octophone presents - 45 truly wonderful things from 2005

[octophone]

OFFICIAL PREAMBLE

Right, here goes nothing. No singles chart this year as it hasn’t been a good enough 12 months for the ailing beast to merit such behaviour. A great year for reissues, compilations, deluxe editions etc has merited a break-off top 5 and I have decided to cover 10 particularly ace live acts witnessed this year too, although there is an inevitable cross-over with the album listing, so it will be kept brief. The albums chart is a top 30, growing from the planned 20 due firstly to a bit of a late surge on the releases front and secondly due to my late decision NOT to exclude albums made by friends, acquaintances, associates etcetera. Why should I? Some people I have the pleasure to class as friends, acquaintances, associates etcetera are making some outstanding noises just now and I don’t see why I should timidly hide the fact. I take your accusations of cronyism on my sturdy chin but only once you have satisfied me that you have investigated the goods.

I should say that any album in this year’s chart would have been a firm contender for last year’s top 10, such has been the quality of this year’s releases and there’s a few things I still need to investigate, so the whole thing could be mince and tatties by the time I catch up. In addition, the top end is still under internal discussion at time of starting and I have not yet put the top 5 albums in firm order, although I'm happy that the selected albums will be the top 5. But still, as at right now, this is the Octo-view on 2005, 45 things that made the musical world a better place. Old person’s prerogative, nostalgia first….

[octophone]

5 - The Fall - Perverted By Language (Expanded Edition) (Sanctuary)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000926S9Q.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The most perennially underrated Fall album comes to the front with this cracking reissue. Continuing their excellent work with the group’s early catalogue, Sanctuary remaster as best one can without the master tapes, add essential, brilliant singles “The Man Whose Head Expanded” and “Kicker Conspiracy” as well as a Peel session, a couple of welcome rarities and some superior live material. At basic, it’s the Fall at their purest, a stripped down dual rhythm section (effectively - two drummers, bass and the magnificent Craig Scanlon somewhat sourly refusing to come forward from his rhythm guitarist role following his friend Marc Riley’s dismissal) with Smith at his most biting, astute and downright funny. A tremendous, definitive incarnation of a superb album.

[octophone]

4 - The Boo Radleys - Find The Way Out (Sanctuary)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00077372O.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Easily one of the most underrated bands of the last 30 years, The Boo Radleys were, at heart, the psychedelic band for our age as their masterpiece “C’mon Kids” proves. A shame then that they are remembered only for deceptively sunny pop hit “Wake Up Boo”. Still, Sanctuary have stepped in to set things to right with a judiciously selected 2 CD set tracing their trajectory from their fuzzed up buzz-saw guitar roots through to the wild experimentation and compulsive melodicism that characterised their best work, finishing with the lush orchestration of the “Kingside” album, the recording of which had as good as finished them off. Most of their best work is here and so much of it would be unfamiliar to a casual audience that it would be miserly to complain about omissions. Time to reassess this terrific lost band and here’s all you need to do so.

[octophone]

3 - XTC - Apple Box (Idea)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000CFWNMG.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
In which the two volumes of “Apple Venus” and their respective demos finally come home; the two albums are united as they were intended and the demos are now the “box set“ material they really should have been all along. These albums are a joy, especially disc one, issued as “Apple Venus” in 1999, being an orchestral, autumnal tour-de-force of great song writing, exquisite, delicate arranging and skilful performance, exactly the kind of thing people used to admire in music, you know? “Wasp Star” is lesser through tailing off a bit one the last 3-4 tracks but it’s XTC being XTC, smart and angular but unblunted by age. Sad to think that these could well be the final proper XTC albums but the door is open, it appears and the two new songs available as a bonus download to all Apple Box customers show that they should keep at it. Who knows? How to grow old gracefully, no less. And it costs about the same as any one of the original releases did on their own to boot. Lovely.

[octophone]

2 - Current 93 - Judas As Black Moth (Sanctuary)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A14ONS.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
A near perfect introduction to the self-contained world of Current 93, possessing many of their most ominous tracts, their most exquisite sadness and their most mournful beauty. I find it particularly hard to adequately describe Current 93 music to the uninitiated but, put simply, this music is as expressive and as emotive as music can ever be and this set contains many of their greatest and most effective works. A difficult world to break into (I hated C93 when I first heard them), it’s a great pleasure to see a thoughtfully produced intoduction on the shelves. Considerably better than the sister Nurse With Wound compilation “Livin’ Fear Of James Last” which failed to adequately represent Stapleton’s sense of humour and lightness of touch but you can’t have everything. Where would you put it all?

[Kate]

*reads quietly*

[octophone]

1 - The Fall - The Complete Peel Sessions 1978 - 2004 http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009JE58K.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Of course, what else? The ultimate document of the ultimate outsider music. The only mystery is how on earth John Peel was able to sneak them into Maida Vale Studios so often without someone at Auntie Beeb noticing that something was amiss. It stands as a wonderful tribute to Peel’s singularity of approach and total dedication to broadcasting only what he saw as the most exciting, original and necessary music. Just once in 24 visits did The Fall fail to deliver (the lacklustre 21st session, recorded in 1998, mere weeks before the group imploded in America) and even this is arguable. 6 full CDs of the most challenging, thrilling, powerful, spiteful, energetic, malevolent, intellectual, sardonic, separatist, involving and invigorating rock and roll music you can ever hope to hear; The Greatest Band On The Planet at their absolute, imperishable best. It’s as joyously simple as that. :D

Live gubbins next.

