So here we are, the albums that made the cut for the year…
Number 10
Sounds Like the End of the World: Stages of Delusion
Sounds Like the End of the World is a 5-piece instrumental post-rock outfit, recently formed, from Gdansk, Poland. I had never heard of them, until one of them (or maybe their manager, I forget) popped up in my Facebook chat with a link. So I checked them out and pretty much liked what I heard.
They tend to play at the more sedate end of post-rock, and that tends not to be my favourite part of the genre, but they can turn on the heavy when they want to, enriching the guitar/bass/drum sound with keyboards which adds an nice textural element to their sound. However, after a while it does begin to all sound similar, and I find that my attraction to the music depends on my mood. Sometimes it does not work, and sometimes it does. For that reason the album was in and out of the Top 10 like a yoyo, until I finally decided that it really is more satisfying to listen to than the other contender for the spot. And I certainly enjoy it more than most of the stuff I have heard this year.
Number 9
John Wesley: Disconnect
I was quite pleasantly surprised by this album when it came out. I really had no idea what to expect, I knew of Wesley only as the fifth “unofficial” member of Porcupine Tree and as tour guitarist for part of Steven Wilson’s Grace for Drowning tour. The album is a collection of nice mid-length guitar-based rock songs, with very strong melodies and great hooks, and I played it quite a bit when I first got it. I often found myself earwormed by more than one of the songs.
That initial strong interest didn’t last, and I don’t return to the album much lately. However, when I do–usually intending to play only one or two tracks–I end up staying for the whole album. I’m not drawn to hearing it, but I enjoy it when I do, which says something I guess.
Number 8
Knifeworld: The Unravelling
Led by Cardiacs alumni Kavus Torabi and Melanie Woods, Knifeworld straddles a world of music both familiar and weird: a raucus mix of psychedelia and the RIO sensibilities of Robert Wyatt, Henry Cow, and maybe even some of the fringier Canterbury scene. They are enthusiastic, wide-ranging, delivering fascinatingly lush and technical songs that move from frantic jazzy rock dense with horns and vocals, to alien-sounding musings on lost friends. It may all be a bit too quirky for its own good, but there is something about the album that draws me in. Accomplished, with some truly inspired moments in amongst the strangeness, enough to elevate it into the low end of the top 10.
Number 7
Rival Sons: Great Western Valkyrie
Well now here’s a surprise. Straight-up country-flavoured rock with more than a passing nod to Led Zep and other classic acts. I’m not the biggest fan of classic rock, I tend more to sample than to immerse, so I am rather surprised at how much I took to this album. This is pure rock ‘n’ roll done right, with a hot southern tang, romping and joyful, straight up and without pretension. The singer’s influences are clear, but they work, the lyrics might border on cheesy at times, but that’s okay, they mostly work too. This is pure, hard-working, fun music, and I have a feeling these guys are on the cusp of becoming huge.
Number 6
Tuber: Desert Overcrowded
This album from the four-piece Greek post-metal outfit is technically last year’s release, but I got it very late in December of 2013 so there was no way it could make last year’s list. And I liked it so much that I decided to just slide it on over into this year.
Now this is the kind of post-rock that grabs me: instrumental, heavy as all fuck, dense with guitar and bass, atmospheric and driving—even their more sedate tracks have the dark intensity and escalating tension that is a big feature of their music. The fact that I have been listening to it for a year and I still like it so much is a good sign it belongs on my list. It’s not a long album, barely 45 minutes, but that’s okay: it is better to run short than to run overlong and risk sounding repetitious – which I find tends to be the main downside to post-rock.
Stuff like this reminds me why I love instrumental music: I think it takes more than a little skill to properly grab attention and convey mood and meaning without any words at all. I haven’t spent as much time as I should on their earlier releases, but checking those out is definitely on my list.
