Live at Leeds 2012: REVIEW

This is now the second urban festival I've attended in Leeds. Unlike Damnation, however, Live at Leeds has a focus on indie bands/unsigned artists, so I'd only heard of about 5 of the artists on the 100+ strong roster. That in mind, I put on my best lens-less Ray Bans, grew out a horrendous twiddly moustache, cut my hair so I looked like I was in the Hitler Youth and set out for a day of being a massive pretentious faggot.

Arrival (0945, Leeds Railway Station):

Coming into Leeds about 9:45, we (me and my friend Callum) meandered our way to the wristband exchange at Leeds Met Uni. Whereas Damnation took place entirely in three rooms, Live at Leeds was spread out over 10 different venues across the city, including standards such as The Cockpit and the O2 Academy, mixed up with some smaller, more intimate venues like The Faversham and The Well. So what you do when you arrive is get your ticket exchanged for a wristband, which you only need to show at the door to get access to these various venues. By the time we'd got our wristbands there was still something like 2 hours to go until the first band started, so we went for a leisurely walk around Leeds, where Callum bought his first lunch of the day. After we'd checked out some record shops (including one that looked like the kind of place you'd buy drugs from), it was time for the music to begin.

British Daylight (1200, Milo's):

Technically, the first band of the day was at a bar called Milo's (though this was free for anyone, not just wristband holders so I guess it doesn't really count), so we figured we'd go check them out. British Daylight are one of the multitude of bands that have emerged from cities in Yorkshire riding on the success of The Arctic Monkeys. Predictably their entire set consisted of about three chords and a singer who does little more than shout the lyrics in his thick Leeds accent. We quickly decided that this was kind of wank so we moved on. By this time the festival was about to begin proper, so we headed to The Cockpit for the first actual band of the day...

I Call Shotgun (1230, The Cockpit 3):

I still didn't have a programme at this point, so I knew exactly nothing about the band who were setting up their gear in front of me and had no idea what to expect. What I got was synthpop-influenced indie rock with more than a little wubwubwub from the keyboard player. Surprisingly, it worked extremely well and I found myself merrily bopping along to songs such as "Mourning Mass" and "Positive Chord Changes For Impressionable Young White Girls" (you can tell just from the names that this is an indie festival, can't you?). Anyway, their 20-minute or so set got the fesitval off to a good start. After bunping into some friends who promptly jumped into a taxi and sped off to the other side of the city to see Chew Lips, Callum and I were left trying to decide who to see next.

Cave Birds (1400, Holy Trinity Church):

We first stopped off at Subway where I had some soup and Callum had lunch #2, after which we headed back to the wristband exchange to grab some programmes. We went to see Cave Birds partly out of curiosity of the venue (an 18th century church) and partly because we had no idea who any of the other bands were that were playing at the time, so we essentially closed our eyes and jabbed the timetable at random. However, as I write this it's Monday afternoon, almost exactly 48 hours after we saw the band, and I cannot for the life of me remember what they sounded like. Fortunately I wrote a few thoughts into my phone after every band I saw, and the note for Cave Birds read thus: "Pleasant if forgettable pop rock not helped by acoustics and annoying backing singer." The acoustics of the church (as far as I'm aware) weren't really suited to the kind of band they are so I didn't find it all that great. We ducked out just as they were playing their last song.

Garnets (1430, The Cockpit 3):

I spotted this while leafing through the programme during the boring Cave Birds set. Since I like me a bit of post rock now and again, we hurried to The Cockpit in order to catch Garnets. Though they got off to a shaky start due to some sound problems, they played some extremely good contemplative post rock. However, there seemed to be a hen party going on behind us which made it nigh on impossible to concentrate on the music and just about ruined the set for me, so we left about halfway through in search of something a bit more crowd-oriented (I didn't let this reflect badly on the band though, the music they were playing was great, but post rock tends to be best suited for listening alone in a darkened room. I'm definitely going to check them out some other time though). After this we headed once again to the wristband exchange (I think this time it was to enquire about merchandise). We stuck around for a bit this time though, as just around the corner at Leeds Met Back Room, the first band of the day I'd actually heard of were playing...

Deaf Club (1515, Leeds Met Back Room):

Unfortunately we arrived about halfway through Deaf Club's set, but the remainder of it was fairly representative of what they'd been playing up until then. Although the programme described them as "Skeletal, ethereal indie," what I heard was a female-fronted Disintegration-era Cure. Big, echoey drums and soul-in-turmoil vocals (not quite as intense as Robert Smith but depressive all the same) were the order of the day here, and what I heard sounded brilliant. And in a stroke of luck, the band are playing in York at the end of the month. Score. The next band I wanted to see after Deaf Club didn't start until 5, so we had some time to kill in which we went to Bagel Nash for snacks, and Callum had lunch #3. By this point it was about 4:15, and since said band were playing at The Well on the other side of the city, we set off in order to give ourselves ample time to arrive.