[octophone]

Note if you will that only "Apple Box" was not issued by Sanctuary. If only all labels injected as much love into their releases as this one... (note - yes the company is in trouble but not due to the label side of things which reported a marked increase in sales this year).

[lucyrulesok]

good choices *nods* two fall albums? not that i dont think they deserve it actually so i dont know what my beef is.
NOW FOR UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE

[octophone]

Right, here's the live stuff, in one chunk...

Van Der Graaf Generator
http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/pawnhearts/vdgg_glasgow121105_as2611.jpg
Reunion of the year. All in their mid to late 50’s, they played with the verve and enthusiasm of Lightning Bolt at a frat party but with near-surgical precision. Our hero is Hugh Banton who played the bass parts with organ pedals whilst still playing other keyboards with his hands. He didn’t miss a note in 2 whole hours. Music that is complex without being wilfully clever and a tremendous gig.

Hijokaiden
http://www.bulgasari.com/image/0731-3.JPG
(this is actually just frontman Jojo Hiroshige but you'll live)
You know that bit that happens at gigs when, at the end of a big crowdpleaser, the last chord gets drawn out for ages - drummer shooshes the cymbals between drum rolls, the guitarist‘s hand is a blur, singer goes for a high note before it all come crashing to a sudden halt, you know the drill. Imagine a group who start like that and don’t let up. Hijokaiden’s solitary UK gig to date was like that, a 35 minute climax to a show that never happened and the response was ecstatic. The 5 players, including a woman whose job it was to scream for the entire set, unleashed a huge wave of intense noise (they played as loud as they were legally permitted to) delivering it as if it were the secret to existence itself. For sheer exhilaration, there was little to match this.

Kylie Minoise
http://www.kovoroxsound.com/KMderry%20copy.jpg
A trail of broken microphones, smashed light bulbs, knackered PA systems and bashed effects pedals follow this man where ever he goes. Legendary for their brevity, Kylie Minoise’s live performances are intense, scary and utterly brilliant. I believe I may have witnessed the longest KM show ever, coming in at around , oh, 7 or 8 minutes. 3 is more usual. Terrific performance art with an ear-scouring soundtrack. The CDs are fine but you MUST see this man in the flesh. You may never be the same again….

Noma
http://www.kovoroxsound.com/NOMAderry.jpg
It’s one man and a guitar. The latter is barely touched throughout. The genius of John Cromar’s live performances is how wonderfully visual he makes such potentially awkward experimental music. With a vast array of toys, razors, electric toothbrushes and all sorts of etceteras at his disposal, Noma creates a blissful, enveloping drone whilst keeping you watching. The “mobile phone” section is hilarious, starting (amidst a twinge of disappointment) with an ordinary mobile phone, he swiftly moves on to a child’s toy version before replacing that wit a large toy telephone, all flashing lights and cheesy samples, all the while letting the guitar pickups do the work. Sublime stuff and wonderfully entertaining.

The Wedding Present
http://photos7.flickr.com/11970277_a8c60ed77c.jpg
The surprise package of the year I think. Went to the Edinburgh date of their reunion tour at my sister’s suggestion (odd, as she never really liked them when I was a big fan late 80’s, early 90’s) and bugger me, the lass had it spot on. They were fearsome, possessing a bite as a live band that I don’t recall from their heyday. Chewing over highlights from “Take Fountain” but sticking mostly to the best known chunk of their back catalogue, The Wedding Present Mk. X proved a firmament-rattling experience. Unexpected delight of the year.

The Fall
http://www.visi.com/fall/news/pics/05oct01_photo.jpg
When I saw them they were late so duly piled through the set at top whack, no breaks or pauses to tune up or otherwise fanny about. The result was utterly exhilarating, a band possessed tearing through the best of their recent work with a fervour normally associated with religious zealots. Thrilling and MES was on top form throughout, if in dire need of a haircut. Highlight - MES fiddling with a dead bass amp that had, unbeknownst to him, been replaced during an encore from which he had absented himself. Hee hee hee.

Acid Mothers Temple And The Cosmic Inferno
http://www.acidmothers.com/Cgi-bin/tour/L141AMTfilm_concert2004/_img/acidguitar2.jpg
I had gone off this mob after an abysmal 4 disc set last year tried my patience that bit too far. But friends were attending and I was on holiday from work so I popped along. Good thing too, a superb, revitalised (and newly sub-monikered) line-up - a twin drummers line up at that - produced a performance with a fire at its heart that had come perilously close to being extinguished. One of the best renditions of classic “Pink Lady Lemonade” I have even had the joy to witness was the highlight, a clear attempt by these men to levitate the building and its contents through nothing more than their wonderful noise. They’re still too prolific as a recording act but this renewed my faith in this unique collective.

