My Favourite Albums Of 2012
11. Ren Harvieu - Through The Night
After making the renowned BBC Sounds Of 2012 shortlist and getting her first two singles on the playlist at Radio 2, I really thought Salford chanteuse Ren Harvieu would make a bigger splash than she did. Her debut did initially make it to number five in the album charts, which is still impressive, but it seemed to then quickly disappear. For me it was a surprise gem, better than Lana Del Ray's effort (which features a similiar noirish, retro feel) and her voice at times reminds me of a 21st century Linda Ronstadt or Dusty Springfield, which is a huge, huge compliment. Her album featured songs written by the likes of Ed Harcourt and Howard Elliott Payne (the former lead singer of The Stands who himself released an excellent solo album, Bright Light Ballads, a few years back) and had a epic pop grandeur that recalled some of the best pop divas of the 60s. On top of this she has a lovely gothic meets 1920s bohemian-style which not only can be seen in the videos but also heard in the music itself (it's no surprise to hear she's as much a fan of gloomy indie rock like The Smiths as she is soulful singers like Alicia Keys). I thought it was a wonderful, rather underrated debut and I am keen to see what she does next.
10. Bat For Lashes - The Haunted Man
First off, the first single from Natasha Khan's third album as Bat For Lashes, the haunting and incredibly moving Laura, is undoubtedly the best song of the year and secondly, the striking and unforgettable black and white photograph by Ryan McGinley, featuring a naked Khan carrying a equally nude fellow over her shoulders is clearly the best album cover. The record itself was her usual mix of ethereal magic and beautiful lyrics and vocals, yet stripped of too many fanciful embellishments, it seems both rawer and spookier than her earlier efforts. I did read one person calling the single All Your Gold a superior version of the awful Gotye song Somebody That I Used To Know, which did put me off it a little but the gorgeous black and white video featuring Khan dancing in her striking long gown on a dark beach helped me regain the love. A spellbinding and very graceful album indeed, Khan is quickly becoming a national treasure.
9. Anaïs Mitchell - Young Man In America
After writing a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth and now a concept album inspired by the recession, it's pretty clear that Anaïs Mitchell is becoming one of the most fascinating folk artists around today. Even the cover is interesting: it features Mitchell's novelist father at 30 years old, the same age as Anaïs when she made the album. The record also features a song based on one of her father's short stories, Shepherd, and the album is full of tales that seem both timely and timeless, each song taking on different characters, all male, telling stories of what it's like to be, well, as the title says, a young man in America. The music is more stripped down compared to her last album, Hadestown, relying this time on a small ensemble, but the more intimate feel fits the first person-told stories well, and it's hard to resist songs that start with such striking, evocative lines as "My mother gave a mighty shout, opened her legs and let me out."
8. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill
So, after waiting almost 10 years for Neil Young to reunite with his old backing band, we got not one but two albums with Crazy Horse in a matter of months. The first, Americana, featuring traditional songs given the rough and raw Crazy Horse treatment was a fun but fairly lightweight affair. It was their second effort of the year though that, despite the rather dodgy album cover, was album we were all waiting for. I'm actually still trying to take this record in, but then it's Young's longest ever album and the first track alone, Driftin' Back, is almost half an hour long. It definitely is a wonderfully sprawling effort clearly born out of some epic jam sessions, with the band back in full swing, but there are quite a few special Shakey moments here, full of nostalgic moments like the aforementioned Driftin' Back and the proud rocker Born In Ontario. In some ways it's a more defiant album than some of his most recent albums such as Prairie Wind, in which, facing his own mortality, sweetly looked back at the past, or the sadness and loneliness of Le Noise, which came in the wake of the death of some of his best friends. Here is Young getting his groove back and triumphantly so.
