Albums of 2013 // 10-1

It may have come very early, but Phosphorescent's 'Muchacho' held off all that followed to take top spot. A journey of an album, led out by the country epic Song For Zula and closed by the swelling incantations of Sun's Arising (A Koan, an Exit). Quiet yet soulfully energised throughout, it's an ambitious statement of a record which defined 2013. Enjoy the fruits of our top 10's labours below.

10. Parquet Courts - 'Light Up Gold'



9. Fuzz - 'Fuzz'



8. Laura Marling - 'Once I Was An Eagle'



7. Savages - 'Savages'



6. James Blake - 'Overgrown'



5. Kwes. - 'Ilp.'





4. White Denim - 'Corsicana Lemonade'





3. John Grant - 'Pale Green Ghosts'





2. Toro Y Moi - 'Anything in Return'





1. Phosphorescent - 'Muchacho'





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Albums of 2013 // 20-11

Into the top 20, and you can tell by the change in the Top of The Pops music that this is getting serious now. This next installment features two albums with roman numerals, Christoper Mintz-Plasse, a three year old stealing the show from her Dad and 10 albums of total excellence.

20. Ghostpoet - 'Some Say I So I Say Light'



19. Kurt Vile - 'Wakin On A Pretty Daze'



18. Jon Hopkins - 'Immunity'



17. Inc. - 'No World'



16. Austra - 'Olympia'



15. Vampire Weekend - 'Modern Vampires of the City'



14. Iceage - 'You're Nothing'



13. Glasser - 'Interiors'



12. Mikal Cronin - 'MCII'



11. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - 'II'



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Albums of 2013 // 30-21

And the countdown continues! This next 10 has a distinctly more British feel, with London Grammar, King Krule, and Public Service Broadcasting all releasing stellar débuts in 2013, accompanied by continued brilliance from Neon Neon, These New Puritans, and a quite beautiful collection of new songs from Bill Ryder-Jones.

30. Neon Neon - 'Praxis Makes Perfect'



29. These New Puritans - 'Field of Reeds'



28. Thee Oh Sees - 'Floating Coffin'



27. Bill Ryder-Jones - 'A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart'



26. London Grammar - 'If You Wait'



25. Public Service Broadcasting - 'Inform - Educate - Entertain'



24. King Krule - '6 Feet Beneath The Moon'



23. Julia Holter - 'Loud City Song'



22. Blood Orange - 'You're Not Good Enough'



21. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - 'Push The Sky Away'



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Albums of 2013 // 40-31

Round two. Things are getting serious. From the precise, hypnotic Juliana Barwick through AM's ever-grander, Brylcreemed pomp and down to the unrelenting Tampa post-punk of Merchandise, this is a seriously strong set not to even have made the top 30.

40. Juliana Barwick - 'Nepenthe'



39. Matthew E. White - 'Big Love'



38. Autre Ne Veut - 'Anxiety'



37. Deptford Goth - 'Life After Defo'



36. Wampire - 'Curiosity'



35. Volcano Choir - 'Repave'



34. Arctic Monkeys - 'AM'



33. Bosnian Rainbows - 'Bosnian Rainbows'



32. Moonface - 'Julia With Blue Jeans On'



31. Merchandise - 'Totale Nite'



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Albums of 2012 // 10-1

And there was only ever going to be one winner for me in 2012. How To Dress Well's record stands apart, taking R&B into divine new places, and for that 'Total Loss' sits proudly at the summit of an incredible top 10.

10. Japandroids - 'Celebration Rock'



9. Grimes - 'Visions'



8. Perfume Genius - 'Put Your Back N 2 It'



7. Frank Ocean - 'channel ORANGE'



6. Death Grips - 'The Money Store'



5. Sharon Van Etten - 'Tramp'



4. Kindness - 'World, You Need A Change Of Mind'



3. Liars - 'WIXIW'





2. Jack White - 'Blunderbuss'





1. How To Dress Well - 'Total Loss'





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Albums of 2012 // 20-11

Into the top 20, from Kendrick Lamar's opus and its Janet Jackson sampling Poetic Justice, via a quartet of Pitchfork Paris standouts through to Angel Olsen's otherworldly modern folk. Oh, and the 30 minute video of Dan Deacon at SXSW below is insanely good. What a guy.

20. Kendrick Lamar - 'good kid, m.A.A.d city'



19. Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland - 'Black Is Beautiful'



18. Breton - 'Other People's Problems'



17. Purity Ring - 'Shrines'



16. John Talabot - 'fin'



15. Dan Deacon - 'America'



14. DIIV - 'Oshin'



13. Gang Colours - 'The Keychain Collection'



12. Tame Impala - 'Lonerism'



11. Angel Olsen - 'Half Way Home'



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King Krule // Rock Bottom

King Krule's self titled debut EP from last year saw him carry the soulful surf melodies of his Zoo Kid days and bulk them out with full band backing and tight melodies.