Black Boned Angel
http://www.20buckspin.com/bands/images/ckneale.jpg
(this is actually just one of them, Campbell Kneale, but, hey, sue me!)
A highpoint of the Instal festival, this involved two New Zealand chaps, both on guitar, one multitasking on drums (at the same time by the way…) creating the musical equivalent of a post-nuclear heat haze. Huge, shuddering and compelling, it is to be hoped that this was not a one off visit.

Jandek/Loren Mazzacane Connors
http://tisue.net/jandek/images/live/thumb-08jand.650.jpg
(not from the actual gig, but the only pic online with both men in it...)
A surprise(ish) collaboration for the Instal festival, convened when another performer withdrew late on. After a set of disturbed, arrhythmic power trio songs with Richard Youngs and Alex Neilson on the Friday, Sunday saw him perform alongside legendary US guitar hero Loren Mazzacane Connors and provide one of the highlights. Jandek read a peculiar story, seemingly concerning being lured into a mind-control experiment whilst LMC emoted gently behind him, J occasionally breaking off to join him on a harmonica. Then, Jandek started singing and the whole thing went very dark. In his wounded, off-key howl, he began to relate a harrowing verse concerning someone falling ill and being rushed to hospital where no-one would help them. Utterly compelling and highly disturbing, this half-hour piece ended with nothing more than a nod between the two men, not a word spoken. None were needed. After some previous uncertainty, Jandek had “got” me. He has 43 albums available. I daren’t start.

Liars
http://www.philippkoenig.de/images/photos/theliars/liars2.jpg
There’s still only three of them, but two of them are on drums. For the most part anyway. A particularly tribal incarnation of the band who are clearly delightfully averse to sitting still. I attended at the last minute, replacing an ill friend and was dashed glad I did so. Brilliant encore of “Territorial Pissings”.


I'll start the top 30 albums tomorrow. Bet you're on the edge of yer seat....

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

Gutted I had to miss The Fall show in Nottingham :( ... at least I always know there will be another time!

Kylie Minoise sounds like fun :D

I usually can't stomach live drone stuff though... I get fidgety

[octophone]

I usually can't stomach live drone stuff though... I get fidgety

That's why Noma's so wonderful, it's just enthralling watching him do it.

[octophone]

Right, despite a glorious lack of response, it's on to the top 30 albums itself. Up and at 'em....

30 - Lucky Luke - Patrick The Survivor (Invada)
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0009OBZ4W.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

The subject of continual rumour in and around Glasgow, when this album finally emerged it was met with a clutch of positive reviews from some of the more worthwhile publications but something of a shrug from the public at large. A great pity as this big band folk album (no, wait, come back) deserved a wider audience. With flute, sax and bouzouki in amongst the more traditional instruments, this is a very fine album of sometimes boisterous (“The River‘s Edge“), but mostly more gentle ( “Apollo “) folk music essayed by a terrific, intuitive 8 piece line-up, sporting a few well-kent faces of Glasgow’s occasionally incestuous music scene, rising to the challenge of creating a music that feels timeless without being rooted in the past and doing so with aplomb. Rousing stuff and I look forward to the follow-up sometime next year.

29 - Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain (Load)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000B9E2E0.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Possibly a bit more linear than previous releases but still great fun. The sheer weight of the sound still catches the breath; pretty extraordinary to think that this is a duo, mostly performing live. The sheer gusto of the performances are the most appealing characteristic and their success at carrying that onto disc is likely why they‘re so popular. Straddling the boundaries with abandon, there’s nothing here that’ll make you think differently or anything like that, but feel free to get down with your inner Rock God and enjoy.

28 - Sigur Ros - Takk (EMI)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AJJNPY.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
I’m out the boat on this band, finding the much derided “ ( ) “ to be their most consistant and challenging album to date. Indeed, on first listen “Takk” is little more than Sigur Ros being Sigur Ros only with a few more session players on board. It’s more than that, of course, and actually has some of their most uplifting and ambitious music yet, especially lead-off single (kind of) “Glossoli” which also boasted one of those utterly heart-wrenching videos of the type that really only they seem to be able to make. I don’t know how much of a run-out this will get over the coming months but, at the very least, it is a Very Good Sigur Ros Album and that alone earns it a place.

27 - Girls Aloud - Chemisty (Polydor)
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000BR657Y.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
It’s been a terrible year for pop music, its worst in a long time. All we’ve had are characterless makeweights (you still here Stevens?), a perplexing high number of older acts, scrabbling for one last bite at the cherry and the distressingly successful return of W**tl**e. So, it was up to the only truly great pop group in Britain to keep the end up. Well, they very nearly didn’t. “Wake Me Up” was a brave selection from “What Will The Neighbours Say?” which didn’t come off and “Long Hot Summer” was worryingly lightweight. “Biology” thankfully, was back to their impertinent best and much of the album follows in the same cheeky, ecstatic vein. It’s not an unqualified success - “Racy Lacey” tries too hard to be shocking and just embarrasses, “Watch Me Go” has been listening to the rubbish Gwen Stefani when it should have been doing its homework, the statutory cover version is, as ever, shite and the aforementioned “Long Hot Summer” fares no better as an album track. But the remainder is as much fun as they’ve ever been so it’s here. But as far as the pop genre is concerned, it’s a late consolation goal rather than an equaliser. Socks up, record label people. And stick your X factor right up your saggy arse.

