Top 10 Albums of 2012: 5 to 1

5. Graham Coxon - A&E

 

In 2009, Graham Coxon produced a surprising yet brilliant stripped back folk album. Having displayed such a high pedigree in song writing, it had TT wondering if he could follow it with anything of equal merit. The answer is a resounding yes. A&E is a cathartic flurry of fuzzy guitars, nihilistic keyboards and post-apocalyptic synths.

 

Coxon’s previous outing on ‘Spinning Top’ was great but it’s incredibly refreshing to have the guitar hero plugged in once more. He’s return to the electric sphere produces a world of frenzied punk as only he can. Working with Ben Hillier (The Horrors, Elbow, Villagers), Coxon has fashioned very primal sounding synths and keys to add to his guitar brilliance. 'City Hall' is a prime example sounding as though The Ramones have been left stranded in a ‘Mad Max’ movie and ordered to soundtrack ‘Escape From New York’.

 

Former single 'What'll It Take' is vintage Coxon. It is a pop gem which lurks amongst all the morose paranoia Coxon readily delivers. Easily one of the year’s best single releases!! What is remarkable about his musicianship is the authenticity. Many would sound ironic utilising 80s keyboards but Coxon manages to make them work in his nod to Monochrome Set's 'He's Frank' and 'Eine Symphonie Des Grauens'.

 

On 'Meat and Drink and Pollinate' Coxon resumes his role as the outsider, casting a negative eye over the weekend culture that still remains prominent in Britain today. Modern life is still rubbish it seems. 'Running For Your Life' sees Coxon maintain his voice of the voiceless, highlighting how dangerous life can still be for anyone who dares to be different. A point no-one wants to talk about in music anymore. If you dress like a mod or you wear pastel coloured chinos from Topshop and make shit music your fine as well. For those who truly dare to be different life seems just as difficult as the tribal days of the 70s. Thankfully we have Coxon and more importantly The Horrors leading the outsider charge to acceptance.

'Bah Singer' is a chaotic rock n roll ride through the eyes of a ghastly protagonist who scores gear for him and his prostitute. This, the stand-out track on the album, is a post-punk version of a Who song. It has the grandiose drum thrashing of a young Keith Moon and big guitar hooks Pete Townshend would adore. Importantly though, it is not a polished sound like The Who and herein lies the beauty of this tune. We all know that Coxon is a master on the axe and can play whatever he likes. However, his genius lies in letting in his emotions and insecurities into his guitar playing. They allow his songs, 'Bah Singer' in particular, to take on a unique life of their own where every listener can relate their everyday struggles of love, loss and money worries to it. For any fan of metal or classical music, this is what personality sounds like in music. Stick technical proficiency up your arse!

4. Simon Fowler - Merrymouth

2012 saw the return of several Britpop heavyweights with solo albums. Tim Burgess recorded an astonishing album with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, Martin Rossiter produced a stunning solo debut and Graham Coxon came back with his 8^th and best studio album to date. Sitting head and shoulders above all these solo ventures though is Ocean Colour Scene’s singer-songwriter Simon Fowler. His solo debut ‘ Merrymouth’ is an English folk classic to rival any Fairport Convention, John Martyn and Richard Thompson solo album.

Fowler’s love affair with Sandy Denny was made pertinently clear on OCS’ 2004 album ‘North Atlantic Drift’ with his song about her life in Surrey ‘She’s Been Writing’. it is then, a huge shame we had to wait so long for this solo effort as it is a seminal piece of work. ‘Holy Day’ gets right to the heart of his Fairport Convention admiration with a nod to ‘Fotheringay’ and ‘Crazy Man Michael’.

‘The Trees Grow High’ is one of those glorious songs which can suck you in musically. It has a simplicity to it that could lead to reminiscing about a countryside holiday filled with cherished memories. Alas, Fowler is leading you up the garden path. He utilises the folk musicianship of Richard Thompson on  ‘1952 Vincent Black Lightning’ with traditional folk strings that Steeleye Span were famous for to produce a tale about a lad who has passed well before his time:

“At the age of 16 / He was a married man / At the age of 17 / A father to his son / At the age of 18 the moss on his grave was green.”

