BBC Album Reviews: Some of the Best, part one

So I figured, what with the service’s imminent closure, I’d post a few of my favourite reviews to have run on the BBC Album Reviews pages since the summer of 2009.

I say “part one” as it’s been a real treat to run so much high-quality content these past weeks, months and years that to not dive into the archive again for another selection would be doing myself a disservice, not to mention the team of contributors.

I haven’t thought long and hard about the below picks, either – I’ve just scanned the pages, little lights going off as I recall standout examples of critical thoughts (turned into compelling copy).

But if something piques your own interest from the below, click through and have a rummage yourself. I think you’ll agree that a bloody fine job’s been done.

Jude Rogers reviews Paul Weller’s Sonik Kicks…
“Thirty years ago, Paul Weller was number one. The Jam’s A Town Called Malice spent three weeks at the top of the charts, its Motown bassline bustling, its finger clicks rustling. Watch its video now, and the 23-year-old at the middle of it has hardly changed in some ways. His Woking vowels are still ‘ow’s-yer-father; the haircut’s still cockatoo-daft. But he sings a line in its first verse that’s practically become his motto: ‘Stop apologising for the things you’ve never done, because time is short and life is cruel, and it’s up to us to change.'”

Adam Kennedy reviews Aesop Rock’s Skelethon…
“It’s a difficult listen, no doubt. But just when Skelethon appears to be drifting towards a less-than-lapel-grabbing conclusion, closing confessional Gopher Guts pulls an astonishing passage from nowhere. It’s built on possibly the most affectingly honest lines Aesop has ever delivered: ‘I have been completely unable to maintain any semblance of relationship on any level / I have been a bastard to the people who have actively attempted to deliver me from peril.'”

Alex Deller reviews Goat’s World Music…
“Basslines hulk and lurk, goading you pushily towards the dancefloor while psychotropic guitar parts conjure impossible colours and chanted, voice-as-instrument ululations score a deep path through your subconscious despite only one word in 50 ever actually making sense. Dip in at any point and you’re bound to hit gold, whether you light upon the cartwheel riffing of opener Diarabi, the glorious, organ-dappled funk of Disco Fever or the primal rattle and grunt of the beautiful but far-too-short Run to Your Mama.”

Barney Hoskyns reviews Foreigner’s Can’t Slow Down…
“Like so many veteran rock bands, Foreigner is now little more than a trademark owned by its British founder Mick Jones. Fifteen years after their last album release, Jones has cobbled together a unit of proficient hacks to craft a ghastly collection of songs that might as well have been written by a computer programme. Pulsing rhythms, glistening guitar arpeggios, hideously clichéd lyrics and heroically angsty vocals: they’re all here in abundance, tailor-made for future X Factor contenders.”

Paul Lester reviews Drake’s Thank Me Later…
“Drake is the Vampire Weekend of rap – he ticks all the wrong boxes, especially for a milieu that privileges poverty and strife. He’s a handsome 23-year-old ex-actor from an affluent background who has effortlessly achieved even greater wealth via music that utterly refuses to flaunt its street-tough credentials. More heinous still, Thank Me Later is virtually a concept album about the loneliness and lovelessness of the successful celebrity, a sort of sequel to Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak, only more audaciously dolorous because he’s only just started. In fact, as morose meditations on the miseries of fame go, it comes across like a rap version of Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories or Deconstructing Harry.”

Spencer Grady reviews Oneohtrix Point Never’s Replica…
“Replica sees Lopatin stray from his traditional templates, making occasional forays onto the dancefloor, shackling his amorphous ambient tides to the tyranny of the beat. Sleep Dealer and Nassau sound like The Field hitting hiccup hi-scores with the snooze function on, while Up forges a natural alliance between Muslimgauze’s souk-saturated rhythms and Cut Hands’ abrasive appropriation of Congolese percussion.”

