As we approach the end of 2019 I've been looking thought my year end reviews for the last few years with a certain amount of interest. I started doing these reviews in 2011, but that year's was very general in its approach. I started publishing a ranked list in 2012, and have done so every year since.
Looking at my Top 3 albums for those 8 years certain bands cropped up on more than one occasion - unsurprisingly to me Big Big Train and The Tangent. As there wasn't any 'list' for 2010 or 2011, I looked through my collection and came up with some albums from those years that I could include, to make a decade-wide list possible.
Three major criteria were used in drawing up this list: they had to be albums in my collection; they had to have featured in my Top 3 in the year they were released; and I would only include one album by any one band. I'm not going to try and rank these albums in any order of merit - simply alphabetically. But these are the bands/ artists & albums that have particularly appealed to me over the last 10 years.
Abel Ganz - Abel Ganz (2014)
Anderson Stolt - Invention of Knowledge (2016)
Anglagard - Viljans Oga (2012)
Big Big Train - English Electric (2012/13)
Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow (2011)
Echolyn - Echolyn (2012)
Freedom to Glide - Rain/ Fall/ Seed trilogy (2013/ 16/ 19)
John Hackett & Nick Fletcher - Beyond The Stars (2018)
Lazuli - 4063 Battements (2011)
Pat Metheney - Orchestrion (2010)
Moon Safari - Lover's End (2010)
Oak - False Memory Archive (2018)
Opeth - Heritage (2011)
Chris Potter - Circuits (2019)
Snarky Puppy - We Like It Here (2014)
The Tangent - Proxy (2018)
Colin Tench Project - Hair on a G String (2016)
Tiger Moth Tales - The Depth of Winter (2017)
Andy Tillison Diskdrive - Electric Sinfonia No 2 (2014)
Tinyfish - The Big Red Spark (2010)
Theo Travis Doubletalk - Transgression (2015)
Unitopia - Artificial (2010)
Steven Wilson - Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015)
Wintergatan - Wintergatan (2013)
There's obviously much I've missed out, but that's my stab at a Decade list from my eclectic and at times quite strange taste in music. Do let me know what you think... (but please be kind...)
Sunday, 29 December 2019
Saturday, 28 December 2019
Music of 2019
2019 reaches its end, and here is my look back at the albums that have entranced me - or at least mildly entertained me - during the year. If you're a regular reader of my incoherent ramblings here, you will know that I've been doing a brief review month on month (apart from November & December): below are my November gigs, and then my year-end list.
2019 has been a good year for live music, thanks at a) being retired now, and b) living about 200 yards from one of the best live music pubs in Sheffield, The Greystones. As well as the gigs I've already reported on, November saw me at another seven shows. Steve Hackett and his band gave a stellar performance of Selling England By The Pound and Spectral Mornings, along with other stuff from his latest album, At The Edge of Light, and other solo stuff, at the City Hall. The following night I was at the Greystones for Gordon Haskell, briefly a vocalist with King Crimson (a part of his life he doesn't like to be reminded of, as I discovered...), who put on a great show featuring songs from his Harry's Bar album and some new material, with just an acoustic guitar and an accompanying saxophonist. Later that month, with a large amount of South Yorkshire under water, there was a trip to Kimberworth in Rotherham for the inaugural show by Moonspinner, a project of John Hackett & Howard Sinclair, aided and abetted by Matthew Lumb on keyboards. They performed music from John & Howard's repertoire, alongside some Steve Hackett, Genesis & King Crimson material. A real shame the weather kept many away, because it was a great night. The following week it was back to the O2 Academy for Steve Hillage supported by Gong. Like Al Stewart the month before, it was another spine-chilling nostalgia-fest for me, and it was well worth 4 hours standing at the front of the stage for the experience. Then the John Hackett Band (again), and finishing the month (and the year) with an as-always stellar show from Australian Pink Floyd - the next best thing to the real thing, imho, and the small matter of a trip down the M1 for the opening night of DanFest to see Encircled and The Emerald Dawn, both of whom were wonderful!
