Tuesday 29 December 2009
No more Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy, my favourite band of last year is no more! A cause for consternation you might think? Well not really. Owen Pallett has simply decided to release his music under his own name rather than FF (which was always more well known as a computer fantasy game anyway). Truth is it was a slightly naff name anyway. I'm really looking forward to the new album, "Heartland", now by Owen Pallett, which is out on January 11th.
Saturday 19 December 2009
Great article on MP3s vs hard copy music formats
The day after I distributed my end of year comp digitally (for the second year running) this article in the Boston Globe (sent to me by my friend Dave) is about the best I've read on the meaning of music collections in the digital age.
Friday 18 December 2009
Tuesday 15 December 2009
Nearly in the top 12 of the year
Weeding that list down to 12 was tough. I didn't include any drone music even though it's been a big thing for me this year. But it's difficult stuff to weave onto a mix CD. Chihei Hatakeyama has put out two excellent albums, full of dense and evolving harmonics which provide an incredibly immersive sonic experience when listened to as a whole. In a similar (but darker) style Black to Comm's album Alphabet 1968 was notable for its majestic sweeps of noise and found-sounds, but also featured one of the most beautiful songs of the year in "Hotel Freund" with it's haunting orchestral sample. Another track that missed out for simply practical reasons was Lars Horntveth's (of Jaga Jazzist) Kaleidoscopic, an incredibly ambitious Sibelius-like orchestral work which, at 37 minutes, was just too long to include. One of the true giants of the electronic music scene, AtomTM, put out a fabulous album Leidgut, which again works better as a whole. Dirty Projectors released what I think will turn out to be their best album yet in Bitte Orca - but I only got it last month so am still digesting it and I was truly charmed by the romanticism of the Leisure Society, whose Sleeper album is simply very pretty. And speaking of prettiness - Haruko's Wild Geese is an exquisite example of plaintive acoustic folk loveliness. One of my favourite artists, Broadcast, released their most experimental album to date, a collaboration with Ghost Box's Focus Group and very much in the "hauntological" style. But with two tracks already in the 12 from Ghost Box I felt this sound was already adequately represented. That said, the live show Broadcast did in support of this album was brilliant and bodes really well for next year's full album. Other things have crept onto my radar too late, such as Good Evening by the beguiling Nite Jewel, who may end up featuring on next year's comp. Likewise Dead Man's Bones and Joker's Daughter both of whom's albums are currently on repeat-play on the Griffiths iPod. With these late-comers and a veritable stack of eagerly anticipated releases early in 2010 (Jaga Jazzist, Beach House, Hot Chip AND Final Fantasy all have albums released in January) next year's compilation is almost writing itself!
Songs of the year 2009
Dear All - welcome to my songs of the year. I whittled it down from a huge 140 minutes double CD's worth to these 12 prime cuts (see who nearly made it - 12 was a struggle!). You can listen now via the play button just below or download the MP3s to burn to CD or play on your MP3 player. All the tracks are described below.
DOWNLOAD HERE
Merry Christmas, Love from David. xxxx
Summary: A golden year for British music was blessed with gems from Bristol in particular. It's a year when a characteristic that's long interested me in music seemed to crystallise around the idea of "hauntological". It's almost a musical equivalent of cubism where sound objects are rearranged and abstracted, but there's undoubtedly an added dose of nostalgia. Artists like the Advisory Circle exemplify the genre with music that collages samples of old public service announcements, vintage synths and degraded sound fragments of old folk tunes. It was interesting to see this coalesce as an unlikely "scene", but more so because it generated lots of interesting discussions on it, led by folks like Simon Reynolds and the Dissensus forum. But as it happens, my favourite of the year is from Canada and in no way "hauntological". Final Fantasy is the name and I explain more below! Finally, it was the year that my favourite band of the decade, Animal Collective, suddenly won mainstream approval with their eighth album!
