My musings on the music and writing of 2015
I haven’t written one of these in a while. 2015 whizzed by in a bit of a blur of live and new music reviews and a month spent writing a novel. Now here we are on the 3rd January 2016 and I’m taking some time to reflect before I head back to work tomorrow.
I have read many reviews of 2015 and thought I’d do my own because you’re probably not quite sick enough of all the ones you read in December. I have picked out my top five albums, EPs, gigs and books along with finding out what my most viewed blogs were this year.
I should point out that there isn’t a sophisticated scoring system involved. The decisions I’ve made are purely down to my personal taste and are explained below.
I hope you enjoy this round-up. This website hasn’t been live for a full year yet but I feel that I’ve learnt a lot already and I’m looking forward to more music and writing in 2016.
Happy new year to all my readers.
Albums of 2015
5. Idlewild – Everything Ever Written
After being out of the spotlight for five years, Scots indie rockers Idlewild made a welcome return in 2015. This self-produced album is a mature offering with songs contemplating the big questions in life, such as how we define our place in the world and how civilisations develop, blended with Womble’s forlorn vocals and sophisticated arrangements. It’s a thing of beauty.
4. Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
When I first listened to this album I fell in love with the way Barnett almost speaks her lyrics, talking you through her wry observations on the big and small events in life. Her streams of consciousness felt like a revelation and inspired some of my own writing this year.
3. Desperate Journalist – Desperate Journalist
This stunning debut is indie rock at its best while also straddling post-punk with goth and dark pop sensibilities. When I first heard it the comparison that instantly jumped into my head was The Smiths, with Rob Hardy’s guitar jangling away and Jo Bevan’s powerful and intense vocals. The songs are mostly similar in style but never really feel samey, which is a testament to the intelligence of their songwriting.
2. Wolf Alice – My Love Is Cool
This can only be described as a swaggering, inventive debut from a band that will surely soar even higher in 2016. This is indie rock, but full of variety – where Giant Peach is raucous, Freazy is laid-back and where Swallowtail is delicate, Your Loves Whore thunders. In 2015 Wolf Alice proved their music was far beyond cool.
1. Chvrches – Every Open Eye
I wasn’t expecting to put Chvrches in the number 1 album spot. If you’d asked me a few months ago, it wouldn’t have been there. However, this list is based on albums that I really couldn’t stop playing and this has been the one that I have kept coming back to time and again in the last few months of 2015.
I loved their 2013 debut, The Bones Of What You Believe, and was actually slightly disappointed when I heard Every Open Eye. I think this was because I was expecting one or two tracks to instantly grab me and bowl me over (like Lies had done on first listen), but they didn’t. What I’ve since realised is that every track is an electro-pop gem. This album has become more addictive the more I have listened to it and I now can’t get enough.
EPs of 2015
5. Gengahr – Tired Eyes
Comprised of three songs that were recorded during sessions for their debut album A Dream Outside, there is nothing tired about the tracks on this EP. Despite not making it onto the debut album, these songs all have a slightly different sound to that release and work really well together. This actually felt like a step forward for a band that continued to be pleasantly surprising in 2015.
4. Siobhan Wilson – Say It’s True
When I say that Siobhan Wilson (formerly known as Ella The Bird) has a beautiful voice, it is a massive understatement. When I say she writes clever, moving lyrics I’m not really doing her justice. This EP is a perfect soundtrack for curling up on the sofa when you want something downright pretty to listen to. Wilson’s musical and lyrical prowess is clear and I hope to hear lots more from her in 2016.
3. Tuff Love – Dregs
Julie Eisenstein (guitar, vocals) and Suse Bear (bass, vocals) have obviously grown in confidence in 2015. Dregs is five songs of sun-soaked guitar pop perfection that builds on the summery indie sound of their two previous EPs – all self-engineered and self-produced in Bear’s flat. Unassuming but compelling. Dazzling but effortless. Tuff Love’s fuzzy indie pop just keeps getting better.
2. United Fruit – Nightmare Recovery
This was a triumphant return for United Fruit, seeing them successfully translate their huge live sound to record. Lead track Nightmare Recovery is the punchy opener that manages to shift between the post-punk, post-rock and shoegaze influences that they are experimenting with throughout the EP. Iskandar Stewart’s vocals echo around the melodic Ghost Inside Your Head and then they are wrapped in a wall of noise that builds throughout the soaring and snarling Cause And Effect. In a word: exhilarating.
1. The Van T’s – Laguna Babe
I fell in love with The Van T’s in 2015. The comparisons with fellow Scottish band Honeyblood, who I’m also a fan of, will undoubtedly be made often and this is no bad thing. However, it’s their distinctive vocal harmonies, the vintage American guitar sound and their personal and quirky lyrics that make them unique.