Chris Roberts reviews Dexys’ One Day I’m Going to Soar…
“A quarter-century on from the last Dexys Midnight Runners album Don’t Stand Me Down (mocked upon release, now recognised as a work of genius), Dexys (so named because, says Kevin Rowland, ‘It’s the same, but also not the same’) return. Recent live shows induced collective rapture in audiences. Can the ‘comeback’ album possibly live up to expectations? It can. It certainly can… There is so much personality, poetry, vulnerability and resilience here that most other records sound like dry runs by comparison. Dexys are back with wisdom and wings. Some of us never doubted.”

David Quantick reviews Buzzcocks’ Another Music in a Different Kitchen…
“Upgrading and referencing the Spiral Scratch EP’s Boredom as bookends to the whole thing, Another Music… mixed Shelley’s remakes of Devoto lyrics (Fast Cars being a standout) with new brilliance like I Don’t Mind. Diggle added one of Buzzcocks’ greatest songs, the motorik genius of Autonomy. And the whole thing finales with punk’s greatest end-of-side-two track, the epic Moving Away From the Pulsebeat, which still sounds like nothing else ever recorded. It’s my favourite album ever; buy it and find out why.”

Daniel Ross reviews Rachel Zeffira’s The Deserters…
“Canadian Zeffira has a uniquely simplistic and powerful melodic knack which satisfies the head, but to massage the heart she has a real aptitude for arrangements. Oscillating strings, reeds and flutes are used with invention throughout, on the chug of Break the Spell and in the closing organ expanse of Goodbye Divine – all evidence that Zeffira is skipping wildly ahead of the pack. The Deserters is unequivocally demanding of your attention, as accomplished as it is tummy-meltingly wonderful to listen to.”

James Skinner reviews Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid…
“Monáe and her Wondaland collective span styles and epochs seamlessly over these 18 tracks, touching on everything from fantasia strings to psychedelic trad-folk, cabaret jazz to traditional R’n’B; heck, even goth and Eurotrance get a look in… Across the breadth of the record, songs and icons are recalled and reinvented, flickering like ghosts you recognise but can’t quite place; Monáe’s skill is to fashion them into something bordering indefinable. She is an easy, natural star, and The ArchAndroid is a kaleidoscopic, breathless run through the genres and eras that have inspired her.”

That’ll do, for now.

BBC Album Reviews – why we cover what we cover when we cover it

Since I became album reviews editor for BBC Online in the summer of 2009, I’ve operated a fairly strict system for ‘qualifying’ new releases for review on the site. With a limited budget and 13 genres to cover, it’s essential that I don’t commission a stack of indie/rock releases just because they’re there (and we all know there are lots there, every single week) at the expense of covering one vitally important jazz album, or a reggae LP of significance. The simplest way I have found of ‘qualifying’ reviews is by questioning the teams at the shows playing music on the BBC – the recommenders.

Here, you can find all of the BBC Album Reviews’ current recommenders. Note that some are seasonal, and that some are for now defunct shows. Most regularly tick over, though.

I think (I hope!) this is fairly visible on the site. The vast majority of reviews (over 90% of them in the last three-month period I assessed) will carry a recommendation stamp, linking to other recommended releases by the recommender in question. Here is an example of how this appears on a review page (under ‘Featured On…’).

It’s not a perfect system. Sometimes a recommendation will be withdrawn – this is most common with the 6 Music Album of the Day, when events in the industry necessitate the reassessing of the schedule. Sometimes I will assume a forthcoming album will receive a recommendation, but then – due to poor/non-existent radio plugging, or purely because the album turns out to be a shocker – it falls between the network cracks and runs without a stamp. Just occasionally I’ll have an album covered that I know won’t connect with radio, but that I feel really warrants coverage, but in these situations I tend to write the piece(s) so as not to spend any of my freelancer budget.

