Radiohead – Kickoff Amnesiac & Kid Alive “ bootlegs picked up at a Record fair for a princely sum of £3 each, haven’t listened to them yet but for that price not much to complain about if the sound quality isn’t up to much. Not my favourite musical period of Radiohead’s but sure there will be something to like.
David Gray – Foundling Fashionable or not, Gray continues to make great music and I am a big fan.
Ben Harper & Relentless 7 I bought this as a digital download when it was released as the CD version was so expensive, it’s a great album with Harper taking his newest band for a test drive at the Montreal Jazz Festival. I managed to get this physical copy for £1.
Phish – Undermind Phish are an American band, affectionately known as a Jam band, that is a band that take their music and once on stage pull it apart and build it back together extending tunes to 20+ plus. This is a studio album which gives you an idea of how the songs started out.
Various – State Of Music Volume One
Great compilation from an great indie label. This is volume one of 5 that will showcase a different band from each state in the USA. The bands are either unsigned or indie bands and this makes for a really fresh record that skips along at a real pace.
The Trews – Hope & Ruin and Acoustic
Great Canadian rock band who I saw live in February picked up these 2 CD’s that complete my collection. Catch them live if you can.
March
Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball
The latest release from the man they call The Boss and boy does he live up to that tag. Amazing statement on the state of the US. His best album in a long time.
Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
I was alerted to this guy last year by @tweggs and what a find, by now I suspect a lot people know about him, brings all the great bits of 70’s soul into 2012. Shades of Bill Withers and Donnie Hathaway for me.
Longpigs – The Sun Is Often Out
Taken me a long time to buy this album that I think I had on cassette and on listening to I can’t understand why it has taken me so long. It still sounds so fresh and urgent as it did in the 90’s. A great great album!
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind) The Crafty Ape
Bought this on a back ofa review and what an amazing record my find of the year so far. Its all a bit mad, and very hard to describe but thats often how I like my music. Now I have to find out how many more albums they have released!
Think I have been very restrained over the last couple of months I have have been trying to listen to the backlog of unplayed albums but the list is getting longer, I can't see April being a quiet month!
Kate Bush – Director’s Cut Rework of some of Kate’s back catalogue, as she believes they should have been recorded.
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine Short but beautiful album that leaves you wanting more when you listen to it. Which is always a good thing.
Dakota Suite – This River Only Brings Poison One of my favourite bands that have been making beautiful music unnoticed for years. Last year they appeared to release a number of albums so a lot catching up for me to do.
The Big Dish – Swimmer I real gem from 1986 I loved this band and was lucky enough to catch them live earlier this month. Their first gig in 21 years.
Talk Talk – History Revisited This album was originally withdrawn at the assistance of the band who didn’t agree to its release. In the 80’s the 12’ single was at its most popular and this reflects the best of Talk Talk’s back catalogue remixed by guest DJ’s.
Explosions In The Sky – The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place and Take Care, Take Care, Take Care Only discovered this band as I wanted to go and see the support band on a recent live date. Texas instrumental band that fall into the post rock category. Very like Mogwai.
White Denim – D These guys released 2 albums last year both to critical acclaim.
My Morning Jacket – Circuital Another great album from last year, got a 2 CD edition for £5 in Fopp Glasgow the 1 CD version was £7!!
Joan As A Police Woman – The Deep Field Been meaning to get into this artist for a while a bargain a Fopp means I can now have a listen
Wilco – Kicking Television Live In Chicago Only Wilco album I don’t have and as it’s a double live album how could I not buy it. Great live band and great reviews means I’m really looking forward to this album.
Driver By Truckers – Go –Go Boots Always loved Drive By Truckers and it appears that they are becoming more and more popular as years go by.
Iron And Wine – Around The Well Double album of rarities and hard to find tracks by another band on the up. Classic chilled Americana is what you get.
The second half of the year started with Eels at Newcastle Academy. Another first for me and they didn’t disappoint. They looked the part, suited booted and wearing shades and cooked up a storm. A stunning version of Sly and The Family Stones Hot Fun In The Summertime seemed perfect for a balmy July evening.
