HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No.4

Moses Sumney – Aromanticism

A dagger cloaked in velvet. On the face of it Moses Sumney’s wonderfully dreamy falsetto takes you to a warm place, a soulful getaway and if you don’t delve deeper that is a fine place to be. On further inspection, you pick up on the lyrics. They are not washed through with hope but carve out a hollow sense of being set adrift, unable to connect, a lack of emotion and inability to feel. It is a comment on our times and the shallowness of the digital age in which we are living, hiding behind holiday snaps and how many ‘likes’ you have accrued, or ‘friends’ you have collected. This may sound like a major turn off but Aromanticism is a beautiful piece of work, reminiscent in some ways to James Blake and where he can take your mind. When I saw Moses Sumney at Islington Assembly Hall, the sheer height of the man was my first realisation and the second was that a voice so wondrous could come out of his mouth. Music this good and unusual deserves to be supported.

Moses Sumney - Doomed

HSD Top 10 Albums 2017 - No.5

Kelela – Take Me Apart

There is not a bad track on this album. I am no expert on early 90s R&B but it certainly makes me think of Aaliyah and a couple of tracks take me to Solange’s A Seat At The Table from last year. The themes revolve around love, break ups and relationships with a sense of distraction and a touch of foreboding hanging over parts of the album, as if the connection Kelela is seeking, no longer exists. The production is phenomenal, whilst the early 90s was clean, crisp confidence; Take Me Apart has plenty of space in which Kelela’s voice can weave its magic. The soundscapes are subtle, there is a lot happening but Kelela’s voice takes centre stage and is continually at the forefront – a sorceress conjuring the music – the beats, drones, backing vocals and effects, obeying her every command. A voice and talent like this is rare. Catch it while the flame burns brightly.

Kelela - Blue Light

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