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2014 Albums & Gigs of the Year


Gene_Clark
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ok, ignoring the albums, we'll look at the bands i went to see....

 

The Pop Group - reformed after a 30-odd year hiatus; new album & world tour happening in 2015
Penetration - sell out wherever they play; part of the fairly lucrative punk nostalgia scene, though Pauline has got an album of new stuff ready to be recorded
The Band of Holy Joy - extremely enduring Brechtian style bohemian ensemble, singer Johny is from Shields & a lifelong NUFC fan - he sang in first punk band I ever saw (Speed, Aug 77, what is now Newcastle Playhouse)
The Mekons - original Leeds DIY punks & post Gramscian country cow punks, now relocated to Chicago - still release albums
The Pastels - the definitive C86 band; released "Slow Summits" in 2013 & gig infrequently as they run a record store & label, as well as a cafe bar in Glasgow
Lindisfarne - unashamed nostalgia; sold out 3 nights, that's 7,500 tickets.....
Midlake - touring "Antiphon" album after a line-up change - was sold out
British Sea Power - surely no intro needed? experimenting with 28 piece brass band to reinterpret their back catalogue, after 2013's "Magnificent Machineries of Joy" album - sold out Durham & 3/4 filled Sage Hall 1
The Wedding Present - see previous post; sold out Cluny
Vic Godard - enduring Subway Sect front man; certainly an obscure, acquired taste, but the Football League Show often use "Ambition" as part of their background music
Death Shanties - obscure free jazz
Fairport Convention - the founders of English folk rock; remained almost unchanged in style if not personnel since 1967
Pete Wylie - ex Wah! front man on solo, acoustic tour

 

 

Gene, if you've not heard them you need to find:

Consumer Complaints by Shopping; contemporary London post-punk band.

Fuck Off by Good Throb; contemporary London punk band.

 

There have been some great albums this year;

R I S I N G The Straight Arrows

Seeds TV on the Radio

Pretty Harry Howards and the NDE

Gold Nights White Hex

Closing Forever Sky Firekites

Drop Thee Oh Sees

Sway Whirr

Under Color of Official Right Protomartyr

All Happening Now I, II & III Adam Franklin

Cartographer/Explorer Ormonde

Pavor Nocturnus The Night Terrors

Plus Shopping and The Good Throbs.

 

Best gig was The Hard Ons 30th anniversary, with Ty Segall a close 2nd.

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Gene, if you've not heard them you need to find:

Consumer Complaints by Shopping; contemporary London post-punk band.

Fuck Off by Good Throb; contemporary London punk band.

 

There have been some great albums this year;

R I S I N G The Straight Arrows

Seeds TV on the Radio

Pretty Harry Howards and the NDE

Gold Nights White Hex

Closing Forever Sky Firekites

Drop Thee Oh Sees

Sway Whirr

Under Color of Official Right Protomartyr

All Happening Now I, II & III Adam Franklin

Cartographer/Explorer Ormonde

Pavor Nocturnus The Night Terrors

Plus Shopping and The Good Throbs.

 

Best gig was The Hard Ons 30th anniversary, with Ty Segall a close 2nd.

 

on Shopping now - it's Au Pairs meets Delta 5 - exactly my original era loves; it could be Rough Trade 79.....

 

also enjoyed Wave Pictures & Fallen Leaves, who i presume you're keen on

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What did you think of the holy bible gig?

 

About as expected tbh (in a good way, mainly). I liked that they kept it stripped back to the three of them for the entire THB set, made it all suitably dark and angular (thought Mausoleum and Intense Humming were particularly good, plus the usual pogo-tastic highlights of course). Second set, well, they're Coldplay with better tunes nowadays and fair play to them. What did you reckon?

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Might give the nod to the Antlers' "Familiars" for best album. Best gig is a straight scrap between Sarah Jarosz and Sturgill Simpson.

 

Aye, Familiars is a lush album. One of the few times where an indie band is actually starting to sound better with a bigger budget. Though, they're not really "indie" but you know what I mean.

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About as expected tbh (in a good way, mainly). I liked that they kept it stripped back to the three of them for the entire THB set, made it all suitably dark and angular (thought Mausoleum and Intense Humming were particularly good, plus the usual pogo-tastic highlights of course). Second set, well, they're Coldplay with better tunes nowadays and fair play to them. What did you reckon?

I loved it but I would say that really.

 

I do get the view that they've toned it down but I would argue that they always did have the stadium/Queen/Coldplay however you want to put it in them anyway. It's not as if the early albums didn't have stuff like Motorcycle Emptiness, Little Baby Nothing and even Yes on THB to illustrate that.

 

I do consider my fan-ship of them to be a bit like my liking of U2 - I can take or leave some of the recent output but as long as they keep touring "the classics" I'll be there - I have booked up for the Cardiff Castle gig in June.

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I loved it but I would say that really.

 

I do get the view that they've toned it down but I would argue that they always did have the stadium/Queen/Coldplay however you want to put it in them anyway. It's not as if the early albums didn't have stuff like Motorcycle Emptiness, Little Baby Nothing and even Yes on THB to illustrate that.

 

I do consider my fan-ship of them to be a bit like my liking of U2 - I can take or leave some of the recent output but as long as they keep touring "the classics" I'll be there - I have booked up for the Cardiff Castle gig in June.

 

saw them in aug 91 (missed the Flowered Up support the year before) & they came on to a backing tape of Ginsberg's "Howl" - very atmospheric & all that....

 

shame they sounded like The Lurkers.......

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I've been to quite a few gigs this year but I was too pissed to remember them, the worst being going to see Foals in Manchester, losing all my mates and my phone dying, missing the last bus home and sleeping on a park bench before getting the first train home and being caked in mud because I kept falling over in said park, moral of the story I'm going to take it easy in 2015.

 

In terms of being impressed and I can remember it Royal Blood were really good so were Bombay Bicycle club when I was in Berlin.

 

This thread just makes me sad at the lack of gigs I've got lined up, must correct this.

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