Gigging Forever Awards 2014: Part Two

Ok, back again to resume our fictitious awards ceremony - head back to part one if you missed it, before taking your seat over there between Jarvis Cocker getting ready to disrupt someone's inappropriate performance and a coked-up record label exec.

(Yes that was probably the last time I watched the Brit Awards...)

Best album by a Swedish dark-Electronica-based band whose name starts with I

The Nominees: 

iamamiwhoami: Blue

Iamamiwhoami have become quite a fixture in my end of year lists (of which this is self-evidently not one), and I'd pencilled in this latest instalment of their monthly multimedia moody-electro-pop extravaganza for obvious winner of this hard fought category - and with the quality of music on offer here, it should have been... but who knew there was such strong competition on the way?

Actually this is the first time I've done the whole "buy each track as a single as it comes out" thing, and what it's meant is that, as an album, this feels very uneven to me now - the first track "Fountain" was lovely when it came out in January, but I've heard it so many times now that the weird breathy, whisper-y section in the middle makes me want to throw kanelbullar at Jonna Lee's head, whilst the last track "Shadowshow" I can barely remember yet. 

In the middle, though, there's the stunning "Hunting for Pearls" which has just the right balance of dark and light to keep you coming back time and again, the gorgeously upflifting "Blue Blue", and the Brazilian electro-carnival chaos that is "Ripple". What the hell "Tap Your Glass" is all about though, I have no idea. I'll just have a look at the video... no, no, none the wiser. 

I will say, this year's videos (one per song, making an ongoing narrative which someone, somewhere can probably understand) are the best so far- the weird furry monsters seem to have disappeared, to be replaced by lots of dancing about near water, celebrating nature and being chased by creepy figures dressed in block body stockings. I'm all for that. 

I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro

A new band to me late in 2013 thanks to their stunning support slot for Sigur Ros, Maria Lindén and Fredrik Balck really stepped up a gear from their shoegaze-y debut this year with this bleak, dark, other synonym for dark, moody second album. From the frenetic and nervous "Faith" (Track of the year?) to the haunting futuristic film-noir soundtrack "Medicine Brush", via the just ruddy-bloody gorgeous "Denial" and "Weigh True Words", this album is very nearly perfect. I do pretend it finishes before the last track, though, sorry. 

Winner: I Break Horses. Ultimately, I just like things a little bleak and depressing- and damn it, Iamamiwhoami, you just got a tiny bit too nice, cheerful and major key this year, with your sunny beach videos and Latin American carnival vibes. Still love ya, though. 

The Best Mike Oldfield album of 2014

The nominees:

Mike Oldfield: Man on the Rocks

Nah. Just no, no and no again. With a side order of "NOOOOOOO!!!!" (See why here.)

Rob Reed: Sanctuary

Oh now, this is much more like it - this actually sounds like a Mike Oldfield album. In fact it sounds like all the Mike Oldfield albums put into a salad spinner. In fact I don't think this is an album at all, I think it's an elaborate puzzle - the first person to work out which Mike Oldfield track each 30 seconds of music here is based on wins a trip over Hergest Ridge on horseback. 

I want to hate this album with every fibre of my being for being so blatant... And yet, and yet. It's annoyingly well done, and there are some great tunes. (Even if they are basically by Mike Oldfield- run through a note-randomiser). 

Although, I just re watched this video in which Rob Reed smashes up a record exec's office for not taking his album seriously, so now I'm quite fine with hating it - also those A&R guys at table 12 are looking a bit miffed so let's move on...

Matt Berry: Music for Insomniacs

Yes, the guy from "Toast of London". Yes, he's made an album of eerie synth and chanting vocal music, upon which he plays everything, Oldfield-stylee, and Yes, it was largely created when he was trying and failing to sleep. Yes, I CAN hear you, Clem Fandango.   

Now, I'm not going to pretend this is hugely innovative either, but it is weird and it doesn't obviously follow a pattern that I can discern, and it also has the decency to sound like Jean-Michel Jarre and Tangerine Dream at the same time as Tubular Bells, so for that reason I'm in. 

Winner: Matt Berry. YEEEESSSSSS. 

Best retro-60's/early 70's psych/Canterbury- type rock album 

The nominees:

Temples - Sun Structures

Brought here to you from the summer of '68 by means of some freaky musical teleportation device, here come Temples with their brand of fuzzy, sunny, hazy sounding psychedelic rock tunes - and oh, what tunes they are, it's physically impossible to be unhappy whilst listening to this album, and believe me I've tried. Here you go, here's 'Keep in The Dark', and 'Mesmerise' which aren't necessarily my faves, but look, they've got videos which tell you exactly what you think about the band without having to try too hard. Sweet. 

Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror

Skipping on a few years to 1970, let's imagine we're in Canterbury (no, not the Canterbury where my parents went to university which apparently didn't contain ANY of the amazing music I know to have been happening there, I mean the one where people went out and saw bands and got into the whole scene, man...) - and here come a fresh faced new prospect, Syd Arthur, with their somewhat harder, rockier, less fuzzy and "peace and love" approach to the turn of the decade. With twisting time-signatures and interesting chords, they may be onto something - something that should maybe get a name beginning with P, can't think what now. It's happening though, and it's here.

Check out 'Garden of Time' here, cause it's on YouTube and everything, which makes it rather easier to do so...

Winner: Very close, but Temples just win out here. Tune after tune after tune of top summery smashes. Mind you, I've not tried listening to it in winter, it might sound awful...

Tune in next time for more made-up and hastily decided-upon awards...

2013: The Year in "Normal" Music - Tracks

Um, I've just realised it's nearly February, and everyone knows you can't do "Best of Last Year" lists in February. I might as well still have my Christmas tree festering in the corner.

For that reason, and also because I feel like I am writing this list for the sole interest of about 5 people on my Twitter feed (hello Jake, Richey, Moray, Tim, um... others) - here is my somewhat abridged "Best of 2013 in Normal music" roundup. By "Abridged", I mean I'm just going to give you a list, a load of album art and a few comments, because, let's face it, most times that's all anyone looks at on these things. And by "normal" I mean, relatively mainstream - things that people outside my tiny world of gig friends might have heard of, things with samples and distorted guitars and enough electronic percussion to give the hardened progger an aneurysm on the spot.

But before we actually get to the top 20 albums - here's a randomly ordered list of odd tracks from albums which didn't make the main list, either because I didn't necessarily like all of the songs, I didn't really get to know them well enough, or they just plain don't exist yet (which makes things slightly tricky.) And at the end there's a handy Spotify playlist of them all.


Gigging Forever's "Top Tracks of 2013 which weren't on my top 20 albums for some reason"

Chrome Hoof: Knopheria (from the album Chrome Black Gold) - Massive disco-Knifeworld smash, like the Cardiacs meet the Scissor Sisters. I've not heard any more of this album and suspect the rest may be a bit less mental than this, but hope not, for the sake of all that is wonderful in this world.

I Break Horses: Faith (single) - Icy, deliberately obtuse, menacing, hypnotic electro track with a killer tune. The album is already one to watch in 2014.

Jennie Abrahamson: Phoenix (single) - Lovely Swedish electronica/singer-songwriter stuff from Peter Gabriel's latest backing singer - and what a voice. Some wonderfully squelchy keyboard bass too, and someone in a polar bear costume on the cover. What more could you want?

Haim: Forever (from the album 'Days are Gone') - This was probably better live on Jools Holland where I first heard it, trading the slightly overproduced sheen of the album for a healthy dose of New York punk attitude but still a fun tune from a good album nonetheless.

Bastille: Pompeii (from the album 'Bad Blood'). A song. That was quite good. Sung by a man. With some nice close harmony vocals and chanting choral effects. Will that do?

Jon Hopkins and Natasha Khan: Garden's Heart (from the OST 'How I Live Now') - Way less bizarre than you'd expect from the Mercury Prize-nominated sound pioneer and the bonkers frontlady of Bat For Lashes, but just as beautiful.

Delphic: Baiya (from the album 'Collections') - Yeah, the album was a bit dodgy, or at least misunderstood because it no longer sounded like New Order, but at least this was a superb single.

Depeche Mode: Angel (from the album 'Delta Machine') - Menacing and dark. Cracking live. Not entirely convinced about the rest of the tracks, though...

Teagan & Sara: Closer (from the album Heartthrob)- In which the indie duo get a makeover from Greg Kurstin and turn into a fun pop band with kick-arse attitude. If you like this, you'll probably like the whole album. Which I did. And do.

Jagwar Ma: Let Her Go (from the album Howling) - Summery, cheery, shimmery, jangly, spangly, chimmery, jummery, okay that'll do now. This year's only tip from my friend Mark - who went and got himself a girlfriend, the fool. Possibly the most guitarry and least electronic sounding song I've chosen in my entire list.

