15: Public Service Broadcasting: The Race For Space

Dec 10, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

PSB’s debut in 2013 was an extremely diverting collection, though their technique of laying the sound of old public information and propaganda films over jaunty dance music couldn’t fail to mark them out as almost a borderline novelty act who were unlikely to have much of a career ahead of them. On their second album though they have chosen to focus entirely on the space missions that took place between 1957 and 72, and in doing so have made the unlikely jump to being altogether unique and rather important musical documentarians. It isn’t just the samples of 60s news reports, Kennedy’s speeches and Neil Armstrong interstellar responses that male this album so fantastic though, the music itself is an inspired and affective soundtrack that can call to mind Kraftwerk one minute, Daft Punk the next, and The Duratti Column after that. It expertly captures the excitement, tragedy, suspense and downright joy of the space missions and is so richly evocative of the thrill of the time. It makes you deeply excited to hear what they try next, though considering they have now covered up to 1972 I did contact the band and suggest they should next attempt to soundtrack humanity’s next monumental recording: ‘1994’s ‘Wibbling Rivalries‘. The band haven’t replied to my email yet.

‘Fun’ Fact: We haven’t been to the moon since 1972 because as head of NASA Charles Bolden explained ‘It’s fucking shit up there’ and that he ‘can’t be arsed’

Great, ‘musical documentarians’, can you really imagine me dancing to that when I go out to Staley Vegas on Friday? You fool, have you not seen the video to ‘Gagarin‘?

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16: D’Angelo and the Vanguard: Black Messiah

Dec 9, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

Despite the soggy biscuit currently being passed around the media in excitement over the new Adele record, no album released over the past 12 months felt close to being bigger than the third from Michael Archer (how disappointed are you to find out ‘D’Angelo’ isn’t his real name?). D’Angelo’s exploits since the release of his last album ‘Voodoo’ back in in 2000 were already at urban legend status, with sightings of him in the proceeding decade and a half usually limited to mugshots of an overweight and ’emotional’ man on his latest drug, alcohol or solicitation arrest. Nonetheless Archer was planning in secret to release a new album with his new backing band The Vanguards in 2015, only when he saw how the situation playing out in Ferguson, Missouri throughout the end of 2014 sadly mirrored many of his new music’s political themes (‘All we wanted was a chance to talk/ Instead we only got outlined in chalk‘) the album was rush released in December 2014 to become the biggest surprise release since U2 went from door to door lighting bottles of their own farts and smashing them through people’s windows. With such a complex and intriguing back story it would almost be understandable if the actual music was something of an afterthought, but ‘Black Messiah’ has been so fervently and unanimously received as a masterpiece that some people will if anything be shocked and appalled that it placed so low here. D’Angelo is obviously of the opinion that if it ain’t broke then you should absolutely fix it, here he refuses to just settle for his previous rock/R’n’B style and instead touches on many genres in the fruitful way Prince used to, ‘Black Messiah’ is a masterful 56 minutes of controlled disorder and disciplined chaos. Perhaps the true highlights are slightly too sparse, but it’s still brilliant to hear not only a top drawer musician working at the top of their game but also an artist attempting to insert themselves into modern debate and provide soundtrack.

‘Fun’ Fact: The game ‘soggy biscuit’ is actually called ‘limp biscuit’ in America (though without rugby you wonder how often they have the chance to play), hence the band’s name. We should never be allowed to forget just how awful that band were on every level.

It’s a ‘masterpiece’ yet the highlights are ‘sparse’?? It’s all relative old chum, while tracks like ‘Ain’t That Easy‘ stand out explicitly, the ‘lesser’ tracks are still far better than almost anything else you’re likely to hear.

