2012. Half time report

So Far this year I havent bought many new albums but have been taking advantage of very low CD used prices on well known websites for cds that i never got around to buying.  I struggle to believe i used to pay £12 plus for  a cd at one point. 

The albums that i would happily reccomend are ..

Lower Dens , Nootropics .  fantastic second album, Good mixture of hypnotic guitar based songs  and dreamy atmospheric tracks . a touch of kraftwerk thrown in for good measure .

Mull Historical Society, City Awakenings,, Indie  Power Pop well written songs , Under heard worth u,tubing his earlier album Loss to get an idea ..

Bjork ,, Biophilia, ( strictly las year  but new to me ) sounds great , quirky , odd , drum and bass bits suddenly apear from no where,, a proper way to annoy the teenagers in the house.

Reissue of the year ,, My Bloody Valentine . Loveless , perfection remastered .. well you probbaly had to be their at the time ,, but if you have never heard this and you want your music to be challenging get a copy of the remaster.you can then decide if it is pretentious nonsense or genious.

and Waiting for ,, Clowns,  Macho Bimbo album  Thomas White , of Brakes , Electric soft parade fame. wiating for this to be released the tracks played on 6 music make this my must buy this year ,,

TWP

I love the first few songs on Nootropics (Brains' is probably my favourite track of the year) but then it runs out of steam for me . Agree re the Kraftwerk references. Their last album (Lower Hand Movement) is similarly inconsistent but really good in parts and worth trying if you have not already. More guitar based.

Bruce

have to agree brains is the stand out track , i actuallly like the way the album slows down  from the initial couple of tracks,, yes i have the first album as well. i heard tom ravenscroft singing its praises and got it without hearing it.. glad i did ..

any other recomendations ? noisy or otherwise ?

TWP

How about Wye Oak: Civilian, and Wild Beasts: Smother?

Both last year and sort of 'arty indie'. The Wild Beasts singer's voice is a bit of an acquired taste but i got there in the end and like it lots now.

You might like the Exitmusic album, lots of reviewers did. I bought it on the strength of those but a thumbs down from me. I'm glad somebody else buys unheard at times too. It forces me out of my comfort zone sometimes I think. NPR All Songs and Pitchforkmedia are good sources for me. I find the BBC music website to be quite comrehensive but generally rather uncritical.

Bruce

Bruce, 

Wild Beasts smother,  a real grower of an album . wasnt sure on the first couple of listens but  put it on my ipod and listened practically nothing else why lazing away on holiday for two weeks.

 I have just ordered Wye Oak  on the strengh of Civilian on you tube , I am also tempted with Exit Music had a quick listen again sounds interesting . Thanks for those.. and to return the favour , have a listen to she keeps bees , Dig on album . again another 6 music recomendation.

TWP

TWP

She Keeps Bees-I'll check that out. What the Forum is for, thanks. Let me know about Wye Oak.

Bruce

JB in a more intimate setting

Bruce, thanks for your pointer on this one

The other set that is getting solid play is the 4-CD collection of the Milcho Leviev / Art Pepper quartet Blues for the Fisherman set from Ronnie Scott's. A quite remarkable bargain from Amazon US when you consider the scarcity of the single CD and the price some sellers are seeking.

Huw

I bought the wild beasts cd on the basis of their performance on Joolz and was a bit disappointed.

It was as if they had not been allowed to use guitars on the album which really gave their live show some balls. Also have to agree that the lead singers voice errs more towards grate than great.

Will look them up at the latitude festival in a few weeks time anyway.

Ray

E.S.T. - 301

Storm Corrosion

Pat Metheny Unity Band

Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

John is back on form with this album.

It was number 1 in the usa for over two weeks,So its not just me that likes it.

Its a double vinyl with CD.

Stu.