The following night I was across the river Tyne to see Bright Eyes at The Sage Gateshead. They were supported by Jenny & Johnny who with Sleepingdog might just take the award for the best support act of 2011. Bright Eyes or Conor Oberst were brilliant, I was expecting a dark couple of hours what I got was a gut really confident in his own abilities playing with the crowd and pushing the band to the limit. Amazing and unexpected.
So then on to my Birthday. Part of the Americana Festival at The Sage Gateshead Lyle Lovett was booked to play on the 24th July. I say booked to play as I have had tickets to see Lovett twice before and both times he has cancelled so I wasn’t building my hopes up. Well he did turn up this time and I’m glad he did. Although billed as an acoustic show he still brought an 8 piece band and made my wish he hadn’t cancelled the other 2 shows, cool and confident he delivered a great set, and stories in between songs that just made you want the night to go on and on.
Next up were The Low Anthem and my second visit to Gateshead Old Town Hall. They didn’t come on until 10pm and only played for an hour but want we did get was wonderful. Some very old instruments and an amazing trick with 2 mobile phones made this a great night. I the pub beforehand I was commenting on some weirdly dressed guys having a meal next to us. I realised when the band came on that weird looking bunch were actually the band!!
Next up was my first of 2 trips to Edinburgh, this time to see The National. The Corn Exchange is a nice sized venue and I had been excited about seeing The National for the first time. A great crowd were delivered a great performance from the band, which are at the moment on top of their game. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks played without any microphones was amazing and a moment when the singer put his head through the ceiling had to be seen to be understood!
Back on home ground to see David Ford opened my account for September. My third fail of the year as I have seen Ford on a number of times before. He never disappoints and assisted by Velvet Hands Arnold and Piss Whisky 1 hour 40 minutes skipped by. A class act live.
Next up in September is a new venue in Newcastle for me The Hoochie Coochie Bar. I luxury bar that appears to be trying to make a name for itself bringing in 80’s soul artists (think Omar, Brand New Heavies etc) Although most of the artists are not to my taste, Skip McDonald caught my eye. Skip played guitar most of the Grand Master Flash huge hits of the 80’s but I know him as the main man behind Little Axe a amazing Blues Fusion band, mixing blues with drum beats loops and elements on dup to make an amazing sound, so the opportunity to see this guy up close and personal cannot be missed.....or so I thought! Playing on his own with a loop he played just over an hour of rambling songs that didn’t seem to have much structure and at points even made up. There were some beautiful moments of clarity which hinted of what might have been but overall it was a disappointment.
My 4th and final fail of the year as I turned up to see Danny and The Champions of The World. I have lost track of how many times I have seen Danny Wilson (the man behind The Champs) whether with Grand Drive, solo or with The Champs and he never fails to deliver. With a full band he rattled through most of the new Hearts and Arrows album and still held the audience in the palm of his hand. Danny wears his influences of Springsteen and Tom Petty on his sleeve and fans of these artists could do worse than look Danny and The champs up.
October turned out to be a busy month starting with Bombay Bicycle Club at Newcastle Academy. 3 albums in this band grow and grow. They arrived with a confident air and delivered a high energy set culled from all 3 albums. No Leaving Blues which was a disappointment to me, but to be honest it wouldn’t have fitted into tonight set. This band are on the ascendancy and will be playing much bigger venues than this very soon.
The next night I turned up at The Cluny 2 to see one of my favourite artists Karima Francis if you follow me on Twitter you’ll know how much I like this girl, she has an amazing voice that deserves to be heard by a bigger audience. Although I have seen Karima before it was part of a festival so I don’t count this as a fail. We were treated to an amazing night in a tiny venue (maybe a 100 people) where most of the audience knew most of the words. A proud moment came prior to the last song of the night when Karima asked whether I was at the gig, and thanked me for all the promotion I do for her on Twitter! Never had a shout out at a gig before!
So 4 nights later I turned up at Newcastle Riverside (another new venue for me) to see Benjamin Francis Leftwich, I was expecting a lot as the media had made a massive fuss about BFL so I was somewhat disappointed to get 40 minutes of lukewarm songs and a fairly poor cover of Springsteen’s Highway Patrolman. The crowd went mad which amazed me but could only make me think how fickle the music industry is after seeing Karima a few days before a far better artist who so few people know about.