7. Soundgarden - King Animal
What a joy that Soundgarden are back! It's been 16 years since Down On The Upside and in between Matt Cameron joined Pearl Jam, Chris Cornell joined Audioslave and became a solo artist while Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd remained as mysterious as ever, retaining a dignified silence in the shadows of the Seattle music scene. I excitedly saw the reunited quartet live twice this year where they magnificently reminded us of past triumphs as well as previewing some of the best tracks from this album, which hadn't been released at the time. The new songs sounded amazing live but it was great to finally hear what the band sounded like back in the studio on King Animal. The first track, Been Away For Too Long, announced their return in style and is easily the most commercial song on the album (which is no bad thing) but its the angular heaviness of By Crooked Steps that reminds me of Soundgarden of old and not only is it the best song on the album, it's easily up there with their very best tracks. The rest of the album is great too though, from the smart, political lyrics of Non-State Actor to the melancholy Bones Of Birds. This is definitely a more mature Soundgarden and some of the songs take a few listens before you start to fully appreciate them, but there's no doubt that these four guys sound amazing together still (and all four are great songwriters too). Cameron and Shepherd are just a superb rhythm section but Thayil's interesting and intricate guitar weirdness is the perfect foil to Cornell's amazing and soulful voice: he continuously pulls Cornell back from blandness. This isn't a perfect comeback but it's still an excellent one and proves that the rock world still needs Soundgarden, who are easily the most underrated of the big four grunge bands.
7. Soundgarden - King Animal
6. Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
It took seeing Sharon Van Etten live to finally fully appreciate her extraordinary third album, Tramp. Produced by the National's Aaron Dessner, it's her most confident outing yet and sees her embracing a fuller band sound that reminded me a little of Throwing Muses at their best. Van Etten's main charm though is her gorgeously mournful voice filled with such sadness and bitter experience that belies her young age, in the same way Jeff Buckley's once did (she particularly reminds me of him on the album's lead single, the uplifting yet haunting Leonard). The songs themselves aren't your usual tales of lost love rather accounts of a painful relationship and coming through the other side, in fact the PJ Harvey-esque Serpents is almost defiant in spirit. It's poignant stuff but strangely not depressing, instead beautifully freeing. I don't think this is quite Van Etten's masterpiece, that I feel is still to come, but it comes awfully close.
5. Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
"I love to speak with Leonard, he's a sportsman and a shepherd, he's a lazy bastard living in a suit...." Cohen playfully sings on the opening track of Old Ideas, his first album of new material in eight years, and it's lines like that that make it impossible to not love the old codger. And what an elegant older gentleman Leonard Cohen has become and this is an album that perfectly reflects that grace and intelligent wit of his. These are lovely hymns filled with laid-back charm and a soul-searching sadness reflecting on his life and even the burdens of the Leonard Cohen persona. Some have a bluesy swing, some are reminiscent of his sparser beginnings and some sound like soulful prayers but all are enhanced by the beauty of the words and Cohen's deep, world-weary vocals. Is this something of a valedictory statement? With lines like "I've got no future, I know my days are few" in The Darkness, it could well be and at 78 years old Old Ideas is most probably his last, but it all just serves to remind how lucky we are to still have Leonard Cohen.
4. A Fine Frenzy - Pines
Although I liked the previous two albums by A Fine Frenzy, Pines really took me by surprise because it seemed like singer-songwriter Alison Sudol had taken leaps and bounds since her last record producing a much deeper, more rewarding affair. Firstly it's essentially a concept album based on a children's story that Sudol had written (which was subsequently turned into an e-book and a short animated film) and tells the story of a lonely tree with the moral of the tale being about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and being brave enough to take on new challenges and unafraid of new starts. Given it's based around a children's story this could easily have become twee or precious but somehow it's the most moving, grown-up thing she's ever done, building beautifully on the piano-driven fairy tales of her debut album or the shiny pop of Bomb In A Birdcage, even beginning and ending with epic seven minute-plus songs. Apparently the whole thing was recorded live and, you can really tell, it gives it all a more earthy, natural vibe musically, going from dreamy folk on tracks like Avalanches (Culla's Song), to almost baroque pop on Winds Of Wander to the stomping sea-shanty-like You Can't If You Don't Let Me. There's pop songs too, such as Now Is The Start and It's Alive, but good as they are, they almost seem out of place. Still this is a moving, atmospheric, delightful album, easily Sudol's best, and I loved it.
