Introduction.
This is a list, added to each week when it suits me, of recommended albums. Each of these albums, in its own way will enrich your life. There may, or may not be a brief commentary by each one, but the music, excellent as it is, speaks for itself. There's a link for each artist, usually to their Bandcamp page or website, just click the album cover. In most cases that's where you can go to purchase your own copy of the album or download the songs you like.
In my view, music enriches our lives, improves our mood and contributes to our inner wellbeing. Some of these albums may not be an especially easy listen and may address the artist's own struggles, but knowing all is not hunky dory with others, even well known others, can be helpful.
The music is an eclectic selection as I have broad tastes, I like them all, but I don't expect others to like all or any. If you listen to an artist you've not listened to before and enjoy, then my job is done.
18thOctober 2023
Caller Unknown by Pihka Is My Name.
The awaited second album by the electronic and highly dance-able Finns. As excellent as the first album and well worth a blast and bop around the kitchen. Do them a favour and buy a download from Bandcamp - https://pihkaismyname.bandcamp.com/
12th September 2023
All of This is Chance by Lisa O'Neill.
24th July 2023
Courtesy
of Jools for putting this band on his show. In another life Grian
Chatten is the front of Fontaines DC but this is a somewhat different
kettle of fish. I like this very much, intelligent, a bit morbid, manic
at times - "Fairlies" even some brass here and there, take a listen it
won't disappoint. https://grianchatten.bandcamp.com/album/chaos-for-the-fly
22nd July 2023
My Back was a Bridge for You to Cross by Anohni and the Johnsons.
Back in the early 2000s a band known as Antony and the Johnsons released two beautiful but very hard to listen to albums. 2005s I am a Bird Now is a thing of great beauty, if lyrically challenging. There were subsequent releases and Antony became Anohni. Anohni and the Johnsons have just released a new album, My Back was a Bridge for You to Cross - there's a review here: https://www.theguardian.com/.../anohni-and-the-johnsons... Lyrically, this is still brilliantly challenging, the song about the death of her friend Lou Reed is extraordinarily perceptive. But that voice is as good, perhaps even better, than ever.
1st July 2023.
Dreamer by Nabihah Iqbal.
Well worth reading the Bandcamp summary here - https://nabihahiqbal.bandcamp.com/album/dreamer and buying the album maybe....
29th March 2023.
Since I left you by The Avalanches.
9th March 2023.
A couple of albums, one obscure(ish) and one very well known and popular. Firstly, the excellent Duval Timothy, his latest album, Meeting With a Judas Tree is much liked by The Guardian, and by me. However, delving back in time, all the way to 2020, I came across an earlier outing, Help, which I recommend. Jazz or jazz influenced, piano with electronica, environmental sounds, voice, this is explorative, interesting music for those quieter, more contemplative occasions. https://duvaltimothy.bandcamp.com/
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| Help by Duval Timothy - https://duvaltimothy.bandcamp.com/ |
Also from 2020, there was quite a fuss when Taylor Swift released "folklore". I listened to it briefly at the time but, it wasn't really my thing. It stuck in the mind though and I played it through several times the other week when decorating. It is a brilliant record and well worth time and attention. Made with The National's Aaron Dessner, another popular band I am partial to listening to quite often, it is a piece of the pandemic's musical story. There is an excellent Wikipedia page about its making that's worth a read.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folklore_(Taylor_Swift_album) |
10th February 2023.
Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz by Waajeed, I've listened to this over and over after Skev recommended it, truly excellent and danceable indeed.
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| https://waajeed.bandcamp.com/album/memoirs-of-hi-tech-jazz |
18th January 2023.
I've been listening to the new album from The Orielles a good bit, Tableau. A bit of a change of direction from their previous indy offerings, cheery little bursts of energy like Sunflower Seeds and Bobbi's Second World. This reminds me a little of The Cocteau Twins. Well worth a listening or five. They're from Halifax if that's any encouragement!
