2010: My Final Thoughts

I'm always keen to point out that as far as music is concerned, there's no such thing as a bad year, but sometimes you just have to trawl a little deeper to get to the good stuff. Fortunately, 2010 was all too ready to deliver a wealth of goods. Whilst 2010 perhaps wasn't the best year for flourishing new talent (just two of my top 20 albums were debuts), it was a great year for young bands realising their full potential, both critically (Titus Andronicus, These New Puritans) and commercially (Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend). It also saw a number of highly dependable artists (The Walkmen, Spoon, The National, Menomena, Deerhunter) add commendable releases to already-impressive discographies, but if those records felt like safe bets, it was encouraging that equally established artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Joanna Newsom and Caribou were willing to take risks that were no less rewarding.

It was an excellent year in particular for electronic music, with a clutch of imaginative and varied releases from the UK (James Blake, Four Tet), US (Emeralds, Flying Lotus, Oneohtrix Point Never) and everywhere else (The Knife, Pantha Du Prince). Indeed if I have any complaint about my favourite releases of 2010 (and it's something which could equally be applied to the last few years, to be fair) it's that the music tended to appeal more to the head than to the heart; plenty of songs blew my mind, but ultimately few were able to send a tingle down the spine.

2010 saw mixed fortunes for some of music's biggest egos. M.I.A went to war with everyone, but her highly anticipated third record /\/\ /\ Y /\ failed to win her the wider audience she clearly craved for, and alienated much of her existing fanbase to boot. But the year ended on a high-note for the equally confrontational Kanye, who after another wildly eventful year, was given an ecstatic reception for the release of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (including a perfect 10.0 score on P4k, the first time that's happened for a new release in eight years). And then there was Bono falling off the stage. That was pretty funny.

Every year we have to say farewell to a host of musical names, and we were struck pretty hard in 2010. We lost highly influential legends such as Captain Beefheart and Alex Chilton, and big personalities such as Malcolm McLaren. There were also the untimely losses of Jay Reatard and the perenially troubled Mark Linkous. Perhaps the most personally affecting loss to me was that of Slits founding member Ari Up who died rather suddenly of cancer in October; just a few months previous I'd spurned the opportunity to see the Slits  play effectively on my doorstep, something that I will rue for some time to come.

But it was also the chance to say hello again to some old friends. There were high-profile re-unions for Pavement and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, whilst the original Britpop scene turned full-circle with the acrimonious departure of Oasis, and the returns of Suede and Pulp (Blur too suggested that last year's successful run round the block wouldn't be the last we'd hear of them). But arguably the year's most unlikely success was that of Michael Gira's Swans who, 14 years on from the gaunt Soundtracks For The Blind returned with the fire burning bright in their bellies once more with the tremendous My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky.

So yes, if there really is such a thing as a good year in music, 2010 is a strong contender for that accolade. Roll on 2011.

50 Choice Songs of 2010: 10-1

10. Moonface - Marimba & Shit-Drums

With Wolf Parade continuing to deliver diminishing returns (little surprise then, that they are now on hiatus), it's increasingly apparent that Spencer Krug's other musical endeavors are where it's at. Marimba & Shit Drums is entirely self-descriptive, but with this seemingly limited pallette, Krug concocted a 20-minute epic of surprising crests and falls, and entirely recognisable as his work.

Download

9. World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation - Split It Concrete Like The Colden Sun God

2011 promises to be a big year for this deeply enigmatic Manchester-based band  as they seek to grow their wings. Despite their roots, Wu Lyf could perhaps best be desctribed as Isaac Brock fronting anarchic afro-pop, and Split It Concrete... was the pick of a gold-encrusted bunch of releases. The accompanying video is no less of a joy.

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8. Swans - Eden Prison

The highlight of their terrific comeback album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, Eden Prison was a dirge in the best possible sense: Gira's booming voice of doom; the mangled-cat guitar wail; the relentless march of the rhythm section. Best of all was its brutal bridge, seemingly custom-made to be stretched into infinity to crush live audiences into submission.

