Albums of the year 2012

Another fast year and in 12 months I have picked 12 albums you may like. Enjoy. 

Anneke van Giersbergen, Everything Is Changing

Former The Gathering singer has done a few solo albums but with her first three under the name Agua de Annique. This album is the first with her name and I can see why she changed. 

The Gathering were a great band and Anneke simply wanted to move on and do other music. The First albums under a different name were really good and I understand the name change as it can be very hard going into the music world with the tag of being a former metal lead singer. But those who know her previous band will know how great her voice is. 

So album number four (or three depends on how you view Pure Air) and not so much a change in direction as it is still the pop rock all out great music but I think she has moved on. Her real name on the album really means nothing but I think it just makes it right and the album for me seems more personal. Upon listening to the album I find this to be so. 

Album opener "Feel Alive" is a perfect start, pop music and fun. It feel warm and the music is catchy. Flowing into "You Want To Be Free" some hint of guitars help back up her rock roots. Nice catchy riffs flow over the song and keep you singing along. "Everything Is Changing" is a song everyone could write as wehn you get to a certain age you do notice difference's but her voice and the simplicity of the music just melt into a great song. Next two tracks are more rock than pop "Take Me Home" and "I Wake Up" are no album fillers but listen. Her voice changes to the lyrical content. The album sounds very good on my HIFI and production is spot on. "Circles" is the big ballad type of song, it really is just her and a piano. That voice comes out so well on this song, I have had this on repeat and each time it sounds better and bigger. "My Boy" has a great video made where video has been recorded of her son on web cam using a laptop. The footage is taken over a couple of years and cut together showing him growing. Lyrically personal and a real special song to share with the world.  

Next up is "Stay" more of an all out rock song, borrowing from her past but her voice has been recorded on a few tracks and widened over the two speakers. More Anneke's voice the better I say. 

"Hope, Pray, Dance, Play" takes us back to pop and more catchy rock music in "Slow Me Down" each track on the album has a similar sound and feel but still retain individuality. Album closer "1000 Miles Away From You" is a nice band song with the whole band getting in here and showing there skills. Again her voice steals the show and sounds so great all the time. 

This album was a surprise to me as I do like her work and enjoyed this immensely but the replay factor is so great. An album that makes you feel better on a crap day is an album that is special. Anneke really opens up here and you can tell she is a rare breed of singer one who loves music and is in the business for the right reason. 

Converge, All We Love We Leave Behind

Yes yes yes, I get to put converge in my albums of the year. Last album Axe to Fall was a great return to form and an album I still play. But could they do better? YES and by hell it is better. Over ten years after Jane Doe they have made another amazing album. Converge to me do not equal big riffs or loud music or even screaming vocals. To me it is quality, each and every time. All I ask is to put as much of you into the music as you can and they do it every time. It is pointless reviewing each track as they all are fantastically brutal and so concise. The drums are faster and louder firing between all out lunacy and epicness in a millisecond. Riffs and many of them, loud cutting and making Slipknot look like a children's party entertainers. The guitars know how to throw you about the room with big rhythm and lead switching before you can blink. Yeat another album to show the kids how it is done. Great stuff!

Deathspell Omega, Drought

I have been very close to putting Deathspell Omega in my albums of the year a few times. So much so in 2011 Mass Grave Aesthetics, Diabolus Absconditus should have been in my top albums. I think it is more time that was why I didn't put it in. You need some real listening time to really get this band as each listen opens up new tantalizing extremities of music. This years offering Drought is another one of there EPs and I think it is there most easily accessible release to date. Clocking in at 20 minutes (but feeling way longer) the six tracks here cover more ground than most bands do in a decade. Some real care has been taken on the music. Production is fantastic and the music is just so well made. I have praised this band so many times in the past but this one is the album for all.

Enslaved,  RIITIIR

Not another black metal band? No not really as this band have come so far from there first few album. This one follows on from past great album in Isa (2004) and Ruun (2006). More a progressive metal sound that a Black Metal classic.
They have taken the time on this album and you can hear it in every note. This is there twelfth album and what a way to hit the dozen mark. The music is heavy but very melodic, the guitars sound like they were conducted by a mathematician. Epic but not overwhelming and nothing as wanky as Pink Floyd. They go from the first track to the second as if they had more ideas but had to move on so give you a riff that takes off your head.
The vocals are heavy and growling but you rarely notice as the music is so good. The clear vocals come in when you really don't expect and just help the flow of the music.

