#23
This Is The Kit
Moonshine Freeze
(Rough Trade)
#22
The Blue Aeroplanes
Welcome Stranger
(Art Star).
#21
Jesca Hoop
Memories Are Now
(Sub Pop)
A well known music critic once argued that there should be a three month ban on reviewing albums. It's a theory that I have a lot of sympathy for, three months sounds like a sensible amount of time to allow an initial infatuation to wear off and to realise that an album that you once played incessantly may not the idealized thing that we had wanted it to be! It'd allow time to see the actual work more clearly, warts and all. That way, there'd have been a lot fewer five star reviews for Be Here Now by Oasis. The world would be a better place.
And so, here are three albums that I reviewed between the start to the middle of the year. Before linking back to the original reviews, do I feel the same way about them?
My only gripe with This is the Kit is that Moonshine Freeze didn't arrive during the winter. The gently plucked guitars and banjos together with Kate Stables warm and intimate vocals are an ideal soundtrack for watching the snow fall too, ideally by an open fire.
Seeing The Blue Aeroplanes earlier this year was like meeting up with old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. Gerard and Wojtec are still in fine form, they have a slightly different crowd with them (it's always a crowd with The Blue Aeroplanes), and they're making a furiously good noise. And 'Welcome Stranger' captures that, their most cohesive work since their major label triumph Beatsongs and Swagger.
The biggest surprise though was listening back to Jesca Hoop. I wasn't prepared for the directness of the title track, it's an exceptionally powerful break up song that's unforgiving and angry, as is the unflinching 'The Lost Sky. At the other end of the scale is the tender 'Pegasi' - a poetic premonition of how a love may fade. A remarkable record.
Catch Up the who 30-21...
