Following on from last years ‘I’m in a Rock n Roll Band!’ series for BBC2, which sought to explore and unpack the inner workings of how great rock n roll bands work, ‘I’m in a Boy Band!’ kicks off a three part series looking into the wonderful world of Pop.

The intention with ‘I’m in a Boy Band!’ was to use the first hand testament of a cross-generational cast to examine what makes up a great Boy Band and to really get under the skin of the male Pop group experience.

The first challenge we faced was, of course, one of definition. What actually is a Boy Band? For many the term represents something of a dirty phrase. A byword for manufactured and the antithesis of authenticity in popular music. But the truth is never that simple. The concept of ‘authenticity’ in pop music has always been a shaky one at best in my opinion. From the very start our intention was to open up the definition of the Boy Band and explore the commonality, as well as the differences between, 50 years’ worth of what is arguably pops most enduring format.

Whether manufactured, self-formed, a band of brothers or a group of strangers; this meant taking everyone from the Four Tops, to the Monkees via the Jackson 5 and on to the likes of One Direction and JLS and applying the same set of standards and principles in an attempt to find some underlying truths at the heart of the Boy Band experience.

Certain timeless traits began to emerge; the importance of having strongly defined characters, a sense of uniformity, sex appeal, as well as an underlying tension between the desire for self-expression and the need for group harmony.

But as well as exploring these larger topics, our interviews also produced their fair share of amusing insights and anecdotes. Personal highlights include; Merrill Osmond casually mentioning the fact that Chuck Norris was The Osmond’s Karate mentor and choreographer, Aston from JLS being ribbed by his band mates for being the ‘cute one’ in the band and the only surviving member of the Four Tops getting so wound up in describing the glory of harmonising that he uses some language Sid Vicious would have been proud of.

In addition to these stories it was fascinating to hear of the personal challenges involved in leaving a Boy Band and getting to grips with life after Pop stardom. I am very grateful for the frankness and candour of the cast for giving us a genuine flavour of the perennial highs and lows of life in the eye of a Pop storm.

I’m sure some of you will question the inclusion and exclusion of certain acts in this documentary… and quite rightly so! In many ways I feel that is one of the jobs of a show like this – to take a view and to instigate debate. These programmes can never be absolute; they are a mixture research, ideas and an application of the best available material. But I do hope the result is an unapologetic and celebratory look at the world of the Boy Band.

‘Boy Band’ shouldn’t be a dirty word, quite the opposite; it has been the channel through which some of the greatest songs, images, characters and youthful memories have flowed for generation after generation of screaming fans … and long may it continue to be so.

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I’m in a Boy Band! is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

BBC Album Reviews Editor Mike Diver casts an ear over the best of the bunch from January’s raft of new record releases.

Album of the Month

Django Django – Django Django
(Because Music; released 30 January)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Vic Galloway, Tom Robinson, Lauren Laverne

“Smart but not showy, clever but never at the expense of a catchy hook, this is ‘indie’ par excellence: guitars that ring through the mix like a clarion call from the inspired to take up arms against the dunderheaded legions of lad-rockers; buzzing synths that swirl around like a cloud of friendly wasps; lyrics delivered in mantras, summoning forth similar sermons to those once purveyed by the mighty Beta Band.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Waveforms on YouTube (external link)

The best of the rest…

Lana Del Rey – Born to Die
(Polydor; released 30 January)
Recommended by: Jo Whiley, Janice Long, 6 Music Album of the Day

“Born to Die isn’t perfect: it slumps slightly towards the end, and the glossy trip-hop production grows wearying on lesser gothic melodramas like Dark Paradise. But it’s the most distinctive and assured debut since Glasvegas’ eponymous disc in 2008, and makes you desperate to see where she goes from here. Del Rey’s defenders can take a break: Born to Die does their job better than they could hope to.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Blue Jeans on YouTube (external link)

The 2 Bears – Be Strong
(Southern Fired; released 30 January)
Recommended by: Kissy Sell Out, 6 Music Album of the Day, Rob da Bank, Nick Grimshaw

“Be Strong, in short, is superb: a joyous amalgam of disco textures and dancefloor stylings which never fail to bring a big grin to your face. A love letter to the last 20-plus years of dance nation sensations which references the finest moments with a cheery and cheeky approach, this is far from a pastiche. In a just world, this set would sell by the bucket-load. So yeah, follow the bears. You know it makes sense.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Work on YouTube (external link)

The Maccabees – Given to the Wild
(Fiction; released 9 January)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Zane Lowe, Jo Whiley, Radio 1 Review Show, Victoria Derbyshire

“Whether Given to the Wild provides the hoped-for kick up the festival billings this summer remains to be seen – at times the obsessive shading masks a lack of melodic punch – but its makers are right to be proud of it. If only all bands had the guts and honesty of The Maccabees, maybe they’d get round to making third records as good as this.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Pelican on YouTube (external link)

Chairlift – Something
(Young Turks; released 23 January)
Recommended by: Rob da Bank, Nick Grimshaw

“Far from being the expected hook-shy mope, Something does what so many of us fail to do when romantic endeavours go arse-over-tit. It offers a confident, head-held-high reappraisal of the band’s MO, with the newly-promoted Wimberly a more than capable foil for Polachek’s songwriting smarts. In producing a focussed follow-up that completely transcends its litigious backstory, Chairlift have summoned a watertight case for the defence with their second LP.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Amanaemonesia on YouTube (external link)

Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas
(Columbia; released 30 January)
Recommended by: Jarvis Cocker, 6 Music Album of the Day, Bethan Elfyn

“As with any album to which Leonard Cohen puts his name, Old Ideas is a work which displays great finesse. The music presented is gentle, even fragile, with backing vocals and instrumentation similar to that heard during his brace of UK concerts four years ago. But as ever, it is the author’s sense of poetic balance that renders this release as being a work of art.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Show Me the Place on YouTube (external link)

Portico Quartet – Portico Quartet
(Real World Records; released 30 January)
Recommended by: Jamie Cullum, Gilles Peterson, Late Junction

“Everything still sounds familiarly Portico Quartet, only fresh, forward-thinking and a little bit tougher. Their arrangements and wide-open ambience remain sparse, but, on InterRailing-inspired Window Seat, are paired with drifting synths; elsewhere, Ruins and Steepless carry the Radiohead gene always present in their improbably tuneful experiments. As journeys go, this one’s endlessly absorbing.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Ruins on YouTube (external link)

First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar
(Wichita; released 23 January)
Recommended by: Another Country with Ricky Ross, Tom Robinson, 6 Music Album of the Day, Rob da Bank, Loose Ends

“Johanna and Klara Sodenberg’s close harmonies charm unaffectedly, pitched in the mix like the faint voices of songbirds echoing through a woodland scene, and it’s difficult to imagine anyone topping this collection in 2012. Sat neatly between Laura Marling’s trauma, Alessi’s Ark’s florid scenes and Joni Mitchell’s spot-lit thoughts, First Aid Kit’s second album lines them up as the band most likely to cross over into the big time.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for The Lion’s Roar on YouTube (external link)

Laura Gibson – La Grande
(City Slang; released 9 January)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Another Country with Ricky Ross, Bethan Elfyn

“Her voice, which has always been pretty, in a vintage, timeless kind of way, reaches new levels here. On songs like The Rushing Dark, call-to-arms Time Is Not and measured, graceful closer Feather Lungs, they add to the record a wonderful old scratched-vinyl quality. This gem of a long-player – both sleepy and steely, mystical yet rooted in very real and universal themes – deserves all the plaudits that will hopefully meet its release.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for La Grande on YouTube (external link)

Errors – Have Some Faith in Magic
(Rock Action; released 30 January)
Recommended by: Marc Riley, Huw Stephens, Vic Galloway, Tom Robinson

“Have Some Faith in Magic is impressively characterised by its very organic design. It sounds as if it’s the work of human trial and error, rather than a series of computer-coded phrases and melodies, and it’s this fragility that really has it standing out as the work of a band hitting its peak. This is, easily, the Scottish ‘post-electro’ band’s most composed, defined album to date.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Pleasure Places on YouTube (external link)

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The Best Albums of January 2012 is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

‘How The Brits Rocked America’ loosely followed this tradition but what I really want tell you about in this blog is how the programmes were made and the talent, passion, craft, enthusiasm and hard work of the people who worked on it.

How The Brits Rocked America started and ended with Executive Producer and Creative Head Mark Cooper. The series was Mark’s original idea and his major input as exec typically comes in the cutting room when he views my rough cuts and rigorously examines the ideas, content, structure and script as they approach completion. There can be many viewings and they can be intense sessions often with lengthy discussions…but the programmes always benefit fantastically from Mark’s incredible musical knowledge, inspiring passion and sympathetic eye. How The Brits Rocked America is no exception and I am really grateful for his wisdom and trust in me.

Jeannie Clark, Archive Producer, had the job of sourcing the archive footage and negotiating licences. It was an immense job and one that could not be done without great skill, a contact book built upon years of experience and empathy for the subject. This mass of footage had to be logged and collated shot by shot before it could be meaningfully used. The quality of the footage in the series is absolutely amazing and is testament to Jeannie’s craft (not to mention her patience with me!)

Assistant Producer Laura Kaye had the daunting but hugely inspiring job of researching the series, writing treatments scripts and questions, discussing themes and ideas, sourcing contributors and setting up complex filming itineraries. Her enthusiasm, skill and the astonishing ease with which she accomplished these massive tasks and more was inspiring and is reflected in the scope of the series and its great cast list.

