HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No.6

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile

Courtney and Kurt. Kurt and Courtney. Two spirits could not be more kindred. On Lotta Sea Lice they compliment each other perfectly. The space in their music, the wide expanses, simply allow you to breathe. It takes you away from that tightness in your chest that you feel when you read the news or worry about paying the bills. Music like this makes you remember that you are allowed to escape. You don’t have to be permanently on alert, in a state of perpetual stress. This album is an antidote to the bullshit. Song writers have issues – “what comes first, the chorus or the verse?” questions Kurt on ??? The world’s issues are important but we sometimes need to enter a different mind zone. We can’t save the world and right the wrongs by ourselves, overnight. We need to remember the simple things that we take for granted, like the trees, the ocean, memories of childhood, remembering that we ar allowed to have fun and laugh about nothing in particular. The “woo hoo” on the track Blue Cheese is beautiful and joyous, one of my favourite lyrical moments of the year.

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Continental Breakfast

HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No.7

No.7 – Little Simz – Stillness In Wonderland

Little Simz is a super talented wordsmith, storyteller and vocalist, delivering a razor sharp, spoken word drawl, as she takes us on a journey through her wonderland. With extensive reference to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland throughout Stillness, a foreboding, grime infused Cheshire Cat pops up at regular intervals to comment on Simz’s thoughts, addressing her by her real name Simbi, to offer guidance, “trust in your intuition” he advises at one point. All that is contemporary has a foot planted in the past and musically this album, as well as referencing grime and soul, touches on psychedelia and jazz. You soon come to realise that Little Simz’s wonderland doesn’t have the same means of escape as Alice’s. Hers is a wonderland that is not actually full of many positive excitements at all. There are fleeting moments of light, as seen in Shotgun, with Syd from The Internet lending her vocals but Little Simz is worn down by the end of the album and she throws in the towel on the final track, No More Wonderland, with the words “it’s not real it’s a figment of my imagination…and therefore, I’m out.” She isn’t getting away that easy. Count me in.

Little Simz - Poison Ivy

HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No.8

No. 8 Young Fathers Tape1/Tape 2

Young Fathers are one solid group. They always deliver. This is their third time in the HSD end of year list - a fact they must be very proud of!! Their first album Dead heralded their arrival, then came White Men are Black Men Too, a considerable step up – more political, more experimental, more discordance, issued with greater confidence and production values. Now we have Tape1/Tape2, a double album. Originally released as mixtapes in 2011 and 2012, Tape 1 and Tape 2 largely passed under the radar. They sound raw and fresh as the band were setting out, delivered with defiance, abandon, thought provocation and celebration. The beats crunch, the bass booms and throbs, the vocals are intense. Young Fathers are the natural successors to Massive Attack, bringing the spirit and anger of The Specials. A racially mixed group from Edinburgh, Young Fathers provided several tracks for the Trainspotting 2. It is an obvious and natural fit, for a socially disaffected group of musicians to be lending their music to a socially disaffected group of movie characters. Having heard a new, unreleased track called Lord, less raw, more musical, this trio’s success will go way beyond fiction.

Here is the first track of Tape 1.

Young Fathers - Deadline

HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No 9

No.9

Miles Mosley – Uprising

Miles Mosley is the Jimi Hendrix of the electric double bass, a musical magician conjuring up astounding sounds, his fingers walking, thumb slapping or bow manically caressing the strings. Seeing him perform at the Jazz Café on June 28th was something else – a truly uplifting and powerful experience.

Mosley’s voice, like the music, is raw and rock influenced, with a large slice of soul thrown in for good measure. On stage Miles and his band take it to a whole new level, bouncing off one another like any good jazz band should. His board of effects pedals looks like a circuit from the Mothership itself, coercing and warping the noise emanating from his upright bass.

He is part of a collective of musicians called the West Coast Get Down, which, as he informed us on the night, started as a group of friends from school days, coming together and playing music, developing their styles. Amongst these friends is Kamasi Washington, who arrived at the Jazz Café in time to make an appearance on the final track of the night. These links and connections have evolved and developed to include Kendrick Lamarr, Thundercat and Flying Lotus amongst others. These are talented people and we are lucky to be able to catch them at the height of their powers.

Be blown away by this incredible live rendition of Abraham.

Miles Mosley - Abraham

HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No 10

The Jazz Scene

Number 10 is recognition of London's resurgent jazz scene and three artists and bands in particular:

Jazz drummer and bandleader, Moses Boyd is one of South London's young jazz protagonists and brings his sound straight outta Catford. He won the MOBO award 2017 for best jazz act, to sit alongside the same award from 2015. I saw him drumming as part of the Theon Cross Trio at Pickle Factory at the start of April, alongside saxophonist Nubya Garcia and tuba player, Theon Cross. Who would have guessed the tuba could be so funky!! At the Green Man Festival Moses Boyd Exodus provided the jazzy vibes and it is here that I bought myself a copy of the Binker and Moses album, Journey To The Mountain of Forever, where Moses' syncopation weaves itself around the saxophone loops of Binker Golding. He takes drumming to another level. It is not percussion or background but leads and directs. A really excellent album, available on all formats and Spotify.

Binker & Moses - Trees On Fire

Nubya Garcia was also headlining at that same Pickle Factory evening, as part of the seven member jazz band Nerija, who released their terrific self-titled five track EP. They truly vibe off one another and the EP, available on CD from Bandcamp and Spotify is an accomplished jazz offering as you can see and hear from the video below.

Nerija - The Fisherman

My final jazzy pilgrimage was to see Yussef Kamaal at KOKO in early May. I had already bought myself a copy of their Black Focus album, which brings an electronic and more contemporary jazz sound, with off kilter keys and crashing cymbals. A few days before the gig, the keysman Kamaal Williams and beat master Yussef Dayes went their separate ways and a new drummer stepped into the breach. The gig went ahead and to a packed house, most of the audience were probably unaware of the situation but it would be a shame if the music comes to a halt when it was just setting sail. Perhaps Dayes and Williams could kiss and make up, because they created a very impressive debut, which is available on Spotify and all formats.

Yussef Kamaal - Joint 17