SONG OF THE WEEK #175: Poly Styrene - "Black Christmas"

Ironically, Poly Styrene's "Black Christmas" is one of the reasons why people who don't like Christmas should all be taken to a dark place and shot.

2014 albums: ROUND-UP

A few others that were good but maybe not always too good.

Ben Watt – Hendra

This is something of a special album for me this year even if I hardly have time to relisten to it that much. The melancholic, depressing, eerily beautiful and lyrically uncomfortable title track is a song of the year. A few others, like the cheerlessly upbeat “Forget” or “Matthew Arnold Field” are good too, but sometimes Ben Watt shows more subtlety than substance. 7/10

Thurston Moore – The Best Day

Basically, Thurston Moore doing his thing. The best part is that this time around he chose to put a bigger emphasis on the melody. Two opening guitar epics are hypnotic and well-written, and sparkles of brilliance are all over this thing. Moore knows he is a limited songwriter, but equally he knows how to present himself. “Forevermore” is one of the greatest things he has ever done. 8/10

The Amazing Snakeheads – Amphetamine Ballads

This is one hell of a combination of band name, album title and record sleeve. Everything matches the music perfectly. Rip-roaring, free-floating, screaming rock music with good riffs and heaps of attitude. For those who want to get mad late at night (preferably – very late). Bluesy, swampy and menacing. 7/10

Fire! Orchestra – Enter

 

Swedish band whose genre (according to certain websites) goes as follows: experimental big band. Deeply imaginative, inventive music that masterfully shifts from seductive sax-led grooves to charismatic noise freak-outs. Unfortunately, they had to spoil all the fun with those torturous vocals at the beginning of track 3, but overall lots of well-honed improvisation people with taste should appreciate. 8/10

Vashti Bunyan – Heartleap

Vashti Bunyan is of course a legend. Part of the legend can be attributed to the fact that she has recorded very little. But consider the quality. Her first album Just Another Diamond Day and gems like “Train Song” should be enough to convince anyone. Heartleap is a slow, monotonous and incredibly nuanced folk record. And one of those genuinely good things that can perhaps make you a better person. 7/10

Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animals

To be completely honest, the first time I heard this album – I thought Sunbathing Animals would grow on me. I thought Parquet Courts were doing the right thing trying to slow things down and go for addictive mid-tempo grooves. Sadly, though, the album wore thin too quickly. Good album, entertaining in places (“Vienna II”, for instance, is wonderfully Fall-esque), but should have been more. Weak 7/10

Einstürzende Neubauten – Lament 

From cathartic to atonal. Selflessly experimental. Never an easy listen, and a palpable tune is not to last. Impossible to describe, difficult to listen, incredible to take in, irresistible in its genuine, authentic weirdness. However, let me tell you this. “Lament 3. Pater Peccavi” is the most beautiful thing I’ve heard all year. 8/10

James Yorkston – The Cellardyke Recording & Wassailing Society

Altogether less immediate than James’ brilliant previous album, I Was A Cat From A Book (whose “Border Song” is still in my heavy rotation), The Cellardyke takes time and patience. The folksy melodies are certainly charming but slightly meandering and will require your fullest attention. In the end you will be converted. Because nobody can deny something as gorgeous as “Red Fox” or "Great Ghosts". 7/10  

  

Album review: COLD SPECKS - Neuroplasticity

Highlights: A Broken Memory, Bodies At Bay, Exit Plan, Let Loose The Dogs, Absisto

9/10

If this is not your first time on this site, it probably means that my opinion speaks to you. In which case getting/buying/illegally downloading Neuroplasticity is what you should do straight away. Drop whatever inept indie bullshit you are listening to at the moment, and follow the link you see above.

This is sensational. “A Broken Memory” is sensational. Gutsy, charismatic, soulful music with rasping horn giving it a sizeable John Coltrane-esque edge.

Al Spx is a talented Canadian lady whose first album, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion (chilling acoustic songs that were both powerful and disarmingly simple), was one of my favourite albums of 2012. Neuroplasticity is a much more complex affair. It’s not even about the songwriting (which is uniformly brilliant) or the vocal performances (which are compelling and self-assured), it’s about the arrangements that are now a lot more varied and complete. Inventive, too. Note how masterfully she changes the rhythm in songs like “Bodies At Bay” and “Exit Plan”. Note the dreamy keyboards in “Let Loose The Dogs” or the funky guitar riff in “Living Signs”. Or the soulful madness of “Absisto”. Or the slow and funereal and wonderfully unsettling closing ballad “A Season Of Doubt” which marries wailing sax/horn with elegant piano to moving effect. And that’s me not saying how good the actual tunes are. 

10 songs in 35 minutes. Can you think of a length more perfect?.. She is good and she knows it. Neuroplasticity is one of the easiest nines I can think of.

SONG OF THE WEEK #174: Silly Wizard - "Donald McGillavry"

Silly Wizard live are something else. "Donald McGillavry" is exhilarating beyond all reason.

Album review: ROBERT PLANT - Lullaby And ...The Ceaseless Roar

Highlights: Little Maggie, Rainbow, Turn It Up, Up On The Hollow Hill (Understanding Arthur)

8/10

I’ve never really cared for Robert Plant’s solo albums. Sometimes, with someone, you just have to start at the right place. I failed miserably. Shaken ’n’ Stirred (1985 spared no one), unscrupulously attached to my copy of Led Zeppelin’s IV, was abysmal. Ever since, I’ve measured all bad records against that album and never cared to check out the rest of Plant’s solo career.

And why would I? He wrote mediocre (pretentious at best) lyrics for Led Zeppelin and was (more often than not) a rather obnoxious singer. It took the highly acclaimed collaboration with Alison Krauss to change my mind. But change my mind it did. The songs were smart, tasteful, well-executed.

Plant’s 2014 album, Lullaby And …The Ceaseless Roar is yet another revelation. The traditional, banjo-driven opener “Little Maggie” could have been on Raising Sand. The arrangements are fantastic. Even when a song seems a bit weedy initially (like the Eastern-flavoured “Embrace Another Fall”), it will soon reveal its charms, either instrumentally or vocally (the passionate female singing on the mentioned track is one of this album’s high points). He does upbeat folk (“Poor Howard”), he does rock with a good punch (“Turn It Up”), he does affecting romantic ballads (“A Stolen Kiss”). 

However, I would trade it all for the single “Rainbow”. Now that is something like a song of the year. From its inspired, cathartic melody to Plant’s subtle singing – this is a classic on a par with anything he has ever done. And, like this album itself, something not to be missed. This is the sound of taste and experience.