26 - Black Mountain - Black Mountain (Jagjaguwar)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006SNKTY.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
You almost want to check to see if they’re entirely serious. Not the “sludge-rock” album the cover sticker may have led you to believe but a heavily 70’s influenced rock/funk hybrid conceived in high spirits rather than in quasi-satanic matt-black bedrooms. Too much fun to fit in with any gloom metal scene that may have tried to adopt them, this album won’t change your life, but is far too entertaining not to earn a place. For a debut, that's plenty.

[Kate]

I can't believe people think "Biology" is better than "Wake Me Up" :evil:

[Suomi]

i loveeee your writing style

[octophone]

Ta. Was going to do another 5 tonight as well, but I've forgotten to do the write up for #24. Oops....:shy:

[Quandary]

Right, despite a glorious lack of response.
Oh believe me, we would LOVE to response, but I think there's a serious generation problem or something; I've never heard most of them :(

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

You can probably guess which two of them are still to come on my list! ... I know how to keep up with your commentaries and attempt to write something different... THANKS...

[octophone]

25 - Arcade Fire - Funeral (Rough Trade)
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0006ZRX86.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Wasn’t sold on this lot at first but eventually picked up the album and, whilst they are clearly not the saviours of music as we know it, they have made a very very fine record; in fact, for a debut, it‘s pretty thrilling. Principally, an unlikely but effective amalgam of classic indie (the end of “Une Annee Sans Lumiere” could easily be The Wedding Present), full-on string soaked anthemia and even a little trip to the 80’s - “Power Out” kicks off like an above par Duran Duran and keeps getting better - “Funeral“ succeeds primarily because of their singularity of purpose. Whilst there is little else like it sonically this year and its word of mouth success is a glorious antidote to many an over-hyped makeweight, “Funeral” is denied a higher place due to the fact that Win Butler’s voice grates on your humble correspondent from time to time.

24 - Kylie Minoise - A Beginner’s Guide To Human Suspension! (Kovorox Sound)
http://www.kovoroxsound.com/KMbeginnersfront.jpg
Learn the name now, you will be hearing PLENTY more of this man. The album is 30 or so minutes of grinding, screeching, coruscating noise that will cleanse your ears better than anything else you can possibly imagine, this side of Ajax. But, as previously mentioned, it’s the live shows that are truly incendiary and have seen him described variously as “a legend”, “a maniac” and “er…what’s he doing?”. There’s a sporting chance you’ll all be wearing Kovorox authorised bandit masks this time next year. At least get a t-shirt (from www.kovoroxsound.com) , be the envy of your friends etc etc.

23 - Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now (Rough Trade)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000777J2S.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Described rather meanly by “Is This Music?“ as “Tiny Tim without the ukelele”, this set is indeed a little patchier than the reviews and most initial reactions suggested but this is still a fine record with some highly emotive and evocative pieces, especially the near devastating “Fistful Of Love“ and the dignified tragedy of “For Today I Am A Boy“. The success of this record proves that original voices can still be heard without losing their context, which, as far as I’m concerned, is as much a triumph as the musical content.

22 - Brian Lavelle - The House Of The Russians/Hygieia Variations (Conv/Earlabs)
http://www.earlabs.org/label/coversRAW/hygieia_variations.jpg
I’ll group these together as both are download only releases, available gratis from www.con-v.org and www.earlabs.org respectively and, between them, they represent the end of one era and the beginning of a new one for this man. “Russians” was something of a find, having been recorded some time before being made available and shows Lavelle processing field recordings on his laptop in real time to create an intriguing, dynamic series of visitations all of which are quite enthralling whilst betraying little or nothing of their origins. “Hygieia” is more recent and sees a Fripp-like guitar piece put through three separate sets of Lavellotronics, the results being rather intoxicating. Too detailed, distinctive and unstable to be mere “ambient” it’s a challenge to adequately describe this music. Still, you don’t actually have to listen to me, click the links and listen to Brian. A joyful return to the audio frontline. More, kind sir.

21 - Laura Veirs - Year Of Meteors (Nonesuch)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000A14OEC.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
With a few major label sheckles in the back pocket, Laura Veirs and co. have created a delightful, velvety, expansive album. Predecessor “Carbon Glacier” was many people’s introduction to this rather marvellous singer/songwriter and, as with that record, she winds her curious way around some beguiling, circuitous tales of the heart but this time, alongside her usual backing, we have sparkly shimmering synth peals (“Galaxies”), subtle computer mulch (“Fire Snakes”) some well deployed strings (especially “Parisian Dream”) and theremin tones on gorgeous album highlight “Magnetized“. And this is just the first half. Happily, rather than detracting from or smoothing over Veirs’ deceptively spiky songwriting, it enhances the effect, the music finally matching her oddly hypnotic, unresolving compositions. A lovely album and one to which I find myself returning more and more. Another month and this would probably be higher still.

[octophone]

Oh BUGGER. Just had an album in the mail that deserves a position. :evil::evil: What to do?

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

appendices

[octophone]

It's going to have to get an "honourable mention" a/k/a "hurry the fuck up next time" award.

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

This is why I usually do my album list a bit later... but i'm happy enough with mine now... eventhough there will be no Do Make Say Think or THEUSAISAMONSTER...

