2013 - The Year In Music

Album of the Year

Julia Holter / Loud City Song

This is a wild record from start to finish. It contains a voice that knew when to gently whisper in the listener’s ears and when to startle that same listener for their attention. Every sound she made had the listener falling into the record though. The brass and strings were placed in a messy but perfectly executed way, only adding to the madness within. It was the sound of a woman possessed, making the music of her dreams. In a year of so much good music, it just claims the top spot. It’s a beautiful, brutal and classic modern record.

Single of the Year

Man Man / Head On

It’s hard to contemplate how other music websites have all missed this perfect pop song. The words, the way they soothingly and achingly fall from Honus Honus’ tongue, the beautifully orchestrated strings, the best bridge on any pop song heard all year, and (yes, again) lyrics that one and all can surely relate to. It’s a classic whether it is known or not. Most people would kill to ever write a song this lovely, if they knew of its beauty.

Discovery of the Year

Josephine Foster

Only narrowly kept off the top spot, and perhaps down to the late November release which meant there hadn’t been quite the time for it to grow, despite it having worked wonders in only a month, Josephine Foster’s ‘I’m A Dreamer’ proved her singing and song writing ability to have hit an astonishing peak. She reminds of classic singers, possessed by some force through which beautiful and life changing music moves. She was my discovery of the year, and it’s almost too close to call between her and Miss Holter for album of the year, but I had to pick one.

Comeback of the Year

Daft Punk

Like the band or not, the way they teased their return, the way the single they returned with was a perfect slice of disco pop, the way they made it seem like they had never been away whilst having been greatly missed was magnificent. Oh, and ‘Random Access Memories’ did not let us down, despite what some might say. It was an immense slice of seventies disco, mixed with MJ and guest vocalists. It was a classic and will be seen that way for a long time to come.

Band of the Year

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire is a band that pushes the envelope. It is capable of many things, it is driven and live as well as on record it gives the sensation of music being able to enhance and change life forever, beyond all comprehension. Nobody else makes music like these guys. They are one of those bands that make the whole music industry more interesting, and STILL they haven’t made a bad album. ‘Reflektor’ was everywhere by late October. Everyone who hadn’t been living on the moon knew of it, as well they should have, and it was a classic once again, whether you felt the songs were long or not. The change in sound ended up being a masterstroke. Who knows where next, maybe not even these six guys who restlessly keep moving, and we should thank them for that. WHAT. A. BAND!!!!

Man of the Year

David Bowie

Would anyone really contest this winner? He returned with a brand new single, a classic, on his 66^th birthday, way back in early January, he followed it up with a great new album, ‘The Next Day’ and he was talked about all year long. Will he tour, won’t he? The topic still continues. At some point he may silence those voices. After several years of uncertainty, in which people questioned whether he had retired or not, or if his voice had ended up shot to pieces The Thin White Duke returned, and some. He owned the year, from start to finish. Oh, and yes, though it wasn’t his best album ever, it was fucking good!

Woman of the Year

Julia Holter

Julia made the best album this year, and would seem like the appropriate choice, but to be honest the year was riddled with insanely good female artists making life changing music. Josephine Foster, Agnes Obel, Laura Marling and Anna Calvi are all especially deserved of a mention here. Julia Holter, however, should take a bow. Who can wait for what comes next from her?

EP of the Year

Courtney Barnett / A Sea of Split Peas

Courtney Barnett was another of the standout women of a year they totally conquered. Her first two EPs were put on one release which is like a pre-debut album collection of her best songs. The quirky lyrics, the girl next door vibe and the total hippy rocking out all made for a compelling listen. There is much more to come here one feels. All we can do is watch this space...

Grizzly Bear / Shields: B-Sides

One of the first points to make is that Grizzly Bear B-sides are better than many bands’ A quality material. While the system of releasing a follow up version of every album a year later, as a bridge between their albums which appear every three years, is flawed, it does give a strong indication of the band’s strengths and weaknesses. The release of a B-sides album halfway through a career or at the end of a career seems like a more fitting structure for such tracks, but Grizzly Bear clearly feels differently. The tracks not included on their albums are astonishing too, some of them are inexplicably left from the selection for a final album, and it makes for a high standard for a B-sides set, but it’s an odd thing to contemplate. The albums are not commercial, though the band’s unique and technically incredible brand of alternative guitar pop leans towards some kind of compromise between the artistic integrity of the band and an open mind regarding record sales that can keep the band afloat.

