSnI/s1600/blur.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I recently had a drunken conversation about music with a guy from Milwaukee in which I suggested that bands never release better albums once eight years have passed since their debut. They still make good, even great albums, but only ever variations on what has gone before. The theory was, like myself at the time, hardly watertight, loosely based on the Rolling Stones and Radiohead, but once he tried to disprove this with a slew of his favourite bands (Wilco, The Replacements), it seemed to stand up. (For the record, we extended the timescale to 13 years for solo acts, to take into account the lack of interband friction and <i>Blood On The Tracks</i>). </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, while I'd welcome anyone to come up with an exception to our pointless rule, it brings me nicely to Blur. As much as Graham Coxon seemed intent on willing <i>The Magic Whip</i> into being in a nostalgic attempt to lull Damon Albarn out of the dull grey funk that descended on him in recent years and manifest itself in the hideous cover art and inert atmosphere of his really-not-very-good solo debut, the result is still somewhat of a pastiche of the bands glory days (which, theory fans will note, ended with 1999's <i>13</i>, eight years after debut album <i>Leisure</i>). </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nevertheless, from the bovver boot stomp of 'Go Out' to the spectral sashay of 'Ghost Ship', I can't help but feel that, as with many of my teenage favourite bands, a half-decent Blur album is still a million miles more appealing than all but 21 of the year's other releases.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oo55vzpL85w" width="560"></iframe></span><br /><br /><br /></span></div>
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-518010712246027393.post-58527398986406604292015-12-02T10:00:00.000+00:002015-12-02T10:02:38.711+00:00The Musical Advent Calendar - Door Number Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjH2RvPFh3bO6sW5hIyO2XCe-inyvcoaUFtvE5Ur5h7yxM9XZP9EhcC_Q4rLeYNT1TavJLQjGnd2bNmyIXfFhvOASK1UZ5fVJRbUuGfcGFfVx_-t_wgW7BiGIupxxuLiaI4Zogikr4hc/s1600/number-2_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjH2RvPFh3bO6sW5hIyO2XCe-inyvcoaUFtvE5Ur5h7yxM9XZP9EhcC_Q4rLeYNT1TavJLQjGnd2bNmyIXfFhvOASK1UZ5fVJRbUuGfcGFfVx_-t_wgW7BiGIupxxuLiaI4Zogikr4hc/s320/number-2_2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><br /><br /><br />Now we can put all that over-sentimentality about it being the final Musical Advent Calendar to one side - at least until December 24 - let's push on as we reveal our No. 23 albums of the year. Rory marks the occasion by pining for some guy no one else remembers - apparently goes by the name of Ali or something, Dom forms a circle and invites us all to sing kumbayah, while Pranam brings us this Advent Calendar's first Marmite reference. We're sure it won't be the last. <br /><br /><b>Andy Welch</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday (Sour Mash Records)</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDwmYOHa13IqViS0nlfoh8gDj8lVHrguqoAsFpGZtOoMzv2GQphwy0TzfpwdJN6e8jRFz-bjSeMJCiFSopr7xK9DTKYWHi5Sc8rJjZja1i8dcYAI4bAvia4U3aHnjjgQOv2vigGL1x5c/s1600/noelgallagher.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUDwmYOHa13IqViS0nlfoh8gDj8lVHrguqoAsFpGZtOoMzv2GQphwy0TzfpwdJN6e8jRFz-bjSeMJCiFSopr7xK9DTKYWHi5Sc8rJjZja1i8dcYAI4bAvia4U3aHnjjgQOv2vigGL1x5c/s1600/noelgallagher.