tim presley third solo lp under the moniker ‘white fence’, ‘cylops reap’ is out now, first taste ‘pink gorilla’
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January Fifteenth
A$AP Rocky ‘Long.Live.A$AP’
A$AP Rocky’s debut studio album might not be this year’s ‘good kid, m.A.A.d.city’ than again that type of hip hop masterpiece might not see the light of day for another few years, for now we have an outstanding collection of songs from this young Harlem rapper which we can only expect bigger & better things from.
Yo La Tengo ‘Fade’
The thirteenth full length release from Yo La Tengo is their most consistent record yet, a collection of beautifully crafted pop songs that embody layers upon layers of noise open to dissection.
January Twenty Second
Foxygen ‘We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic’
This songwriting duo are unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeve, a retro pyschedelic record that awards with multiple listens.
February Second
My Bloody Valentine ‘mbv’
Twenty two years after the release of their magnum opus ‘Loveless’, lauded by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest albums of all time, Kevin Shields has finally unveiled My Bloody Valentine’s third studio album ‘mbv’, never have a group managed to return as if two years had gone by, an album split into three parts if you will, divulging in the beauty of their earlier work and an exciting look into the future.
February Fifth
Unknown Mortal Orchestra ‘II’
The sophomore release from Unknown Mortal Orchestra is a jazz-tinged album filled with psychedelia & funk influences. At first the album plays as background music, the closer you listen, the carefully structured layers reveal an array of well written honest pop songs.
February Eigtheenth
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds ‘Push The Sky Away’
Recorded at La Fabqrique in Southern France, the bands fifteenth studio album and first without founding member Mick Harvey finds heavy influence from Warren Ellis other group ‘Dirty Three’ in it’s sombre tone and spontaneous instrumentation. Not since ‘The Boatman’s Call’ has Nick Cave shown such vulnerability.
February Twenty Sixth
Small Houses ‘Exactly Where You Wanted To Be’
Jeremy Quentin’s folk project ‘Small Houses’ ‘Excactly Where You Wanted To Be’ was released on ‘Yer Bird’ records. His previous record ‘North’ was a favourite release of mine in twenty eleven, this eight song collection is no different, a simple folk record with a magic surrounding Jeremy’s confident songwriting.
March First
The Drones ‘I Sea Seaweed’
Five years in between albums, and a solo Gareth Liddiard long player, The Drones return with ‘I Sea Seaweed’. Storytelling at it’s finest, with a quintessential Australian sound. Unhinged instrumentation which is brought together with brutal emotion.
March Fifth
The Men ‘New Moon’
Brooklyn’s ‘The Men’ have released a studio album every year since 2010’s debut ‘Immaculada’. With 2013’s fourth studio release ‘New Moon’ the band trade in the punk aesthetic for a more raw and song driven approach. Accoustic and lap steel guitars take centre stage here and the Crazy Horse influence is obvious while attaining The Men’s own versatility and noise rock driven approach.
March Eight
David Bowie ‘The Next Day’
In January David Bowie announced his new studio album ‘The Next Day’ to the absolute suprise of everyone. What everybody wasn’t expecting was that this would be his most thrilling, diversive release in twenty years, full of beauty and intellect.
March Fifteenth
Justin Timberlake ‘The 20/20 Experience’
I spent my teen years abolutely despising anything that Justin Timberlake stood for, this was until the release of 2007’s Future Sex/Love Sounds’. ‘The 20/20 Experience’ sees Timberlake teaming once again with long forgotten producer Timbaland, yet the two manage to create that magic once again, only this time the three minute radio song is thrown out the window and replaced with subtle beats and neo-soul vocals stretching the songs well over the seven minute mark.
March Nineteenth
Phosphorescent ‘Muchacho’
After an eighteen month tour of ‘Here’s to Taking it Easy’ Matthew Houck returned to the studio to prepare for a new Phosphorescent album. ‘Muchacho’ finds Matthew Houck at his most versatile, his voice damaged, his heart mending. His finest release yet.
March Twenty Sixth
Dick Diver ‘Calendar Days’
Melbourne’s own Dick Diver were introduced to me by a couple of friends from work who are massive fans of Melbourne’s music scene. Initially I was a little reserved to the sound of the likes of ‘Boomgates’ ‘Twerps’ and ‘Dick Diver’, but I had managed to find the beauty in the honest vocals and bedroom recordings. Dick Diver’s ‘Calendar Days’, with it’s lush production, jangly guitars and divine story telling will definitely be one of the highlights of the year, be it Australian or otherwise.