2009 12 best - David's end of year compilation by Lightspeed Future Lullaby
Gig of the year: Final Fantasy / Cardiff
Album of the year: Animal Collective / Merriweather Post Pavilion
Song of the year: Animal Collective / My Girls
Artist of the year: Final Fantasy
Label of the year: Ghost Box
1. Civil Defence Is Common Sense / The Advisory Circle 2:52 (UK)
Retro-synths and samples of grainy public service announcements combine to evoke a Britain past, this, like much of the music on the label Ghost Box encapsulates the genre micro-genre now known as hauntological
2. My Girls / Animal Collective 5:41 (US)
I am evangelical where AC are concerned and I think they have featured on pretty much all of these comps since 2003. This year the band "broke through" and everyone and his uncle proclaimed their genius with the release of the latest album Merriweather Post Pavilion. This track - about the simple impulse of a fellow to wanna look after his girls (wife/daughter) had very special meaning to me for obvious reasons. In fact it was often a track that I used to rock my new daughter Isobel to sleep with, back in the early days of fatherhood.
3. Mood-ring Band / Final Fantasy 2:54 (Canada)
I wrote about my discovery of Final Fantasy way back in February and was bowled over that my impulse purchase of all their records based on hearing one track had paid off in spades. My admiration for this artist was later enhanced by a really special live show in Cardiff. As the biog unravelled with each google-stroke I was amazed to discover that Owen Pallet (who is Final Fantasy for all intents and purposes) has a stellar career helping out Arcade Fire and various other artists, including one of my own favourites, Beirut. It was exciting to find out that Beirut and Final Fantasy have collaborated so much and being able to revisit some of my Beirut faves with this in mind.
4. Where Were U in '92? / Zomby 2:04 (UK)
Zomby is a dubstep artist but one who has extended his oeuvre in an impressive and convincing way (not many others have as yet). Here he concocts a distillation of EVERYTHING that was great about early 90s rave music - all into a sublime 2 minutes.
5. The strangers / St Vincent 4:05 (US)
As soon as I heard this I thought of Doris Day and old musicals. Her voice has similarities but the melody and those little orchestral flourishes really evoke Nelson Riddle's or Billy May's 50s big-band arrangements. I subsequently heard that she was influenced by the Wizard of Oz on this album. A fantastic gig at the Thekla in Bristol sealed the deal for me.
6. Gardens Of The South / Sleeping States 4:13 (UK - Bristol)
If true love is that which is pure and without prejudice then this ranks very highly. I heard it on a Bella Union label comp and I had no idea who it was, but it stood out from the rest melodically and stylistically with its minimalism and nods to 50s American DooWop (an overlooked style that is criminally under-referenced in modern pop). On the strength of this song I bought the album from which it comes. The album is great too. But then the whammy kiss! they are based in Bristol. I find this a matter of some pride.
7. Scary Mansion / Scum Inside 2:28 (US)
I found out about this band through one of those serendipity routes that the internet makes so possible. I was checking Sleeping States' blog to see if they were playing in Bristol. That happened to recommend the latest by Francois and the Atlas Mountains (another fave from Bristol). From Francois's page I clicked to the label that is releasing his new album. That website started playing audio automatically (something I find really annoying). But just as I was trying to find a way of stopping the sound I realised I was enjoying it. And this was it - Scary Mansion - I bought the album - it's bloody great. The automatic audio feed worked - bugger!!
8. Destroyer / Bay of pigs 13:39 (Canada)
The word epic gets bandied about quite a lot in music. Usually its unjustified (when a song is merely meandering - long and dull). But here is a song which demands that description, a truly epic 12 inch single from Destroyer. Over 13 minutes it weaves it's way seamlessly through ambient electronica, prog-rock through torch disco and back again. Add to this Dan Bejar's brilliant allegorical lyrics and distinctive vocals and perhaps another superlative is justified - CLASSIC. So here it is a classic epic!
9. The Girl Who Fell to Earth / Jega 4:39 (UK)
It's funny to say that this glistening piece of icy electronica, no doubt created on cutting edge synths and music software, sounds dated, but in a strange way it is. No one seems to play this kind of melodic "futuristic" techno anymore. It reminds me most of the halcyon days of early Warp when this kind of thing got the awful moniker Intelligent Dance Music (IDM). But Jega, who is one of the giants of that scene from the 90s, has returned with a classic.