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| The Orielles, Tableau - https://theorielles.bandcamp.com/ |
17th December 2022.
Desire, Bob Dylan, from 1976 and my favourite Dylan. I especially love Scarlet Rivera's fabulous violin playing. The album that kicks off with the campaigning Hurricane, a song about the imprisonment of Ruben Carter for a "crime he never done". In 2019 Martin Scorcese released the film The Rolling Thunder Review, a Bob Dylan story. The film is a pseudo documentary which tells a story and features some great, great live footage from the Review, the real one. The film is available on Netflix, don't miss, it's a treat.
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| Photo - Netflix. |
1st December 2022.
D*Note, the 1997 album, D*Note, breakbeat or future jazz, I don't know, but this is a cool album. Different from the later dance stuff.
23rd November 2022.
Reality, Bill Callahan. The new album, subjects are the wild world, love, horses, a beetle and America. More like some of the earlier albums than some of the more recent, more acoustic outings, wonderful.
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| https://billcallahan.bandcamp.com/album/yti-a |
9th November 2022.
In Colour, Jamie xx. The xx are very well known, but Jamie Smith's solo albums are less straightforward and less well known, well worth a listen.
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| https://jamiexx.bandcamp.com/album/in-colour |
27th October 2022.
Where is Home (Hae Ke Kae), Abel Selaocoe. Not knowing anything of Abel Selaocoe before seeing his performance on Later... this week. I had this album to be something quite different from that which it is. Genre defying, quite, quite wonderful. Words are inadequate, the music speaks for itself. There's a Guardian interview which tells you more about Abel and he has a website, you can google those to find them if you're interested.
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21st October 2022.
Every Valley, Public Service Broadcasting. Not as commercial at the wonderful Race for Space this album is focussed on the Welsh coal mining industry, the 1984 - 1985 strike and the subsequent closure of the pits. The voices are very much those of the miners, despite the danger and hardship, being a miner was an important identity for those who worked underground. The pits were the focus of many communities and the money that the miners earned and the wealth the industry generally generated sustained many communities. During the strike I lived in Newcastle and worked in Sunderland and I spent a good bit of my spare time raising money for the striking miners there, and also working within NALGO (as it was then) with others on the Left to promote their cause. Whilst the breaking of the strike severely damaged the power of trade unions in the UK, destroyed and impoverished communities, largely ended the UK coal industry and damaged the Left, there were positives that arose from the strike. The strike politicised women in the mining communites and in the longer term the huge and rapid reduction in UK coal mining has been a forward step, as coal is an environmentally dirty fuel.
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| https://www.publicservicebroadcasting.net/ |
12th October 2022.
Ali, Vieux Farka Toure and Khruangbin. A tribute to his dad Ali Farka Toure, the legendary Malian blues multi-intrumentalist. As well as being one of the most important African musicians of his generation Ali was a wonderfully generous person and in later life as mayor of his home town Niafunke used his own money to carry out infrastructure projects to make life more comfortable for the local community. Ali died in 2006 of bone cancer (Wikipedia). This album is based on Ali's tunes reinterpreted by Vieux and Khruangbin. Fab stuff, one of the albums of the year.
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| https://www.vieuxfarkatoure.com/ |
... and https://www.khruangbin.com/
5th October 2022.
Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020), Fred Again (Fred Gibson). This was a follow up from a Mercury Prize listing last year, I'd never heard of Fred Again prior to that. This is a Covid 19 album; voices sampled from the internet, and it feels like music recording history, emotionally. I, and younger daughter who tends to listen to the sister album Actual Life 2 (February 2 - October 15 2021), really like these two albums very much indeed. It's popular stuff, but highly original and a musical, historical document (IMHO). "I can't wait to see your face again" - "We're goin' to make it through."