This latest single Rock Bottom, released in September on Rinse, is further evidence that the combination of Spectrals, 60s rock & roll sound and realist, cockney-punk vocals work a charm. Have a listen below, and to a video sample of his set at Pitchfork fest.

via 405.





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Breton // Corsica Studios, London

Breton
Corsica Studios, London
Wednesday March 28, 2012

There's no place like home. In the world of Spielberg, Disney, Dorothy, Last of the Summer Wine and KFC adverts, we know this to be gospel. Something of the same heartwarming self-assurance affects Breton at Corsica Studios, having in their own words gotten used to playing venues "where nobody knows us" - lending a celebratory air to the evening's entertainment that lacked only a 'Welcome Home Boys' banner and some bunting.

Breton have been steadily collecting column inches over the past 12 months or so for the collaborative audio-visual approach to their craft, one grounded in dark synths and monstrous, post-rock riffs. To date, though, these column inches have largely been in the domain of the bedroom blogger or record floor pamphlet. This packed-out show and the release of their debut LP 'Other People's Problems', however, are the stuff of the nationals.

The brooding intensity of Breton's music tonight could have come across as impenetrable. Edward The Confessor, a stuttering, combative assault, is set to a backdrop montage of urban decline, Roman Rappak's accusatory poetry delivered while stalking the stage. The rest of the band's backing incantations make for an oppressive live experience. Isolating, then, you'd think, if it weren't for the playful mid-song banter and grounding in gaffer tape bass repairs which reflect a genuine exuberance in their performance tonight.



From here, the set really kicks on. In Electrician, Breton have found a powerfully addictive Vek-like hook to accompany the heavy beats, which gets the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd collectively swaying, if not quite dancing. Jostle verges on the type of looped Eurodance you may have heard through Faliraki club toilet doors as you're puking up the last of your Reef, but it soon evolves into a sort of tropical hardcore, with Rappak bent double in his earnest delivery, bringing to mind the ever exuberant Ed MacFarlane in doing so.

The show closes out with a rapid rendition of the rave-rock Episodes, Breton's Hummer, a track which similarly failed to make the debut album cut but makes for a limb-flailingly dangerous live injection. Like Foals, Breton's reputation for cultured craft combined with a frenetic live experience will undoubtedly see them spring from South London - and mean they shouldn't have too many problems playing where nobody knows them in the future.

words: Andy Porter

Breton's debut album Other People's Problems is out now on Fat Cat Records.

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Brown Brogues // Shacklewell Arms

Brown Brogues
Shacklewell Arms, London
Thursday March 1, 2012

I've always had a close affinity with drum / guitar duos. From The White Stripes to Death From Above 1979, from The Kills to Japandroids, there's something pleasingly primal about the simple beatmaker, melody maker combination that slaps you about while making you dance.

So it is with Brown Brogues at Hackney's Shacklewell Arms tonight. Gaffer taped to the nines, Ben Mather perches behind his stripped-down and worse for wear drum kit in a T-shirt that takes longer to read than the band's setlist (for more on that, see here), while Mark Vernon, dressed in black, battered guitar strung up under his chin and a devilish eye peering beneath his fringe, looks in the mood.

As the audience swells inside the blue-and-green-lit underwater cavern of the Shacklewell's back room, the punk groove of 'Wildman' kicks the crowd's hips into gear. Then, 'I Just Don't Know's tale of domestic dispute amid crushing drums sees Ben call for more tape.

Listening to the duo's two-minute blasts of psych garage is akin to feeling the angst striken buzz of early White Stripes tracks like 'Lafayette Blues' or 'Hand Springs', as thumping drums provide the platform for scuzzy lo-fi guitar. There's a charm and lightness in their mid-song discussions though, with Ben's giggle at a missed intro and Mark's howled shouts of "thank you" temporarily alleviating the set's brooding garage.

The dual yelps and lyrical playfulness of early single 'Don't Touch My Hair', followed by the pulsating blues of 'Treet U Beta' close out a fast and frenetic night's work in front of an appreciative crowd, and as the band head out to SXSW, more shows like this will see Alex Turner's favourite band™ their stock rise even further.

words: Andy Porter

Brown Brogues' new single 'Anyone But You' is out now on Italian Beach Babes. The band perform at SXSW later this month.