[octophone]

20 - The Wedding Present - Take Fountain (Scopitones)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007IO6XC.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
I grimaced a little at news of their return, especially as the line-up was the same as that which had most recently toured as Cinerama. David Gedge was, at least, totally honest about his intentions - he wanted more people to pay attention and, since the material was heading back towards electric guitars anyway, it seemed like the best move to change the name back to his most famous guise. I didn’t indulge upon release but having seen them tear Edinburgh in half, investigation was required. Well, it doesn’t capture their live form and has a Gedge-by-numbers tune in the middle but this is still terrific. Darker and more robust than their reputation would allow you to imagine, the album begins with the 10 minute “Interstate 5” (note - the CD indexes the first 2 minutes of ambient build-up separately, the cowards) which is one of the best recordings of their now 20 year career, a thrusting motorik groove, like “Flying Saucer” gone stir crazy, builds, cracks and blisters before ebbing into a trumpet and acoustic led outro. “Perfect Blue” is as charming as Weddoes ballads come and there’s even a hint of da funk about “Queen Anne”. Probably most reminiscent of 1994 curio “Watusi”, “Take Fountain” proves to be a fine return which can still happily alongside their earlier work. Interesting to see where it goes next.

19 - Noma - A Drone Poem In Three Parts (Kovorox Sound)
http://www.kovoroxsound.com/NOMADRONEPOEMFRONT.jpg
Another tricky one to review as I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know this man over the course of the year but this is top of the range uber-drone of a type little spotted around these or, indeed, any parts. The title is the only clue you need as this is a slow-moving, often deceptively dense music which swoops and circles with ominous purpose. Tones are allowed to shift, settle and dissipate at their own pace, creating as absorbing a music as you could hope to find. Very different and probably a little less approachable than his live shows, this is distinctive, original music and I trust there will be plenty more from Mr Cromar next year. You know what to do.

18 - Six Organs Of Admittance - The School Of The Flower (Drag City)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006L5S32.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
With his profile growing ever higher, most people would have consolidated with their first “major” release. Not Ben Chasny, who brings in a drummer and proceeds to push his own envelope. It’s an impressive set of post-folk-rock shapes, all circling and swooping around his impressive guitar stylings, the show being utterly stolen by the enchanting, blissful “All You’ve Left”. Probably never a top 10 candidate but still a fine album and I look forward to his next move. In particular, early signs suggest that the energy he has expended as an occasional member of Current 93 this year has been well spent. We’ll know come April.

17 - Nurse With Wound - Shipwreck Radio Volume 2 (ICR)
http://brainwashed.com/common/images/covers/icr051.jpg
Since impoverishment meant that Volume 1 missed out on last year’s chart, let’s go into the story now. In a deliberate retelling of a piece of local legend, NWW - on this occasion Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter - were invited to maroon themselves (ie no equipment or instruments) on the Lofoten islands, just off the northern coast of Norway and just above the Arctic Circle. At the invitation of the area’s sole radio station, they could do whatever they liked in their studios so long as a piece of approximately 15 minutes duration was available to be broadcast around 3 times a week. Which they were, for about 2 months, all unscheduled and without any more warning than a brief spoken jingle, which, in various warped forms, precedes all the tracks. 24 pieces were created of which 15 were deemed worthy of full release, this being the final 8. It’s a much more drone-led and insular album than the first set, which had a greater proliferation of field recordings and external sounds. This one sounds like they harnessed the very electricity itself, eagerly bending and coursing it into strange and fascinating shapes. More redolent of the isolation of the exercise than volume 1, this is a more than worthwhile companion to the first set and shows Nurse With Wound at its most stripped down and responsive.

16 - Electrelane - Axes (Too Pure)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007ZP17K.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Coming very close to fulfilling their promise, this is a diverse and satisfying record of mostly instrumental pieces which sees the four piece include more keyboards than before as well as a brass section, cello, choir and, indeed, a passing train, all incorporated into their trademark post-punk motorik sound with deftness and ease. As eerie and inchoate as it is direct and propulsive, Electrelane are a rarity, a naturally unusual band who know one end of a melody from the other.

[octophone]

15 - Om - Variations On A Theme (Holy Mountain)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00070Q87W.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Ace voice/bass/drums outing from two scary looking Americans, both ex-members of Sleep. I have no idea who Sleep were. Approved by luminaries ranging from Julian Cope to David Late Tibet, this is an unrelenting, pulverising racket which belies it’s limited sound palette with its huge enlivening force. A record that has the gravitational pull of a small planet. How come you’ve all heard Black Mountain but not this? Eh?

14 - Frog Pocket - Gonglot (Planet Mu)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A39L5M.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
One of the great underrated talents of modern electronica, John Charles Wilson has been smashing together disparate influences for some years in and around Scotland as well as running his own imprint Mouthmoth (which, to put matters out in the open, was the label which issued both d/compute CDs). Yet his first full length, properly distributed CD appears to have slipped under the radar. A dreadful shame, as “Gonglot” is wonderful, a superbly realised combination of gentle ambience, twisted, malfunctioning rhythms, vast thundering noisescapes and a smattering of superbly accomplished folk fiddle playing - I once saw an acoustic Frog Pocket set which consisted of John playing just the violin parts and it was entrancingly beautiful. John’s uniquely warped rhythm tracks (all produced manually - he doesn’t programme anything) are the most immediately fascinating component of this guitar-soaked post-techno album and it reveals more with every listen. Anyone claiming any level of fondness for post-Aphex electronica needs to hear this and revel in this marvellous, original, idiosyncratic music. You too can follow Erol Raet…..

