by waiting a few extra weeks, some gaps were plugged: christmas gifts filled in a few personal blanks, while christmas and new year allowed me to spend a bit more time with some of the contenders for these lists. i'll post my top 25 of 2010 tomorrow; first, i thought i'd focus on bands from this wee nation. this isn't some patriotic willy-waving thing - when reviewing albums for the skinny, i tend to get a lot of 'local' bands to write about, so i feel like i get exposed to a disproportionately high number of scottish acts, compared to new music from the rest of the planet. so this allows me to give a thumbs up to a bunch of records that i like quite a lot that might not otherwise have appeared. indeed, having now finished both lists, only the top 3 from this list appear in tomorrow's top 25, but that still seems like pretty good going if you ask me.
10.
The Scottish Enlightenment - St. Thomas
i reviewed this for the skinny back in november, saying that they "echo winter well, with skeletal guitar lines as brittle and bare as tree branches and a settled pace as quietly insidious as snow fall. They won’t change the world like Hume and the gang, but they’ll soundtrack many a crisp walk, ensuring every footstep quivers with drama."
9.
Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love
I'm not sure why, but i felt quite apathetic about this on release. even seeing them at all tomorrow's parties in december didn't quite kick my excitement into gear, though it did make me realise that, despite relatively luke-warm reviews, this would be worth a listen or two. turns out it's worth a lot more than that. few of its tracks will end up muscling into the bottle rocket playlists with the same frequency as i'm a cuckoo, a century of fakers or the boy with the arab strap, but there's no shame in that.
8.
yusuf azak - turn on the long wire
when i first heard azak, i was confused, and not all that bothered about hearing him again. then i saw him live, and, though still confused, i was also newly interested in his peculiar style. with every fresh encounter i found myself liking him a little bit more, until this came through the door for review. "if this debut album is your first Azak experience" i wrote, "his odd cadence and wheezy timbre might still surprise, but the songs herein are the finest, most accessible tracks he has thus far committed to tape. Strings are used more extensively than in the past, while structurally, Azak’s grown incrementally more conventional, with verses and choruses where once there was mist. But such refinements are always to his credit."
when i first heard azak, i was confused, and not all that bothered about hearing him again. then i saw him live, and, though still confused, i was also newly interested in his peculiar style. with every fresh encounter i found myself liking him a little bit more, until this came through the door for review. "if this debut album is your first Azak experience" i wrote, "his odd cadence and wheezy timbre might still surprise, but the songs herein are the finest, most accessible tracks he has thus far committed to tape. Strings are used more extensively than in the past, while structurally, Azak’s grown incrementally more conventional, with verses and choruses where once there was mist. But such refinements are always to his credit."
7.
Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers - Home and the Wild Hunt
Another skinny review: "It seems lazy to automatically align any act with prominent brass and a Celtic swing with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, but sometimes knee-jerk comparisons are revealing. Along with a motley bunch of young soul rebels named the Fistful of Fivers, he projects a laddish swagger on hoedowns like Besides the Point, but reins it in on their full band debut’s more sensitive numbers."
Another skinny review: "It seems lazy to automatically align any act with prominent brass and a Celtic swing with Dexy’s Midnight Runners, but sometimes knee-jerk comparisons are revealing. Along with a motley bunch of young soul rebels named the Fistful of Fivers, he projects a laddish swagger on hoedowns like Besides the Point, but reins it in on their full band debut’s more sensitive numbers."
6.
Kid Canaveral - Shouting at Wildlife
and another skinny review: "Kid Canaveral have four self-released seven inches to their name, lyrics that rhyme Smash Hits with Brad Pitt, and debut album artwork adorned with doodled cute animals. Egads, what twee nightmare lies in wait behind this squirrel sketch? None, silly: Shouting At Wildlife is a thrilling, uplifting and generally all-round spiffing combination of indie-pop skills, lyrical wit, and choruses sung through smiles."
and another skinny review: "Kid Canaveral have four self-released seven inches to their name, lyrics that rhyme Smash Hits with Brad Pitt, and debut album artwork adorned with doodled cute animals. Egads, what twee nightmare lies in wait behind this squirrel sketch? None, silly: Shouting At Wildlife is a thrilling, uplifting and generally all-round spiffing combination of indie-pop skills, lyrical wit, and choruses sung through smiles."
5.
Emma Pollock - The Law of Large Numbers
Back in March i proclaimed this just as exciting as The Delgados were at their peak. My enthusiasm isn't quite as high now, but this record is still bloomin marvellous.
Back in March i proclaimed this just as exciting as The Delgados were at their peak. My enthusiasm isn't quite as high now, but this record is still bloomin marvellous.
4.
Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep
While I loved this record on first listen, it took hearing the songs live at all tomorrow's parties to cement how brilliant Collins remains. With Teenage Fanclub as backing band, and with both Franz and Cribs-collaborators on stage to play their parts, it was possibly the weekend's finest set.
While I loved this record on first listen, it took hearing the songs live at all tomorrow's parties to cement how brilliant Collins remains. With Teenage Fanclub as backing band, and with both Franz and Cribs-collaborators on stage to play their parts, it was possibly the weekend's finest set.
3.
The Phantom Band - The Wants
...and here's why it was worth my while holding off putting this list together. i liked checkmate savage. i've raved about the phantom band's live sets in the pages of the skinny on more than one occasion. and i thought the wants sounded pretty decent, based on a single cursory listen. then i forgot all about it, until it started cropping up on numerous 'best of year' lists. father christmas gave me the opportunity to give it a more committed listen, and though it's had to fight for space on my CD player with various other musical gifts, it's won out on several occasions, and i expect it to win many more times yet.
...and here's why it was worth my while holding off putting this list together. i liked checkmate savage. i've raved about the phantom band's live sets in the pages of the skinny on more than one occasion. and i thought the wants sounded pretty decent, based on a single cursory listen. then i forgot all about it, until it started cropping up on numerous 'best of year' lists. father christmas gave me the opportunity to give it a more committed listen, and though it's had to fight for space on my CD player with various other musical gifts, it's won out on several occasions, and i expect it to win many more times yet.
2.
The Vaselines - Sex With an X
A twenty year gap between records is rarely a good omen. Yet The Vaselines' returned as "recognisably the same band, yet far fresher than might have been expected". As i concluded in my skinny review, it makes "the prospect of another double-decade hiatus is hard to bear."
A twenty year gap between records is rarely a good omen. Yet The Vaselines' returned as "recognisably the same band, yet far fresher than might have been expected". As i concluded in my skinny review, it makes "the prospect of another double-decade hiatus is hard to bear."
1.
Meursault - All Creatures Will Make Merry
less immediate than pissing on bonfires, yet seven months after release this is the one i return to. i aint gonna witter on: just get your lugs round this:
top 25 of the year will follow tomorrow...
Meursault - All Creatures Will Make Merry
less immediate than pissing on bonfires, yet seven months after release this is the one i return to. i aint gonna witter on: just get your lugs round this:
top 25 of the year will follow tomorrow...
Phantom Band aw the way!!!
ReplyDeleteHopefully make it through on Saturday