Nine Feet Underground

One of the best things about this time of year are the annual reviews of the year's best music according to the music press. Each magazine, blog or e-zine has its own bias so I like to take a cross-section: in terms of the printed press this means NME, Mojo, Uncut, Shindig! and Wire. Apart from the obvious joy of the list (!) there are three pluses: the fun of disagreement; the thrill of finding something explosive that you've missed; and most of all because it's the prompt for me to survey my albums of the year. To date I've seen the lists from Mojo and Uncut and both of these agree on one thing - their album of the year is Julia Holter's album 'Have You in My Wilderness'. It’s a great album and features one of my tracks of the year - it could even figure in my top 10, but that'll have to wait until another post. In the meantime here are a few tracks from some of my contenders... An absolute screamer from Anna Von Hausswolff... ...

2014 has been a great year for music. The further evolution of new bands taking inspiration from one or other of the previous psychedelic eras has resulted in more thrilling music, though there is a fine line that divides inspiration and slavish copying. I much prefer music made by those who understand the heart of the music and create something new and exhilarating. Alongside the burgeoning psychedelic scene the parallel – yet overlapping – progressive scene continues to develop further, mixing up the musical origins of prog with ideas, energy and single-mindedness of punk, folk and metal. Look no further than the invigorating and invigorated sound of Gong on their latest album ‘I See You’ for evidence of the health of prog in 2014. Set the joy that the psych and prog scenes have delivered against some of the best new albums from developing individual talents like  St. Vincent and Tune-Yards and it becomes clear that music in 2014 (and on into 2015) is in a really he...

Welcome to part 2 of my 'Best of 2013'. The second and final part looks at reissues, favourite songs and, last but not least, compilations.  So, without further ado, the rest of the best of 2013... Reissues Hawkwind – Warrior on the Edge of Time :    Finally, after far too many years and all manner of mysteries regarding contractual disputes and personal wranglings, this album sees the light of day on an official CD release.  Esoteric must be commended for finally making this happen, and what a happening – a variety of packages including a triple disc with multiple mixes and extras and a vinyl box set.  It’s worth it for the intro to ‘Assault and Battery’ alone… Brainticket – Cottonwoodhill:     The album comes with a warning: “Only listen once a day to this disc. Your brain might be destroyed.”  There can be no higher recommendation for any piece of music. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band – Trout Mask Replica :  ...

2013 was an excellent year for music. Thinking back it seemed to have been a good year before I sat down to list my highlights, but as my shortlist got longer I realised just how much good music I'd heard in 2013. Traditionally I've produced a top 5 or 6 albums list based on new releases alone, but this y ear I'm going all "music mag" with favourite tracks, reissues and new release lists as well. It's a sneaky way of recognising a few of the other albums that made the year's music so enjoyable. In case the title of this blog post wasn't too much of a giveaway I've decided to split the list into two posts; the first part covers new album releases whilst the second covers reissues, tracks/songs and compilations.   Here goes... New Release Albums My Bloody Valentine – MBV : Took a gamble and bought this without hearing it first; the great fear being that it would be just a re-tread of past glories with no new ideas - it wasn’t! No on...