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">When Noel Gallagher announced his debut solo album, he also announced a second album made with Amorphous Androgynous that would come out at some point during 2012. Based on remixes AA had done for Oasis, and Gallagher's dabbling with that particular strand of psychedelia, it was infinitely more exciting than that enjoyable, yet meat-and-potatoes debut. Unfortunately it never came to pass, Gallagher saying it just wasn't up to scratch, and while his puzzling refusal to finish it is frustrating, we have at least heard glimpses. There was 'Shoot A Hole Into The Sun', a B-side, and one or two moments on Chasing Yesterday which elevate it to a record I've really enjoyed in the past year to what I think it one of the year's best. 'Riverman', 'The Dying Of The Light' and, best of all, 'The Right Stuff', are some of the best tracks Gallagher has been involved with. They almost make up for the album he apparently deleted.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;"><b>Rory Dollard<br />Eskimeaux - OK (Double Double Whammy)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHc8tYwKl1SZVK8xGdS0J-eDGE8XL51uqQsGEEJFthAt95nzI-Od71Z9P83bWUZ6TA5EHGMTWn-v-ucQTT3OKiOPDV6ugbNrh8usWBMczwn2TGyfcgXasN4TqJidq2KdspwY_puLhRk0/s1600/eskimeaux.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHc8tYwKl1SZVK8xGdS0J-eDGE8XL51uqQsGEEJFthAt95nzI-Od71Z9P83bWUZ6TA5EHGMTWn-v-ucQTT3OKiOPDV6ugbNrh8usWBMczwn2TGyfcgXasN4TqJidq2KdspwY_puLhRk0/s1600/eskimeaux.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">'Broken Necks' is a beaut. I know we're early in the game but go on, give it a listen. It's what people who know about this stuff call a perfect three-minute pop song. There's one or two others cut from the same cloth on here too, in the vein of the Concretes, or Camera Obscura. I tell you who might like it, Ali Mason. Remember him? That bloke who voted for tea (nice move), Eliza Doolittle (preposterous) and, dunno, probably Laura Marling loads of times. WHERE ARE YOU ALI? WHY DO YOU NEVER STOP BY HERE? MAYBE TO SAY GUY'S SELECTIONS HAVE PROMPTED YOU TO REVISE ALL YOUR MUSICAL TENETS. ANYTHING.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cr9ZIB-HhgE" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt Collins</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Unthanks - Mount the Air (Cadiz Music)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4w1G8hMzN0oUu_dY5R4YZxOWHFQFoxEY8SAMleUWh3ro-ZSiWYuJNV-o3YyoZHuW6oI-kQ-I7gSEssA13kNO8Cp43Y0iTJNvanQQBwM7uwxf7x0_VQRJKnXWG5AuOp9CAJLXfT0Zbl0/s1600/unthanks.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix4w1G8hMzN0oUu_dY5R4YZxOWHFQFoxEY8SAMleUWh3ro-ZSiWYuJNV-o3YyoZHuW6oI-kQ-I7gSEssA13kNO8Cp43Y0iTJNvanQQBwM7uwxf7x0_VQRJKnXWG5AuOp9CAJLXfT0Zbl0/s1600/unthanks.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Unthanks have to be one of the best groups of musicians around. Their unique take on North East folk combines beautifully with a gentle melancholy and lush instrumental classical instruments on this album, better than ever.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Dom Farrell</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">New Order - Music Complete (Mute)</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69ecQ6O0CX7ZXrKz_2ueMJxEf2YJMeFxhm_I1SsUFvYANr3dujGqdoNE80RrEX3uRrZthzfemXdSP0pUuXxfesmTSNSMgihyLk8OujCBLUxD9DlQnq4ddr4R_rTivkzYLGSJxY0WFEeo/s1600/neworder.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69ecQ6O0CX7ZXrKz_2ueMJxEf2YJMeFxhm_I1SsUFvYANr3dujGqdoNE80RrEX3uRrZthzfemXdSP0pUuXxfesmTSNSMgihyLk8OujCBLUxD9DlQnq4ddr4R_rTivkzYLGSJxY0WFEeo/s1600/neworder.