Some English Albums of the Year (1)

Continuing with the "best of" theme, some of my favourite (predominantly) English albums of the year. My regular reader might have noticed that the majority of Blog posts are generally about Francophone artists and while there are a couple of reasons why this might be the case - (i) I genuinely like French music (especially those sung by Les filles); (ii) In the English speaking world, French music really doesn't get the credit it deserves or the attention it warrants - I do listen to a lot (a lot) of music performed in English (by English, American, Canadian, Australian... French... whatever, whoever... artists) and I certainly get to see a lot of them playing here in L.A... It's just that there are a million and one Blogs that have generally covered most of these artists a million times better than I can... and probably have... 

But, inferiority complex aside, here's some more music that has gotten my attention this year...

First-off, a few that you've probably heard of... 

Palma Violets - "180"

A totally-in-your-face veritable tour de force of pumped-up thrashy-guitar-raw garage rock (with more than a hint of intricate keyboard melodies) from the best thing to come out of Lambeth since the A23 to Brighton. "180" totally manages to capture the energy of the band's live performances  perfectly - thanks in no small part to the production of Pulp's Steve Mackay - which demands that the volume control is cranked all the way to eleven. While it's the dynamism of guitar-wielding frontmen Samuel Fryer and Chilli Jesson that has garnered most attention, it's perhaps keyboardist Jeffrey Mayhew - who provides more than a glimpse of the solid R'n'B foundations that root this band - and who hints at an ever brighter and more expansive future. 
 

Arctic Monkeys - “AM"

One of Mrs Blog's favorite bands (and having caught them whip-up a storm at the Wiltern I can confirm they are ab-so-fucking-lutely stunning live), "AM", the band's fifth album is to these ears their best to date. The perfect mix of contemporary West Coast Americana (as much hip-hop as rock - similar to yours truly, the band are now Brits in L.A.) and Alex Turner's sharp - incisive - honed in Sheffield lyrics, "AM" is a gritty record all about sex, drugs, loneliness and frustration. It's also an album that's been meticulously put together by a band confident enough to know where they want to be, what they want to do and how they're going to pull it all off - with some aplomb apparently...

Lorde - “Pure Heroine"

Ella Yelich-O'Connor is 17 (which makes me old enough to be her grand-father - which is just a tad uncomfortable). She was 16 when she recorded this album, so if you've been living under a rock this year, you might just be tempted to think that for a teenager's debut offering its pretty good. Drop that thought. "Pure Heroine" is a moody, intense, dark - and adult - album. Gorgeously produced - sparse synthesisers and a minimal beat (think late 80's Bristol trip-hop... Massive Attack, Portishead...) - are married to a keen song writing ear that leads to  those cynicism-beyond-her-years lyrics. There's a reason why this album has been rated so highly. It's the perfect don't give a fuck album for people who do.
  

London Grammar - “If you want”

Far be it from me to suggest to Florence Welch that she could do a lot worse than listen to this album. "If you want" is an intense and atmospheric, yet at the same time sparse and haunting experience. The album is chock-full of incredibly autobiographical and melancholy songs and Hannah Reid's astonishingly distinctive - brooding - vocals.  Everything about this album has been expertly crafted together - and with vocals offset by deceptively simple guitar, piano and trip-hop synthesiser rhythm - for an album that's all about the fear of, and falling out of love, it's incredibly easy to become totally enamoured with this most assured of debuts. 

Chvrches - “The Bones of What We Believe”

Scottish electronic synthpop band Chvrches debut album is a nigh-on perfect mix of retro-eighties electronica - all synthesisers, vocal loops and indelible hooks and danceable beats (think Erasure, OMD, Depeche Mode...) - with added twenty-first century sensibilities. With Iain Cook and Martin Doherty weaving an incredibly rich textural songs which are perfectly topped by vocalist Lauren Mayberry's to-die-for vocals... In all honesty there's not a huge amount that I can add that would do this album justice. Arguably the best electro-pop album since the Human League's "Dare"...