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17: Björk: Vulnicura

Dec 9, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

How much praise does Björk get, really? Even if she was canonised as a saint, even if Wednesdays were officially renamed Björkday in her honour, even if the queen read out her Christmas message wearing the swan dress that Björk wore to the 2001 Oscars, even if it were decreed that your first born child had to be thrown into the Icelandic volcano she lives in so she can feed upon it and give her blessings that the crops shall grow this year, even if we did all that I feel it wouldn’t be enough. Compare the respect and reverence meted out to Keith Richards, where every time he farts in the bath it’s reported as major news and a turning point in music itself, yet Björk- who is legitimately one of the best things ever!!- is looked upon as an elfin oddball who doesn’t do big enough choruses any more. Fuck them all: ‘Vulnicura’ (a portmanteau of the Latin words ‘vulnus’ and ‘cura’, or a ‘cure for wounds’, perhaps as close as Björk gets to a pun) is an absolutely stunning album, perhaps her best latter-day work (i.e.: the best album your Mum’s unlikely to own). For an artist that often deals with multi-layered meanings and interpretations, ‘Vulnicura’ is often disarmingly frank, despite the complex arrangements this is probably Björk’s most simple and nakedly emotional record- a break up album?? It works as a great companion piece to Sharon van Etton’s wondrous ‘Are We There’ album from last year, but while that record deals with the overbearing sadness of struggling along with a relationship slowly deteriorating, ‘Vulnicura’ is more of a grand outpouring of the lacerating emotions that commence when a relationship ends, yet is also cautiously optimistic about what the future may hold. It’s an absolutely astonishing piece of work, it’s actually quite awkward to place it on a list alongside albums with track titles like ‘Bang Me Box‘ and ‘Kookseverywhere!!!’

‘Fun’ Fact: Björk was conceived the day Malcolm X was assassinated, you do wonder what kind of things turn people on in Iceland.

I think it’s well established now that I’m generally made of much stronger stuff than you: See if you can survive the 10 minutes of ‘Black Lake‘

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18: Waxahatchee: Ivy Tripp

Dec 9, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 6 Comments

Waxahatchee is such a wonderful reason to be alive. One of the (many, many, many) pleasing aspects of listening to her music is how you can hear her growing with confidence and even ability with each record, this is the sound of an artist who was always great slowly evolving into something spectacular. Katie Crutchfield’s third album as Waxahatchee has a generally ‘bigger’ sound than her previous releases, though it’s hardly ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ and none of Crutchfield’s enchanting and approachable intimacy is lost: each time the album is on Crutchfield is in the very room with you. The lyrics wonderfully capture the slightly apathetic ennui of being in your mid-20s in 2015, while ‘<‘ (yes, that’s actually what it’s called) contains 2015’s best put down with ‘You are less than me and I am nothing’. As brilliant as the album is though, you can’t help but feel that it’s merely a stepping stone to the even more fabulous music Waxahatchee promises to deliver in the future.

‘Fun’ Fact: I love Waxahatchee so much I actually went out and bought this album on CD!!

This is turning into a bit of an awkward Waxahatchee love-fest now, do you want to just take a cheap shot at the Pixies now to lighten the mood somewhat? Good idea: imagine if the Pixies’ comeback album had anything on it half as good as ‘La Loose‘

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19: Hudson Mohawke: Lantern

Dec 9, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

Ross Birchard is a man of many, many talents, but subtly is absolutely not one of them. Hudson Mohawke’s second album is essentially one exhilarating and impassioned 48 minute scream, it has its hands in the air and a whistle in its mouth, chewing his cheeks so hard that blood drips from its mouth as it swears it can see God in the club lights. Listening to ‘Lantern’ (especially on headphones) shakes your brain so comprehensively, so aggressively hyperactively, that the pure milk of your synapses are churned into the most beautiful cheese, yet always with its arm tight around your shoulder as its sweaty lips kiss your cheek. Even quieter (‘quieter’ being extremely loosely used here) songs like ‘Warriors‘ crescend so spectacularly that you’re taken to heaven, while ‘Portrait of Luci‘ initially tricks you into believing you can have a lie down, before you realise you’ve been sold a massive red herring as you’re soon swerved onto your feet again. Perhaps wary that his Kanye West collaborations may have had people pencil him in as a purely hip-hop artist, here Hudson overcompensates thrillingly by dipping his toe into every other genre of music. I’m sorry to use such a tired and cliched phrase, but this kind of fun can’t be legal.