Wot Gorilla? (1700, The Well):

Admittedly, the only reason I'd listened to Wot Gorilla? prior to Live at Leeds was I noticed their name on the lineup when they were first announced sometime in March, and how the band were named after a Genesis song. Oddly enough, the music shares some similarities to Genesis, because Wot Gorilla? a jingly-jangly math rock band, so they thrive on bizarre time signatures, polyrhythms and poly-polyrhythms. Prog this ain't though, and one or two of the songs even had soft indie breakdowns, which actually fit in extremely well. I was that impressed by their half-hour set that I picked up the EP they were selling afterwards. The next band I wanted to see were also at The Well at 6, so we hung around a were treated to a singer-songwriter interlude in the pub area of the venue. She did an acoustic cover of a Jessie J song and one she'd written herself about the music industry, both of which were pleasant enough but not really of note. She probably performed more songs but we didn't hear them as we headed back into the room with the stage in order to get a good spot to see...

Post War Glamour Girls (1800, The Well):

Back at the end of March I went to see O. Children in Leeds, and PWGG were one of the supports. I didn't really pay them much attention because they were playing quite far away and were encroaching on valuable beer time for me and my friend Rob. I saw them at Live at Leeds in a much different setting, and in actually giving them my full attention I found out how good they were. Reminiscent of some of the more coherent stuff Tom Waits has done over the years but with back-and-forth male/female vocals (the former periodically going all out and screaming in a similar way to Mr. Waits himself) and quite strong blues riffs. Definitely one I need to look out for in the future. Following this we left the well where we spotted the day's only thrash band hanging around smoking. We headed back to The Cockpit, to see a band I'd (albeit indirectly) heard of before.

S.C.U.M (1900, The Cockpit 1)

Given that we'd been in Leeds at this indie festival for something like 9 hours by this point, I was surprised that S.C.U.M were the first band I'd seen to which I though "Hey! This sounds a lot like Joy Division". Having only previously heard of them thanks to Last.FM's 'related artists' feature, (they're only two clicks away from O. Children) I thought I may as well give them a listen. What I got was exactly what I expected: Post-punk. I didn't think it was all that, but Callum liked it and it helped pass the time as there weren't many artists between PWGG and the next band I wanted to see at 10. So we took a little food break in which I had McDonalds and Callum had dinner #1 before setting off to meet up the aforementioned friends who were currently Ladyhawke at the O2 Academy.

Interlude (1945-2200):

We did briefly go into the O2 Academy to check out Ladyhawke, but it was crowded and noisy and I got yelled at by a drunk guy near the merch stall so we decided it wasn't worth it and promptly left to wait outside. When that act finished we met up with the friends we were waiting for, half of which had some crazy idea of seeing Alt-J at the Holy Trinity Church then somehow travelling all the way to Brudenell Social Club in time to catch Dog is Dead. The other half of this group, Callum, and I decided that was a terrible idea so instead elected to see This Many Boyfriends at The Faversham, partly because it was close to Leeds Uni Stylus which was where the final band I wanted to see were playing. We got ever-so-slightly lost while walking to The Faversham and just as we arrived, the band started. We stuck around for all of five minutes before declaring them terrible and deciding to make our way to the Uni in order to get a good place for the last act of the evening (for Callum and I, anyway).

Los Campesinos! (2200, Leeds Uni Stylus):

This provided an interesting contrast to the last band I saw play on this stage: Shining, the experimental jazz/black metal band from Norway at Damnation. Los Campesinos! are a 7-piece indie pop band, who recently have moved away from their ultra-twee roots towards something slower and more contemplative. I've seen LC! once before (at The Cockpit, incidentally), and the setlist this time round was more or less the same, just a little trimmed down to fit within an hour. Still, they performed most of their best songs, with the same amount of energy and heart-on-sleeve emotion as before. And this energy was confirmed when a member of the audience jumped up on the stage and stole the keyboard player's notebook (of all things), to which the singer responded by wading into the crowd, grabbing the thief by the head and yelling some song lyrics directly at him. Said thief looked suitably horrified. So this was a brilliant way to close what I thought was a brilliant festival, and were I not in another county altogether come next May, I would go to again.

Album Roundup: Q1 2012

The first three months of 2012 have been relatively quiet insofar as music releases have been concerned - at least, they have for me. Here's a summary of the new albums I've heard this year, as well as a preview of things to come. So without further ado:

Paul Cusick - P'Dice [9th Jan]

A good second attempt that doesn't quite match up to the first yet somehow bewilderingly features the drumming talents of the drummer from the band Cusick is content to rip off so frequently. Read my full review here. [7]

Everything

Similar: Roger Waters, Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd

Anneke Van Giersbergen - Everything is Changing [20th Jan]

Although she first came to my attention as "the girl on that Devin Townsend album", it turned out that the Dutch singer has an extensive career in her own right. Formerly the singer of goth metal/prog rock outfit The Gathering, her recent solo work has taken a more pop-rock-oriented direction, and this new album is more of that. Beginning with the lead single "Feel Alive", the tone is set from the start as one that is positive yet introspective. Still, her relationship with metal is not entirely forgotten here, and a few tracks exhibit guitar work which one may even be inclined to call riffs. Still, the album as a whole is enjoyable to listen to, even if there are no immediate standout tracks. [7]

