My Favorite Albums Of 2018

There have been some years while I've been writing this blog where I have struggled to come up with even 10 albums I've loved released in the previous 12 months. This year though has had so many I've loved instead it's been hugely difficult to whittle it down to just 10. There were two EPs in particular that wowed me that didn't make the list simply because they weren't long players: Alison Sudol, formerly A Fine Frenzy, making her debut as a solo artist with the dreamily atmospheric Moon EP and the brilliant "super-group" Boy Genius, combining the talents of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. I hope we'll get proper albums from both of them.

My Favorite Movies Of 2018

1. Isle Of Dogs
2. Lean On Pete
3. Annihilation
4. Phantom Thread
5. You Were Never Really Here
6. BlacKkKlansman
7. Bohemian Rhapsody

Merry Christmas!

Best Gigs Of 2018

It's incredibly hard to rank all the great gigs I've been to this year but one definitely stands out as the best: Jenny Lewis wowing the crowds at Koko. If there was any doubt that the world needs Ms Lewis (and really there isn't) then this concert celebrating her entire career from Rilo Kiley to her forthcoming solo release, certainly proved that she still is as essential and exciting as ever.

Matthew Sweet at Islington Assembly Hall

Matthew Sweet
Bryde
Islington Assembly Hall, 18 December 2018

Matthew Sweet hasn't played in the UK for 21 years! Well, according to a member of the audience anyway but Sweet himself seems to agree. He certainly hasn't played a solo gig here for a long, long time. That said, I did see him live before without realising it, as part of the short-lived supergroup The Thorns (formed with Pete Droge and Shawn Mullins) when they were supporting The Jayhawks in 2003. At the time I didn't know who they were so I certainly didn't appreciate who I was seeing. Thankfully, 15 years later Sweet is finally back to treat us with some power pop gems.

Courtney Marie Andrews at the Union Chapel

Courtney Marie Andrews
Andy Jenkins
Union Chapel, 3 December 2018

Courtney Marie Andrews has a cold tonight. But aside from a few coughs in between songs you wouldn't know it. In fact, to my ears anyway, Andrews sounds more incredible than ever. Last time I saw her with a band but she is even more spectacular with just her guitar and that amazing voice of hers, particularly in such a beautiful venue as the Union Chapel.

Neko Case at the Barbican

Embed from Getty Images

Neko Case
Kathryn Joseph
The Barbican, 8 November 2018

Neko Case really, really hates phones at concerts. A few years ago I saw her live and it seemed like she spent about 10 minutes just ranting about people who watch gigs through their phones and aren't present in the moment, which, to be fair, there is definitely plenty of truth in. After that phones were banned at Neko shows and there's always an announcement at the start of every one that states this. 

Cat Power at the Roundhouse

Cat Power
Stephanie Goodman
Roundhouse, 23 October 2018

There's no doubt about it, every Cat Power gig is a surprise. You never know if it's going to be an edgy, almost chaotic affair, or a bluesy soulful celebration or a lo-fi, free-spirited rambling show full of talk and sudden excursions into unknown territory. But every show with Chan Marshall is a hugely rewarding experience - it's why this is my ninth Cat Power show - and this has to be the most professional and confident I've ever seen her. 

David Crosby at Shepherd's Bush Empire

David Crosby & Friends
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 16 September 2018

It seems in recent years David Crosby has managed to piss off every other member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. None of them are speaking to him. The good thing about this is that it's made Crosby incredibly productive and we've got three solo albums from him in the last four years with another due out in October. It's also meant we've got the first David Crosby solo tour in the UK for the first time in years.

Jenny Lewis at Koko

Jenny Lewis
Christian Lee Hutson & Jason Crosby
Koko, 14 August 2018

It feels like ages since I last went to a concert and that coupled with the recent heatwave left me a reluctant gig goer today but such is the healing power of music that my frown was quickly turned upside down. Of course it helps that I was seeing an artist and entertainer as brilliant as Jenny Lewis and the show turned out to be one of the best, if not the best gig I've been to this year.

Jack White at Hammersmith Apollo

Jack White
SHIRT
Hammersmith Apollo, 28 June 2018

Back in July 2001 I saw The White Stripes for the first time. It was before they had hit big, although there was a huge buzz about them - they even had articles in the tabloid papers raving about them - so they had sold out the tiny Dingwalls venue in Camden. It was one of the hottest days that year and a lot of people were sitting outside before the show started, including me and my friends. Sitting next to us with his own group of friends was a young Jack White, wearing green (this was when he only wore red and white). He was discussing the latest episode of Brass Eye (it was the infamous "cake" episode) and seemed funny, normal and down to earth. 

Pearl Jam at the O2 Arena

Pearl Jam 
O2 Arena, 18 June 2018

There were jokes about sounding like Liam Gallagher, a Donald Trump mask being forced to drink wine, the usual Eddie Vedder nostalgia about Britain (The Who etc, etc) and more and more tambourines being chucked into the audience. And of course Pearl Jam tunes aplenty despite Eddie clearly struggling with a sore throat. But I am so done with arena shows.