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">'Restless', the opening track and lead single on <i>Music Complete</i>, could very well be called 'Fed-up, Tired and Grumpy In Late Middle Age' given the weariness in Bernard Sumner’s ever dulcet tones. This much might be expected from a man embroiled in an unseemly spat with his arch musical ally of 40 years that would, frankly, be unbecoming of people 40 years younger. The ghost of Peter Hook is felt on this record. A handful of times you find yourself checking over your shoulder to see exactly when the rumbling, rocksteady bass line will arrive. Alas, it never does. But there remains plenty to enjoy, as New Order sans-Hook turn relocate their Ibiza-era handbook, with Chemical Brother Tom Rolands adding some extra production muscle. As ever, Sumner’s unfailing melodic brilliance bails out his often sub-sixth form poetry lyrics. A flawed but worthy return. Now, can’t everyone just be friends?</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vYF718oOoco" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andrew Gwilym</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Neil Young and The Promise of the Real - The Monsanto Years (Reprise)</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoX-klzquWM1U4nQFS_G9jUMbJzxEg06Y5aHH8ar2tnq9lhK-GuHKdYS5ElNGdSigMhVexNLR-wDALcmW24WoPmXZhuZ6gzON-5dcscKphhzgiYl-UCA0axDoPFQVSNEgADu8eIFaDfys/s1600/neilyoung.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoX-klzquWM1U4nQFS_G9jUMbJzxEg06Y5aHH8ar2tnq9lhK-GuHKdYS5ElNGdSigMhVexNLR-wDALcmW24WoPmXZhuZ6gzON-5dcscKphhzgiYl-UCA0axDoPFQVSNEgADu8eIFaDfys/s1600/neilyoung.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">God bless Neil Young. He is unstoppable. If he fancies recording an album in a contraption resembling a telephone box, he will. If he wants to make an album with an orchestra, you better believe it is happening. If he wants to date Daryl Hannah, you won't be stopping him. So an album of songs about GM crops should come as no surprise. But what makes this, and most Neil releases, so compelling is the fire and passion that drives them. You can hear and feel Young's anger and depth of feeling on a subject close to his heart. He burns with a thrilling righteous rage, making for a thrilling righteous record.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">John Skilbeck</span><br style="color: #cc0000;" /><span style="color: #cc0000;">Childbirth - Women’s Rights (Suicide Squeeze)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">This is a hoot. Childbirth, seventh on my list last year with the cassette-only <i>It’s A Girl</i> album, rattled out a second brilliantly deadpan LP of super-brief sling-shots that more often than not hit their intended target.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JjX62x74QEI" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pranam Mavahalli</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Holly Herndon - Platform (4AD)</span></b></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aJEb6LCvEMMb9uk5BXZlEE-JlOFnDgrm6LCNv2p4xWoZ1MxBVK2qlsVo4VlY2TFhdNhjBC0Dph5B93w2glvERXsZlA6L8rTtbtqNPdmUZpTVd3V6NPyRlGEmTisnAwGIktHVHh1OBuk/s1600/hollyherndon.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9aJEb6LCvEMMb9uk5BXZlEE-JlOFnDgrm6LCNv2p4xWoZ1MxBVK2qlsVo4VlY2TFhdNhjBC0Dph5B93w2glvERXsZlA6L8rTtbtqNPdmUZpTVd3V6NPyRlGEmTisnAwGIktHVHh1OBuk/s1600/hollyherndon.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">Do you believe in opposites? Is there such a thing as black and white? Are logic and creativity different things? Is the left brain separate from the right brain? If there's such a thing as 'good' then is there such a thing as 'evil'? Do you love Marmite? Do you hate it? </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit;">Perhaps Holly Herndon's album is a little like Marmite. Its fusion of synthesised sounds and human voice might not be to everyone's taste. But the music here's often thrilling, it's never less than interesting, and at times it's downright baffling. So I guess I like this because I'd much rather be challenged by a piece of music than hear something that's familiar. A very current and forward-looking take on the dichotomy (if there is one) between humans and machines.