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The Black Keys // Gold on The Ceiling and Lonely Boy (live)

No one bangs the drums harder than Pat Carney, and no one does gawp-fest solos like Dan Auerbach. These are facts. Check out evidence of both in The Black Keys' two US talk-show appearances below, with a quick intro to Lonely Boy courtesy of Steve Buscemi. Big time now, huh?





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Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti // Koko

A varied selection of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti snaps from their show at Koko, taken for The Fugitive Motel.

Twin Shadow // Scala

Twin Shadow were pop perfection at Scala last week. Here's what I thought in so many words for The Fugitive Motel, followed by more Jamie Harley magic.

Twin Shadow w/ Chad Valley
Scala, London
May 11 2011

The 80s synth-pop revival path is in serious need of a break. The saturation of copyists and bandwagon limpets, filling our ears with ‘new’ music run through an Instagrammatic filter, is beginning to grow mind-numbingly tiresome. Twin Shadow, however, the project of the New York via Dominican Republic raised George Lewis Jr, is defying this trend. Their 2010 debut Forget, a work George describes as “a future lived in past tense”, managed to be both referential and ambitious and led to the band deservedly selling out the Lexington back in January and Scala tonight.

From the punk funk get-go of opener Shooting Holes, it’s clear why the band have quickly built a fervent following, as their live show is immeasurably more raucous than the record. Through the slow burning Tyrant Destroyer into the love-blushed, Orange Juice-d riffs of When We’re Dancing, George lets his inner rock icon loose with stadium sized shreds reminiscent of Prince in their intricate grandeur. Such comparisons are not loosely made: while there’s value in the boisterously macho front man of your Gallagher, the introverted mystery of your Smith, or the sinewy arrogance of Morrison or Gillespie, there’s something even more absorbing in the elegantly composed and sartorially refined presence of a front man at home on stage, and there’s no doubting George is that man tonight.

What’s perhaps most impressive is, far from hiding his vocal under swathes of feedback and reverb, it’s way up in the mix throughout tonight, with new song Circus Is Gone and the R&B touched album highlight Castles in the Snow showcasing George’s David Byrne-like range. After drawing a choral backing out of the crowd on Slow and describing Scala as sounding like it’s full of Americans (“that’s a compliment”, he says), the band sign off with mini-epic album closer Forget, before being hounded back on (George having swapped his blazer for rock mode denim jacket) for a blistering version of At My Heels, the single even Phoenix couldn’t match for pop infectiousness. All in all it’s a pristine return to London, sending me off to book festival tickets based solely on whether Twin Shadow will be there. I suggest you do the same.

Twin Shadow - Castles In The Snow Directed by Jamie Harley from Twin Shadow on Vimeo.

LCD Soundsystem // Madison Square Garden

Arguably the band with the consistently strongest and most inventive output of the last decade, including perhaps the best song in All My Friends, LCD Soundsystem bid a tearful farewell at Madison Square Garden. Joined by Arcade Fire, Reggie Watts and Shit Robot at various points, this 3 hour plus film is just incredible.

Setlist

2:10 Dance Yrself Clean (with “I’m Not In Love” by 10cc intro)
12:40 Drunk Girls
17:09 I Can Change
23:45 Time To Get Away
28:16 Get Innocuous!
35:18 Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
41:45 Too Much Love
46:53 All My Friends
55:30 Tired (with “Heart of the Sunrise” by Yes snippet)
—
Set 2:
45:33 Part One
45:33 Part Two (w/ Reggie Watts)
Sound of Silver
45:33 Part Four
45:33 Part Five (w/ Shit Robot)
45:33 Part Six
Freak Out/Starry Eyes
—
Set 3:
1:54:39 Us v Them
2:04:00 North American Scum (with Arcade Fire)
2:11:45 Bye Bye Bayou (Alan Vega cover)
2:16:30 You Wanted A Hit
2:24:07 Tribulations
2:29:15 Movement
2:33:48 Yeah (Crass Version)
—
Set 4:
2:45:30 Someone Great
2:53:06 Losing My Edge (With “Da Funk” by Daft Punk snippet)
3:03:36 Home
—
Set 5:
3:15:53 All I Want
3:22:18 Jump Into the Fire (Harry Nilsson Cover)
3:30:30 New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down (with “Twin Peaks Theme” by Angelo Badalamenti intro)

via Abeano

Glasser w/ Sampha // XOYO

A belated post of my review of the quite immaculate Glasser at XOYO last month, first posted on The Fugitive Motel.

The high and mighty of London indie are out in force, FORCE, tonight for the presence of LA siren Glasser, AKA Cameron Mesirow. Not one but at least two xx’ers are in attendance, as are members of WHB and The Vaccines, to witness what is perhaps the most innovative and enchanting female voice around.

