I notice that there are a few new albums on the horizon which have caused a wee flutter of anticipation here in the White Room.
In April there will be a new offering from Calexico. Called 'Edge of the Sun' it will be their first release since 'Algiers' in 2012. You can listen to the track 'Cumbia de Donde' by clicking here.
On the same date, Villagers will release the follow up to the brilliant '{Awayland}'. The track 'Hot Scary Summer' is also currently streaming and can be heard on this link.
I see that both bands also happen to be touring to promote the albums but the bad news for me is that they will not be appearing in my area. Which means I either travel or miss them altogether. Decisions, decisions!
Pretty much imminent is an album 'New York Before the War' from Jesse Malin. It will be his first new album in five years so it will be interesting to see what he comes up with. In my view he is a very underrated artist. I note that he is touring also though the date he hits my area, I have other plans so I will have to miss out. I've seen him on several occasions previously and he never fails to deliver a first class show. Unfortunately on the eve of my 59th birthday he was playing in Newcastle but I was otherwise engaged. My son was able to attend and as he happened to be carrying his birthday card to me, he was cheeky enough to get Malin to sign it for me. A nice little memento for me to keep.
No doubt I will have more to say about Jesse's album in due course.
Also in April I see a new album is due from the Alabama Shakes. I wonder whether 'Sound & Color' will match their debut 'Boys & Girls'. Have a listen to 'Future People' by clicking here and see what you think.
Yet another anticipated release in April comes from Bill Fay. We waited 41 years for his last album, 'Life is People' but thankfully only three years for his latest which will be called 'Who is the Sender?' A track called 'War Machine' is currently available to stream if you click here.
Finally I am looking forward to summer for the release of another album by Sun Kil Moon. It will be called 'Universal Themes' but the exact release date has not yet been announced.
It looks as though 2015 could be another great year for new music.
And so we come to my choice of the best three albums of 2012.
In traditional fashion, I shall present them in reverse order.
3. Bill Fay - 'Life is People'
Read here what I wrote earlier this month - http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/bill-fay-life-is-people.html
A wonderful follow-up album released 40 years after its predecessor!
2. Goat - 'World Music'
I don't recall how I came to hear of this band but I was intrigued by the story that surrounds them. It is alleged that they stem from a collective of townsfolk from the village of Korpilombolo in the north west of Sweden. Wearing masks on stage, they shun individual attention but prefer to focus on the songs rather than the song sources. The village itself is alleged to have been visited by a travelling witch doctor several hundred years ago and ever since has had strong connections with voodoo.
I'm not sure I hold with all of that but what I do know is that this album slowly sucked me in until I found myself totally hooked. Described elsewhere as a cross between Can, Faust, Spacemen 3, Fairport Convention, Fela Kuti and the Edgar Broughton Band they are clearly very difficult to define. The opening track the instrumental 'Diarabi' begins hesitantly but finds its groove with a repetitive guitar phrase picked up by the other instruments until it ends in a squeal of feedback leaving just the drums to take the song to it's conclusion.
Several tracks feature a female (?) singer with a voice that is again difficult to categorise. Part Poly Styrene (X-Ray Spex), part Renate Knaup-Krotenschwanz (Amon Duul II) and part Bjork (Bjork) she howls and wails her way through the lyrics. It takes a few listens but soon becomes quite mesmerising.
'Let it Bleed' strikes me as having a Velvet Underground guitar influence but soon evolves into something more akin to Tinariwen. Then a honking sax turns it into something different again.
The most commercial song (if such a thing exists on this album) is 'Run to Your Mama' which starts off with thunderous Black Sabbath-like chords and continues over an insistent beat. There are three songs with a goat theme - 'Goatman', 'Goathead' and 'Goatlord' but each is very different from it's predecessor. Maybe the band just have a thing about goats. The middle of these songs has a driving rhythm, a fuzzy bass and strident guitar parts including Hendrix-like feedback, then suddenly it turns into a sublime version of the melody played on a lone acoustic guitar over the sound of waves crashing on a shore.
On first hearing I never dreamt that this album would end in my top three but there you go. It just goes to show that persistence pays off. I will be fascinated to hear what this lot come up with next time around.
1. Anais Mitchell - 'Young Man in America'
I first wrote about this album back in May and you can read it here - http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/anais-mitchell-young-man-in-america.html
Since then, as promised, I have fully explored her back catalogue and it reaffirms my opinion that Ms Mitchell is a major talent who has progressed steadily with each piece of work released. Part of me wonders when the rest of the world will catch on to the fact that she is a sensational songwriter though there is also a selfish part of me that hopes this never happens or I will be unable to see her live again at intimate little venues such as Newcastle's Cluny 2 where I saw her in June.
In my view this album is the best of the year - no contest!
So that's my list. I'd love to hear your own views.
Just one more post to come before the start of 2013.
I am currently listening to what I consider to be the best albums of the year in an attempt to decide upon my top three. More on this in due course but one album that is sure to make the final cut is 'Life is People' by Bill Fay.
I first became acquainted with his name through a 3 CD compilation set entitled 'Strange Pleasures: Further Sounds of the Decca Underground', which features three of his songs, one of which was the title track from his 1971 Deram album, 'Time of the Last Persecution'. I quickly sought out that album and immediately became a 'fan' of this critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful gem.
As a massive fan of American band Wilco, I was intrigued by a song performed by Jeff Tweedy during the excellent documentary DVD 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart'. The song in question turned out to be called 'Be Not So Fearful' which was written by Fay and appeared on his first album in 1970. So what became of Bill Fay after 1971? Well, not a lot it would seem. Dropped by his record company, he did return to the studios in the 1970's but the results were not released until 2005 when 'Tomorrow, Tomorrow & Tomorrow' appeared on a small independent label, credited to The Bill Fay Group. In the same year a wonderful collection of demos was issued entitled 'From the Bottom of an Old Grandfather Clock'. And although Fay has continued to live in London and write songs, that has been the sum of his recorded output until earlier this year.
'Life is People' is a collection of twelve songs, eleven of which were written by Fay. Comparisons have been made to Randy Newman, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen but musically this album offers so much more. The hymnal 'The Healing Day' evokes Procol Harum while the following 'City of Dreams' begins like something from Pink Floyd. After 'The Never Ending Happening' in which Fay sounds world weary over his own beautiful piano accompaniment, the more upbeat 'This World' features Fay and Jeff Tweedy taking the lead vocals on alternate verses.
Religious themes recur throughout the album and the organ and choir on 'Be at Peace with Yourself' is almost churchlike. It seems appropriate therefore that the following track should be a cover of Jeff Tweedy's own 'Jesus etc.'. With just Fay singing the beautiful melody over block piano chords, the result is simply astonishing.
At 69 years of age, Fay is a contemporary of others who have released albums this year. Namely, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen. He has never attained their level of success and I suspect he now never will. Forty years is a very long time to wait for a follow-up album but hopefully we will not have to wait much longer for his next effort. Until it comes, I suggest you immerse yourself in this album and his meagre, but wonderful, back catalogue. I hope and trust you will not regret it.
