So there is was, my Albums of 2011. Bon Iver topped it for me, but I gotta say that 2011 has been a brilliant year for music. Click here to have a recap of the list.
I have really enjoyed reading everyones end of year lists, and have been introduced to some great music in doing so. Its also been great to see the variation in lists, and some of the similarities, and some of the weird and wonderful choices, mostly present in blogs.
There are quite a few albums which almost made the cut, and also quite a few which would have but I have only got into them over the last few weeks when I’d already started posting. Most of these albums are ones I’ve found through other peoples end of year lists. So I thought I’d make a little list of albums which were just missed off my list, for one reason or another.
Slow Club- Paradise
The Antlers- Burst Apart
Feist- Metals
Ryan Adams- Ashes and Fire
Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost
Sea of Bees- Songs for the Ravens (UK release was 2011, but US release was 2010)
Others… Josh T. Pearson, PJ Harvey, Noah and the Whale, Lykke Li, Other Lives, Wye Oak, Real Estate.
Coming next is my Ones to Watch for 2012 posts, followed by some most Best of 2011 posts (such as best gigs and songs) and then we’ll be back to normal for the new year!
I had huge expectations for End of the Road festival, the perfect line-up, the non-corporate sensibility, the gorgeous setting, the right sort of crowd, would I be disappointed? No. Its every bit as lovely as expected.
For me, End of the Road was completely about the music, I saw so many wonderful sets and came across so many fantastic bands. The additional site features were an extra, but a much enjoyed extra. The Rough Trade Shop was a great idea and had several band signings daily. The woodland area was lit up beautifully with lots of wonderful secrets to be unfolded as you walked through the trees. The atmosphere was peaceful and family friendly, it’s about as far from Reading and Leeds as you can get.
And the music, well, WOW. Joanna Newsom headlined the Sunday night, my main reason for attending the festival and I was completely blown away. She was heavenly and I was so grateful to get the opportunity to see her in that setting. The audience was quiet as a mouse, quite unusual for a 12,000 capacity venue. Joanna played completely solo and I think everyone of those 12,000 people was captivated by her sound. She is such an incredible talent and I shall wait in anticipation for her return to the UK.
Other highlights included, of course, Miss Marling who previewed many tracks from her new (and incredible) album ‘A Creature I Don’t Know’ (buy it now!!!). Josh T. Pearson provided humor amongst his 6 minute long break up songs and was a delight to see. Other Lives lived up to the praise I have given there album ‘Tamer Animals’. Willy Mason, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Staves were also all as lovely as ever. My two favorite new finds of the weekend were Dan Mangan and The Mountaineering Club.
Dan Mangan has the voice of Marcus Mumford but possesses a more chilled out country sound than the sons. At the end of the performance, which was on the main stage, he came right into the crowd and got everyone singing along. Truly in the EOTR spirit.
The Mountaineering Club were incredible and I will be writing more about them soon. A sound incredibly unique and voice which couldn’t fit more perfectly, it was one of my favorite performances of the weekend.
Overall, EOTR was a wonderful experience and I glad I got to go and experience what all the hype about the festival is about! They are starting a second festival next year in early June called ‘No Direction Home’ I am very excited about what we can expect from that!
The new Noah and the Whale album is now out. I’ve heard lots of high praise for it and also lots of criticism. The Noah and the Whale fans from their first album seem to hate it, but people who were not into that twee folk sound love it. Its full of synths and electric instruments, a million miles away from the fun fun fun of ‘Peaceful the World Lays Me Down’. I however, do like it. One thing that hasn’t changed is the strength of songwriting from Charlie Fink and this album has produced some of his best yet. There are a few songs I’m not too keen on, such as the first track ‘Life is Life’ but L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. as well as others are brilliant. This is Wild Thing.
Noah and the Whale also did a Track in a Box Takeover for a week. I found this through that, I’ve heard of Arthur Russell before but never listened to him, anyway this is a brilliant song.
I saw and loved The Pins when they supported Laura Marling on her last tour. They have now renamed themselves Louise and the Pins, and have also successfully got through to the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition Finals! There music is stunning, a little country, a little folk and a little 50′s girl group but ultimately a great unique sound. I expect an album out around summer but until then this is Louise Hull from the Pins and Laura Marling singing a gorgeous little duet. They are playing Communion on April 3rd, the day after the Glastonbury ETC Finals.
Last Monday I went to see Georgia Bruce at Proud ahead of her playing my Lazy Sunday night at the Roundhouse. Also performing at Proud was O. Chapman, he is a singer-songwriter and performed some stunning duets with a girl called Faith Barker. You can download a song called ‘Morning Song’ from iTunes which I highly recommend and this is a song called ‘Come On Down’.
Josh T. Pearson has just made a very nice album. I don’t really know any of his older stuff, but this album is really lovely to listen to. He played a few of the songs in a church for Cargo sessions and they are stunning. This is ‘Sweetheart I Ain’t Your Christ’.
Found this the other day, its very nice. Taken By Trees playing a cover of ‘My Girls’ by Animal Collective, but its called ‘My Boys’ now.
The Lykke Li album ‘Wounded Rhymes’ is out now and I am liking it a lot. I prefer her first album, there is a lot of stomping percussion on this one which is good in places but I prefer the prettier sounds of Lykke Li. This is my favourite song from her new album, its called ‘I Know Places’. I can’t find the album version on YouTube so this is Lykke performing the song on the moon.
Essie Jain has a lovely voice, her songs are very pretty and this song is called ‘What a Big Wide World’. So sweet!
The last thing I am going to include is something not new but something I have recently come back to. I decided to listen to The Reminder album by Feist the other day and fell in love with it all over again, such a stunning album. This track is my favourite, the mixture between her voice and the male voice is beautiful.
