For one reason or another, this site has been fairly quiet on the reviewing front. That's not down to the music on offer being poor - far from it. So without further ado, here's a selection of albums from this year that you may want to consider adding to your wants lists, before the (sorry to mention it) festive run-up truly kicks in and restocks get holed up in a container depot for several months.
The beginning of the year saw furtive atmospheric producer Burial make a reappearance with a 40-minute EP entitled Antidote. If his epic multi-layered ambient side appeals to you more than the heftier dirtier subway beats of yore then Antidote should tick all boxes. Whispering synths, styli on scratched vinyl, brief snippets of soulful (almost choral) vocals and the barest bones of dub, opening track Strange Neighbourhood is a vespers for our dark and difficult times, while the remaining four tracks dip in and out of consciousness rather like KLF's Chill Out, Vangelis' most intimate Bladerunner themes or The Orb's lengthier masterworks circa Ultraworld. Stay with it - there's much to absorb above and below the surface.
Dressed in a gorgeous sleeve vaguely reminiscent of James Marsh's creations for Talk Talk, Island of Noise by jazz-folksters Modern Nature is languid, soporific and not unlike the musician's other projects Ultimate Painting and Beak. Informed by mainman Jack Cooper's revisit of Derek Jarman's The Tempest, the simplicity of the music belies the album's technical complexities. There's no shouting, no riffing - it's all politely but perfectly played. Even the ironically-monikered Bluster is a woozy hazy head-spin in a heatwave, while closer Build recalls the aforementioned Mark Hollis if he'd hooked up with Those New Puritans for a run-through of Spirit of Eden.
The award for Most Unassuming Album Opener of the Year might have gone to the start of The Tipping Point, the long-awaited opus by Tears For Fears. No Small Thing certainly isn't though - after two minutes, things kick in and we're back in the powerful thoughtful bubble of Messrs Orzabal and Smith. And as soon as the title-track shuffle-beats its way into your conscience, you'll be nodding with a wry smile. Those hoping for a 'Big Chair' or 'Seeds of Love' might have to be convinced a little more to keep listening but to these ears, The Tipping Point bears all the songwriting hallmarks of both of those albums, with just enough extra fairy dust to make their first LP for 18 years a cohesive listen.
Former Kraftwerk composer and musician Wolfgang Flur returned with his second solo album in March - Magazine 1 bears all the hallmarks you'd expect from the electronic creator and isn't hugely dissimilar to erstwhile colleague Karl Bartos' solo work. Poppy, reflective in places and armed with special guests such as MAPS, Midge Ure, Claudia Brucken and Peter Hook, as well as tech-ravers U96, Carl Cox and Juan Atkins. Highlights include the melancholic Zukuntftsmusik and pulsating Birmingham, the latter featuring Brucken's undoubted influence, a track that wouldn't sound amiss on her band xPropaganda's latest opus. Too many guests can sometimes spoil the musical broth but Magazine 1 has enough of Flur's rhythmic and modular approach to make this an interesting set.
Belgium's most enduring modern-classical and minimalist composer Wim Mertens returned in the spring with what must be approaching his 100th release. Comprising a selection of voice and piano pieces which are then re-recorded as ensemble works, Heroides is perhaps his most beautiful and ethereal work since the '90s. Following on from works such as A Man Of No Fortune and With a Name To Come, After Virtue and Jeremiades, this double-length collection allows Mertens' freeform tenor falsetto to scour heights that many others his age would fail to reach. His piano-work is almost indefinable but Satie, Debussy and Glass might register in the mind when hearing Medea, Hero or Hermione in their piano and vocal form. A few of the compositions work better in ensemble form, others in piano and vocal form with others working in either guise. Engaging stuff.
Another selection of piano works, this time from two long-term stalwarts of the ambient and electronica scene, 4 Hands features Germany's Hans-Joachim Roedelius and America's Tim Story. Story has previously recorded for short-lived wistful new-age, ambient and modern jazz label Windham Hill in the '80s, as well as respected Norwegian imprint Uniton and Roedelius's most recent stable Bureau B so you know that quality will win out with these two at the keyboards. It's all very graceful, melodic and as still as a mirror pool and needs to be absorbed in one sitting, much like most of Erased Tapes releases of late.
Tributes to ethereal synth romantics turned freeform post-rockers Talk Talk have taken many forms but never quite as obvious as Solace. Formed of TT and Mark Hollis musicians, the prog-ish supergroup Held By Trees have respectfully created and instrumental experience that resembles not only Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden but also Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mogwai on a Sunday morning, Nick Drake and John Martyn minus the vocals and even Can. By turns haunting, languid and hazy, the whole collection is a steadfast blend of improvisation and calm melodies, steered by head musician David Joseph and ably played out by a conveyor belt of experienced musicians that have appeared on recordings and live performances by the likes of Paul McCartney, Waterboys, Chris Rea, Billy Bragg and Pink Floyd.
The iconic On-u Sound label has been "disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed" for nigh-on 43 years now and long may it continue. Recent releases have been pin-sharp and reminiscent of Adrian Sherwood's imprint's '80s heyday, none more so than these TWO new Horace Andy albums. Main set Midnight Rocker is the classic roots-reggae you've come to expect from the man they call "Sleepy" with tight versions of Massive Attack's Safe From Harm and Andy's signature Mr Bassie, while companion opus Midnight Scorchers transforms the Rocker cuts into dubbed out (but not zonked out) masterpieces. Across the pair, there isn't a duff track between them and Horace Andy's sweet voice sounds as good as ever.
The first studio album in six years from the London ensemble Archive has been marred by the news of founder Darius Keeler's ongoing battle with cancer. But he should take solace from the fact that Call To Arms and Angels is on point and possibly one of the band's most consistent albums. The trademark harmonies and powerful epic production is in place as per usual but it's the overall ethereal mood that wins over. Sure there are also upbeat moments in Numbers and Frying Paint, but in contrast there is an abundance of heartfelt and soulful melancholia across the 17 songs. A slow-burner.