‘Fun’ Fact: Given his birth date, Ross must have been conceived on May 11^th 1985. The date of the Bradford Fire. There’s some freaky parents.

Mate, mate, mate, mate! I love you man, like, I really fucking love you! Come here and give me a hug! I think ‘Scud Books‘ should keep your current feeling going nicely.

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Important Announcement

Dec 8, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ Leave a comment

OK, we’re actually going to kick it up a gear now. While every album so far has been differing levels of quality, ranging from ‘middling’ to ‘absolutely fucking incredible’ (album number 23 being worse than number 22 but slightly better than the one placed at 24, which in turn is a little better than the one placed at 25, do you see? Do you see? Do you see?) they’ve each had at least one tiny problem. From here on in however each and every album is an absolute classic worth each penny you decide to spunk on its face. Yep, there were nineteen masterpieces released in 2015…

20: Lonelady: Hinterland

Dec 8, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 3 Comments

Is Julia Ann Campbell’s merely a pastiche of the greatest achievements of her home town of Manchester?All the moves are here: the songs could fit snugly onto the hypothetical third Joy Division album released in 1981, the production mirrors the best of Martin Hannett, the dark shards of post punk mirroring Manchester’s post-industrial fall-out, I’m pretty sure the catalogue number is FAC502. The main difference is that Lonelady is absolutely good enough to be ranked alongside her biggest influences, rather than a talented tribute act enclosed in bondage by her own reverence. Lonelady’s 2^nd album is simply brilliant, a brisk 9 songs and 47 minutes of infectious and angular new wave, there’s certainly tributes being paid here but they never over weigh the sheer quality of the songs. Manchester has been accused (often justifiably) of being a city far too in thrall to its own legacy, but ‘Hinterland’ shows exactly just how amazing it can be if you tune this worship into precisely the correct direction.

‘Fun’ Fact: The title track is one of the best songs to have ever come out of Manchester. Fact.

Sounds a little too objective to be considered a ‘fact’. Since I’m obviously going to go on and love this artist you may as well recommend another song for me: Absolutely no problem, try ‘Flee‘

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21: Ghostpoet: Shedding Skin

Dec 8, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

As good as Obaro Ejimiwe’s debut album was, his modus operandi of sparse electronica coupled with moody vocals somewhere between rap and spoken word never sounded at all disparate to the dozens of hundreds of millions of British artists who have tried similar tricks since the mid 90s.

What’s that Obaro?

You drank too much last night?

You’re going to do a moody and dark piece about that post-club comedown?

Sure, nobody’s done that before.

Come again Obaro?

Sigh, yes I suppose the big city is a dark and intimidating place sometimes.

Are you sure I can’t get you a bag of crisps or something?

Pretty much the only selling point Ghostpoet had to mark him out was that he wasn’t from Bristol. His second album, however, is a marvellous and largely inspired step into the direction of singularity. While it hardly tears up the book and starts again- it still sounds unmistakably like Obaro’s work- it’s an ambitious step into alt-rock territory that sees Ghostpoet put a band together that gives each of the songs here a weightier kick that was absent on his debut. Upon hearing ‘Shedding Skin’ the influences it brings to mind are no longer Tricky and Massive Attack but TV On the Radio or even Radiohead if Thom Yorke finally gave in to the inevitable and started rapping (which would obviously be the greatest thing ever). It’s astonishing how such moody alt-rock coupled with spoken word generally of the glummest variety can produce music so frequently exhilarating.

‘Fun’ Fact: the brilliant (and titled beyond parody) ‘That Ring Down the Drain Kind of Feeling‘ features Nadine Shah. Nadine hails from Whitburn, also the birth place of both of West Ham’s full backs in the 1923 FA Cup final!