Actress - R.I.P

AlunaGeorge - You Know You Like It

Beach House - Bloom

Blondes - Blondes

Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape 2

Evian Christ - Kings And Them

Fort Romeau - Kingdoms

Jam City - Classical Curves

John Talabot - fin

Joy O - Ellipsis

Julia Holter - Ekstasis

Lando Kal - Rhythm Sektion

Lapalux - When You're Gone

Laurel Halo - Quarantine

Lazer Sword - Memory

Locked Groove - Different Paths

Lone - Galaxy Garden

Nina Kraviz - Nina Kraviz

Olafur Arnalds & Nils Frahm - Stare

Peter Broderick - itstartshear

xxyyxx - About You

The Actress album is the best release of 2012 so far. This is not an opinion.

Besides those mentioned, here are some more of 2012's finest...

Rodrigo y Gabriela and C.U.B.A - Area 52 (Rod and Gabe go Latin big band!)

Neil Cowley Trio - The Face of Mount Molehill (English version of EST)

Amadou and Mariam - Folila (More laidback than Dimanche et Blanco or Welcome to Mali, just as good though)

Soulsavers - The Light the Dead See (w David Gahan rather than Mark Lanegan, still fixated on death and Americana)

Grimes - Vision (Witchcore on a par with Balam Acab and oOooO)

Spiritualized - Sweet Heart, Sweet Light (Easily his best since Let It Come Down)

Album of the Year so Far-

Pepe Deluxe - Queen of the Wave

It is probably me, but this year I have been far more interested in the new releases by Hornby, Bachmann, and Helajn model railways than any music.

This indicates three things:

1. I am getting older, and am less open to accepting innovation.

2. My brain has reverted to that of a child.
3. Much of the new music is not interesting.

OK, 1 & 2 may taint your opinion of me, but the third is not something I am alone in hearing, many friends are saying the same. I also know a few people in their twenties who are more interested in Led Zeppelin, The Smiths and Pink Floyd than many current bands (admittedly mostly actors and designers I have worked with).

The only album released this year that has blown me away is the live Steven Wilson one.

The Orbital album was OK, and the latest Mark Kozelek (who I usually 'bang on' about) is a big disappointment. Waiting to see what Underworld's current projects produce.

Mainly I am waiting to see what the Bachmann Blue Pullman and LMS twins, and the Heljan Beyer Garrett are like.

To chief chirpa

As a person who tries to keep up with new music (I listen to radio 6, watch Joolz etc), I was suprised to find I didn't recognise any of the artists you listed.

So I was wondering if they all belonged to a specialist genre of music such as death metal or Albanian  200 bpm dance, for example that I may have missed?

Atb

Ray

jamie

That sounds like ToTP syndrome to me. It goes something like this. When we watched it as kids (I'm 46yrs old) our parents described most of it as rubbish. If ToTP still existed now we'd watch it and go 'most of that is rubbish'. The reason for this is that most of it is, and most of it was too.

Over the years we all recall the classic albums that we come back to and the songs we love. They are the minority of the dross and nonsense released in any given year though, a distillation filtered through the rose-tinted spectacles of time.

I'd guess 80% of the music I buy is new releases not back catalogue. On a day to day basis most new music I read reviews of or listen to does nothing for me, but each year I do end up with say 10 albums that remain on my regular listening list and as I get older the annual hit list tends to come out at about the same number each year. So far my 'essentials of 2012' are perhaps a bit less inspiring but I don't personally see a trend, and I still listen to new stuff that gets me excited.

Bruce

Hi Bruce

I know what you mean, but I tend to think there is a bit more to it than that. Yes seeing the Top of the Pops compilations on BBC 4 prove that there was no pure golden age.

Much of the music I listen to is not from the verse/chorus x2, middle 8, verse/chorus format, which I know is very radio friendly, but mostly leaves me cold.

In my thirties techno came along, and to a lesser degree grunge, I found a great deal of new music I could enjoy. Obviously Brit-pop left me dead.