Nile, At The Gates Of Sethu

And I can put in Nile this year not just because they are great and I like them but because this was the best Death Metal album this year. Add in the fact it is one of there best albums and it is better than my favorite In Their Darkened Shrines (2002).
Ten years is a long time in music and the band are still going strong and this album still uses Ancient Egyptian/Near Eastern mysticism as the focal point. An album and band that give you a history lesson as well as an ear full of the best death metal in the world. Many bands exist in the DM underground that call themselves technical and extreme but few can really make it cross over to the masses.

Pil, This is Pil

Oh yeas so happy to have this here as was the first full length in 20 years. I did think this was not making my album of the year but it is still being played even today so job done Mr Rotten.
Not quite as direct as past albums but times have changed. The band was formed after that butter commercial as John had no money do do Pil again. As record companies will not pay for the album or band. The one off butter add paid for this and the first tour and I like to think money well spent. This album has so many styles and it is like a best off album in a way as past albums were varied but more focused for the whole LP. This album carries the same F you attitude but just gets over on the radio (watch the PIL performance on Jooles Holland and see what I mean). This is a fun album and a very well made one at that. The backing band is made up of some ex Pil members and also prolific pop musicians and i think that gives the sound John wanted. Direct and fun, easily assessable to all.

Swans, the Seer

Michael Gira: 'The Seer took 30 years to make. It’s the culmination of every previous Swans album, as well as any other music I’ve ever made…'

Too right and it feels like it. Again a band I love and one that have really changed my tastes in music. I feel this list and all the other music I review would not exist if it was not for this band.
An album spanning two hours over two CDs and made to fly by in seconds. I have listened none stop to this album and I still get more form it on each listen. Seeing the band play like is a real treat and this album just adds a slice of lemon to the experience as they have captured that live feel so well here. The 30 minute track was made over all the gigs they played and added to over the last two years. Music for this is for very few as past albums are pretty out there but if you have the guts (and time) get this and prepare to change.

Baby Godzilla, Oche

More an EP or even a mini album but that is all I need to hear of this band. Saw them support another band I instantly loved them, with a live set that would make most metal bands blush. They run, jump and show the rock bands how it is done. The guitars are at 11 and the amps are at 12 here. Loud and proud and you can feel the anger and energy just on the first few tracks. It is nothing new but it is a great all out debut. If they can take 10% of the energy here to the first full length album then we may have another album of the year. "Powerboat Disaster" is one of my songs of the year and also video of the year (Check it out on you tube). Great music that makes me proud to be British. Now to go and break something. 

Goat, World Music

A band steeped in mystery, they are said to come from a remote village called Korpolombolo in deepest darkest Sweden. Being a band for 30-40 years and practicing voodoo.

It is a nice story and for a second you want a quick listen. Wow what an album. It is called World Music for a reason and it mixes so many styles. Track one and two are so different that I wondered if my CD was broken. But no this is a real treat and an album that has psychedelic rock mixed with post punk funk and African beats. I saw them live as well and again a real treat to the ears and eyes, they can play and do all this on stage and more so make it better. This album has topped a few album of 2012 charts and I can see why. Very addictive album and one that will stay with you for a long time.  

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Psychedelic Pill

Classic Neil Young and Crazy Horse. You may have seen this in some shops as it is pretty good. A little change of direction from that last few albums. More of a classic southern feel to it bit like Lynyrd Skynyrd but on some really good drugs.

This is a 2 CD set and track one is a whopping 27 minutes. But that is the good news. The band are playing and sounding great and Neil is playing lead guitar and chucking out feedback and whammy bar riffs a plenty. But all of it feels great and you get into the music so well. The lyrics are basic and repetitive just the sort of music to get you singing along.

Much of the album is set firmly in the fuzzy folk rock of the 60s but it never sounds too old or even boring. The guitar playing is fantastic and always keeps you interested. This is one of those albums that has been done in the studio after jamming for weeks. The highlights are plenty on this 90 minute album. "Ramada Inn" on CD1 and "Walk Like a Giant" are fantastic and the two alone could have made up one great album. Add in the great first track "Driftin' Back".

There are times music like this can be boring and it if a fine line at times as well. This is not at all boring or even commercial. It is a music lovers album as double albums never seem to be that big in the casual music listeners taste. There are plenty of bands who cater for the AOR side of music taste and I feel this is not for them and thankfully so. Two discs of sheer bliss go buy it now.