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7. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Whilst The Suburbs was the success of substance over style, it did offer at least one stunner that hit home on the first spin in the form of Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). Regine Chassagne's sole lead vocal on the album, her breathless vocal is perfect for the track's glistening Heart Of Glass-esque new-wave sound, and the key lyric ("quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock") seemed like the perfect analogy of the band's new work ethic.

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6. Sleigh Bells - Infinity Guitars

Remember that joke in This Is Spinal Tap about the amps which go up to 11? Sleigh Bells took that joke quite literally when they recorded Infinity Guitars. The track starts off as a blistering noise assault of screeching guitars, collosal bass-drum beats and Alexis Krauss' hollered vocals, but somehow in its final 30 seconds Infinity Guitars cranks everything up to a new and unprecedented level. Sometimes, the word "loud" just doesn't cut it.

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5. Emeralds - Genetic

Does It Look Like I'm Here, the breakthrough record from Cleveland, Ohio trio Emeralds was an absorbing listen, but a lot to digest in one listen. Genetic serves up the album as a more manageable 12 minute slice, leaving you to swim through layers of lush synth arpeggios. This is a track to get lost in, and one you might never want to leave.

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4. Deerhunter - Helicopter
The pinnacle of what might just be Deerhunter's finest record yet (Halcyon Digest), Helicopter's soothing verses lapped gently at your feet, awaiting the moment that the majestic chorus engulfs you. Bradford Cox wails "no-one cares for me", but in reality Deerhunter's stock has never been higher. Where they go from this is anyone's guess, but for these five minutes, Deerhunter achieve aural perfection.

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3. Liars - Scarecrows On A Killer Slant
Hands-down the most terrifying song I listened to in 2010, Scarecrows On A Killer Slant rides upon a nasty, nasty riff that has all the menace and identity of the Jaws or Psycho themes. Meanwhile, Angus Andrew chants, howls and screams his way through a chilling recollection of a murder witnessed by the band during recording in L.A. An affectionate homage to their home city it is not.

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2. Caribou - Sun
sun sun sun sun sun sun sun suN suN suN suN suN suN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUn SUn SUn SUn SUn SUn SUn Sun Sun Sun Sun Sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun sun suN suN suN suN suN suN suN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN sUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN

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1. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean

At first, the opening track to LCD Soundsystem's supposed swansong This Is Happening is a muted, deeply understated affair; over an anaemic beat, James Murphy is in unusually sombre mood. And then of course, it all kicks off and Murphy finds his mojo, positively howling into his microphone, whilst cascades of electronic notes erupt from every orifice. It's an exhilirating transformation, and one that doesn't lose its impact even after repeated listens. Murphy pleads with us "give me just a bit of your time"; the rewards are more than worth it.

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50 Choice Songs of 2010: 50-11

50 Choice Songs of 2010: 50-11

Having rounded up the Albums that made 2010, here is a selection of the year's finest songs. The selection is limited to no more than one song per artist, but is not limited to merely singles. The Top 10 will be revealed in a few days time...

50. Benoit Pioulard - RTO
49. The Phantom Band - Into The Corn
48. Zola Jesus - Night
47. Gruff Rhys - Shark-Ridden Waters
46. The Delta Mirror - And The Radio Played On
45. Of Montreal - Coquette Coquette
44. Marnie Stern - For Ash
43. Andrew Cedermark - Anchorite
42. Tu Fawning - The Felt Sense
41.Gorillaz - Stylo

40. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal
39. Vampire Weekend - Diplomat's Son
38. Esben & The Witch - Marching Song
37. Grinderman - Worm Tamer
36. Cults - Go Outside
35. Avey Tare - Heather In The Hospital
34. Meursault - Sleet
33. The Besnard Lakes -And This Is What We Call Progress
32. Crystal Castles - Celestica
31. Low Sea - Never Yours
30. Xiu Xiu - Gray Death 

29. Glasser - Home
28. Warpaint - Warpaint
27. Thee Silver Mt Zion Orchestra - I Built Myself A Metal Bird
26. Here We Go Magic - The Collector
25. Menomena - Taos
24. The National - Afraid Of Anyone
23. Keepaway - Yellow Wings
22. The Walkmen - Angela Surf City
21. Givers - In My Eyes

20. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round And Round
19. Avi Buffalo - What's In It For?
18 . Lower Dens - Tea Lights
17. Matthew Dear - Little People (Black City)
16. Broken Social Scene - Chase Theme
15. Women - Locust Valley
14. Beach House - Silver Soul
13. These New Puritans - We Want War
12. Sufjan Stevens - Now That I'm Older 
11. Titus Andronicus - Theme From Cheers

Wu Lyf announce first London and Glasgow gigs

One of the year's most enthralling and enigmatic new acts Wu Lyf (most commonly known as World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation) have announced their first London and Glasgow gigs. The Manchester-based four-piece will be playing at the Arches in Glasgow on February 1st, followed two days later by a gig in London's Corscica Studios. Tickets are available here for the London date. More 2011 dates are apparently on the cards.

If you haven't already seen the fantastic video for Split It Concrete Like The Colden Sun God, gorge on this:

Albums of 2010: 5-1

It's the final countdown (de-de derrr der...de-de der der derrr...)

5. Caribou - Swim

The greatest trick Dan Snaith ever pulled was convincing the indie-blogging world it liked club anthems. Sun and Bowls were essentially just that - woozy, euphoric and beat-driven - albeit constantly evolving, submerging and re-emerging as something quite different. But the pulsating 4-person live shows coupled with Snaith's frail tenor ensured that underneath it all Swim, as with all of Caribou's otherwise very distinguished records, possessed a beating human heart. The clinching vocal performance however, fell into the hands of Born Ruffian Luke Lalonde for show-stopping closer Jamelia.

4. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

As The Suburbs claimed the #1 spot in both the U.S and U.K, it sent Arcade Fire into the pantheon of artists such as Radiohead and previously REM of commercially successful bands that truly matter. The Suburbs was absolutely the right album at the right time for the Montreal band, eschewing blockbusting singles for more unified songwriting (I've heard no less than 9 of its 16 songs played on radio or on TV appeatances) and big themes for smaller, more fully realised ones which, in their mundanity, were paradoxically much more interesting.

3. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

The  Atlanta, Georgia band's musical journey over the last three years, from dissonant krautrock and ambient soundscapes to the blissful dreampop one might associate with their label 4AD, has been an enthralling one; Halcyon Digest felt like the next and quite possibly definitive piece in the puzzle, the sound of a band reaching its final destination. Guitarist Lockett Pundt made key song-writing contributions - Desire Lines, like Nothing Ever Happened before it, showed how Deerhunter can be epic without being even remotely showy - but Bradford Cox leant extra emotional heft to his songs, peaking with the achingly pretty Helicopter and He Would've Laughed's touching tribute to the late Jay Reatard.

2. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

James Murphy's supposed bow-out of the LCD Soundsystem name was in essence Sound Of Silver Pt. 2, and what's wrong with that? Murphy, who's gotten better and better as a vocalist with each release was, as ever, equal-parts sardonic, earnest and hilarious, and always utterly self-aware. But while Drunk Girls may have served as the obligatory go-to single, the album's true agenda was there for all to hear on You Wanted A Hit ("that's not we do"), backed up by a sprawling 70 minute 9-song cycle which once more drew upon the usual Bowie/Iggie/Talking Heads touchstones, yet maintained Murphy as no mere revivalist, but a peerless visionary.

1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

It's some feat for an album bristling with such raw punk energy from the off to sustain such levels over 65 minutes, but The Monitor, the year's most exhilirating record, did just that. Vocalist Patrick Stickles spends pretty much its duration as man kicked into the gutter, lowest of the low, but no matter how wretched the situation, Titus Andronicus pulled thim up each and every time with one more venomous mantra, one more guitar solo, one more bagpipe solo(!). Theming the album around the American Civil War (cue readings of Abe Lincoln, Walt Whitman et al) may not have prevented lyrical references to Springsteen, Dylan and even Billy Bragg, but it was utterly appropriate; The Monitor was the sound of a band playing as though their very lives depending on it.

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10-6

The Ones That Got Away

Albums of 2010: 10-6

The Top 10 begins here...