10. European Male / Bronnt Industries Kapital 5:09 (UK - Bristol)
Bronnt were probably the first band I discovered in the fragmented but brilliant Bristol scene, when I heard their soundtrack to a film about witch trials called Haxan. Four years ago that was a sound that fits perfectly into the "hauntological" thing that's going on now so they may be a band somewhat out of time because here Bronnt has moved on to a more meaty/beaty form of retro-futurism and created a wonderful homage to some of those dark synthy soundtracks of the 70s by bands like Goblin and John Carpenter.
11. The Hidden Door / Belbury Poly 5:08 (UK).
Belbury Poly is another of the artists on Ghost Box which is my label of the year. It inhabits a similar sound territory to the Advisory Circle, as do most of the artists on Ghost Box (the label is coherent in its vision) but like the Advisory Circle Belbury impress melodically as well as sonically. It's future-retro, it's "nostalgia for an age yet to come", it's ghostly, hauntological and it's hypnogogic pop (Google the last 2 for a wealth of information). The sound of yesterday from tomorrow.
12. Oktober / Bersarin Quartet 6:26 (Germany)
A recommendation from Norman Records, a great online indie shop, this obscure piece of neo-classical gorgeousness, sound-tracked many-a-late night for me and Isobel early in the year. Luscious and enveloping stuff.
DOWNLOAD HERE
Merry Christmas, Love from David. xxxx
Summary: A golden year for British music was blessed with gems from Bristol in particular. It's a year when a characteristic that's long interested me in music seemed to crystallise around the idea of "hauntological". It's almost a musical equivalent of cubism where sound objects are rearranged and abstracted, but there's undoubtedly an added dose of nostalgia. Artists like the Advisory Circle exemplify the genre with music that collages samples of old public service announcements, vintage synths and degraded sound fragments of old folk tunes. It was interesting to see this coalesce as an unlikely "scene", but more so because it generated lots of interesting discussions on it, led by folks like Simon Reynolds and the Dissensus forum. But as it happens, my favourite of the year is from Canada and in no way "hauntological". Final Fantasy is the name and I explain more below! Finally, it was the year that my favourite band of the decade, Animal Collective, suddenly won mainstream approval with their eighth album!
2009 12 best - David's end of year compilation by Lightspeed Future Lullaby
Gig of the year: Final Fantasy / Cardiff
Album of the year: Animal Collective / Merriweather Post Pavilion
Song of the year: Animal Collective / My Girls
Artist of the year: Final Fantasy
Label of the year: Ghost Box
1. Civil Defence Is Common Sense / The Advisory Circle 2:52 (UK)
Retro-synths and samples of grainy public service announcements combine to evoke a Britain past, this, like much of the music on the label Ghost Box encapsulates the genre micro-genre now known as hauntological
2. My Girls / Animal Collective 5:41 (US)
I am evangelical where AC are concerned and I think they have featured on pretty much all of these comps since 2003. This year the band "broke through" and everyone and his uncle proclaimed their genius with the release of the latest album Merriweather Post Pavilion. This track - about the simple impulse of a fellow to wanna look after his girls (wife/daughter) had very special meaning to me for obvious reasons. In fact it was often a track that I used to rock my new daughter Isobel to sleep with, back in the early days of fatherhood.
3. Mood-ring Band / Final Fantasy 2:54 (Canada)
I wrote about my discovery of Final Fantasy way back in February and was bowled over that my impulse purchase of all their records based on hearing one track had paid off in spades. My admiration for this artist was later enhanced by a really special live show in Cardiff. As the biog unravelled with each google-stroke I was amazed to discover that Owen Pallet (who is Final Fantasy for all intents and purposes) has a stellar career helping out Arcade Fire and various other artists, including one of my own favourites, Beirut. It was exciting to find out that Beirut and Final Fantasy have collaborated so much and being able to revisit some of my Beirut faves with this in mind.
4. Where Were U in '92? / Zomby 2:04 (UK)
Zomby is a dubstep artist but one who has extended his oeuvre in an impressive and convincing way (not many others have as yet). Here he concocts a distillation of EVERYTHING that was great about early 90s rave music - all into a sublime 2 minutes.