The final key in the editorial chain was Bradley Richards. An editor combines both a technical and editorial ability to put the programmes together. While most people have the capacity to learn the technical side (ie. what the myriad of buttons do), the actual art of editing is much more difficult. Understanding how pictures, sounds, ideas, structure and pacework is a real craft and my editor Bradley Richards was a true craftsman on all three programmes. It was also a huge task for the both of us. Two grown men alone, sweating away at the mantrols in a darkened room for 18 weeks is not an easy image… so let’s not go there.

The final and indispensible team member was Jo Sinkins. A Production Manager who watches the spend, pays the bills, plans the production schedule, hires crews and post production facilities, makes sure that the team is running smoothly, oversees paperwork, ensures you are safe and happy on location and occasionally has to have the tough conversation is an essential part of all production teams and Jo was all these things and more. For a role that is traditionally seen as tight with the purse strings Jo was possessed of the most generous spirit.

All these people went above and beyond the call of duty for this project and I am very proud of the series. My hope is that it is in the best of Reithian traditions; educative, informative and entertaining.
Before I turn it over to you I wanted to leave with a little caveat…

I always enter the professional blogosphere with slight trepidation as music evokes partisan passions. Despite my best intentions, writing on the internet about a project where fifty years of transatlantic rock traffic is condensed into three hours is effectively placing my head on a chopping ‘blog’.
Previous entries by colleagues on such projects have engendered indignant litanies of,‘how can you ignore X’, ‘you forgot Y you chump’ or, ‘how dare Z not be included in this series?’

The truth is always otherwise. We didn’t forget or ignore purposefully. The programmes are not completest, nor could ever be. They are combination of raw research, ideas and responding to the best material available.

I hope you enjoy them. And if you don’t, please don’t be too harsh!

For more programme information, see: How The Brits Rocked America

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How The Brits Rocked America is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

New year, new music. BBC Album Reviews Editor Mike Diver looks at some of the collections coming the listening public’s way in the first three months of 2012.

Hi, readers. Now, there are lots, and lots, of great new albums forthcoming in early 2012. But this selection of 10 represents the most interesting sets I’ve had the pleasure of investigating – some at length, some through teasing snippets and cheeky samplers. I hope you enjoy exploring these sounds as much as I am…

Young Magic – Melt
(Released 20/02/12; Carpark Records)
This trio might call NYC home, but its members hail from far and wide. Singer/producer Isaac Emmanuel is an Australian who maintained contact with fellow countryman Michael Italia while travelling through Europe and subsequently Mexico throughout 2010, and the two finally met in New York with some portable recording equipment and a host of ideas. Soon enough Indonesian-born vocalist Melati Malay joined the pair, and Young Magic was formed. The band’s sound is one that presents passing parallels with the disparate likes of Animal Collective, Baths, J Dilla, Grizzly Bear and Flying Lotus. There’s a lot happening in their mix, and it’s happening brilliantly. Melt is already a firm favourite on the office stereo (i.e., my PC and iPod), and I’m certain that its appeal will last long beyond the spring.
Watch the official video for Sparkly (external YouTube link)

Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It
(Released 20/02/12; Organs/Turnstile)
Perfume Genius is the musical moniker that Seattle resident Michael Hadreas releases his heart-breaking electro-emo-soul under. His debut disc, 2010’s Learning (BBC review), was a strikingly tender and introspective collection that marked the arrival of a remarkable talent. Think a magical but melancholic midway point between The xx and Sufjan Stevens. This rather fuller-of-sound follow-up certainly delivers on the promise of its predecessor, increasing the confidence (lyrics are clearer, melodies bolder) without compromising the tremendous atmosphere this musician is capable of creating. If you’re not welling up somewhat come the climax of discomfortingly intimate closer Sister Song, you might consider medical help.
A free download of the track All Waters is available from the Turnstile website (external link)

Hooray For Earth – True Loves
(Released 27/02/12; Memphis Industries)
Another group of not-native New Yorkers gearing up for the release of their debut LP (although True Loves has been available stateside for a while), Hooray For Earth may be familiar to regular 6 Music listeners as the title-track from this set earned itself an A-list spot in 2011. The songs of core member Noel Heroux, who also produced the album, will attract comparisons to MGMT, Empire of the Sun and Milagres: this is buoyant, bright and inventive indie fare for listeners who want to smile along to the sounds of their wireless. It’s also superbly catchy – again, those familiar with the set’s lead single will know that only too well. Expect this celebratory collection to soundtrack some of life’s better bumps along the road during 2012.
Watch the official video for True Loves, and for Sails (external YouTube links)

Lana Del Rey – Born to Die
(Released 30/01/12; Polydor)
One of 2011’s most talked about new artists (real name: Lizzy Grant) releases her first major label LP at the end of January, and expectations for it are high following the New Yorker’s chart success with Video Games, which peaked at nine on the UK chart back in October 2011. Her follow-up single, this collection’s title-track, has been just as impressive at eating up airplay; although with the surprise factor its maker offered first time around gone, it wasn’t quite as big a hit with the critics. With the unlikely presence of Fame Academy winner David Sneddon amongst the songwriters on this set, Born to Die is, hopefully, going to be full of surprises rather than a procession of Video Games sound-alikes. What’s certain: this album will be a hit.
Watch the official video for Born to Die (external YouTube link; contains scenes which may offend)

Gang Colours – The Keychain Collection
(Released 27/02/12; Brownswood)
Will Ozanne is Gang Colours, a producer from Southampton signed to Brownswood (at least partially) on the recommendation of Mercury Prize-nominated rapper Ghostpoet. The Keychain Collection builds upon the alluringly oddball sounds conjured on his In Your Gut Like a Knife EP of 2011, and takes a turn for the down-tempo, the end product coming across like the album James Blake should have made last year (i.e. one that combined his hard and soft sides without losing sight of both). At times beautiful, at others frantic of beat, and never less than wholly beguiling, The Keychain Collection perhaps isn’t the most immediate electronica (broadly speaking) set you’ll hear in 2012, but it’ll certainly be amongst the most interesting.
Listen to the single Fancy Restaurant on the Brownswood website (external link)

The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know
(Released 06/02/12; FatCat Records)
This Scottish outfit has previously released two albums of ear-rattling raucousness, and live they’ve been known to flatten venues entirely (well, it’s felt like it…). But No One Can Ever Know represents a dramatic change of direction, with feedback reduced to a bit-part presence and crisp synths coming to the fore. And it works, too: what could have been a disastrous experiment, an audience-alienating excursion into indulgence, is anything but. TTS’s third long-player is cunning in its conciseness, so immediate but lasting of impression that the listener can have it go around three times in a row and not tire of a note. With Andrew Weatherall aboard as ‘anti-producer’ for this set, and a production style reminiscent of Martin Hannett’s, the group has wisely done its homework ahead of pressing onwards with a new sound, and the results are frequently stunning.
Listen to the single Sick on Stereogum and download the track Another Bed for free at The Skinny (external links)

Breton – Other People’s Problems
(Released 26/03/12; FatCat Records)
The second dazzlingly good LP to come from the reliable FatCat stable at the start of 2012 is this, the debut album from south London art-and-films-and-music collective Breton. An intense mix of chopped-out chords and pounding beats, as hypnotic as it is hyperactive, this is music that redefines what it means to be a ‘guitar band’ in 2012: invention as a priority, accessibility a lovely bonus. Other People’s Problems features the band’s two tracks of 2011 – Edward the Confessor and The Commission – alongside further adventures at the fringes of contemporary pop; or, rather, what pop could be in a parallel dimension. It’s challenging at times, astonishingly instant-of-fix at others, but throughout this collection quality control is maintained in a very appealingly singular style.
Watch the official videos for The Commission and Edward the Confessor (external YouTube links)

Spoek Mathambo – Father Creeper
(Released 12/03/12; Sub Pop)
Johannesburg-based Mathambo has been pushing his ‘township-tech’ onto the ‘net for a couple of years, but 2012 will be a watershed year for the producer as Sub Pop release his second album to a worldwide audience. Father Creeper is an intriguing collection which subverts traditional notions of world music, incorporating elements of stateside rap, TV on the Radio-styled indie inspiration, and guitar work which flits from highlife melodies to crunching power chords. It’s weird, but uncommonly wonderful, Mathambo’s esoteric approach to music-making reaching maturity after his cover of Joy Division’s She’s Lost Control got a boatload of bloggers in a merry spin last year. This: bigger, bolder and brighter than your average.
Watch the official video for Control (external YouTube link), and listen to the album track Put Some Red On It at the Sub Pop website (external link)

Django Django – Django Django
(Released 30/01/12; Because Music)
Hailing from east London, this four-piece has been bubbling under for a wee while; but their debut album is going to, hopefully, position them alongside the likes of The Beta Band in the hearts of those who like their pop a little peculiar. While the very thought of another rising outfit from the ‘E’ spread of capital city postcodes has been known to send critics fleeing, this lot formed at art school in Edinburgh and haven’t (yet) demonstrated much of predilection for drainpipe trews and hanging about fleetingly fashionable grot-holes. This is all intoxicating rhythms and considered cadence, with underlying constituents emanating from post-punk and (dare one say it?) rather funky forerunners. It’s itchy stuff, at times impatient to reach a climax, at others rather more content to trundle away with focus left blurry, the joy of creation more important than instantaneousness. But those familiar with Steve Mason’s old crew, and fond of the work of British Sea Power and the Super Furry Animals, will surely fall head over heels for this set.
Listen to the track Default at the band’s official website (external link) and watch the official video for Waveforms (external YouTube link)

