Ludensian Gull
Well-known member
If anybody is interested, john grant is playing in Gateshead tonight and the concert is on a live stream: livingindie.com.
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The albums thread - 2014
- Thread starter spring hall convert
- Start date
Norman Potting
Well-known member
Highly recommend Shaun Escoffery's "In The Red Room" excellent modern soul album without resorting to nasty rappy stuff and beats. A British Gregory Porter?
Waterboys, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Brooce obviously. It never surpassed the sum of its very obvious influences for me I'm afraid and doesn't sound like they mean it (man).
spring hall convert
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #964
No it wouldn't be. Both Adam Granduciel and Kurt Vile are massive Dylan fans.
Spun Cuppa
Thanks Greens :(
Mogwai have a new 6 track EP out today (011214), with the lead track called Teenage Exorcists, which goes thusly...
http://www.mogwai.co.uk/news/2182/watch_the_video_for_teenage_exorcists
http://www.mogwai.co.uk/news/2182/watch_the_video_for_teenage_exorcists
Mr Icicle Boots
New member
Just listened to Ben Ottewell's new album Rattlebag. I have to say initial impressions are very good. If anything slightly more edgy than his debut with a tad more trademark Ottewell rasp. What a great voice this guy has and although i'm a big fan of Gomez i think sometimes it gets undersold in the whole 'co-operative ethos'. So if you loved Shapes and Shadows then this is highly recommended.
Spam e-mail from Amazon yesterday, plugging their 'Top 10 of 2014'. Was expecting One Direction and Taylor Swift, but fair play to them:
1. Morning Phase Beck
Released in February 2014, Beck’s twelfth album immediately drew comparisons to his critically acclaimed and commercially successful 2002 LP Sea Change (Rolling Stone’s album of that year) encouraged by Beck who described Morning Phase as a sequel. Indeed many of the musicians Beck worked with on Sea Change returned to appear on Morning Phase, including his father, composer David Campbell, who contributed orchestral arrangements. The Independent on Sunday describes the album as "an often gorgeous sequel to Sea Change, but it’s also more than that: it’s cheering proof that Beck isn’t ready to start repeating himself just yet" while Drowned in Sound highlights Beck’s journey from despair in Sea Change to reflection in Morning Phase, "It might share some sonic similarities [to Sea Change], but it's an altogether brighter beast".
• "The result is a set that feels like an instant folk-rock classic." Rolling Stone, "Morning Phase never sounds anything less than opulent." Pretty Much Amazing
2. Lost In The Dream War on Drugs
Far from being a “difficult” third album, The War on Drugs’ Lost in the Dream has far exceeded its own lofty expectations following the critical acclaim for its predecessor, 2011’s Slave Ambient. As Pitchfork describe, it is bandleader Adam Granduciel’s “most lustrous, intricately detailed and beautifully rendered record to date”, influenced by various touch points from 70s and 80s rock, from Tom Petty to Fleetwood Mac, but still sounding timeless, drenched in its own ethereal haze.
• “With Lost In The Dream Adam Granduciel seems to be heading for things far bigger than anyone could ever have expected” 9/10 NME, “An immaculately assembled portrait of a man falling apart” 8.8 Pitchfork
3. Everyday Robots Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is clearly not a man to sit still. From Blur to Africa Express, Gorillaz to The Good, The Bad and The Queen, it’s a wonder it’s taken him over 20 years to release his first “proper” solo record. Thankfully, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Everyday Robots was worth the wait, finding Albarn at his most reflective, poignant best. Despite the man’s energy for music, much of the album’s charm comes from its pervasive fragility, as seen on the title track, “If You’re Lonely, Press Play” and several other tracks that are framed simply by piano and glitchy trip-hop-esque beats. Critics have variously compared the album to Low-era Bowie, Bon Iver and more, but whatever the comparison, Everyday Robots is Albarn’s most personal contribution to date, and no matter how sad it sounds, it’s one with which he should be very happy.
• “Beautiful, but subtle, cloudy and elusive… Whoever Damon Albarn is, he's extremely good at what he does” 4/5 Guardian, “An intimate, introspective album that takes tentative steps to reveal the soul behind the star” 4/5 The Independent
4. Love Letters Metronomy
After the electro pop success of their third album The English Riviera, Metronomy seek out more of a soul rock sound for Love Letters. Featuring catchy singles including the title track – named Zane Lowe’s “Hottest Record in the World" - and “I’m Aquarius” the album hit the UK album chart top ten in March. Metronomy founder and frontman Joseph Mount has become known for his love of experimentation having fronted two previous diverse groups and remixed or produced for a whole host of musicians as well as his numerous EPs, albums and tracks with Metronomy. As All Music highlights “Given the critical and commercial success of The English Riviera, Metronomy could have easily spent another album or two expanding on its polished, erudite pop. However, they're too mercurial a band to do the obvious thing.” We can’t wait to see what they bring us next!