13 - Nurse With Wound - Echo Poeme : Sequence No. 2 (United Jnana)
http://brainwashed.com/common/images/covers/jnana2005cd.jpg
Even by Stapleton’s standards this is mighty peculiar. 2 female voices, multiply processed, reworked and otherwise fucked with, all overlayed, replayed and, yup, echoed over each other for approximately 50 minutes. Conforming to little save its own internal rhythm, this is an excellent example of the eerie, dreamlike experimentation for which Stapleton is so rightly acclaimed. Plus, it’ll get rid of any unwanted guests pretty sharpish. It appears NWW will, after a 20 year gap, resume live activities next year. I believe the phrase is “Yay!”.

12 - Richard Youngs - The Naïve Shaman (Jagjaguwar)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000AA5XC0.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
You can absolutely rely on this bugger to do exactly what you didn’t want him to do. So, with his profile rising by the month, it was no surprise that R!!! (to give him his stage name) responded with one of his most experimental offerings in years, a lolloping, bass heavy, computer marshalled album of overlapping folk singing and convincing dub stylings, topped with generous handfuls of electronic wood shavings. Throbbing and pulsing like a malfunctioning dialysis machine, “Shaman” needs a few listens to percolate and could have done with a trim here or there but the songs are, as ever, excellent, making this a rewarding addition to his already vast catalogue, which increased by a whopping 9 full length titles this year - we shall cover a few more later on but I would direct you towards “Partick Raindance“ with Alex Neilson (VHF), their third and best collaboration thus far, the gig-or-download only “Garden Of Stones“ (No Fans) which can be got free of charge from www.thewire.co.uk and the already infamous “Chips And Curry Sauce“ radio session for Resonance FM. Oh, and if anyone’s got the “Summer’s Wanderer” CDR, please holler in this direction.

11 - Kate Bush - Aerial (EMI)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000BHNLX0.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
The first disc just hasn’t fallen into place for me. It feels a bit leaden, sags badly in the middle with a couple of seemingly characterless songs and is nigh on impossible to return to once the sublime second disc takes hold of you. Recalling nothing more than mid-period Talk Talk (ie “The Colour Of Spring” album), the extended suite of “A Sky Of Honey” is, happily, reason enough to invest of itself, an ecstatic celebration of nature, weather systems, nightfall, daybreak, oh dammit, of LIFE!!! How on earth a 47 year old pulls off sentiments that even Smoosh might consider a bit goofy is all part of her inalienable charm. But that weak first disc spoils the package, so it’s not getting any higher than this. (for the record, I’ll have a single disc featuring “King Of The Mountain”, “Mrs Bartolozzi”, “A Coral Room” and all of “A Sky Of Honey”)

[octophone]

Right for the nobody reading, here's 10-6...

10 - U-Drift 74 - Have You Ever Felt Alive? (Kovorox Sound)
http://www.kovoroxsound.com/U-DRIFT74HAVEYOUFRONT%20copy.jpg
Cards on the table, the man responsible for this is a very good friend of mine but, all such matters aside, this was a glorious surprise. Renowned for making guitars bleed, cry and howl as the leader of Opaque and for killing more microphones than Mariah during an anxiety attack under the wonderful nom du racket Kylie Minoise (oh yes) the singular hum and drone of “Have You Ever…” may be a representation of his calmer, more considered side. 5 tracks, all of which do little except exist in their own peculiar, captivating, enveloping universes but they do so with an exceptional magnetic pull. It actually takes your humble correspondent a few minutes to adjust when it finishes, to get reality’s sound mix back into kilter. Anyone for whom drone is a positive word should investigate this, you may well find it impossible to turn off.

9 - Ilk - Canticle (VHF)
http://www.vhfrecords.com/images/87.gif
(pah, can't find a nice big image....)
I said we would come to this. Ilk is where Richard Youngs teams up with Andrew Paine to pay a full-on tribute to their shared love of progressive rock. If the last two words of that sentence send a shiver down you, then lighten your load as the results are a delight. Rather than burden the record with easily recognisable cliché, they have successfully evoked the spirit of the far-seeking, indulgent, synth laden audio-landscaping most commonly found on the racks back in the mid 70’s but do so entirely without the pomp and self-importance that so beleaguered that genre. Above all else, the songs are great and their voices work well together (the first Ilk album was written by the pair but performed by Youngs alone). For the final time in this chart, I am running the risk of being accused of looking after my own but I can assure you that no such thing is on my mind; this is a hugely enjoyable love letter to the duo’s beloved prog roots and a great success. And if you doubt their sincerity, you should have seen them grinning like racehorses after the Van Der Graaf Generator reunion show in November…..Vinyl only item “Mauve Dawn”, issued under their given names, traces a more amorphous, sinister path and is well worth hearing too but good luck in tracking down “The Wood Is Barren/My Mountain Is Lonely“!.