Feel Alive
Similar: The Gathering, Tarja

Savage Messiah - Plague of Conscience [23rd Jan]

A horribly boring power/thrash metal album hardly worth the effort of a free download. Read my full review here. [3]

Six Feet Under the Gun
Similar: Symphony X, Evile, Helloween

Napalm Death - Utilitarian [13th Feb]

I'll admit that up until recently I wasn't too keen on Napalm Death. I'd listened to "Scum" a few times and didn't think it was all that (an opinion which I'm aware is considered heresy on this blog), but then I borrowed "Time Waits For No Slave" off a friend and I was introduced to the world of 21st-Century Napalm Death. "TWfNS" was fantastic, so I was pretty excited when news of a new album reached me. Now, although most of this album is standard deathgrind fare (a.k.a, holocaust in a washing machine), the band have attempted to spice things up a bit with a doomy opening instrumental, a saxophone freakout courtesy of John Zorn on "Everyday Pox", and deep, throaty chanting on "Fall on Their Swords". Tracks like this help to split up the album - which, at 45 minutes, is pretty damn long by grindcore standards - into more manageable chunks. So this is Napalm Death doing what they do best, and it will not disappoint you. [9]

Quarantined (only a minute-long preview unfortunately)

Similar: Terrorizer, Nasum, Brutal Truth

Miike Snow - Happy to You [13th Mar]

Miike Snow's eponymous 2009 début was a chirpy indie synthpop album that I developed an unexpected liking for. However, the Swedish trio's second serving seems to have missed the mark somewhat. One thing I liked about the previous album was that a lot of the songs were actually catchy, something the band seemed to have overlooked here in lieu of trying to make the production sound even cleaner than last time. But this is ultimately self-detrimental, as "Happy to You" is not as good as the previous album by a long shot. [4]

Paddling Out

Similar: Passion Pit, Friendly Fires, Calvin Harris

Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks [19th Mar]

What Paul Weller thinks: "pop-art punch with soulful communication, jazzy explorations into psychedelia and dub with razor-sharp melodies, abstract soundscapes with clear-eyed forest-folk". What I think: Paul Weller has been increasingly experimental with his music, especially with the psychedelia-tinged "22 Dreams" in 2008. "Sonik Kicks" is an extension of that, featuring a bunch of songs in a multitude of different styles, including Britpop of old, folk music, soul, and so on. While some may argue it lacks coherence (perhaps it could be seen as a little too diverse), I think it's another great album from the Modfather, and of a quality I hope he keeps up in years to come. [8]

Kling I Klang

Similar: Blur, Jarvis Cocker, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Iron Maiden - En Vivo! [26th Mar]

I'm tempted to say "It's fucking Iron Maiden" and have done with it, but since I saw them at one of the dates on their Final Frontier World Tour last year, I can actually review this album by comparing it to my first-hand experience of this set and Maiden as they are now. As the title and packaging implies, "En Vivo!" was recorded in Chile during Iron Maiden's Final Frontier World Tour. The setlist itself focuses on a lot of new material (over half the songs are from 2000 onwards), while still including all the Maiden classics we know and love. Bruce, Steve, Adrian, Dave, Janick and Nicko are still as talented and energetic as ever, but on an audio recording this can only come across on their playing, which sounds very much as it did on "The Final Frontier". Furthermore, in order to streamline the album, most of Bruce's banter has been removed (and there's a lot) which makes the whole thing a rather bog-standard affair. This is far from the definitive Iron Maiden live performance (look to "Live After Death" for that), so unless you're a die-hard, show no more interest. [5]

(Also I know there's a DVD of this concert, but the standard edition is just the audio, so that's what I reviewed)

Iron Maiden

Similar: Judas Priest, Angel Witch, Hell

Astra - The Black Chord [27th Mar]

Whoops, this shouldn't be here. This album was clearly released in Q1 1972, with its psychedelic trip music, space-age synthesizer textures amd cover art quite clearly designed by Roger Dea- wait, this came out this year? Huh. Basically Astra are a band that has set out to show the world what 'psychedelic' really means (i.e. not MGMT), with an album that would have been just at home 40 years ago as it is today. Featuring six tracks (three extended, three shorter) with far-out guitar work, atmospheric keyboards and willowy Gilmour vocals, "The Black Chord" is definitely worth a listen whether you plan on getting high or just sitting back, relaxing and setting off on a cosmic voyage to discover the true meaning of 'chilled out'. Best album I've heard so far this year. [10]

Cocoon
Similar: Pink Floyd, Yes, Early Porcupine Tree, The Bakerton Group

The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet [27th Mar]

Apparently something's slowing The Mars Volta down. Since they exploded onto the scene in 2003 with the frantic and energetic "De-loused in the Comatorium", every subsequent release has seen slower music and a deeper singing voice from Cedric. Not that this is a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination; it shows that the band aren't afraid to experiment a bit, and although "Noctourniquet" is not their strongest offering, it has enough good ideas and diversity to hold its own. Many of the songs sound like they've been taken straight from "Frances the Mute", slowed to half speed, then had the vocals re-recorded by an extremely pissed off singer. However, the production is a bit wonky at times, with some tracks (e.g. opener "The Whip Hand") sounding like someone banging some crockery in the next room. As I said, not the band's greatest album, but kooky and interesting and worth a listen or two. [7]

The Malkin Jewel

Similar: At the Drive-In, De Facto

So that brings Q1 2012 to a close. In the next three months we have Ian Anderson's "Thick as  Brick 2", Mikael Åkerfeldt / Steven Wilson collaboration "Storm Corrosion", new O. Children album "Apnea", the new Rush album (finally!) and more. See you then!