• “It’s Metronomy’s best work to date." The Independent, “Mount's intoxicating amalgam of past and present is the real thing.” Q Magazine
5. Caustic Love Paolo Nutini
Coming from a distinctly more mature footing than 2009’s Sunny Side Up, Caustic Love is a testament to Paolo Nutini’s songwriting ability. Debut single “Scream (Funk My Life Up)” bursts from the speakers with loud, upbeat horns to kick the album off and is accompanied by a number of feel-good summertime tunes but this is only one side to the album. Retaining the groove but slipping into a more heartfelt and tender moment are tracks such as “Diana” and the powerful “Iron Sky”. The album pays homage to the classic days of soul and Motown with its suggestive lyrics and regular nods to love and libido and shows the singer’s diversity. From his pop and ska infused debut These Streets via folk, indie, rock and funk the singer has come upon soul with the wisdom of man twice his age.
• "Caustic Love may be the best UK R&B album since the 1970s…" The Independent, "Caustic Love is a truly excellent modern soul record." The Telegraph
6. Shriek Wye Oak
Formed in 2006, Wye Oak from Balitmore in Maryland curate, in Shriek, an indie rock collection of tunes with an folk twist, and more than a little hint of R&B flavour. With multiple instruments each (Andy on drums, keyboards and backing vocals, and Jenn as vocalist, guitarist and bassist) the duo released Shriek, their fourth studio album, early in 2014 as a follow up to Civilian which with tracks featuring in TV title sequences saw a turning point for the pair. "Departures rarely sound this confident--it helps that Shriek builds off of the major songwriting strides made by Civilian" claims The A.V Club as Wye Oak hand over the guitar, move in the synths and let Jenn's vocals take centre stage.
• "Wye Oak just turned in one of the year's most satisfying and seductive records." Magnet, "Shriek is a sustained act of seduction, a deftly conjoined conjuring of song, rhythm and mood." Uncut
7. Our Love Caribou
Drawing on R&B influences for his sixth album Our Love, Canadian mathematician Dan Snaith, otherwise known as Caribou, guides his experimental electronica onto the dancefloor following the success of 2010’s Swim. The Guardian describes it as “rich, strange, endlessly fascinating music: a subtle, beautiful triumph” while Pitchfork draws on the fact that Snaith has described this as his most honest album to date, marvelling at the way in which it depicts loving relationships: “one that’s remarkable for its intimacy, openheartedness and joy derived from human connection”.
• "spellbindingly ambiguous, endlessly fascinating electronica" 5/5 The Guardian, "Electronic DJ and producer Dan Snaith builds uncomplicatedly towards euphoria on his latest effort" 4/5 The Telegraph
8. Lazaretto Jack White
Jack is back, and somewhat predictably, this enigmatic blues-rock powerhouse has done it yet again. Right from the off, White fuses his trademark riffs, dirty production and irrepressible groove into an R'n'B stomper (that's rhythm and blues in the truest sense) that drives forward and just barely hangs together. That controlled disorder and unruly tightness has always been his calling card, and is exactly what makes his records get the listener onto the edge of their seat, and Lazaretto is no different. But that doesn't mean Lazaretto is a one dimensional affair, which White amply demonstrates on the more countrified tracks like "Temporary Ground", fusing honky-tonk piano, western fiddle, pedal-steel and mournful vocal harmonies to really show off his musicianship and versatility, not to mention the deeply personal subject matter. Jack White is back, and at his dramatic, uncompromising best.
• "He has channelled his demons in Lazaretto to create one of the great break-up albums of recent years" The Telegraph, "While Lazaretto may sometimes appear to be a more nakedly emotional collection of songs than we've come to expect from its creator, the contents also rate among his wittiest and his wildest efforts to date" Uncut
9. You're Dead! Flying Lotus
Ideas abound on this wildly creative fifth album from Steven Ellison, a record of experimental electronica heavily indebted to freeform jazz that simultaneously functions as a concept piece celebrating the limbo between death and afterlife. With his jazz credentials cemented further by a guest appearance from Herbie Hancock, You’re Dead! also sees the LA producer’s rapping alias Captain Murphy stand tall alongside hip hop megastars Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg, and though the concept may seem morose, the sound is anything but. As FlyLo explains it, “It's a celebration of the next experience. It's the transition and the confusion. It's not 'hey, you're dead.' It's 'hey - you're dead!'"