But, mostly, the system works. And many a PR (those who I communicate with regularly) is on board with this set-up, and appreciates that for their current release to get covered on the BBC Music pages, it’s going to need somebody on radio liking it enough to put their name to it. This also promotes synergy between online and on-air coverage, and I hope that those who land on a review via a search might click through to see what else that recommender is playing on their show(s).

If you’re a PR and this had never quite clicked with you, I hope I’ve managed to clear things up. I know, I know: this album has got great reviews from The Fly, Rock Sound and NME. I know: Absolute Radio is going nuts for it. And I know: I owe it to myself to give it the coverage it deserves. But if World Routes isn’t saying yes to a review stamp, and it’s the only show playing the artist in question, we’re not going to get anywhere fast.

It should be stressed that this is my system. Another album reviews editor, he or she that fills my boots when I move along, may think differently. But right now this ensures we cover what the BBC music radio networks are promoting, expanding this enthusiasm from FM sounds to wi-fi receivers. I think it works quite splendidly, and (touch wood) there’s not really been a ‘big’ release we’ve missed in nearly three years. Jason Mraz? Yeah yeah, it’s on my desk…

February. A bit fantastic, actually.

There are a lot of new albums worthy of your money and time floating about right now, making February something of a wallet-stretching month (says the douche who, remarkably, gets these records for nothing). So, to save you searching amongst the bullshit that’s also out/forthcoming, here’s the cream of ’em. Time-saving, it’s how one rolls.

Perfume Genius (pictured) – Put Your Back N 2 It
BBC Review
Music video: ‘Hood’

The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know
BBC Review
Music video: ‘Another Bed’

Gang Colours – The Keychain Collection
BBC Review
Music video: ‘Fancy Restaurant’

Hooray for Earth – True Loves
BBC Review
Music video: ‘True Loves’

Young Magic – Melt
BBC Review
Music video: ‘Night in the Ocean’

Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
BBC Review
Not a music video: ‘Serpents’

Field Music – Plumb
BBC Review
A live session video: ‘(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing’

Scuba – Personality
BBC Review
Music video: ‘The Hope’

The sharp end of the stick, 2012 edition

Tipping season, we’re in it. Any music scribe with a couple of column inches to rub together has, over the past couple of weeks, seen their inbox fill with ‘ones to watch’ messages from major labels, tiny indies, management companies and PR officers alike. For some reason, I get asked to contribute to a few of the more high-profile polls – I’ll let you guess which ones (at least one is completely transparent when it comes to who’s involved, so that won’t take long if you care enough to have a sniff). Apparently some people think I am a voice worth hearing when it comes to This Sort Of Thing. Well, I did nod the way of James Blake last time, so one outta three ain’t bad.

Anyway, here are some names to look for next year. I am not saying they’ll set the charts aflame; neither will they be selling out the o2 this side of Christmas 2013. Well, probably not. They’re just acts I like the sound of right now, acts that just might go some better in the next 12 months and take what can only be described as The Next Step. So long as none of them become The Next Steps, I think they’ll all be okay.

No order. No blurb. (Beyond the above, anyway, promise.) Just clips and links. Listen. Watch. Share? That’s some sort of ident for Radio 1 isn’t it? Bands and stuff…

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The Weeknd – official site / Twitter

Video: The Birds (Part 1) – from the album Thursday (BBC review)

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Frank Ocean – official site / Twitter

Video: Novacane – from the album nostalgia, Ultra

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Pandr Eyez – official site / Twitter

Video: Eyes On You – from the EP Eyes On You

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Stumbleine – official site

Track: Ember – from the EP Rose Tinted

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Breton – official site / Twitter

Video: Edward the Confessor – from the forthcoming album Other People’s Problems

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Jessie Ware – MySpace / Twitter

Track: Strangest Feeling – released as her debut single on November 28

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Cloud Boat – official site

Track: Lions on the Beach – the duo’s debut single on R&S

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Trophy Wife – Twitter

Video: Wolf – from the EP Bruxism (BBC review)

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Niki and the Dove – official site / Twitter

Video: The Drummer – from the EP The Drummer (BBC review)

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Daughter – Facebook

Track: Love – taken from the EP The Wild Youth

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The Best Music Videos of 2011 – Part One

I say ‘best’. These are just some of my favourites. No blurbs, no fuss. Ten I like here, ten I like next time. Watch, listen; watch and listen at the same time. Enjoy. I did. A bit.