8 - The National - Alligator (Beggars Banquet)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007LCNKM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Actually something of a slow burner with me; having bought the album shortly after its release, I didn’t come to fully appreciate it until, oooh, what, November? Perhaps it‘s a “winter“ record. It’s a cracker, showing a group in absolute control of a sound that can be both vast and heaving (whilst swerving bombast) but also intricate and chiming, even delicate. The songs have a tangible sense of unease but are delivered with a verve and sense of upward motion that most other albums this year simply didn’t have. Although somewhat against the run of play, the best track is “Daughters Of The Soho Riots” a gentle, oblique heart-warmer of the type with which Will Oldham used to provide us before he headed right up his own shitter. Terrific stuff and I’m told the live shows were a blast. Wish I’d caught them.


7 - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois(a/k/a Come On Feel The Illinoise!) (Rough
Trade/Asthmatic Kitty)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009MWAPW.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Well, the ever-expanding Moopy/Sufjan love-in has been an interesting development but it shouldn’t be without qualification. First, it’s practically a remake of “Greetings From Michigan” which would be unacceptable if he weren‘t the only person producing such beautiful and diversely arranged music. Secondly, he has done his level best to burden his own work with those horrid “aren’t I clever” track titles which very nearly caused me to put the album back! But, almost against the odds, it’s a very enjoyable and involving album, stuffed rather too full but compulsively melodic, heroically orchestrated and joyfully delivered. Even when writing these more theoretical “state” albums, he can still push those fleshy heart buttons; “John Wayne Gacy Jr” is a genuinely tragic telling of the well-worn tale and it‘s difficult to argue any case other than for the two part title track being a career highlight. An utter joy at its best, this is certainly one of the “must-hear” albums of 2005. But I still think he should be locked in a shed with a banjo, a guitar and 45 minutes worth of tape for the follow-up.


6- Brian Eno - Another Day On Earth (Opal/Rykodisc)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0009HL7JM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
A long time in coming and he doesn’t disappoint. An amazingly deep album of priceless originality, hitting so many marks that one is almost perplexed by it. Time seems to be irrelevant; you’re never sure if a track lasts 2 minutes or 20 but this thoughtful collection avoids aridity and always captivates. As graceful as it is obtuse, “ADOE” veers from the luxurious to the barren but always makes total sense in the doing so. A glorious reminder of what he REALLY does best and one which adds several tracks to the imaginary multi-disc “best of”. Keep ‘em coming, baldy.

I'll finish this tonight, get it off my back.

[Gavin]

I wish i could give you a thorough response, Octo, but i really haven't heard half the stuff on your list.

Big cheer for Sufjan and especially The National. They've been so warmly received by the critics but the music buying public (even the indie lot) insist on turning the other way. Not for want of trying, believe me! Oh well. Their loss!!

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

First, it’s practically a remake of “Greetings From Michigan”

That is such bollocks... they are clearly two completely different albums in terms of production, instrumentation, lyrics and overall feel, style and atmosphere of the thing!

[octophone]

Right, the much fretted over top 5 then. These five albums were probably always going to be the top 5 (well, there was one relative latecomer) but the order changed repeatedly throughout and a final listening session had to be convened before I settled on their positions. Really, any of these records would deserve it, but there could be only one winner.....


5 - Sleater-Kinney - The Woods (Sub Pop)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0008FPIOU.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

A clear runner from the moment I heard it playing in a Canadian CD store (still not sure why I didn’t buy it on the spot instead of waiting until I got home; I bought about a dozen CDs, one more wouldn’t have hurt). I’ve never really liked them before, having found them a bit too “of the sort” - you knew exactly who would buy their records and whose t-shirts they would be wearing at the time. But no more. David Fridmann (what a great move, selecting a producer who doesn’t really like you!) has captured them as a vast, snarling, righteous rock monster. A vast, consuming album of impassioned, bitter, sarcastic, enraged and enlivened rock music of a type often thought extinct. The songs are catchier than the Ebola Virus and the group play them with remarkable force. Your word - stimulating.

[octophone]

4 - The Fall - Fall Heads Roll (Slogan/Narnack)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AP2ZEE.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

It’s been a fantastic year to be a Fall fan - no line-up changes, a highly acclaimed box set (*gazes lovingly*), a fine BBC documentary to go with a clutch of other TV appearances (most memorably, Mark E Smith reading the classified football results for the BBC) and only the merest handful of gig cancellations. The general sensation is of the band finally being accorded their proper status, of which the years of discord and drama came perilously close to depriving them. And, of course, we had a new album to go with all this. Over-familiarity with several of the songs may have blunted the initial impact a tad, but, with a couple of months remove we can safely declare this The Best Fall Album In Ages. Perverse as usual in opening with the sparse dub-wise “Ride Away”, the album soon sets to attacking your senses with a particularly striking and heady take on the usual formula - three parts head-on pounding rock and roll music to one part woozy electronics and tape effects, all whipped to perfection with MES’s typically oblique lyrics which, on this occasion, have a directness and a humour that had perhaps been lacking on more recent albums. The real surprises were the lilting “Midnight In Aspen” which paid tribute to Hunter S Thompson and the echoing, desolate waltz of “The Early Days Of Channel Fuhrer”. “Blindness” is hypnotic and sinister (as well as gifting us their other unmissable TV moment of the year, that priceless appearance on “Later“), “Assume” and “Youwanner” two of their most visceral constructions yet and the album even has the decency to end on a humorous note with “Breaking the Rules” , which is virtually a cover of “Walk Like A Man” (!) and “Trust In Me” - sadly not the Disney song - in which MES hands over the vocals to the producer and studio engineers for a jape.