Grimes – Visions
(Released 12/03/12; 4AD)
Newly signed to 4AD, Grimes is the alter-ego of one Clare Boucher, a Canadian whose Halfaxa collection attracted a spread of acclaim upon its UK release in 2011 (BBC review). Visions is Boucher’s fourth release in just two years, and represents a significant advancement from previous sets: whereas before comparisons came easy to the experienced ear, now Grimes has found a most singular voice. With influences coming from as diverse corners as IDM and New Jack Swing, Boucher isn’t an artist to sit in creative stasis and rest upon any laurels; so, Visions is a complete realisation of her already expressed potential, a distilled and potent brew that’s certain to leave the listener drunk on its delights. Says the artist of her music: “It is both an ethereal escape from, and a violent embrace of, my experience.” Says this critic: it’s powerful, haunting and occasionally harrowing stuff.
Listen to the track Genesis at the 4AD website (external link) and watch the official video for the non-album track Vanessa (external YouTube link)

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Upcoming attractions: 10 imminent albums to get excited about is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

Words cannot really express the excitement I feel in being given a platform to express and play some of my favourite music on BBC Radio 2. This is a “no-holds-barred” perspective on music from around the globe, looking at music for exactly what it is – a universal language. All my work over the last 25 years as a producer and composer, whether through my albums, with orchestras, through film, television, dance, as a club dj, through soundtracks for theatre or even videogames, has been focussed towards breaking down boundaries in musical exploration. I felt this strongly with my score for BBC’s Human Planet series last year. I took that opportunity to create music inspired by emotional aspects of human resilience around the world rather than the location of respective cultures or groups.

When I was a kid I remember listening, by lamplight, to the pirate station – Radio Caroline – for the weekly “Personal Top 30″ spots, which resonated like sonic chocolate boxes of sumptuous melody. I loved the freedom of how those playlists, selected by random listeners, would follow no particular pattern or rules other than the nuances of subjective taste. “Nitin Sawhney Spins the Globe” is my take on that philosophy based on 25 years of experience and travels as a fulltime musician and Dj. I grew up with a wistful admiration for audacious explorers keen to share their intrepid tales of global adventure.

In 2001 I was lucky enough to travel around the world myself, meeting singers, street musicians and tribal elders from many different countries. This 4 part radio 2 series feels like another step on that same wonderful journey and brings together many of the elements and influences that have fuelled my obsession with global sounds. I hope listeners get the same buzz from this series that I did in presenting it.

Listen to Nitin Sawhney Spins the Globe, Thursdays, 23.00 on Radio 2 or listen online.

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Nitin Sawhney Spins the Globe is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

As promised on last week’s BBC Music Writers’ Top 25 Albums of 2011, here are the top fives from all of our contributing critics. How the positions were scored: 10 points for first place, five for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth.

(Numbers in brackets indicate where this album placed in our overall top 25.)

Sean Adams
1. The Antlers – Burst Apart (4)
2. SBTRKT – SBTRKT (12)
3. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
4. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key (25)
5. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints (20)

John Aizlewood
1. Adele – 21
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans
4. Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes
5. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (5)

Martin Aston
1. Other Lives – Tamer Animals
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
4. Cass McCombs – Wit’s End
5. Cat’s Eyes – Cat’s Eyes

Brad Barrett
1. Thursday – No Devolución
2. Touché Amoré – Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me
3. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
4. 2562 – Fever
5. Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam

Chris Beanland
1. Algernon Cadwallader – Parrot Flies
2. Metronomy – The English Riviera (6)
3. Battles – Gloss Drop
4. The Drums – Portamento
5. The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart

Mark Beaumont
1. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?
2. The Wombats – This Modern Glitch
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Hysterical
4. Lanterns on the Lake – Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
5. Keren Ann – 101

Ele Beattie
1. Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here (15)
2. Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
3. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
4. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise
5. SBTRKT – SBTRKT (12)

Matthew Bennett
1. Modeselektor – Monkeytown
2. Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here (15)
3. James Blake – James Blake
4. Rustie – Glass Swords
5. When Saints go Machine – Konkylie

Lloyd Bradley
1. Zed Bias – Biasonic Hotsauce – Birth of the Nanocloud
2. Bootsy Collins – Tha Funk Capital of the World
3. Hollie Cook – Hollie Cook
4. Kyle Eastwood – Songs from the Chateau
5. Little Roy – Battle For Seattle

Melissa Bradshaw
1. Diddy Dirty Money – Last Train to Paris
2. Frank Ocean – nostalgia,ULTRA
3. Shangaan Electro – New Wave Dance Music From South Africa
4. Adele – 21
5. Temporal Marauder – Makes You Feel

Alix Buscovic
1. The Antlers – Burst Apart (4)
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
4. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi (16)
5. Austra – Feel It Break

Stevie Chick
1. Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts
2. My Morning Jacket – Circuital
3. Battles – Gloss Drop
4. Josh T Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen (8)
5. White Denim – D

Paul Clarke
1. Björk – Biophilia (11)
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. SBTRKT – SBTRKT (12)
4. When Saints Go Machine – Konkylie
5. Low – C’mon

Leonie Cooper
1. William Elliott Whitmore – Field Songs
2. Josh T Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen (8)
3. Tom Waits – Bad As Me (5)
4. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
5. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (9)

Michael Cragg
1. Beyonce – 4 (7)
2. Björk – Biophilia (11)
3. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
4. Lady Gaga – Born This Way
5. Cocknbullkid – Adulthood

Alex Deller
1. Loss – Despond
2. Bloodiest – Descent
3. Arbouretum -The Gathering
4. Corrupted – Garten Der Unbewusstheit
5. Column of Heaven – Ecstatically Embracing All That We Habitually Suppress

Robin Denselow
1. June Tabor & Oysterband – Ragged Kingdom
2. Ry Cooder – Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down
3. Dub Colossus – Addis Through the Looking Glass
4. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (5)
5. Trembling Bells – The Constant Pageant

Mike Diver
1. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place (19)
2. Katy B – On a Mission (13)
3. Kuedo – Serverant
4. The Horrors – Skying (3)
5. Polinski – Labyrinths

John Doran
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
2. Mastodon – The Hunter
3. Alexander Tucker – Dorwytch
4. Death Grips – ExMilitary
5. Azari & III – Azari & III

Ninian Dunnett
1. Laura Cantrell – Kitty Wells Dresses: Songs of the Queen of Country Music
2. Gregg Allman – Low Country Blues
3. Merle Haggard – Working in Tennessee
4. Red Sky July – Red Sky July
5. Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive

Daryl Easlea
1. The Horrors – Skying (3)
2. Beyoncé – 4 (7)
3. Buraka Som Sistema – Komba
4. Beirut – The Rip Tide
5. Morton Valence – Me and Home James

John Eyles
1. Boom Box – Jazz
2. The Magic I.D. – I’m So Awake / Sleepless I Feel
3. Pascal Marzan and John Russell – Translations
4. Lol Coxhill / Alex Ward – Old Sights, New Sounds
5. Miles Davis – The Unissued Japanese Concerts 1964

Al Fox
1. Little Jackie – Made 4 TV
2. Guillemots – Walk the River
3. Cocknbullkid – Adulthood
4. Miles Kane – Colour of the Trap
5. Nicola Roberts – Cinderella’s Eyes

Andy Fyfe
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
2. The Unthanks – Last
3. Charlie Parr – Cheap Wine
4. Wooden Shjips – West
5. James Vincent McMorrow – Early in the Morning

Charlotte Gardner
1. Sarah Connolly / Malcolm Martinu – My True Love Hath My Heart
2. Raphael Wallfisch, John Turner, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Sinfonia/Nicholas Ward/Richard Howard Arnold – Cello Concerto, Symphony for Strings, Fantasy for Recorder and String Quartet
3. Judith Weir – Choral Music (Choir of Goville & Caius College, Cambridge/Geoffrey Webber) Delphian
4. Henry Purcell – Twelve Sonatas in Three Parts – Retrospect Trio
5. James MacMillan – Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis… Here in Hiding (Wells Cathedral Choir/Matthew Owen)

Noel Gardner
1. Iceage – New Brigade (10)
2. Katy B – On A Mission (13)
3. Class Actress – Rapprocher
4. Las Kellies – Kellies
5. Weekend Nachos – Worthless

Spencer Grady
1. Happy Jawbone Family Band – OK Midnight, You Win!
2. Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens de Couleur Libres
3. Alvarius B – Baroque Primitive
4. The Advisory Circle – As the Crow Flies
5. Cheer-Accident – No Ifs, ands or Dogs

Kevin Harley
1. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (5)
2. Björk – Biophilia (11)
3. F***ed Up – David Comes to Life
4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
5. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

Mike Haydock
1. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (18)
2. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
3. St Vincent – Strange Mercy
4. Touché Amoré – Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me
5. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Ben Hewitt
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
2. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
3. Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years (23)
4. Esben and the Witch – Violet Cries
5. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints (20)

Tom Hocknell
1. Will Young – Echoes
2. Destroyer – Kaputt
3. Noah and the Whale – Last Night on Earth
4. Washed Out – Within and Without
5. New Look – New Look

Matthew Horton
1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (9)
2. K-X-P – K-X-P
3. Planningtorock – W
4. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (18)
5. Gatto Fritto – Gatto Fritto

Stephen Kelly
1. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
2. The Antlers – Burst Apart (4)
3. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
4. Battles – Gloss Drop
5. Metronomy – The English Riviera (6)

