Evlkeith's Festive 50 2013 (40-31)

After last night's thrilling instalment of the Festive 50 here are the next ten tracks from 40 to 31:

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Evlkeith's Festive 50 2013 (50-41)

Welcome to my Festive 50 for this year, consisting of my fifty favourite songs of 2013. Rather than the usual text based format I've decided to do something different that I hope you'll enjoy. So for numbers 50 down to 41 click on this handy little YouTube clip:

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Rilo Kiley – More Adventures

If there was any justice or logic in the world, Jenny Lewis would be an international superstar dwarfing the combined achievements of Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera and Adele like the Statue of Liberty staring down at three ceramic garden gnomes. Sadly, this is clearly not the case. But why is it that someone with so much talent, a beautiful voice and stunning good looks should be idolised only in the rarely read pages of obscure music blogs?

 

More Adventures is my fourth foray into the musical universe of Ms. Lewis and the content of the album more or less answers the question. She makes un-commercial, quirky music that sits in neither one genre or another. At times it’s indie, then it’s folkie and now and again it’s country.  The media and the masses hate not being able to categorise an artist, however original and gifted they are. It’s a depressing state of affairs really.

This album is the most upbeat and rocky of its predecessors, but retains the genre blurring, idiosyncratic flavour that is so enticing and alluring. If rock is the predominant style, there’s a fair selection of variety on offer as well. There’s the country-soul crooning of ‘I Never’, the indie ballad of ‘It Just Is’, the pure country of ‘More Adventurous’ and the camp-accoustic ‘The Absence of God.’ Most striking is the profound soft rock of ‘Love and War’ with clashing guitars and Jenny at her most shouty.

 

It’s an unusual and engrossing album, but let’s face facts, it’s never going to appeal to the masses. If you’ve never sampled their work this is probably as good a place to start as any.

 

Electric Guest – This Head I Hold

 

Pick of the Week 45 – Electric Guest

After our success in launching the careers of Gabrielle Aplin and Foxes recently, surely Electric Guest will be the next big hitters on our roster of greatness. Hopefully they’ll be slightly more appreciative than Gabrielle too. Don’t let that squeaky falsetto voice put you off, this is a beast of a song from the LA based indie semi-rockers, and it will soon be entering your subconscious via the speaker system as you walk around Morrisons filling your trolley with wholesome produce. You heard it here first.

 

 

Sufjan Stevens – Come on Feel the Illinoise

Never have I been so sure I would enjoy an album as I was when I purchased this offering from Sufjan Stevens. I’d already heard and enjoyed one of his songs in Evlkeith’s festive fifty a couple of years ago and the whole concept of Sufjan is so camp acoustic, quirky folk and unusual instrumentation that I couldn’t possibly dislike it. Or could I…

It’s far from a terrible album, but I just can’t engage with it. It’s like all the worst self indulgent bits of Bright Eyes mixed with none of passion of Neutral Milk Hotel and without the melodies of Elliot Smith. It’s almost a parody of the camp-acoustic gene and with twenty-two tracks it’s a war of attrition to wade through.

The horns, flutes and banjos are all agreeable enough, the reedy, soft vocals are not offensive and the lyrics are quirky and witty. However there’s an inverse synergy to this collection that leaves you feeling empty and cold. It’s a huge disappointment all round, but I doubt Sufjan will lose any sleep. It’s a struggle to pick a favourite track, but 'Casimir Pulaski Day' is at least low key and mellow and the ‘Seer’s Tower’ is fairly stark and moderately haunting.

Maybe I’m missing something, but Sufjan is not joining the Into the Valley gang. Perhaps that’s a positive thing for him as he may become successful.   

 

The Skatalites – Walk with Me

The Skatalites invented Ska as a musical genre. Before them the Caribbean music scene was dominated by mento, calypso, swing and jazz and then, as the informative little CD book goes on to enlighten us, the Skatalites stepped forward and changed the musical landscape forever. They formed in 1964, so on this their current album ‘Walk with Me’, the guys were getting on a bit, and sadly, several of the original members have passed away, but this does not detract from an interesting and largely enjoyable album.

Having said this, on the first few listens, the whole thing sounds too antiseptic and sterile, like it’s been made in the antibacterial chamber of the studio. There’s not a hint of the earthy, authentic atmosphere of the humid, smoky West Indian dancehalls, nor the merest vinyl scratch or hiss to flavour the recording with an element of realism. In short it sounded like the kind of music you listen to in upmarket Jamaican hotel lifts and I removed it from the car’s CD playlist with some disappointment.

