Best Albums of 2014

Well I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas. I'm just catching my breath after all of the festivities and while everyone else seems to be at the sales, I at last have time to sit and ponder on the best new album releases of 2014.

I have to say, for my money it hasn't been a year of outstanding album releases. For a start there were a few disappointments which included a lacklustre album from Bruce Springsteen with the ironic title 'High Hopes'. Neil Young released not one but two albums but neither quite hit the heights of his best work. 'A Letter Home' featured some fine cover versions but was recorded in such a lo-fi way as to drastically reduce any enjoyment one might have had of listening to it. The other, 'Storytone' did feature Young's original material but sadly fell well short of what we have come to expect from him. The fact that we were presented with two versions of each song, one performed solo and the other performed in front of an orchestra or band, did little to alleviate the disappointment with the material.

Goat were a band I had high hopes for after their 2012 debut 'World Music'. Despite plaudits from a number of critics, I found the follow-up, 'Communion' to be just more of the same. I was also disappointed with '... And Star Power' from Foxygen who had impressed me greatly with last year's 'We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic'. Shame, but that gets the disappointments out of the way so we can move onto the good stuff.

The early part of the year saw the release of 'English Oceans' by the Drive-By Truckers. As I asked at the time, have they ever released a duff record? OK this may not be quite up there with their finest work but it is good to see Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley equally sharing the songwriting credits again. For some time it looked as though it might make it into my top slot.

The album 'Benji' by Mark Kozelek who operates under the moniker Sun Kil Moon was another early contender. Pitchfork were even daring enough to declare it one of the best albums of the decade so far. Heavy praise indeed! The subject matter of the album tends to be mortality so there are a few deaths to deal with but there is humour in there also. All in all it is a very fine album though fans of Sun Kil Moon don't need me to tell them that.

I was impressed with the return to form of Jack Bruce with his album 'Silver Rails' on which he was supported by several family members and friends. It was almost as if Jack was saying his goodbye and although he sounded strong on the album itself I watched a documentary about the making of the album and I thought he looked vary frail. Of course as we now know, he did not have long left with us which makes this album all the more poignant.

Another elder statesman, Leonard Cohen also returned with another fine album 'Popular Problems'. Full of bluesy themes and witty lyrics, the album carries on from where 'Old Ideas' left off which isn't a bad thing.  

Two British bands that are forging quite a reputation in the melodic jazz style are the Neil Cowley Trio and Gogo Penguin, Their respective 2014 albums, 'Touch & Flee' and 'V2.0' were very much on my playlist in a year when I have been absorbing myself in an awful lot of jazz music both old and new. Of course Ginger Baker also produced a very jazz influenced album this year with 'Why'.

I have already commented on the releases from Lucinda Williams, Jack White, Jolie Holland, Royal Blood, Robert Plant, Pere Ubu, Opeth, Ryan Adams and Anais Mitchell. Clicking any of these links will take you to my original thoughts.
They are all very enjoyable albums but you may be surprised to hear that none have made it into my own personal top 3 this year.

To find out what has, I suggest you check back here in the next few days.


 

Jack White - Lazaretto

'I got three women, red blonde and brunette'.

So sings Jack White at the start of his latest album, on an uptempo re-write of Blind Willie McTell's 'Three Women Blues'. It may not be politically correct but it sure is a lot of fun.

For the remainder of the album, White sticks to self penned songs though I understand that he raided some notebooks and diaries from his teenage years for lyrical ideas. Whatever the source of the songs, White has again produced a widely varied album utilising a veritable host of musicians and singers. The title track begins with a stop-start hip-hop rhythm, then becomes a rock song complete with squealing guitar and finally we hear a brief snatch of jazz-rock fusion violin. 

And this trend continues for the remainder of the album.

'Temporary Ground' is pure country - and totally gorgeous to boot - while the instrumental 'High Ball Stepper' is almost Gothic. 'Just One Drink' is rocky with White sounding very much like an early 70's version of Mick Jagger yet the following 'Alone in My Home' bounces along nicely to some barroom piano, the verses linked by a strummed ukulele break.

On first hearing, I felt that having ditched his usual style of recording quickly and relying on more sparse arrangements, White had overdone things on this album and it all sounded a little bit self indulgent. Also I scorned some of the lyrics. Whether they came from his teenage notebooks or not, I winced when I heard him sing

"You drink water, I drink gasoline". (This being a slight rewrite of Tommy Johnson's classic line)
"Once of us is happy, one of us is mean. 
I love you but honey why don't you love me?"

Or, "Birds of a feather may lay together, but the uglier one is always under the gun."

However, I am coming around to the complex arrangements if not some of the lyrics and I am now convinced that this album is a one which will grow richer through repeated listening. Whatever else you may think of Jack White, he is certainly prepared to take risks and with 'Lazaretto' I believe the gamble has paid off.

Incidentally, I have learnt that 'Lazaretto' is Italian for leper hospital. 

Who says that rock music is not educational?

Box Sets #9 - The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records

I feel that I am doing this package something of an injustice to call it merely a 'box set'.

Billed in the publicity material as a 'cabinet of wonder', this must surely be the most elaborate and dare I say beautiful package ever assembled for the purpose of bringing music into our homes.

Jack White's Third Man Records and John Fahey's Revenant Records have teamed together to bring us volume one of 'The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records' and in so doing, they have created a truly wonderful limited edition set. First there is the cabinet itself which is manufactured from quarter-sawn oak and which replicates the cabinets which once housed phonograph record players. All very appropriate considering how Paramount actually began as a furniture company manufacturing these very same items for other recording companies. The cabinet is lined with lush velvet upholstery with sections housing each of the splendid contents. These include six long playing records on burled chestnut coloured vinyl which themselves are set within a laser etched, white birch folio. Then there are two books. One is a 360 page field guide containing fascinating portraits of the artists and a full catalogue of Paramount record releases. 



The second is a 250 page clothbound hard-cover art book. Finally, what is designed to resemble the metal contraption that held the needle on old phonograph machines, turns out to be a USB stick containing no fewer than 800 tracks by 172 different artists.


Phew!





Of course, the fact that this package is so aesthetically pleasing means that in so many reviews, the actual musical content has been all but overlooked. This is a great shame!

True, we are dealing here with sounds that were produced between 1917 and 1927 and Paramount were infamous for using cheap materials in the production of their recordings. Consequently we are not being treated to hi fidelity sound. Nevertheless the music is vibrant, often energetic and always historically relevant. For this is where modern music began. Included within the styles are blues, jazz, gospel, folk, vaudeville and quirky novelty songs. The artists represented include some well known names such as Ma Rainey, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong and Blind Lemon Jefferson. There are also some whose names I was familiar with but whose music I was not. These include Alberta Hunter, Fletcher Henderson, Ida Cox and Ethel Waters. How glad I am to have discovered them.

Obviously I have not worked my way through all 800 sides yet but of those I have heard, I have been delighted by The Beale Street Sheiks (listen if you can to 'Mr Crumb Don't Like It'), Jack Penewell (listen to his awesome and appropriate slide guitar playing on 'Hen House Blues') and the wonderfully named Jimmy O'Bryants Famous Original Washboard Band.

Congratulations to Third Man and Revenant for having the guts to produce this wonderful package. Also there is Volume Two to look forward to towards the end of 2014. This will cover the remainder of Paramount history from 1927 to 1932 and will I am informed contain music by Charlie Patton, Skip James, Son House and many others.

If you are interested in any of the artists contained in this set and wish to get in touch, then please contact me either through this blog or by email. I look forward to hearing from others who appreciate this 'cabinet of wonder'.

Bye for now.