Put simply, this is one of THE bands of the generation. They need no tricks, no leaning towards commercial gain, for they have the almost unprecedented ability to create music that is spellbinding and classic sounding. Yes, Daniel Rossen’s almost classical music gift for song writing and his mind create music so technically complex that it may lose people on its way, but like the best composers, it is hard not to see how well his mind works in creating layers of heavenly music that are hard to follow, and not to follow. Somehow, the other songwriter and singer in the band, for the writing and singing duties are shared between the two, and all four members do backing vocals and harmonising, Ed Droste, has an equally unique but special talent to write songs. His are easier melodies to follow, they are more commercial and they are often sublime, but as a pair they shape relentlessly beautiful guitar music. Some of it is symphonic, some of it is Beatles-esque, and some of it is simply challenging, appealing, confusing. The band is one of the few who can really take away the breath of a music fan. All four members are magnificent musicians and construct together the type of standard of music that is made by very few working bands today.

This collection is odd, as one might expect. There are 5 original and unheard tracks and 3 remixes of tracks from ‘Shields.’ While the remixes definitely offer another side of the band and what it likes, it is the five tracks before those remixes that get us interested. 3 of them are pure class, causing despair at why they weren’t included on ‘Shields’ as they would have made better replacements perhaps for one or two tracks on there, but nevertheless we are grateful to hear them now, the other two are great songs too, just not quite as stunning. Worthwhile, absolutely, it just begs you to question if they didn’t hold back some songs how good could their albums really be.

Man Man @ Astra Kulturhaus, Berlin (22/11/13)

Man Man is in Berlin as part of a European tour in which it brings the recent and wonderful long player ‘On Oni Pond’ to life. The stage presence and the energy of this band live are intoxicating. That’s before even mentioning the music, a cacophony of many influences and ideas, that boils over here to great effect. When Honus Honus, the lead figure of the madcap Man Man puts on what appears to be a unique, sparkling and self made hooded boxing/wizard cloak and turns his back on the audience, standing on the lip of the stage at an elevated height for the start of ‘End Boss’ from the recent album you realise what a wonderful stage persona this man, and in fact the whole band, is. It’s a band in a pool of its own, swimming around, looking for new toys and ways of amusing itself. When these guys are on stage they look like they are having the time of their lives. It doesn’t look like a job, it looks like a mission. More people should be following, that’s for sure.

The whole band is wearing skeleton costumes and the ghoulish vibe of recent album ‘On Oni Pond’ is fully realised. Those songs live, which make up most of tonight’s all too short set, are a little more raw, edgy and vibrant than the studio versions. It’s a good representation of the band that hopefully wins it some new fans as the act is here supporting Gogol Bordello.

Then another track, not from the new album, starts up. It can only be described as heavily percussive Ghost rock. Most of the band brings drum sticks crashing down on their instruments, in what looks like a group ritual. ‘I don’t know your name’ is repeatedly uttered, and then mostly indecipherable lyrics follow. The seated drummer and singer leap from their stools before a brass rock wig out ensues. It’s a cooking pot of noise, beautifully pulled together and fascinating to witness.

It’s rare nowadays for a band this original and special to be appreciated, as it should be, and its fans can only hope they keep going. It has so much to offer, and a support slot is nowhere near enough to hear the magnificent back catalogue it possesses. What the audience did get to hear, whether they were there to see the main act or not, was an inspirational 40 minutes of the highest order. A must see act that delivers time and time again!

Arcade Fire / Reflektor

10 out of 10 for not attempting to halt evolution and moving on, especially given the previous critical and commercial success the Arcade Fire has received. Add to that that this band is a definite group of outsiders and it’s an impressive achievement to make such a shift in territory. Arcade Fire WAS an indie rock band, even though the sound evolved somewhat with each previous record. Those three albums are some of the best from the past 20 years, with some of the classiest songs anyone could hear. The brain has moved the band into a more dance-oriented space, the heart remains the same. Arcade Fire, perhaps more than any other band that is known cares and has a do or die attitude. It often seems to communicate a sense that the world is coming to its end and music can save us all, which we know to be true already. It comes out in the lyrics, the vocals, in everything actually. From title track and majestic lead single ‘Reflektor’ to ‘Supersymmetry’ all those minutes (well over an hour) later there are simply too many highlights to log in one review. It’s a colossal, ambitious and stunning album.

The music is an odd collection. It’s hard to know what to think at first, but as many great albums before it, it needs time to work its magic and weave its web upon the listener, a web the listener is unlikely to ever untangle themself from. It’s definitely a record to take time with, to see how it sits after multiple listens. Perhaps those quick to write a review may live to regret extreme reactions. Time will tell. All great music lives to tell its tale repeatedly, to many, and for long years ahead.