So, now to my top albums of 2019. I've tried to keep the number down a little, but in compiling the list I found I'd identified 26 albums worthy of note, and couldn't decide which to leave out to give you a Top 25. So here's my Top 26, with 26-11 in alphabetical order, and the Top 10 ranked.
Cheeto's Magazine - Amazingous
John Coltrane - Blue World
The Emerald Dawn - Nocturne
Farmhouse Odyssey - Fertile Ground
Fat Suit - Waifs & Strays
Gong - The Universe Also Collapses
Grand Tour - Clocks That Tick (But Never Talk)
Steve Hackett - At The Edge of Light
IZZ - Don't Panic
Kaprekar's Constant - Depth of Field
Red Bazaar - Things As They Appear
Nad Sylvan - The Regal Bastard
Thieves Kitchen - Genius Loci
This Winter Machine - A Tower of Clocks
United Progressive Fraternity - Planetary Overload Part 1
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Colorado
And the Top Ten...
10. Rosalie Cunningham - Rosalie Cunningham
The former Purson front-woman picks up on the psychedelic vibe of the Purson album and takes it further.
9. Jon Anderson - 1000 Hands Chapter One
There's just something about this album that makes me feel better about life every time I listen to it.
8. Cirrus Bay - The Art of Vanishing
Gentle, melodic, symphonic progressive music, carrying on the great work of their earlier work.
7. Nova Cascade - A Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
An album which should increase the band's reach into both the ambient and progressive schools of music.
6. The Far Meadow - Foreign Land
Some quite spectacular modern progressive tunes, rooted in the heritage of the past yet looking clearly forward to what Progressive music might become.
5. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
A wonderful example of The Boss's knack of telling moving stories through simple melodies. More Mid-West than East Coast, but some of his best material in years.
4. Moron Police - A Boat on the Sea
What can I say about this album other than captivating and bonkers! Some wonderful songs here, some of which go off at wild tangents, other that have echoes of Elton John for me.
3. Chris Potter - Circuits
Every now and then a jazz album comes along that simply astounds me by its breadth, style and musical dexterity, and in 2019 that album was Circuits. Chris Potter, with Eric Harland, James Francies & Linley Marthe, simply blew me away!
2. Big Big Train - Grand Tour
Ten years on from their breakthrough album 'The Underfall Yard', this is Big Big Train at their best in terms of composition, atmosphere and musicianship, and an album that was underscored by stellar live performances on their first tour this year.
1. Freedom To Glide - Seed
Few albums, in all my years of listening, have affected me as much as this one, from the first listen through and on subsequent visits afterwards. The third of the band's trilogy reflecting on World War 1, this is an absolutely stunning work, tinged with reality, pathos, anguish but above all hope for a better world
I hope to be able to put together a 'Best of...' for the past decade, and even for the 21st Century (so far) at some point, but that may take some time... In the meantime, have a happy new year, and I hope, like me, you're looking forward with anticipation to what 2020 has to offer musically.
2019 has been a good year for live music, thanks at a) being retired now, and b) living about 200 yards from one of the best live music pubs in Sheffield, The Greystones. As well as the gigs I've already reported on, November saw me at another seven shows. Steve Hackett and his band gave a stellar performance of Selling England By The Pound and Spectral Mornings, along with other stuff from his latest album, At The Edge of Light, and other solo stuff, at the City Hall. The following night I was at the Greystones for Gordon Haskell, briefly a vocalist with King Crimson (a part of his life he doesn't like to be reminded of, as I discovered...), who put on a great show featuring songs from his Harry's Bar album and some new material, with just an acoustic guitar and an accompanying saxophonist. Later that month, with a large amount of South Yorkshire under water, there was a trip to Kimberworth in Rotherham for the inaugural show by Moonspinner, a project of John Hackett & Howard Sinclair, aided and abetted by Matthew Lumb on keyboards. They performed music from John & Howard's repertoire, alongside some Steve Hackett, Genesis & King Crimson material. A real shame the weather kept many away, because it was a great night. The following week it was back to the O2 Academy for Steve Hillage supported by Gong. Like Al Stewart the month before, it was another spine-chilling nostalgia-fest for me, and it was well worth 4 hours standing at the front of the stage for the experience. Then the John Hackett Band (again), and finishing the month (and the year) with an as-always stellar show from Australian Pink Floyd - the next best thing to the real thing, imho, and the small matter of a trip down the M1 for the opening night of DanFest to see Encircled and The Emerald Dawn, both of whom were wonderful!
