Enjoy Yourself....

Happy New Year to one and all when it comes round. My resolution this year is to make my resolutions last for more than a couple of days. Hope you all have a great time and a smashing 2012.

The Specials - Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think)

Gigs Of The Year 2011....

Mostly due to work I have not managed to get along to as many gigs this year as I would like to have. In fact I have probably been to less live concerts this year than any other in the last 20 years.

There are two however that stand head and shoulders above all the rest - one from an artist that I have seen many times and have never left the venue anything other than blown away by him and still not understanding why after over 30 years in "the biz" that so many do not even know the sheer majesty of The Boy Wonder. See the review from mid October here .

The other was just last week when I went along to The Arches to see Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat. They were accompanied onstage by violin, double bass and some exquisite trumpet playing by Robert Henderson, all of which rightfully allowed the lyrics and piano to retain centre stage throughout. Most of the set comprised the tracks from one of 2011's finest long players, Everything's Getting Older, including a spellbinding performance of The Copper Top. Thrown into the mix was a strangely moving cover of Bananarama's Cruel Summer and a lovely Christmas ditty that he wrote for his kids loosely based on The Night Before Christmas that had some great laugh out loud moments involving an alcoholic Santa and some bondage which can be found here .

Moffat somehow manages to distil seemingly small moments in life into startling real, and touching lyrics that, on Everything's Getting Older, are amongst the best he has ever written. This was an excellent show that was equal parts beauty, misery and humour. In fact just perfect for Christmas.

Happy Christmas....

Last Christmas was my first as a blogger and not wanting to just post the obvious Christmas best song of all time I decided to post a cover of it. The first comment I received for the post described Billy Bragg and Florence Welch's cover of Fairytale Of New York as a dirge. Which on repeated listens turns out to be a pretty apt description of it.

The comment then went on to say that "Fairytale is up there with Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay and White Man In Hammersmith Palais, it should be left the fuck alone".

There is a very good reason why Fairytale should be left the fuck alone and is considered to be the best Christmas song ever recorded. Although it is a "Christmas" record it could be played any time of the year and would still sound like a classic song. Not just for Christmas this one. Great arrangement, great lyrics that have just the right mix of love, desperation and melancholy and a perfect match of vocals from Shane and Kirsty all combine to make Fairytale the perfect Christmas tune.

"The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing "Galway Bay"
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day"

Happy Christmas one and all.

Tracks Of My Years 2011....

As with my albums of the year I was struggling to limit my tracks of the year to a Top 10 as I think this has been one of the finest years musically for many a year. Either that or I have finally latched onto the joy that is Spotify and heard a lot more music this year than any other in recent memory. Either way 2011 has seen some great releases.

Tracks that caught my attention in 2011 included The Horrors homage to late 70's Simple Minds with "Still Life", Spector's hook laden "Never Fade Away", Anna Calvi's "Blackout" and for sheer dump pop genuis you couldn't go wrong with The Vaccines' "If You Wanna".

Good as the above were they didn't quite make it onto the coveted Top 10 list which was reserved for the following - No's 10 - 4 : (in no particular order).....

Tom Waits - Bad As Me
Glasvegas - Lots Sometimes
Milk Music - Out Of My World
Cancel The Astronauts - Seven Vices
King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Your Young Voice
Real Estate - Wonder Years
Kate Bush - Rubberband Girl

.... and these 3 which are my Top 3 of 2011

Howler - I Told You Once
Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells - The Copper Top
PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder

As I wrote in my albums of the year postings Aidan and PJ produced two of the best albums of the year also. Howler hail from Minneapolis, home to such luminaries as Husker Du and The Replacements, and while not the most original band in the world they did release 2 mins 53 secs of pop perfection in I Told You Once. The intro reminds me of That's Entertainment before launching into a track that would not have been out of place on the first Strokes album. Great stuff.

Finest moment in any track also goes to Polly Jean and her barely contained anger in The Last Living Rose when she sings....

"Past the Thames river flowing
Like gold hastily sold
For nothing....nothing"

Howler - I Told You Once

Albums Of The Year Part 2....

Kenny Anderson's recordings were given new life in 2011 thanks to lush, fresh and flourishing ambient instrumentation of producer Jon Hopkins. Simple songs, beautiful production, understated and subtle throughout. Diamond Mine will stand the test of time like all good well crafted music does. It is a very short album but is reflective, at times poignant and very unique.

I have had a look at all the year end lists and they all seem to have one glaring omission in the shape of Ersatz GB . It may not be a This Nation's Saving Grace or a Perverted By Language but Ersatz GB still trumps most records released this year. Ersatz GB is Smith's 29th studio album, and while not necessarily his best, it certainly demonstrates that his appetite for creating angry, angular, wonderfully warped state-of-the-nation addresses is hardly diminished.

When it came out in February I failed to see what all the fuss was surrounding Let England Shake. I didn't really pay it mush attention until a few weeks ago and will gladly admit to being so wrong. It is an album of outstanding quality and variation with songs that are sparse with powerful lyrics describing the horrors of war from the perspective of the young soldiers who are slaughtered in them. Passionate, thought provoking and clearly a labour of love Let England Shake is a is a sublime piece of work that fully deserves the praise that has been heaped upon it this year.

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Bats In The Attic

Albums Of The Year Part 1....

For the first time in many a year I'm not sure where to start. For the simple reason that this has been a stellar year for new albums.

I was very impressed by the debut from Anna Calvi. Hailed as "the best thing since Patti Smith" by Brian Eno, Calvi produced a stunning debut that drew comparisons to the likes of PJ Harvey and Nick Cave. But this was very much an Anna Calvi album. It is a supremely confident debut that engages from the first note. Calvi's album blends her big voice with lusty blues guitar and sparse rhythms that resulted in an impressive, passionate debut that that is occasionally overblown but never less than splendid.

Also on my year end radar is the stunning Everything's Getting Older from Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells. Moffat delivers a set of songs that are as funny, poignant, filthy and insightful as anything he's ever written. Wells and Moffat first met when Wells was asked to play piano on Arab Strap’s Monday At The Hug & Pint in 2003. Eight years later they finally released the full fruits of their collaboration. And well worth the wait it was. The album’s masterstroke is The Copper Top.
* In The Copper Top a man retreats to the pub after a funeral to be alone with his thoughts, so sick, as he is, of hearing everyone else’s memories of the recently deceased. Sitting in his fitted suit, only worn twice, he decides: "birth, love and death, the only reasons to get dressed up". Pint sunk, he leaves, glancing back at the copper roof of the pub as he leaves. Having oxidised over the years it’s now "a dull pastel grey’". "Everything’s getting older" he decides, before a mournful trumpet carries the rest of the song away.*
By the end you're left in stunned admiration at one of 2011's finest releases. Eight years in the making it may have been but the debut album by Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat is a special thing, full of gorgeous, jazz-inflected love songs that I just can't get enough of.

I saw Laura Marling a few years back in Ayr Town Hall supporting Glasvegas and she was like a rabbit caught in the headlights. At that gig she was just a fairly average singer songwriter with the odd good tune. Fast forward to 2011 and the 21 year old has obviously swallowed the Joni Mitchell songbook. And I don't mean that in any derogatory way. It is a lot looser than her first two albums and all the better for it. She can still come across as a bit po faced but once she becomes less distant she has the potential to produce even better material.

Notable mentions also to great albums also from Kurt Vile, Tom Waits and the best Paul Simon release in years....

Part 2 to follow....

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat - The Copper Top

* Courtesy of Drowned In Sound

Never Again....

'Twas my annual Christmas work night out last night and although it was a great night I seem to have lost most of Sunday somehow. Mexican may seem an odd choice for a Chrimbo dinner but as we will all be seeing more than enough "traditional" Xmas fare soon enough it seemed as good a choice as any. Think it may be time for a wee hair of the dog....

Velvet Underground - Beginning To See The Light

Oh Mickey You're So Fine....

I must admit to having complete ignorance of the music of Mickey Newbury until I purchased the year end music mags and saw his name on their reissue of the year lists with Mojo putting his American Trilogy box set at the top of their list and Uncut putting it second on theirs. The box set contains his three late 60' and early 70's albums plus the by now obligatory album of demos and outtakes - what box set these days would be complete without them !!

Newbury was better known as a songwriter than as a singer, despite releasing over 25 albums, but his soft, beautiful tenor voice rarely reached the charts. His songs have been covered by hundreds of artists with over 1,000 covers documented. Even today, he remains a songwriter's songwriter, lionized by a new generation of musicians including Will Oldham and Nick Cave and it's not hard to hear why with definite hints of Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman and Tom Waits in his songwriting.

Well worth dropping a few hints to your nearest and dearest as a last minute Chrimbo gift....

Mickey Newbury - San Francisco Mabel Joy

Hard as Hell....

James Todd Smith III, aka LL Cool J was apparently "hard as hell" back in '86 when he released the classic Rock the Bells. The track is full of LL's unique style, wit, uncanny phrasing and timing and has stood the test of time really well. I was listening to some tracks on a never ending playlist today when Rock The Bells came on and it reminded me of a time when hip hip/rap was not almost entirely centred on sexist or violent bullshit lyrics like a lot of artists that have followed in Cool J's path. LL just liked to have a bit of fun and his early Def Jam material is up there with some of the best hip hop recordings. He may not have produced material as important and inventive as Public Enemy and KRS One but he deserves recognition for bringing hip hop to the mainstream.

Rock The Bells is based around a sparse sound built on nothing much more than a big beat, and clever rapping and stands as a genuine Hip Hop classic.

LL Cool J - Rock the Bells

Hurts So Good

The Queen of Lovers Rock released this near faultless track in 1975 and is still one of the most beautiful, soulful reggae tracks laid down by anyone. How could anyone not love this record ?

Susan Cadogan - Hurt So Good