Addressing the Backlog - a long time coming - volume 1

I listened to so much last year that there were a number of albums I never got to. I thought I'd start by running some down in a short-form to save on time for myself and readers. Hopefully you guys see some of your favorites in my collection. I might even hazard a 'best of' list eventually.  

The Bloody Beetroots - Hide - released Septemeber 2013

(Electronic, Dance) Noisy, aggressive, unapologetic and brimming with energy - is a good description of this gonzo dance-metal album, at one hour in length it doesn't hold attention all the way through but in parts or in small doses - it's a lot of fun. This is one of the most memorable of the year if nowhere near perfect - it tosses off genres with reckless abandon and humour - 3/5

Bobby McFerrin - Spirityouall - released April 2013

 

(Gospel, Jazz) Quietly creative and simply beautiful would be two ways to describe this album. McFerrin is singing on spiritual music and standards, he subjects these stuffy old tunes to his wide ranging rubber-voice (sometimes wordlessly) with tasteful accompaniment that allows the subject matter of less importance than the greatness of the songs, which is prefect for a cynical Atheist like myself. His version of 'I Shall be Released' and the ending song 'Rest/Yes, indeed' are magic. 4.5/5

John Legend - Love in the Future - September 2013 

(R'n'B, Soul, Pop)  More electronic and less soul than before but it does this well by wrapping everything with flashy Pop music confections that actually stick. There is a point where Legend's prideful singing starts to irritate but thankfully that only happens on the weaker numbers towards the end of the album, mostly he knocks it out of the park. 4/5

Bonobo - The North Borders - released April 2013

 

(Electronic, Dance, Ambient) Chilled-out and tuneful with a steady but not propulsive beat. The music feels suited to small club shows, or in the background at trendy coffee joints, but has plenty of rewards for headphone listening as it elevates itself over being disposable with an interesting musical palette. Excellent vocalist  choices (Grey Reverend, Erykah Bahdu, Szjerdene, Cornelia) make their appearances the highlights but the ball doesn't get dropped on the instrumental tracks - this disc is worth repeated listens. 4.5/5

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest - released June 2013

(Electronic, Ambient) I have been a fan of Boards of Canada's slightly eerie down-tempo music for a while and this album doesn't sound a hundred miles from their previous work, which is to say, it might not win new fans. Nothing on the disc is truly disappointing but nothing truly exciting is going on either. The mood is colder than before but the highlights like 'Palace Posy', 'Split Infinitives' and 'Nothing is Real' are worthy of a few listens - 3.5/5

Wire - Change Becomes Us - released March 2013

 

(Punk, Post-Punk, Alt-Rock) Aging with fire, Wire have been at it since the late seventies, this is one of their strongest releases. This disc sees them rediscovering and rearranging older unreleased material. The new creations are great! Conflicting, driven and clever-as-hell - hopefully they keep making music for a while yet. 4.5/5

Finally, something else! - (note: this is a bit old)

I have been writing this blog for almost a year (April 2013 was the start) and I have skirted away from writing anything but music reviews. I have listened to more than a years worth of albums though I'm a little behind in writing-up what I thought about all of them while some albums were discarded because I didn't feel anything in particular about the music (The Bronx, I'm looking at you). I had always been reluctant to buy online because I thought it went against the premise of the blog, that of spontaneity and that different stores may hold different gems.

I saw this report on the ABC about vinyl sales in Australia and musicians digging out their favourites. Just imagine, one day, a few years from now, there will be the next generation of musicians doing the same for compact discs and how the physical purchase of the disc is somewhat superior to the purely digital download.

To be honest, there is absolutely nothing I hear on a vinyl recording of a song that I don't hear on the other formats of that same song. I haven't got the nostalgia of those big black discs because I was born too late, audio cassettes were the thing when I was born and they would slowly be phased out for CD. Vinyl has the kind of charming obsolesce that is built into everything these days and might kick-on for a few years yet.

I have bought online, many times, and this method of distribution has more longevity. The CD shops will not cease to be but there influence has been declining and will diminish further over-time.

There may be nothing 'cool' about a digital download and music needs 'cool' things to happen so it can make lots of money in one place but I, for one, believe that is a good thing. Since the advent of MTV in the 1980's (the old kind that showed music videos and not the new version that just shows a certain type of show) meant that musicians has a visual format with which to promote their songs and they could take a visual style to match their music or promote themselves as a style and then sell that to people with musical accompaniment.