• "A madly inventive record that takes hip-hop and jazz as starting points, beats them to death and brings them back to life in an almost unrecognisable form." NME, "A carnival of imagination." The Observer
10. Syro Aphex Twin
Electronic music has moved on in leaps and bounds in the 13 years since the last record under his Aphex Twin alias, but on this evidence many are still playing catch up with Richard D. James. Though he’s been responsible for a steady stream of releases under different monikers since 2001’s Drukqs, the mere sight of a green blimp emblazoned with the Aphex Twin logo was enough to create a furore as it drifted around East London this summer, and the album it heralded – Syro – was certainly worth the wait. Though it features his infant children on vocals and - according to an interview he gave with Q Magazine - is “as poppy as it’s going to get” for Aphex Twin, his sixth record is still a highly complex and rewarding listen, a continuation and refinement of a sound he arguably invented.
• "The record’s easy flow is one of its primary virtues, and there’s something new to uncover with every listen." Pitchfork "Hearing James do what he does best is always a jaw-dropping experience." 9/10 The Guardian
1. Morning Phase Beck
Released in February 2014, Beck’s twelfth album immediately drew comparisons to his critically acclaimed and commercially successful 2002 LP Sea Change (Rolling Stone’s album of that year) encouraged by Beck who described Morning Phase as a sequel. Indeed many of the musicians Beck worked with on Sea Change returned to appear on Morning Phase, including his father, composer David Campbell, who contributed orchestral arrangements. The Independent on Sunday describes the album as "an often gorgeous sequel to Sea Change, but it’s also more than that: it’s cheering proof that Beck isn’t ready to start repeating himself just yet" while Drowned in Sound highlights Beck’s journey from despair in Sea Change to reflection in Morning Phase, "It might share some sonic similarities [to Sea Change], but it's an altogether brighter beast".
• "The result is a set that feels like an instant folk-rock classic." Rolling Stone, "Morning Phase never sounds anything less than opulent." Pretty Much Amazing
2. Lost In The Dream War on Drugs
Far from being a “difficult” third album, The War on Drugs’ Lost in the Dream has far exceeded its own lofty expectations following the critical acclaim for its predecessor, 2011’s Slave Ambient. As Pitchfork describe, it is bandleader Adam Granduciel’s “most lustrous, intricately detailed and beautifully rendered record to date”, influenced by various touch points from 70s and 80s rock, from Tom Petty to Fleetwood Mac, but still sounding timeless, drenched in its own ethereal haze.
• “With Lost In The Dream Adam Granduciel seems to be heading for things far bigger than anyone could ever have expected” 9/10 NME, “An immaculately assembled portrait of a man falling apart” 8.8 Pitchfork
3. Everyday Robots Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is clearly not a man to sit still. From Blur to Africa Express, Gorillaz to The Good, The Bad and The Queen, it’s a wonder it’s taken him over 20 years to release his first “proper” solo record. Thankfully, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Everyday Robots was worth the wait, finding Albarn at his most reflective, poignant best. Despite the man’s energy for music, much of the album’s charm comes from its pervasive fragility, as seen on the title track, “If You’re Lonely, Press Play” and several other tracks that are framed simply by piano and glitchy trip-hop-esque beats. Critics have variously compared the album to Low-era Bowie, Bon Iver and more, but whatever the comparison, Everyday Robots is Albarn’s most personal contribution to date, and no matter how sad it sounds, it’s one with which he should be very happy.
• “Beautiful, but subtle, cloudy and elusive… Whoever Damon Albarn is, he's extremely good at what he does” 4/5 Guardian, “An intimate, introspective album that takes tentative steps to reveal the soul behind the star” 4/5 The Independent
4. Love Letters Metronomy
After the electro pop success of their third album The English Riviera, Metronomy seek out more of a soul rock sound for Love Letters. Featuring catchy singles including the title track – named Zane Lowe’s “Hottest Record in the World" - and “I’m Aquarius” the album hit the UK album chart top ten in March. Metronomy founder and frontman Joseph Mount has become known for his love of experimentation having fronted two previous diverse groups and remixed or produced for a whole host of musicians as well as his numerous EPs, albums and tracks with Metronomy. As All Music highlights “Given the critical and commercial success of The English Riviera, Metronomy could have easily spent another album or two expanding on its polished, erudite pop. However, they're too mercurial a band to do the obvious thing.” We can’t wait to see what they bring us next!
