Johnny Feeney’s Albums of 2016

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Better late than never, Johnny Feeney would like to share his favourite records from 2016 with you all.

A reliably insightful musical sage, Johnny’s guest appearances are always interesting and add an extra flavour to the blog and I look forward to reading them – surely I’m not alone?

A massive thanks to Johnny for taking time out to compile this list, and on that note, I’ll leave you with his Mr. Feeney’s favourite records of 2016.

10. Laura Mvula – ‘The Dreaming Room’

The Birmingham soul singer’s second studio album comes densely packed with layers of Mvula’s unique vocals and a broad range of sounds and influences, including lead single ‘Overcome’ featuring Nile Rodgers. Despite not always hitting the mark, there are some powerful, intriguing tracks on here. Really needs to be played at a high volume to give everything a chance to be heard.

09. Car Seat Headrest – ‘Teens Of Denial’

Virginia’s Will Toledo has been releasing albums prolifically as Car Seat Headrest for a few years now but this is only his second full release on a major label. Seriously overlong at almost 70 minutes, the album has the capacity to absolutely blow you away with cracking rock songs such as ‘Fill In The Blanks’ or ‘Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales’. The more you listen to it, the better it gets.

08. Hinds – ‘Leave Me Alone’

The debut album from this Madrid all-girl four-piece is a joyous, upbeat lo-fi indie rock affair. There’s a neat trick performed here with the loose, ramshackle guitars and lazy, loose drums in stark contrast with the tightness of the hook-laden, impossibly infectious songs – and the sound of a band having a lot of fun and not taking themselves too seriously.

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Johnny Feeney’s Albums of 2015

Johnny Feeney's albums of 2015

The reliable musical sage that is Johnny Feeney, steps up on this soapbox to share his favourite records from 2015.

Johnny’s guest posts are always insightful, interesting and always add an extra flavour the blog and I look forward to reading them – surely I’m not alone? 

A massive thanks to Johnny for taking time out to write this up, and on that note, I’ll leave you with his 25 albums of 2015……

25. Grimes – ‘Art Angels’

24. Floating Points  – ‘Elaenia’

23. Public Service Broadcasting – ‘The Race For Space’

22. EL VY – ‘Return To The Moon’

21. Julia Holter – ‘Have You In My Wilderness’

20. Girl Band – ‘Holding Hands With Jamie’

19. Trembling Bells – ‘The Sovereign Self’

18. Courtney Barnett – ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’

17. Stealing Sheep – ‘Not Real’

16. Nadine Shah – ‘Fast Food’

15. C Duncan – ‘Architect’

Glaswegian Christopher Duncan’s Mercury-nominated debut album is a beautiful piece of dreamy, baroque chamber pop, heavily layered with more than a hint of Grizzly Bear about it.

14. Unknown Multi Orchestra – ‘Multi-Love’

The Auckland/Portland band’s fantastic third album chronicles a soured polyamorous relationship. A lovely lo-fi record full of psychedelic grooves and some of the sleaziest, funkiest guitar lines you’ll hear this year.

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2015 According to Stephen Connelly

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One of my proudest achievements on the blog this year, or any year for that matter, is the release of GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging.

It was a truly fantastic way to mark 5 years of BarryGruff and I am incredibly grateful to everyone involved and the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response. As 2015 draws to a close, I have enlisted help from people who made the compilation what it was, to chat about their favourite moments and sounds from year, and up next, Stephen Connelly.

As was the case with any amount of gigs and whatnot, Stevie was my right hand man on GruffWuff and it wouldn’t have happened without him (or if it did, it wouldn’t have been half as good). His artwork was the final piece of the jigsaw, and it’s fuckin’ great (even if everyone on Broadsheet didn’t agree – the internet is a cruel mistress). A pleasure to work with as always, I’d like to thank him for all his work and enthusiasm toward GruffWuff, cheers buddy. When he’s not being hassled into doing stuff with me, among other things, he plays in Knoxville Morning, makes excellent video’s for bands and tries his best at 5-a-side. Now, time to take a look at his 2015 sound selections….

What was your personal high point of this year, musical and/or otherwise?

Three events stand out:

1. Really enjoyed working so close on the Gruffwuff compilation. Great to see so many bands getting behind the blog and also the great feedback we received.

 

2. It’s only really hitting me now that I got make the video for A Lazarus Soul’s latest single, ‘Mercury Hit a High’. I fucking love that band and to be able to contribute to one of my favourite albums was an incredible feeling.

3. Gig of the year has to go to Lynched in The Crane Bar in Galway. I was an emotional wreck by the end of the show, spent the week wrecking friends heads about how good it was going to be and they didn’t disappoint. Hadn’t got a buzz off Irish folk music since L.A.P.D. played the Electric Picnic a few years back.

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2015 According to Mr Huw

Mr Huw Du Llun

One of my proudest achievements on the blog this year, or any year for that matter, is the release of GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging.

It was a truly fantastic way to mark 5 years of BarryGruff and I am incredibly grateful to everyone involved and the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response. As 2015 draws to a close, I have enlisted help from people who made the compilation what it was, to chat about their favourite moments and sounds from year, and up next is Mr Huw.

Welsh maestro Mr Huw is an artist to be treasured, cherished and of course, enjoyed. Welsh lends itself to music rather well, regardless of whether you can understand it or not, and he is one of the most prolific and finest exponents of Welsh language music out there. Huw’s rough and unpolished, DIY style indie/post-punk has a glorious Half Man Half Biscuit aesthetic to it and generally packed with powerful rhythms, pointed riffs and broached with some infectious melodies and peppered with hooks you could hang your hat on. Mr Huw is an absolute gem! 

Before we take a look at his 2015 sound selections, you should check out his sublime Du Llun EP (which roughly translates as ‘Black Monday’), and Mr Huw’s GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Bai Neb Ond Fy Hun’ – of which you can download here for FREE.

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Guest Post: Johnny Feeney’s Albums of 2015 So Far

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The ever knowledgeable Johnny Feeney returns to the blog once again, to share an eclectic selection of his favourite records from the year so far.

Always insightful and interesting, his guest posts always add an extra flavour the blog and I for one look forward to reading them – surely I’m not alone?

A huge thanks to Johnny as always, and on that note, I’ll leave you in his very capable hands.

10. Stealing Sheep – ‘Not Real’

The second album from Liverpool’s Stealing Sheep is awash with quirky, catchy psych-folk/pop songs with a habit of having disconcerting false endings to continually keep you on your toes while listening.

09. Slaves – ‘Are You Satisfied?’

While there’s no shortage of two-piece rock bands around at the moment, Slaves’ debut album delivers enough memorable tunes with primitive, meaty hooks and thundering drums to stand out from the crowd.

08. Thee Oh Sees – ‘Mutilator Defeated At Last’

With only 9 songs and 33 minutes long, San Francisco’s ultra-prolific Thee Oh Sees’ ninth album in seven years is a brilliant, brief blast of fuzzy, distorted psych/garage rock.

07. Viet Cong – ‘Viet Cong’

The Canadian drone-rockers’ self-titled debut album is hypnotic, repetitive and bleak but absolutely compelling. Expect stuttering, industrial beats and mazing guitars.

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