10. These New Puritans - Hidden

When chief song-writer Jack Barnett revealed his agenda in early press interviews - bassoons, choirs of children, "dancehall-meets-Steve Reich"- few took him seriously. Fewer still could have believed  he would pull it off quite as well as this. Putting its best foot forward with the wildly ambitious lead single We Want War, Hidden signalled a collosal step up for These New Puritans. Its wilful post-punk experimentation recalled seminal bands like This Heat, but its skull-crushing beats (Fire-Power was a better M.I.A. song than M.I.A. herself managed in 2010) ensured Hidden was its own beast entirely, and one right in the here-and-now. Southend-on-Sea had never sounded so exotic.

9. Liars - Sisterworld

Whilst Sisterworld, like its eponymous predecessor, is one of the more accessible entries in the Liars canon, it was still a deeply unsettling listening experience that hearkened back to their experimental second and third records. Whilst their previous record was a disparate and uneven affair, Liars' return to their home city of LA provided Sisterworld with a more resounding theme, in sound at least, and made for perhaps their most satisfying record yet. A sense of death and dread lurks throughout, awaiting the moment that the gratuitous Scarecrows On A Killer Slant jumps from the shadows and shoots you point-blank in the face.

8. Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky

14 years on from their previous record, My Father... saw Michael Gira and members old and new in the rudest possible health. Huge slabs of rhythm fell like someone kicking tombstones to the ground, and Gira's 3-year old daughter duetting with Devendra Banhart (a man who has sung more than most about children) was creepy in every sense, but it was the none-more-black nature of My Father... that made it such a perversely enjoyable record in the day-glo indie climate; when Gira sings "we are reeling the liars in" you can hear the smirk on his face.

7. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

Speaking of day-glo, Pink's debut on 4AD saw considerably less arsing around, resulting in him making the album few thought he was capable of making: a practically flab-free collection of goofy but glorious songs spanning glam-rock (Little Wig), goth-metal (Butthouse Blondies) and cheesy synthpop (Can't Hear My Eyes), as well as delivering a rousing single in the form of Round And Round. Pink remained as much of an oddball as ever (Menopause Man was testament to that), but Before Today saw him seize the throne of a glo-fi scene he'd created almost single-handedly.

6. Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz

Having teased us with the "slight" 50 minutes of closet-clearing EP All Delighted People just a month or so prior, Sufjan let loose with his most audacious record yet. From the album's sci-fi artwork and the skittery electronic beats and bleeps and ominous orchestration, you could be forgiven for thinking Sufjan had made the switch from christianity to scientology, but underneath all the pizazz and vocoders (yes, vocoders) was a human being, one wracked with insecurities and self-doubt. He countered this by putting his all behind every second of Age of Adz, and he wants us to know it, to the point where he's screaming at us "I'm not f*cking around" over and over. Now there's conviction for you.

 

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The Ones That Got Away

Gig Review: Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ The Troxy, Mon 13th Dec

2010 has been some year for re-unions; first Pavement, and now Godspeed You! Black Emperor, rising again from a 7-year hiatus. I've read a fair share of negative feedback on the choice of venue and the sound quality of the night's gig - even with their own sound engineer, arguably any venue's acoustics is going to struggle with the proposition of  GSY!BE - and whilst a couple of the early climaxes were perhaps a little muddied, I can't say I noticed too much from where I was standing. In truth, save for the annoying clinking of bottles from the bar staff, the lofty heights of the Troxy seemed an ideal place for the post-rock demi-gods to flex their muscles.

They did so tentatively at first (they had time on their side, after an all too fleeting set from the Dead Rat Orchestra), entering one by one and adding to the ominous drone which slowly engulfed the room (it was a mere matter of minutes before the first screwdriver-on-guitar action), until all eight members were on stage. The opening songs (okay, movements) also felt like GSY!BE were moving through the gears. Playing in almost pitch-black and with little or no acknowledgement of the audience, one's eyes were left to stray to the flickering (and expertly edited in real-time) backdrop images; the haunting shimmer of Sleep was appropriately set to ghostly images of Coney Island's amusement park, whilst I found myself hypnotised during Storm as it actually appeared as though a number of members were playing aboard the top of a moving train. The band bowed out of Sleep and worked themselves up into a cacaphony of industrial-orchestral-metal which, whilst scintillating at first, threatened ten minutes later to undermine the band's mastery of the crescendo.