So on to maybe my most anticipated gig of the year. Bon Iver in Edinburgh. The venue Usher Hall was amazing and although our seats were virtually on the ceiling (I kid you not) the gig was simply amazing. The audience was incredible the performance was spellbinding. There were some amazing moments and the ovation the band they got at the end had to been seen to be believed. Awesome.
So my last gig of October and I head Newcastle City Hall for what will be my most emotional gig of the year. Glen Campbell is touring for the final time as he is now suffering with Alziemers so I couldn’t miss the last opportunity to hear Wichita Lineman sung by the man who made it famous. The support Instant People who are made up of 3 of Campbell’s siblings were brilliant and then acted as Glen’s band. I can’t pretend that this will go down as one of Campbell’s best live performances but nobody was complaining. At times he was a little confused and his guitar playing was painful at times but Galveston, Southern Nights, Rhinestone Cowboy and the wonderful Wichita Lineman were dispatched beautifully and the material from the new album Ghost On The Canvas proved that Campbell still has something to offer. A special night.
November started with Lanterns On The Lake a North East band on the rise. A sold out Sage (Hall 2) were treat to an amazing performance as their debut album Gracious Tide, Take Me Home in its entirety. Stand out tracks for me If I’ve Been Unkind and Kingdom were spellbinding. Watch out for these guys in 2012 it could be their year.
I was really looking forward to seeing Turin Brakes a band I have loved since The Optimist album but have never bothered to see live, so it’s with a deep sign that I say something was missing from this gig. Maybe it was me as others that were there really enjoyed it. There was something missing for me, the band seemed to rattle through The Optimist Album (yes it was one of those tours) and then returned for an encore of other ‘hits’. An ok gig nothing wrong with it but not what I was hoping for.
December opened with a trip to Manchester to see Swedish shoe gazers I Break Horses, a meet up with Twitter buddies, Phil, Kirstan and Justine made this trip all the sweeter. The gig was great (at The Soup Kitchen) for a band that seemed confident and assured even though their debut album has just been released.
So my last gig of the year Aloe Blacc at Newcastle Academy, it started badly for me when in noticed that Aloe would be coming to the merch desk after the gig (this is a good thing) however it would cost £10 for a photo and an autograph! The support was a young Australian girl dancing to the music of a DJ, poor doesn’t describe this. So I was needing Aloe to pull this night back with a greatest performance and unfortunately it didn’t happen. The band tried too hard and really were not that tight and the whole thing just didn’t work for me. I left early before he had even sang I Need A Dollar and my final gig of the year was over.....
Aloe Blacc should have been my last gig of the year I had a ticket to see Malcolm Middleton but sadly forgot so missed it.
As Noddy Holder says, It's Christmas and therefore it's been a busy month for music purchases so here goes.....
Pearl Jam - Live On Ten Legs latest live instalment from Seattle’s finest. Includes them covering P.I.L‘s Public Image.
Smith & Burrows – Funny Looking Angels Can’t decide if this is a Christmas album or a Winter Album I don’t really care, what I know is it is brilliant. A great collaboration.
She and Him – A Very She and Him Christmas Lovely slightly off kilter Christmas album. Full of reworks of classic Christmas tunes.
Tom Waits – Original Album Series Always felt a bit guilty about not knowing enough about Tom Waits, this box set packages his first 5 albums together, Closing Time, The Heart Of Saturday Night, Nighthawks At The Diner, Small Change and Foreign Affairs. Should be able to decide whether I like Mr Waits or not by the time I have listened to them.
Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun & () Final couple of albums to complete my collection, making me realise that pre Takk Sigur Ros might just have been better than post Takk Sigur Ros.
David Sylvian – Sleepwalkers – Alchemy An Index of Possibilities – Darshan (with Robert Fripp) Picking up older Sylvian stuff when it’s cheap and one of his newer albums in preparation of seeing him perform in Manchester next April.
Dakota Suite – The Side of Her Inexhaustible Heart & The Hearts Of Empty 2 recent releases from one of my favourite bands/artists. As always beautiful stuff that makes the heart weep. More people should know this music.
