My Favourite Albums of 2024

My top albums of 2024:

 

MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well

Mary Timony - Tame The Tiger

St. Vincent - All Born Screaming

Kim Gordon - The Collective

Laura Marling - Patterns In Repeat

Jack White - No Name

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - Woodland

Sturgill Simpson (as Johnny Blueskies) - Passage Du Desir

Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More

Sierra Ferrell - Trail Of Flowers

Laura Marling at St. John at Hackney Church

Laura Marling

St. John at Hackney Church, 2 November 2024

My sixth time seeing Laura Marling and this time it was the last night of a four day residency at a grand old church in the heart of Hackney. I had a standing ticket but it was such a mellow affair that I think it actually would have been greatly improved by being all seated but nevertheless it was a charming night, half solo and half with a string quartet and choir.

My Favourite Albums Of 2020

13. Tanya Donelly & The Parkington Sisters

12. Bonny Light Horseman - Bonny Light Horseman

11. Courtney Marie Andrews - Old Flowers

10. Isobel Campbell - There Is No Other...

9. Laura Marling - Song For Our Daughter

8. Waxahatchee - Saint Cloud

7. Ren Harvieu - Revel In The Drama

6. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters

5. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

4. Greg Dulli - Random Desire

3. Margo Price - That's How Rumors Get Started

2. Neil Young - Homegrown

1. Kathleen Edwards - Total Freedom

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.

My Favourite Albums Of 2017

This year has definitely been an interesting one musically, with women in particular releasing many of the best albums of any genre. That wasn't reflected well enough in the end of year polls, in my opinion, but it certainly is in my list. I actually included a couple more men in my first draft before realising that in my heart these were the albums that won me over more than anything else this year regardless of gender.

Best Gigs Of 2016

I didn't go to as many gigs this year but there were still plenty of highlights for me from some old favourites, a few legends and some acts, new and old, who I had never seen before. Probably the most unusual was film director/composer John Carpenter at Troxy, whose mix of electronic soundtracks and visuals was pretty incredible. Meanwhile, Bat For Lashes' themed show showcasing her concept album The Bride was theatrical, warm and brilliant; Margo Price made me fall in love with her thanks to her no-frills traditional country and Low brought their Christmas record to life for me in ways I didn't expect. On top of that I got to meet Greg Dulli, one of my heroes, and to see Neil Young play with his new band, Promise Of The Real,  featuring Willie Nelson's sons. Not bad at all. I hope 2017 has lots of good things in store too.

10. Lush at the Roundhouse

9. Cyndi Lauper at Hammersmith Apollo

8. Greg Dulli at the Union Chapel

7. Neil Young & Laura Marling at the O2 Arena

6. Angel Olsen at Koko

5. Warpaint at the Roundhouse

4. John Carpenter at Troxy

3. Bat For Lashes at the Union Chapel

2. Low: A Christmas Performance at Union Chapel

1. Margo Price at The Scala

Neil Young + Promise Of The Real at the O2 Arena

Neil Young + Promise Of The Real

Laura Marling

O2 Arena, 11 June 2016

At the Graham Nash show last week I met a man who was seeing Neil Young live for the first time at this O2 Arena gig and I warned him, "don't expect him to play the hits! Neil plays what he wants and that's part of what makes him so great and exciting to watch!" Well, my words have come back to haunt me because tonight Neil played many of his best loved songs, kept it easy on the new tracks and still was exciting as ever. Even giving the audience what it wants, Neil manages to still be completely unpredictable. I was so used to Neil never pandering to those who want the old hits that when he actually does it, well, it's a huge surprise and almost as shocking as when he rolls out a 30 minute feedback-filled unknown number.

Laura Marling at Queen Elizabeth Hall

Laura Marling
Gill Landry
Goodbye Chanel
Queen Elizabeth Hall, 29 April 2015

Near the end of the show tonight Laura Marling begins to play Warrior, the opening track on her new album Short Movie, and just completely forgets the words. She laughingly stops the band to compose herself, telling us "it's a lot of words to remember!" before flawlessly restarting where she left off. Not surprisingly it gets one of the biggest applauses of the night and, after such a serious, emotional and banter-free night, it provides a nice moment of levity.

Laura Marling at Shepherd's Bush Empire

Laura Marling
Nick Mulvey
Shepherd's Bush Empire, 2 October 2013

"When did Shepherd's Bush get so posh?" asks Laura Marling, who used to live around the corner she says and went to many, many shows at the Empire where she's now headlining. "When you left!" a cheeky audience member shouts, joking. "Charming!" Laura says in mock outrage. But really this couldn't be further from the truth, as I came to a realisation tonight that Marling is actually pretty posh herself. Because I first saw her as a meek supporting act back in 2007, where she shyly sat playing her guitar, looking tiny and startlingly young, I felt I knew Marling in the early days of her career and didn't really need to read much about her, just listen to her music (which has admittedly got better and better with each album).

My Favourite Albums Of 2011

My Favourite Albums Of 2008

I thought I may as well start off with a list of my favourite albums from 2008, because it probably best sets the scene for what will be on this blog. In order to compile my astonishingly brilliant list I am using this foolproof equation to calculate the perfect top 10: my most played albums on last.fm + the albums I think I like best + whatever ones are the coolest. It's an incredibly mathematical, painstaking process that obviously has taken me weeks to perfect, which is why I'm only posting it now. So at long last, here it is: