1 KATE TEMPEST - EVERYBODY DOWN:
How this album did not win the Mercury Music Award – an accolade that is
supposed to award innovation – god only knows, because innovation doesn’t come
much better than this. Tempest is a playwright and a poet, who performs her
work with unrelenting passion. She was raised to a backdrop of sound systems
and club culture and has woven her writing within a musical web on her first
LP, Everbody Down. The lives of the
three main characters are vividly conjured up by Tempest’s urgent delivery and
driven forward by a captivating drum and bass soundtrack. She has produced
something truly riveting. I love her rhyming and her word play, reflecting the
comic tragic lives of the proud but desperate individuals of whom she speaks. She
was fantastic at Village Underground in November (See HSD November 13th) and I
cannot wait for the play and novel featuring the same characters. Kate Tempest
wins my personal Mercury Music Award, for being brilliant...
Kate Tempest - The Beigeness
2 SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS - GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT
Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings are an absolute joy to behold. What a
storming, passionate and soulful voice, accompanied by one hell of a tight
musical unit. The horns writhe around the drums, which skip away from the
guitar, whilst the girl group backing chimes in beautifully, as every musical element orbits around Miss Jones herself. You have to stand back with a smile on your
face and admire. Which is exactly what I did when the Daptone Soul Revue came
to Shepherd’s Bush Empire in June (See HSD June 29th.) The next best thing to seeing her
live is to listen to her latest album – an absolute winner in every respect...
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Stranger To My Happiness
3 SHARON VAN ETTEN - ARE WE THERE
9 - YOUNG FATHERS - DEAD
3 SHARON VAN ETTEN - ARE WE THERE
From one Sharon to another, this time Van Etten, who has bared her soul
with this beautiful, intimate and personal portrait of a broken relationship. Sound
hard going? Well, the toughest part must have been writing it in the first
place. From fragile and beautifully bleak, to defiant and headstrong, music
like this is precious. It is intimate singer songwriting and Sharon puts
herself on the line. The album is not hard to listen to – it is enthralling –
but the toughest songs to write can indeed be the most rewarding. Miss VE’s
performance at Shepherd’s Bush in April could well be on the cards…
4 NENEH CHERRY - BLANK PROJECT
With her first full-length release for seventeen years, the Four Tet
production on Neneh Cherry’s Blank Project album knits together a musical
tapestry. Binding deep, unnerving textures, to drums and percussion, which have
a live and almost military urgency, a compelling album has been created. She has been
touring the album with Rocket Number 9 and if there are tickets remaining, her
gig in January at the Electric Ballroom could be my first of 2015...
5 - WARPAINT - WARPAINT
I have heard Warpaint described as ‘painfully hip.’ Ouch. I’m too old
for pointless labels. What the Warpaint girls do is paint hypnotic sonic and
vocal textures of the highest order. The basslines of each song grab me every
time, which makes me think that they would be incredible live. I do love a bit
of bass rumble. They played at Field Day and Hammersmith this year, so I missed
the boat on the live front, which means I will playing their fantastic record
and transporting my mind to imaginary, darkened venues, swathed with strobe
lighting and bathed in dry ice...
6 - GREGORY PORTER - LIQUID SPIRIT
I have deemed that Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit album cannot be in the
top five, as it was released in 2013 and so in fact shouldn’t really be here.
It is in my top ten though and I make the rules. The fact that this album passed
me by is shocking, the fact I have discovered it, a god send. I came across Mr.
Porter earlier in the year at a friend’s party, when my mind was blown by the track
1960 What? which is up there as an instant classic, from his earlier LP Water. In September, I was privileged to
see Gregory perform live as part of the i-tunes Festival at the Roundhouse in
Camden. Seeing such an accomplished soul singer, with his exceptional band of jazz
musicians is a memory to treasure. Liquid Spirit is an exquisite
piece of work, in the pure soul mould of Donny Hathaway, which gets better with
each spin. Quality guaranteed...
7 - METRONOMY - LOVE LETTERS
The Metronomy sound is unique, inventive and eccentric. Also, it is extremely
British. I don’t think music like this could be made anywhere else. I loved The English Riviera, the band’s previous
album and when you have taken a record to heart, you need a little time for the
follow up to sink in – to accept it, without thinking of ‘the other one.’
Once the seed was planted, the roots entrenched and little sprouts of joy
bloomed forth, there was no going back and Love
Letters is just as great as its predecessor. From the dancefloor monster of
the title track, with its Michel Ghondry directed video, to the chamber music
intro of the melancholic Monstrous and
the emotive Upsetter, Love Letters is another complete long
player...
8 - FLYING LOTUS - YOU'RE DEAD
This album is utterly bonkers, coming from the deep, dark recesses of
FlyLo’s intensely vivid mind, with the spirit of Sun Ra, George Clinton and
Carl Craig pulsing through its veins. David Lynch should get him to compose the
soundtrack for the new Twin Peaks series. When I listen, I can picture it being
performed in an intimate little jazz venue – somewhere seedy and dimly lit. In
fact Flying Lotus is performing at Brixton Academy in May. I must be listening
with different ears. Maybe it is about the light show, or perhaps it’s about the
drugs you are on – something I am far too old for!! You’re Dead is a fantastic, experimental, future electro, jazz funk
classic and worthy of your ears...
9 - YOUNG FATHERS - DEAD
Youthful, raw, fresh and in your face. Winner of the Mercury Music
Prize, this album shows a lot of promise and innovation. The energy and
production reflects young people just getting up and doing it. If Young Fathers
were a wine I’d say that certain tracks had an aromatic hint of Massive Attack
about them – atmospheric and urgent, with languid spoken word. A band to most
certainly keep an eye on...
10 - GLASS ANIMALS - ZABA
I’m surprised I’ve not heard more about Glass Animals this year because
there are lots of good things happening here. The singer often reminds me of Alt
J’s lead vocalist with his high pitch and slightly whimsical tone. I wish Zaba was named after Pablo Zabaleta, the Man City right back but it apparently comes
from a children’s’ book called The
Zabajaba Jungle by William Steig.
Zaba has an atmospheric, laid back sensibility coupled with emotion, strength,
and is a likeable, interesting album...
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