Due to popular request I am listing my albums of the year, that is the ones I have listened to extensively. This is an eclectic list, starting with new albums and then drifting off into reissues or older albums re-discovered. I hope you find something of interest.
Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra: Promises
A truly contemporary chill out album combining electronica, masterful sax playing and gorgeous orchestration. You can hear the six decades of jazz history in the playing of 80 year old Mr Sanders, so relaxed yet so authoritative, I would have liked even more. A unique and wonderful combination of talents, the beauty makes you want to swoon.
Arooj Aftab: Vulture Prince
Another slow burner from this Brooklyn-based Pakistani composer and singer. At times reminiscent of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the singing is peaceful and plangent. There is a an overlying senses of sadness, but it is not cloying or without movement. Many of the lyrics are based on the Ghazal, an Arabic poetic form steeped in loss and longing. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain, says Wikipedia.
Mdou Moctar: Afrique Victime
Burning guitar, as if Hendrix had joined Tinawaren. This is a powerful album to be played loud, packed full of galloping riffs from the Azawagh desert of northern Niger. I had the pleasure of seeing him a few years ago at Cafe Oto, you can see the pics here.
Hedvig Mollestad Trio: Ding Dong. You’re Dead.
The discovery of the year and the gig of the year. Instrumental Rock-Jazz combining the Goth sensibilities of her Norway home and intense guitar shredding. She manages to sound totally original, with a huge vocabulary of psychedelic and jazz riffs, constant excitement. She plays with a huge sense of élan, yet never forgets the atmospherics. This is a proper power trio with bassist Ellen Brekken and drummer Ivar Loe Bjørnstad together in HM3 since 2011. Wow, what a night, as you can see here.
The Coral: Coral Island
A delightful album using spoken word and pop songs to take you on a journey to Coral Island, a seaside resort with ballroom, funfair. pier and a werewolf. The charming story songs seem like a throwback to more melodic times. Of course it all reminds me of my home town Southport, not surprising since they are from Hoylake, just across the Mersey on the Wirral Peninsula.
Olivia Rodrigo: Sour
It’s the popular choice! If you’ve had enough Fiona Apple, Taylor Swift or even Lana del Ray then try this. Yup the kids have been lapping this up and I enjoy the yearning, the swift changes of pace and the vocal gymnastics. Proper pop entertainment from California.
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Raise The Roof
Perhaps not as strong as their classic Raising Sand from 2007, the chemistry is still unique. It is strange to think that the bombastic vocalist of Led Zeppelin has become such a sensitive singer, and paired with the golden tonsils of Alison Krauss, the contrast is often very moving. The odd mixture of country, rockabilly and blues is very relaxing.
Sly & Robbie meet Nils Petter Molvær: Nordub
Well this was released in 2018, but I’m still playing it regularly. It is included here in memoriam to Robbie Shakespeare, who sadly died in December 2021. They were a unique rhythm section, playing on many reggae classics as well as with Serge Gainsbourg, Grace Jones and Bob Dylan to name but three. To find out more about Nils, see my blog.
Max Richter: Voices
A unique album setting readings of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights to music. It is both ghostly and moving and flows along beautifully. As the voices and instruments intermingle a genuine aural landscape is constructed, without being cloying or didactic. In 2021 Max released an instrumental reworking of this album called Voices 2, but I prefer the original – with the voices!
Journeys In Modern Jazz: Britain (1965-1972)
Yes they are still making Jazz compilations in 2021, and this one is very well put together and sounds remarkably contemporary. Several of the tracks would be very hard to source and it’s great to hear them fresh and remastered. Strangely we thought that British jazz lived in the shadow of the real guys in the US of A, this album gives the lie to that, being both funky and adventurous. Big rediscoveries were Don Rendell and Ian Carr, and especially the great closing track by Michael Gibbs. Heavy!
Bob Dylan: Man On The Street
This is a weird one, being a 10 CD package which I presume is a bootleg, or perhaps it is out of copyright. Still it is available on Amazon right now for a mere £22. All these CD’s contain the radio broadcasts, home recordings and live concerts from 1961 to 1965, famous to any bootleg collector. Thus you get the contents of the first ever bootleg, Great White Wonder, as well as his 1961 Carnegie Hall gig and the 1965 BBC recordings. They sure sound better than the versions I have heard over the years and contain many unreleased tracks and hilarious interludes.
Black Gold: The Very Best Of Rotary Connection
This was my soul epiphany of 2021. Of course I knew ‘I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun’ from many raves, but was not aware just how crazy this band was. I thought they were lightweight and not funky enough, but I was coming from the wrong direction. They were a truly psychedelic choral soul band, with an amazing arranger in Charles Stepney and a world class singer in Minnie Ripperton. During the years 1967 to 1971 they took soul music and made it epic with massed choirs and orchestras, covering rock classics from Hendrix, Cream and The Band. They deserve their own church.
Gustav Holst: Choral Works
A recent discovery recorded in 1984 and composed 1908-1912. It was a great solace during the lockdown when singing was outlawed. Most of it is a predominantly female choir with the harpist Osian Ellis and it is very dynamic. My reference point was the work of David Axelrod and albums like Earth Rot, although this is much more ethereal. The singing itself is very rhythmical and builds to powerful climaxes, very satisfying and quite strange.
The Lost Jockey: Professor Slack EP
Another result of lockdown was the digitising of some rare vinyl albums from my vast collection. This 10″ EP was my favourite, recorded in 1982. The Lost Jockey were the British answer to the systems music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich. However they seemed to be much funnier, poppier and funkier to me, and I held out great hopes for them. I was so keen on them I even wrote an article about them (unpublished). Still this EP, full of restlessness despite the pulsing, was as good as it got. Their solitary full album was a disappointment, although several members went on to have very interesting careers with Man Jumping, The Shout and on the ZTT label.
Black Box Recorder: Life Is Unfair
Totally missed this group 20 years ago, although I was aware of Luke Haines, but found him a bit arch. Yet with the addition of Sarah Nixey on sensual and domineering vocals it all seems to work, the irony of the lyrics arrows straight home. They really are the funniest English group ever, the black humour skewering school, motorways, sundays and, in their only hit, the facts of life. This is the 4CD box set of all their albums with a free poster.
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