Despite the possible own goal of saving the superior take of “Blindness” for the US vinyl edition (alternate US artwork pictured btw) and being a shade too long into the bargain, this is a great place to start with The Fall, a group on exceptional form, rising to the challenge of making an album worthy of their vast catalogue and absolutely succeeding. Because it’s The Fall, you’ll be able to watch it all implode soon enough but for now, “Fall Heads Roll” is a hard fought but eventually triumphant 4-1 home win. And the gaffer should be very happy with the performance on the pitch today….

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

The American cover of "Fall Heads Roll" is so much better, isn't it?

[octophone]

3 - Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow (Samahdi Sound)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000B8GUGO.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Led by David Sylvian, this, it seems, is the material upon which he was working when he broke off to quickly essay the obtuse electronica of “Blemish”. Whilst obviously a difficult birth, the results are extraordinary. With no peer group to speak of and now self-sufficient on his own label, Sylvian has joined with brother (and fellow ex-Japan member) Steve Jansen and renowned ambient drone merchant Burnt Friedmann to create an album that has no reasonable comparison this year. Veering from ominous, circling jazz to bleak bursts of sparking guitar noise via some lulling yet sinister electronics, “Snow Borne Sorrow” mostly pursues a structured, more song-led path than “Blemish” but is still wonderfully idiosyncratic in its unyielding, almost harsh take on Sylvian‘s long-hewn craft. The album is particularly raw lyrically and, fittingly, Sylvian’s distinctive voice is on splendid display, especially on the edgy, dynamic “Darkest Birds” and on “Atom And Cell”, where the massed backing vocals provide an impressive counterpoint to Sylvian‘s shockingly direct lyrics. Wonderfully written and performed by all three and their many guests (including Ryuichi Sakamoto and Stina Nordenstam), this is an immersive, challenging and downright exhilarating album that, had justice been in evidence, would have outsold “Aerial”.

[octophone]

The American cover of "Fall Heads Roll" is so much better, isn't it?

Aye. Brilliant in proper size on the US vinyl too.

[octophone]

2 - Smoosh - She Like Electric (Pattern 25)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002VEWVA.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

The untrained voice. The non-musician, The layman’s ear. All essentials for the development of modern music. So it should be no surprise that 2 school kids with a little formal training but a need to have fun have created one of the most structurally uncouth and downright enjoyable records of the year (kind of - issued in the US last year, an official UK release date of October means it gets through). Veering between the kind of guileless positivity that, to be honest, you have to be about 12 to carry off and some more thoughtful constructions, this is a naturally unusual record and an utterly charming one too. The quality of the songs is almost humbling - in “But Now I Know”, they have a song more affecting than any of us could ever hope to create. And it’s one of the older songs on the album. Sheesh. Let’s hope that as they get technically better that they don’t start following all those dumb musical “rules”. Music at its most playfully anarchic and most utterly joyous.

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

Wasn't it originally released over here in February, with a re-release in October? ... otherwise, how did I get hold of my UK copy in May? unless there is an odd meaning to the word "official" :o

[octophone]

And the winner is
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1 - Malcolm Middleton - Into The Woods (Chemikal Underground)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A2H9ZM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Here’s the 5 -0 away win of the season. Yes, the one they call Gavin was absolutely right, this is a magnificent record and it clipped the #1 position right at the death on the final listening session before posting. This is a superb, invigorating collection of painfully honest, sometimes hilarious, always charming songs from this Scottish legend. Anyone not wanting to pat him on the shoulder and buy him a pint after this one is a hard heart indeed as Middleton takes us unblinking through the recesses of his enquiring, unsettled mind. Although a good chunk of the record is downbeat in tone there is not the merest millilitre of self-pity to go with it, meaning that “Into The Woods” absolutely avoids being miserable whilst successfully documenting what misery really is. The tone is not unrelenting however and there is daylight in this music too; to borrow an image, if his debut "5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine" was the sound of a man drowning the sorrows, this album shows him learning to swim. Highlight is probably the sundazzled lead single “Loneliness Shines” but this is one of those albums where, on a given day, any of the tracks could be your favourite. Many have found their collections enriched by the findings and passions of other Moopists over the last 2 years but this has been the greatest one yet for me, a modern classic of candid, direct, inspired song writing of a type once thought extinct. Give up the day job and keep ’em coming Mr Middleton, you’ve made the Album Of The Year.

[Bunty's Magic Vegetable]

Meh

[octophone]

Cheeky bastard.

[Gavin]

1 - Malcolm Middleton - Into The Woods (Chemikal Underground)
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A2H9ZM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg



YES!!!

Brilliant choice for No.1 Octo! :beer: :beer: :beer:

[Gavin]

Meh

Oh shit off, you! :sour: