No, I am not resuming reviewing duties, but I
wasn’t able to resist – after 20 years of radio work, you kind of have that
gotta-do-a-year-end-list thing embedded in your brain, and heart. So, I retired
from music journalism (web and radio) in May 2015, at which point I almost
completely stopped receiving promos AND started going back to old loves – prog
rock, psych rock, and the likes.
These are
my 12 favourite records of 2015. All highly recommended. And they cover a wide
spectrum, of course.
12.
JULIE BLANCHE
Julie Blanche (Coyote)
A wonderful
debut album by Quebecer Julie Blanche, an atmospheric pop singer with a
gorgeous soft voice, good songwriting ideas, and a stellar band (featuring
members of post-rockers Torngat).
11.
JOANNA NEWSOM
Divers (Drag City)
Finally!!!
It’s been SOOOO long since Have One on Me
that I had given up hope for some new Newsom. If Divers had come out last spring, it would most probably rank higher
in my year-end list, but Newsom’s records need time to bloom, and this one is
no exception. It has everything you came to expect from Newsom, including some
puzzling lyrics.
10.
CRAIG PEDERSEN QUARTET
Ghosts (ind.)
Montreal-based
trumpeter Craig Pedersen delivered a GEM this year in Ghosts, a 16-minute EP of beautiful modern jazz. With Lindsay
Wellman, Joel Kerr, and Eric Thibodeau. Some of his best songwriting is on this
album, backed by great musicianship. And it’s an easy listen, even though it
has plenty of edge. More at www.craigpedersen.com.
9.
JENNY HVAL
Apocalypse, Girl (Sacred Bones)
Norwegian
songstress Jenny Hval has an already long career behind her, and she featured
in last year’s year-end list with a collaboration with Susanna Wallumrød. I
usually find her solo albums fine, and that’s it, but Apocalypse, Girl ups the ante... and then some. Sparse songs over
an explicit discourse on female sexuality and perception. A captivating listen
as a whole and song by song. The most accomplished thing I have heard from her
to this day.
8.
ODD LIMBS
Walking on Light (Cuchabata)
It’s been a
long time coming, this debut album by Montreal band Odd Limbs, but it was
definitely worth the wait. Alexein P. Oris and co. deliver a bunch of great
post-new wave songs. The songs can be a bit too long at times, but that’s a
minor quabble. Now, give these guys a decent budget and they will produce a
knock-out follow-up. http://oddlimbs.bandcamp.com.
7.
EVAN PARKER ELECTROACOUSTIC SEPTET
Seven (Disques Victo)
What can I
say? This concert was a highlight of the 2014 edition of FIMAV. The recording
sounds amazing and confirms how strong the performance was. Way up there with
the best European/lowercase improvisation on the market. www.victo.qc.ca. Sorry, Victo never release
excerpts.
6.
MIRT
Mud, Dirt & Hiss (cat|sun)
A gorgeous,
gorgeous, just plain gorgeous album of minimal electronics and field
recordings. Everything here makes sense to my ears, producing its own logic as
it goes along. I am surprised at the number of times I came back to this CD
through the year.
5.
JULIE TIPPETTS & MARTIN ARCHER
Vestigium (Discus)
Againt,
what can I say? I have been championing this duo from the start. This is this
duo’s fourth album, and their string of releases keeps getting better and
better. Julie’s magical lyrics and wonderful vocals paired with Archer’s studio
constructions of electroacoustics, beats, and avant-jazz-meets-prog-rock. More
here: http://discus-music.co.uk/catalogue-mobile/dis48cd-detail.
4.
STEVE HACKETT
Wolflight (Inside Out)
I love
progressive rock. You guys know that. Well, Mr. Hackett delivered the goods
this year with a very strong solo album. I have had to brush over the bombastic
production – come on, you can’t take those arena rock drums seriously! – but the songwriting on this one is SOOO good!
If only Hackett would hire Echolyn to produce his next album...
3.
MAGMA
Slag Tanz (Seventh/Jazz Village)
2015 was
the Year of Magma. A worldwide tour that brought them to the Province of Quebec
for the first time ever (isn’t that unbelievable?), a 12-CD live box set, and
this new studio EP that commits to tape the official version of Slag Tanz, a composition that has been
featured live for quite a while now. I think I still prefer the earlier live
version found on the Epok V DVD, but
this studio take is still a breathtaking ride. (There are no audio excerpts on
the web, but here’s an excerpt from Epok
V.)
2.
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Merlin Atmos (Esoteric Recordings)
I scream
MONSTER! 2015 has been a slow year for VDGG/Peter Hammill – no studio releases,
no concerts save for ONE solo Hammill performance a couple weeks ago. But in
early 2015 came out this incredible double live album featuring the power trio
performing “Flight” and “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” among other cuts.
Phenomenal.
1.
ECHOLYN
I Heard You Listening (ind.)
In 2015,
you could hear me listening to I Heard
You Listening everywhere – and ALL the time when it came last summer. This
is the album I had been waiting for from them every since As the World. Excellent SHORT prog rock songs – it’s an art in
itself. Great lyrics, fabulous vocal harmonies, not a single clunker in the
bunch. The band never released a bad album, but they did fall in ruts at times
and bit more than they could chew at others. Not of that here: just top-shelf
songwriting, stellar production, and only the best of what you can expect from
these prog rock legends. Yeah, legends. http://echolyn.bandcamp.com.