5. The strangers / St Vincent 4:05 (US)
As soon as I heard this I thought of Doris Day and old musicals. Her voice has similarities but the melody and those little orchestral flourishes really evoke Nelson Riddle's or Billy May's 50s big-band arrangements. I subsequently heard that she was influenced by the Wizard of Oz on this album. A fantastic gig at the Thekla in Bristol sealed the deal for me.
6. Gardens Of The South / Sleeping States 4:13 (UK - Bristol)
If true love is that which is pure and without prejudice then this ranks very highly. I heard it on a Bella Union label comp and I had no idea who it was, but it stood out from the rest melodically and stylistically with its minimalism and nods to 50s American DooWop (an overlooked style that is criminally under-referenced in modern pop). On the strength of this song I bought the album from which it comes. The album is great too. But then the whammy kiss! they are based in Bristol. I find this a matter of some pride.
7. Scary Mansion / Scum Inside 2:28 (US)
I found out about this band through one of those serendipity routes that the internet makes so possible. I was checking Sleeping States' blog to see if they were playing in Bristol. That happened to recommend the latest by Francois and the Atlas Mountains (another fave from Bristol). From Francois's page I clicked to the label that is releasing his new album. That website started playing audio automatically (something I find really annoying). But just as I was trying to find a way of stopping the sound I realised I was enjoying it. And this was it - Scary Mansion - I bought the album - it's bloody great. The automatic audio feed worked - bugger!!
8. Destroyer / Bay of pigs 13:39 (Canada)
The word epic gets bandied about quite a lot in music. Usually its unjustified (when a song is merely meandering - long and dull). But here is a song which demands that description, a truly epic 12 inch single from Destroyer. Over 13 minutes it weaves it's way seamlessly through ambient electronica, prog-rock through torch disco and back again. Add to this Dan Bejar's brilliant allegorical lyrics and distinctive vocals and perhaps another superlative is justified - CLASSIC. So here it is a classic epic!
9. The Girl Who Fell to Earth / Jega 4:39 (UK)
It's funny to say that this glistening piece of icy electronica, no doubt created on cutting edge synths and music software, sounds dated, but in a strange way it is. No one seems to play this kind of melodic "futuristic" techno anymore. It reminds me most of the halcyon days of early Warp when this kind of thing got the awful moniker Intelligent Dance Music (IDM). But Jega, who is one of the giants of that scene from the 90s, has returned with a classic.
10. European Male / Bronnt Industries Kapital 5:09 (UK - Bristol)
Bronnt were probably the first band I discovered in the fragmented but brilliant Bristol scene, when I heard their soundtrack to a film about witch trials called Haxan. Four years ago that was a sound that fits perfectly into the "hauntological" thing that's going on now so they may be a band somewhat out of time because here Bronnt has moved on to a more meaty/beaty form of retro-futurism and created a wonderful homage to some of those dark synthy soundtracks of the 70s by bands like Goblin and John Carpenter.
11. The Hidden Door / Belbury Poly 5:08 (UK).
Belbury Poly is another of the artists on Ghost Box which is my label of the year. It inhabits a similar sound territory to the Advisory Circle, as do most of the artists on Ghost Box (the label is coherent in its vision) but like the Advisory Circle Belbury impress melodically as well as sonically. It's future-retro, it's "nostalgia for an age yet to come", it's ghostly, hauntological and it's hypnogogic pop (Google the last 2 for a wealth of information). The sound of yesterday from tomorrow.
12. Oktober / Bersarin Quartet 6:26 (Germany)
A recommendation from Norman Records, a great online indie shop, this obscure piece of neo-classical gorgeousness, sound-tracked many-a-late night for me and Isobel early in the year. Luscious and enveloping stuff.
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit
At the end of October I went to the Barbican in London and finally got to see Jaga Jazzist perform, a circle finally squared after I missed them in Bristol 5 years ago. They were actually supporting Efterklang doing a performance with the Britten Sinfonia. The show was pretty exhilarating and I meant to post about it at the time. Anyway now is timely as a promo of the forthcoming JJ album is on Soundcloud. It's classic Jaga Jazzist, full of twists and turns and really sounding like no one else whatsoever. I look forward to the album.
Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit
Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit
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