It has been an excellent year for new music, and in the end I struggled to limit myself to just a top 10, but here goes.
1) Roomrunner - Ideal Cities: As I said here, "if riffs could kill then Roomrunner would be a weapon of mass destruction". Ideal Cities is a crushing, hook-ladened and sonically inventive record. They're also a fantastic live band where something memorable seems to happen each time I've seen them (4 times so far). 2) Föllakzoid - II: Not only is II one of my favourite records of the year (reviewed here), it spawned my interest in Chilean rock music, which has some of the most incredible bands of the last decade. There is a new space-rock champion and their name is Föllakzoid. 3) Anna Calvi - One Breath: Having been a fan since before her debut album came out (profile), I was pretty confident that Anna wouldn't suffer from second-album-syndrome and she justified my faith with the wonderful, One Breath. I managed to catch her recent show in New York as well which was fantastic.
4) John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts: This one crept up on me a little bit, but Pale Green Ghosts is perhaps my most played album of the year, and contains some of the best, most bitingly sarcastic lyrics I've heard in a long time. I managed to catch his recent show in New York, which I reviewed here. 5) Mikal Cronin - II: This is one of those records where every song is so consistently strong that there isn't really a focal point or highlight. He plays almost everything on the album, the melodies are instant, perhaps so instant that the depth of the lyrics are missed on first listen, with lines like "Faith is just a lover I don’t own. Love is just an answer I don’t know". 6) The Men - New Moon: I reviewed this album earlier in the year here, my enthusiasm has not waned since it was released back in March.
7) Weekend - Jinx: Slumberland have a great roster of acts at the moment, with Joanna Gruesome, Veronica Falls, Girls Names all releasing material worthy of consideration for this list. The pinnacle however, is Weekend's second album, Jinx, an assured and meticulously crafted record with as wide a colour pallette as you'll hear. 8) Sisu - Blood Tears: Sandra Vu is better known as the drummer in Dum Dum Girls, but Sisu's output is more impressive, imo, debut album, Blood Tears was released the previous EP also got a re-issue. The album is filled with what are essentially dark, post-punk pop songs, highly recommended (artist to watch profile here and live review here). 9) Wymond Miles - Cut Yourself Free: This shouldn't come as much surprise (artist to watch profile here, live mention here), Wmon is one of those people that can't seem to write a bad song. 10) Mark Kozelek and Jimmy LaVelle - Perils from the Sea: Another album I reviewed earlier in the year, Kozelek moves out of his comfort zone to wonderful effect. Top 10 gigs post coming soon...
Anna Calvi is one of the great shining lights of modern music, and she brought the crowd at the Music Hall of Williamsburg to their knees on Monday night.
She opened with my favourite track, Suzanne & I, which unfortunately had a bit of a false start as Anna's guitar wasn't working properly, but she quickly got things together and blasted out the rest of the song. Next up was Eliza, the lead single from her new album, One Breath, which features a blistering guitar solo and Calvi's signature vocals; all the ingredients which make her so delectable.
The crowd were enthusiastic and completely under her spell for the duration of the set, myself included, as she made eye contact a few times during the slower songs. It was like being locked in a tractor beam. Phasers were definitely set to stun with her gaze (ok enough of the bad Star Trek puns.) One audience member audibly gasped with delight after Sing to Me. Maybe she gave him the eyes too.
Calvi doesn't speak much between songs; the odd thank you and an introduction to the band, which features Mally Harpaz on harmonium along with a new drummer and an additional keyboard/guitar player for this tour. Despite the introductions, all eyes are on Anna. For the duration of her 80-minute set, she may as well be the centre of the universe.
The crowd's reaction forced her to break out into many a smile between songs. It almost seemed out of character with her stage persona, which is that of an intense, lost-in-the-moment artist. Calvi is soft spoken and almost embarrassingly polite, though as a performer she's completely stark, which makes here all the more interesting to watch.
During the set-ending track Love Won't Be Leaving, we were treated to her customary extended guitar solo, which just blew everyone away. Her guitar skills really come to the fore when she's performing, and they're up there with the best in music.
If I were to score the show I would mark one point down for two reasons:
1) The vocals were a bit lower in the mix than I would have liked
2) One of the things we all dread at shows... the farter. Someone in the audience let rip with vulgar regularity throughout the night. Don't you just hate those who use the cover of a crowd to anonymously release noxious fumes?!