Growler gets the hairs on the back of my neck tingling as the Van Thompson twins honey-dripped but feisty vocals kick in. Title track Laguna Babe starts off slowly before the fizzing drum beat fires it up into fuzzy, fast, surf-infused rock and roll. Feel, Touch, Feel has a more straightforward garage rock style but it’s still hard to resist shaking your head in time and swooning at those sugar-coated harmonies. Another Sun takes a Best Coast sound and rolls it up in a package of fuzzing guitars, crashing drums and a ridiculously catchy chorus of “waiting for another sun, I know I know you’re not the only one”. This was surely the debut of the year.
Live performances of 2015
5. Katzenjammer – Cropredy festival, 13 August
Photo © Rhiannon Ormerod
Katzenjammer sailed onto the Cropredy stage, along with twenty different instruments, and created a musical storm for a sodden Cropredy Festival audience.
Get the full review and image gallery
4. Ex Hex – Scala London, 2 November
Photo © Rhiannon Ormerod
Ex Hex tore through a set of rock ‘n’ roll that lifted the gloom of a Monday night in foggy London.
Get the full review and image gallery
3. The Duke Spirit – Wilton’s Music Hall, 22 October
Photo © Rhiannon Ormerod
The Duke Spirit lived up to their name with a majestic and energetic performance at the historic Wilton’s Music Hall.
Get the full review and image gallery
2. Honeyblood – various shows throughout 2015
Photo © Rhiannon Ormerod
I have actually seen Honeyblood a total of three times this year – a headline slot in February, supporting Best Coast in May and a set at Bushstock festival in June. This duo has been making me dance and smile all through 2015. The now regular appearance of two new songs – the pounding Love Is A Disease and the powerhouse of Babes Never Die – has offered a tantalising glimpse of the new album due for release in 2016.
Read my writing on Honeyblood and see the galleries
1. PINS – Oslo Hackney, 23 September
Photo © Rhiannon Ormerod
PINS were at their sharpest for a wild night at Oslo in Hackney. This gig was the celebration of a band that is sharper than ever. The chemistry between the band members translates into a warm energy that you don’t expect from their cool appearance. I realised I’d been grinning up at them the whole way through.
The next party they throw, I want an invite.
Get the full review and image gallery
Books of 2015
5. Slade House by David Mitchell
I have to confess that I haven’t finished this book yet. So, why is it appearing on my list? Because I already know that it won’t disappoint. Developed from a short story that he tweeted, you can tell that Mitchell is having fun with this comic horror that covers five stories that occur at nine-year intervals but in the same place. This is a spooky romp that I know I will finish at record speed.
4. Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove
John Hargrove got to live his childhood dream. Over the course of two decades, he worked with 20 different whales on two continents and at two of SeaWorld’s U.S. facilities. This book recounts Hargrove’s personal journey from Seaworld advocate to his realisation that captivity isn’t sustainable for the whales, or the humans that work with them, following the death of two fellow trainers (as covered in the excellent film Blackfish). It may not be fiction, but this was a compelling book that I was unable to put down.
3. The Girl in the Spider’s Web by David Lagercrantz
I know what you’re thinking – that this is a bit of a boring, ‘popular’ choice. Well yes, it probably is, but I don’t care. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed the character of Lisbeth Salander until she jumped back off the page in her biker boots and kicked the hell out of this story. With lots of questions left unanswered, I can only hope that Lagercrantz continues to keep Larsson’s Millenium characters alive.
2. The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
I wasn’t sure I could ever forgive Kazuo Ishiguro for how downright cross the characters in Remains Of The Day made me when I studied it at school. Then when I read Never Let Me Go, all was forgiven as I became attached to the characters and was reduced to tears when the story broke them. The Buried Giant held a mix of emotions for me. The frustrations caused by lost memories and discoveries are so beautifully portrayed through the characters that I felt them too. I felt their loss and confusion but I also felt their love and warmth. This is a simply beguiling story.
1. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Ok, so this isn’t a new release this year but the new deluxe edition of Carter’s book was produced by Penguin books for the 75th anniversary of her birth this year. Buying this beautiful book reminded me how absorbing this deliciously dark collection of short stories is. It satisfies my need for elements of horror, fantasy and sensuality whilst retaining just enough of the original fairy tales. This will always be a favourite of mine.
My best blogs of 2015 (based on views)
- Nerina Pallot live review – Scala London 17 September 2015
- Katzenjammer live review – Cropredy 13 August 2015
- Writing a novel in a month – Chapter 1
- Joanna Gruesome live review – Scala London 22 September 2015
- Writing a novel in a month – The final chapter
Thanks for reading and happy 2016!