Having just finished reading George Gissing's novel, 'New Grub Street' I was surprised to find a piece about it in the Guardian Culture magazine this weekend. Surprised, because the book was published in 1891, so it is hardly current.
Nevertheless I found the piece interesting and the Guardian writer (Anthony Quinn) summed up my own feelings about the book.
You can access the Guardian article by clicking this link.
The novel is set mainly in London and deals with a group of writers and aspiring writers who experience various levels of success in their endeavours and consequently enjoy the trappings of success or endure the hardships of extreme poverty. The book describes how the consequent lifestyles impact upon the writers themselves and their relationships with others.
It is wonderfully well written in the style prevalent in the late 19th century and I marvel at how people communicate in such a thoughtful and considerate manner whilst enduring the worst kinds of personal hardships. The times were clearly very different to our own.
I will not say more about the storyline or the characters for I feel that the article gives a very good account of those. However returning to my surprise at seeing a recent magazine piece on the subject of such an old book, I can only surmise that this is as a result of the recent success of the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme, 'Ed Reardon's Week'. For two of the main characters in the novel are Edwin Reardon and Jasper Milvain who clearly provide the inspiration for the radio show's title character and his more successful arch rival, Jas Milvain. If you are not familiar with the programme, then I wholeheartedly recommend it.
A little more research revealed that this is not the first reference that the Guardian has made to this novel this year. Back in March, they included the book in their series, 'The 100 Best Novels', placing it at number 28.
I have also included a link to that piece by Robert McCrum.
I note from that that George Orwell regarded George Gissing as 'perhaps the best novelist that England has produced'.
High praise indeed!
Monday 28 July 2014
Friday 25 July 2014
Of Legends and Paintings: Semer Water
Earlier this week I took advantage of the gloriously sunny weather to enjoy a walk in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Obviously this area has been much in the news recently having provided the location for the opening stages of the Tour de France and there was evidence of this great event in every town and village we visited.
Our actual walk took us from Worton on the A684 to Hawes in Wensleydale. On route we stopped on the shore of Semer Water which just happens to be the second largest natural lake in North Yorkshire. It was there that I learned of the The Legend of Simmerdale.
It is said that a weary traveller went from house to house in the affluent town which stood on the site of the current lake, asking for food and shelter for the night. At each house he was turned away, but leaving the town he came upon a hovel occupied by one poor widow. There, he was offered a mug of ale and so overcome was he by the woman's kindness that he made a curse upon the town.
Simmerdale, Simmerdale, Simmerdale, sink.
Save the house of the woman who gave me a drink.
As a result, the waters rose and submerged the town and all of its inhabitants apart from the kindly widow.
Well, so says the legend.
Whatever the truth, the place has much natural beauty, a fact recognised by the painter Joseph Mallord William (JMW) Turner who made several sketches and paintings of the views. This painting, 'Simmer Lake' was completed in 1816 and on the north east side of the lake, a small garden has been created on the spot where the artist sat.
Our walk skirted the edge of the lake and then took us up towards the ancient Roman road now known as the Cam High Road. Our climb was steep and arduous in the high temperatures, but the views of the valleys and the crystal blue lake made all the effort worthwhile. And of course we knew that beyond the summit lay the descent into Hawes where a refreshing drink awaited us.
If the weary traveller of the legend had such a thirst, I can understand why he took such drastic action.
Our actual walk took us from Worton on the A684 to Hawes in Wensleydale. On route we stopped on the shore of Semer Water which just happens to be the second largest natural lake in North Yorkshire. It was there that I learned of the The Legend of Simmerdale.Simmerdale, Simmerdale, Simmerdale, sink.
Save the house of the woman who gave me a drink.
As a result, the waters rose and submerged the town and all of its inhabitants apart from the kindly widow.
Well, so says the legend.
Whatever the truth, the place has much natural beauty, a fact recognised by the painter Joseph Mallord William (JMW) Turner who made several sketches and paintings of the views. This painting, 'Simmer Lake' was completed in 1816 and on the north east side of the lake, a small garden has been created on the spot where the artist sat.
Our walk skirted the edge of the lake and then took us up towards the ancient Roman road now known as the Cam High Road. Our climb was steep and arduous in the high temperatures, but the views of the valleys and the crystal blue lake made all the effort worthwhile. And of course we knew that beyond the summit lay the descent into Hawes where a refreshing drink awaited us.
