Top Records - May/June 2011

Well, my resolution to post at least 2 blog posts a week on here has unfortunately fallen to pieces in the last couple of months, which has saddened me greatly. There are various reasons behind that, a main one being my A-Level Exams, which are now over and done with. However, since they've been finished, the traditional summer holiday conundrum of having just TOO MUCH free time has hit me hard in the productivity balls.

Also, putting this list together was a bit of a sad experience seeing as I've been especially skint over the past few months and so my ability to buy new albums has been significantly impeded. Still, there are a few who have made it through, bringing me a lot of delight over the past couple of months. Here's what's been delighting my ear drums!

Cults by Cults

Cults popped tweely onto everybody's radar last year, yet another indie pop band citing "60s girl group vocals" as one of their main influences. It felt as if it was only a matter of time until The Shangrilas and Martha and The Vandellas lost their patience and merged together into some kind of giant Power Rangers zoid to exact some copyright vengeance on the indie pop scene, but, despite the overload of such music, Cults' self titled debut album really is delightful. Signature tracks "Oh My God" and "Go Outside" are still present (a good thing, as they're still two of the band's best songs), but there's plenty more to go round. Opener "Abducted" is arguably the best thing on there (my dad likes it!) - a rhythm that's just begging you to clap your hands, lashings of hot xylophone and one of the most kick-ass band entries I've ever heard. The constant interplay of male and female lead vocals from Brian Oblivion and Madeline Folin never ceases to be exciting. If you like your pop music catchy, sweet and edgy, this is a must this year.

The Forsaken Elm by Ghosthorse

Ghosthorse began their inevitable career as cult heroes in 2010 with the very limited release of their long gestating debut album The Shoal. The Chessington based duo proved to be the most exciting arrival to the noise music scene in quite some time, utilising an entire multimedia campaign orchestrated by member Michael Bateman, spanning across YouTube and Twitter, as well as allegations of an eventually unsuccessful endorsement of UK cereal "Nougat Pillows". However, their second album is undoubtedly a vastly more mature work, and will perhaps be the band's masterpiece. It's an album which, unlike most noise music (let's be honest) is actually highly enjoyable in many places, adding a whole array of new textures to the band's sound ("The Raft", "Butterfly House", the latter sounding a bit like the music that plays when you're in the tower in Lavender Town in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow) The duo are comfortably astride both the philosophical side of things in "Five Point Calvinism", as well as the comical side in "Fake Dad/Fraudulent Father", the latter probably the album's highlight. It sees Ashley Watkinson (traditionally the man who stays behind the synths) taking on spoken word duties, almost eclipsing the primal howls of Michael Bateman. A cult essential.

Demolished Thoughts by Thurston Moore

I have major love for Sonic Youth, and so I was exceptionally excited when I heard that frontman Thurston Moore was releasing another solo album, produced by no less than Beck! It really was call for a bit of an indiegasm. When the first track "Benediction" was made available, I fell in love instantly. Thurston ditched the discordance and harsh screeching and garbled lyrics about anything from consumerism to serial killers, and picked up an acoustic guitar to write lush, beautiful love songs. Thurston is one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and his sheer skill is displayed in the outstanding, melodic finger picking on this album (even though Thurston himself has been critical of his skill with an acoustic) The lush "Illuminine" is a highlight, and showcases Beck's production skills in the divine string section, which fades away into ambience. There are moments like "Circulation" when Thurston returns to thumping, rock and roll mode, with slightly atonal riffing, but it works perfectly somehow, backed up by sparse but strong strings. This album is a light, airy beauty, and will be perfect for long summer evenings.