Due to an unreasonably long queue outside XOYO, we only make it in time for second support Sampha. Thank god we did. A remarkable combination of soul, house and dubstep, sounding like a Jamie xx remix of Billy Ocean, and sure to break as big, if not bigger, than contemporary James Blake.

Arriving on stage in a magnificently improbable dress and Jamiroquai-esque millinery, Mesirow’s onstage presence is surprisingly unassuming. Last year’s album Ring was heralded in best-of lists and sent bloggers into a frenzy, its artfully folkish electronica and tropical rhythms accenting Mesirow’s refined vocal, but would this translate to a live performance?

The opening tribal call to arms of Apply immediately fills the room and answers any doubts with an emphatic yes, with Mesirow seeming most at ease within the music and giggly and shy without. Her voice is impossible to pin down. It has elements of Karen O in the yelps, Bat for Lashes on the soaring Home, with looped vocals producing the effect of a one woman Dirty Projectors. Despite feeling “like Janet Jackson at the Superbowl” after a self inflicted wardrobe malfunction, the pulsing electronica of closer Mirrorage gets wails of approval from the now devoted audience, before an impromptu acapella encore of old English folk song Let No Man Steal Your Thyme is the ultimate pin drop moment, and proof if any more were needed that Glasser is primed to be the Bjork of our generation.

Harlem :: Spectrals // Hoxton Bar & Kitchen

Harlem and Spectrals, two bands that have been immovable on the No Action playlist for months now, on the same bill? You read our mind Hoxton Bar & Kitchen.

Before the fun starts, however, The Lucid Dream made the long trip from Carlisle trudged through the sort of psychedelia that thankfully is not present in recent 90s revivalism. And on this basis it's not likely to be.

Spectrals' set, despite the impassive looks etched across his and his band's faces induced by the sweltering heat, is immaculate from the start. Harnessing the combined charms of Mersey-beat and baroque pop, Spectrals comes over like The Last Shadow Puppets with a lo-fi ethic. The delicate Birthday Kiss gets the room swaying before superb early single Leave Me Be adds some Californian surf to the mix. Throwing in a Milkshakes cover for some teeth-grindingly ragged garage-blues only makes us love him more, while a forthcoming Reading/Leeds slot and supports for Les Savy Fav, Wavves and Here We Go Magic look set to place Spectrals firmly on the radar.

What better way to back up Spectrals than with some balls-out Texan garage? While their tour manager lines up the drinks (whiskys, lagers, strictly no waters) for them to knock down, the band instruct the crowd to "dance around like retards" and crash through Beautiful and Very Smart before Friendly Ghost's opening refrain "I live in a graveyard!" stuns the room into life. The sound is much heavier than comes across on Hippies, particularly prior to the vocalist/drummer switch, with Faces causing the queued up couples front of stage no end of trouble from the burgeoning mosh pit behind. Post switch, South of France and recent single Gay Human Bones get the best reception. While there's no end of garage bands about, Harlem's melodic riffs and boozy drawl set them apart. Check them out below.

The Maccabees feat. Edwyn Collins

Something great, courtesy of the NME tour's final bow of 2010, took place at Brixton Academy. Following a hype-fulfilling, tambourine fuelled performance from NYC's The Drums, a feedback drenched set from The Big Pink and a coming of age performance from a visibly gleeful Bombay Bicycle Club, The Maccabees tore through a frenetic hour of new wave hit after hit after hit.

Orlando Weeks' voice and on stage presence has progressed beyond comprehension since the band's early days and, having picked up a guitar himself, the band's sound is noticeably more physical on Young Lions than their debut's spiky punk shudder of X-Ray. It's the combination of the two that keeps the kids dancing, with full time ring-leader and part-time guitarist Felix White leading the Brixton faithful through a soaring Precious Time before the misanthropic noir drama of No Kind Words highlights the flaws in most of this year's 'Best ofs' in their Maccabees related oversights.

While the encore was inevitably going to feature Wall of Arms highlight Love You Better (which it did, along with the equally inevitable yet no less exhilarating or joyous re-appearance of the other bands), no-one could have predicted Mr Weeks' introduction of new-wave icon and one of the most distinctive voices in British music Edwyn Collins. A thrilling Rip It Up was the cover of choice, with Collins taking centre stage and proving that while his body may be letting him down his charisma and vocals remain as sharp as ever they were. Collaborations are one of the many things The Maccabees do right, but this one was more right than most.

While the much, and often rightly, maligned NME may be in something of a decline, the bands on tonight's bill are definitely on their way to even greater triumphs.



Edwyn in his youthful pomp.