The Strokes ‘Comedown Machine’
The Strokes fifth album release may not deliver the excitement that Julian Casablancas & Co. released with 2001’s undeniable ‘Is This It’, ‘Comedown Machine’ offers a strange and unique set of songs, definitely not as instant as ‘Is This It’ or ‘Room on Fire’ but a more solid release than ‘First Impressions of Earth’ and ‘Angles’. This feels like a new beginning for The Strokes, or a definitive end.
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ten
chromatics ‘into the black’
nine
frank ocean ‘pilot jones’
eight
ariel pink’s haunted graffiti ‘baby’
seven
father john misty ‘death of the ladies man’
six
tame impala ‘feels like we only go backwards’
five
chairlift ‘i belong in your arms’
four
kendrick lamar ‘m.a.a.d city’
three
kanye west ‘clique’ ft. jay-z & big sean
two
bat for lashes ‘laura’
one
frank ocean ‘pyramids’
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david bowie has broken years of silence today on his 66th birthday & treated us to a brand new single & video ‘where are we now?’, an album ‘the next day’ is to follow in australia on march 8th, his first in a decade following 2003’s ‘reality’.
‘where are we now?’ was written by bowie & recorded in new york, it was produced by long time collaborator tony vinscoti.
a beautiful melancholic song, that barely keeps it’s verses stable with it’s minor chord progression as bowie reviews his time in berlin, where he created some of his most acclaimed albums in the 1970’s, repeating the phrase ‘walking the dead’.
the song ends on an optimistic note with bowie singing ‘as long as there’s me, as long as there’s you’.
is david bowie to resume the berlin trilogy?
i am just glad that he is still the mystery that he has always been, even at 66 years old, he has left a beautifully vulnerable song with music fans around the world.
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twenty
diiv ‘oshin’
nineteen
melody’s echo chamber ‘melody’s echo chamber’
eighteen
dr john ‘locked down’
seventeen
dirty three ‘toward the low sun’
sixteen
godspeed you! black emperor ‘allelujah! don’t bend! ascend!’
fifteen
miguel ‘kaleidoscope dream’
fourteen
the men ‘open your heart’
thirteen
bat for lashes ‘the haunted man’
twelve
willis earl beal ‘acousmatic sorcery’
eleven
grizzly bear ‘shields’
ten
ariel pink’s haunted graffiti ‘mature themes’
nine
ty segall/white fence ‘hair’
eight
bob dylan ‘tempest’
seven
spiritualized ‘sweet heart, sweet light’
six
fiona apple ‘the idler wheel is wiser than the driver of the screw and whipping cords will serve you more than ropes will ever do’
five
tame impala ‘lonerism’
four
kendrick lamar ‘good kid, m.a.a.d city’
three
sharon van etten ‘tramp’
two
swans ‘the seer’
one
frank ocean ‘channel orange’
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five
the drums ‘portamento
four
noel gallaghers high flying birds
three
the strokes ‘angles’
two
lil wayne ‘tha carter iv’
one
bright eyes ‘the people’s key’
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ten
active child ‘hanging on’
nine
beyonce ‘1+1’
eight
laura marling ‘sophia’
seven
the middle east ‘month’
six
fleet foxes ‘the shrine/an argument’
five
the horrors ‘you said’
four
ryan adams ‘do i wait’
three
drake ‘marvin’s room’
two
jay-z/kanye west ‘niggas in paris’
one
bon iver ‘holocene’
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twenty
m83 ‘midnight city’
nineteen
wilco ‘the whole love’
eighteen
laura marling ‘a creature i don’t know’
seventeen
james blake ‘james blake’
sixteen
the war on drugs ‘slave ambient’
fifteen
the middle east ‘i want that you are always happy’
fourteen
wu lyf ‘go tell fire to the mountain’
thirteen
jay-z/kanye west ‘watch the throne’
twelve
pj harvey ‘let england shake’
eleven
frank ocean ‘nostalgia,ultra’
ten
fleet foxes ‘helplessness blues’
nine
girls ‘father, son, holy ghost’
eight
the weeknd ‘house of balloons’
seven
josh t. pearson ‘last of the country gentlemen’
six
destroyer ‘kaputt’
five
radiohead ‘the king of limbs’
four
kurt vile ‘smoke ring for my halo’
three
bon iver ‘bon iver’
two
ryan adams ‘ashes and fire’
one
drake ‘take care’