REVIEW: Savage Messiah - Plague of Conscience [2012]

Alright, I'll admit to having shown no interest in this album until I got an e-mail from Earache records offering it as a free download from their site. Given that the last two albums I downloaded from Earache were Gama Bomb's "Tales From the Grave in Space" and Wormrot's "Dirge", I figured I may as well give it a spin. Plus, I'd be going into this album with absolutely no expectations, so at least I wouldn't be disappointed.

So then, "Plague of Conscience" is a thrash/power metal album from Savage Messiah, and their first release on Earache. Those of you who read my 2011 roundup may remember the first impression I had of Destruction's "Day of Reckoning", in that it was a little underwhelming. Well this first impression showed its ugly face again with "Plague of Conscience", and continued throughout. There wasn't anything on the album in particular which caught my attention or made me think 'hey, that was pretty cool'. All in all, the 53 minutes of the album passed by without incident, which definitely can't be good for my rating of it.

There were some parts of the album which at least sounded nicer than other parts (a statement so vague it's completely without merit by itself), which is not necessarily good, as there were no real ball-grabbing moments as you'd maybe expect on a thrash album. Anyway, "Six Feet Under the Gun" and "In Thought Alone" were the two best tracks of the album, and even they weren't much better than the rest quality-wise.

And that's about it really. Ordinarily I could write much more, but this album affected me that little that I've already run out of things to say.

3/10


You can download this album for free of Earache Records' website, so I'm not going to bother uploading it.

REVIEW: Paul Cusick - P'Dice [2012]

I was first introduced to Paul Cusick around two years ago when a helpful Facebook advert informed me about his 2009 debut, "Focal Point". After giving it a few digital spins I decided I liked it enough to invest in the CD, which came with a very nice personalised postcard from the man himself. Thing is, I first got into "Focal Point" when I was just starting to properly discover prog, and it was soon after this that I discovered Porcupine Tree. Let it be said that the similarities between "Focal Point" and tracks from Porcupine Tree's "Deadwing" and "Fear of a Blank Planet" albums are more than just coincidences. Don't get me wrong, "Focal Point" was a good album. It just could have featured more in the way of creativity from Paul.

But that was the past. We're now living in the distant future of 2012, and 'Q6' (as he's credited on the cover) has released a second album, and here it sits in my grubby mitts. Right from the off (and as evidenced from the lengthy, ever-so-slightly pretentious description on his website), the tinge of sadness and pessimism which was present on "Focal Point" returns, stronger than ever. Songs this time round deal with various aspects of prejudice, such as religious bigotry, patriotism & war, poverty, among others. However these songs are less personal than they were on "Focal Point", and as a result some of the songs can sound a little detached on the emotional front.

Anyway, this is a prog album. What about the music? The lineup of Paul playing everything but drums, someone else playing drums has remained, but this time Q6 has managed to enlist the help of some more famous drummers than on "Focal Point", namely Marco Minneman and Gavin Harrison. That's right. Gavin. God-damn. Harrison. Of Porcupine Tree. Somehow, and for some reason, Cusick has managed to recruit the drummer of the band he so shamelessly ripped off back in 2009. I can't exactly claim to understand exactly how that deal went down (unless "Paul Cusick" is actually just a pseudonym for another of Steven Wilson's many many side projects), so let's just ignore the technicalities of that and move on. As far as the drum tracks on the album are concerned, Gavin and Marco do a terrific job at giving some of the tracks atmosphere, specifically on "Tears". Coupled with Paul's watery, Gilmour-esque guitar playing, the album as a whole has a great sound and some very good production & mixing work has gone on here. However, the 50-foot giant fly in the ointment here is the singing. Don't get me wrong Paul, I both admire and respect you for aspiring to do absolutely everything on this album yourself (sans drumming), but there are some aspects where you just have to step back and consider whether you're actually doing a good job. Most of the time, Q6's singing on this album sounds rather breathless and flat, which in some cases is the decider between whether a song is good or not (listen to "God, Paper, Scissors", and you'll see what I mean).

Aside from what the rather irritating problems I've mentioned, "P'dice" is still a very solid second effort from Cusick, and is definitely worth a couple of spins. If you liked "Focal Point", you'll like this. If you're unsure or haven't heard "Focal Point", go and listen to that first before deciding whether to buy this or not.

7/10

JohnRCC's 2011 Roundup

Only a few days late!

