My Favourite Albums of 2015 (Part I): Old is New Again

 

It has been another year overflowing with the kind of musical swill many of us have now sadly become accustomed to. As I write this, an unstoppable scourge of generic, over-produced trash is poisoning our airwaves. Worse still, there’s very little indication that any of the ghouls responsible will be fading into obscurity anytime soon. In fact, the horror show that is corporate mainstream music culture is now being embraced not only by the unadventurous pop-music loving masses, but also growing numbers of confused writers within the ‘alternative’ music press who have, for whatever reason, decided to give in to it all and start bowing at the altar of these ‘artists’.

But anyway, I’m getting slightly off course here. Believe it or not, it is not actually my intention to spend the length of this post bitching about the sorry state of the music industry. On the contrary, my aim is a far more positive one - to shine some much-needed light on the bands and artists who have made it possible for me to say without even the slightest amount of sarcasm that 2015 has also been a great year for music. Yes, that’s right –there is actually, at present, a metric fuck-tonne of awesome music out there – almost too much for an unmotivated sod like me to write about at any great length here.

Still, I feel it’s only fair that I dedicate at least a little bit of time to these artists and say a few words about the albums they unleashed onto those who cared to listen. And due to the number of releases I really, really dug, I feel it may be best to separate them into three very specific categories:

 

1) those successfully returning to the spotlight after insanely long hiatus’s

2) those I had no idea even existed 12 months ago

3) those on unstoppable winning streaks

For this particular post (the first of a planned three), I will focus on the older artists returning with new albums after far too long in the wilderness. What is particularly special about this group is the fact that the bands/musicians created records that demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is actually possible to successfully return after an extended break, remain relevant and grow old gracefully. Who woulda thunk it?

Anyhoo, without further ado, here they are, in no particular order…

 

Desaparecidos - Payola

 

Okay, so Conor Oberst and co. can hardly be considered old, per se. But screw it, they’ve definitely been off the radar long enough to justify their inclusion within this particular section of the list.

Payola (the group’s second LP) had the wonderful distinction of being the record released this year that took me most by surpris,. It’s not because I didn’t expect greatness from Mr. Oberst - hell, over the course of his career he has rarely, if ever, put his name to anything that was’t worthwhile. Still, releasing an album with an old punk band that, to put things in perspective, haven’t had a record out since NSYNC were infecting the charts – didn’t exactly fill me with excitement… for whatever reason.

My slight curiosity about the whole deal, however, quickly became something much more the second I hit play that first magical time. Payola immediately announced itself as Conor’s strongest work in over a decade - a fun, timely, catchy, angry, exciting, filler-free masterpiece that, six months on, still hasn’t lost any of the charm I knew it had upon that first listen.

I have no idea what Desaparecidos are planning beyond this release.... I can only hope there are future plans, and that the space between this album and the next one is nowhere near as drawn out.

 

Faith No More – Sol Invictus

 

As surprising as the Desaparecidos release was, it was nowhere near as miraculous as the fact that, in 2015, we were given the gift of a new Faith No More record.

For close to twenty years fans like me didn’t for a second consider the idea of a new record from this legendary group even a remote possibility.  Even after a string of highly successful reunion shows in which the band seemed as though they were happy and invested, it still seemed like a far off dream. Yet, somehow, we finally got our follow up to 1997’s Album of the Year. And holy shit, was it good.

Sol Invictus achieved the impossible by not only retaining the bands ultra-unique personality, but also by bringing this personality into the present while somehow avoiding that overly nostalgic, bordering-on-stale feeling that has plagued so many bands before them.

So how did they do it? What the hell's their secret? Was it the luxury of having no record company interference? Maturity? Experience? Whatever the case may be, I hope this winning creative streak continues for these middle-aged rapscallions. After all, the world is undeniably a far better place with FNM around. 

 

Blur – The Magic Whip

 

Another band that dared to take the plunge and add another record to their so far bullet proof discography was Blur who, thankfully, were both smart and talented enough to only make a follow u that was worthy of their name.

The albums quality should’ve come as zero surprise to those who have followed Albarn’s career though out his years outside of Blur – the dude is prolific as hell and rarely releases anything that isn’t at the very least interesting.  

What was especially great about The Magic Whip was that it presented a band that was in no way interested in repeating themselves. Instead, they revealed another side of themselves to us,  one that was only interested in evolving and bettering themselves in the process. Somehow, they did it without losing that indefinable quality that made them one of the 90’s most-loved bands.

 

Dr Dre - Compton

 

Despite having an album on the boil for close to two decades, Dre’s eventual return still came as a total shock– mostly because we’d all given up on hearing anything new from him ever again.  And while the album we were all promised (Detox) never materialised, we perhaps got something better.

Compton - released just as F. Gary Grey’s Straight Outta Compton was hitting multiplexes - immediately silenced the doubters and rewarded patient fans. It was, from first song to last, a beast of a record that made it feel as though no time has passed at all since the now legendary 2001.

Like every other release on this list, Compton wasn’t the sad story of some strapped-for-cash old-timer trying to relive former glories, but rather a thrilling return to form that served as a crystal clear reminder (if one was even needed) the Dre is still in a league of his own.

It’s rare for a record to sound good enough to warrant a sixteen year gap, but Compton was just that - absolute proof that occasionally, good things come to those who wait…and wait…and wait...

 

 Refused - Freedom

 

 

Refused returned in 2015 to a somewhat mixed response. Such divisiveness wasn’t exactly a surprise - after all, if your last album was The Shape of Punk to Come, you'd probably have a difficult time pleasing absolutely everyone as well. Hell, even I wasn’t exactly an instant convert. The first single did next to nothing for me (at least upon first listen), and the bleak early reviews kept me well away for the first couple of weeks following its official release. I needn’t have worried. Freedom is the sound of a revitalised band that is still angry about… well, a lot of things. For my money, there isn’t a weak spot across its entire runtime.

Refused did the smart thing with Freedom by completely avoiding any attempts to rebottle their old sound. Instead, they made the record they wanted to make (even bringing a revered pop producer on board for a couple of tracks).

Again, not everyone agreed with my opinion on this surprisingly modern-sounding punk rock record, but at the end of the day, who cares - this post is all about me, after all.  And for me, Freedom is a total success.

 

Sleater Kinney - No Cities to Love

 

 

Last but not least, we come to Sleater Kinney.

What could I possibly add to the zillion glowing reviews and articles that have already been committed to print regarding the glorious return of this powerful trio? Not much, really. Cities to Love was as great as we all hoped it would be, while the live shows have, by all accounts, been going off (I’ll find out for myself in March). Best of all, Carrie Brownstein - kickass front woman, exceptional writer, comedic actor - has been everywhere in 2015. She can seemingly do it all.

Even though the album was released almost 12 months ago now, it has been making appearances on year end lists all over the place, which should be as good an indication as any of this records impressive quality.

To be continued …

Albums Still Matter, Dammit!

I still buy albums.

That's right, you heard me! I am still a member of the ever-decreasing group of law-abiding music purchasing peeps who will gladly part ways with hard-earned cash in order to obtain an album of their choosing.

Now, let's get one thing straight - I'm not trying to talk myself up here. I simply feel the need to clarify this fact before diving directly into why I love the album format as much as I do. It would mean far less for me to sit here and profess my undying dedication to long players while simultaneously downloading the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album from Pirate Bay, would it not?

Now, If I'm being completely honest, the choice to not download really has S.F.A to do with the illegality of it all. At the end of the day, comes down to one thing, and one thing only -  to my personal preference to own the whole, complete package. A CD or Record full of great tunes simply feels incomplete without the booklet, artwork, linear notes, production credits, lyrics, etc etc etc. I'm a hopeless geek for the stuff.

Exceptions do, however, need to be made from time to time, with the main and most glaring example being those all too regular occurrences where no store in this crummy city has the good sense to stock the album I'm after. When these circumstances do arise, my impatience will often get the better of me, with itunes inevitably being my next port of call.

So, why am I still such a spaz for LP's ? It's simple, really - because I respect any band or artist who can, with the right selection of songs and sequencing, create a piece of work that flows, thrills, confronts, entertains, astounds, stuns and, in some cases, changes the listener. An album can take you on amazing journey; through a diverse array of moods, sounds and feelings.

Taking this into consideration, the gross argument that albums are a dated, dying format is one I'm more than willing to fight against.

My total and utter devotion to music began early(ish), even though, initially, a lot of the stuff I heard coming through the tiny, crackling speakers of my brother's double cassette player was... well, bad. In addition to the  crappy compilation tapes, I was also subjected to far more Bon Jovi than any mere mortal should ever have to endure. It wasn't all dire, though - there was also quite a bit of Springsteen floating around in the mix as well. I guess sometimes, you've just gotta take the good New Jersey artists with the really, really bad....

