Top Ten 2018

This is the music, in no particular order, that I've most enjoyed listening to in 2018:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Wrong Creatures: "Darkness and despair resonate across Wrong Creatures, the new album by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, as it evokes death and an attitude confronting loss and its effects in life. Wrong Creatures takes on loss and pain with emotional depth and imaginative arrangements, documenting a dark attitude despite fear and despair growing across its deep tracks and musical explorations." (popMATTERS)

Robert Plant - Carry Fire: "With a title that evokes primal discovery and heroic burden, Carry Fire finds Plant nuancing the mystic stomp of yore for darkening times. “New World…” is a wearily surging “Immigrant Song” for the age of xenophobic travel bans; “Bones of Saints” surges with “Going to California” promise, then becomes an anthem against mass shootings. The overall feel is at once ancient and new, cutting Led Zeppelin III‘s Maypole majesty with the Velvet Underground’s careful guitar violence (see the “All Tomorrow’s Parties”-tinged “Dance With You Tonight”), and the patient power of Plant’s golden-god-in-winter singing can be astonishing." (Rolling Stone)

Joy Williams - Venus: "There is something spine-tinglingly thrilling about “Venus,” the fourth full-length solo album from Joy Williams, but the first since the 2014 demise of her Grammy-winning roots duo Civil Wars. You can actually hear the California native, a former contemporary Christian-pop singer, discover who she is as she moves through this unsparingly intimate, deeply moving 11-song cycle. If fans and critics argued about which genre the Civil Wars should be slotted into — folk? country? Americana? — the debate should be less confusing now that Williams has fully embraced her inner Kate Bush (and Peter Gabriel and Portishead), zooming into the present with an ambient sound that elegantly threads together folk authenticity, pop instincts, and trip-hop grooves. Whether standing inside her aching heart in the dramatic “Until the Levee,” letting it bleed on the haunting piano ballad “One Day I Will,” or offering up a breathtaking “What a Good Woman Does,” Williams is never less than truthful. The album closes with the poignant “Welcome Home,” cementing the sense that Williams has found her own." (Boston Globe)

Beth Rowley - Gota Fria: A Spanish weather term 'Gota Fría' struck Rowley as the perfect album title. It describes “long periods of the clouds breaking off and remaining stationary for weeks and then sudden violent clashes of warm and cold currents. I thought it was a beautiful name, and an awesome album title, because the meaning is so bold and a perfect image of my own journey.” A heady fusion of rock, blues and Americana 'Gota Fría' is a startling rebirth, with a confidence that belies that ten-year absence ... 'Howl at the Moon' and 'Only One Cloud', evoke the swarthy drama of Led Zeppelin while 'Brother' and 'Run to the Light' are ember-glowing ballads. 'Hide from Your Love' and 'Forest Fire' splice country-folk roots with the vibe and energy of the Bristol scene that gave birth to her voice while 'Get it Back' is equal parts rock and soul and 'Brave Face' nods to the '70s west coast sound." (Rough Trade)

Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks: "Dylan is at the peak of his talents here and he captured lightning in a bottle with these songs. That’s the thing that really strikes me about this release: how damn fine these songs are ... In terms of the spare backing, it only serves to illustrate what an incredible artistic leap Dylan made here. There’s a reason why this material was considered a “comeback.” The early 70’s were an erratic muddle in terms of his output ... With this batch of songs, Dylan was inspired, focused and reinvigorated. Melodically and lyrically, this was a whole different level than he was operating on before. It’s the sound of an artist taking hold of the reins of his talents and digging his spurs in." (Soundblab)

Switchfoot - Where The Light Shines Through: "We sing because we’re alive. We sing because we’re broken. We sing because we refuse to believe that hatred is stronger than love. We sing because melodies begin where words fail. We sing because the wound is where the light shines through. We sing because hope deserves an anthem." (Jon Foreman)

Gavin Byars - Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet: "The names of more than 165 homeless people who died in London in the past year, were read at the Annual Service of Commemoration at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square last Thursday. The church was packed with friends, family members, homeless charity workers and volunteers. Gavin Byars [and his group played] 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet' as the congregation was invited to come up one by one and take a prayer card with the name of one person who died." Byars' "anthem for the homeless" "began as a 26-second recording of a nameless rough sleeper." "What makes Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet such a lasting treasure is that, through it, a nameless old man continues to live, as vividly and stoically as one of Samuel Beckett’s homeless characters ... He is confirmation of Beckett’s understanding that “the tears of the world are a constant quality. For each one who begins to weep, someone somewhere else stops.”

Mavis Staples - If All I Was Is Black: "If All I Was Was Black is an album about American perspectives and the compassion it takes to see the world from someone else’s point of view. Tweedy understands that his songwriting credits might lead some listeners to think the album represents his perspective rather than Staples’. “I don’t think I put anything in Mavis’ mouth that she didn’t want to sing,” he told the L.A. Times. “Tweedy knows me,” was her response. A singer of remarkable power and expression, Staples essentially rewrites these songs simply by singing them, imbuing each line with fine gradients of emotion and authority. She emerges as the active agent in the project, delivering these songs from her perspective as a black woman, as an artist, as a daughter and sister, even as a Christian." (Pitchfork)

