Pitchfork top 50 albums of the year

Over the last 5 years I have always looked forward to this end of year list from Pitchfork. Like all such list it's equal parts infuriating/interesting but I have to say that without fail I always find out about a couple of lost (to me) gems from this list. One year it was Beirut and another was the Shins and the Arcade Fire (all well before minor global fame befell them). Bon Iver's (then) self-released debut, now many's album of 2008, was listed in 2007 (at 29). This year maybe it'll be Cut / Copy which I'm listening to now and it sounds like a great electro indie pop album. We shall see.

Gosh! early Momus albums for free.

Momus (a hero of mine), has decided to give away all his Creation records albums (from the 80s and 90s) via his website. Since Creation folded he reckons there is little chance in the near future of these great out-of-print albums getting a re-release and hopes to undermine silly prices on eBay and the like. He's posting them daily and started with the first, Momus: "The Poison Boyfriend" (full album). These are fantastic records and I urge you to click on over there and bag 'em.

The new Animal Collective album is coming :-)

Everyone seems to be going bonkers about the forthcoming Animal Collective album "Merriweather Post Pavilion", which is not out until January but already has a promotional site. FACT, Drowned in Sound, Pitchfork and even MOJO are amongst those to pour forth superlatives. But I'm finding it quite strange that some of these enthusiastic previews have a peculiar implicit message; that they haven't really loved the band that much all along!!
A quote from FACT for example:

"What's the best thing about Animal Collective? What is it about us that they really respond to?". The answer, of course, is Panda Bear -- a fact borne out by his solo album, Person Pitch, totally eclipsing the Collective's messy last LP, Strawberry Jam."

Uhm...the logic goes something like this - "Merriweather Post Pavilion" is a great album because it sounds more like AC member Panda Bear's (more accessible and less varied) solo album, "Person Pitch", from last year and less like previous AC releases! Don't get me wrong, "Person Pitch" was a suberb record, a wonderful concoction of Beach Boys-esque harmonies and reverb-drenched mantras. In a way it was a deeper exploration of one aspect (Panda's aspect?) of the AC sound, whose choral harmonies also have a strong Beach Boys quality. But the beauty of AC is the variety in their music and if ever a band benefits form all of it members (rather than one) it's AC. I'm hoping that "Merriweather Post Pavilion" is indeed the best AC album so far - but not because it's a compromise, which irons out the bands quirks, which some at least, obviously have seen as weaknesses in past.

Hot Chip and Robert Wyatt free download - version of "Made in the Dark"

I'm a bit perplexed! How come the first taster of Robert Wyatt's collaboration with Hot Chip sounds a bit naff? Surely - I thought when I heard about this venture - a match made in heaven? But, I hate to say it, the free download teaser of their version of the fab "Made in the Dark" sounds a bit cobbled together - kind of like there's the original Hot Chip version slightly submerged under RW's additions (lots of jazzy horns, some OK backing vox and a goddamn awful Jew's harp drone ALL THE WAY THROUGH). It creates a slightly jarring impression and overall sounds like some kind of avant garde Karaoke. Anyway maybe there is hope for the full release, an EP under the name of Hot Chip with Robert Wyatt and Geese - but this doesn't inspire confidence.

Aidan Moffat - agony aunt!

I stumbled upon Aidan Moffat's romance advice column today. Here Mr Moffat - in agony uncle mode - offers support and solutions to those with problems of the heart and/or awkward lustings or, as he says, "conjugal woes". If you think you might have such a problem why not see if good old uncle Aidan can sort you out.

Songs of the Year 2008 - continuing thoughts

Of course, compiling one's songs of the year before the year-end of means that later-in-the-year releases or things belatedly discovered get scant consideration and/or an overly quick evaluation. It seems right and orderly that the late releases get carried over into 2009's prize-draw, but those other awkward cases can sometimes get forgotten, dropping into a sort of "appreciation void". Well I'll try to address those here. First up is Of Montreal's "Skeletal Lamping". The diligent amongst you might recall my fondness for this band and their inclusion on last year's SOTY. Thus enthused I was really looking forward to their new album. BUT....first impressions were not that great. For those not in the know, Of Montreal (really the project of Athens Georgia's Kevin Barnes) have evolved from pretty good but basically conventional indie band into a kind of hydra-headed kaleidoscope of musical and lyrical influences. The kitchen sink is in here, and so is the garden shed, the attic and all it's contents, which seems to include Prince, Morrissey and George Clinton. This schizophrenia began to emerge in mild form on the albums just before last year's wonderful "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?" where the "vision" (or maybe hallucination) seemed to coalesce in the form of an almost perfect experimental pop opus. What grated about SL was the initial impression that the spontaneity and gay abandon which appeared to be at the heart of "Hissing Fauna" had been abandoned for a more calculated and self-conscious eclecticism. SL is certainly a difficult record to take in - it flits all over the place and even the individual songs typically feature multiple sections and mad style shifts. Just when you've started to identify a satisfying melodic sequence to cosy up to, some bizarre juxtaposition occurs. BUT... after numerous listens, a semblance of unity about the album is emerging to me. Hooks are echoing in my mind through and during those odd changes and somehow a whole is emerging from the fragments. In other words, while the jury still may be out on this record, I am beginning to get a sense of its hidden pleasures. The bottom line though is that the music world, is blessed by rare mavericks like Kevin Barnes and OM are one of those bands that are likely to tickle your senses (maybe infuriate them too) in ways few other bands can get near. There's nothing run of the mill here.

