BarryGruff’s Albums of the Year 2014

BG2014

So, it’s that time of year again, yeah, it’s favourite albums of the year time. Loads of great music this year, some old faces and plenty of new ones too but for those of you who care, here are my 25 albums of 2014. Enjoy!

25. Second Storey – ‘Double Divide’

24. Beach Day – ‘Native Echoes’

23. Globelamp – ‘Star Dust’

22. Sex Hands – ‘Pleh’

21. The #1s – ‘The #1s’

20. Attaque – ‘ON LY YOU’

19. Shit Robot – ‘We Got Love’

18. Mowbird – ‘Islander’

17. Oh Boland/Me & My Dog – ‘Delphi’

16. Jamie T – ‘Carry on the Grudge’

15. Pharoahe Monch – ‘PTSD’

Following on from his 2011’s W.A.R, comes fourth solo LP, PTSD (aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), a loose-concept album which sees Pharoahe Monch speaking as a weary independent warrior against the industry machine and dealing with the struggle of the black male experience in America. It’s dense, raw and sometimes painfully raw, as he relives harrowing memories of his struggle with addiction, depression and suicidal thoughts. It’s all draped with his familiar top-notch storytelling, cavernous vocabulary, thought-provoking rhymes, precise delivery and thought-provoking metaphors, placing him right up top of the current hip-hop pile.

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Half Time Reflections: Albums Of The Year So Far (2014)

Jimmy Glass Carlisle Albums 2014

With over half the year already passed, it is ripe time for some half-time reflection on the many albums that have preoccupying my attention so far in 2014. As it is well overdue there is no need to waste and more time, here they are, in all their glory!

Sleaford Mods – ‘Divide & Exit’

Lo-fi English punk duo of Jason Williamson and Andrew Fearn are Sleaford Mods, who’ve been grunting through gritted teeth since ’08. With their new album, Divide & Exit, they deliver a clever, often funny, foul mouthed and angry record, overloaded with attitude as their gripes and grievances with modern Britain (and beyond) are vehemently aired. Chief rabble-rouser, Williamson is both scathing and sardonic, who airs his many gripes and grievances, with a combination of vitriolic anger and acerbic wit. An extremely clever wordsmith, his righteous and infectious rantings are as quotable as Half Man Half Biscuit. You could argue forever as to what line in the gold-standard song is the greatest. This extremely clever wordplay is strewn among grimey beats and wiry post-punk guitars from Fearn. While owing as much to hip-hop and grime as to post-punk, and could be seen to be the the modern inheritors of the brilliance of Mark E Smith, The Streets, Shaun Ryder and HMHB. While there are traces of those artists here, there is, and never has been anything quite like Sleaford Mods. Top fucking class.

The Horrors – ‘Luminous’

On their fourth LP, The Horrors continue to refine sophisticated and colourful sound. The synthesisers are more to the fore, and a noticeably greater influence from electronic and dance music but without ever quite adapting dance-music tempos. The darkness which marks much of their previous work seems to have abated, except for Faris Badwan recoginzable brooding croon, replaced by a late ’80s tingle of euphoria, mellow synth sounds and a bouncy back-beats to create pulsating, danceable psychedelia. The Horrors are light years ahead of anyone else of the ‘indie guitar music’ canon. Tune in, drift away in this bliss of colourful groove.

Gruff Rhys – ‘American Interior’

After concept albums about a wealthy Italian Trotskyite, an eccentric car designer, and a movie in search of lost Welsh tribes in Argentina, nothing should surprise us when it comes to Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys. His fourth solo album is inspired by a recent discovery that he’s a descendent of John Evans, an 18th-century explorer, who mapped the Missouri river in a vain search for a mythical, Welsh-speaking American tribe. Concept aside, this record shares certain similarities with his previous work, cooking up lush pop songs with more immersive and introspective fare, beautiful orchestral moments and even a couple of more surreal, out-there moments. From the title track, the mournfully mesmerising ‘American Interior’ and it’s expansive, slightly melancholic rock with an infectious melody at its heart, to the rumbling rockabilly of ‘100 Unread Messages’ on synth-splashed carnival tune ‘The Whether (Or Not)’ we’re treated to exemplary spectrum of his talents. American Interior reminds us how captivating a storyteller Rhys is, who wistfully spins wonderful narratives of being carried through new worlds and visions, and only adds to the particular idiosyncratic charm that this Welshman personifies.

Malachai – ‘Beyond Ugly’

Malachai‘s latest effort, Beyond Ugly serves as a closing chapter to the Bristol duo’s ‘Ugly’ triptych, an unplanned trilogy of albums and pre-dated by the excellent Ugly Side of Love (2010) and Return to the Ugly Side (2011). Beyond Ugly is enjoyable as a standalone record if you’re unfamiliar with the previous two. It’s an imaginative journey through controlled chaos which seamlessly flits between trip-hop, hip-hop, acoustic folk, ’60s psychedelia, dance-funk and XTRMNTR era Primal Scream doses of aggressive political anger within the same breath. Expect to witness lavish sonic mayhem and delicate, thought-provoking moments on love, loss, life, politics and society. Vacuous it isn’t, there’s quite a bit of substance behind the aural salvo. A fitting conclusion to this unlikely of trilogies, saying that, hopefully it isn’t the last we’ve heard from Malachai.

