60 / 60
Graham Reid looks back on a stack of music and picks some very
different albums you might have missed this year.
O
n any given week this year, dozens
of CDs were released. Add to that
the scores which just appear at
bandcamp or wherever and you’d be
forgiven for not being able to keep up.
No one can.
Bearded hipsters will direct you to some
indie band hidden in a far self-released
corner of the internet, and cooler-than-
you critics will always hail some obscure
artist (who might be obscure for a reason)
because – it makes them look good.
Well, we’re not going to direct you to
New Zealand’s Ha the Unclear even though
we like them, or point you to bandcamp
for Britain’s psych-proggers Midwich Youth
Club. (Although I guess we just have.)
We thought we’d just offer 10 albums
which are readily available, but that you
might have missed. Not saying these are
thebest albums of the year, or ‘essential’.
Just saying these are durable albums
you’ll play in the coming years, but they
might have gone past you.
Beck
Morning Phase
There are so many Beck
albums in the world you tend to take him
for granted. However this dreamy but
slightly dark, gloriously arranged and yet
intimate collection finds him at the top of
his game, making this sound effortless.
There are also lyrics to ponder although it
will be the lovely surface which will hook
you in.
ScottWalker+SunO)))
Soused
We’re not going to pretend
this is easy. because the once great
balladeer Walker now declaims his bizarre
lyrics, like some demented opera singer.
And the Sun O))) band here are slo-
mo grindcore guys. But the pairing is
alarmingly good and this is an intense
listening experience . . . emphasis on
‘intense’ and experience’.
DelaneyDavidson
SwimDownLow
This gifted singer-songwriter pops
up on albums withTami Neilson, MarlonWilliams
and others in local indie/alt.country area . . .
but he’s often more in theTomWaits-Nick
Cave territory, although here leavens that with
smart pop, European cabaret and much else.
Strong songs delivered with utter commitment.
You can’t look away.
TheNewPornographers
Brill Bruisers
Fizzy power-pop which somehow
manages to flit between indie.rock and radio-
friendly pop, little touches of early Bowie andThe
Beach Boys, electro-dance and just shameless fun.
Their bubbly but slightly weary
Champions of Red
Wine
should be the song of summer.
Jakob
Sines
Eight years on from their last
album, and despite medical and musical setbacks,
this all-instrumental trio from Napier deliver a
stunning album of guitar loops, strings (by Rhian
Sheehan), experimental sounds fashioned into song
structures, and moods which shift from melancholy
to heroic.This is a collection which can be as soft as
a chamber quartet or as massive as a metal band.
Quite an achievement.
Goat
Commune
It’s been a good year for neo-
psychedelic music and this group from Sweden
– who remain anonymous and perform with
ritualistic dancers in costume – nail a summery
vibe with rolling and tripped-out rhythms, trance-
rock, references to African music, Floyd-like
soundtracks and dance grooves.This is your
barbecue soundtrack!
10
TO DISCOVER
Lake Street Dive
Bad Self Portraits
This university-educated quartet from
Boston were all studying jazz but took a turn into
soulful Motown and pop-inspired songs which are
not only catchy but actually say something.They are
playingWOMAD and the Auckland Arts Festival
next year and you can bet people will be talking
about them afterwards. Easy to listen to,
but not ‘easy-listening’.
Engineers
Always Returning
The new Pink Floyd album
The
Endless River
makes a decent case for ambient
prog-rock but their sound is so distinctive it
doesn’t come off as new. Engineers are a UK
outfit who work in the general territory but– by
not being well known – sound fresh on these
hypnotic pieces. It’s a double: one disc of songs,
the other the instrumental tracks.You’ll play both,
depending on your mood.
RobertPlantandthe
SensationalSpaceShifters
Lullaby and the
Ceaseless Roar
Given Plant’s standing, it would be surprising
if you weren’t at least aware of this album. But
many passed it by because it didn’t sound like
either Led Zeppelin or his popular
Raising Sand
album (with Alison Krauss).This works between
exotic world music, moody blues, trance and
even jangle pop. He dials down the melodramatic
vocals too, on an album that slowly hypnotises,
and every listen brings out new dimensions.
MirelWagner
Whenthe Cellar Children
See the Light of Day
If acoustic Nirvana, death ballads and PJ Harvey/
Nick Cave are your thing, this 23-year old
Ethiopian-born adoptee from Finland has an
album for you. Dark, compelling and frequently
very uneasy listening, but a profound statement
nonetheless. Emphatically
not
for summer
barbecues though.
For more reviews, overviews and
interviews by Graham Reid see:
www.elsewhere.co.nz13
MUSIC
FEATURE