Yet when Godspeed seeped their way into the quiet menace of Static, it was clear that the magic was still there, as the band accelerated inexorably towards the all-consuming denouement. From there on in, there was no let-up; Dead Metheny was followed by the apocalyptic waltz of Rockets Fall On Rocket Falls, shaking free the shackles originally placed upon it by Steve Albini's limiting production. With the night being brought to a close by Blaise Bailey Finnegan III, all of Godspeed's major releases had been represented, and represented well.

By the time they'd all put down their instruments to shred the speakers with feedback, GSY!BE had been on stage for a collosal 140 minutes. They'll be doing it all again on Tuesday, and once more on Wednesday, and as phenomenal as Godspeed were by the end of the night, you got the sense that they will only continue to get better as the nights go on.

Albums of 2010: 15-11

15. Working For A Nuclear Fre City - The Jojo Burger Tempest

The Manchester space cadets of WFANFC did nothing to curb their ambitions on The Jojo Burger Tempest, another 2CD set which went out of its way to encapsulate everything worthwhile to have emerged from their home city in the last 30 years (sorry Oasis). Whilst the first CD flitted between guitar-indie, shoegaze, acid-house and krautrock at the drop of a hat, CD2's 30-minute sound collage took an even more direct route through WFANFC's array of influences



14. Women - Public Strain

That wintry album cover is apt - Public Strain is shrouded in a near-inpenetrable mist, and the cold, metallic grooves of China Steps and Drag Open are chilling. But elsewhere on Public Strain, the likes of Eyesore and Venice Lockjaw exude a warmth only originally hinted by their 2008 debut, whilst the intricate guitar interplay on Locust Valley and Heat Distraction perfectly demonstrated Women's increasing ability to balance dissonance with melody.




13. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

After a couple of so-so member-focused releases, the only thing BSS had to apologise for was for leaving it 5 years to give us a proper follow-up to their last record. Forgiveness Rock Record was the collective's tightest sounding record to date, and Lisa Lobsinger thrived  from a more prominent role, but all the hallmarks - celebratory jams, odes to masturbation, a fine Emily Haines-led song in All in All - that  make any BSS record worth its weight in salt were present and correct.




12. Sleigh Bells - Treats

The formula couldn't have been much simpler; put Alexis Krauss' chearleader vocals to Derek E Miller's brash guitar riffs, add some mammoth beatds and crank everything up into the red. The sugary goodness of Paliament-sampling Rill Rill, strategically placed as the album's centrepiece,sweetened the deal, but Treats was as its album title suggested: probably not good for you in the long-term, but instantly gratifying, and absurd amounts of fun.




11. Andrew Cedermark - Moon Deluxe
The former Titus Andronicus guitarist's solo debut record was one of the year's surprise highlights. Moon Deluxe's energy owed at least something to his former band, but its organic instrumentation (guitars creaked  and roared like tree branches in a storm), seamless song progression and Cedermark's rambling, narrative vocal stylings had perhaps more in common with the likes of Phil Elverum and Jason Molina.

Albums of 2010: 20-16

The Ones That Got Away

Albums of 2010: 20-16

Here we go....

20. Meursault - All Creatures Will Make Merry

The Edinburgh folktronica band's second full-length was fuzzy yet beautifully crafted. The album was a blanket of lo-fi mist, cut through by band linchpin Neil Pennycook's anguished bleating, delivering the usual miserabilist kitchen-sink drama ("I got drunk on New Years Day/ I mixed my drinks and I lost my way") we've come to expect from Scottish indie bands since day zero. But few could argue that the propulsive shifts of pace and the orchestration, by turns forlorn and optimisitc, don't touch a nerve, and at its most bare, like on Sleet,  All Creatures is nothing short of devestating.

19. Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?

Sounding like a 2010 version of Tangerine Dream, the serene Does It Look Like I'm Here? was one of the year's most immersive headphones albums. Whilst a tad overlong, the rippling electronic waves of Does It Look Like I'm Here? can't help but sooth as they wash over you. Guitars are applied sparingly but effectively, adding just enough variety, as well as providing the cross-over appeal to fans of ambient electronic, drone, post-rock and retro computer games alike. Should there ever be another Ecco the Dolphin game, this would surely be its perfect soundtrack.

