2023 - This Year In Music Part I

 

Like every year I do the same as many other among us and take a look back on the musical year. I have to admit that this year was another good year for new music although older bands released some great albums. 

Let's start with a compilation that brought me back music from more than 30 years ago. In 1989 almost the same happened like 10 years ago when punk and new wave turned the music I listened upside down. Young people round Manchester detected the dancefloor with guitar based music and established remixes forever. Come Together: Adventures On The Indie Dancefloor is another excellent compilation by Cherry Red and shows how great music was made at this time. 

A few years ago Cologne's Kompakt label started a compilation series called Velvet Dessert Music. Two months ago they released Chapter 3 where relaxed guitar music meets western meets South American music elements. It's one of those records I used to listen to in the late evening.

After a longer hiatus Everything But The Girl came back with Fuse, an album showing the ability by Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt to write great songs. The songs are more focused on the dancefloor like before but Tracey's voice makes them extraordinary.

Monday's Long Song

 

During the last years I posted long songs but seldom really long songs. It took a long time until I was remembered that in 1994 a song was released who also deserves this predicate. Before there were Two Lone Swordsmen there were Andrew Weatherall with The Sabres Of Paradise who produced the epic first album by One Dove and remixed everything from Björk to New Order. One of them was James. Jam J was an improbable single from their underrated album Wah Wah. The Sabres remixed this album track in a wobble-esque style into a 33 minute long sprawling epic of a remix broken up into four movements. The beat never stops and it seems more a DJ-set than a remix. If you are into dubby techno or ambient dub you shouldn't miss this gem.

Marijuana

 

Nottingham's Dj's and producers are back with a new song, a one that I never expected in this way. They still riding the Balearic sound but now Rolo McGinty joined them. McGinty is well known for his work with The Woodentops in the 80's and probably one of the first ones that opened his sounds for electronic music. And this collaboration works well because Rolo McGinty's deep voice and acoustic framework fits perfect to Coyote's slo-mo beats. 

Phonox Nights

 

It is done. Yesterday was my last day of work for this year and in a few days I'll be boarding the plane at this time every year to spend the next few weeks in Sri Lanka. Until then I will finish some works that I should have done earlier, finishing my year-end list and preparing some posts. Last week I got the news that Woodleigh Research Facility released Phonox Nights, the final result of the long time collaboration between Nina Walsh and Andrew Weatherall. Beginning with the slick acid majesty of the piercing title track, where Andrew plays ethereal synth lines on Nina's coaxing, Phonox Nights crowns the pair's 30-year creative relationship with their masterpiece.

Jamcod

 

Yesterday the news arrived that The Jesus And Mary Chain will release a new album next year. JMAC were 40 years ago the band that had a massive influence in today's music with their combination of noise, feedback and sweet hooks. I was excited what they could offer after all those years. The album's first single, jamcod, combines dark electronic sounds with the huge guitar sound that can only come from William Reid, creating an instant Mary Chain classic that is also undeniably fresh and radical. Listening to them, I have an ambivalent feeling and I can't decide whether they are great or whether it's just another time for them to show how great they can be. In any case, it will be interesting to see what the rest of the album brings.

It was not able to embed the video in this post - so here is the link to the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3_NOCiRbII

One Up From Five

 

Another great piece of music was released at the end of the week by London's tici taci label. A few songs by Sons Of Slough, a band featuring label owner Duncan Gray and Ian Weatherall. It is the result of a preparation for Convenanza festival this year. This one shows another time how great electronic music can be. A steady beat mixed with synth snippets for a short excursion in another sphere. Not to bad to start into the Sunday with a cup of good coffee.

Monday's Long Song

 

Last Friday Jesse Fahnestock released his latest output Other Skies a collaboration with singer Emilia Harmony. Regular visitors know that I like the music of Jesse Fahnestock and featured him at these pages several times. The whole year saw him busy with several releases but this one is ace and will surely appear in my year ends list. As he said he tried to be like Primal Scream on Higher Than The Sun or The Doves on Fallen. And yes he fulfilled everything you can expect. Other Skies is dominated by a pumping bass and a psychedelic mist. How to make a great song better is showed by Sean Johnson and Duncan Gray on their Hardway Bros Meet Monkton Uptown mix when they added a lot of dub to this song. The original and other version can be listened to here. A little masterpiece