As the last weekend before Christmas passed, many of us were left listening to Joe Strummer tributes on the radio. On the 10^th anniversary of his passing many stories have been shared about his Clash days and his fantastic lyrics. However, listening to Fowler’s ‘Courthouse Blues’ and ‘In The Midst Of Summertime’ brings Strummer’s love of campfires to mind. In Julian Temple’s brilliant film ‘The Future Is Unwritten’ you can witness Strummer and friends at Glastonbury having the best of times. TT dedicates these two cracking folk tunes to Joe, keep looking out for us all.

The eerie nature ‘Prometheus’ is a subtle nod to another folk legend, John Martyn.  The myth of Prometheus ends horrifically with an eagle tearing his liver out of his chained up body. This song is not quite as sinister but is not far off. It has a haunting sense that the protagonist is playing God and will destroy all that is before him.

It cannot be underestimated how much of a leap Fowler has taken making ‘Merrymouth’.  A Mercury nomination should have been on table. Who among us didn’t expect Alt-J or Django Django to be nominated this year? Any indie with synths and bleeps alongside decent melodies is a shoe in. surely it is far braver and more adventurous to shake off tired mod connections to produce a modern folk classic.

 

3. Darren Hayman & The Long Parliment - The Violence

In 2009 former Hefner singer Darren Hayman embarked on a musical journey to put Essex on the map for cultural reasons other than Towie. He may not have succeeded on a widespread scale but anyone who listens to his Essex trilogy will begin to rethink any preconceptions.

The Violence, the third instalment of this trilogy is the finest to date and is a seminal piece of art. Hayman has taken to 17^th century England for his subject matter on this indie-folk classic. As he regales stories of bigotry, religious zealousness and witch hunts you will be forgiven for relating his lyrics to today’s economic bleakness and the social inequality it breeds. ‘Desire Lines’ professes ‘England’s rotting away / Wasted / Riddled with hate’, whilst the spritely ‘Impossible Times’ states ‘We are alive / Through Impossible Times’. Like any classic Science Fiction film, Hayman’s writing has the knack of commenting on today without actually commenting on it.

The Aforementioned ‘Impossible Times’ deserves a lot of attention. It is a glorious splice of folk-pop told from the point of view of persecuted women in the 17^th century. Hayman’s vocals are the real star of this song, and the album in general. On this track he lends the music’s’ pop tones a fragility and vulnerability which sets the tone for the entire album. Unlike many young artists churning out folk music today, Hayman doesn’t give the impression of this being ‘a phase’ or playing dress up at the charity shop. In the inscribed words of the great Richey Edwards ‘ 4 REAL’.

‘The She Cavaliers’ is an all instrumental effort which could close out any poignant sequence of scenes from any great bleak British drama. It will tug on your heart strings and leave you feeling neglectful to those in need of help at this festive time of year.

‘Rebecca West’ is a magnificent bittersweet track. The enchanting backing vocals kick in immediately and will transport you away to wherever your dreams may lie. A track about a man in love with a prostitute from the middle-ages is not something you would expect to be left smiling at but hell, Hayman’s only gone and done it.

 


If Hayman’s sole intention was to prove Essex has lot of artistic merit to offer the world then he has gone above and beyond that. If this album was by Nick Cave, Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen the album the music press would have wet them self over it. It is about time Mojo, Uncut and Clash magazine woke up and took note of Hayman and his genius. There is a new generation out there of songwriters, whilst he may not be the youngest around, he is new in terms of publicity and quite frankly, more should be done.


2. Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks

Rock psyche has had a glorious renaissance via Tame Impala's 'Lonerism' and Pond's 'Beard Wives Denim' in 2012 but Weller’s ‘Sonik Kicks’ by some distance, the leader of the pack. He’s desire and ability to keep coming back with album after album with new and improved ideas is astonishing.                                                                                                                                                        

 

It is impossible not to love the bubblegum pop of 'Attic', mod by numbers this is not. The collaboration between Weller, Noel Gallagher and Graham Coxon was always going to produce the goods but this is as good as radio friendly pop music gets!

 

To further alienate those that regularly propelled him to number one 30 years ago is the centrepiece 'Study In Blue'. The stand out track of the album is a duet with his wife Hannah which takes classic Tommy McCook dub and Damon Albarn's 'Dr Dee' to create this melodic ganja tinged classic.