18. Menomena - Mines

The recording of Mines was reportedly a turbulent period for the Portland, Oregon trio, and to some extent that comes through on the record. Whilst 2007's Friend & Foe was letting off fireworks at every available opportunity, Mines just broods and simmers; just compare their respective openers Muscle'n'Flo and Queen Black Acid if you need proof. Yet with its intricate and nuanced arrangements (which, thanks to their own programming language Deeler somehow depicts every minute detail), and the contrasting vocal contributions of each member, this was unmistakenably a Menonema album, and Mines was the sound of a band forging their distinctive sound into new and darker territory.

17. The Walkmen - Lisbon

If Bows and Arrows was the staggering out of the bar emotional and bleary-eyed, and You & Me was getting home and reminiscing in front of the fire, then Lisbon was the journey home on a starlit night. Lisbon didn't stray too far from the Walkmen's well-beaten track, but he likes of Angela Surf City and Woe Is Me demonstrated that few other bands can kick up so much dust in the process. It was the sound of a band full of confidence and completely comfortable in their own shoes; "well they say you can't please everyone / but I'm stuck on a winning streak" coos Hamilton Leithauser on  While I Shovel The Snow, and he's half-right at least.

16. Beach House - Teen Dream

In hindsight, Teen Dream was make-or-break for Beach House; Devotion was a fine sophomore effort, but did little to dispel the notion that this was a band destined to make the same (admittedly lovely) record over and over again. Yet in spite of that non-descript album cover, by the time the opening salvo of Zebra, Silver Soul and Norway - far and away the most dynamic and assertive songs they've ever written - are over, it's remarkable just how deftly Beach House had leapt out from the pigeonhole many (myself included) had put them in. The rest of Teen Dream was a more relaxed, loungey affair, but no matter, as Beach House had made their point; this is a band with the legs to carry them for a good while yet.

The Ones That Got Away

Albums of 2010 - The Ones That Got Away

 Over the next week or so, I will be revealing my top 20 albums of 2010, but as is always the case, there are a few albums that slipped the net; with limited funds and time, there are some albums which I just haven't had the chance to listen to, or at least not enough times to generate a fair assessment in the grand scheme of things. So before you gander upon my top 20 and feel outraged because such-and-such album is not there, consult this list first; in a fairer world, these albums might just have featured strongly.

The Roots - How I Got Over

Pretty much the only hip-hop album I've liked this year, and it's come from the ever-reliable Roots; being the house band on an american talk show has done their credibility no harm whatsoever, it would seem.

No Age - Everything In Between

I have no good excuse for not owning this; Nouns was one of my favourite albums of 2008, and based on the reviews there's every reason to believe that the LA noise-rock duo made a fine follow-up.

Field Music - Measure

Winging its way to me in the post as I type this, Measure is a release which slipped under my radar. The Sunderland four-piece returned in 2010 from a three-year hiatus with a 20-song magnum opus of their uniquely clever and intricate power-pop.

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

I've never been a fan of Newsom and her Lisa Simpson-esque vocals, but it's hard not to admire somebody who follows up an album as grandiose as Ys with a triple album, albeit one which still manages to be regarded as her most accessible record to date.

Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo

This release ticks a lot of boxes -  signed to Sub-Pop, comparisons with Pacific Mid-West bands like Built To Spill and the Shins, naive love-lorn lyrics - but Avi Buffalo's self-titled debut has yet to find its way onto my CD rack. All in good time.

Kanye West - My Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye, like Joanna Newsom, is an artist I respect more than actually like, but judging by the ecstatic reviews it's been receiving, the man's pulled something special out of the bag with this one.

Her Name Is Calla - Long Grass

Despite having been around for a good few years now, The Quiet Lamb, which came out on Denovali Records in October, is actually Her Name Is Calla's first full-length release. And full-length doesn't mean semi-skimmed -  at twelve songs and 75 minutes, this is full-fat. Some of its songs - Condor & River, Long Grass - have been doing the rounds for a while now, but if you haven't seen the band's simple but effective video to Long Grass, here it is.