Moby: Saints (from the album 'The Innocents') - Say, Moby, can you make us a song that sounds exactly like 'Unfinished Sympathy' by Massive Attack? You can? Great! Do you have anything original, or even just better, to fill up the rest of the album? You don't? Oh dear.

Röyksopp featuring Susanne Sundfør: Ice Machine (from the mix album 'Late Night Tales') - A wonderful Depeche Mode cover with just the right amount of Nordic melancholy and analog synth wonder. I've actually never heard the original and not convinced I want to now...

Röyksopp (again) featuring Susanne Sundfør (again): Running to the Sea (single) - One of only 2 original tracks the R-men released this year - but there should be music AND a tour in 2014 and I'm staking my entire happiness on it. No pressure, guys. (Oh, and if you feel like bringing Susanne along on the road, I wouldn't complain.)

Rob & Chloe Alper - Juno (from the OST 'Maniac'). Chloe (ex of the much-missed Pure Reason Revolution) released a lovely song on Soundcloud about a year ago, and then promptly took it down. I miss that song. This isn't it, but it's still good. Not sure who this Rob guy is, but apparently he can write a decent song.

Austra: Home (from the album 'Home') - Austra's Katie Stelmanis has rather a strange, deep, almost bleating voice - and I'm not sure yet whether I like it - however this album is full of very interesting, even peculiar music. I picked the most electronic, upbeat number of course. I'm so predictable.

Porcelain Raft: It Ain't Over (from the album 'Permanent Signal') - Ooh, they've woken up a bit. If last year's album was like a soak in a hot bath, this is perhaps more like gently jogging through a field on a summer's day, tossing dandelions around your head in soft focus.

M83 featuring Susanne Sundfør (again): Oblivion (from the OST 'Oblivion') - Ok, Susanne, stop hanging out with the boys and get on with your new album, will you? Come to that, M83, you're quite possibly my favourite current band so can you pull your finger out on the proper follow-up to 'Hurry Up, We're Dreaming' so that I can rightfully award it the 'Album of the Year' spot it was so cruelly robbed of in 2011?

This soundtrack nonsense is all very well when you can make songs this downright life-affirming, with majestic strings and thumping percussion underpinning the vocal performance of Susanne's life, but it's a bit of a shame to find the rest of the album just filled up with variations on the theme... Merci and Tak!

The Feeling: Blue Murder (from the album 'Boy Cried Wolf') - A more mature sound on this whole album has attracted some rave reviews in respected quarters, but it's still growing on me at the moment. Still, this opener is a pretty good statement of intent.

Emiliana Torrini : Speed of Dark (from the album 'Tookah') - A most intriguing album of soft, largely acoustic, breathy songs underpinned by gentle beats and chilled electronica. And then there's this banging mama of a tune which wakes you up in the middle. My second favourite Icelandic album of the year, and would have made the main list if there weren't already so much on it.

Foals: Prelude... Inhaler (from the album 'Holy Fire') - More bands should put an instrumental piece as track 1 before their first song, it's a largely dying art. Anyway, I lied, perhaps this little pair of tracks is the most guitarry thing here, albeit underwritten by some Stone-Roses ish drum patterns and odd distorted keyboards. A very promising start which isn't quite matched by the entire album (not yet, anyway. Maybe there's still time.)

Empire of the Sun: Lux...DNA (from the album 'Ice on the Dune') - Oh look, an instrumental piece leading into the first track proper. I told you more bands should do that. This second album didn't quite hit the highs of their legendarily good first effort (a modern classic of electro-pop) from a few years back, but in any other year it would have been on the main list for sure. It's not my fault there were so many who did better. Please don't stab me with your pointy hat.

MGMT: Mystery Disease (from the album 'MGMT') - Having pretty much abandoned the kind of breezy indie-synth-pop that made their name, MGMT have settled into a more minor key, obtuse prospect which doesn't always hit the mark, but when it works, such as with this menacing number where what sound like tiny Casio keyboards doodle over a hypnotic drum beat, it works.

SOHN: Bloodflows (single)- An extremely late entry thanks to whoever was picking the music before last week's I Break Horses gig, this sounded absolutely immense over the PA and is similarly engaging at home - a sort of gentle R&B number to start with, the track soon builds up with skittering beats and synths to become something totally different by the end. An exciting discovery.

Next time: The big one. 20 cracking albums from 2013.