Half-term report
Can't wait for end-of-year lists?* Well you're in luck, because those nice folk at Drowned In Sound have compiled their favourite 11 records of the year so far. Here they are, plus the current SWSL verdict (in brief):
11. Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat - Everything's Getting Older: Not heard.
10. Low - C'mon: Oh yes indeedy.
9. Bright Eyes - The People's Key: Liking but not loving - thus far, at least.
8. Wild Beasts - Smother: Not heard.
7. Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact: Didn't do much for me on first and only listen.
6. Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972: Not heard, but intrigued by the title and and its being released on Kranky.
5. Metronomy - The English Riviera: On the post-Glasto shopping list.
4. Josh T. Pearson - Last Of The Country Gentlemen: Not heard, though I probably will, as a big fan of Lift To Experience.
3. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints: Sounds like it would be right up my street, but I wasn't too keen on single 'California'.
2. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake: My current frontrunner for 2011's prize.
1. The Antlers - Burst Apart: Yet to make its way from the stack of recent purchases onto the stereo - this is just an extra spur to ensure it happens soon.
(* Incidentally, my Top 10 Live Performances Of 2010 list is still to come - not that I should be reminding you of that...)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
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10 comments:
Yeah, I was bored by the Gang Gang Dance record. But I can confirm that the Hecker and EMA records are great (and although I LOVE "California," I can assure you that the rest of the record isn't quite the same).
Are you a fan of Gowns, her pre-EMA band? Thinking I should have gone to check Hecker out when he played Godspeed's ATP in December...
My favourites for the year so far are.
1. Shabazz Palaces - Black up. F)@)ing amazing hip hop album. hip hop on sub pop!
2. Gang Gang Dance -Eye Contact.
3. EMA . Tick !!
Also good but unranked : Bright Eyes; Lykki Li; Bon Iver
Suresh: Can't really get into the Bon Iver album (a bit like the last one, to be honest). Read good things about Shabazz Palaces, so ought to investigate. Could I grab the EMA album off you?
I saw Tim Hecker perform in a tiny chapel at Donau Festival. Twas alright (it was dusky half-light - would have been better in pitch dark), but I prefer the record (thanks to LMT who has a copy - home burning is killing music)
I'm surprised they rank the Antlers so highly - good album n'all but the holistic wonder of 'Hospice' knocks it into a cocked hat.
PJ Harvey or Julianna Barwick for me thus far this year simply because of them being a body-of-work-that-holds-together rather than a collection of songs. Low will also rank highly.
For the same reasons, The Fall and Future Islands were my favourites of last year.
Yeah, I quite like the one Gowns album. I'm seeing EMA live in a couple of weekends, very excited for that. Let me know if you still need to record (just email me). And Godspeed! Jesus, seeing them twice in a weekend was just about the highlight of my concert-going life. I'm still jealous you got to go to their ATP...
Skif: Guessed that Hecker might be LMT's cup of tea! Let England Shake is a sublime album (and proof that people do still put out albums rather than just collections of songs). Speaking of which, I was wondering how the Antlers could possibly follow up Hospice - is Burst Apart still bathing in that album's afterglow, do you think?
Ian: The one Godspeed! set I missed at ATP was the Sunday matinee, which (sod's law) was apparently the best. I enjoyed the Friday night set a lot, but only dipped in and out of the Saturday night set. (Incidentally, it looks as though I've misplaced my notes from the Sunday of that bash, so the write-up, when it finally comes, is going to be decidedly sketchy towards the end. Grrr.)
Suddenly think I get EMA's 'California'. And 'The Grey Ship' ain't bad either...
As you're aware, I'm less into albums than songs. But of these mentioned artists, none of those I've heard are exactly crunching my buttons. Gang Gang Dance and EMA I'm appreciating if not loving. My song of the moment is 'For 12' off the Other Lives album. Beautiful. Of albums, I love the new Paul Simon one (if grimacing through the xmas song), and the sound of the new Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi is so lovely it wins you over. I'd have to be near my iTunes to give a better breakdown. Best new New Zealand-via-Portland act is Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO). And, tho I've only heard two songs, I bet the Timber Timbre album is brilliant.
Hmm, Paul Simon - maybe I should have caught some of his set at Glastonbury, rather than watching Bombay Bicycle Club (who were quite good) before TV On The Radio. A fresh lease of life thanks to the current vogue for all things Afrobeat, do you think? Or has he completely moved on?
I've not heard of Other Lives and know nothing about Timber Timbre, so will investigate...
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