Adam Kennedy
1. Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years (23)
2. The Death of Her Money – You Are Loved
3. Zola Jesus – Conatus
4. Roots Manuva – 4everevolution
5. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Alistair Lawrence
1. The James Cleaver Quintet – That Was Then, This Is Now
2. Trap Them – Darker Handcraft (22)
3. Letlive. – Fake History
4. The Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps
5. I Am the Avalanche – Avalanche United

Kevin Le Gendre
1. Archie Shepp & Joachim Kuhn – Wo!Man
2. Ambrose Akinmusire – When the Heart Emerges Glistening
3. Craig Taborn – Avenging Angel
4. Farmers By Nature – Out Of This World’s Distortions
5. Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter One: Les Gens de Couleur Libre

Paul Lester
1. The Weeknd – House of Balloons
2. The Weeknd – Thursday
3. StewRat – Spring
4. Tyler, the Creator – Goblin
5. Frank Ocean – nostalgia,ULTRA

Nick Levine
1. Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow (17)
2. Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes
3. Cocknbullkid – Adulthood
4. New Look – New Look
5. Metronomy – The English Riviera (6)

Jen Long
1. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
2. The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You
3. Los Campesinos! – Hello Sadness
4. Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams
5. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

Martin Longley
1. Manorexia – Dinoflagellate Blooms
2. The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble – Mr. Machine
3. tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L
4. Seun Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 – From Africa with Fury: Rise
5. Tyshawn Sorey – Oblique-1

Darren Loucaides
1. Fair Ohs – Everything is Dancing
2. Wu Lyf – Go Tell Fire to the Mountain
3. Still Corners – Creatures of an Hour
4. Curren$y – Weekend at Burnie’s
5. Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch the Throne

Andrzej Lukowski
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
2. Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow (17)
3. Austra – Feel It Break
4. Destroyer – Kaputt
5. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Alex Macpherson
1. Beyoncé – 4 (7)
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. Katy B – On a Mission (13)
4. Pistol Annies – Hell on Heels
5. Dawn Richard – A Tell Tale Heart

Fraser McAlpine
1. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know (24)
2. The Horrors – Skying (3)
3. Alex Turner – Submarine
4. Dels – Gob
5. Luke Haines – 9 1/2 Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and Early ’80s

Andrew Mellow
1. White Night – Norwegian Soloists’ Choir
2. Schoenberg & Brahms – Berlin Philharmonic & Simon Rattle
3. Near Still Distant Still – Danish Horn Trio
4. The Revenge of the Folk Singers – Concerto Caledonia
5. Nielsen, Sibelius, Bruckner – Symphonies (Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra & Gustavo Dudamel)

Iain Moffatt
1. Blanck Mass – Blanck Mass
2. Toddla T – Watch Me Dance
3. The Streets – Computers and Blues
4. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
5. Beyoncé – 4 (7)

Marcus J. Moore
1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (9)
2. Oddisee – Rock Creek Park
3. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
4. Metronomy – The English Riviera (6)
5. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Andrew Mueller
1. The Decemberists – The King is Dead (21)
2. Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots (14)
3. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest
4. Old 97s – The Grand Theatre Vol. 2
5 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)

Garry Mulholland
1. Metronomy – The English Riviera (6)
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
4. Luke Haines – 9 1/2 Psychedelic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and Early ’80s
5. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic

Chris Parkin
1. Timber Timbre – Creep On Creepin’ On
2. Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer
3. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints (20)
4. Walls – Coracle
5. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)

Louis Pattison
1. Iceage – New Brigade (10)
2. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo
3. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
5. Tinariwen – Tassili

Mischa Pearlman
1. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (5)
2. Baxter Dury – Happy Soup
3. The Horrible Crowes – Elsie
4. La Dispute – Wildlife
5. Grouplove – Never Trust a Happy Song

Andrew Perry
1. The Horrors – Skying (3)
2. The Icarus Line – Wildlife
3. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi (16)
4. Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots (14)
5) Kid Congo & The Pink Monkeybirds – Gorilla Rose

Camilla Pia
1. The Horrors – Skying (3)
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know (24)
4. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials
5. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (18)

Chris Power
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
2. Ricardo Villalobos, Max Loderbauer – Re: ECM
3. Pinch & Shackleton – Pinch & Shackleton
4. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo
5. Pete Swanson – Man with Potential

David Quantick
1. Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots (14)
2. Jonny – Jonny
3. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
4. Wretch 32 – Black and White
5. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Raziq Rauf
1. Trap Them – Darker Handcraft (22)
2. …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead – Tao of the Dead
3. All Pigs Must Die – God Is War
4. Machine Head – Unto the Locust
5. Solstafir – Svartir Sandar

Chris Roberts
1. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi (16)
2. Steve Wilson – Grace for Drowning
3. Meshell Ndegeocello – Weather
4. Elbow – Build a Rocket, Boys!
5. The Naked and Famous – Passive Me, Aggressive You

Colin Roberts
1. The Field – Looping State of Mind
2. Josh T Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen (8)
3. Chad VanGaalen – Diaper Island
4. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
5. Kuedo – Severant

Graham Rogers
1. Mozart: Symphonies 39 & 40 – Claudio Abbado/Orchestra Mozart
2. Rossini: Stabat Mater – Antonio Pappano/Santa Cecilia Academy
3. Handel: Agrippina – Rene Jacobs/Academie fur Alte Music Berlin
4. Trio Mediaeval – A Worcester Ladymass
5. Kristian Bezuidenhout – Mozart: Keyboard Works Vol.2

Daniel Ross
1. Metronomy – The English Riviera (6)
2. Josh T. Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen (8)
3. Suuns – Zeroes QC
4. Sir Simon Rattle/Berlin Philharmonic – Mahler Symphony No.2
5. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

Ian Roullier
1. Brookes Brothers – Brookes Brothers
2. Kuedo – Severant
3. Martyn – Ghost People
4 The Chemical Brothers – Hannah OST
5. Lazersonic & Zak Frost – Adventures In Stereo Volume 1

Johnny Sharp
1. Low – C’mon
2. Keren Ann – 101
3. King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
4. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (18)
5. tUnE-yArDs – W H O K I L L

Natalie Shaw
1. SBTRKT – SBTRKT (12)
2. Katy B – On a Mission (13)
3. New Look – New Look
4. Beyoncé – 4 (7)
5. Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting

David Sheppard
1. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
2. Beirut – The Rip Tide
3. Leyland Kirby – Eager to Tear Apart the Stars
4. Nils Frahm – Felt
5. Hauschka – Salon Des Amateurs

James Skinner
1. Bright Eyes – The People’s Key (25)
2. Tom Waits – Bad as Me (5)
3. Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean
4. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
5. Real Estate – Days

Luke Slater
1. Årabrot – Solar Anus
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. Jenny Hval – Viscera
4. Half Man Half Biscuit – 90 Bisodol (Crimond)
5. Nils Frahm – Felt

Laura Snapes
1. Wild Beasts -Smother (2)
2. St Vincent – Strange Mercy
3. Destroyer – Kaputt
4. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol 2
5. Wild Flag – Wild Flag

David Stubbs
1. Josh T Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen (8)
2. Prince Rama – Trust Now
3. VVV – Across the Sea
4. Walls – Coracle
5. Emika – Emika

Angus Taylor
1. Stephen Marley – The Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life
2. Perfect Giddimani – Back for the First Time
3. Little Roy – Battle for Seattle
4. Sizzla – The Scriptures
5. Fatoumata Diawara – Fatou

Lou Thomas
1. Craft Spells – Idle Labor
2. Braids – Native Speaker
3. Love Inks – E.S.P.
4. Blouse – Blouse
5. Cults – Cults

Alex Tudor
1. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints (20)
2. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place (19)
3. Emmy the Great – Virtue
4. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
5. The Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps

Wyndham Wallace
1. A Winged Victory for the Sullen – A Winged Victory for the Sullen
2. Jenny Hval – Viscera
3. Ane Brun – It All Starts With One
4. Loney, Dear – Hall Music
5. East River Pipe – We Live in Rented Rooms

Chris White
1. The Antlers – Burst Apart (4)
2. Oh Minnows – For Shadows
3. The Low Anthem – Smart Flesh
4. Liz Green – O, Devotion
5. Fionn Regan – 100 Acres of Sycamore

Ian Winwood
1. The King Blues – Punk & Poetry
2. The Decemberists – The King Is Dead (21)
3. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It & See
4. Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones
5. Lou Reed and Metallica – Lulu

Reef Younis
1. Aidan Moffat & Bill Wells – Everything’s Getting Older
2. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
3. Walls – Coracle
4. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
5. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Two top fives were only found after the final Top 25 was published (entirely human error on the part of the compiler – apologies, there). So, if you’re a fan of King Creosote and Jon Hopkins’ Diamond Mine, you can take comfort from the fact that Jude Rogers named it her number one album of the year. These are those stray top fives.

Jude Rogers
1. King Creosote and Jon Hopkins – Diamond Mine
2. Feist – Metals
3. Elbow – Build a Rocket, Boys!
4. Cat’s Eyes – Cat’s Eyes
5. Nicola Roberts – Cinderella’s Eyes

Ian Wade
1. The Horrors – Skying (3)
2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (1)
3. Wild Beasts – Smother (2)
4. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
5. Death in Vegas – Trans-Love Energies

View full post on BBC Music

BBC Music Writers’ Albums of 2011 – The Top Fives is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

It’s that time of year: a time for reflection, for celebration… for lists. And here’s a rather important one: the top 25 albums of 2011, as voted for by BBC Music’s team of album reviewers.