Listening to it in everyday life however makes all the difference. It’s almost as if you have to add your own context to the music. Listening on the computer, while I mow the lawn or when walking the dog makes the experience all the more enjoyable. There’s some great musicianship and some great songs on offer. ‘Desert Ska’ is soothingly hypnotic, ‘Love is the Way’ is smooth and comforting, and ‘Song for my Father’ an ideal theme tune for all dads. The best track is the titular ‘Walk with Me’ with its old school rhythms and mesmerizing melodies.

All in all, it’s a surprisingly mixed bag of pure blooded ska. Add your own sonic impurities and the album is as enthralling as it is timeless.

 

 

Tom Stormy Trio featuring Rhythm Sophie – Finders Keepers

Pick of the Week 45 – Tom Stormy Trio

What the hell is this? Lovely matching blue polo shirts, stand up drumming and a Matt Bianco style number that sits somewhere between skiffle and psychobilly. Throw the husky tones of Rhythm Sophie in the equation and you’ve got yourself something special. 

With her sunny disposition she should provide guest vocals for so many other bands; imagine Bright Eyes featuring Rhythm Sophie? A Morrissey duet with Rhythm Sophie? PJ Harvey even?

Leatherface – Minx

The next instalment in my treck through the legendary Leatherface’s back catalogue sees me checking out Minx, the album that follows the point where I stopped listening for real, Mush. Having said that the majority of the tracks feel really familiar due to repeated listens of Live albums at the time and as such, there’s very little that’s completely new to me on Minx.

 

Even so, it’s a quality album and I’m not sure why I lost enthusiasm after the aforementioned Mush, maybe the perceived critical acclaim and the move to a more commercial sound played a part. This is a standard collection of mid 1990’s era Leatherface. It’s slower, folkier and less immediate. However lyrically, it’s up there with their earlier work as Frankie croons his North Eastern world-view philosophy and most of the time you can hear what he’s saying.

‘Evil that Men Do’ is a chugging anthem, ‘Books’ is a breathless live stalwart and ‘Dustbin Modo’ is a throwback to Cherry Knowle and by far the best of the songs I’m unfamiliar with. Best of all is the more considered ballad (by Leatherface’s standards anyway) ‘Pale Moonlight’ where Frankie laments on the tortures of life and dances with the Devil in the pale moonlight. I’d heard it before, but the up tempo live version never had the impact of the album version in all its folk-core glory.

Not a great album by Leatherface standards, but in 2013 it would be in the top five albums released this year. Give it a listen, you seriously can’t go wrong, then dig out ‘Cheery Knowle’ and ‘Fill Your Boots’.

Veronica Falls – Waiting for Something to Happen

Finding a great album rarely goes to plan. Often you hear a great song only to discover that the album is little more than the great song with nine accompanying b-sides. This is what is known as the ‘Country Pancake Effect’. Occasionally however, things take a smoother course and Plan A works perfectly, and this was definitely the case with Veronica Falls. After hearing ‘The Fountain’ on the Rough Trade Counter Culture Compilation, I rushed to order their latest album with a certain amount of trepidation, fearing the usual disappointment. But lo and behold it’s an absolute cracker. Hurray!

 

You actually get the feeling that Veronica Falls love what they do. It’s a joyous, uncomplicated indie album combining infectious melodies, intoxicating harmonies and a touch of shoe gazing swagger.  This is C86 style indie-pop but injected with Mamas and Papas feel good factor and is the kind of music you should listen to on an expansive, sun-drenched beach rather than some dingy urban bedsit.

Isn’t Veronica a great name too? There are no horrible Veronicas out there. You just can’t be a nasty person and be called Veronica. And following on from this, Veronica Falls is a great name for a band. They were never going to be rubbish with a name that evokes images of a particularly beautiful waterfalls or perhaps catching a lovely Veronica who has fallen from a ladder. Admittedly, this happens rarely. But I live in hope.

 

The songs all do the business, with ‘If you still want me’, ‘Shooting Star’ and ‘So Tired’ all extra-specially agreeable. The pick of the bunch is the mesmerising ‘My Heart Beats’; a flagship piece of blissfully harmonic pop music. All I can hope is that the first album is of a similar quality when I get round to listening to it next year. Heartily recommended.

Armin Van Buuren featuring Kerli – Walking on Air

Pick of the Week 44 – Armin Van Buuren

If you fancy a bit of commercial trance then Armin Van Buuren is the go-to guy. I loved his ‘Imagine’ album and this track featuring the vocal talents of Kerli carries on the quality work. It’s a standard issue trance stalwart with spooky vocals and an intriguing video where Alice in Wonderland meets the Ring. If you need a change from all that obscure stuff then look no further.