Favourite Listening of 2013

As someone with a lifelong passion for searching out and savouring new, interesting and exciting music it's always instructive at the end of the year to identify those albums that I have most reached for in the last 12 months.

 

In no particular order, they are:

Olivia Chaney: Olivia Chaney (EP)  Even though I am continually trying new music it is usually several years between those full-on "hair standing up on the back of the neck" moments. Ms Chaney is responsible for the latest of these, being an astonishing singer and instrumentalist who simply has to sit down at a piano and get stuck in to hold you in her hand. Elegant and slightly classical in feel, with mostly traditional/folk style (but highly original in content) song material it manages to be both simple and spellbinding. Exasperatingly, given her obvious talents, Chaney has for some years remained almost wilfully inaccessible - preferring to play many random supporting roles for other better-known (but possibly not better) performers rather than release any albums of her own, or tour solo. This EP contains just five songs and is stunning, and is clearly a kind of holding action in the face of growing pressure to do more. Unfortunately it's so good that pressure is now likely to rise noticeably to get that first proper album out! Rumour has it she has finally signed a deal to do such a thing in 2014, fingers crossed!

Katy Carr: Paszport  Katy Carr is half-English, half-Polish and seemed to arrive in the music worlds consciousness about 18 months ago - mainly as a result of this captivating and moving album (though its predecessor Coquette is arguably just as good). Paszport tells the wartime exploits of various Polish protagonists in varied and engaging ways, demonstrating Carrs huge musical versatility in the process - it is utterly involving from start to finish, including the sound of a Spitfire flypast on one track! Carr is a qualified pilot (something I read suggested an ex-RAF pilot), has a band called the Aviators, and is always immaculately dressed in 1940s vintage fashion. She spends a lot of time performing to Polish audiences both in Poland and the UK, and I continue to try and triangulate on a live performance I can attend. One to savour when it happens.

Helene Blum: En Gang Og Altid  Danish singer Helene Blum is stunning in both appearance (well someone has to say it) and in terms of what she is capable of vocally. Although sung entirely in Danish this debut album from 2008 remains my favourite for being more lively, varied and just plain beautiful than the two more measured subsequent albums I have (Christmas album Liden Sol and Men med abne Ojne) which are still very satisfying but in more of a slow-growing sort of way. Blum is married to fiendishly talented fiddler Harald Haugaard and the two have toured the UK regularly in recent years, generally playing in small village halls and churches. The prospect of seeing them perform in such a venue is very enticing; frustratingly I have yet to be able to make the date/place combinations on offer - but hopefully next time...

The Jimmy Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland  Well, how did I get to my age without doing Hendrix justice? I thing it's a measure of how much wonderful music there is out there that the temptation is to ignore the big obvious stuff and seek out the embarrassment of well hidden riches. This would be played even more if I didn't have to wait for the neighbours to go out first, so I can put the volume up to where it has to be. This is guitar playing that will never be surpassed, and to think I now have the rest of his back-catalogue to discover!

Lisa Knapp: Hidden Seam  This is Lisa Knapp's second album, a solid 7 years after her very promising first (Wild and Undaunted), and it confirms she is on her own very special and creative trajectory and not "just another folk singer". This album is so full of highlights, and lacks a duff track, that it's hard to pick out just one. I love the simplicity of the Shipping Song, based on the BBC shipping forecast, which burrows into your head - never to leave, and a number of other songs are similarly captivating and memorable (like the best (or worst?!) pop songs). Innovation is everywhere so that despite an underpinning traditional ethos this is highly engaging, accessible and entertaining throughout. Seeing Lisa and talented husband Gerry Diver performing recently in a very small, modest venue was a joy, the highlight being an extraordinary rendition of the Shipping Song.

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake  Released in 2010, this is an album I will continue to play regularly for a long time to come. That it would win the Mercury prize was a given for me as soon as I heard it was on the shortlist - it is so powerful and untouchable, and clearly the pinnacle of PJs output to date. Focusing on Britain's military history and the brutal realities of war and its legacies, it is pretty important, relevant stuff that everyone should engage with. That it was recorded in a country church, yards from where my grandparents are buried, adds considerable personal poignancy. I also recommend the DVD version of this album that contains 12 short films by Seamus Murphy to accompany the songs. Given the powerful nature of the songs it seems unlikely the films should work - but they really do.