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.


 

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.

Neil Young - A Letter Home

Is Neil Young taking the piss?

Albums of cover songs are all well and good as long as the artist adds something to the original. Much as I admire Patti Smith, I found that listening to her 2007 album, 'Twelve' simply made me want to go back and listen to the original versions of 'Are You Experienced?', 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', 'Gimme Shelter' and Neil Young's 'Helpless'. So on the subject of Neil Young, I report that he has now released his own album of cover versions in which he tackles among others, Gordon Lightfoot's 'Early Morning Rain', Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country', Tim Hardin's 'Reason To Believe and the Bert Jansch song 'Needle Of Death' which inspired his own 'The Needle And The Damage Done'. All great songs I must confess.

However, not only does Young not add anything to the original versions (or the scores of other covers that have been done of these songs), but through the quality of the recording, he actually takes an awful lot away from the enjoyment of hearing them.

Let me jump back to previous posts I have written on the subject of Neil Young pontificating about the quality of modern day digital recording techniques and particularly of compressed music files. So strongly does he feel about this, that he has released his own Pono music player which he claims retains the original sound quality laid down at the recording sessions. 

Yet despite voicing these feelings, for 'A Letter Home', Young has recorded all twelve tracks at Jack White's refurbished 1947 Voice-O-Graph recording booth. Consequently the sound replicates recordings made in that era complete with crackles and clicks. The experience is akin to listening to a very old and worn 78 RPM record. In fact I have some recordings made in the early 1920's that actually sound better!

Please don't misunderstand me as I am not against such sounds in the right context. The music on the 'Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music' and the more recent 'Rise and Fall of Paramount Records'  actually benefits from the authentic early 20th century sound. In my view it just would not sound right any other way. But the songs included in Young's collection have all be recorded elsewhere in fine quality and I really see no need for him to make them sound like something they are not.

Could Neil Young possibly be trying to make a point, or is he just taking the piss?

Here he is performing 'Needle of Death'. You be the judge.

As a postscript I should just add that it is not all bad. One of the songs is the bittersweet 'Changes' which originally appeared in the 1966 album 'Phil Ochs in Concert' and anything that pushes the music of the late Phil Ochs into the limelight is OK by me.

Regarding cover versions, if you do want to hear some well known songs that have been uniquely interpreted, look no further than 'Cover Version' a collection put together by Steven Wilson in which he offers totally new takes on tracks by Prince, Abba, Alanis Morissette, Momus, The Cure and Donovan. Now that's how cover albums should be!

Here  is his version of the Alanis Morissette song 'Thank You'

Beautiful and dare I say better than the original?.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Newcastle Metroradio Arena

I have previously seen Neil Young live on two occasions. Both were different but superb in their own way. As a great performer and with a vast repertoire of songs, I'm not sure this guy can put on a bad show. So, on the day of this concert, I felt my excitement rising as we drew nearer to showtime.

After a couple of refreshing pints in The Trent House, we made our way towards the venue to catch the opening act, Los Lobos who I must confess were superb. Indeed I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a support act as much.

Boffins in white coats quickly cleared the stage and began setting up for the main act. The familiar giant Fender speakers flanked the drum kit and as the huge covers were hoisted into the air, the famous giant microphone was lowered into place. Amid much theatrical gesticulating from the boffins, Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, Frank 'Pedro' Sampedro and Neil Young ambled onto the stage to join the crew in a line as the British national anthem was played. I suspect that this must have been to recognise the fact that this was the first UK date of the current European tour. Then the band launched into 'Love and Only Love'.

The first five songs of the tour have remained constant and so it proved to be in Newcastle so I was looking forward to hearing a 'new' song, 'Hole in the Sky'. And a great song it turned out to be. Young then donned an acoustic guitar to perform 'Comes a Time' followed by Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the Wind'. At the piano he then performed another unreleased song, 'Singer Without a Song'.

If you read this blog regularly, you will know that I am not a huge fan of Young's latest album, 'Psychedelic Pill', so I was pleased to learn that he was only playing three songs from that record. Fortunately these proved to be my favourites from the album. An additional treat was the inclusion of 'Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze' from the 'Re-Ac-Tor' album. Then before we knew it, the band were playing their encore, 'Rockin' in the Free World'.

I know there were some among my group of friends who felt that the band needed to learn how to end a song. Of course they were unfamiliar with the Crazy Horse penchant for taking five minutes or more to close a song with repeated guitar chords and howls of feedback. It's called rock and roll and according to Young, it will never die.

For you completists out there, here is the full setlist.

1. Love and Only Love
2. Powderfinger
3. Psychedelic Pill
4. Walk Like a Giant
5. Hole in the Sky
6. Comes a Time
7. Blowin' in the Wind
8. Singer Without a Song
9. Ramada Inn
10. Cinnamon Girl
11. F*!#in' Up
12. Surfer Joe and Moe the Sleaze
13. Mr Soul
14. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)

15. Rockin' in the Free World.

Books#3 - Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young

Neil Young certainly doesn't like to sit still. Having given up alcohol and drugs, he found himself unable to write songs. So what does he do? He decides to write a book instead.

While this book will be immensely readable to those who are already fans of Neil Young, I'm not sure that it will attract many new followers. This is by no means an autobiography of the man, though we do get insights into his life at various times. There is no clear sequence of events as Young jumps randomly from one era or subject to another in much the way he might while having a conversation. And that's the way the book comes across to me. Very conversational. It's almost as though one can hear Young himself speaking the words on the page.

Subjects which get mentioned are his two sons Zeke and Ben who were both born with cerebral palsy, his relationship with his on-off band Crazy Horse, particularly original member Danny Whitten who died from a drug overdose in 1972, his obsession with cars, model trains and his preoccupation with the quality of recorded music these days. It is in some of these areas that I have slight problems with the book.


For example very early in the book, Young forcefully offers his opinion that the quality of CDs and digital music files such as MP3, are significantly inferior to those provided by analogue recordings on vinyl. He even goes so far as to suggest that up to 95% of the total sound is lost when transferring to other formats. Whether you agree with these statements or not (I feel this may be a subject for a future blog), it is a subject that Young returns to several times during the book. Then of course, we discover the reason why. Young has himself developed a portable system which he claims retains the original quality of the recordings. Originally called Puresound, it has now been renamed as PONO (it rhymes with Ono) and it is intended that his device will be marketed in 2013. So effectively Young is using his book to publicise his own product. Nothing wrong with that I hear you cry, but it is irritating when he returns to the same issue several times within the 500 or so pages.

Notwithstanding that, I have to say that I did find the book enjoyable. I liked the conversational style and the way he writes affectionately about characters who have shared his life but who are no longer with us. He is generous in his praise of the talents of others and acknowledges when he himself might have handled things differently. Easily read in short. manageable chapters, I suspect that this book will be devoured by Neil Young addicts. But don't expect to learn anything new.

Neil Young's Americana - A Revised Opinion

On 11th May I blogged on the subject of hearing the first song released from the forthcoming album 'Americana' by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. Despite my initial apathy towards an album of American folk classics, upon hearing the track 'Oh Susanna', I was suitably impressed and looking forward to the release date early in June.

I have carefully avoided listening to other tracks from the album that have been trickling out via the internet since my original post. It was my decision to wait for the album release and reserve judgement until then, however my curiosity got the better of me and I have the given the album closer 'God Save The Queen' a listen.Young's decision to include this song has caused a certain amount of controversy being our national anthem performed by a Canadian who has lived in the USA for most of his life.



I am as patriotic as the next Englishman but I have never particularly liked our anthem as a song. Frankly it doesn't move me or stir my patriotic juices. (I find 'Land of Hope and Glory' more stirring and 'Jerusalem' more moving). I am not offended or insulted by it being performed by a Canadian and a bunch of American rockers but I was intrigued to hear how they would approach it.

Well the track begins with Young playing the melody on grungy electric guitar over a ponderous (and monotonous) drum beat. Briefly a choir comes in before Young begins singing the familiar words. About half way through, the choir take over singing the melody and so it continues until thankfully the song ends.

In my opinion, it is dreadful!

This is something I have listened to once and never wish to hear again. I ended my last blog on this subject by saying roll on 5th June (the album release date) but after hearing this tosh, I return to my original apathy about the whole project. Roll on the first album of original songs from the reunited Neil Young & Crazy Horse, which I hear is scheduled for later this year.

Neil Young's Americana - First taste

News of the reunion between Neil Young and Crazy Horse was received with a degree of excitement in the White Room, however the revelation that the subsequent album 'Americana' would feature American folk classics such as 'Oh Susanna', 'This Land is Your Land', 'She'll be Coming Round the Mountain' and 'Clementine' made my heart sink somewhat. OK they may well be nice songs, but hardly suited to the clattering, feedback-drenched grunge that we would normally expect from 'The Horse'. I decided I would reserve judgement until I had heard the album but I was not anticipating rushing out to buy it when it is eventually released on June 5th.

Today it came to my attention that 'Oh Susanna' had been released as the first single and was now available to hear online. Curiosity drove me to check it out. It begins with Young's trademark Gibson Les Paul picking out seemingly random notes with the distortion turned to high. Drummer Ralph Molina joins in with a few rolls and fills but no discernible rhythm. This continues for about 50 seconds until eventually they seem to find a groove. It is almost as if the band haven't played together for 16 years (they haven't) and are struggling to get to know each other again. Almost a full minute has passed before we hear the band chanting the song title and then Young's distinctive voice telling us he 'had a dream the other night'.

The verses as written around 1847 by Stephen Foster are still there but appear to be sung in random order. As for the melody, it is hard to relate to the original, or any other version I have heard. This is Neil Young & Crazy Horse treating us to their own unique interpretation. I am not sure what Stephen Foster would have made of this and folk purists might be somewhat put out, but if this track is anything to go by, fans of Neil Young should have no cause for concern. The Horse are back!

Roll on June 5th!