As the enquiry begins into the way the UK handled the Covid pandemic, the albums help to recall the horror of it all. And let's not forget who lined their pockets, and vote to not give the bastards a chance to do that again...
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| https://www.fredagain.com/ |
24th September 2022.
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| https://kojeyradical.online/music/ |
17th September 2022.
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| https://arabstrapband.bandcamp.com/music |
9th September 2022.
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| https://marinaherlop.bandcamp.com/album/pripyat |
30th August 2022.
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| https://toddrundgren.bandcamp.com/ |
25th August 2022.
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| https://floatingpoints.bandcamp.com/ |
Floating Points, Crush.
16th August 2022.
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| http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/ |
Van Der Graph Generator, Godbluff. Whilst Pawn Hearts is their triumph, this is extraordinarily good. Unfortunately current versions seem to have extra tracks tacked on, The Undercover Man, Scorched Earth, Arrow and The Sleepwalkers are all you need. The album feels medieval and there are many references to war, although personally I think this is more about Pete Hammill's war with himself and continues some themes from Pawn Hearts. With the current world situation it is also an album for our times, but released in 1975.
11th August 2022.
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| https://www.bjork.com/ |
2nd August 2022.
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| http://roziplain.co.uk/ |
26th July 2022.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moody_Blues |
The Moody Blues, On the Threshold of a Dream. From 1969, the first album I bought. I've been listening to it again this week, I probably haven't heard it for 25 or 30 years at least. Weirdly I can remember nearly all the words.... Also surprisingly, its rather good.
21st July 2022.
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| https://bicep.bandcamp.com/album/isles |
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| https://annaphoebe.bandcamp.com/ |
Anna Phoebe, Sea Souls. Brand new, beautiful music from Anna Phoebe, also and appropriately, rather good for a ferry trip.
3rd July 2022.
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| https://orchestrabaobab.com/ |
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| https://www.kugonitrio.be/home-1 |
18th June 2022.
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| https://www.buckleyandbutler.com/ |
Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler, For All Our Days That Tear The Heart. I rarely wait in anticipation for a new release these days, but I did for this, exceptional and excellent.
12th June 2022.
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| https://nightmaresonwax.bandcamp.com/album/shout-out-to-freedo |
Nightmares On Wax, Shout Out, To Freedom... Despite the dodgy lyrics on one song where I strongly disagree with the sentiments expressed, someone needs to get real and understand the benefits, this is a much enjoyed recent release.
10th June 2022.
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| https://mykkiblanco.bandcamp.com/album/broken-hearts-beauty-sleep |
Mykki Bianco, Broken Hearts Beauty Sleep. Thanks to the 6Music Festival for this where there was a great live performance.
1st June 2022.
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| https://jamesyorkston.bandcamp.com/album/the-wide-wide-river |
James Yorkston and The Secondhand Orchestra, Wide, Wide River. I saw James recently with a different lineup playing different songs, but I love this tie-up with The Secondhand Orchestra.
24th May 2022.
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| https://hannahpeelmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-unfolding |
Hannah Peel and Paraorchestra, The Unfolding. We attended the Barbican vitually, recently and saw the live performance. Hannah Peel doesn't disappoint and the orchestra were a revelation.
17th May 2022.
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| https://www.pattismith.net/news.html |
Patti Smith, Horses. Groundbreaking at the time of its release (10th November 1975), ground-breaking if it had been released yesterday. Following albums were more commercial, this is raw and from the heart.
5th May 2022.
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| https://smog.bandcamp.com/ |
Smog, A River Ain't Too Much To Love. Bill Callahan now releases music under his own name but in an earlier incarnation he was Smog with Cynthia Dall and Neil Hagerty contributing frequently, if not being actual members of a band (?). This album is my favourite of the Smog era.
1st May 2022.
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| https://www.discogs.com/artist/30725-The-Blackbyrds |
Blackbyrds, Love Byrds, soft & easy. Recommended by elder daughter this is cool stuff.
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