It’s time again to compile a list of my standout albums of this year. Ideally, this will be a diverse bunch, ranging across musical styles and genres, but I fear improvised (of course) soundscapes and drones may monopolise…
Bill Orcutt – Jump on It (Palilalia)
Bill’s first acoustic album since his VDSQ release in 2014 is also his most mellow, channelling the shimmering, more meditative spirit of his most recent solo electric release, Odds Against Tomorrow, rather than the more unhinged character of How the Thing Sings. The results are always compelling and frequently beautiful.
Try: A Natural Death
Liam Grant – Amoskeag (Carbon Records / Feeding Tube Records)
Liam’s follow-up to Swung Heavy, itself a cracking homage to guitarists influencing his career to date, improves upon it in just about every way. Here, long-form raga-style pieces like the title track mix with weird tunes, like Kenduskaeg or Last Night on Dead River, a piece of cinematic strangeness featuring Mike Gangloff. Ace.
Try: Last Night on Dead River
BCMC – Foreign Smokes (Drag City)
It was a tight call between this and Black Duck, Bill Mackay’s trio album released earlier this year. Both are great records, but this haunts my speaker more. BCMC has Bill on guitar again, with Cooper Crain creating textures with organ and synths. A minimalist sound beguiles across four tracks, inviting and rewarding close listening. Glorious.
Try: Sunset Saturn
Juni Habel – Carvings (Ba Da Bing!)
Carvings is the sound of an artist existing comfortably in their own musical skin. Juni feels no need to over-embellish her already gorgeous songs, so for the most part, all that can be heard is her clear, emotive voice and nylon string guitar picking. This unfussy sound beautifully conjures images of rural Norway, where the album was created and where Juni resides.
Try: Rhythm of the Tides
Daniel Bachman – When the Roses Come Again (Three Lobed Recordings)
Daniel’s choice to focus this tightly conceived project around the sound of an old Appalachian banjo and home made mouth harp gives it a clarity and sharpness that the sprawling Morning Star and Axacan avoided and Almanac Behind hinted at. Following on from those (also great) audio collages, this is his most assured and, importantly, sonically pleasing of the lot.
Try: Someone Straying, Long Delaying
Setting – Shone a Rainbow Light On (Paradise of Bachelors)
Like Foreign Smokes, Shone a Rainbow Light On’s structure is four long-form songs, steadily building textures, this time with drones at the forefront. Obvious references are Pelt and Mind over Mirrors, but there are hints of Natural Information Society here too. Ultimately though, this trio of Nathan Bowles, Jaime Fennelly and Joe Westerlund are ploughing their own furrow.
Try: A Sun Harp
Xylouris White – The Forest in Me (Drag City)
I didn’t think this exciting, unusual duo would again hit the subtle, intimate perfection of their debut album, but this delicately produced small masterpiece surpasses it. Their only album recorded remotely, it brims with ideas and is unafraid to leave songs unpolished and almost still in their embryonic stage. Quietly bold and adventurous music.
Try: Memories and Souvenirs
John Fahey – Proofs and Refutations (Drag City)
There is something brilliantly mischievous about this cracking posthumous record by the ultimate badass of American instrumental acoustic guitar music. Mixing totally bonkers voice pieces like All the Rains with beautifully handled solo acoustic songs (both Morning tracks), this bold album should probably not work, but my word it does.
Try: Morning (Pt. 2)
Salt House – Riverwoods (Hudson Records)
This fantastic trio album from Lauren Maccoll, Ewan Macpherson and Jenny Sturgeon followed on from a documentary of the same name, focusing on the decline of salmon numbers in Scottish rivers. As well as a pertinent topic, the music itself is wonderful and impeccably performed, with instrumental and vocal-led tunes blending seamlessly. Spellbinding.
Try: The Dipper
Steve Gunn & David Moore – Reflections Vol. 1: Let the Moon be a Planet (RVNG Intl.)
A formula involving two top-end musicians, improvisations, nylon string guitar and piano turns out to be an unsurprising success. New Yorkers Gunn and Moore’s approach to this one was to simply create, without the parameters of an album initially in mind. The resulting set has a lightness of touch, a loose and intimate character and is quietly confident and wonderful to hear.
Try: Paper Moon
Editor’s note: This is the first of several top 10 lists from our core review team. There will also be a Top 100 Albums list and other end-of-year lists. Click here to see the latest lists.