The National – The National filling the final gap in this bands collection sure it will be as good as all the others.
Stiff Little Fingers – Inflammable Material Really important punk album from 1979, reflecting on the troubles in Northern Ireland, songs like, Barbed Wire Love, Wasted Life, Johnny Was and Suspect Device are very honest accounts of life in Northern Ireland in the 70’s. SLF are sadly overlooked when we talk about classic punk bands but for me they were up there with the Pistols and The Clash.
Admiral Fallow – Boots Met My Face Found these guys via Twitter and the ever knowing @aldowonkenowbi I know nothing about them but I like what I hear.
The Leisure Society – Into The Murky Water another recommendation from Aldo, this version of the album comes with an extra CD of the band doing cover versions.
Phillip Selway – Familial finally caught up with debut release from the Radiohead drummer. I was impressed when I saw him support Wilco earlier this year, looking forward to hearing the album.
Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know Latest offering from the girl that can do no wrong at the moment, if it’s anything like the last 2 albums I will like a lot.
Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit One to watch in 2012 this album sounds like California in the 1970’s brought into 2011. Brilliant, hoping to catch him live in 2012.
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo know nothing about this artist other than all the magazines had it in their top 50 albums 2011 so took a punt on it, he’s hoping it’s as good as the critics say.
The Darkness – Permission To Land Publically lambasted (he called me a twat) on Twitter by #Masterpieces picker @riggerthegeek for saying I could never get past the comedy of this band, I thought I’d give it another go (well it was £1 in Poundland). Suspect I’ll still be a twat after I have listened to it again but maybe I’ll be surprised!.
So there you go I think 170 albums bought this year, and a list of about another 170 I want. See you in 2012.
At the beginning of December I started pulling out the Christmas CD’s from my collection and was a little bit shocked to realise how many I had, if you include the 5 that make up Sufjan Steven’s Songs For Christmas box set I have 24 in total, however I don’t have a single CD that contains, songs by Band Aid, Slade, Wizard and the likes, not that I don’t like these songs, but I can hear them in any number of places in December.
I thought as some of my CD’s are a little abstract I’d write a few comments about each one in case anybody fancied trying something a little bit different for next Christmas.
A Very Special Christmas Volumes 1, 2 & 3.
Volume 1
These are compilation albums raising money for charity made up of various artists covering Christmas classics and some new original festive songs. Volume 1 released in 1987 is the strongest with songs from Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna, Bon Jovi amongst the 15 tracks. Highlights for me, Springsteen covering Merry Christmas Baby, John Mellencamp singing I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and Run DMC Christmas in Hollis and the worst, Madonna’s Santa Baby, Stings Gabriel’s Message and Bon Jovi’sBack Door Santa, which is all dodgy lyrics about ‘coming once a year’ etc.
Mark 7/10
Volume 2
19 tracks this year (1992) and again it includes some great tracks and some real duds. The collection starts to get a real R ‘n’B feel with Run DMC, Boyz II Men and Tevin Campbell making appearances. Treats for me are Tom Petty & Sinead O’Connor (I Believe in You) and the sublime duet between Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown (Merry Christmas Baby). The tracks I skip Michael Bolton (White Christmas) Debbie Gibson (Sleigh Ride) and Extreme (Christmas Time Again)
Mark 5/10
Volume 3
The last volume I have although the last time I looked there was another 2 volumes. This was release in 1997 and again the artists reflect the changing times in the musical landscapes, with appearances from Sheryl Crow, The Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt, and the Christmas All Stars which includes Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg and Rev Run.
My favourites on this album are Hottie and The Blowfish (The Christmas Song) Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds (Christmas Song) which is responsible for igniting my Dave Matthews obsession, and Jonny Lang (Santa Claus Is Back in Town) and the duffers, Patti Smith’s version of We Three Kings, Enya (Silent Night) and Chris Cornell murdering Ave Maria.
Mark 7/10
Christmas Blues CD’s
I have 3 of these, all compilation 2 released by Blues Labels, Bullseye Blues Christmas and Black Top Records Blues, Mistletoe and Santa’s Little Helper (who appears from the CD cover to be a scantily clad young women in a red Santa’s outfit!) These are good quality blues CD’s mostly offering original blues tunes with a Christmas theme. Tiles include Poor Man’s X-Mas, Lonesome Christmas and Young Girls Drive Me Wild at Christmas!