(I clearly have a thing for satellites and space. And the seaside. And violent children.)

Dels – Capsize (from the album Gob)

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – I’ll Take Care Of U (from the album We’re New Here; RIP GS-H)

Summer Camp – Down (from the forthcoming album Welcome to Condale)

Other Lives – For 12 (from the album Tamer Animals)

Black Lips – Go Out and Get It (from the album Arabia Mountain; because sometimes dicking about at the seaside is enough)

Justice – Civilization (from the album Audio, Video, Disco)

Breton – The Commission (from the forthcoming album Other People’s Problems)

Is Tropical – The Greeks (from the album Native To)

Metronomy – The Bay (from the album The English Riviera)

Tyler, the Creator – She (from the album Goblin)

I wrote something marginally more serious about the Mercury Prize on the BBC Music Blog…

It’s over here. Why the Mercury Prize matters. I think it does. It’s not all about the final 12, you know. Everyone and anything can benefit, if they play their cards right. Ultimately, great music will out.

Notes from the Mercury Prize

By now, you’ll know that PJ Harvey has become the first artist to win the Mercury Prize for a second time, her Let England Shake the pick of the shortlisted 12 at last night’s awards do in London. (Read a review of the album on the BBC, here.) I was at the awards – here’s how it went down, from where I was standing. (Times are estimates only – these are my observations and opinions only, not those of the BBC!)

19.00 – In. No fizz yet. Sort it out, Mercurys.

19.04 – Jools is saying something. Presumably about music. It’s hard to tell as the suits clink their glasses across the tables below us – us being the press scumbags and hangers-on assembled on the balcony. I could really do with a drink.

19.05 – Ghostpoet’s in the building. He’s wearing his trademark pork pie hat indoors. My mum, she wouldn’t like that. Thinks it’s rude to wear a hat indoors.

19.07 – Tinie Tempah is the first performer of the night. “The one and only Tinie Tempah,” announces Jools, ramming his face between the cheeks of a nominated artist for the first time tonight. Thank fuck he’s the one and only, think several of the assembled onlookers. (Okay, perhaps just me.) Mr Tempah plays a medley of his chart hits. Few in the room seem to care. This man is not going home with the Mercury.

19.11 – Anna Calvi now. Like Tempah (and, later, Katy B) she’s dressed in black and red. Danger colours, those. Perhaps we’re in for a fiery performance. Or, perhaps, she’ll just shout for a bit while that friend of hers manhandles a squeezy wheezy box. I’ve never got the fuss surrounding Calvi – an adequate guitarist with some okay songs, but nothing more to these ears. And it must be weird for her tonight, performing in the shadow of PJ Harvey – an artist who’s done what Calvi’s doing for the past 20 years or so, and much better. Calvi’s album has no chance of winning.

19.15 – Jools runs us through all of the nominated albums. Everything is “fantastic” or “wonderful”, of course – this is the way of Jools. Still, he’s a national treasure, the sole televisual window onto the wider musical world for a large percentage of the British public, so I can forgive the sycophancy (and besides, if he’s not going to say these albums and artists are great, who is?). The biggest cheers seem to be for Katy B and Ghostpoet. But that might just be because of where I’m stood.

19.16 – Gwilym Simcock plays. His jazz face, to borrow from a credit card provider that isn’t sponsoring tonight’s proceedings, is priceless. He’s a very talented pianist, but really: his album’s never had a chance of winning, which begs the question of why it’s in the running. There have been better jazz albums in the last 12 months. If you must pick a ‘token’ jazz entry, at least make it one by an outfit with rather more fire in its collective belly. Honestly, this is like riding in a lift…

19.18 – …Until Simcock climbs inside his piano and starts beating it. That makes the room go up. But it might just be sympathy applause – thanks for coming, chap; see you… well, never.