 

‘When Your Garden Is Overgrown’ is yet another great pop track. It details what might have happened to Weller’s hero Syd Barrett if he had ditched the callous music industry for travelling around Europe to indulge in his first passion, painting. For anyone who was a fan of Syd (and you all should be) there will be a hollow feeling at the end of this song as to ‘what might have been’. RIP Syd.

 

‘Around The Lake’ brings the darkness to this colourful display of rock-pysche. Whilst he has left his Jam social commentaries and Red Wedge days behind him, his history with politics brings ‘Around The Lake’ meaning far beyond its probable intent. His past lends the song the notion that all is dire and dark in the UK at present.

 

Then there are the tunes ‘Dragonfly’ and ‘Kling I Klang’ which have formed the staple part of the Weller renaissance on the past 3 albums. They are all tinged with the feeling they could go absolutely anywhere and do absolutely anything. Roll on 2013 and another new album from the Modfather.


 

1. Bo Ningen - Line The Wall

Bo Ningen are a Japanese four piece based In London who have been championed by Marc Riley on BBC6 – a public service for which Marc should receive a knighthood, in TT’s humble opinion. They released their self-titled debut album in 2010 and have returned in 2012 to produce what is easily one of the year’s finest albums‘Line The Wall’.

They open their 2^nd helping with rock n roll so desperate and so uncontrollable it won’t just escape into the ether it will lend you a magic carpet to transport you there. The drums on opener ‘Soko’ are pure punk rock to begin with, before cascading into a rock-cum-disco extravaganza not seen since The Music’s self-titled debut. Accompanying these exhilarating beats are the My Bloody Valentine on coke guitar parts which make this a truly barnstorming opener.

Hypnotic vocals and guitar licks are key to this album’s success. Bo Ningem have an ability to create a feeling of tension so daunting it is as though a decade of celibacy has been installed. Henkan and Daikaisei Part 1 are prime examples of this in subtle yet spectacular ways. Henkan utilises mesmerising vocals to lure you in before unleashing a ferocious frenzy of guitars reminiscent of Primal Scream’s paranoia classic ‘XTRMNTR’ album. Then there is the guitar solo. DAMN! It goes one way, then the other, twisting the listener inside out. It’s the kind of genius which we pray John Squire can produce on the Roses’ comeback album next year. Meanwhile Daikaisei Part 1 hooks you in with a nod to T-Rex’s ‘Get It On’before evolving into a synth laden Pink Floyd epic to take you into a state of euphoria.

‘Shin Ichi’is another track which resembles Primal Scream’s ‘XTRMNTR’ era. Couple this with a Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘Date With Night’ sounding riff and Bo Ningen have conjured yet more magic. Only one word can aptly describe this tune: filth. It reeks of sex dugs and degradation without a hangover or the accompanying regrets in sight.

Rock pyschadelia has made welcome return in 2012 from various factions. Tame Imapla made it great and complex with ‘Lonerism’, Weller made it poptastic on ‘Sonik Kicks’this year and Richard Hawley made it harrowing on his bereavement based album‘Standing On The Sky’s Edge’. However, Daikessi Part 2 is rock psyche at its most potent. It sounds death defying and carefree like all good rock music should and puts the great James Dean imagery and symbolism back into rock music. It doesn’t feel like a career with regular 1-2-1 meetings with your supervisor, a feeling we are often left with by Coldplay and The Killers. In a week where Led Zeppelin have dominated the music press for the release of‘Celebration Day’ people should take heed of this ‘Whole Lotta Love’ inspired tune and recognise the future is still unwritten.

You may have noticed we haven’t commented on the lyrics in this review. This is a deliberately lazy ploy by TT. The feeling Bo Ningen gave us was so pure and primal on first listen and after 10 or 12 plays it was still having the same effect. It took us to levels of hysteria that had us all frantically re-writing our favourite albums of the year and decade alike. Due the powerful way in which the album moved us, we felt it best to leave their lyrics in the realm of the unknown to add to the mystique their music has built up. We do not implore anyone to do the same but we do urge you all to purchase this glorious demonstration of acid rock ‘n’ roll.