50 Words For ‘Oh...’
If I only counted re-issued albums, 2011 would be a bumper year. The Steven Wilson refreshing of King Crimson, Jethro Tull & Caravan, Pink Floyd’s catalogue, two from Paul McCartney, Chris Carter’s own remastering of Throbbing Gristle, the revelatory extras on the Suede albums (and the extraordinary albums themselves) and many more, alongside a large number of compilations, meant there was plenty to listen to out there.
But there was more. Much more. In a year that matches the early 70’s for quality and variety of new music released it was impossible to keep up and almost as hard to ‘stick with what you know’ without selling a kidney. Should you choose a purely legal route to music gathering that is...
I tried to put together my Top 20 of 2011 but for the first time in many years there were more albums that I knew I would always return to than could be accommodated within such a short list. So in the spirit of John Peel (before he got bored with it) here is my Festive 50.
Some of the tracks featured here are from albums I love every second of (Kate Bush, Fair To Midland, Paul Simon, Mattson 2, Magnus Ostrum, The Unthanks among others) while some are the sole gems from records that will never trouble my ears again. I’ll let you guess which ones they are. The only rule was that it had to be new music - no reissues.
If I was forced to choose a number one? That changes every time I read the list but for sheer ‘what the feck was that’ness, the mighty Wiht would take the top spot for their EP ‘The Harrowing Of The North’. But then again, Big Big Train, who I genuinely feel to be the best band in the UK at the moment, get me every time I hear ‘Kingmaker’ which was given away free on a CD with Classic Prog magazine so you’re never going to get a definitive answer from me. In no particular order then...
All Rights Removed - Airbag - All Rights Removed
Birds - Asva - Presences of Absences
Kingmaker - Big Big Train
The Captain's in The Wheelhouse (Fabled Quixote) - Bill Nelson - Fantasmatron
Waving - Blackfield - Welcome To My DNA