After several listens it suddenly becomes clear, as if the sky after a storm is clearing up and the subsequent sunlight beating down on everyone and everything, it is almost like newborn light. If you reach the point of experiencing that you are in for a treat, and no mistake. It’s not the same Arcade Fire, no, but it definitely is Arcade Fire. Only they all play each other’s instruments with such aplomb, only they look so defiant about their music when others seem to doubt them, only they know where they are going, all the rest can do is follow or not. Regardless of genre, no other band on earth could have made this spirited and vibrant collection of material.

It works as a double album too - nicely drifting into silence toward the end of ‘Joan of Arc’ and making side two seem like waking from a brief slumber. The waking is prolonged as we revisit ‘Here Comes the Night Time’ from side one with a lazy, almost lullaby-esque version. It’s all tastes of a dream only Arcade Fire could trap us in. It’s a nice way to open up the second part of this album and there isn’t a dip from start to finish across the two records so much as there are just less magical moments. It isn’t a classic, but it’s rather close indeed. Perhaps Arcade Fire isn’t one of those bands to stay around forever and grow old in the spotlight, and however long the band is around we should absolutely listen to what it has to say. In a world gone mad, these guys make so much sense it hurts.

The Arcade Fire is vital. It feels like the most essential and reliable band on earth all over again. The band continually delivers, even whilst evolving between albums more than most bands do in an entire career (regardless of length of career). This album might not be what many would have wanted or expected, but put simply it is much more than that, and musically it does not let anyone down at all. It is a universe across two albums that consists of 13 songs and an enormous spectrum of ideas and tricks, and let us not forget David Bowie and those producers that were also involved.

It’s true, some of the songs do run a little too long, but if that is one of the chief criticisms of this record then it could have been much worse. At the band’s worst it is still asking questions, searching and seeking for the answer and key to life and happiness, able to elevate the mood of many of us. At very best Arcade Fire is untouchable. ‘Reflektor’ isn’t perfect, but it feels like that rare thing – an album that deserves embracing for its imperfections and how they make it even more likeable, like the kid at school that lives on the outside of the main group. For that kid IS Arcade Fire. Long has the band shown the world what it really is to hold your beliefs up and stick to your guns, taking your life and heart in the direction you want to take it, and not where you are so often told by a multitude of sources to take it. 

The Return of Elbow

Elbow is arguably one of the finest English bands of the last twenty years. The band has released five studio albums and a B-sides compilation (as well as a recording with the BBC concert orchestra at the infamous Abbey Road studio) to date. All the records were of a very high calibre and the band has become admired, especially by critics and a loyal fan base, for its quality output. The news that early next year Elbow return to the stage, along with new album ‘Carry Her Carry Me’ is indeed good news. Guy Garvey and co. are, in such rapidly changing times, what seem like a genuinely warm and humble bunch of blokes making heartfelt music, because they can and they want to, not for any hidden agenda. The nuances within the band’s songs are beautiful, the lyrics intelligent and bright. At times the band chooses to play quietly and somehow it makes the loudest noise. It is music made by brainy men for listeners who can appreciate what these men offer. Some of Garvey’s lyrics are among the finest you’ll hear, and they are sung with a tenderness and an authenticity to support the emotions that is quite frankly rather rare and at times astonishing.

Elbow has never let anyone down, never made a bad album, and retained its identity and passion for what it does. While everyone can pick a favourite album or two from the band’s back catalogue the standard has never really dipped below brilliant, in any of those long players.

So what can we expect from the new album? Early comments from the band suggest that the music has an awareness and reaction to the arrival at middle age contemplated as the band’s members all head toward the 40 year old mark. The sound isn’t likely to be overly removed from the past material, though the word ‘experimental’ has been used, by the band itself. That causes curiosity for sure, though few would hope the sound to alter too much. As with some bands, the slight adaptation to the sonic template that comes with personal and musical evolution will be heard, but who knows where exactly they have gone. That is what makes the wait ever more exciting.  The band will have stayed true to itself and maintained its magic, no doubt. Garvey’s lyrics will resonate with all those of a similar age and probably beyond.

It is a welcome return, at a time when Elbow is still one of the best bands England has. Like a fine wine Elbow is ageing well, and perhaps hasn’t yet peaked. Pencil 10^th March, 2014 (UK release date) into your diary, a new Elbow album is a reason to write home.

TEITUR in Berlin - Exclusive Interview @ Privatclub (26th October, 2013)

Teitur leaves the stage and heads straight over to the stall where CDs, vinyl and T-shirts have been on sale all evening. He sits, looking relaxed and signs some copies of his music people have bought. After this, I approach him and he is in bright spirits, as well he should be. He gave a great performance.