Anyway, I haven't even listened to fifty newly-released albums this year, let alone enough to make a top fifty list and have some left over to give out extra awards. So what I've done instead is simply review every album I've heard this year, then giving out some additional awards for special album categories and other goings-on in the music world. So let's get started:

The Reviews

Adele - 21
Look past the monotony of the singles from this album (and the fact that they're played waaaay too much on the radio; if the point of pop music is to get into people's heads then mission fucking accomplished I guess), and be pleasantly surprised that the rest of this album is worth listening to, for both the more upbeat rock songs and the downright soulful ballads. [7]
Rumour Has It

Anthrax - Worship Music
It's been said this is the best big 4 album of the last 10 years, which is quite frankly a load of balls (and we all know that, because St. Anger only came out 8 years ago :V). But anyway. On its own merits, Worship Music sounds like a bastard cross between the Anthrax of old and the more commercial NWOAHM bands like Avenged Sevenfold. And trust me, this is not a good thing. [4]
Fight 'Em Til You Can't

Black Stone Cherry - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
The thing I liked about BSC's 2006 debut was that it was simple man music. It's the kind of album you'd have blaring out of the stolen stereo in your pickup while driving around looking for alligators to shoot. 5 years later though and the band have done some soul searching, and now their songs are about more emotional topics like feelings and butterflies and being massive sissies. Not to say the album itself is bad - the non-ballady songs are extremely competent southern-tinged blues rock - the band just needs to man the fuck up again. [6]
Blame it on the Boom Boom

Destruction - Day of Reckoning
If there's one thing that struck me about this album, it's how extremely like a standard thrash album it was. Riff here, shout there, shredding solo everywhere, and so on. It felt severely as if it was simply going through the motions. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing (hey, thrash is thrash), but it didn't leave much of an impression on me. [6]
Day of Reckoning

Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction
In terms of the Devin Townsend Project as a whole, "Deconstruction" is the 'fuck everything, question everyone, cheeseburgers AAAAAAKGKGKJHGK' album, and as such is probably the closest any of Townsend's music has been to Strapping Young Lad since... well, Strapping Young Lad. Complete with ridiculously complex arrangements, a plethora of guest musicians (including Ihsahn of Emperor and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth) and even a sixteen-minute suite with full orchestra, "Deconstruction" is the most bizarrely complicated - and probably most compelling - thing Townsend has done in a long time. [9]
Juular

Devin Townsend Project - Ghost
Here then is the chalk to Deconstruction's cheese(burger), the yin to its yang, and some other bullshit metaphors. "Ghost" is intended as and very much is a chillout album, with none of Townsend's usual harsh vocals or heavy playing. The usual wall of sound production is still present, but this time the sonic space is filled more with synthesisers and flutes and such. Overall "Ghost" is a lovely relaxed album, with my main criticism being that many of the songs are actually quite repetitive, in a new-agey, ambient sort of way. [8]
Blackberry

Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
An enjoyable if slightly unoriginal effort from one of my favourite bands. Read my full review here. [6]
Outcry

Duran Duran - All You Need is Now
One of the most popular bands associated with '80s cheese has been largely out of the public eye since the release of their last album. 2007's "Red Carpet Massacre". This is the first post-'85 album I've heard by the new wave boys, and one thing that can be said for them is that their '80s vibe is still alive and well. Most of the tracks on the album have that clean, new wave production, specifically the title track and "Safe (In the heat of the moment)". Sadly, as with any retro synthpop album it made for the singles, and as a result some of the album tracks have an unmistakable whiff of filler about them. Still though, the album as a whole is very solid and harks back to the time when the band were at their peak (especially on "Before the Rain", which sounds suspiciously like 1982's "Rio" album closer "The Chauffeur"). [7]
Blame the Machines

Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth
It would appear Evile is the proud owner of The Big Book of Heavy Metal Cliches, your ultimate go-to resource for all aspects of being a decent metal band. It includes how to imaginatively name your songs (e.g. "Cult", "Eternal Empire"), how to have lyrics about blood and death and spooky spooky ghosts, and how to relentlessly copy Slayer. Though as I mentioned about Destruction earlier, sometimes the appeal in thrash lies not in creativity but in sheer balls. Unfortunately, "Five Serpent's Teeth" appears to be lacking in the balls department as well. [5]
Eternal Empire

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Although Foo Fighters currently are the radio-friendly mainstream rock band, it could quite easily be forgotten that they do put out some good, honest hard rock now and again. "Wasting Light" is the closest the band have had to an old-fashioned classic rock album, complete with a punchy opener in "Bridge Burning", softer, more introspective tracks in "I Should Have Known" and "Back & Forth" and some balls-out riffing in "White Limo". Not that this is the best album of 2011, but it's certainly one of the Foos' strongest and certainly worth a listen. [7]
Bridge Burning

Gorillaz - The Fall
Some of you may be familiar with the term "Third Album Syndrome", in which a fledgling band will set out with enough material to record one or two albums, but then they go off on tour and suddenly the record label is at their door demanding new songs. They try to write under pressure, and it shows. Well former Blur man Damon Albarn has taken this notion to its logical extreme and written, recorded, and released an LP while on tour. The whole thing was done on an iPad, and - with fear of repeating myself - it shows. The album seems dull and uninspired, with few interesting ideas that don't really go anywhere. It was a novel way of doing things, but ultimately it didn't pay off. [2]
Revolving Doors