3. First Aid Kit - The Lion's Roar
I really don't know how they did it but these Swedish sisters, one still in her teens, perfectly captured the best of the Laurel Canyon sound, managing to mix the rootsy music of 1970s Americana with their perfect sob-in-the-voice harmonies. The cover featuring Johanna and Klara Soderberg floating around in long diaphanous dresses in a field is the perfect visualization of the music: slightly hippie-esque, a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll and full of folksy charm. A friend told me he thought the album's lead single Emmylou was annoyingly corny with its "I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June, and you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too" refrain but I loved its seemingly heartfelt references to the music that clearly influenced this album (that's Emmylou Harris, June Carter, Gram Parsons and Johnny Cash in case you don't know). The Lion's Roar just combined all the music I love and I don't know how he does it but Mike Mogis, who weaved a similar magic on Alessi's Ark's superb debut Notes From The Treehouse, has an amazing ability to fashion beautiful settings for these simple but striking songs that makes them sparkle and showcases Johanna and Klara's gorgeous ethereal vocals. I couldn't stop listening to this earlier this year and even though I wore it out through repeated listens it still sounds fresh and lovely now.
2. Cat Power - Sun
I cannot even tell you how much I was looking forward to Sun, Chan Marshall's long-awaited album of new material, her first since 2006's excellent The Greatest. Her past couple of albums, the last being the wonderful covers album Jukebox, had seen her becoming a top-notch retro-soul singer but Sun was an unexpected delight, ditching the big bands she's employed in recent years to do it all herself. I love her earlier records where she is playing guitar but this time, fearing repeating herself, she began experimenting with electronic instruments and the result isn't quite Chan goes electro but it's certainly a different and exciting sound for her. And of course the voice, her soulful, raspy distinctive voice, is never better particularly on the lead single from the album, Ruin, which I just about had on repeat when I first got my hands on it (I especially love the way she sings "Great Brit-tain", almost like a rap) and the "bitchin', complainin', when some people ain't got shit to eat" refrain is classic Chan and a sound message too. There was a mixed reaction to the almost 11-minute track near the end of the album, Nothin But Time, a letter of encouragement for the teenage daughter of her ex-boyfriend, that saw her singing with Iggy Pop, but for me it was one of the album's highlights. The positive message of the song in a way summed up the album, which saw a happier, more upbeat Chan and was equally as thrilling as her more mournful early albums. Sadly she cancelled her European shows in support of this album due to illness but hopefully it won't be long until she returns to these shores because I can't wait to hear how she performs these unique and brilliant songs live.
1. Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral
Given all the projects he's been involved with over the past 10 years Mark Lanegan has never really been out of the limelight or off the road for too long, so it's strange to think that it's actually been eight years since his last solo album, Bubblegum. But, damn, was it worth the wait. It pretty much picks up where Bubblegum left off, exploring the moodier, rockier side of Lanegan with the dark, thundering bass of Gravedigger's Song kicking things off and at one point even featuring Mark seductively singing in French. With the always value for money Alain Johannes at the helm, it's probably Lanegan's most adventurous record yet and seems to incorporate a lot of the influences he's garnered while working with so many other artists over the years. Obviously there's plenty of blues and gritty, smoky rock n' roll but there's also elements of krautrock (Gray Goes Black), electronica (Harborview Hospital) and even dance music, most evident on the appropriately named Ode To Sad Disco. Johannes provides an atmospheric backdrop to Lanegan's impressive and distinctive baritone, which like the best whiskies only seems to improve with age, and the lyrics are as enigmatic and sinister as you'd expect (I especially love the line "the moon don't smile on Saturday's child lying still in Elysian fields"). My favourite though is perhaps the rockiest song of the set, the riveting punk meets gospel of Quiver Syndrome which could easily have been played in his old sometimes band, Queens Of The Stone Age. This album ruled my world when it came out back in February and almost 12 months on it sounds just as powerful. Probably the best album of Lanegan's career and without doubt one that lives up to that incredible voice of his.
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