Once I hit my teens, as if right on cue, the musical landscape began to transform, and the long-overdue death of over-blown, ego-fueled hair metal cleared the way for another wave of music that turned the industry on it's big, fat, ugly head. With this welcome change, I was finally able to begin experiencing a different world; a world beyond the "Young Guns 2" soundtrack.

My own musical leanings came into sharp focus soon after, when a friend, whose tastes were developing at a slightly more accelerated rate than my own, lent me an album that had been released the previous year by a band with one of the oddest fucking names I had ever heard -  Smashing Pumpkins. The back cover of what I soon learnt was their second album, Siamese Dream, also revealed a wealth of oddly titled songs: "Geek USA", "Mayonnaise" and "Silverfuck" among them.

Placing the disk in the tray and turning the volume up to a level that I prayed would be acceptable to my death-metal obsessed younger brother living in the room next to mine, I waited with mild curiosity as the first track kicked off.

First came the drums...

Next, a brief, almost misleadingly gentle guitar part...

And then, finally -  loud, glorious, distortion!

And that was that. Barely a minute into "Cherub Rock", I was changed for good. For the next 62 minutes and 17 seconds, I experienced what could be best described as a musical awakening. The flood gates had opened, and what was up to that point a moderate enjoyment / passing interest in music suddenly transformed into total obsession.

Given the timing of this "awakening" (early - mid nineties), the avenues for discovering bands and seeking out their discographies were way-the-fuck limited in comparison to this glorious day and age in which we all now live. Usually, finding music was either through a) recommendations from friends; b) hearing a song on one of the two decent radio stations in existence at that time, or c) catching a film clip on "Rage" (once I saw Weezer playing at Arnold's Drive-in Chicken Stand under the amazing direction of Spike Jonze, they had a fan in me for life).

Back in my day (sadly, I think I have now reached the age where I can genuinely say that straight-faced), whenever a new album by a great band was unleashed on the world, it was something of an event. Perhaps it was because one had to try harder, travel longer, and put in way more goddamn effort to seek out the music. There was a helluva lot more involved than simply clicking a button on a mouse or touching the screen of your goddamn smart phone. You actually had to leave your house! Sometimes, you had to pre-order shit! You may have even had to drive to another goddamn City, because the shitty local stores for some reason failed to ever have the album you desired on the shelves come release day.

The situation was so horrendous that I would occasionally suggest to my girlfriend at the time that that we take a random trip out of town for a "romantic days out in the city". Except they weren't really random at all.... It was no coincidence that these city trips always fell on days when hard-to-get new albums were due to hit the shelves (she never did cotton on to the fact that these "random" trips always fell on a Monday, which at that point in time was the traditional record release day in Australia).

Now, it's a different world. Everything is immediate. There are no delays. No waiting. Hell, you can get stuff before release day, and not pay for it either. Due to this, a certain appreciation has been lost when to comes to the long player, or music in general.

You only have to turn on the radio to see what really matters to the general public nowadays -  compare, if you will, the popularity of the two main annual Triple J listener polls - the Hottest 100 and the Top 10 Albums of the Year. It goes without saying how popular both voting in and listening to the Hottest 100 has become in this country over the last ten years; It's a nation-wide tradition at this point. In comparison, how much is mentioned about the year-end album poll?  I don't know, but I'm sure if presented with the question, many would answer with "what album poll?"

To push the knife in just that little bit further, certain artists are now jumping on the "death of the album" bandwagon as well - the past couple of years alone have seen both Ian Astbury and Billy Corgan come out and proclaim the format dead. This is disappointing to say the least, especially considering Billy is one of the reasons I an ongoing passion for LP's in the first place!

Fuck all this noise, though. Fuck popularity, fuck trends, and fuck (some) artists - albums should be fought for and defended until the end of time, because a great album can stick with you for life: Anytime I hear Siamese Dream, I am taken back to the cold autumn day in which I first heard it. Listening to Foo Fighter's The Colour and The Shape, I'm instantly transported back to the Saturday afternoon I made the purchase, and to later that night, where, in my parents absence,  I was involved in a killer make out session in the family lounge room with my high school girlfriend, which lasted from the first track "Doll" all the way through to "New Way Home".

Albums - important ones, both new and old - can continue to resonate. Albums can conjure up feelings, both good and bad. Albums can transport you to important, pivotal moments from your past. Albums can define the present. Albums can push and motivate you to move forward, inspiring you face the future.

Albums still matter, dammit. Albums will always matter.