I ask if an interview is possible and I am lucky enough to be granted one as he does not hesitate in taking me backstage and answering my list of questions with thought and warmth. He holds the eyes, he is indeed personable, his words somewhat personal, and he seems completely at ease, happy to be here in Berlin. The interview follows...

DJS:   What inspires you?

Teitur: It’s a big question; actually, not so much music, just the stuff that happens to me or things that I feel. Not really music. I make music as a response to other things. Making music for me is something fun, and a way to express myself, and I like composition in general.

DJS:   What are your three greatest inspirations?

Teitur: There are so many. When you’re young, you are very impressionable. It depends on what you’re looking for. It’s hard to say. It just changes all the time. I would say it this way – I think it’s probably people who are close to me; it’s not so much someone I enjoy from a distance. I can think of a couple of friends, who have inspired me, the way they do things. When I listen to music today, it’s a lot just music that my friends do, I like to think of it like that, like a community thing. I can admire a lot of people from a distance, and say ‘’he’s very talented, congratulations!’’ but it’s very hard to feel it unless it’s someone that you know. I’m in awe of a lot of people, but the people that really inspire me are my friends close by.

DJS:   Do you feel like your music deserves a wider audience?

Teitur: I do, and I don’t. It changes a lot. It’s a matter of showing off, or even like spending money, to give it to people, to promote it. If you spend money on it, that’s what bands do; if you have money, you can play for more people. I’ll tell you what – I’m from a country with 50,000 people, and where I come from it’s great that I can go to Berlin and the people come and pay to see me, that’s how I look at it. I’m playing music with my friends, I’m in Berlin and it’s awesome.

DJS:  What do you think about vinyl versus downloading, and the way listening to music has  changed?

Teitur: Personally, I love vinyl, I think it’s fun. I listen to vinyl. What’s cool about vinyl is that you find yourself buying and wanting to own the records that you really love, those things that you’ve bought over and over again or kept downloading, when you lose it you want to keep it. Like when you get older you figure “no, I really love that record, I want that record in my living room!” That’s what vinyl does, you find the records that you really love and you want it on vinyl, it’s sort of the ultimate format for that, for documentation. Then, I think digital things are great for discovery. It’s like when you look for things. Also, it’s just the purity of the sonic experience; I think also vinyl sounds better. It’s more pixels, it’s got air, it’s got analogue, it’s got electricity, it’s better than a digital laser.

DJS:   Where is a magical place for you that isn’t your home, and why?

Teitur: What I really love is the forest. That really makes me tick, somehow. It can be any kind of forest. That just makes me really excited. I don’t know why. I didn’t grow up with any trees. There are no trees in The Faroe Islands. Maybe that’s why. That makes me excited. Mountains too, I love being up in the air. That to me makes me feel magic.

DJS:   What is your ultimate musical ambition?

Teitur:  I think just to express myself. Actually, also to be generous.

DJS:   How would you describe yourself as a person and as a musician?

Teitur: I’m pretty shy, and personal, intense and loose at the same time. I’m quite easy going, but also demanding. I want there to be something happening. I don’t like when people aren’t genuine, I like there to be some intentions.

DJS:   What is peace?

Teitur: When you don’t crave anything, when you are content or satisfied, and when you are not really driven, when you just are.

DJS:   What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard?

Teitur:  That’s a tough one. I’m going to say I haven’t heard it yet.

DJS:  Have you ever had a job selling mobile phones or accessories (in reference to his track ‘Antonio and His Mobile Phones’)?

Teitur:  No, I haven’t. I worked in an aquarium shop.

DJS:   What’s your happiest memory?

Teitur: Probably childhood, I suppose. When you are in the snow and your mum hands you a sandwich and your friends are waiting for you.

DJS:  If you knew exactly when you were going to die, what would you do with your last 5 minutes on earth?

Teitur: I would maybe play music, or listen to music. I’d listen to stuff. I would probably listen to something that would give me a good feeling, something that would really calm me down.

         On that note, the rest of the band who seem to have politely left us alone for the interview, comes back in, all cheerful and friendly, to talk about the concert, the city and enjoy the rest of their evening in Berlin together, before moving on to the next venue on the tour.

_______Teitur's latest album 'Story Music' is out now_______

Two New EPs - Matthew E White & Parquet Courts

MATTHEW E WHITE / OUTER FACE 

                        &

PARQUET COURTS / TALLY UP THE THINGS THAT YOU BROKE

These two releases fit together for several reasons. Despite being music made from different cloths, both are supporting EPs released in October, which follow on from critically successful debut albums at the start of 2013. Both albums to this day are two of the year’s best releases. What they lack in similarity they share in quality. Both are American and are rather unknown to the masses at the moment, though they should clearly be finding larger audiences in the imminent future. The EPs are another step forward and a nice stop gap to end what has been a wonderful introductory year to the world, and cause those who know of the magic on these two act’s records to await their next move with eager anticipation.