Lump at Oslo Hackney

Lump (Laura Marling & Mike Lindsay)
Oslo Hackney, 6 June 2018

There's something delightful about going to a gig that starts perfectly on time and ends when it's still daylight out. But then this was an unusual show. A side project for Laura Marling and Tunng's Mike Lindsay, Lump have been performing their short debut album in full, playing both an early and a late show in one night, just like something out of the 1960s.

Phoebe Bridgers at Islington Assembly Hall

Phoebe Bridgers
Harrison Whitford
Islington Assembly Hall, 23 May 2018

On the cover of Phoebe Bridgers' debut album, Stranger In The Alps, a young Bridgers in her grandfather's yard is blanked out with white paint and made to look like a ghost - the white-sheeted kind - while her grandparents' dog looks on in the background. Funnily enough that slightly faded photo is a beautiful representation of her music. It sounds almost sepia-tinted and filled with old haunting remembrances: memories made ghostly as if they were painted white with sadness and regret.

Florence + The Machine at the Royal Festival Hall

Florence + The Machine
Shock Machine
Royal Festival Hall, 8 May 2018

Ten years ago I went to see MGMT - at the time flavour of the day - at the much-missed Astoria for a sold out gig. MGMT, who live were like a younger, brattier Flaming Lips, really divided opinions (I overheard one guy calling it the worse show he'd ever been to!) but the uniting factor for pretty much everyone there, regardless of what they thought of the headliners, was the support act, a tall, skinny redhead in a white ra-ra skirt and a big grin on her face: Florence Welch.

Angel Olsen at the Union Chapel

Angel Olsen
H.C. McEntire
Union Chapel, 30 May 2018

So I'm back to the good old Union Chapel yet again this month. This time it's to see Angel Olsen again for a special solo show. The first time I ever saw Olsen it was alone, without a band, supporting Neko Case and it was utterly perfect, so despite my reservations after my last Angel Olsen show, the beautiful intimate atmosphere of this old church made this irresistible.

Natalie Prass at Bush Hall

Natalie Prass
Jalen N'Gonda
Bush Hall, 23 April 2018

A few years ago I accidentally stumbled on a mysterious singer that was a beautiful throwback to the soft soulful sounds of the 70s, her album reminding me of some kind of beautiful lost Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter classic. Turns out I had actually seen Natalie Prass before playing in Jenny Lewis' band but there's no doubt that she was destined for bigger things.

Alela Diane at the Union Chapel

Alela Diane
Olivia Chaney
Union Chapel, 12 April 2018

It's strange, the first time I saw Alela Diane live was in a church and here I am, almost 10 years later, now in the quiet beauty of the Union Chapel, sitting in a pew and marveling at how much her music still moves me.

Isle Of Dogs exhibition

 

So after seeing and falling in love with the new Wes Anderson movie Isle Of Dogs earlier this week, I then took a trip up London to The Store X on The Strand to see the free exhibition, curated by Anderson himself, featuring the sets and models used in the actual film. Not surprisingly it was absolutely magical and well worth the 45 minute queue to get in! 

Charlotte Gainsbourg at Village Underground

Charlotte Gainsbourg
Sons Of Raphael
Village Underground, 29 March 2018

I almost got lost on the way to the Village Underground despite being there once before. It's a strange little venue with a tube carriage on the roof and the entrance around the back, but somehow I wandered to the right place after spotting the queue to get in. The couple in front of me had traveled from France to see the show and another girl was from Hong Kong. It was clear that this was going to be a packed gig full of the devoted.

Fu Manchu at Islington Academy

Fu Manchu
Big Spring
Islington Academy, 27 March 2018

This show was unusual for me because I was not at all familiar with the band I was going to see. I had heard of Fu Manchu but never actually heard them but my brother is a big fan and keen to see them for the first time so I was willing to give them a go. I knew it would be heavy stoner rock with sludgy riffs aplenty and on that count they definitely more than delivered.

At The Drive-In at Brixton Academy

At The Drive-In
Death From Above
Le Butcherettes
Brixton Academy, 9 March 2018

The last time I saw At The Drive-In it was six years ago on their reunion tour back in 2012. I can't believe it was that long ago, in fact when this show, once again at Brixton Academy, was announced I initially decided not to go because it felt like it hadn't been that long since I saw them. But fate intervened when two for one tickets popped up close to the date and it felt like I was meant to give the boys another visit.

Juliana Sings Olivia Newton-John

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that Juliana Hatfield is 50 years old. Somehow it just doesn't seem right. Not that she looks or, more importantly, sounds it, she still has that cool, youthful spark I've always loved in her. Even her new album is a tribute to her favourite singer growing up, Olivia Newton-John, with Juliana giving Olivia's sugar-sweet sound the Hatfield feel by rocking them up a bit (judging by the first two songs released anyway). I wonder if, in years to come, someone will pay similar tribute to Juliana. I hope so. I think a lot of people assumed she would become a 90s relic but she still endures today, much like her idol Olivia. This video for her version of Physical couldn't be cooler either. I remain hopelessly devoted to Ms Hatfield still.

Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer at Cadogan Hall

Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer

Teddy Thompson
Cadogan Hall, 30 January 2018

I arrived at the beautiful Cadogan Hall in the super posh Sloane Square and Teddy Thompson was already on stage. I didn't mean to miss any of his set because I had wanted to see him live for years now and was thrilled when I saw he was supporting at this show (due to the fact that he had produced the Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer album).