Gillian Welch - Boots No. 1: The Official Revival Bootleg: "As if blown down Broadway by a summer Appalachian wind, enveloped in a melancholic hue and wrapped in a dust-stained blanket, you’d be forgiven for thinking Gillian Welch comes from an earlier time – down from the hills to kickstart a roots revival. Yet, despite looking like she’d been lifted straight off a Gatlinburg porch, Welch arrived in Nashville from LA – Dave Rawlings, her partner, hails from Rhode Island – in search of some kind of rural spiritual awakening after time spent in goth and surf-guitar bands. It didn’t take long for the pair to make their mark and, with the release of their debut album Revival in 1996, start a musical partnership that still remains as strong, vital and nigh-on essential some 20 years later. Made up in essence of outtakes, demos, and alternate takes, Boots No.1 is a welcome twin-album celebration of one of Americana’s benchmark recordings. Producer T Bone Burnett’s trademark sound oozes from every pore, and there’s magic afoot from the off." (Country Music)


Michael McDermott - Out From Under: Since his debut album, 620 W. Surf back in 1991 (when he was tarred with the new Dylan curse), McDermott has released a further ten albums (this is his eleventh) as well as two with Heather as The Westies, the quality of his writing and delivery never dipping. For whatever reason, for two decades, they failed to connect with audiences and constant rejection caused him to question himself and led him into a self-destructive spiral. But then, already turning his life around, with 2016’s Willow Springs everything seemed to click, critically and commercially. The confidence may have faltered, but the talent never has and now, finally, they are aligned and, both personally and musically, he’s become the man he was always meant to be. As he sings on Never Goin’ Down Again, “For the first time it feels, I’m odds on to win.” I’ve placed my bet." (folk radio)

Previous Top Ten's can be found here - 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

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Gillian Welch - Old Time Religion.

Greenbelt diary (3) & Windows on the world (15)

Greenbelt, 2008

Day 3 began at The Hub with Andrew Tate's talk on resurrection narratives in contemporary culture. This was a helpful overview of artists exploring aspects of spirituality and took in Pat Barker, Nick Cave, Douglas Coupland, Dr Who, The Matrix, Superheroes, John Updike and Tim Winton.

Another interesting aspect of Greenbelt is the sense of dialogue occuring between seminars. In this instance, Tate's referencing of The Matrix and dismissal of the two sequels was counterbalanced by Peter Rollins' use of the films in the first of his Day 4 talks where he argued that the death and resurrection imagery of the first film, much loved by Christian commentators such as Tate, was shown in the later films to be a part of the control system exerted over the known universe by machines. Rollins was using this illustration to demonstrate the way in which 'the system' (in his case, the mainstream churches) can use new and revolutionary initiatives to bolster their system and survival.

I stayed on in The Hub for a fascinating talk by Salley Vickers in which she spoke about her novels, style of writing, and inspirations. She quoted the opening paragraph of Miss Garnett's Angel as a template for her over-riding theme; the effect of death on the living. She also spoke interestingly about the way in which her characters develop without there being any initial plotting of the story and of how she interleaves ancient stories with her contemporary stories and the dialogue that then occurs within the novels between them. Finally, she spoke about the way in which particular paintings come to have significance as images for understanding the story that has unfolded within each novel.

After my daughters arrived we went to the Arena for the Communion Service. Apparently the time for the service had been moved this year to the afternoon which meant that it coincided with the rain that blew in. This was rather ironic as the theme for the service, and for Greenbelt as a whole, was the Rising Sun. That's the risk you take when using a weather-related theme for an outdoor festival! Anyway, people persevered despite the rain and enjoyed the community feel of the service sitting picnic style in small groups to share communion and link ribbons.

Following the service, we went to mainstage to hear Beth Rowley, the performer we most wanted to hear over the weekend. Rowley has an exceptionally strong voice, ideal for festivals, and is backed by a very competent band for her mix of blues and gospel infuenced originals and covers. Hers was an excellent, enjoyable (if slightly easy listening) set where the only disappointment was the absence of 'So Sublime.'

From there I caught a few songs in what, I'm told, was a moving tribute concert for Larry Norman. While I was there performers were speaking honestly about his contradictions and not just his virtues. I returned to The Hub to hear the poetry of Mark Halliday, Cole Moreton and Martin Wroe combined with songs from Iain Archer. Knowing Wroe's work rather more than that of his colleagues it was his words that made most impact on me but the overall impression was of wrestling with faith and doubt.

I ended Day 3 with a visit to two installations. Phill Hopkin's Seven Drunken Nights and Possibility of the Impossible by The Garden, an emerging community based in Brighton, living obscurely on the fringes of religious life and seeking to work out how to live passionately in response to 'the other.' Possibility of the Impossible was a well-crafted experience beginning with simultaneous readings from influential books (the Bible, Das Kapital, The Female Eunuch etc.) which were then stored in three centrally located display cabinets. This was accompanied by images of eclipses and the extinguishing of candles. The point of the performance, in line with the ideas of Peter Rollins, was that we live over an abyss of meaninglessness beyond the reach of big stories but that by realising this we might possibly "find significance in what calls to us in 'what is', the wonder of the ordinary, the moment when life touches life."

One issue with the installation/performance and these ideas is in terms of what sustains this response of finding significance. The deconstruction of ideas leading to the recognition of meaninglessness is then followed by the possibility of finding significance again. But on what basis? For most, the recognition of meaninglessness has led either to madness or hedonism, not to significance. The installation/performance didn't seem to answer that question/issue, just to assert that significance might be possible.

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Iain Archer - When It Kicks In.