So, to the first EP... Matthew E White has seemingly come from nowhere, released a debut album that verges on ‘classic’ and become a cult figure for hairy outsiders and other oddballs everywhere. His soft tones have you leaning in, to try to get closer to the songs, and by the time you have fallen in you have been consumed by a sound so sweet and songs so well crafted, there is no return, and it would not be sought in any case.

Matthew has a tender voice, even a little too low in the mix at times, hiding how well he can or cannot sing, but it works in the context of these tracks, and it is a trick he has quickly mastered. The standard of song writing is what surprises. Before his releases this year he has worked with other musicians, on Avant-garde jazz projects and production for other acts, but his talent to build structures of songs that sound both simple and complex and fit strings and backing vocals so perfectly into these tracks again elevates them to another plateau. It's shocking how good he is at this for the most part. The way ‘Human Style’ slips beyond the defences, into the mind and seduces the listener is a thing to behold, and it isn’t far from the case with the rest of his songs, both here and on the debut LP, ‘Big Inner.’ In fact, the album and EP have been packaged together now, as one release as well, and with 12 songs in total, that is one feast for any fan of impressive new music. Many of the songs are long, they unfold, they curl around you and consume you, and you can’t shake them loose. Once inside these songs your life has changed forever.

The strings are a journey back in time, some of the female backing vocals harp back to classic Motown and there is nothing any less than tender, grandiose and majestic here. This music is soothing and sensational. A special artist has arrived.

As for Parquet Courts, there is a ramshackle quality that rather than cause a feeling they may not harness and direct their potential the band is already aware of and somehow able to get the most out of. Take ‘The More It Works,’ for example, it sounds messy and improvised at the same time as being perfectly planned and executed. The guitars swing back and forth as they do, like a maze of pendulums. It all sounds smash ‘n’ grab, the dynamic sound of youth, the thrill of the ride, the potential, and the spectacular destruction. The way the repetition of the song's title enforces the statement is staggering. By the middle of the song, the screamed words 'the more it works' soon give way only moments later to a more tired take on the same message, until by the end of the song, increasingly weary, the singer sounds like he is falling drunkenly asleep muttering those very same words.

These songs may initially sound throwaway to some, but they are guitar rock songs with a pop edge that cause a rush. It’s one of those bands that instantly hits the nail on the head. Much as the band’s debut the songs here are fun and make rock ‘n’ roll seem both young/new and old at the same time. It’s an effortless game, pulled off with some charm and the band offer the sense that they aren't a one trick pony. Time will tell. This is music to get drunk to, to have fun to, to fall in love for the first time to, or simply put a smile on the face; couldn’t ask for much more really.

Fine releases to top off splendid years for both artists, and highly recommended. 

Anna Calvi / One Breath

Anna Calvi’s sophomore release is clearly a beautiful and well crafted album from the start. She emerges from the shadows of any artists she may have been compared with in the early stages of her career, like a caterpillar that has come into daylight as a brand new butterfly. She proves she can fly and impress with a flight pattern all of her own. The music across these 11 songs shifts the listener through a wide array of feelings, from discomfort to sublime ecstasy.

The sonic palette, from gentle almost whispered vocals surrounded by delicate guitar and instrumentation up to almost heavy rock distortion and noise, often in the space of a moment, causes the listener to never have a chance to settle, endlessly on the edge of the seat, as if following a film with the most gripping of plots. The moments in which she sweeps us away with cinematic strings and classical, in fact, operatic waves of orchestral music, both vocally and instrumentally, are tantamount to being attacked, tied up and tortured, such is the gravitas of intensity. It is a phenomenal sound, as powerful as you could expect or ever be likely to encounter. She has new ideas, she is playful, yet it is all executed with precision and grace. She has a knack of finding the sounds that are in her heart and in her head, and they are highly listenable, catchy in parts, and intoxicating.

To make a good debut album is one thing, to follow it up with a progression, an improvement of the template of one’s sound and show even more potential for your own future is certainly no easy feat. Anna Calvi has done all of this and more here, in what elevates her to one of the best songwriters and most unique talents out there. All of this, in a time of so many gifted artists, is indeed high praise. I would suggest tracking her career path and awaiting each move she makes with baited breath, as her ‘one breath’ is an astounding achievement and soundtrack of a mystical mind.