These facts are getting increasingly tenuous: Oh I’m sorry, do you have a problem with this completely free and absolutely insignificant list? Just listen to ‘Be Right Back, Moving House‘ and pretend he’s actually singing ‘I am sitting over here, looking for Beyonce’ like I do.

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22: Hot Chip: Why Make Sense?

Dec 8, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 1 Comment

Little about Hot Chip makes much sense, they have long seemed too bizarre an anomaly to be easily fit into any scene or genre: you just can’t blast out anthems to the dance kids when you look like you could list off your favourite ‘Magic: The Gathering’ card to be played in any one of the top 50 most common gaming scenarios, while you can never truly be accepted by the hipster nerds when your throwing out tunes as banging as ‘Dark Knight‘ or the absolutely stunning ‘Huarache Lights‘ (that opens here and that the album consequently struggles a little to live up to). ‘Why Make Sense’ is almost a mid-life crisis of an album, asking whether it’s actually still normal to just want to pursue fun while approaching middle age, and whether there’s any point in doing so anyway. As the title implies though there’s really little need to over analyse such basic human desires: we’ve had many examples of music that’s referred to as ‘dance music you can’t dance to’, well ‘Why Make Sense’ is dance music you can dance to but made for people who really shouldn’t, yet do it anyway.

‘Fun’ Fact: Huarache lights are trainers I’m far too old to think are unbelievably cool

I wonder if any of these tracks would work perfectly on Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England 90’: Funny you should mention that, because ‘Need You Now‘ has the definite and bewitching stench of Shelley’s Laserdome in Stoke-on-Trent sometime at the turn of the decade.

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23: Carly Rae Jepson: E•MO•TION

Dec 8, 2015 ~ Lex Leeson ~ 4 Comments

‘Call Me Maybe‘ was one of those extraordinarily rare things: a pop song that was absolutely ubiquitous and inescapable and yet not universally hated, perhaps because it’s absolute pop perfection. Following that monster hit can be unnerving, but CRJ’s second album is a triumph of capitalist cynicism: more than two hundred songs were eventually whittled down to the 12 here that some boardroom somewhere decided were absolute best to further the ‘Carly Rae Jepson’ brand (collaborations with guaranteed hit makers such as Max Martin and Jack Antonoff were scrapped). And by God it works! Musically there isn’t a wrong step here, with every song being as perfect as the last (with one exception being slightly more perfect). The only problem lies with Carly herself, who is such a vacuum of personality that it’s near disastrous. What is Carly Rae Jepson? There have been absolutely no hints of any sort of personality behind those gorgeous big eyes (and no Carly, telling The Guardian you ‘spent an entire week vaping’ to get your voice ‘gritty’ for one track absolutely doesn’t count). Recently Katy Perry launched her comeback in a leopard print leotard shouting at tigers in the jungle, Rihanna played up her bad-girl image with ‘Bitch Betta Have My Money‘, Miley was dancing with bunnies and spelling ‘twerk’ out in alphabetti spaghetti, while Carly was… er… Carly was telling Tom Hanks that she really liked him. Even Charli XCX opens a song this year with ‘You have an ugly tattoo and fucking cheap perfume’, but you couldn’t imagine CRJ being even that interesting. ‘E•MO•TION’ is an absolutely amazing album, but if it came over the pub speakers I’d struggle to remember who sang it.

‘Fun’ Fact: Carly Rae Jepson is 30 years old, which is totally age-appropriate for me and it wouldn’t be at all weird if we were to get married and have lots of little babies together. If you’re reading this Carly why not lift that restraining order? Can’t we be adults about this?

Great, 12 tracks that aren’t as good as ‘Call Me Maybe‘, why bother? You’re so cynical! Opener ‘Run Away With Me‘ is at least as amazing as that albatross, as perfect a pop song as you’re likely to hear, it opens the album so impressively that most albums would struggle to follow it.

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