Since then I have watched shows like Jools Holland, various festivals on TV, and recommendations from the forum, but increasingly I find music seems to be from the above format, and it takes something very special to inspire me with that, and I haven't found that, except perhaps Seasick Steve live.

In the last ten years I have found two artists, and a genre of music that has really inspired me, Mark Kozelek with his rambling gentle songs, Tool with their power and inventiveness and various electronic artists, mostly retro in style.

Sadly despite following various recommendations here, and elsewhere I have not found someone since the above to make me excited about a new album release.

I suspect like in the 80's when rock/popular music mostly moved into a area I found pretty unlistenable, I will start to explore jazz and classical music more.

I've been listening to this...Like the man says, new talent needed all the time. Thanks very much!

I think I may be lucky to have quite broad taste in pop/rock/indie/electronica/folk areas so maybe I can keep coming up with stuff I like.

In a way though I've found it easier to pick new music now. It is easier to find and try out stuff and I get the feeling that genres are more fluid and less 'exclusive'. I'm not actually sure how I found new music as a kid/student. I guess it was because a mate had the album or a record shop browse but I certainly am more up to date now.

I think that I am not the only grumpy old man around.

HAHAHAHA - oh that made me laugh...so true...

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Can you get it in large?

Stu.

http://www.tshirtgrill.com/Fil...etails.aspx?ID=25705

S, M, L, Xl, and 2XL , I think they know their market.

Hi Ray,

You could probably say most of my choices are 'electronic' releases of various kinds, with an emphasis on top notch production - not in a 'hifi' sense, but the sounds, beats - typically 120-140 bpm : ) - and so on. While you might not find (m)any in your local supermarket, they're not exactly obscure, and at least a couple of people here have posted some of them. I expect most will have even have had a write-up in the broadsheets, and you could probably find a review of almost all the rest at somewhere like Resident Advisor. Here's something about Actress: http://www.guardian.co.uk/musi...arren-cunningham-rip

I never listen to 6 Music, though I'd guess Benji B would play at least half of my list on his show; and though I haven't seen ten minutes of Later in the last ten years, I know that Beach House were down to be on it only a few weeks ago - they're getting pretty well known now.

Anyhow, here's a simple acoustic track from Peter Broderick's album, possibly the one album that isn't much like the rest:  http://www.itstartshear.com/everything-i-know/. Just about everyone I know who's heard it loves that one.

Best,

CC

Just my two cents, but  I actually think we are in one of the better periods for music over the past 40-odd years. Like a number of people here, I’m in my late 40’s but I’m continually amazed at the huge variety, amount and scope of stuff being produced these days.  I buy more music from more genres these days than I did 10 years ago (in the interests of full disclosure, a significant proportion is backfill or remasters…Oh and an increase in disposable income is irrelevant for me – no kids, so all income has been disposable for the past 20 years, how else could I afford Naim).

I always look forward to the end of year lists on fora and in the music sites, because there is coverage of so much vital music from artists I’ve either not heard of or who I didn’t know had released anything lately. I've picked up a few albums from this thread alone (Actress, Lower Dens, Wye Oak).

As an example of the variety of music picked up off the radar as it were is stuff like Robyn’s Body Talk which is just superior electro-pop (ie a infinitely more talented version of Lady Gaga), Inch-Time’s the Floating World (sort of Enoesque stuff filtered through a vaguely Japanese soundscape), John Grant’s The Queen of Denmark (Indie music of a superior and light touch), Richmond Fontaine’s the High Country (an alt-country concept album!) And that’s only some examples from 2010 – none of which got any air-time here in Australia. Compare this range to say the late 80’s and you’re really struggling to find any comparable diversity – Not saying there wasn’t good music, just not as much diversity.  

The interweb has enabled knowledge of this diversity of music to be available to more people, but conversely makes it more difficult to filter out ‘good” stuff for your specific tastes, due to no small part to information overload. 

Regards,

Giles