19.28 – After a pause, PJ plays. She’s good, this girl. She’ll do well. A no-frills performance, but she’s an artist with nothing to prove at this stage of her career.

19.34 – King Creosote – who, later, will apparently fall into a swimming pool fully suited – plays, alongside Jon Hopkins on piano. It’s a beautiful moment; the room falls still. That pair had their odds slashed earlier in the day. A sign of success to come? Perhaps – but remember this thing isn’t decided until after these performances, when the judging panel retires to shout at each other until they reach a verdict. I wonder if all of them are ever really happy with the outcome?

19.40 – Metronomy now, with The Bay. Good choice. Good performance. Nice to see a band put a little heart into their live showing tonight. Joseph Mount encourages us to visit Devon. I have done, sir, several times. Paignton Zoo and I, we get along fine. He makes the audience laugh, which is nice. It’s be nicer still if the band’s album, The English Riviera, was to win… but a hunch says it won’t.

19.44 – When does the England match kick off?

19.45 – Oh, about now. Thanks.

19.47 – Nice chat with Gbenga from Metronomy. Apparently Lauren Laverne, who’s here tonight presenting for the BBC, fought for their album to be in the shortlist. Zane Lowe didn’t like it, he tells me. Zane, Zane… Bad form.

19.50 – Katy B. She’s good. Great performance of On a Mission. Beside me, the live-blogger fellow from The Quietus announces that she’s his pick for tonight; later, when we’re surrounded by guys and gals from Rinse (who ‘comically’ threaten to mug us), we’ll both say we’re rooting for her. She seems genuinely pleased to be part of this – as a young artist with her first album just released, I guess everything’s still an adventure for her. She’ll learn, in time. Someone tweets that Polly Jean has the best nose in rock; I counter with Katy B has the best dimples in pop. She does though. Treasures, those.

19.57 – James Blake is on. Somewhere in this noise there’s a song, I’m sure of it.

19.59 – I’m not so sure. He’s a tall lad, Mr Blake. I guess when your head’s all the way up there it’s hard to hear your mates, who are telling you: “James, put some songs on the album… James…? JAMES?! Oh, whatever… make a record that sounds like a Bon Iver remix LP.” Mr The Quietus loved his older stuff – might sound like a muso thing to say, but it’s true: Blake’s pre-album fare was much, much better than what makes up his eponymous debut. He won’t win.

20.00 – The audience seems to be in agreement. They might be quiet out of respect, like they were for King Kenny earlier. More likely they’re asleep, though.

20.07 – Ghostpoet is fantastic – loud, and loving every second of being here. Performance of the night (Cash and Carry Me Home, since you asked).

20.11 – News reaching us that Adele is not going to perform. She’s here, though.

20.15 – Grab a word with Ghostpoet. He seems thrilled to be part of this, and is drinking it in. I wish him the best – it’d be bloody fantastic if his LP, Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam, won this thing. As someone who has only just quit his nine-to-five to focus on his music, that £20,000 will go a long way. He calls me ‘Mr Diver’ too, which I like. (It’s my name, but still.)

20.19 – We’re watching a performance of Rolling in the Deep on the screens. She can sing, this Adele girl. Watch out for her. Bright future, etc.

20.20 – Adele takes to the stage to make a thank-you speech and pick up her one-of-the-final-12 trophies/toilet brushes. She makes people laugh, and snorts a little herself. She’s great, just like one of us. Only absolutely loaded.

20.24 – Everything Everything are dressed like Ghostbusters but aren’t even as entertaining as the second Ghostbusters movie – and that really sagged in places.