 |
| Steve Hackett |
 |
| Gordon Haskell |
 |
| Steve Hillage |
 |
| John Hackett Band |
 |
| Australian Pink Floyd |
 |
| The Emerald Dawn |
So, now to my top albums of 2019. I've tried to keep the number down a little, but in compiling the list I found I'd identified 26 albums worthy of note, and couldn't decide which to leave out to give you a Top 25. So here's my Top 26, with 26-11 in alphabetical order, and the Top 10 ranked.
Cheeto's Magazine - Amazingous
John Coltrane - Blue World
The Emerald Dawn - Nocturne
Farmhouse Odyssey - Fertile Ground
Fat Suit - Waifs & Strays
Gong - The Universe Also Collapses
Grand Tour - Clocks That Tick (But Never Talk)
Steve Hackett - At The Edge of Light
IZZ - Don't Panic
Kaprekar's Constant - Depth of Field
Red Bazaar - Things As They Appear
Nad Sylvan - The Regal Bastard
Thieves Kitchen - Genius Loci
This Winter Machine - A Tower of Clocks
United Progressive Fraternity - Planetary Overload Part 1
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Colorado
And the Top Ten...
10. Rosalie Cunningham - Rosalie Cunningham
The former Purson front-woman picks up on the psychedelic vibe of the Purson album and takes it further.
9. Jon Anderson - 1000 Hands Chapter One
There's just something about this album that makes me feel better about life every time I listen to it.
8. Cirrus Bay - The Art of Vanishing
Gentle, melodic, symphonic progressive music, carrying on the great work of their earlier work.
7. Nova Cascade - A Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
An album which should increase the band's reach into both the ambient and progressive schools of music.
6. The Far Meadow - Foreign Land
Some quite spectacular modern progressive tunes, rooted in the heritage of the past yet looking clearly forward to what Progressive music might become.
5. Bruce Springsteen - Western Stars
A wonderful example of The Boss's knack of telling moving stories through simple melodies. More Mid-West than East Coast, but some of his best material in years.
4. Moron Police - A Boat on the Sea
What can I say about this album other than captivating and bonkers! Some wonderful songs here, some of which go off at wild tangents, other that have echoes of Elton John for me.
3. Chris Potter - Circuits
Every now and then a jazz album comes along that simply astounds me by its breadth, style and musical dexterity, and in 2019 that album was Circuits. Chris Potter, with Eric Harland, James Francies & Linley Marthe, simply blew me away!
2. Big Big Train - Grand Tour
Ten years on from their breakthrough album 'The Underfall Yard', this is Big Big Train at their best in terms of composition, atmosphere and musicianship, and an album that was underscored by stellar live performances on their first tour this year.
1. Freedom To Glide - Seed
Few albums, in all my years of listening, have affected me as much as this one, from the first listen through and on subsequent visits afterwards. The third of the band's trilogy reflecting on World War 1, this is an absolutely stunning work, tinged with reality, pathos, anguish but above all hope for a better world
I hope to be able to put together a 'Best of...' for the past decade, and even for the 21st Century (so far) at some point, but that may take some time... In the meantime, have a happy new year, and I hope, like me, you're looking forward with anticipation to what 2020 has to offer musically.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)