My Favourite Albums Of 2015

I think this year has been one where I have struggled to find much inspiration in music. I don't know if it's my age finally catching up on me or a lack of music out there to excite me, but I suspect it's the former. I hope it doesn't last but in any case it was pretty easy this time for me to whittle down my favourite albums of the year to just 11. I'm crossing my fingers that 2016 reignites some kind of fire in my music-loving soul but in the meantime here are the few that meant the most to me over the past year.

Best Gigs Of 2015

This definitely wasn't a prime year in gigs for me but it was nice to finally see a few reunited acts live for the first time, most notably The Replacements and Sleater-Kinney, and of course the incomparable Christine McVie back singing with the Mac. You would think that the Fleetwood Mac shows would be my absolute favourites (they were certainly the gigs that cost the most, probably as much as the rest combined) but seeing and hearing McVie singing Everywhere and You Make Loving Fun, although undoubtedly thrilling, was slightly overshadowed by finally seeing The Replacements and the pure ramshackle, joy of their show. Other than my usual fare of alternative and classic rock, I also got to experience some heartwarming pure country shows (Sturgill Simpson and Kacey Musgraves) and even a pop concert, albeit a rather unusual one (the fantastic Marina & The Diamonds). I can't imagine I'll go to many more pop gigs in the future but I do hope next year has some more country in store for me.

Sufjan Stevens at the Royal Festival Hall

Sufjan Stevens

Madisen Ward And The Mama Bear

Royal Festival Hall, 2 September 2015

Seeing Sufjan Stevens live has to be one of the most sublime and exhilarating experiences I've ever had. I've seen him once before of course, on his Age Of Adz tour, which was something of a spectacular music extravaganza, that left you full of the joy of life. His new album, Carrie & Lowell, though is all about death, in particular the death of his mother and the complicated relationship he had with her. The album, not surprisingly, is quiet and powerful and more reminiscent of his earlier acoustic album, Seven Swans (which just happens to be my favourite Sufjan album) so I anticipated a more low-key acoustic show but what I got was so much more.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Best gigs of 2011

Looking back at my list of gigs for this year I feel more uncool than ever because so few would ever grace the pages of NME and a good many are actually in their 50s and 60s. Not that I care anymore because I can say without doubt it's an honour to see some of the legends I've had the pleasure of seeing for the first time this year. Plus I got to see a few exciting up-and-comers too, so I'm not completely without hope in the cool stakes! Anyway, here's my annual list of my 10 favourite gigs of the year.

10. Janis Ian at Cadogan Hall and Judy Collins at Leicester Square Theatre

(Sorry, I can't decide between these two!)

9. Emmylou Harris at the Royal Festival Hall

8. Laura Cantrell at Mondo Water Rats

7. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings at Hammersmith Apollo

6. The Twilight Singers at Concrete

5. My Brightest Diamond at St Giles In The Field

4. Jonathan Wilson, Dawes & Jackson Browne at The Borderline

3. Marianne Faithfull at the Barbican

2. Patti Smith at St Giles In The Field

1. Sufjan Stevens at the Royal Festival Hall

Sufjan Stevens at the Royal Festival Hall

Photo from Gigwise

Sufjan Stevens

DM Stith

Royal Festival Hall, 13 May 2011

Astonishing. Breathtaking. Exhilarating. Is there a word to sum up Sufjan Stevens' show? All I know is that my jaw dropped somewhere in the first few seconds and remained that way for a few songs until the amazement couldn't suppress the grin any longer. Visually exciting, amazing fun and riveting throughout, for the most part I thought it was the most unique show I had every been to but the end, while great fun for the audience, owed much to The Flaming Lips with confetti and balloons and dancing in the aisles coming straight out of the Wayne Coyne party handbook. Not that it mattered because after the first two-thirds where else did it have to go? It just had to turn into a party or a light show and it kind of did both.

Albums of the decade

My favourite albums of the past decade. This has been a really hard task, much harder than I imagined. I've left out some really great albums that I've really enjoyed and loved but after a lot of consideration I think that this is the music that has meant the most to me over the past 10 years.

1. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Mark Olson - The Salvation Blues
3. Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther
4. Fleetwood Mac - Say You Will
5. The Twilight Singers - Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers
6. Neko Case - Blacklisted
7. Lindsey Buckingham - Under The Skin
8. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
9. Joanna Newsom - Ys
10. At The Drive-in - Relationship Of Command
11. Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Co.
12. Cat Power - The Greatest
13. Neil Young - Prairie Wind
14. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
15. Rufus Wainwright - Want One
16. The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium
17. PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
18. Stevie Nicks - Trouble In Shangri-La
19. Neil Diamond - 12 Songs
20. Hawksley Workman - (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves
21. Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
22. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
23. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Cold Roses
24. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
25. The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth