December
December is a time for lists, and consequently, not much of importance gets released in December. Obligingly, here is my annotated list of all things awesome and musical from the past 11 months condensed into a user friendly top 5 buyers guide.
1. TV on the Radio- Dear Science
I haven’t stopped listening to this since I got it, if you don’t have it then go out and get it as soon as possible. It has everything a good album should have, packed with hooks and grooves, there’s not a wasted track. If the apocalypse comes, this is what people will be dancing to in the clubs… hang on.. what?
Oh, and they come up with possibly the best suggestion to solving the world’s problems I’ve heard to date- Announce an international holiday where everyone takes the day off work to go and have sex in the streets. It’d probably work.
2. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago
Though not strictly released this year (it came out independently last year), it would be a travesty if this was not mentioned on technicality. Bon Iver is derived from the French for ‘good winter’, and its a perfect moniker. Justin Vernon holed himself up in a solitary cabin in Wisconsin to record this, and it shows in the slow burn beauty of its ringing guitars and lo-fi soundscapes. A true album, each song builds from the previous one and feels like a slow meditation on a relationship (presumedly involving the Emma alluded to in the title)
3. The Gutter Twins- Saturnalia
No one does dark and foreboding like Mark Lanegan, and from the outset of The Stations you know you’re in for a ride. This is Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs trip though, taking control of this beautiful fractured beast. The band owes its name to Oscar Wilde’s famous line- “We’re all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. Taking this as a reference point, the twins take us on a journey of human longing, with the knowledge that we can never attain our imagined dreams- “heaven so fine, heaven is quite a climb from seven stories underground”
4. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Who thought the old dog had it in him? You certainly wouldn’t want to question him though would you? Grinderman brought the dirty old man out of Nick Cave, and now he’s fine tuned his demented persona to perfection. Nick howls obscenity at the world gone mad like an old man from his porch, all the while taking the piss left right and center, and employs various naive personae to allow us to envisage ourselves in the eyes of the outsider, thru a newly resurrected Lazarus set loose in modern day America, then schoolgirl Janey with her crystal clarity and verminous lascivious follower Mr. Sandman.
5. Joan as Police Woman- To Survive
While not as mindblowingly sensational as its predecessor- Real Life felt like the culmination of years of work busting to come out- this is by no means a sophmore slump. The subtle arrangements which made her so entrancing to begin with are still there, and this set of compositions is another grower. It may take a while, but the sense of wellbeing it eventually exudes can’t be suppressed. There are a couple of downspots which feel a little like retracing steps, but for the most part this is simply exquisite.
Honourable mentions-
Conor Oberst- Conor Oberst
What can you say? The guy can’t make a bad record anymore. The immediacy of this work though end up meaning that it doesnt have the longevity of Lifted, IWAIM or Cassadaga though. Cape Canaveral will however go down as one of his best works.
Opeth- Watershed
There’s almost too much going on here. Probably only not up higher because I need to be in the mood to listen to it, this is much more of a pastoral effort than anything Opeth have attempted before. Employing the help of a female vocalist, long acoustic passages, extended organ solos? Yep, prog rock is alive and well, and noone does it quite like Opeth
My Morning Jacket- Evil Urges
If only the whole album was as strong as the first four or so songs, it would have been right up there. Unfortunately they get lazy, but its worth buying for those tracks alone, shuffling between rock riffs, Flaming Lips style bass heavy trips, Prince funk freakouts and searing country rock.