If the weary traveller of the legend had such a thirst, I can understand why he took such drastic action.
Monday 21 July 2014
Booker T Jones & Bettye Lavette at Sage Gateshead.
This past weekend has seen the Sage Gateshead host the annual SummerTyne Americana Festival featuring headline appearances from The Jayhawks and Chuck Prophet among others. As usual there were also a couple of afternoons of free music at an outdoor stage all of which I missed this year. The reason for that was because my eldest son had been thoughtless enough to arrange his stag do over the same weekend. Consequently instead of seeing some fine Americana music on Saturday, I found myself scrambling through muddy Northumbrian woodland dodging paintballs coming at me at almost 200 miles an hour.
It was my first experience of paintballing and I have to say that despite the pain and the bruises I am nursing, it was a lot of fun.
Thankfully I had recovered sufficiently by Sunday evening to attend a concert by soul legend Booker T Jones and Bettye Lavette, courtesy of a free ticket I obtained from a friend.
As I arrived at the venue the Americana free music on the outdoor stage was drawing to a close but I was fortunate enough to catch the final twenty minutes of Davina and The Vagabonds as they whipped up the crowd with sensational versions of 'I'd Rather Go Blind', 'St James Infirmary' and 'Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?'. I only wish I could have seen more and would even have been prepared to put up with the ever so slightly irritating compere, Mr (Steve) Drayton.
Inside the venue we headed for Hall One and soon after taking our seats, Bettye Lavette and her four piece band took to the stage. I have to confess that as a great fan of Free, I was won over as soon as they launched into their opener, 'The Stealer'. As Ms Lavette demonstrated with her fine 'Interpretations' album, she is happy to mix up the musical genres, yet still retain that soulful feel. Consequently we witnessed her perform songs by Bob Dylan ('Everything is Broken'), The Beatles ('Blackbird'). Lucinda Williams ('Joy') and The Who ('Love Reign Over Me'), but for me the highlights came at the end of her set when she invited onto the stage the forty piece SummerTyne Choir to back her on 'Let Me Down Easy' followed by a reworking of the Stones' 'Salt of the Earth'.
They were absolutely magnificent!
I did not envy Booker T Jones and his band having to follow that, but as anticipated, they made a great job of doing so. Switching between his trademark organ and guitar, Booker T accompanied by a fine three piece band gave us a fine mixture of soul and blues classics. These included, 'Born Under a Bad Sign', 'Take Me To The River', 'Hey Joe', 'Hoochie Coochie Man' and of course 'Green Onions'. Not that everything was rooted in the 60's or 70's as we also got a very nice version of Lauryn Hill's 'Everything is Everything'.
All in all it was a fitting end to what I understand was a very successful Americana Festival, an event that quite rightly appears to grow in popularity with each passing year.
Roll on 2015.
It was my first experience of paintballing and I have to say that despite the pain and the bruises I am nursing, it was a lot of fun.
Thankfully I had recovered sufficiently by Sunday evening to attend a concert by soul legend Booker T Jones and Bettye Lavette, courtesy of a free ticket I obtained from a friend.
As I arrived at the venue the Americana free music on the outdoor stage was drawing to a close but I was fortunate enough to catch the final twenty minutes of Davina and The Vagabonds as they whipped up the crowd with sensational versions of 'I'd Rather Go Blind', 'St James Infirmary' and 'Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey?'. I only wish I could have seen more and would even have been prepared to put up with the ever so slightly irritating compere, Mr (Steve) Drayton.
Inside the venue we headed for Hall One and soon after taking our seats, Bettye Lavette and her four piece band took to the stage. I have to confess that as a great fan of Free, I was won over as soon as they launched into their opener, 'The Stealer'. As Ms Lavette demonstrated with her fine 'Interpretations' album, she is happy to mix up the musical genres, yet still retain that soulful feel. Consequently we witnessed her perform songs by Bob Dylan ('Everything is Broken'), The Beatles ('Blackbird'). Lucinda Williams ('Joy') and The Who ('Love Reign Over Me'), but for me the highlights came at the end of her set when she invited onto the stage the forty piece SummerTyne Choir to back her on 'Let Me Down Easy' followed by a reworking of the Stones' 'Salt of the Earth'.
They were absolutely magnificent!