Havok - Time is Up
Returning once again to the theme of thrash balls, this new album by Denver-based Havok kicks off with a rocket to the face in one of the best album openers of the year, "Prepare for Attack". From here on out, the album is forty-two minutes three seconds of pure insanity that refuses to let up. It could be argued that this outright refusal to just slow the fuck down at all is a point against it, Havok are a band who know what they're good at, and they do it very well indeed. [8]
Prepare for Attack

Hell - Human Remains
It's debatable whether this album should even be included in the 2011 roundup. It was written, rehearsed and even partly recorded way back in the mid-'80s, and was only postponed due to the death of guitarist/vocalist Dave Halliday. What the modern incarnation of the band have done then is reformed to pick up the pieces, so "Human Remains" really is a traditional NWOBHM album disguised in 2011 production. Nevertheless, it was released in 2011 so I'll include it as such. And as far as proper British metal is concerned, Hell is among the best there's been in some time. "Human Remains" may adhere shamelessly to those heavy metal cliches I mentioned earlier, but they're all pulled off with such style it makes me feel like it's 1982 and NWOBHM is still riding high. [9]
Blasphemy and the Master (I couldn't find a studio version)

Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
As someone who admittedly knows very little about hip-hop, I was apprehensive about listening to a joint album by two of the most popular modern hip-hop artists. I've heard all too much about autotune in hip-hop recently, but thankfully Jay-Z is pretty strongly against it himself. Unfortunately, West does his best to make himself heard on this album, and it shows as about half the tracks are reminiscent of his 2010 opus "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". But judging the album on its own merits, "Watch the Throne" features some very catchy tracks, the best of which being the lead single, "Otis". [7]
Otis

Joss Stone - LP1
A rich, fulfilling (if at times slightly pornographic) return to basics for the soul singer. Read my full review here. [8]
Karma

Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
I only got into Justice near the start of 2011, by getting hooked on their 2007 debut and listening to it over and over for a few months. Given then that I was almost at the point of listening to "Cross" once per day when the French house duo announced their second release in August, I wondered how on Earth they would be able to best their first. And while it's true that "Audio, Video, Disco" is by no means as good as "Cross", it shows how the pair have taken their sound in a more mature, album-based direction. It's easy to hear the arena rock influences on the opening chords and drum fills of "Horsepower", and the theme set at the start is pretty consistently held throughout. One could argue it's a lot more tame than their previous album, but it's obviously the direction they've chosen to take here. [8]
Horsepower

Lazuli - (4603 Battements)
It was through a contributor of this very blog that I first heard about Lazuli (thanks Xylem), though at the time I listened to this album once, thought "that was pretty decent" and then completely forgot about it. Only recently did I give it a few more spins and discover just how fantastic this is. "(4603 Battements)" is modern French prog done to perfection, with great songs (and I mean SONGS, the longest track on the album is a mere 7:20. Not that I don't like the really long prog songs, but this is a nice change), spine-tingling instrumentals and overall a great atmosphere. Great job. [9]
Dans le formol au muséum

Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness
LC! are an oddity in that they are an indie pop band with shouty, cockney-accented vocals, more "quirky" instruments than you can shake a piccolo at and - at times - a laughable approach to pretentious bullshit lyrics about relationships. But that's not why they are an oddity. They are an oddity in that they are all of this yet they don't get on my nerves like most other similar bands. 2011 saw the release of "Hello Sadness", the 4th album from the rowdy lot, but it's clear right from the off that this is a much different album to, say, "Hold on Now Youngster". For a start, lead singer Gareth's voice appears to have dropped about four octaves since those heady days of 2008, and although the lyrical content remains as "artsy" as ever, it's no longer delivered like the entire band have been chugging red bull and boost bars all evening (although their gigs certainly feel like that). And believe me when I say this is very much in their favour. The songs on the album are delivered with both energy and modesty, and they haven't yet outstayed their welcome, which given my stance on indie bands is a MASSIVE achievement. [9]
Songs About Your Girlfriend

Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu
I'm going to come straight out and say it: "Lulu" is alright. That grinding sound you hear is the teeth of my fellow Court in the Act contributors, but it is alright. Sure, it's not the best thing either party has done by a long shot, but what you have here (and what I'm tempted to say is the focal point of the album, minus grandpa Lou's stories) is atmosphere. I listened to Lulu while walking to work at 6AM a few days ago, and the atmosphere it created in the cold was simply sublime. Yes, I agree it's repetitive and I also agree it's just too damn long, but it really works best when considered an ambient album. In particular, "Cheat on Me", the 11-minute closer to the first disc, passed almost without me noticing, as the sound created by the instruments almost blended into the background. So, "Lulu", is not the best album of 2011 by far, but it has its niche and fills it well. [5]
Iced Honey (I was going to put "Cheat on Me" here, but there were no videos of it)

