Top 30 Albums of 2021

30. Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins 

Seven albums ion and, the North East gang can still find innovative ways of making their introvert pop music come alive.

29. The Umbrellas – The Umbrellas

The beauty of Jetstream Pony and the pop majesty of the Bangles. Truly joyous!

28. Jackson Browne - Downhill From Everywhere

The maestro proves he still has hearts to melt and thoughts to provoke in his twilight years.

27. Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

All the potential has come to fruition. This is an artist approaching the peak of their powers.

26. Blue Orchids – Speed The Day

Warped Stranglers-esque bangers about the future. What more could you want?

25. The Other Ones – The Other Ones

Intelligent, raw, and emotive, it doesn't just tick all boxes, it shatters them! (Full review)

24. The Catenary Wires – Birling Gap

Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey writing partnership have matured to career-high. A great sense of Englishness comes from their folk meets indie splendour.

23. La Luz – La Luz

The fuzz, the funk, the wizardry. More, please!

22. The Shop Window – The State of Being Human

The excitement, hope, and splendor of Blur’s ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ is reimagined via the Roses, Ride, and Teenage Fanclub.

21. The Stan Laurels – There Is No Light Without Dark

From The Shins to Housemartins to Edwyn Collins, John Lathrop’s 4th album under this guise is riddled with great pop sensibilities.

20. David Long & Shane O’Neill – Moll & Zelis

Long and O'Neill's life-long connection has burrowed through the inhuman aspects of technology to really connect musically. (Full review)

19. Mogwai - As The Love Continues

Right in the slot of what makes them great!

18. Paul Weller – Fat Pop

Another lockdown (mostly) written album. Weller manages to channel his inner Baxter Dury and Erland & The Carnival on yet another fine album.

17. Billy Bragg – The Million Things That Never Happened

The best album from the Barking songwriter since 2008’s ’Mr Love & Justice. A heartfelt exploration of modern politics, letting go of the past, and parking cynicism to the back of the mind.  

16. Ian M Bailey – Songs to Dream Along To

The heart and soul of CSN, The Byrds, and REM are reawakened here. With help from Daniel Wylie, he manages to conjure endless rays of sunshine.

15. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raise The Roof

The follow-up to 2007’s masterpiece ‘Raising Sand’ doesn’t hit the same highs but, their connections remain as authentic, challenging, and romantic as ever.

14. A Smyth - Last Animals

‘Last Animals’ is awash with the characteristics of great songwriters past and present. Perhaps, at times his vocals don’t find their distinct voice but, to tales this good, does, should, anyone care? (Full review)

13. The Coral – Coral Island

The double album should have been condensed into one truly great one. However, it’s impossible to deny the scouse bands pedigree as they approach their 20th anniversary.

12. For Those I Love – For Those I Love

Despite the specificity of David Balfe’s grief and portrayal of Belfast, his songwriting pertains to a universality opening the album up to all.

11. Desperate Journalist - Maximum Sorrow

An album written in lockdown had the potential to be a lacklustre album from the tour bus; insular and lacking intelligent exploration. Not here, not Desperate Journalist. Every word is packed with vitriol and torment, and despatched with wit, intelligence, and charm. (Full review)

10.. Daniel Wylie - Atoms and Energy

No matter the mood or subject, Wylie can pivot to a happier sonic and thus, allows each song to develop greater depth and value. (Full Review)

9. Fightmilk – Contender

It will bash your soul, break your heart and patch you up mentally, emotionally, and intellectually better than ever! (Full Review)

8. The Reds, Pinks and Purples – Uncommon Weather

Joy and devastating pain collide on this glorious windswept album. The pain of The National is taken for walk Elliot Smith and c86 and the results are sublime.

7. Jarvis Cocker – Chansons d ’Ennui Tip-Top

Billed as the comparison art piece to Wes Anderson’s latest film ‘The French Dispatch’, Cocker has conjured pure majesty on his album of French pop covers.

6. Damon Albarn – The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows

His second album touches nature with the isolation of lockdown. So pure is its connection with his surroundings, even Bon Iver will wonder how it was done.

5. Afflecks Palace – What Do You Mean It’s Not Raining

So many have striven to be like the greats, Afflecks have found space in their slipstream on this debut. How soon they can overtake remains to be seen but, their destiny clearly lies alongside them at least! (Full review)

4. Bobby Gillespie, Jenny Beth, and Primal Scream – Utopian Ashes

This achingly beautiful delve into a fictional failed marriage is laced with southern soul, Emmylou, and a vulnerability so stark that, you’ll be lost from note one.

3. David Crosby – For Free

After various health scares, Crosby is unsurprisingly reflective mood. The results are astonishing as he turns his soul inside out.

2. The Institutes - Coloseums

This album’s spirit is nothing short of heroic. Its quality vastly towers over its peers. (Full review)

1. James – All Colours of You

Locked inside, missing the death of a parent, the soul should have been crushed. It could have been the end for this illustrious band. However, through the grief and the agony, they have produced a benchmark-setting album. Few can say they have ever laid their soul this bear with such poignant poetry.