I did not envy Booker T Jones and his band having to follow that, but as anticipated, they made a great job of doing so. Switching between his trademark organ and guitar, Booker T accompanied by a fine three piece band gave us a fine mixture of soul and blues classics. These included, 'Born Under a Bad Sign', 'Take Me To The River', 'Hey Joe', 'Hoochie Coochie Man' and of course 'Green Onions'. Not that everything was rooted in the 60's or 70's as we also got a very nice version of Lauryn Hill's 'Everything is Everything'.All in all it was a fitting end to what I understand was a very successful Americana Festival, an event that quite rightly appears to grow in popularity with each passing year.
Roll on 2015.
Tuesday 15 July 2014
Neil Young and others at Hyde Park's British Summer Time
After seeing Midlake on Thursday night I caught an early train to London the following morning. A pleasant stroll around Covent Garden was followed by a bite to eat in Chinatown and then a walk across to the southbank of the Thames for a showing of the remastered version of the 1964 Beatles film, 'A Hard Day's Night'.
And I admit to finding it almost as enjoyable as I did when I saw it as a 12 or 13 year old upon it's release when I was too young and naive to appreciate the significance of John Lennon sniffing a Coke bottle. Young and innocent times! Anyway the film is still a good laugh and of course the music coming through the cinema sound system was magnificent.
On the walk back across the river, Waterloo Bridge was to our right, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. Not quite a Waterloo Sunset I'm afraid, but surely the next best thing.
Saturday was all about the British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park where Neil Young & Crazy Horse were topping the bill. First however there were decisions to be made about who else to see appearing on the various stages scattered around the festival site. The Webb Sisters beckoned to begin with.
Charley (guitar) and Hattie (harp and mandolin) are perhaps best known to us for having backed Leonard Cohen on most of his recent tours. For forty five minutes or so, they kept a fairly large crowd enthralled with their brand of Americana style music (though the girls hail from Kent, England) despite the fact that the temperatures inside this smallish marquee, soared to ridiculous levels.
We failed to see Phosphorescence owing to the crowds trying to get into that venue, so decisions had to be made as to who we would see. Going our separate ways I decided to catch Caitlin Rose followed by Midlake in the same venue (the Barclaycard Theatre). In between I did manage to catch most of The National's set on the main stage though I confess that I have never really warmed to their music.
Midlake performed for about fifty minutes so it was a shortened version of the set I had seen two days earlier. Nevertheless, being situated further back from the stage, I found the sound to be more agreeable and I thoroughly enjoyed their set.
Then of course, it came to the reason we were all there. The main event - Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
As I've often reported, with Neil Young you are never sure what you are going to get. Even with Crazy Horse we were not guaranteed to get songs ending in five minutes or more of howling feedback, as we experienced in Newcastle last year. After sauntering onto the stage and placing a basket of grapes on the drum riser, Young and his Crazy Horse cohorts, aided by Rick Rosas standing in for the recuperating bassist Billy Talbot, launched into a lengthy version of 'Love and Only Love' one of three numbers from the 'Ragged Glory' album.
Once again however, Young showed he is willing to mix things up a bit. In contrast to those heavy rocking numbers, we were also treated to a band version of 'After The Gold Rush'. During a short acoustic interlude we got 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' and to the delight of the crowd, 'Heart of Gold'. This was followed by what was in my opinion the treat of the night, the rarely performed 'Barstool Blues' from the album 'Zuma'. Even an unreleased 1970's album 'Homegrown', was represented by the song 'Separate Ways'.
When one considers that Young has issued three new albums in the last couple of years and from these only played the title track from 'Psychedelic Pill' making no mention at all of his latest venture, 'A Letter Home', one begins to realise just how perverse he is.
Returning to play their first encore, they gave us a brand new song 'Who's Gonna Stand Up and Save the Earth?' This was duly followed by the much more familiar 'Down By The River'.
Then the band and backing singers took their bows and tossing a grape into the audience, Young gave us a last wave and the stage emptied to the strains of 'Greensleeves'
Each time I have seen Young play has been a totally different experience yet I have never come away feeling in any way disappointed. Surely this has to be the measure of a true star.
Long may he run!
Finally I think it only fitting that I make mention of the quality of the large screens and particularly of the sound. The organisers have certainly done a great job in those areas.
The complete setlist can be found by following this link.
And I admit to finding it almost as enjoyable as I did when I saw it as a 12 or 13 year old upon it's release when I was too young and naive to appreciate the significance of John Lennon sniffing a Coke bottle. Young and innocent times! Anyway the film is still a good laugh and of course the music coming through the cinema sound system was magnificent.