• “It’s Metronomy’s best work to date." The Independent, “Mount's intoxicating amalgam of past and present is the real thing.” Q Magazine
5. Caustic Love Paolo Nutini
Coming from a distinctly more mature footing than 2009’s Sunny Side Up, Caustic Love is a testament to Paolo Nutini’s songwriting ability. Debut single “Scream (Funk My Life Up)” bursts from the speakers with loud, upbeat horns to kick the album off and is accompanied by a number of feel-good summertime tunes but this is only one side to the album. Retaining the groove but slipping into a more heartfelt and tender moment are tracks such as “Diana” and the powerful “Iron Sky”. The album pays homage to the classic days of soul and Motown with its suggestive lyrics and regular nods to love and libido and shows the singer’s diversity. From his pop and ska infused debut These Streets via folk, indie, rock and funk the singer has come upon soul with the wisdom of man twice his age.
• "Caustic Love may be the best UK R&B album since the 1970s…" The Independent, "Caustic Love is a truly excellent modern soul record." The Telegraph
6. Shriek Wye Oak
Formed in 2006, Wye Oak from Balitmore in Maryland curate, in Shriek, an indie rock collection of tunes with an folk twist, and more than a little hint of R&B flavour. With multiple instruments each (Andy on drums, keyboards and backing vocals, and Jenn as vocalist, guitarist and bassist) the duo released Shriek, their fourth studio album, early in 2014 as a follow up to Civilian which with tracks featuring in TV title sequences saw a turning point for the pair. "Departures rarely sound this confident--it helps that Shriek builds off of the major songwriting strides made by Civilian" claims The A.V Club as Wye Oak hand over the guitar, move in the synths and let Jenn's vocals take centre stage.
• "Wye Oak just turned in one of the year's most satisfying and seductive records." Magnet, "Shriek is a sustained act of seduction, a deftly conjoined conjuring of song, rhythm and mood." Uncut
7. Our Love Caribou
Drawing on R&B influences for his sixth album Our Love, Canadian mathematician Dan Snaith, otherwise known as Caribou, guides his experimental electronica onto the dancefloor following the success of 2010’s Swim. The Guardian describes it as “rich, strange, endlessly fascinating music: a subtle, beautiful triumph” while Pitchfork draws on the fact that Snaith has described this as his most honest album to date, marvelling at the way in which it depicts loving relationships: “one that’s remarkable for its intimacy, openheartedness and joy derived from human connection”.
• "spellbindingly ambiguous, endlessly fascinating electronica" 5/5 The Guardian, "Electronic DJ and producer Dan Snaith builds uncomplicatedly towards euphoria on his latest effort" 4/5 The Telegraph
8. Lazaretto Jack White
Jack is back, and somewhat predictably, this enigmatic blues-rock powerhouse has done it yet again. Right from the off, White fuses his trademark riffs, dirty production and irrepressible groove into an R'n'B stomper (that's rhythm and blues in the truest sense) that drives forward and just barely hangs together. That controlled disorder and unruly tightness has always been his calling card, and is exactly what makes his records get the listener onto the edge of their seat, and Lazaretto is no different. But that doesn't mean Lazaretto is a one dimensional affair, which White amply demonstrates on the more countrified tracks like "Temporary Ground", fusing honky-tonk piano, western fiddle, pedal-steel and mournful vocal harmonies to really show off his musicianship and versatility, not to mention the deeply personal subject matter. Jack White is back, and at his dramatic, uncompromising best.
• "He has channelled his demons in Lazaretto to create one of the great break-up albums of recent years" The Telegraph, "While Lazaretto may sometimes appear to be a more nakedly emotional collection of songs than we've come to expect from its creator, the contents also rate among his wittiest and his wildest efforts to date" Uncut
9. You're Dead! Flying Lotus
Ideas abound on this wildly creative fifth album from Steven Ellison, a record of experimental electronica heavily indebted to freeform jazz that simultaneously functions as a concept piece celebrating the limbo between death and afterlife. With his jazz credentials cemented further by a guest appearance from Herbie Hancock, You’re Dead! also sees the LA producer’s rapping alias Captain Murphy stand tall alongside hip hop megastars Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg, and though the concept may seem morose, the sound is anything but. As FlyLo explains it, “It's a celebration of the next experience. It's the transition and the confusion. It's not 'hey, you're dead.' It's 'hey - you're dead!'"