David's songs of the year 2008

Hello all and happy Christmas - LOVE - from david, samantha and isobel - click & play the video below for a quick megamix and greeting - continue for details and downloads:



Here for you is this year's "David's selection" - my annual compilation and write-up of this year's best songs which I've sent you on CD or you can download it here (PART 1 and PART 2) - to be honest you should download it anyway as home-burnt CDs are basically shite and unreliable (cassettes were better from that perspective) . You can print off that image above and use it as CD artwork, if you want to have a hard copy to play in a CD player and to keep lovingly in your collection. As this is posted as a blog you can, if you wish, get in the spirit of things and leave comments.

I do hope that some of you will at some point in the future come to our place and listen to some of these under the comforting glow of multiple lava lamps.

Special thanks this year to:
Hamish - he turned me onto Disrupt - an amazing find.
Steve - alerted me to Destroyer who I saw at the Bowery Ballroom New York this year (bloody great gig - sorry you weren't there Steve!).
Fraser - belated thanks for diverting my attention to Daedelus (who apart from Animal Collective, is probably the most regular artiste on these annual mixes).
Dave - would I have found MGMT without your tip off?

TRAX: (in alphabetical order with CD track number in brackets) - DOWNLOAD THE CD (PART 1 and PART 2). Click the artist's names for more information.

Animal Collective - Water curses (4)
Animal Collective have been on most of my Xmas comps over the last 5 years which is a testament to their evolving magnificence. There wasn't a new album this year (it's due in Jan 09) but they seem to have got into the habit of releasing great 4-track EPs between albums. "Water curses", the opener from this year's stand-alone opus of the same name, is one of the band's more melodic outings. I noticed that Mojo magazine, a bastion of AOR, led its December review section with a glowing report on AC's imminent new album, a sure sign that the wider music world is waking up to this amazing, unique band.

Beach House - Gila (14)
Songs of warmth and gentle fuzziness abound on "Devotion" from Baltimore's Beach House. It's all echoey guitars lo-fi electronics and gorgeously gentle melodies. "Gila" is my favourite .

Bon Iver - re: stacks (1)
One of those "stop what you're doing", "pull the car over" "gaze out of the train window" "reflect-on-life-wistfully" type of songs. Plaintive and wonderfully direct it's a beautiful stand-out performance from a fantastic debut album. Probably my favourite song from my favourite album this year and certainly one of the most enthralling and mesmerising live performances I've ever been to. Go to the coast in winter, stare out to sea, and put this gem on.

Daedelus - I car(r)y us (17)
YouTube notoriety befell Daedelus this year with his Deelite-echoing, Obama-endorsing rap, which I must admit I found bloody irritating (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbjBHkKiS4c). It's now what he's most known for, such is the nature of fame these days. However, my admiration is undampened, and in fact enhanced immensely by the arrival of maybe his most "fun" album to date - it's as eclectic as ever but with a unifying nod to 90s UK/Euro rave (always good in my book - 88-92 4Eva).

Destroyer - Shooting rockets (5)
From Toronto, Dan Bejar's outfit Destroyer is now a firm favourite of mine. I was lucky to be in New York to see them perform in the Spring when they played most of the new album from which this song comes. This sprawling but enticing ballad is a good example of Destroyer's unusual style and wantonly verbose lyrics - which have the air of a stream of consciousness.

Disrupt - Jah red gold and green (15)
The founder of a micro-genre - "8-bit-dub" - and the artiste behind the wonderful Jahtari.net (where loads of his and similar artists' material can be freely downloaded), Germany's Disrupt has released one of the essential electronica albums of recent years with "Foundation Bit", an album showcasing the best of his bit-crushed rhythms, sub-atomic bass and eerie atmospherics. The judicious use of some great spoken-word samples (a few from the great John Carpenter film "Dark Star") is the icing on the cake.

Andre Ethier - Hard Landing (16)
This Canadian singer song-writer supported Destroyer when I saw them in New York. I'd never heard of him before but he was extremely impressive live so I bought his album at the gig. It's got quite a traditional bluesy style I suppose, but something lifts it from the pack.

Flying Lotus - Roberta Flack (13)
Wonderful dense, mashed-up electronica from LA's Flying Lotus on Sheffield's Warp records, a jewell of a release on what has become a patchy label of late.