Despite those two gripes, it was a fantastic show, which Calvi rounded off with a deserved encore of Bleed Into Me and finally her cover of Edith Piaf's Jezebel.
Opening act Gems were unfortunately a really poor match for Calvi's strong performance, and a bit of a snoozefest, truth be told. Their set was a bit too nice and lightweight; offensively inoffensive.
Setlist
Suzanne & I
Eliza
Suddenly
Sing to Me
Cry
Blackout
I'll Be Your Man
Piece by Piece
Carry Me Over
Tristan
The Devil
Desire
Love Won't Be Leaving Encore
Bleed Into Me
Jezebel
I first saw Anna Calvi supporting Carina Round (whom I also first experienced as a support act, opening for Gutter Twins) in July 2009 at the Water Rats. She was jaw-droppingly good, cue close to two years waiting impatiently for her self-titled debut album to be released on Domino Records...
The record remains one of, if not the strongest release of 2011 and has what seems a rare sense of identity and confidence seldom seen from a debut these days. It's been described as a dark record and while one could easily nod in agreement to that statement, it perhaps conjures the wrong impression, yes it's dark on occasion but I find it a beautiful and uplifting effort. Anna knows when to leave space for the songs to breathe and other moments to let the music soar to a natural crescendo. It's the ease with which Anna is comfortable in such a wide dynamic range and volume that demands attention from the listener, and it's certainly an album that rewards any attention you can afford. When it's all too easy for music to become a bit more disposable in this digital age, it's seemingly hard to make time to just sit down and listen to something, but I assure you, dear readers, this deserves your time.
Having first experienced Anna in a live setting, you can't help but be struck at how incredible her guitar playing skills are, this virtuousity appears in a more subtle form on the record overall, so I would certainly urge you to catch her live if at all possible. Though this is not to say these studio versions are in any way watered down, there's just something about the intensity and passion with which she performs live and her range of skills from classical to flamenco, rock and blues become overtly evident.
Oxford - May 2011
Anna is complimented by drummer/backing vocalist Daniel Maiden-Wood, who dominates his modest setup and knows just the right moments to add a bit of flare or drive a song forward. Mally Harpaz completes the lineup, mostly playing the harmonium (that's an instrument you don't see all that often) but also contributes with other instruments and additional percussion.
Calvi's vocals are reminiscent of some of my favourite singers such Jeff Buckley and PJ Harvey (unfortunately it seems to be quite hard to be a good female singer without being compared to the great Polly Jean at some point...) among others.
The album kicks off with a low-key guitar instrumental, Rider to the Sea, which hints towards an Ennio Morricone Spaghetti Western standoff. Desire is the second single release from the record, Calvi uses phrases like "the devil" as personal metaphors and this song features Brian Eno, who is a huge fan. Desire has a real drive to it while it's also hard not to be entranced with the perfect production on the record, you get some sense of euphoria as she belts out the chorus while the song builds to a triumphant finale.
My personal favourite song on the album is Suzanne And I, I love the pounding drums and the perfect guitar sound, it's a real victory and as you hear the album unfold you feel as though the band have really agonised over every single second of every song, they must all take their art very seriously but do so in a way that doesn't come across as pretentious. Listening to interviews where Anna is so mild and softly-spoken you wonder how she must flip some kind of mental switch to project such a powerful and commanding vocal when singing.
Oxford - May 2011
The Devil certainly evokes the Jeff Buckley reference I made earlier and it's these quiet, reflective songs that really draw you in, immersed in the space between each note, aching for the next snare hit like listening to the best slowcore can offer. The mood perks up again with the album's debut single, Blackout, which features some rare bass guitar but at this point that only emphasises how little the presence of a bottom-end has been missed (and this coming from someone who plays bass).
I think this performance of Love Won't Be Leaving (from the TV show Live From Abbey Road, the song starts at 1:21)showcases Anna's all-round qualities, the dynamic range I spoke of, great voice and the blistering guitar solo is something to behold. Please give it your time, I do wish the extended mid-section was on the record. The only word I can use is blistering!
I wanted to get this blog piece done in time to predict that Anna would get nominated for the 2011 Mercury Prize - I couldn't really care less about it, but people do usually get some extra exposure from it, which will hopefully be the case here. There's something old and new that Anna is doing and I imagine I will continue to be entranced by her and hope she has a long career, let's hope she isn't put under too much pressure and allowed to flourish on her own terms.
Oxford - May 2011
All photos taken by me apart from the album cover.