On the walk back across the river, Waterloo Bridge was to our right, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. Not quite a Waterloo Sunset I'm afraid, but surely the next best thing.Saturday was all about the British Summer Time Festival at Hyde Park where Neil Young & Crazy Horse were topping the bill. First however there were decisions to be made about who else to see appearing on the various stages scattered around the festival site. The Webb Sisters beckoned to begin with.
Charley (guitar) and Hattie (harp and mandolin) are perhaps best known to us for having backed Leonard Cohen on most of his recent tours. For forty five minutes or so, they kept a fairly large crowd enthralled with their brand of Americana style music (though the girls hail from Kent, England) despite the fact that the temperatures inside this smallish marquee, soared to ridiculous levels.
We failed to see Phosphorescence owing to the crowds trying to get into that venue, so decisions had to be made as to who we would see. Going our separate ways I decided to catch Caitlin Rose followed by Midlake in the same venue (the Barclaycard Theatre). In between I did manage to catch most of The National's set on the main stage though I confess that I have never really warmed to their music.
Midlake performed for about fifty minutes so it was a shortened version of the set I had seen two days earlier. Nevertheless, being situated further back from the stage, I found the sound to be more agreeable and I thoroughly enjoyed their set.
As I've often reported, with Neil Young you are never sure what you are going to get. Even with Crazy Horse we were not guaranteed to get songs ending in five minutes or more of howling feedback, as we experienced in Newcastle last year. After sauntering onto the stage and placing a basket of grapes on the drum riser, Young and his Crazy Horse cohorts, aided by Rick Rosas standing in for the recuperating bassist Billy Talbot, launched into a lengthy version of 'Love and Only Love' one of three numbers from the 'Ragged Glory' album.
Once again however, Young showed he is willing to mix things up a bit. In contrast to those heavy rocking numbers, we were also treated to a band version of 'After The Gold Rush'. During a short acoustic interlude we got 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart' and to the delight of the crowd, 'Heart of Gold'. This was followed by what was in my opinion the treat of the night, the rarely performed 'Barstool Blues' from the album 'Zuma'. Even an unreleased 1970's album 'Homegrown', was represented by the song 'Separate Ways'.
Returning to play their first encore, they gave us a brand new song 'Who's Gonna Stand Up and Save the Earth?' This was duly followed by the much more familiar 'Down By The River'.
Then the band and backing singers took their bows and tossing a grape into the audience, Young gave us a last wave and the stage emptied to the strains of 'Greensleeves'
Long may he run!
Finally I think it only fitting that I make mention of the quality of the large screens and particularly of the sound. The organisers have certainly done a great job in those areas.
The complete setlist can be found by following this link.
Monday 14 July 2014
Midlake at Whitley Bay Playhouse, 10 July 2014
When I last saw Midlake back in 2006 or 2007, they were promoting their wonderful album 'The Trials of Van Occupanther' and the intimate feel of the Sage, Gateshead Hall Two was ideal for their unique blend of soft rock and folk. Since then the band have undergone significant personnel changes including the departure of their lead singer/songwriter, Tim Smith.Into the breach stepped Eric Pulido and their most recent release 'Antiphon' is to my mind a return to form after the slightly disappointing 'The Courage of Others'.
I was curious to see how the live sound would have evolved particularly with the addition of newish guitarist Joey McLellan. Well I can report that they are now a lot heavier (and much louder) than when I last saw them. As Pulido himself said on the evening, they may be on the soft side of rock music but they are taking steps to cross that threshold.
Perhaps it was my particular seat, to the right of the stage about four rows from the front, that was the problem but I occasionally found their sound too harsh and the volume did not allow each individual instrument to shine through. The same could not be said of the quieter songs or passages however and these were much more enjoyable.
I had no problems with the setlist which featured a range of numbers from their three most recent albums and featured the crowd pleasing 'Roscoe'. It was worth the price of admission for that alone.
At various points during their performance I found myself making some comparisons with The Band and lo and behold (sorry folks, I couldn't resist that), near to the end of the evening they performed their only cover song, 'I Shall Be Released'.
As I left the theatre, I wondered how that evenings performance would compare to when I was due to see them two days later in London's Hyde Park. Check back soon to get my thoughts on that event.