Ian Mcnabb, Little Episodes

Slight change in sound for Mr Mcnabb. Well I say a change it is more a forced changes as this is really just an acoustic album. Recorded and mixed in December 2011 it was all done very quickly. And sometimes that is the best way of doing it.
With Ian being a great guitar player and also having one of the best voices in rock music you can get away with it. What Ian has extra is a great songwriting ability as well.
The songs are simple and the lyrics are sing along material "Only Children" has me singing along to one of the catchiest tunes you could ever get on the radio. Some songs have a little electric and even some drums but very little and when it is there it is still his voice and what he is singing that captures you.
The title track I can see being re recorded in the future as it is a song that you can come back to every time. Adding in some nice harmonies to the music of which most of it is his own voice it keeps it simple but effective.
In a music industry obsessed with production and how people will understand the recording this is a much welcomed back to basics and one that could me used as a lesson to all up and coming bands to just record what you feel. A great album.

Ginger Wildheart, 555%

If you have got to this page via my Twitter feed then you have seen something about this on my updates. The reason being it was all done via a music site called Pledge Music. It is not a new thing or even all that cool. All it is you pledge to buy an album before its made. But if the target is not made you don't have to pay. Simple eh?

Ginger asked for £30,000. The target for his triple album deal and with the money he could enter the studio and try and give the fans 30 or so songs. The target was nothing big but just enough for Ginger to make say one new album with great production then the two other albums would be what he has had left over. Take it to be acoustic numbers and demo style quality. 

Lets just cut to the chase. The target was 100% but as you see the name is 555%. The target was met within hours and so much so it made the ITV news and Ginger was on the telly getting interviews on how he could do it. The real total was £250,000 in real money all collected the second the target hits 100% and after that all immediate payments. The goals changed on the spot, now the money is there to make a triple album of better quality. The odds and sods take on the album is binned and writing starts on a load of new material. Add in a timescale as well as the record is promised to be delivered by a certain date. Taking 12 weeks to write, record, mix, master and upload the music. There was also physical copies to make, CD and LPs had to be mastered, artwork chosen, mastered and printed. Also they have to be mailed to each of the 6000+ fans who asked for it. For one album that is just about do able but this is a TRIPLE ALBUM.

Each album was uploaded on a Friday at 7pm and all fans were asked to share there opinions with Ginger and the rest who were involved via Twitter. CD1 goes live and for myself it was one of the albums of the year on first listen. 'Forget About It' was downloaded on my phone as I was out that day. I went to a coffee shop and ordered my usual Americano and took my seat. Instantly the voice of Ginger hits me over my tiny headphones. Melodic and big choruses it is a cross of classic Abba and Cheap Trick. 'I-N-T-E-R-N-A-L R-adio' is next and written by Gingers kid. It should be a big hit and not just in the UK. Having fun with words and melodies like the music was secondary. 

As you listen to the music you can tweet to Ginger and let him know what you like. Track three was downloading as I was tweeting and started playing and again big tunes. There is nothing underground here but just some great rock n roll music. 'Lie When You Tell Me The Truth' makes me think the pledge was worth it even for these three tracks. One listen and I am singing along on the bus home later. 'Incidental Noises' has a nice guitar intro and takes the album down to a slower feel. Yes, more catchy vocals and sounds that could snag a top ten. 'It Appears That The Party Is Over' is a great title and so untrue it has a nice sort of funky feel to it. 'Deep In The Arms Of Morpheus' is a track that Ginger was never going to make as it was written years before but fans asked for it. And as I say we are paying so he gives us the song and thinking its not one of his best is found to be totally wrong, twitter erupts and the fans clamber to say how good it is. Big piano sound much like a classic rock ballad. Guitars help to give it that slow rock number. Some nice drumming with little drum fills and knowing when to hold back keeps the keen listener happy.

 'Baby Skies' Brings us back to that poppy Abba sound. Some nice keyboards keep the feet tapping and help from gingers friends in the vocals really fill the sound up well. 'Silence' is one of the rock numbers here, nice chugging guitars and drums that complements the riffs. 'Powderkeg' is a hidden gem here, twists and turns. It is a rock song one minute then you can swear you know the lyrics already. Last song 'Time' is a blinding closer and I feel it may end the first album on a great high as CD 2 and 3 could never better it. The riffs on the last track would give Rush and Van Halen blushes. Nice simple guitar arpeggios repeat but never bore. 

The nest two CD s do not disappoint but I feel this is my favorite album out the three. As I type this Ginger Wildheart has just released his fifth album this year. 5 albums in a year and one still to come out in a week or so. That is a release schedule that makes the Fall look part timers. 

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