The science bit – i.e. how this top 25 was calculated – can be read at the bottom. A full list of writer top-fives will be published next week.

25 – Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
(Polydor/Saddle Creek, released 14 February)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day

“On the finer cuts, such as the title-track, a weird, mescaline-soaked narrative is woven through hallucinatory images of Americana. On the piano ballad Ladder Song, Oberst laments, ‘I know when this world’s done / This world is an hallucination,’ which captures the new paradigm.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video to Shell Games (external YouTube link)

24 – Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
(Virgin, released 12 September)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, Jo Whiley, Jarvis Cocker, 6 Music Album of the Day

“Ending with a cathartic, skirt-swishing burst in All My Rage, A Creature… is another fine release from Marling, lyrically dark but skewing in the main towards an increasingly sunny, sophisticated sound. Her worldly-wise tone can still come over a little smug but give her time – she’ll grow younger than this yet.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video to Sophia (external YouTube link)

23 – Cold Cave – Cherish the Light Years
(Matador, released 5 April)
Recommended by: Rob da Bank

“Cherish the Light Years is, apparently, the record frontman Wesley Eisold always wanted to make. And, boy, does that shine through. From the crashing, urgently dramatic announcing bars of The Great Pan Is Dead, sheens of gothic 1980s veneer actually conceal something much deeper, more uncomfortable. This is what the much-maligned cold wave sound should have achieved.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Villains of the Moon (external YouTube link)

22 – Trap Them – Darker Handcraft
(Prosthetic Records, released 28 March)
Recommended by: Rock Show with Daniel P Carter

“At no point do Trap Them offer respite. Darker Handcraft is a half-hour statement from a band not only on the top of their game but currently ruling over everyone else’s. The Louisville/Seattle trio has delivered an album that every fan of extreme music should own. Bravo.”

Read the full BBC review
Listen to The Facts on the official Prosthetic Records YouTube channel (external link; contains language which may offend)

21 – The Decemberists – The King is Dead
(Rough Trade, released 17 January)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Another Country with Ricky Ross, The Late Show with Stuart Bailie

“They’ve chipped off the embellishments, reined in the pomp and walked towards the light. The bookish Portland five-piece started life as indie-mongers with a penchant for English folk, and their sixth album recaptures their youth, only now they’ve shifted their allegiance back over the pond. It is, simply, a thing of beauty.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for This is Why We Fight (external YouTube link)

20 – EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints
(Souterrain Transmissions, released 9 May)
Recommended by: BBC Introducing in Wales

“For all the gales of feedback, throaty growling and Anderson’s propensity for outrageously insouciant lyrical soundbites, the music is far from the voguish noise rock racket one might expect. There is some of that, true, but the most memorable moments on debut album Past Live Martyred Saints tend to be the passages of thrilling unfamiliar drone-folk.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for California (external YouTube link; contains language which may offend)

19 – Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
(Asthmatic Kitty, released 14 March)
Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft

“The Magic Place, splendidly, isolates the listener, cuts them off from the world around them. So if it’s a little disconnect from hullabaloo that you’re needing, slide into Barwick’s sublime soundworld and immerse yourself for the duration. It’s unlikely you’ll want to come up for air the whole time.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for The Magic Place (external YouTube link)

18 – Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
(Bella Union, released 2 May)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, 6 Music Album of the Day, Fearne Cotton

“Helplessness Blues is born out of a fraught gestation period, touched by doubt, uncertainty and the travails of growing older and finding your place. But it is also a thing of beauty, and as the blissful outro of its title-track or the breathless, exuberant surge of closer Grown Ocean demonstrate, at its core lies a tangible sense of wonder and hope.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for The Shrine / An Argument (external YouTube link)

17 – Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
(Fish People, released 21 November)
Recommended by: Bethan Elfyn, Jarvis Cocker, 6 Music Album of the Day

“Six years after Aerial’s bursts of summer sound, Kate Bush’s winter album arrives, each track exploring the long Christmas months. They reflect a season which brings out the profound and absurd in equal measure – the feelings of longing and loneliness that emerge as the dark nights bed in, the party-hat silliness that pops up when the same nights stretch out. It’s classic Kate – she can still move us with her fire and ice.”

Read the full BBC review
Listen to Wild Man on the official Kate Bush YouTube channel (external link)

16 – Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
(Domino, released 17 January)
Recommended by: Victoria Derbyshire, Radcliffe & Maconie, The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, 6 Music Album of the Day

“In a world overflowing with female singer-songwriters, Anna Calvi’s exceptional guitar playing and raw, elemental style certainly mark her out as different from the herd. Whether the mass market has the stomach for her challenging, often freeform compositions remains to be seen, but you’re likely to hear a lot more of Ms Calvi in 2011 and beyond.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Desire (external YouTube link)

15 – Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here
(XL, released 21 February)
Recommended by: Benji B, Nick Grimshaw, 6 Music Album of the Day

“Those approaching this release as fans, exclusively, of either Scott-Heron or The xx might be at a loss, but this collection works on separate level. Whilst I’m New Here marked an introspective turn from Scott-Heron, this set offers a multi-layered retrospective of the music which bore and surrounds Jamie xx. It’s not merely a rehash of the original, but a cohesive, considered masterpiece in its own right.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for NY is Killing Me (external YouTube link)

14 – Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots
(PIAS, released 14 February)
Recommended by: Loose Ends, The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, Another Country with Ricky Ross

“It’s the Hood/Cooley/Tucker trifecta that makes Drive-By Truckers such a consistently fresh proposition. Go-Go Boots is one of the best examples yet of the separate yet complementary skills of the Truckers’ three leaders, melding styles and switching moods but retaining an overall feel that’s distinctly theirs.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official (live) video for Used to Be a Cop (external YouTube link)

13 – Katy B – On a Mission
(Rinse, released 4 April)
Recommended by: MistaJam, Annie Mac

“Katy B is a new breed of singer, adding a vibrant gloss to a new combination of sounds with a charm and personality all of her own. She’s shining bright and crying out to be taken on as Britain’s new favourite pop star – and if this album is anything to go by, it looks like the stage is set.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Katy on a Mission (external YouTube link)

12 – SBTRKT – SBTRKT
(Young Turks, released 27 June)
Recommended by: MistaJam, Zane Lowe, 6 Music Album of the Day

“This album is paced like a perfect DJ set – it reads the listener with incredible insight, combining the immediate and familiar with intense passages of warm-up, breaking to allow for moments of blank space and reflection. The mix of shiny vocals with tight, accelerated textures is steeped deep in a glorious combination of two-step, UK funky, dubstep, US RnB and Chicago house.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Pharaohs (external YouTube link)

11 – Björk – Biophilia
(One Little Indian, released 10 October)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Radcliffe & Maconie, Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne

“A mesmerising album which confirms that Björk can weave dumfounding wonders from Silly String – whatever’s placed before her, she can turn to her advantage, taking her audience on a trip the likes of which no other contemporary artist is capable of planning, let alone embarking on. In a word: amazing. Again.”

Read the official BBC review
Watch the official video for Crystalline (external YouTube link)

10 – Iceage – New Brigade
(Abeano Music, released 5 September)
Recommended by: Nick Grimshaw, Huw Stephens, Marc Riley

“One easy comparison is the very earliest Idlewild material, although Iceage’s pop instincts remain more deeply buried. At least, until You’re Blessed – a climatic, romantic hardcore racer that finds frontman Rønnenfelt defiant, taking heart from the expression of his own vulnerabilities. It’s a stirring end, and caps off a record that’s easily as good as any punk release you’ll hear in 2011.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for New Brigade (external YouTube link)

9 – Bon Iver – Bon Iver
(4AD, released 20 June)
Recommended by: Victoria Derbyshire, Lauren Laverne, 6 Music Album of the Day

“There can be no doubt that certain critics will have come to this album expecting it to fall short of the precedent set by its predecessor. That it doesn’t, and actually far surpasses the still-echoing resonance of that debut set, is indicative of its standing as one of 2011’s most absorbing, affecting and downright brilliant LPs. It just goes to show that there’s really only one act capable of ‘doing a Bon Iver’.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Calgary (external YouTube link)

8 – Josh T Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen
(Mute, released 14 March)
Recommended by: Another Country with Ricky Ross, Jarvis Cocker

“Women come, women go; spirits are lifted and downed; the heavens may smile or pour scorn. At the end of the day, a stool, a stage, and a spotlight comprise the environment that Pearson ultimately found comfort in. And Last of the Country Gentlemen is a brilliant framing of this home, bittersweet home.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the Mute Studio Session version of Woman When I’ve Raised Hell (external YouTube link)

7 – Beyoncé – 4
(Sony, released 27 June)
Recommended by: Victoria Derbyshire, Trevor Nelson, Westwood

“Following schizo double I Am… Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé took a year off but has come back brighter. Dozens of songs emerged from the original 4 sessions and the promo circuit’s been leapt on with a vengeance, culminating – at least over here – in the intriguing Glastonbury headline slot (yet to wow us as we go to press). With 4’s best bold tunes, Beyoncé has spruced up an already handsome catalogue. She’s got the armoury to trump husband Jay-Z’s perception-altering Pilton turn.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Run the World (Girls) (external YouTube link)

6 – Metronomy – The English Riviera
(Because, released 11 April)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, 6 Music Album of the Day