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ybzSWlpgJOA" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ian Parker</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Paul Weller - Saturns Pattern (Parlophone)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmwvh7LDOWDQX0xawsvEpm9nlH7oSRnOcQiaEgA8w2ojvYvGarqUJCp7575oDCE7dsYq-maI-IVWPzocEfze6OpHJzPIsJ1uci94hRXmYpOvIb99JzwZpmzOzYfkBtVF34Yw2hAFBUjc/s1600/paulweller.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmwvh7LDOWDQX0xawsvEpm9nlH7oSRnOcQiaEgA8w2ojvYvGarqUJCp7575oDCE7dsYq-maI-IVWPzocEfze6OpHJzPIsJ1uci94hRXmYpOvIb99JzwZpmzOzYfkBtVF34Yw2hAFBUjc/s1600/paulweller.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The Modfather has been on a fantastic musical journey these past few years, with 2008's <i>22 Dreams</i> heralding a new, more experimental phase of his solo career which saw him reaching back to the Style Council and infusing his songs with an array of fresh sounds. There have been some thrilling results, but I've never really gelled with any of those records the way I did with the likes of the great <i>Stanley Road</i>. If anything, <i>Saturns Pattern</i> takes a slight step back with its sonics, but maybe that's why I've found it easier to settle in to its groove, turning to it again and again this year.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8r_W-o63C4A" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Guy Atkinson</b></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #cc0000;">Annabel – Having it All (Tiny Engines)</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRqoCSoPF6xEiQwLCIqEQQhoNRzo5c6-0TGodDuZXbiqzRR1v_qSzXSrgODl6XkhbiY00gh67ZeiOp0CZSxDBTGOq7_eU0rBm5WTowtjix0WGKWaPJWo7BdemuNCw1QvJ2kOTE6kh7RU/s1600/annabel.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRqoCSoPF6xEiQwLCIqEQQhoNRzo5c6-0TGodDuZXbiqzRR1v_qSzXSrgODl6XkhbiY00gh67ZeiOp0CZSxDBTGOq7_eU0rBm5WTowtjix0WGKWaPJWo7BdemuNCw1QvJ2kOTE6kh7RU/s1600/annabel.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">The ‘emo revival’ (it never went away for this punter) continued apace in 2015, with this rousing record one that kept me coming back for more.</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6YlHB_ozkZPeVoujvy0llueHec20wOLaxzGfNQYBKz9lyndtBlAr0BYxGn0CcMT5U2U3-qhu_UT4q8LbgF1bB3BUe0cbqkU69epuVuN6qGjc62gIh0i1LOpYJux5V1jisEMhyPauH5A/s1600/RyanAdams.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu6YlHB_ozkZPeVoujvy0llueHec20wOLaxzGfNQYBKz9lyndtBlAr0BYxGn0CcMT5U2U3-qhu_UT4q8LbgF1bB3BUe0cbqkU69epuVuN6qGjc62gIh0i1LOpYJux5V1jisEMhyPauH5A/s1600/RyanAdams.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000;">When <i>1989</i> dropped, you couldn't move for think pieces about the rightness of it all, ones that generally concluded that Adams was batshit crazy and Taylor Swift was the new messiah (I'm paraphrasing here). Ignore the songwriting credits, focus on the performances and this is the best thing Adams has recorded since the 14-minute, 11-song Replacements pastiche <i>1984</i> and the most heartfelt set since god knows when. Adams may not have written the songs himself but heartbreak really brings out the best in the guy and there is a delicious irony to the fact that he ended a marriage to one American girl-next-door popstar and found solace in the lyrics of another. Listen without prejudice to 'Blank Space' or 'Welcome to New York' and the emotion is clearly raw. What could have been an extended episode of BBC's Live Lounge becomes something altogether more fascinating, while its length acts as a mark of its sincerity. For the first time in over a decade, I'm awaiting his next set of originals with real anticipation.</span><br />
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iparkyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02859309336037725346noreply@blogger.com5