Albums of The Year
I have finally gotten around to make a list of my albums of the year. I must confess that I have eagerly looked at the lists in all of my favorite publications to see if I have missed something outstanding. I have not. No amount of accolades could pursuade me to either listen to or buy Kanye West’s recent album with the worst “non” cover in history. I am also a little ambivalent about Arctic Monkeys turning into Giant Sand, but I still enjoyed their album. I have re-listened to all of these recordings over the past few weeks. Those marked with * will enter my all time favorites lists. The remainder will likely become forgotten in the mix.
Rock Pop
1. Jonathan Wilson – Fanfare*
2. Steve Mason – Monkey Minds in the…*
3. Ron Sexsmith – Forever Enedeavour
4. Roy Harper – Man & Myth*
5. Bill Callahan – Dream River
6. White Denim – Corsicana Lemonade
7. Suede – Bloodsports
8. Steven Wilson- The Raven that Refused*
9. Queens of the Stone Age – Like Clockwork
10. Palma Violets – 180
11. Devendra Banhart – Mala
12. Neko Case – The Worse Things Get
13. Low – The Invisible Way
14. Wolf People – Fain
15. Miles Kane – Don’t forget who you aree
16. Duke Garwood & Mark Lanagan – Black Pudding
17. Matthew E. White – Big Inner
18. Artic Monkeys – AM
19. John Grant – Pale Green Ghosts
20. Turin Brakes – We were here
21. Iron and wine – Ghost on ghost
22. Danny & Champions of the World – Stay True
23. Israel Nash Gripka – Israel Nash’s Rain Plan
24. Jason Isabell – Southeastern
25. I am Kloot – Let it all in
26. Electric Soft Parade –“Idiots”
27. Lord Huron – Lonesome Dreams
28. Christopher Owens – Lysandre
29. British Sea Power – Machineries of Joy
30. Caitlin Rose – The Stand In
31. Electric Soft Parade –“Idiots”
32. Goldfrapp – Tales of Us
33. Jason Isbell – Southeastern
34. Prefab Sprout – Crimson/Red
35. Smith Westerns – Soft Will
36. Cate Le Bon – Mug Museum
37. Mazzy Star – Season of your day
38. Endless Boogie – Long Island
39. These New Puritans – Field of Reeds
40. Julia Holter – Loud City Song
These are not in any great order. The John Grant album is in there because I loved half of it, and hated the Icelandic electronica: but it reached my top 30 criteria by being purchased on Vinyl (after the CD). There are a number of albums that I enjoyed but am not sure about: “Mechanical Bull” by Kings of Leon, “Trouble Will Find Me” by the National and Vampire Weekend – “Modern Vampires” – I am just bored with them. Wise Up Ghost by Elvis Costello was fun, but perhaps lacking in depth. “Do you love the Sun” by Scud Mountain Boys, “The Silver Gymnasium” by Okkervil River and “Alone Abroad the Ark” by Leisure Society should have been favorites, but didn’t grab me at all. I may have enjoyed the Daft Punk album, but got so overexposed and over irritated by “Get Lucky” that I didn’t unwrap the vinyl. “Reflektor” by Arcade Fire would probably have been a fine single album, but aside from the dreadful cover, I didn’t have the patience for it. I never got into Foals’ “Hold Fire” (maybe next year), nor “Silence Yourself” by Savages, I fell out of love with “Howlin'” by Jagwar Ma and could not generate any real interest in the Nick Cave, MBV, Haim, Laura Marling or David Bowie albums. All of these are sitting in a box in the attic. They may grow on me some day. Steven Wilson’s “Raven” was the prog album of the year, and he was everywhere – as a writer and producer. Most disappointing album of the year – definitely “The Terror” by Flaming Lips; I think the Lips and I have reached the end of the road.
Jazz albums of the year:
1. Ahmad Jamal – Saturday Morning
2. Marius Neset – Birds
3. Joshua Redman – Walking Shadows
4. Daniel Herskedal – Neck of the Woods
5. Wayne Shorter – Without a Net
Live Album:
1. Rolling Stones – Hyde Park
2. Elbow – Jodrell Bank
3. Muse – Paris
4. Neil Young – Cellar Door
Reissues:
1. Suede – Vinyl Box Set
2. Waterboys – Fisherman’s Box
3. XTC – Nonesuch (CD + Blu-Ray)
4. Van Morrison – Moondance (Deluxe Edition)
5. The Clash – Sound System
I’m sure that the John Martyn box set was fabulous, but it contained no vinyl and was priced about 100 euro above it’s value. Having paid for all of the CDs and all of the deluxe editions already, I could not justify the expense. I will probably drop €50 on Miles Davis’ mono box, because I am a sucker for that kind of thing.
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