“If Metronomy’s last LP, Nights Out, was the soundtrack to an all-hours party that threatened to blow the speakers, The English Riviera is the music in the ears of a restless insomniac. The type of punch this band now packs is differently varied, and instead of relying on catchy melodies, its excitement and originality is more broadly sourced.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for The Bay (external YouTube link)

5 – Tom Waits – Bad as Me
(Anti, released 24 October)
Recommended by: The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, Another Country with Ricky Ross, Jarvis Cocker, Marc Riley, 6 Music Album of the Day

“It would be a twisted world where Bad as Me was judged a disappointment, as there isn’t a dud on it. But it’s also the Tom Waits album that most undeniably echoes previous works. It mostly finds Waits roaming his property, repainting the fence instead of jumping over it into the next uncharted field. But while this isn’t a great album it’s still a very good one, and even lesser Waits is worth a lot in any other currency.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Satisfied (external YouTube link)

4 – The Antlers – Burst Apart
(Transgressive, released 6 June)
Recommended by: Gideon Coe

“The Antlers’ 2009 album Hospice was one of those niche successes. The sort that has the blogs purring, the odd clued-up broadsheet too, but doesn’t quite stretch beyond the word-of-mouth glass ceiling. For Burst Apart, the New York trio have made their sound a little fuller – in the sense that an aircraft hangar’s fuller if you throw in a sofa. No surprises then, just a collection of mesmeric, epic stillness.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Every Night My Teeth are Falling Out (external Vimeo link)

3 – The Horrors – Skying
(XL, released 11 July)
Recommended by: Zane Lowe, 6 Music Album of the Day, Fearne Cotton

“There’s no fault to be found with Skying – truly, every song here hits its mark, and while The Horrors are evidently a band happy to change its spots from record to record (and steal a few licks, too), only the most ungracious of observers could deny that they’ve now crafted two of the finest British albums of recent years. From the most incongruous of beginnings they’ve become national treasures in waiting, and now possess the ability to realise any ambitions.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for I Can See Through You (external YouTube link)

2 – Wild Beasts – Smother
(Domino, released 9 May)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Marc Riley, Bethan Elfyn, Janice Long

“Anyone who has seen the video to lead single Albatross will have an idea of what to expect here: an uncommon beauty, distilled through disquiet, presented at what appears to be high-definition half-speed. This is a world away from the boisterousness of the band’s debut, Limbo, Panto – a world of self-discovery, unexpected achievements and focused development. If this doesn’t secure Wild Beasts another Mercury Prize nomination, it’d be a travesty for British pop.” (It didn’t! Boo!)

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Albatross (external YouTube link)

1 – PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
(Island, released 14 February)
Recommended by: Radcliffe & Maconie, Rob da Bank, Victoria Derbyshire, 6 Music Album of the Day

“The title of Polly Harvey’s seventh album, 2007’s White Chalk, seemed to address England’s psycho-geography by way of Dover’s iconic coastline. Perhaps that’s projection. But her eighth most definitely does. It’s a concept album, folks. Song titles include The Last Living Rose, England and The Glorious Land, with a distinct whiff of landscape and legend. A fragile Hanging in the Wire even namechecks ‘the white hills of Dover’. Pete Doherty doesn’t have a copyright on singing about Albion, you know. God bless unique, unfathomable, great Queen Polly.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Let England Shake (external YouTube link)

This top 25 was calculated based on individual top five lists (ranked) provided by each contributing writer. First place was awarded 10 points, second five, third three, fourth two and fifth one. Points were added together to provide final scores for each album. When albums finished with the same number of points, the Metacritic score* assigned to the corresponding review (the BBC does not score its own reviews) was used to determine which album placed higher. And when that score was the same, the Metacritic average score was used to determine the higher-ranking release.

The top five lists from every contributing writer will be published on the BBC Music Blog next week.

(* Metacritic collates reviews of albums, taking individual scores and providing each release with an average. It assigns the BBC reviews a score based on the tone of each piece. The website can be found here.)

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BBC Music Writers’ Top 25 Albums of 2011 is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

BBC Album Reviews Editor Mike Diver selects his favourite LPs of November 2011…

Drum roll, please: Now, that’s what I call the best albums of November… at least until I look back in a year and realise I’ve omitted a couple of humdingers. Happens all the time. Nevertheless, below are some of the month’s very best new album releases. This is my last monthly round-up of 2011 – instead of a similar entry for December, the BBC Music Blog will host the BBC Music Writers’ Best Albums of 2011, compiled from votes cast by our many critics. Look out for that at the end of this week.

My album of the month

Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
(Software, released 7 November)
Recommended by: Late Junction

“Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin distinguishes himself from the current glut of analogue worshippers lazily setting their impotent tribute before the altars of John Carpenter and Cluster. While they seem content to wallow in shallow retrospection, Lopatin voyages on beyond the merely mimetic. Replica recognises the value of disenfranchised pasts, but redesigns our barely-there reminiscences to imbue a singular vision with the subliminal effects of the lost.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Replica (external YouTube link)

The best of the rest

Atlas Sound – Parallax
(4AD, released 7 November)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Marc Riley

“Parallax is Deerhunter vocalist Bradford Cox’s most coherent solo record to date – but nothing is quite what it seems in his world. Yet, whichever way you look at him, he is currently the most gifted, fascinating and beguiling songwriter around, as well as the most prolific. There’s only one Bradford Cox, but how badly we need more of his ilk.”

Read the full BBC review
Listen to the track Terra Incognita on 4AD’s official YouTube channel (external link)

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The Dø – Both Ways Open Jaws
(Village Green, released 14 November)
Recommended by: Nick Grimshaw, Lauren Laverne, Bethan Elfyn, 6 Music Album of the Day

“An easy genre-tag is impossible, as this second album from the French-Finnish duo – tipped to wow Britain – leaps between hip hop and folk, rock and glitches. Strings, horns, chants and electronica interweave seamlessly. The Dø gracefully pull off the kind of intriguing ‘oddness’ the likes of Florence Welch strain and wheeze for, and with better tunes.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Too Insistent (external YouTube link)

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Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow
(Fish People, released 21 November)
Recommended by: Jarvis Cocker, Bethan Elfyn, 6 Music Album of the Day

“Six years after Aerial’s bursts of summer sound, Kate Bush’s winter album arrives, each track exploring the long Christmas months. They reflect a season which brings out the profound and absurd in equal measure – the feelings of longing and loneliness that emerge as the dark nights bed in, the party-hat silliness that pops up when the same nights stretch out. It treads an exceedingly fine line between the sublime and the ridiculous – but this is classic Kate behaviour.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official still video for the radio edit of Wild Man (external YouTube link)

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Luke Haines – Nine and a Half Psychic Meditations on British Wrestling of the 1970s and Early ’80s
(Fantastic Plastic, released 7 November)

“Nine and a Half Psychedelic Meditations… is, perhaps, a work of art about the ordinary person’s ability to reinvent themselves, and the sad fact that that achievement doesn’t necessarily mean that they won’t spend most of their lives eating bad egg and chips in grim Midlands towns and being screamed at by psychopathic old ladies.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch Luke Haines @ The Greasy Spoon (external YouTube link)

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Cass McCombs – Humor Risk
(Domino, released 7 November)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day

“Humour Risk is as gorgeous as it is disturbing. The opening Love Thine Enemy reprises that Velvets-y two-chord throb while paraphrasing Tim Rose’s fatalistic folk-blues Morning Dew, and The Living Word taps McCombs’ Big Star Sister Lovers/Third album gene, the quintessential 4am-and-lost vibe, deadpan but not masking the pain.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for The Same Thing (external YouTube link)

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Chris Watson – El Tren Fantasma
(Touch, released 14 November)
Recommended by: Late Junction

“It’s during the points of human absence that El Tren Fantasma works best. Here Watson’s ability to create whole worlds, entire lifetimes in the listener’s imagination, beyond the moment of recording, comes to the fore. Brushwood and tall grass sway beneath the breeze crossing canyon slopes, while constant cicada chatter is punctuated by the distinctive calls of woodpecker and crow.”

Read the full BBC review
(No official video material available)

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Tiny Ruins – Some Were Meant for Sea
(WooMe, released 14 November)
Recommended by: Gideon Coe, Tom Ravenscroft

“Whether or not you’re sick of craning your neck to hear moulding singer-songwriter tales, there are pockets of interest aplenty to enjoy here. There are also forerunners aplenty to the style, but if anything works in Fullbrook’s favour it’s that she’s obeyed the rules of the genre and managed to tautly weave her stories within it. So lean in close and pay attention to all those gorgeous vignettes – you’ll be glad you did.”

Read the full BBC review
(No official video material available)

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Zomby – Nothing
(4AD, released 28 November)
Recommended by: Benji B

“A nebulous set of hyper-stoned musings on bass tethered together in the hard drive of one man’s mind. Zomby loves overtly leaving his finger marks across the DNA of our dance scene, and it’s becoming increasingly fun dusting his path for prints and watching his obsession swell with every break-in.”

Read the full BBC review
(No official video material available)

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Peter Broderick – Music for Confluence
(Erased Tapes, released 28 November)
Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft

“Who would have thought the musical accompaniment to a film about a series of Idahoan murders could be so beautiful? There’s such an abundance of fragile sweetness here – delicate piano arpeggios, whispered tones, glacial strings – that the incremental creep of wickedness pervading beneath the sleepy surface can go undetected, until you find yourself fully entangled in its hex.”

