HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally. Caveat: only albums that got a review are in these listings. I listen to a lot more music than I have time to write about.
Today: final countdown from number 5 to 1.
Please shop at your local record store. Most of the stores have a pretty good website where you can order your stuff. It might even be cheaper than the big ones on the 'net. The folks who work there know their stuff and can recommend artists you might like.
Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows and stop by the merch table. And be sure to tell your friends about that great new act you discovered. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music. Algorithms always play it safe, which is fucking boring.
5 Jumble Hole Clough: From a Broom Cupboard in Marseille - music for imaginary puppet shows volume 4
Robinson dug deep in his sack of rhythms and assorted titbits and used them as the springboard for short melodic excursions, with some "incidental music" quirks thrown in. He always finds a way to yank the listener out of his comfort zone. A Month of Sundays is quite relaxed, as it should be with a title like that, but there is also something lurking in the background that mean trouble. On the other hand, what's not to like about Imaginary gardens containing real frogs? Can such a thing actually exist? Thanks to an avant-garde musician from Hebden Bridge there is at least the possibility to conjure up the image of them leaping about.
4 Blase: Somewhere Out There
Wilmington, NC based multi-instrumentalist Blase plays the kind of dreampop that is able to transport listeners to an alternate reality where things are quite beautiful and, as an added bonus, age is not a number, but has come to a standstill. His Somewhere Out There album flows gently and might be mistaken for a long lost record from the golden age of psychedelic pop, when echo and reverb smoothed over the rough edges of real life.
3 Custard Flux: Enter Xenon
Curvey is always up for a challenge, for himself, his band mates and his listeners. Why take the easy route as the unchartered waters are beckoning? Yes, there is some Pink Floyd in there, some Porcupine Tree, but followers of the underground can pick his band out of any line-up within seconds. The kaleidoscopic twirling sound on the twin guitars, the smart use of progressive psych-rock go-to instrument the Mellotron, plus the subtle interaction of the bass and drums, all work together for a sonic experience that is dreamy, uplifting, and captivating.
2 Dancer: More or Less
Static, fuzz and feedback are put to good use as an integral part of the stop-and-start rhythms that will get the people at their shows on the wrong foot. This kind of well-executed stubbornness and not playing by the rules was all the rage in the 90s in circles of music lovers who were serious about their listening habits. Add sharp-witted lyrics - "You wanna know what is so fucking funny? That's the way you always come running to me" might well be this year's best putdown line - and you have a recipe for an album with a dozen of songs that all could have been chosen as a single.
1 The Bullfight: 81 Bedford St.
Dutch folk noir band is all over the place for a movie that does not exist. That doesn't matter as they can conjure up the imagery themselves.
Most soundtracks are connect-the-dots affairs, with a few well-known popular songs and a run-of-the-mill theme that a composer won't lose any sleep over to create to something memorable. Not so for 81 Bedford St. on which the band's resident writer and multi-instrumentalist Thomas van Vliet went above and beyond with a bunch of songs that are closely linked to create a narrative, but also can hold their own and be enjoyed as such. There is jazz, industrial noise, torch singing, avant-garde, pastoral violin driven baroque pop, and much, much more.
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