Mastodon - The Hunter
It would seem Mastodon have gone soft. Gone is the pure aggression of earlier releases such as "Remission". In place is a more technical side of the band, allowing their progressive side to come through even stronger. And mostly, this works in their favour. While some of tracks seem like filler (such as "Blasteroid" and "Thickening"), the album managed to hold my attention throughout, with one of the least-Mastodon tracks on there (the title track) being the most surprising, and ultimately the most rewarding. [8]
Dry Bone Valley

Megadeth - Th1rt3en
If there was any band that are a caricature of themselves, it would be Megadeth. Especially since Dave went off on his whole 'satanic forces' tangent (also you just read that in Mustaine's voice), everything the band has done has seemed exaggerated and just plan silly. "Th1rt3en" is the epitome of this silliness, in one succinct package. Everything about this album reeks of lack of ideas. Never mind the fact that some of the tracks have been floating about for about 18 years (no seriously - "New World Order" and "Millennium of the Blind" appear as bonus tracks on my copy of "Youthanasia"), there's little to none of Megadeth's past creativity or energy. Simply put, this band is not ageing gracefully. Though, given how good 2009's "Endgame" was, this was a huge disappointment. [5]
Public Enemy No. 1

Mitochondrion - Parasignosis
"Parasignosis" was another album I listened to during my quest to like all music earlier this year. However, like "(4603 Battements)", once I'd heard it I kind of brushed it to one side and went on my merry way. Coming back to it now, about 8 months later, it's certainly grown on me. Maybe it's because I developed a liking for Godflesh in the interim, and the pounding, mechanical drums on this album are reminiscent of "Streetcleaner". It may also be the production, which as far as I can tell (though I don't know much death metal) is second to none. Either way, this is an extremely infectious album that was certainly deserving of that much more favourable second listen. Also there's a lovely ambient drone track at the end. [8]
Parasignosis

Opeth - Heritage
I should need to give very little background to this album. Chances are, if you are interested in metal in any way, shape or form, you already know about Opeth's bold new direction and the various points for and against it. Well here's my two cents. There's no denying Opeth are good musicians. It was Åkerfeldt and his band of cronies who put out still life, which had its pure prog moments in "Benighted" and "Face of Melinda", and they were executed perfectly. But the question remains as to whether a whole album in this style would work. And the answer is a resounding... 'sort of'. While all this crazy jazz fusion requires a lot of talent to pull off, on record it sounds ever so slightly too refined. I'm tempted to make the Dream Theater comparison here, where the music as a whole feels a little soul-less. It's prog for prog's sake. That's not to say the album doesn't have its moments. For example, the solo at the end of Häxprocess had me by the balls throughout. "Heritage" is a good album, it just doesn't match up to Opeth's previous work in terms of both emotion and songwriting. [7]
Häxprocess

Peter Gabriel - New Blood
Peter Gabriel's voice is one I will never tire of. No matter how old or raspy it gets, I will always have a special place in my heart for the sound of the former Geneis frontman. Continuing on from the orchestra project which began with "Scratch My Back", an orchestral covers album, Gabriel has now focused his attention on his own songs, providing us with lovely orchestral versions of some of his lesser-known gems, such as "Intruder" and "San Jacinto". Not content to just transcribe each instrument to strings, woodwind, etc, Gabriel has enlisted the help of John Metcalfe and the pair have more or less completely re-arranged each track specifically for orchestra. This has resulted in some spell-binding renditions of PG favourites of mine, such as the originally world-influenced "The Rhythm of the Heat". A Wonderful companion to "Scratch My Back", however now Gabriel needs to stop fooling around and finish up "I/O". [9]
San Jacinto

Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
Now this is folk metal done superbly (is that a word?). There's none of the cliche of certain other folk metal bands (which isn't always bad, but shut up I'm getting to that). The feel of the album is that of a religious outcast backed against a wall of sound, shouting his final desperate words to his persecutors. But enough analysis, how about the music itself? As far as folk metal goes, this can't really be done any better. There's something about the atmosphere created by the instruments, the production, and the vocals that I can't quite put my finger on, but sends shivers down my spine whenever I hear it. My only real qualm is that the songs are each perhaps a teensy bit too long (the shortest clocks in at 6:19, the longest 9:21, the average about 8:00). Although I'm not too familiar with earlier Primordial (I've heard it leans more towards the black metal side of things), I'm not really sure how this can be bested by the band. [8]
Lain With the Wolf

SebastiAn - Total
I found out about SebastiAn the same way absolutely everyone else did: through Justice. I downloaded his debut album "Total" as I heard in was similar in its fidgety style to Justice's 2007 masterpiece "Cross". A sticker I saw on the retail version proudly boasted '22 TITRES' (22 tracks), however when you cut out the filler tracks which are less than a minute long each, you're left with more like fourteen proper tracks. But what a fourteen these are. The fidgety house label could not be more accurate, with quick and erratic samples being used to create a jarring yet wonderfully compelling sound. Although SebastiAn is slightly more 'obnoxious' (a term I use to describe dance music that lacks all subtlety, e.g. Skrillex, Pendulum, etc.) he thankfully known when to rein it in so the often abrasive sound of the album doesn't wear out its welcome. A must for all fans of the 'other' French dance duo. [8]
Kindercut

Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Steven Wilson certainly is a strange one. Jack of all trades, master of- some, actually. In his art rock side (I haven't yet delved much into his more experimental work with IEM and Bass Communion yet), the Porcupine Tree frontman is very difficult to fault. With his second solo offering in the form of "Grace for Drowning", Wilson has attempted to make an all-out jazz prog album. Cue the inevitable comparisons with "Heritage" (instigated by Wilson himself as he named GfD and Heritage as part of an 'odd trilogy', to be completed by the Wilson/Åkerfeldt collaboration "Storm Corrosion"), "Grace for Drowning" is better than "Heritage" in every respect. Referred to as two separate albums in one package, we have here 1 hour and 20 minutes of simply amazing music, which draws on many of the different types of music Wilson has made throughout his career (such as Porcupine Tree on "Sectarian", Blackfield on "Postcard" and bits and pieces of IEM on the 23-minute epic, "Raider II". However, what this album does so much better than "Heritage" is emotion. On every track you can tell Wilson is singing (or playing, in the case of the instrumentals) from the heart. And that improves this album vastly. [9]
Deform to Form a Star

Turisas - Stand Up and Fight
If ever it was manly to wear make-up, put on costumes and jump about on-stage with a violin, Turisas proved it. 2007's "The Varangian Way" has been one of my favourite albums this year, and I was looking forward to seeing how "Stand Up and Fight" would top it. Unfortunately, it hasn't. But fear not! "The Varangian Way" is a worthy opponent, and even coming close to its splendour is an achievement. The trademark Turisas silliness is still present and strong, and the whole album smacks of self-parody, but the songs swell with victorious melodies, singer Warlord Nygård rallies his troops with powerful vocals, and overall it's an album that just makes me want to go out there and break stuff. With a broadsword. Its only falldown is that some tracks feel padded with an arguably weak string section. [7]
The March of the Varangian Guard

Vektor - Outer Isolation
You know all those negative comments I've been making about thrash cliches throughout this article? Well, Vektor have just taken those comments and fired them out of a cannon directly up my arse. I would say Vektor transcend classification, but they don't. What we have here is quite clearly thrash, but it's pulled off with such technical mastery and such aggression that it doesn't sound like any other thrash I've heard. The follow-up to 2009's "Black Future", "Outer Isolation" is like a two-ton slab of man being ejected from a spacecraft, only to burn up on re-entry and land slap-bang on my speakers. And unlike some other thrash, which feels like an hour straight of 'AAAAAAAAAAAGH', "Outer Isolation" is like an hour of "AAAAAAAAAAAGH" with a purpose. And its purpose is to fuck. You. Up. Fantastic. [9]
Venus Project

Yes - Fly From Here
How do yes cope on only their second album without the iconic voice of Jon Anderson? Okay, I guess. Read my full review here. [6]
Fly From Here Part I - We Can Fly

Additional Awards

The 'You'll Never Beat Roger Dean' Award for best album artwork/packaging:

Mastodon - The Hunter (Special Edition)

The Atlanta sludgers have always been known for their highly trippy artwork, but they've really outdone themselves on their fifth release. For "The Hunter", the band chose not to use longtime collaborator Paul A. Romano, instead opting for the services of psychedelic woodworker AJ Fosik (a.k.a. the man with the best job title in the world), who created this bizarre cow/deer... thing. But what makes this album packaging great for me is the bonus little interactive activity you can do, where you can hold the album artwork up to your webcam on the Mastodon website, it plonks a 3D model of The Hunter on top of your head, so now you can be the mascot for your favourite trippy weirdo band. Try it out here (I think you need the special edition version, artwork pictured above).

The "£2.50 Transaction Fee" award for best live act:

Roger Waters - The Wall Live

Well holy shit this was amazing. I got the chance to see The Wall Live in London back in May, and it was worth every penny. The Wall being one of my favourite albums of all time ever, this stage production brought the album that I loved back together with the theatrics of the original 1980-1981 Pink Floyd tour, its grandeur multiplied by a million. A blast start to finish.

The "Jackson Pollock on a Carousel" award for most erratic album:

Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction

I'm not entirely sure what Devin had in that weird little mind of his when he set out to make "Deconstruction", and I'm not sure I want to know. All I know is that this album (and the DTP as a whole) is one of the most varied pieces of work I've heard, and thankfully that works in its favour.

The "Universal Scrobbler" award for most listened to album of 2011:

Pink Floyd - The Wall (262 Scrobbles)

What can I say? The Wall is one of my favourite albums and I spent a shitload of time listening to it this year. As far as 2011 albums are concerned, though, the new release I listened to most this year is Total by SebastiAn, which certainly surprised me.

The "Creme de la Crap" award for worst album of 2011:

Gorillaz - The Fall

I had a hard time picking this one, but then I remembered The Fall was released this year. Huh, that was easy.

The "Creme de la creme" award for best album of 2011:

Los Campesinos! - Hello Sadness

It may not have been the highest rated, it may not have been the one I listened to most, but simply put it's the one I enjoyed the most. So here's looking forward to seeing these guys in 2012.

And here's looking to seeing you guys in 2012, it's been fun.