4 People Done Good

The Scottish legends set out to celebrate their 25th anniversary in 2020. So, befittingly for this pandemic, it was during their twenty-sixth year that they eventually managed to perform at Electric Brixton.

In the pantheon of rock music, much is made of moments when raw, angst-ridden bands tear down the status quo and smash the big red button to restart everything. However, Idlewild are rarely (if ever) talked about in this context. In 1998, the rock ‘n’ roll pendulum had swung back to the states as Quasi weaved distorted magic on ‘Featuring Birds’ and Sparklehorse shone with ‘Good Morning Spider’. Back in Blighty, Embrace and Shed Seven took big shots at Oasis’ diminished crown. North of the border though, Idlewild stuck two fingers up to the world with their Fugazi via REM ‘Hope Is Important’. No one spoke to teenagers as they did on that; especially on ‘100 Broken Windows’ in 2000. 

The 1991 Levellers track ‘The Road’, Mark Chadwick sings: “The words that you heard when you were young will always stay / The One’s that always stay make the world go away.” 

Never a truer word spoken than when Idlewild revisited these early days.

Roddy may not be able to hit his vocal rage, but accompanied by their bass hero Bob Fairfoull, the crowd can screech “dissatisfied”; snarl “no”; and bark “shapes” with youthful ferocity!  

The teens of ‘Hope is Important’ were coming of age on ‘100 Broken Windows’ and could see the decay of Rule Britannia in the rear-view window, whilst sneering at the cheap horse-shit sandwich of Nu-Metal. So, it was a truly special moment when Idlewild became a headline act with ‘The Remote Part’ and ‘Warnings/Promises’. A snapshot in time, perfectly encapsulated by the Brixton fans. The crowd-unifying rendition of ‘Love Steals us From Loneliness’ and raucous reaction to the all-out attack of ‘A Modern Way of Letting Go’.  

There is still life left in this unique beast of a band. Rod Jones can still catch fire on ‘Dream Variations’ and find new ways of invigorating their take on REM in ‘Interview Music’. Roddy’s foray into folk music has infiltrated the band and kept their horizons broadening and heartfelt.  

Here’s to another 25 years.

Here's Where the Story Ends

Trudging slowly over wet sand, how I dearly wish I was not here. The seagulls can smell my vulnerability. I shake. I shiver. I think I about food, no, I’ll sit in the storm a while a longer. Sip the coffee. Should have brought water too. Feet sore, hips killing, I limp my way to the water. Splash my face with the Bristol channel. Regret. Retreat.

Change of scene. That is all I need to breathe again. As soon as I thought it was over. It started again. The running gags re-emerge. Tea. Toast. Fosters anyone? Yeah, go on, I’m not taking it home.

As a child, my family would go to Mill Rythe Holiday camp in Hayling Island every year. Minehead, but smaller. Roaming free, playing football, table tennis, the arcades, pool, fruit machines, swimming, Jacuzzi, tennis, meeting Henry Cooper, Nan getting a table for bingo 1 hour early, and having a picture with Del Boy’s three-wheeled van, it was glorious. I would mope horrendously upon return.

These memories flood back on Sundays at Shiiine. It’s another time and another world and one no one wants to leave. One last hurrah lurks within everyone’s tired glint. We’re all over thirty, we all know we packed Sunday morning but, we’re all going to behave like it’s Friday night again.

Bouncing to TYS, fawning over Miles’ lyrics and wondering what anti-aging serum Jesus Jones are using. We shall not go gently into the night. I don’t want to go home!

Levi digging everyone who is hanging out of a hole. Neds’ fire raises you up and PWEI’ groove launches you back to the party (sorry Burger King, Big Mac fries to go!). Orbital caning it like its 1988 and Stereo MC’s showing out like bosses. I don’t want to go home!

Cast, Dodgy and The Farm. Friends arm in arm, tears roll down cheeks. Reality looms on the horizon but, it doesn’t seem so bad now. Conversation going on all around me. I join some, I leave some and some never found me.  And now you must believe me, we never lose our dreams. Stop the slaughter, let’s go home, let’s go, let’s go.

All together now. See you in 2021

Thousand Yard Stare - Keep It Alive

Confession time, Thousand Yard Stare was a blind spot until their Shiiine On Weekender 2016. It was one of those nights where the words “wow, who the fuck is this?” just kept forming in a cider-induced brain.

So, when they announced a special EP-only set at the Lexington, it felt somewhat fraudulent to be there despite the obsessive record collecting in the intervening years. Especially during ‘Twicetimes’ when a total stranger turns and excitedly stutters “20 years, never, 20, never heard in 20 years”.

So often, people with less obsessive tendencies around music ask, “Why are you going to see an old band?” Now, depending on mood, they are met with cynical derision or an inevitable Spotify playlist. On this occasion, a far bigger response is needed.

They are the musical embodiment of Matt Le Tissier. This brilliant entity, capable of so many things but mainly, dragging the underdog to a realm of glory. The classic ‘0-0 AET’ encapsulates the spirit of The Wonder Stuff into their world of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll, and ‘Buttermouth’, like Le Tissier, leaves you with the sense that, if new today, would be a national treasure.

