Post by steve on Dec 28, 2013 15:51:26 GMT 1
Here is the unavoidable list thread. Has to be done though.
2013 has been largely bereft of any stand out offerings really. The Arctic Monkeys had a go & were as cr@p as they ever were & Arcade Fire remained firmly stuck up their own jacksies. Don't even start me on that Daft Punk abomination
So what tingled your tweeters this year & why?
My top five as follows.
Eureka Machines. Remain In Hope
A pledge campaign funded album that ticked all the boxes.
Being a Sisters fan, I have always taken an interest in Chris Catalyst’s work with EM & the first 2 albums are so unlike the Sisters it surprised me how much I loved them.
This one is outstanding (& I don’t use the word lightly). I attended the online launch & was in tears before the first track ended. Possibly the most honest album I’ve ever heard. This is a band truly enjoying themselves.
Pure power pop with clever melodies a la Beach Boys & Queen tucked in among more hooks than a fishing tackle factory to grab you & make you want to jump around in glee.
& to top it all, it has been exquisitely engineered so as to bypass all that loudness war bollix. This one you can crank up to 11 & not have all the woodchips rattle out of the wall paper in a bid to escape.
Track to catch: Wish You Were Her.
Savages. Silence Yourself
This is a debut? WTF?? It’s not often that a debut album reaches out of the speakers & grabs you by the throat. I don’t think any debut has done that since The Jesus & Mary Chain’s Psychocandy.
This one takes no prisoners. It’s Siouxsie takes on Joy Division. Add a touch of vintage Bunnymen & the venom of classic Killing Joke & you’re pretty damned close.
Every now & then I lose my faith in new music & then something like this comes along.
Sod the hype. Every second of this album is worth it. It practically screams out to be played & you will not regret doing so. Resist that bass sound. I dare you!
Track to catch: City’s Full
Ulterior. The Bleach Room
I adored Wild In Wildlife even if it was totally different to previous material. It was almost the album the Sisters should have done instead of Vision Thing.
But, as I also learnt after a conversation with the band at one of their shows, it wasn’t really “them”.
The Bleach Room sees the return of the industrial power that we got with Weapons & Fireships. This is Ulterior being Ulterior & the album just unashamedly oozes sleaze at every spin.
This is industrial with all the grease & muck that goes with it. Toss the glow sticks away & stop being an erse. This is a peach of a listen.
Track to catch: In Vitro
The Eden House. Half Life
Third album from this collaborative project & the best yet. I was still reeling from Timeflows when this crept up on me & swept me away.
It is (simply put) dreamy. Imagine All About Eve ganging up with Fields Of The Nephilim & trying to do a Cocteau Twins album. This is the one.
This is prolly the most goffix sounding release of this past year. It reminds me a lot of Treasure in its lush sounds & I would be first in the queue to hear this lot if they managed to get Liz Fraser on board for a couple of choons. There is stuff here that will melt you at fifty paces. Be warned.
Track to catch: Butterflies
The March Violets. Made Glorious
It took its sweet time, but boy was it worth it?
The Violets first “proper” album finally arrived after 3 years on the pledge campaign. Not because of lack of funds, but more down to members being scattered around the globe, t shirt design discussions & various red tape issues with a French pressing plant.
But what emerged was a seventeen track album accompanied by a twelve track remix album.
& as a bonus, no Cleo! Result!!
Si guides us through Ashton’s horror house guitar sounds alongside Rosie with noob Jo (of Berlin Black) & they take us everywhere. Punk staples to pirate sea shanties & a delicious dive into the rework of the vintage goff Dress 4 U. That stands as number two (just behind Grooving In Green) fave Violets track at chez Steve.
The whole album takes me back to when I was 14 & pissing my mum off by colouring & spiking my hair decked out in more buckles than you could shake a (glow) stick at. Don’t expect intricate layers. This is quite paired down & simple. But also deadly.
Track to catch: Dress 4 U
2013 has been largely bereft of any stand out offerings really. The Arctic Monkeys had a go & were as cr@p as they ever were & Arcade Fire remained firmly stuck up their own jacksies. Don't even start me on that Daft Punk abomination
So what tingled your tweeters this year & why?
My top five as follows.
Eureka Machines. Remain In Hope
A pledge campaign funded album that ticked all the boxes.
Being a Sisters fan, I have always taken an interest in Chris Catalyst’s work with EM & the first 2 albums are so unlike the Sisters it surprised me how much I loved them.
This one is outstanding (& I don’t use the word lightly). I attended the online launch & was in tears before the first track ended. Possibly the most honest album I’ve ever heard. This is a band truly enjoying themselves.
Pure power pop with clever melodies a la Beach Boys & Queen tucked in among more hooks than a fishing tackle factory to grab you & make you want to jump around in glee.
& to top it all, it has been exquisitely engineered so as to bypass all that loudness war bollix. This one you can crank up to 11 & not have all the woodchips rattle out of the wall paper in a bid to escape.
Track to catch: Wish You Were Her.
Savages. Silence Yourself
This is a debut? WTF?? It’s not often that a debut album reaches out of the speakers & grabs you by the throat. I don’t think any debut has done that since The Jesus & Mary Chain’s Psychocandy.
This one takes no prisoners. It’s Siouxsie takes on Joy Division. Add a touch of vintage Bunnymen & the venom of classic Killing Joke & you’re pretty damned close.
Every now & then I lose my faith in new music & then something like this comes along.
Sod the hype. Every second of this album is worth it. It practically screams out to be played & you will not regret doing so. Resist that bass sound. I dare you!
Track to catch: City’s Full
Ulterior. The Bleach Room
I adored Wild In Wildlife even if it was totally different to previous material. It was almost the album the Sisters should have done instead of Vision Thing.
But, as I also learnt after a conversation with the band at one of their shows, it wasn’t really “them”.
The Bleach Room sees the return of the industrial power that we got with Weapons & Fireships. This is Ulterior being Ulterior & the album just unashamedly oozes sleaze at every spin.
This is industrial with all the grease & muck that goes with it. Toss the glow sticks away & stop being an erse. This is a peach of a listen.
Track to catch: In Vitro
The Eden House. Half Life
Third album from this collaborative project & the best yet. I was still reeling from Timeflows when this crept up on me & swept me away.
It is (simply put) dreamy. Imagine All About Eve ganging up with Fields Of The Nephilim & trying to do a Cocteau Twins album. This is the one.
This is prolly the most goffix sounding release of this past year. It reminds me a lot of Treasure in its lush sounds & I would be first in the queue to hear this lot if they managed to get Liz Fraser on board for a couple of choons. There is stuff here that will melt you at fifty paces. Be warned.
Track to catch: Butterflies
The March Violets. Made Glorious
It took its sweet time, but boy was it worth it?
The Violets first “proper” album finally arrived after 3 years on the pledge campaign. Not because of lack of funds, but more down to members being scattered around the globe, t shirt design discussions & various red tape issues with a French pressing plant.
But what emerged was a seventeen track album accompanied by a twelve track remix album.
& as a bonus, no Cleo! Result!!
Si guides us through Ashton’s horror house guitar sounds alongside Rosie with noob Jo (of Berlin Black) & they take us everywhere. Punk staples to pirate sea shanties & a delicious dive into the rework of the vintage goff Dress 4 U. That stands as number two (just behind Grooving In Green) fave Violets track at chez Steve.
The whole album takes me back to when I was 14 & pissing my mum off by colouring & spiking my hair decked out in more buckles than you could shake a (glow) stick at. Don’t expect intricate layers. This is quite paired down & simple. But also deadly.
Track to catch: Dress 4 U
yes, how it manages to be all these things at once is beyond me though