Gas - Pop2 (19)
I have belatedly discovered Gas this year by way of an excellent (and very cheap) 4-CD box set which compiles all four albums to date. Gas is the project of Wolfgang Voigt, co-founder of the influential electronic music label Kompakt. These albums were all originally released in the 90s on Frankfurt's wildly eclectic Mille Plateaux label. It's a fantastic body of work featuring ocean deep textures and undulating rhythms which is truly hypnotic and other-worldly. Really something to lose yourself in.

Hercules and the Love Affair - Blind (18)
Antony's (as in "the Johnsons") appearance on many of the tracks on this album as guest vocalist really lifts it. His voice is perfect for these torchy disco grooves. The band really nail the sound too on a great album.

Hot Chip - Made in the dark (11)
At the beginning of this year I heard the unbelievably infectious electro-pop of "Ready for the floor" and was certain that it would make my songs of the year comp, but on digesting the subsequent album, I had to change my choice to this song, one of the sweetest lilting ballads you'll ever hear. I think that it's Hot Chip's ballads that make them one of the great bands of the moment.

Tesfa Maryam Kidane - Heywete (from Very Best Of Ethiopiques) (3)
There's nothing like an exotic discovery and tumbling over this album on a listening post in Fopp was a golden one. It's from a wonderful compilation of music from an Ethiopian scene in the 60s and 70s which, on this evidence, must have been on fire. Every track suggests a kaleidoscopic melting pot of global influences (jazz, rock, blues and soul) mashing with local styles. What really strikes though is the sense how all these inspirations fed so happily and spontaniously into the creation of some truly fantastic music.

Magnetic Fields - The Nun's Litany (10)
Stephin Merritt, MF's main man, likes to place conceptual fences around his projects, so following the epic "69 Love Songs" (as it says) and "I" (songs beginning with I) it's no surprise to find that his album called "Distortion" is a collection of songs bathed in fuzzy, crunchy sonics. What never changes is SM's knack for writing killer melodies with hooks that lock in the brain.

Mariee Sioux - Wizard flurry home (6)
Mystical imagery, native American pipes and earnest folkiness. These, my friends, are not qualities that usually inspire fondness on my part. BUT!! something just works about this for me. I guess ultimately it's her lovely crystal clear voice which has a Karen Carpenter-esque clarity, and the fact that it really does evoke a campfire in an Arizona desert.

Matmos - Les Folies Francaises (2)
The wonderful album from which this comes is like a study in 20th century electronic music, lovingly referencing everything from the BBC radiophionic workshop, through Raymond Scott, to Wendy Carlos (to which this synth take on classical music owes an obvious debt), Kraftwerk and Acid House. A must for all fans of experimental electronic music.

MGMT - The Youth (8)
Now here is one of Brooklyn's finest, MGMT. The album, "Oracular Spectacular" lives up to the second word in its title and contains at least four classics, including this anthemic ballad. Definitely an album of the year.

Aidan John Moffat - International Valentine (7)
Tricky to extract one song successfully from AJM's "I can hear your heartbeat" as, strictly speaking, it's a story set to music and is heavy on narrative segments which segue the music. The album even opens with Mr Moffat directing us to read its accompanying booklet before listening, in order that we make sense of what's to follow. Taken on its own, this track - and in fact much of the album's music - comes over almost as a marriage between his other two outlets, with the kitchen sink lyricism of sadly defunct Arab Strap and the lush sample-heavy orchestrations of L.Pierre. But try and hear the whole album if you can.

The Notwist - Boneless (12)
Another band (like Portishead below) who took their time to follow up their previous album and another worthwhile wait. Brevity has its rewards. "Boneless" is one of those understated songs that you don't notice at first, but then realise you are always humming it - and loving humming it at that. Beautiful.

Portishead - The Rip (9)
Who'd-a-thought-it! Portishead - almost "band-of-the-year" status. After seeing them on their live return at last year's All Tomorrow's Parties at Butlins Minehead (yes it was surreal), I suspected we might be in for a treat with the new album. And "Third" (the title, indicating its chronolgical place in the band's catalogue, is the only note of dullness) is a wonderful album. It arrives over ten years after the previous one, a gap befitting (though perhaps stretching) their native city's inhabitants' reputation for having a "laid back" approach. But the wait, variously put down to personal problems, writer's block and perfectionism, might ultimately be more to do with a band struggling to wrench themselves once and for all from the spectre of being (un-fairly) tagged a "coffee-table" band. The massive success of their seminal debut "Dummy" was undoubtedly a double-edged sword, as their sound quickly became appropriated as the wallpaper music for the "This life"- generation, spawned a genre (trip-hop), maybe another (downbeat) and "inspired" countless dull-dull-dull imitators (most of whom are indeed only worthy of playback in a lift). But it's hard to imagine "Third" soundtracking any 40-something's dinner parties - especially when we have Coldplay for just that purpose. No, Portishead are back to their innovative best - in fact they never really released a dud - it's just that society misunderstood them.