Bon Iver by Bon Iver

This really is an album where I wonder what I can possibly say. I fell in love with Bon Iver the moment I saw Justin Vernon perform "Skinny Love" on Jools Holland a few years ago. Heck, the whole musical world fell in love with him upon the release of For Emma, Forever Ago. His debut was indescribably poignant, and could still go down as a modern classic. People liked to play up the whole "he recorded it alone in the woods with nothing but a Swiss Army Knife and a mandolin made from bear skulls and the strung flesh of an Elk" aspect of the album's recording, but it was, I think, perfect. So the pressure was on for his follow-up. Bon Iver is different in a huge number of ways from Justin Vernon's debut - but good grief is it still brilliant! There has been a huge departure from the lonely, solo aspect of the first album and Bon Iver has no expanded to a full band who have a near unparalleled mastery of musical texture. Opener "Perth" swells majestically, every new instrument becoming another essential layer of the track - crashing drums, ebullient brass, impassioned vocals. Texture, rather than song structure, is the focus of the album, but it never feels aimless or noodly. It's just jaw droppingly beautiful, one of those albums that takes you to a whole other place. The lyrics are a sparse, cryptic affair ("And all at once I knew I was no magnificent, strayed above the highway aisle. Jagged vacancy, think with ice, but I could see for miles, miles, miles, miles"), but gradually you decipher them and crack the melancholy and heartbreak which is the centre of the album. Stunning.

Suck It And See by Arctic Monkeys

I'll call it now, this will likely end up my top album of the year. I can't conceive of a situation which would place it outside of the Top 3. You might remember my distress and heartbreak when the crass "Brick By Brick" was the Arctic's first preview of this album, but my worries have been shown to have a foundation more insubstantial than Casper the Friendly Ghost's left nut. Suck It And See is a total dream, the most mature Arctic Monkeys record to the date. It still has "Brick By Brick" on it, but in the context of the rest of the album's articulate, evocative brilliance, I can understand its place as just a bit of fun. Alex Turner's songwriting has reached a new level of love-steeped insight and maturity, showcased perfectly in "Love Is A Laserquest" and "That's Where You're Wrong". His voice has beocme the seductive, airy croon which we've always sensed he had in him since Favourite Worst Nightmare. Lyrically, he's reached something of a perfect medium between the cryptic imagery on Humbug and his more accessible writing on the first two albums - and he's probably written some of his best lines here - "that's not a skirt girl, that's a sawn-off shotgun, and I can only hope you've got it aimed at me". That line comes from the album's title track, which is possibly the best song on here, and proves (as do many other tracks) that the Arctics are the master of THE BIG CHORUS. Also, the instrumental performances really are stunning here. Matt Helders' drumming brilliance has been evident for a very long time, but Jamie Cook's guitar playing reaches a new level here, and Andy Nicholson's nimble bass lines are incredibly important in holding the 60s influenced tracks together. I will admit, I love the Arctics with a passion. They're the band of my generation. I loved Humbug, even though many fell away upon its release. I watched with a fully acknowledged self-satisfaction as they did. The same is happening with Suck It And See, though to a lesser degree. It's sad that the world is still full of people who want an impossible repeat of the first album. But with every album, the Arctics have only ever sounded more like themselves. Suck It And See just takes them to the next, brilliant stage.

Honourable Mentions:
- Goblin by Tyler, The Creator
- Black Up by Shabazz Palaces. Still getting to grips with this.
- All Eternals Deck by The Mountain Goats. (Released in March, but took me a while to get round to. Love it all over, will be in my top albums of 2011 no doubt)
- Burst Apart by The Antlers. I don't see what all the critical adulation is for, but it's not bad.

In terms of older stuff I've been revisiting:
- The entire catalogue of The Smiths, again and again and again and again...
- Regular doses of Los Campesinos! Driving fast in a friend's car with Romance Is Boring blaring out was a beautiful moment.
- Frank Sinatra. Although Frank and his big band/jazz cohorts don't get too many mentions on my blog, they were my first love, and Ol' Blue Eyes would still give The Smiths a run for their money as my favourite artists of all time

For the future, the most anticipated release of 2011 for me now is Laura Marling's third album due out September 13th. Let's hope perfection strikes three times!