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.


 

Jolie Holland - Wine Dark Sea

I was drawn to Jolie Holland initially by the fact that she had been a founder member of the Be Good Tanyas and that she was receiving a good deal of endorsement from non other than Tom Waits. Consequently I bought and enjoyed her debut solo album, 'Catalpa', a low key collection of songs recorded in someone's living room, tapes of which were passed around among friends, before demand grew for an official release. That release came in 2003 and I admit to having heard nothing of her work since. I know! - Shame on me!

'Wine Dark Sea' is the latest album from Ms Holland and things have clearly moved on since that low-fi debut. The country acoustic sound of her first album (and of subsequent works I understand) has now been replaced by a grungier rawness as demonstrated by the distorted electric guitar and thumping bass drum of album opener, 'On And On'. 

Fans were given notice of the change when press releases gave warning that Holland had recruited a host of free jazz musicians who were allowed to express themselves with her compositions. I even recall the music on this album being described as 'melodically adventurous' and immediately made a mental note to seek the album out as soon as it hit the stores.

Had the release not been given such a momentous build-up, I may have been more impressed but because my expectations were raised to unrealistic levels, on first hearing I was somewhat disappointed. Sure there are moments of free form expression on tracks such as 'Dark Days' and 'I Thought It Was The Moon', but I wasn't convinced that they added much to the quality of the songs. 

When a track did come along that was relatively unadorned by such effects the song shone out. Such is the case with the soulful Joe Tex song 'The Love You Save' and  even more so on the following 'All The Love' a gorgeous ballad that reveals that Holland can do soul like the best of them. This soulful feel is then taken further by the honking saxes of the final track, 'Waiting For The Sun'.

Now after several listens I have to conclude that this is actually a very good album indeed and credit has to go to Jolie Holland for trying something different instead of continuing down the same path as many of her contemporaries in the Americana genre. It's just a shame that my initial thoughts were influenced by the pre-release fanfares.  

I now look forward to hearing her future releases, which I intend to receive and listen to with a more open mind.

The album 'Wine Dark Sea' is now available on Anti-Records.
 Here is a taster, the track 'All The Love'.  Enjoy!