Marks (both) 6/10
The 3rd album is called Blue Xmas and is entirely instrumental, it has an amazing line- up of artists including Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Roy Rogers but the album is terrible, classic Christmas tunes with the vocals picked out by solo guitar playing which is just dull and is heading to the charity shop in the New Year.
Mark 1/10
Soul and Gospel Christmas CD’s
A Christmas Gift For You from Phil Spector nothing to say about this Cd other than the greatest Christmas CD ever recorded, if you don’t have it go get it now!
Mark 10/10
James Brown – Funky Christmas better than I remembered this is mostly classic Brown funk workouts with a Christmas theme, it goes on a bit (17 tracks) but if you little James Brown you’ll like this and it gives you a chance to play some funk on Christmas Day.
Mark 6/10
A Christmas Present From Motown Volume 1 A bit hit and miss even though all the classic Motown artists are there, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, etc. It’s good but not great and again suffers from being over long, Spector’s Album is 33 minutes long this has 19 tracks and would make a great 10 track album!
Mark 5/10
The Blind Boys of Alabama – Go tell It on the Mountain classic Christmas tracks supplemented by song great artists, Tom Waits, Michael Franti, Mavis Staples, Aaron Neville and Solomon Burke make this my second must have album. Brilliant from start to finish.
Mark 9/10
The Others
Brian Setzer Orchestra – Boogie Woogie Christmas ex stray Cat now plying his trade with a more traditional rock and roll style, hits us with swing versions of Jingle Bells and Blue Christmas and also has a go at Classical Music (The Nutcracker Suite) but this album promises much and then kind of runs out of ideas.
Mark 5/10
Various Artists – Where Will You be Christmas Day Recordings From 1917-1959
Great if not the most festive of compilations with titles like Christmas In Jail – Ain’t That A Pain, and Christmas Morning The Rum Had Me Yawning gives you an idea of where this album is coming from but a fascinating delve into American music in the early to mid 1900’s.
Mark 5/10
Leon Redbone – Christmas Island worth buying maybe for the duet with Dr John on Frosty the Snowman but very little else jumps out from this album. Redbone has a style like a lounge singer but the album washes over me, another for the charity bag.
Mark 2/10
Mojo’s Festive Fifteen and Blue Christmas 2 good freebie’s from Mojo Magazine, which have enough good tracks for me to keep both of them, highlights Sharon Jones, (Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects) R.E.M. (Deck theHalls) Ed Harcourt (in The Bleak Mid Winter)
Mark (both) 6/10
Low – Christmas Maybe not one for Christmas Day but an amazing album with Low doing what they do best to classics like Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night whilst writing their own Christmas Classics with Just Like Christmas, Long Way Round The Sea and If You Were Today standing up as brilliant songs that could be played the whole year round. Brilliant.
Mark 10/10
Sufjan Stevens – Songs For Christmas 5 volumes apparently Stevens makes these records every year for his family, drawing the covers and we even get a comic Stevens has drawn for his family. The box set is amazing a mix of Stevens’s originals and classic tracks sprinkled with what Stevens does best. If you like Stevens then get this, if you haven’t heard him before then maybe this is not the Christmas album for you.
Mark 8/10
She & Him – A Very She & Him Christmas Nice take on some classic Christmas songs from the duo that is M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. A really nice Christmas album and a clever take on Baby its Cold Outside with the gender roles being reversed.
Mark 7/10
Smith & Burrows – Funny Looking Angels More of a winter album rather than a Christmas album but brilliant all the same. Tom Smith (Editors) and Andy Burrows (We Are Scientists) turn their hands to some winter themed songs. This has never been off my player this December it’s stunning and I just hope they continue writing together.
Mark 8/10
Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow Definitely a winter album and not a Christmas album, to me at times this sounds like the music of Talk Talk and that can’t be a bad thing for me. Snowed In at Wheeler Street a duet with Elton John is worth the price of the album alone in my opinion. It takes a little while to get into this album but it’s worth persevering with.