Here is the full setlist:
1. Ages
2. This Weight
3. Provider
4. Rulers ruling all things
5. Young Bride
6. We Gathered in Spring
7. Antiphon
8. Vale
9. It's Going Down
10. Children of the Grounds
11. Corruption
12. Aurora Gone
13. Provider Reprise
14. Roscoe
15. The Old and The Young
16. I Shall Be Released
17. Head Home
Thursday 10 July 2014
Seaside on the Quayside
While enjoying the glorious sunshine on the Newcastle Quayside yesterday it was nice to see the recently installed beach being put to good use. A small section of the quay has been converted into a beach complete with sand, palm trees, deck chairs and buckets and spades. It will also be hosting its own volleyball tournament.
Nevertheless the Tyne and Millennium Bridges formed a nice backdrop so I took a couple of snaps.
As I did so, one thought struck me. That is how guilty and furtive I felt taking completely innocent photos that included young children.
We live in strange times!
Fortunately I felt safe enough taking this shot of the Millennium Bridge, or the 'blinking eye' as it is known for reasons that should be obvious.
On a totally different subject, a few albums have recently arrived. These include, 'CSNY 1974' by Crosby Stills Nash & Young, 'Why' by Ginger Baker and 'Touch & Flee' by the Neil Cowley Trio. Not sure when I will get a chance to listen to them though as I am off to see Midlake in Whitley Bay this evening and then have an early start tomorrow as I head to London to see the re-issued 'A Hard Day's Night' at BFI Southbank and Neil Young (plus Midlake and others) at Hyde Park.
There will be more on these albums and happenings in due course I suspect.
Monday 7 July 2014
Box Sets #14 - Memphis Jug Band with Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers
I first became acquainted with the Memphis Jug Band and Gus Cannon via tracks from both included in the wonderful 'Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music'. Then I noticed that the book 'Martin Scorcese Presents The Blues' featured across pages 144 & 145, recollections of Beale Street, Memphis by a certain Will Shade of the Memphis Jug Band. As a backdrop to this short piece is a blurry Robert Crumb illustration of four black guys, two cradling guitars and the others clutching a kazoo and a stoneware jug.
My journey of discovery became complete when I stumbled across a YouTube video of a bunch of singers and musicians calling themselves The Ever-Lovin' Jug Band. The song they played was 'Fourth Street Mess Around' by none other than the Memphis Jug Band.
There's a link to that performance here.
I loved it and after doing some quick research, I ordered myself this 4 CD box set of the very best recordings from these two fine acts. The first three discs feature music by the Memphis Jug Band recorded between 1927 and 1930. During this period the line up changed repeatedly and at various times included the aforementioned Will Shade along with Ben Ramey, Will (Casey Bill) Weldon, Charlie Polk, Vol Stevens, Charlie Burse, Jab Jones, Milton Robie and Memphis Minnie.
The final disc is probably the finest of the set featuring music from Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers recorded at various sessions during 1928. It didn't take me too long to discover that Gus Cannon had previously recorded as Banjo Joe and half a dozen of his songs appeared on the fantastic box set 'The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records (Vol 1)', On these he was backed by the mysterious blues and ragtime guitarist Blind Blake.
I confess that I have rather snubbed jug band music in the past, being distinctly unimpressed by 'musicians' playing kazoos or puffing into jugs. However I quickly became totally captivated by these recordings and it did not take me too long to realise the influence these early tracks had on certain acts during the 1960's folk/blues revival. Among those who had clearly heard the original recordings were the Grateful Dead who originated as Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and who performed Cannon's 'Big Railroad Blues' over 170 times. They also covered 'Cocaine Habit Blues', 'KC Moan', 'Overseas Stomp' and 'On The Road Again' all previously recorded by the Memphis Jug Band whose wonderful song 'Stealin' Stealin'' was also recorded (as 'Stealin') by the Grateful Dead as their first single in 1966. Hear the Memphis Jug Band version via this link.
Stealin' Stealin'
This version was recorded on 15th September 1928. The song was said to have been written by Gus Cannon though there is evidence of some of the lines appearing as early as 1921 (Clarence Williams) and 1922 (Leona Williams). In the early 1960's the song was regularly performed live by Bob Dylan.
Gus Cannon returned to popularity in this period after the Rooftop Singers scored a mega hit with his song 'Walk Right In'. On the back of that he teamed up with Will Shade and recorded a short but much acclaimed album for Stax Records in 1963.
Will Shade passed away in September 1966 (aged 68) and Gus Cannon died in October 1979 aged either 96 or 105 depending upon which birth date you are inclined to believe.