Read the full BBC review
(No official video material available)

View full post on BBC Music

The Best Albums of November 2011 is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

Ahead of the announcement of The Sound of 2012 longlist, coming soon, BBC Album Reviews Editor Mike Diver takes a look at the fortunes of the acts that made up The Sound of 2011…

Want proof that us music critics aren’t always in the right with our opinions on who’s hot and who’s not? Look no further than the yearly Sound of…, the winner of which is announced every January. While many winners – including Ellie Goulding, Little Boots, Adele, Mika and 50 Cent – have enjoyed success, albeit to very different levels, there are a number of names amongst the runners and riders that haven’t exactly been bothering the charts on the regular. Anyone remember Air Traffic, tipped for big things in 2007? Their sole studio LP failed to break the top 40, and the Bournemouth band announced a hiatus in 2010. Dan Black and VV Brown were tipped beside Lady Gaga and Florence and the Machine in 2009 – guess which two of the four haven’t really been heard from since. And in 2008 Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong made the list, but their debut album was scrapped shortly before its proposed August release and the band split in 2009. After NME had already reviewed it. Whoops.

As the music industry looks forward to the announcement of the longlist for 2012, published on bbc.co.uk/soundof/ this side of Christmas, let’s look back at the 15 that made up 2011’s list. Which have followed Adele into superstardom, and which have had less-than-brilliant years? You already know, don’t you…

Nb. Metacritic is a website which collates scores from a number of album reviews to present an average score. BBC reviews are included in these scores. Find the website here (external link).

1: Jessie J
BBC Profile
Album review – Who You Are

Then: The Sound of 2011 winner, Essex girl Jessie J (real name Jessica Cornish) began the year surrounded by almost impenetrable buzz, generated by her single Do It Like a Dude – after the announcement that she’d won, the track climbed to a peak position of two, kept from the top spot by Bruno Mars’ Grenade. By February it’d sold 300,000 copies. Prior to Do It Like a Dude’s breakthrough success, Cornish had co-written tracks for the likes of Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus, and had seen an earlier album recorded but scrapped when her then-label, Gut, went bankrupt.

Now: Cornish’s debut album, Who You Are, was released on 25 February and peaked at, like its lead single, number two in the UK. Twice-platinum, it’s sold in excess of 600,000 copies – a figure higher than the rest of The Sound of 2011 longlisted artists’ albums combined. It might not have fared brilliantly with the critics – Metacritic lists its average score as 51/100 – but Who You Are spawned two further top 10 hits, and the track Price Tag went right the way to the top with a little assistance from US rapper B.o.B. In August 2011 it’d sold 900,000 copies – one would guess that, by now, it’s broken the million mark.

2: James Blake
BBC Profile
Album review – James Blake

Then: A rising dubstep producer with a handful of highly acclaimed tracks under his belt, not least of all the still-fresh CMYK, James Blake was an unlikely second-place act behind the overtly pop-centric Jessie J. But the combination of critical adoration in niche circles, plus an alluring cover of Feist’s Limit to Your Love, which just cracked the UK top 40 in late 2010, ensured his place in The Sound of 2011.

Now: Blake’s eponymous debut LP charted at nine domestically, and earned itself a Mercury Prize nomination. But despite a selection of positive appraisals – Metacritic scores it a highly respectable 81/100 – those who yearned for the upbeat side of Blake’s catalogue were left cold by a collection that emphasised downbeat cuts over floor-fillers. A collaboration with Bon Iver, Fall Creek Boys Choir, was released in August. Blake stepped further away, still, from the dubstep scene with the Enough Thunder EP, released in October, which was closer to the electro-soul of fellow Sound of 2011 artist Jamie Woon than the fare that’d established his reputation in 2010.

3: The Vaccines
BBC Profile
Album review – What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?

Then: So fresh that they’d only formed in the January of the same year, London indie-rockers The Vaccines released their debut single in November 2010 – Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra), backed by the track Blow It Up, picked up support from Radio 1’s Zane Lowe and Q Magazine and charted at a respectable 157. Their second official single, Post-Break-Up Sex, was released on 24 January, a few weeks after they’d placed third on The Sound of 2011; it broke the top 40, and the band followed this success with a nomination in the Critics’ Choice category at the BRIT Awards.

Now: The quartet’s debut LP, What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?, debuted at four on the UK albums chart in March. Attracting generally favourable reviews, the record has a Metacritic score of 67/100. Its final single, Wetsuit, is to be released in December. Live, the band supported Arctic Monkeys at their massive Don Valley show in June; were the NME’s favourite band of the Reading & Leeds weekend; and are currently on a year-end headline tour taking in two nights at London’s Brixton Academy. A second album is expected in 2012.

4: Jamie Woon
BBC Profile
Album review – Mirrorwriting

Then: New to the mainstream perhaps, but at the turn of the year Jamie Woon was already well-known to those with their ears rather closer to the underground. An EP, Wayfaring Stranger, was released in 2007, and Woon’s tasteful single Night Air, co-produced by Burial, came out in October 2010, charting within the top 75. Seen as an innovative artist taking soul in new directions, Woon’s placement at four in The Sound of 2011 wasn’t all that surprising: he was overdue such exposure.

Now: Woon’s debut LP, Mirrorwriting, was released in April and peaked inside the UK top 20 – a Metacritic score of 69/100 represents a majority of favourable reviews. Since then, though, new recordings have been rather conspicuous by their absence – his last single, Lady Luck, charted at 76 in February. He earned a MOBO nomination in the best newcomer category – the award went to Jessie J. After playing the iTunes Festival in the summer, Woon had to cancel a number of live appearances due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. But now he’s back on the road, taking in cities including New York, Barcelona and Amsterdam between now and the end of the year.

5: Clare Maguire
BBC Profile
Album review – Light After Dark

Then: Solihull singer/songwriter Clare Maguire signed to Polydor back in 2008, and soon began, alongside Ellie Goulding and Kylie Minogue collaborator Fraser T Smith, writing and recording what would eventually be her debut album, Light After Dark. An EP, Let’s Begin, was released in October 2010, and Maguire’s first single proper Ain’t Nobody – certainly not to be confused with the Rufus classic – charted at 78 ahead of her placing at fifth on The Sound of 2011.

Now: Maguire’s second single, The Last Dance, charted at 23 in February – her highest place on the UK singles chart to date. Its parent LP landed on 24 February and broke the UK top 10, but it was met by a largely negative critical response – 2/10 from NME, 3/10 from Drowned in Sound, 2/5 from the Guardian (it has a Metacritic average of 50/100). Her third single, The Shield and the Sword, barely made it into the top 100 in May. In the summer, Maguire road-tested a number of new songs expected to feature on her second album, which she claims will have a blues and soul sound, influenced by the likes of Johnny Cash.

And the rest…

Anna Calvi released her debut eponymous album (BBC review) on 24 January – it went on to be nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize, and reached the UK top 40. A big critical hit, the album has a Metacritic score of 80/100 and is likely to feature in many of the year-end best-of lists soon to spread across the internet. Calvi has been busy on the live front in 2011, appearing at a wealth of festivals home and abroad.

Daley had a very quiet 2011, but has been active lately with his mixtape, Those Who Wait, receiving a PR push ahead of an album proper in 2012. The Manchester soul singer also appeared on Wretch 32’s album, Black and White, released in August.

Esben and the Witch released their debut album, Violet Cries (BBC review), a week after Calvi’s – a handful of great reviews have given it a Metacritic score of 64/100. The Brighton trio played festivals including Glastonbury, Latitude and South By Southwest in 2011, and released the Hexagons EP, featuring non-album material, in November. A second album is expected in 2012.

Jai Paul, like Daley, was quiet in 2011. Signed to XL, clearly he’s not being rushed to deliver the goods. His track BTSTU, made available in April and his only official release of the year, was sampled by both Drake and Beyoncé, so clearly he has fans in high places. Only time will tell with regard to what he can achieve in 2012.

Mona, it’s safe to say, bombed in 2011. Despite their Sound of 2011 placing and victory in MTV’s Brand New for 2011 award, The Nashville four-piece failed to deliver on the pre-release promise of a band to genuinely rival Kings of Leon’s good-time chart-friendly rock’n'roll. Replete with lyrical clichés and packing all the compositional inventiveness of an under-11s battle of the bands competition, Mona (the album) was slaughtered in the press. NME, the Guardian and the Independent called it out for what it was: quite, quite rubbish. Despite this, it charted at a respectable 39 in the UK, and Mona headlined London’s Shepherds Bush Empire in October, so perhaps all is not lost. If they crawl back from the brink of irrelevance in 2012, Mona may win themselves several new friends.

Nero, active since 2004, took dubstep and drum and bass right to the top of the UK albums chart with their Welcome Reality debut of August (BBC review). The London duo’s run of singles leading up to their LP pointed the way to such success, with the track Promises topping the chart just ahead of the album’s release (albeit with the lowest first-week sales of any number one for almost two years). A Metacritic score of 67/100 for Welcome Reality illustrates that critics, as well as the general public, were quite taken with it.

The Naked and Famous‘ Passive Me, Aggressive You album (BBC review; Metacritic 72/100) was already a hit in their home country of New Zealand ahead of their appearance in The Sound of 2011, having topped their domestic albums chart in September 2010. The indie-rockers couldn’t repeat the feat in the UK, but their well-received debut set still made a very respectable 25, and their great live performances have kept them in the thoughts of this country’s gig-going public.