Tenuous football links aside, the abiding feeling of tonight is love. From Stephen Barnes’ video message to unwell drummer Dom (get well soon, mate), to Sean McDonough’s uncontrollable hugging of other band members, to their crew holding on to amps and singing along simultaneously, love oozed from them. What “became unmentionable” tangibly rose in North London on Friday, “it belongs to everyone of us”.

What began as tentative baby steps to the front became leaps of joy and togetherness for one lonely music lover. Lost in the abandon of loyal “weatherwatchers” and seeking solace in a criminally underrated band, Friday was a heartfelt expression of hope.

Keep it alive!

A Letter to Scott Hutchison

Dear Scott,

Thank you. Thank you for your songwriting. Thank you for the lift in the mood at my most isolated.

The news of your passing didn’t hit until today, the anniversary of the Manchester terror attack. As Radio 4 reported the testimony of parents who lost their children and surviving children as young as 12, I was awe-struck by the spirit and sense of togetherness they’d found in adversity.

Radio 4 also interviewed various choirs this morning. They were preparing for a performance tonight in memory of the tragically lost. As they found solitude in a mourning city, your masterpiece ‘Nitrous Gas’ sprang to mind more vividly than ever before.

The warming nature juxtaposed with the emotive darkness as the protagonist tears their world apart is remarkable. The sense of telling the world to “fuck off” is so striking its almost tangible. The little guitar licks nod towards a dawning light that should have been spent asleep dreaming of better things. The imagery is masterful.

However, clearly, this mindset came with a cost. We, and hopefully all music fans from here on in will change their approach to music appreciation. It cannot be enough for reviewers like me to put a tortured soul up on a pedestal anymore. The time has come to refer young men like Scott to CALM, or simply as, “are you ok mate”.

Sorry we indulged in your pain. Sorry for not making your isolation our problem too.

Yours Sincerely

Mike Adams

* The Mural was painted by Michael Corr in Glasglow with his wife and a little girl who walked by wanting to help. http://www.michaelcorrartist.co.uk/

The Bluetones Top 10

After two intimate nights with Mark Morriss (Westcliff) and then the full band (Water Rats), we thought we’d do something different than just review their brilliant Shepherds Bush Empire homecoming.

So, here are our top 10 Bluetones songs for you to enjoy, debate, and troll us with alternatives on Twitter.

10. Slight Return

Music is a great tool for inducing memories both good and bad. As a child of the 90s, it felt like this emerged from nowhere to number two (kept off by Babylon Zoo!!!) in the charts. After Pulp’s ‘Mis-Shapes’, siege mentality was at the forefront of the alternative community and this was one of its chief weapons.

9. Emily’s Pine

A groove-laden ending to the 3rd album ‘Science and Nature’. What begins as a romantic ode ends in dank murderous tones. What’s not to like?

8. Carnt Be Trusted

The perfect mix of Marr’s funk and Squire’s rock n roll blend on this heavy paisley anthem. Lyrically, it’s Morriss at his best, detailing the darker side of relationships. Remarkably, in a song without a chorus, its level of hooks is high.

7. Talking To Clarry

Kicking off the debut album, and harnessing the band with too many Stone Roses comparisons was this cracker. Yes, there are some ‘Breaking into Heaven’ moments in the intro, but, for our money, there was always a nod to Crosby Stills and Nash in this slow burner.

6. Autohpillia

In 2000, Pop Idol was well underway, and freeze-dried pop in a bag was in full force. So, for this eccentric REM number to reach 18 in the charts was a great feat.

5. After Hours

When Mercury Records decided to put the greatest hits out against the band’s wishes, the boys decided to take ownership and record some new material. The iconic Bugsy Malone video directed by Edgar Wright was the best of the bunch.  

The Wings meets ‘Benny and The Jets’ sense of fun oozes from this tale of pub that the Winchester of Shaun of the Dead fame is based on. For anyone who is old enough to remember the dirty secret of a lock-in, well, it will always raise a wry smile.

4. Never Going Nowhere

Bands like Radiohead get tagged as brilliant because they always innovate (rightly so). However, to recreate your band’s sound and retain great pop sensibilities is a far rarer occurrence. Their 4th album witnessed a distinct array of 70s influences not seen before. The intro brims with Talking Heads’ sense of humour whilst, as ever, Morriss tells brilliant tales of dark relationships.

3. Home Fires Burning

After the heavier second album, the knives were out in the music press. It would have been easy for them to fold under the pressure. Cue, their most complete single.

2. Bluetonic

This, more than anything seems to define the band in the mid-90s. It’s immediate with intelligent lyrics and a boozy swagger. Much like the early Supergrass records, it was both of and before its time simultaneously.

1. Marblehead Johnson

Few bands reach the top and then give something back to the fans as The Bluetones did with this non-album single. Furthermore, it’s the freest the band have ever sounded. From the jingle jangle riffs to Morris’ eloquent vocals, everything flows effortlessly.