Thomas Blake

Frog’s Daniel Bateman is (still) one of the world’s finest, most singularly gifted songwriters. 1000 Variations on the Same Song might dip liberally into America’s grimy gutters or get its sustenance from heartbreak, but I still can’t listen without a giant lunatic grin.

Jim Ghedi’s ‘Wasteland’, for all its anger and anguish, provides us with many moments of beauty. It is a timely reminder of the potency of art in a world that seems to be turning uglier by the day, and it might just be Ghedi’s masterpiece.

Given the solitude in which it was written, Midsummer Tideline is a surprisingly sociable album, full of warmth and the vigour of shared creativity, and it adds yet another string to Ian Humberstone’s already impressive bow. 

Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra’s ‘Forest Party’ and ‘Noodle’ are fearsomely eclectic albums. Genre boundaries dissolve, and everything is suspended freely, creating its own universe with all the randomness and beautiful chaos it implies. He proves that home can exist wherever there is hope and community.

End of the Middle, as its name suggests, might mark the closing chapter of a particular phase in Richard Dawson’s career, but it does so with panache and potency, proof that he is still the most gifted and generous of songwriters.

The latest Folklore Tapes Ceremonial Counties series features a satanic brew from dbh and The Dark Pool that most contemporary stoner rock bands would sacrifice their grandmothers for and a satisfyingly devilish and wholly fitting companion piece from the Primitive Percussion Youth Orchestra.

The abiding characteristic of Speilstillevariasjoner is its sense of wholeness. This is music that constantly has its eyes wide open, both in wonder and in anticipation of the next new and interesting path. Stein Urheim has again proved himself to be Norway’s premier musical explorer.

For all its apparent familiarity, The Purple Bird is a country record that nobody else could have possibly made. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is still doing things entirely his own way, and he sounds as good as ever. Long may it continue.

David Allred understands that negative emotions are defined by their positive flipsides and vice versa, and his music reflects that understanding. The pieces on ‘The Beautiful World’ are emotionally complex but admirably light of touch…its quiet power is nothing short of amazing.

While the latest in the Ceremonial County Series is entirely wordless, both convey striking and very different stories: Bridget Hayden’s mythic and haunting, Daniel Weaver’s inevitable and personal. Rarely can so much have been said, and so eloquently, in half an hour of instrumental music.

Compter Les Dents strengthens the notion that Tartine de Clous’ music is something shared, something that exists in the world with lasting meaning. It’s so refreshing to hear music that is not overtly performative and not intended primarily as a product to be consumed.

Everything The Memory Band do, however varied, is done to a high level. Their music is always interesting, often strange, and usually beautiful, and A Common Treasury is the perfect place to hear it.