Warpaint were another indie outfit on The Sound of 2011 longlist to have a debut album already available, but the Los Angeles quartet had already seen their set, The Fool (BBC review), chart in the UK. Eventually peaking at 41 and with a Metacritic score of 77/100, The Fool propelled its makers through 2011, with them taking in festivals including Glastonbury and Leeds/Reading. A deluxe edition of The Fool was released in September, including the band’s pre-album EP Exquisite Corpse (BBC review).

Wretch 32 has had an amazing year, with the Tottenham MC taking his rhymes into the mainstream, entering the UK singles chart top five three times in a row and bagging a number one with Don’t Go. Said track’s parent LP, Black and White (his second album; BBC review), peaked at four and has a very decent Metacritic score of 72/100.

Yuck had critics of a certain vintage clamouring to stamp their seals of approval all over their fresh faces, as the London-based four-piece evoked strong memories of Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth throughout 2011. Their retro-inspired but highly accomplished rock keeps itself on just the right side of pastiche, and a Metacritic score of 81/100 for their eponymous debut LP (BBC review) proves they had enough bite to win over the doubters.

Read more album reviews at BBC Music
The Sound of 2012 longlist will be published on bbc.co.uk/soundof/ soon

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The Sound of 2011: Then and Now is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com

BBC Album Reviews editor Mike Diver selects his favourite LPs of October 2011…

October’s always been a great month for new albums, and 2011’s crop is another really rather brilliant one. So much so that I’m extending this round-up from 10 releases to 15, to accommodate a handful of extra treats for the listening gear.

My album of the month…

Björk – Biophilia
(One Little Indian; released 10 October)
Recommended by: 6 Music Album of the Day, Jo Whiley, Radcliffe & Maconie, Lauren Laverne

“Biophilia is a mesmerising album which confirms that Björk can weave dumfounding wonders from Silly String – whatever’s placed before her, she can turn to her advantage, taking her audience on a trip the likes of which no other contemporary artist is capable of planning, let alone embarking on. In a word: amazing. Again.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Crystalline (external YouTube link)

The best of the rest…

Emika – Emika
(Ninja Tune; released 3 October)
Recommended by: Tom Robinson

“Though she’s strongly influenced by dubstep, a movement the Anglo-Czech musician watched develop while living in Bristol, Emika’s music doesn’t require an intimate knowledge of underground dance culture, owing as much to the atmospheric experiments of another of Bristol’s finest exports, Portishead. Mysterious and provocative, this album leaves you wanting more, even though you know it’s sometimes rather troubling.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Professional Loving (external YouTube link)

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9th Wonder – The Wonder Years
(It’s a Wonderful World Music Group; released 10 October)
Recommended by: Semtex

“Charting his rise from the early days of jamming to Public Enemy at high school, to being picked up by Jay-Z, to winning a Grammy with Mary J Blige, to producing for Erykah Badu and Common, each rung of the ladder is reinforced by his sumptuous trademark soul samples and self-propelled loops. It’s not simply a retrospective affair, but a calling card illustrating why this beat-maker wears a crown on his album cover.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch a trailer for the documentary The Wonder Year, following a year in the life of 9th Wonder (external YouTube link; contains language which may offend)

- – -

Modeselektor – Monkeytown
(Monkeytown; released 3 October)
Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft

“Modeselektor, in this writer’s rave-ravaged opinion, forge the most intelligent, progressive, well-constructed dance music in the contemporary scene. Few dance albums can keep their soul for the duration, but with tracks featuring this many facets, ideas, genres and tempos, the duo romps home. Monkeytown is the sound of two men working in harmony, perfectly in control of their machines. And it may just be one of the albums of the year.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Shipwreck (featuring Thom Yorke) (external YouTube link)

- – -

New Look – New Look
(!K7; released 3 October)
Recommended by: Nick Grimshaw

“New Look’s debut album is rare in how natural and effortless it sounds. Its structure is immaculate – its order so that influences are reimagined as a dream. Clipped beats and pop hooks come together with heart-wrenching power. This is an essential record made by two people with astonishing control, skill and knowledge; one which makes us proud of what music has done in the past 20 years, and just what it can now create.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Nap on the Bow (external YouTube link)

- – -

Wild Flag – Wild Flag
(Wichita; released 10 October)
Recommended by: Lauren Laverne

“Wild Flag’s craft – honed and perfected during a spate of well received club shows – and the magic of this long-time-coming collaboration (the band’s members have known each other for well over a decade) is here for all to hear. All of these tracks were captured live, except for the vocals, and the unabashed joy Timony, Brownstein, Weiss and Cole clearly experienced when finally playing together really comes across in the recordings. They practically sizzle when played.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Romance (external YouTube link)

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Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
(Parlophone; released 24 October)
Recommended by: Radio 2 Album of the Week, 6 Music Album of the Day, Greg James

“A brilliant, shiny and emphatic reinstatement of the euphoric hooks and cuddly ballads that have served the band so well. Case in point: Paradise, where melting strings and church organ feed into a brilliant chorus line that equal parts Fix You and Viva la Vida’s title-track. But the main vocal chorus doesn’t arrive until over two minutes in, building the tension; the pay-off is both simple and devastating. It’s the equal of Yellow, and when Coldplay return to Glastonbury it will take the roof off the sky.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Paradise (external YouTube link)

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Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
(Lefse Records; released 24 October)

“Youth Lagoon is Trevor Powers’ outlet for explaining aspects of life he otherwise has a hard time discussing. So, typical problems to befall the confused and curious arise; the anxieties of a man not long out of childhood manifest in solid beats and crunching production. It’s full of motifs that catch one off guard, which halt the progress of fingers on keys and steps on a street alike; lyrics that float like a knee-high mist around bare-bones arrangements of crackling delicacy.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Montana (external YouTube link)

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Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
(Apricot; released 31 October)
Recommended by: Rob da Bank, 6 Music Album of the Day

“With Pulp’s Steve Mackey on production, Welcome to Condale has a stern bite, all bristling synths and ramped up, classic guitar licks soundtracking the artists’ own world of twisted youth. And there’s no doubting the intent that blazes through the individual songs on the record. The pair acts out power struggles between characters, dominating and demeaning, breaking up and getting back together with the cavalier flamboyance that fades in adult relationships. A debut that marks a sincere, wryly appealing turning point in the art of romanticised retrospection.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Better Off Without You (external YouTube link)

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Real Estate – Days
(Domino; released 17 October)
Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft, Huw Stephens, 6 Music Album of the Day

“This is a yearning, winsome thing, drenched in autumnal colour and a sweet, almost blissful nostalgia; a sonic leap forward from their homespun self-titled debut. It is the kind of record that might drift by unassumingly lest you lend it a careful ear, but really: the second you do, it rewards unequivocally. Occasionally a lyric or an image jumps out at you – a frozen sea, the frequency of an internal debate, mountains of maple leaves. Days somehow manages to reflect on growing up with startling clarity while exhibiting youthful innocence and exuberance in spades.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for It’s Real (external YouTube link)

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Lisa Hannigan – Passenger
(PIAS; released 10 October)
Recommended by: The Late Show with Stuart Bailie, Dermot O’Leary

“For all its deft arrangements and catchy chorus hook lines, Passenger feels unforced, spontaneous and timeless; indeed, such is its unaffected delivery that it might have been recorded 30 years ago or last month. Like all good actresses, Hannigan is not just telling stories here, she’s mapping the absurd, mischievous, troubling but always potentially transcendent landscape of human emotion in which we are all journeying.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Knots (external YouTube link)

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Rustie – Glass Swords
(Warp; released 10 October)
Recommended by: Vic Galloway

“Glass Swords is undeniably self-indulgent. Effectively the sound of Web 2.0 information overload set to music, it finds Russell Whyte categorically refusing to reduce the breadth of his tastes into a manageable, coherent vision. Instead he simply piles everything on top of each other, often jamming five or six recognisable influences into a single four-minute track. But it shows just the right amount of restraint to prevent total disarray. Even if the album weren’t half as much fun as it is, that feat would be worthy of celebration in itself.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch a preview of Glass Swords (external YouTube link)

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Nils Frahm – Felt
(Erased Tapes; released 10 October)
Recommended by: Tom Ravenscroft

“It’s not just the soft, warm clunks of piano keys against strings that give this sense of having fallen inside Frahm’s instrument in a bucolic daze. There’s the quiet ambient hiss throughout, the rattle of the piano’s movement, the squeal of what sounds like fingers along metal strings in Kind, the odd flick and knock from elsewhere in the room. This is a transportative album, a balm for troubled minds.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch the official video for Unter (external YouTube link)

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Kuedo – Serverant
(Planet Mu; released 17 October)
Recommended by: Rob da Bank

“With a wealth of feeling and shimmering soul running throughout, Kuedo’s music cannot be pigeonholed as mere intelligent dance music; it’s more emotionally intelligent dance music. While it won’t please those expecting a selection of aggressive dubstep workouts, Severant is a stunning debut that gives up more secrets with every listen.”

Read the full BBC review
(No official videos available)

- – -

Magazine – No Thyself
(Wire-Sound; released 24 October)
Recommended by: Jarvis Cocker, Marc Riley, 6 Music Album of the Day

“No Thyself is less about Howard Devoto refusing to grow old gracefully, and more about the unsung genius asking darkly comic questions about what that cliché means. The surprise excellence of the songs and the music makes this the long-overdue fourth great Magazine album. Thirty years ago, Devoto sang of wanting to burn again. And here he is, doing exactly that.”

Read the full BBC review
Watch a trailer for No Thyself (external YouTube link)

View full post on BBC Music

The best albums of October 2011 is a post from: dontlieblackeyedpeas.com