20.30 – And now it’s Elbow. Somehow I’ve forgotten about Elbow being here – probably because Build a Rocket Boys! is so utterly underwhelming. Why’s it in the final 12? Because Guy Garvey is a Really Nice Man, that’s why. Can’t be on the strength of the LP in question – if so, clearly the panel has listened to 10 albums all year and then picked two acts on the strength of previous collections. (I might be referring to Adele here – 21 is decent, no doubt, but 6/10 decent rather than 9/10 amazing.)

20.34 – Lippy Kids is the most boring song of 2011.

20.36 – Jools arrives on stage to bury himself up Garvey’s arse. Says something about how we all love Elbow. No, Jools, we don’t. Some of us can’t work out why they’re here in the place of many other more worthy outfits. But, hell, that Guy fella is a smashing chap. Struggles to stand up straight while performing, though. He might want to see someone about that.

20.45 – In the pub. Second half of the England vs Wales match is as dull as Everything Everything were a few minutes ago.

22.02 – Back in the building. Lauren’s over there, speaking to camera. She’s with the chap who presents the 6 Music breakfast show, Sean Keaveny. That’s the same Sean Keaveny who’s failed to get the name of this award correct on his show for the past few weeks/months. An expert, then.

22.05 – Realise how weird it must be for the artists tonight, playing to a room where the majority of people assembled don’t want them to do well. They might like their records, and go to their shows elsewhere – but tonight they’re rooting for a rival.

22.09 – Another music journalist tweets simply: “Fuck Off Elbow.” To the point.

22.26 – And the winner is…

22.26.08 – PJ Harvey! Unprecedented second win for Peej. I’d love to say I’m happy with her win, but… Well, it’s a bit safe, isn’t it? An established artist triumphs again. Might have been nice to see the Mercury celebrate emerging talent a little more – but all of the shortlisted 12 benefit from this exposure, so there are no losers in the room tonight. Plus, PJ is an awesome artist whose catalogue is immense. Let England Shake is an LP I’ve not personally clicked with, but I recognise the love for it from other quarters. Many a friend has told me that it’s the best album of 2011, so…

22.32 – Right, I’m off to the pub for last orders. See ya, the #mercuryprize.

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Watch performances from the night, and interviews and the like, on the BBC Music Showcase pages.

Read reviews of all the nominated albums via the BBC Music Blog.

Five great music videos from the year so far.

If only to distract me from the 17th play of Rill Rill on 6 Music in the last half-hour.

Slugabed – Moonbeam Rider – YouTube

Metronomy – The Bay – YouTube

FaltyDL – Gospel of Oak – YouTube

Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat – The Copper Top – YouTube

Esben and the Witch – Warpath – YouTube

(Yes, I am allowing myself that last one.)

And the best albums of May 2011 are…

…on the BBC Music Blog RIGHT HERE.

If the above image doesn’t give away one of my ten picks from the month that was, clearly you’re not someone who could be said to “enjoy music”. Fair enough. I don’t enjoy aubergines. But I don’t read blogs about them – so why are you here?

On a related BBC Music Blog note, I wrote a fairly lengthy piece on the various contenders for this year’s Mercury Prize last month – the shortlist of 12 is issued next month. Read about the latest releases from the likes of Katy B, Wild Beasts (they might just be in that there best of May round-up, too), Ghostpoet, PJ Harvey, Mount Kimbie and Zomby BY CLICKING THESE WORDS.

I’m not sure this new Arctic Monkeys album is making either my best of June or the Mercury shortlist. It’s a bit… tired.

Mercury Prize 2011: albums which are likely to contest it.

Lots of Pretty Brilliant British albums have come out since The xx shuffled away with the spoils at the 2010 Mercury bash. I’ve written a fairly comprehensive guide to a spread of them on the BBC Music Blog – including releases by Metronomy (pictured, up there), Katy B, Ghostpoet, PJ Harvey, Adele and loads more. Click these words to go and take a look.