My Favourite Albums of 2011
December 23rd, 2011
Okay, so before we go any further, I have to confess to making a little mistake. A miscalculation shall we say. For previously, where I said that this list consisted of 13 albums, it appears I counted wrong because there are actually 14. Clearly my maths skills aren’t what they used to be. Not that it makes much difference. These are still my favourite albums of 2011. So without further ado, I present to you, in alphabetical order, the 14 albums that stood out for me over the last 12 months.
Filed Under Album Reviews, Music | Show Comments Add a Comment
Not quite my favourite albums of 2011
December 17th, 2011
Well it’s taken me a while but I think I’ve finally narrowed down my favourite albums of 2011 to a selection of 13. As ever, I’ll throw in the caveat that I make no claims for them being ‘the best’. It’s merely a list of the albums that I’ve enjoyed the most this year. Not that I’m going to reveal them just yet. You’ll have to wait a little longer to discover what made the cut I’m afraid. However if you keep reading, you’ll see what didn’t quite make the cut because this post is about 35 albums that were considered for inclusion but which, for one reason or another, didn’t quite make it.
Filed Under Album Reviews, Music | No Comments Add a Comment
I forget that I know
November 14th, 2011
So this morning, I thought I’d share a track from the latest Wilco album with you. For no other reason than I really like this version of ‘Dawned On Me’. In fact, bar one track which I can’t decide on, I really like ‘The Whole Love‘. It’s an album that seems to find the band finding a nice middle ground between the experimentation of their mid period and the crafted songwriting of the last two albums. Bookended by two standout tracks, the album does suffer from a mid section thats seems to drag in comparison to how it starts and ends but in all honesty, that’s a minor quibble on what is a highly enjoyable album. It’s a record that finds Wilco in a comfortable position. While I wouldn’t say they were anywhere near running on auto pilot, you do kind of get the impression that Wilco can knock albums like this out effortlessly. It’s as though they’ve almost become so proficient at what they do that they’ve kind of become a slick songwriting machine.
Filed Under Album Reviews, Music | No Comments Add a Comment
Keep on chasing down that rainbow
November 5th, 2011
So seeing as he’s featured in my most listened artists for the last few weeks, I thought I’d say a little bit more about Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds. Not that I’m under any impression that anything I write will change the opinion you already have. If you hated Oasis, you’re unlikely to have a road to Damascus moment here. While if you liked Oasis, it’s almost certain that you’ll enjoy this record. You see, Noel Gallagher hasn’t exactly reinvented the wheel here. There are no wild shocks, no unexpected musical tangents taken, no dubstep mid eights. What there are however, are 10 good, solidly reliable songs and sometimes, that’s all you need from an album.
Filed Under Album Reviews, Music | No Comments Add a Comment
It’s all slipping through your hands
October 8th, 2011
Despite being a huge fan of Suede, I’ve never really bothered that much with Brett Anderson‘s solo stuff. Which means I’m not best placed to tell you how ‘Black Rainbows‘ fits into that part of his career. What I can tell you, is that it’s a damn fine record, if you can take it on it’s own merits. Despite being touted as a return to the indie rock sound that he’s best known for, I think that’s a tad misleading. Especially considering he’s spent the last year or so playing gigs with a reformed Suede. To me, that statement suggests this album is riding on the coattails of that momentum and you’d be forgiven for expecting a glammed up bunch of arse whipping songs to come careering out of the speaker. What you get instead are 10 bittersweet indie songs that slowly unfurl to reveal an artist no longer trying neither to match up to nor run away from his past.
Filed Under Album Reviews, Music | No Comments Add a Comment