• "A madly inventive record that takes hip-hop and jazz as starting points, beats them to death and brings them back to life in an almost unrecognisable form." NME, "A carnival of imagination." The Observer
10. Syro Aphex Twin
Electronic music has moved on in leaps and bounds in the 13 years since the last record under his Aphex Twin alias, but on this evidence many are still playing catch up with Richard D. James. Though he’s been responsible for a steady stream of releases under different monikers since 2001’s Drukqs, the mere sight of a green blimp emblazoned with the Aphex Twin logo was enough to create a furore as it drifted around East London this summer, and the album it heralded – Syro – was certainly worth the wait. Though it features his infant children on vocals and - according to an interview he gave with Q Magazine - is “as poppy as it’s going to get” for Aphex Twin, his sixth record is still a highly complex and rewarding listen, a continuation and refinement of a sound he arguably invented.
• "The record’s easy flow is one of its primary virtues, and there’s something new to uncover with every listen." Pitchfork "Hearing James do what he does best is always a jaw-dropping experience." 9/10 The Guardian
spring hall convert
Well-known member
Trufflehound
Re-enfranchised
Indeed, what a seminal piece of writing.
Back in the late 70s and 80s when I used to read NME religiously, it seem to be editorial policy that no feature/review/interview was allowed into print without the word 'seminal' being included at least once. It was pretentious bo11ocks then, and still is.
tinycowboy
Well-known member
“There’s nothing as outright catchy as X song on Y album, but…”
I like this - always the description of a dull follow-up that the critic is desperate to see some merit in.
spring hall convert
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #971
I really miss Stool Pigeon, it was one of my favourite music things ever. Funny, informed, balanced and pretty much genre neutral.
There's a glorious and very recent acoustic version of Paint The Moon on John Grant's website. Lovely song.
I've got 7 of them.
In fact my household has got 12 of these as we have 2 copies of Everyday Robots, 3 copies of Love Letter and 3 of Our Love due to additional vinyl purchases and Rough Trade **** ups.
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Not at all. In fact I saw WoD just over a month ago and they covered Tangled up in Blue.
It does not work on paper at all. In fact is reads like a mess, and a bland mess at that. I really do like the album though and it works for me. An Ocean Between the Waves is one of the best songs I have heard in a long long time (Neu!, Springsteen, Dire Straights and Dylan all in one song) and if you ever get a chance to see/hear this live then you are blessed.
But they do seem to divide opinion.
spring hall convert
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #976
So a Brighton act wins The Quietus album of the year.
http://thequietus.com/articles/16739-albums-of-the-year-2014
I did bang on about somewhere it back there <- for a bit. Excellent record, stands up to repeat listens - FFO The Knife, John Foxx, TG. Female fronted dark electronica.
3 tracks from it on her bandcamp - http://gazelletwin.bandcamp.com/album/unflesh
http://thequietus.com/articles/16739-albums-of-the-year-2014
I did bang on about somewhere it back there <- for a bit. Excellent record, stands up to repeat listens - FFO The Knife, John Foxx, TG. Female fronted dark electronica.
3 tracks from it on her bandcamp - http://gazelletwin.bandcamp.com/album/unflesh
tinycowboy
Well-known member
That is a list full of things I've not heard of, let alone listened to. Especially down in the 70-100 levels. Lots of album covers that feature either raw meat or look like 1970s satanic doom metal. I may check out some of the higher ranked stuff.
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
I have 5 of the albums they've listed between 50 and 100, one of which; Adult Jazz is quite lovely, it reminds me of Aesgeir, the Icelandic chap who has collaborated with John Grant. The St Vincent album is pretty good too. I've got 9 of the albums from 1 to 49 and 3 of their top 10 (Swans, East India Youth, Grumbling Fur) of which only the Grumbling Fur album gets a regular listen. So...I've heard 14 of the Quietus top 100, that's a pretty high score for me compared with previous years!
Bit of a name-drop but I was chatting to the bass guitarist with Fujiya and Miyagi and he recommended that Gazelle Twin album but in my drunken haze I'd forgotten the name of the band. I must check it out now, thanks SHC for the heads-up.
spring hall convert
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #979
Loads of excellent stuff in the Quietus list, it's my favourite writing and editorial slant out there.
However, they are, in the main, ex-metal kids with a broad range of taste, therefore the odd metal record slips in. Normally the good stuff though. You won't find much dadrock in there (the complete absence of War on Drugs feels more like a statement than a reflection of reality - they gave it a very good review IIRC http://thequietus.com/articles/14769-the-war-on-drugs-lost-in-the-dream-review.)
Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
Here's a useful website for the latest end of year lists from various sites.
http://www.albumoftheyear.org/lists.php
And they even have an aggregate list with the ubiquitous WoD in number 1 slot.
http://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/summary/2014/
http://www.albumoftheyear.org/lists.php
And they even have an aggregate list with the ubiquitous WoD in number 1 slot.
http://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/summary/2014/