I have to say that apart from the style of music, there is little evidence of these recordings dating from the 1920's. John R. T. Davies has done a superb remastering job. Besides a great collection of tunes, the box also features some interesting liner notes by writer and producer, Neil Slaven. All in all, a most wonderful set.
Take a listen to Viola Lee Blues by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers and see if you agree.
There's a link to that performance here.
I loved it and after doing some quick research, I ordered myself this 4 CD box set of the very best recordings from these two fine acts. The first three discs feature music by the Memphis Jug Band recorded between 1927 and 1930. During this period the line up changed repeatedly and at various times included the aforementioned Will Shade along with Ben Ramey, Will (Casey Bill) Weldon, Charlie Polk, Vol Stevens, Charlie Burse, Jab Jones, Milton Robie and Memphis Minnie.
The final disc is probably the finest of the set featuring music from Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers recorded at various sessions during 1928. It didn't take me too long to discover that Gus Cannon had previously recorded as Banjo Joe and half a dozen of his songs appeared on the fantastic box set 'The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records (Vol 1)', On these he was backed by the mysterious blues and ragtime guitarist Blind Blake.
Stealin' Stealin'
This version was recorded on 15th September 1928. The song was said to have been written by Gus Cannon though there is evidence of some of the lines appearing as early as 1921 (Clarence Williams) and 1922 (Leona Williams). In the early 1960's the song was regularly performed live by Bob Dylan.
Gus Cannon returned to popularity in this period after the Rooftop Singers scored a mega hit with his song 'Walk Right In'. On the back of that he teamed up with Will Shade and recorded a short but much acclaimed album for Stax Records in 1963.
Will Shade passed away in September 1966 (aged 68) and Gus Cannon died in October 1979 aged either 96 or 105 depending upon which birth date you are inclined to believe.
I have to say that apart from the style of music, there is little evidence of these recordings dating from the 1920's. John R. T. Davies has done a superb remastering job. Besides a great collection of tunes, the box also features some interesting liner notes by writer and producer, Neil Slaven. All in all, a most wonderful set.
Take a listen to Viola Lee Blues by Gus Cannon's Jug Stompers and see if you agree.
Wednesday 2 July 2014
The Best Albums of 2014 (So Far)
As that time of year comes round again, the musings in the White Room today concern the best albums of 2014 so far.
To be honest, I have been a little disappointed with the quality of new releases thus far. When I think back to this time last year, I was drooling about albums from Richard Thompson, The Villagers, Pere Ubu, Steven Wilson, Steve Earle, Hiss Golden Messenger, Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer and These New Puritans.
To date in 2014 I have heard rather lacklustre albums from Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young plus some decent but hardly outstanding releases from Conor Oberst, Seth Lakeman, Simone Felice, Paulo Nutini, Elbow, Temples and The Swans. I am also still getting to grips with very recent releases by Martin & Eliza Carthy and Dave & Phil Alvin.
However, the finest albums I have heard so far, have been the following (in no particular order):-
Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
Colfax by The Delines
Wine Dark Sea by Jolie Holland
Lost in the Dream by War on Drugs
Silver Rails by Jack Bruce
Lazaretto by Jack White
The Gloaming by The Gloaming
English Oceans by The Drive-By Truckers.
I can only hope that these eight albums receive more competition in the second half of the year but things on the horizon at present look bleak.
If I have omitted any of your own favourites then please let me know.
To be honest, I have been a little disappointed with the quality of new releases thus far. When I think back to this time last year, I was drooling about albums from Richard Thompson, The Villagers, Pere Ubu, Steven Wilson, Steve Earle, Hiss Golden Messenger, Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer and These New Puritans.
To date in 2014 I have heard rather lacklustre albums from Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young plus some decent but hardly outstanding releases from Conor Oberst, Seth Lakeman, Simone Felice, Paulo Nutini, Elbow, Temples and The Swans. I am also still getting to grips with very recent releases by Martin & Eliza Carthy and Dave & Phil Alvin.
However, the finest albums I have heard so far, have been the following (in no particular order):-
Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
Colfax by The Delines
Wine Dark Sea by Jolie Holland
Lost in the Dream by War on Drugs
Silver Rails by Jack Bruce
Lazaretto by Jack White
The Gloaming by The Gloaming
English Oceans by The Drive-By Truckers.
I can only hope that these eight albums receive more competition in the second half of the year but things on the horizon at present look bleak.
If I have omitted any of your own favourites then please let me know.
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