Coves – ‘Soft Friday’

There are plenty of bands of Coves‘ ilk about at the moment – boy-girl duo, spectral vocals, ’60s psychedelic influences, dreamy synths – but they are in a class of their own and their debut, Soft Friday, casts a chilling spell. Swirling psychedelia is met with sweeping grandeur, as Wood’s mellifluous cooing floats above as driving riffs mingle with propulsive electro beats, drones and flickers of electronics, in a gentle whirlpool of shimmering psychedelic and glacial atmospherics. Soft Friday is a fine debut. Atmospheric, distinctive and very enjoyable, and a worthy inclusion in any record collection.

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(Video) The Horrors – ‘So Now You Know’

The Horrors 2014 New Album Single

So, you might have heard, The Horrors will release their forthcoming fourth album Luminous on May 5th through XL.

Even a whisper of new material is greeted with a flurry of excitement around these parts – all justified too of course – seen as their previous two, LPs Primary Colours (2009) & Skying (2011), are astonishingly good records and two firm favourites. So with all that in mind, their new record, Luminous was always going to be one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The Horrors have shared ‘So Now You Know’, the second song and lead single from their new LP and it continues their usual sophisticated and colourful sound, touch of post-punk and Faris Badwan brooding croon. Although, the darkness which marks much of their previous work seems to have abated, replaced by a new wavey trickle of euphoria, mellow synth sounds and a bouncy backbeat. Tune in, drift away in this bliss of colourful groove.

Luminous is out on May 5th through XL and you can get an earful and video(full) of ‘So Now You Know’ below.

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Miaoux Miaoux – Stop The Clocks (Tom Furse Remix)

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Last year Glasgow based producer Miaoux Miaoux released his wonderful debut album Light of the North. One of 2012’s finest, it was an absolute treasure; delicately piecing together beats, electronics, synths and guitars, with his pristine vocals gliding through a heavenly mist of lush harmonies, melodies, beats and electronics.

This year has been a much quieter one for the Scottish producer. Although not entirely new, being part of Miaoux Miaoux’s Autopilot EP which was released late last year, this beauty has finally found it’s way online. The beauty in question is Tom Furse’s (of The Horrors) rework of ‘Stop The Clocks’, one of the standout tracks from Light of the North. Furse’s remix is an absolute triumph, and nothing short of epic. It unfurls over ten minutes, from an ominous, effect-drenched opening, before ascending to exquisitely blissed out and trippy plain, with some choice Eastern sounding synth work and snappy 808 claps. This is a simply stunning piece of work. 

You can check the Tom Furse’s remix below but if you haven’t check out Miaoux Miaoux’s debut album Light of the North, I wholeheartedly recommend that you do. [Buy / Stream]

Video: The Horrors – I Can See Through You

‘I Can See Through You’ is the second single to be taken from The Horrors third album, Skying, one of this year’s very best. The single is accompanied by the White Rabbit directed video, a kaleidoscopic and psychedelic experience of epic proportions. The Horrors seem unable to put a foot wrong right now.

You can watch it below and you can also hear The Horrors own version of Beyoncé’s ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ from BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge last week.

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The Horrors – Best Thing I Never Had (Beyoncé Cover)

Video: The Horrors – Still Life

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The Horrors release their hotly anticipated third album, Skying on Friday in Ireland (Monday in the UK). The album seems to be streaming everywhere including here (even though I have yet to hear it).

The band have unveiled a psychedelic video for single ‘Still Life’. The video looks pretty much like ‘Stand Still’ sounds, bright, warm and uplifting. I’m still standing by my earlier call that it is reminiscent of Screamadelica era Primal Scream or Death In Vegas in their pomp.

Easily an early contender for one of the year’s more memorable singles.

Glastonbury ’11: Bits n’ Bobs

Glastonbury is over and done with for another two years, but thanks to the brilliant BBC coverage we were all able to enjoy a lot of the weekend’s action from the comfort of our respective couches.

Much of the weekend’s antics isn’t online yet but here are some of the highlights from across the weekend…

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The legend that is Jimmy Cliff

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More feel good vibes from Primal Scream

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The Kills ripping it up

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The Horrors new album really can’t come quick enough

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Elbow doing what they do best

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Old masters The Chemical Brothers tearing it up.

New Album & Single from The Horrors

Fantastic news from The Horrors camp.  Yesterday evening they took everyone by surprise (most of all me!) with news of a new album, Skying, to be released on July 11.

Like this wasn’t enough to get us excited? They also unveiled the first single from the record, ‘Still Life’. The swaggering psychedelic shoegaze is retained but with less anger and darkness. An uplifting, warm and inspirational vibe is preferred with beautiful trumpets and super synths all working so, so well.

One can’t help but feel the warmth from this track and heavily reminiscent of Screamadelica era Primal Scream or Death In Vegas in their pomp!

The Horrors stunned music fans with the superb Primary Colours in 2009, after a largely poor and over-hyped debut. For some the jury may still have been out but on this early evidence album number three looks as though it may cast their rep in stone.   

That’s my two cents worth, what’s your verdict?

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The Horrors – Still Life via 1FTP

And here’s one they made earlier.

The Horrors – Scarlet Fields via Thorp5