Here's another batch of vinyl I purchased this year. As has been the trend in recent years, most of the best new stuff has come from female artists. I had a discussion recently in my local independent record store Diverse with a member of the legendary Goldie Lookin' Chain (he works there). We ran off a list of female and female-fronted acts we've enjoyed albums by this year and he agreed the boys are lagging behind somewhat.
Last week I listed Stella Donnelly and Aldous Harding as two of my fave records of 2019. Here's a few more ladies who make the cut.
Cate Le Bon - 'Reward' Without a doubt one of the best records to come out of Wales this year and it proved (if it ever needed proving) that Cate Le Bon is one of this proud nation's finest musicians. 'Reward' is another combination of psych and offbeat Welsh quirkiness along with some cracking songs. This amazing video for Home To You was shot in Bratislava, Slovakia. I don't know about you, but I'd love to hear that community orchestra's version in full...
Pip Blom - 'Boat' From Wales to Holland. I remember introducing our good friend Brian to Pip Blom last year when I reviewed her support slot with the Breeders. I do hope he went out and bought 'Boat', Pip's debut album. It's really rather wonderful - old-school indie pop of the very highest order. Ruby is such a good song, isn't it?
Marika Hackman - 'Any Human Friend' What a record this is. 'Any Human Friend' is Marika's boldest album to date. And boy does she do it in style. To be honest, even if The One was the only decent song on it (which it isn't, btw) I'd probably still love it. This song is so good because 1) it sounds like Heart Of Glass; 2) it's really rude and sweary; and 3) IT JUST IS, OK? Kick ass video too. As she herself puts it: "For all you attention whores and big-headed beauties, here is a song from the depths of my extraordinary ego."
Mattiel - 'Satis Factory' As I write this, I cannot believe how good this year's albums have been. I'd be so hard pressed to name a top 5, there would be too many contenders. Mattiel's brilliant 'Satis Factory' would almost certainly be in with a huge shout. I love her glistening retro vibe, and her second album is drenched with it. I did think it would be difficult for her to top Count Your Blessings, but then she released Keep The Change. A stunning tune. The only flaw with the album is that its version of this song omits the backing vocals which I think are divine. But don't let that put you off.
Wow! Not sure how next week's tunes can match these, but we'll see...
The Breeders Support: Pip Blom O2 Academy, Bristol - 10 July 2018
It's still hot here. Hot gigs can be fun, but when it's been sweltering all day it's sometimes not what you're looking forward to that much. Fortunately, Bristol's O2 Academy is air-conditioned so it was actually OK in there. For a while, anyway. Plus The Breeders were in town, and I'd crawl over hot coals in a Saharan heatwave for Kim Deal, so nothing was going to put me off.
The sell-out crowd wouldn't need warming up in a literal sense, but support act Pip Blom certainly got things off to a pacey start. Hailing from Amsterdam and named after their lead singer, erm, Pip Blom, they were one of the more energetic bands I've seen of late. Pip is the daughter of former (Peel favourites) Eton Crop frontman Erwin Blom so she has good musical genes. I'm sure many of my regular readers would enjoy tracks like School, I Think I'm In Love and current single Pussycat. (Brian, I'm especially thinking of you!) Their Bandcamp page is rich with their offerings to date. Highy recommended stuff.
So where do I start with The Breeders? Well, I have this fear. I fear that, when you hold someone in such high regard - when you idolise their work, when they've got you through some tough times, when they continue to restore your faith in popular music - at some point they're going to let you down. It's the law of averages, right? So my fear was that The Breeders would not - could not - live up to my expectations. They could never be as amazing as the picture I have of them in my head. Right? WRONG! When Kim, Kelley, Josephine and Jim came onstage and launched into New Year and followed it up with Wait In The Car, they already had me convinced. For an hour and a half, The Breeders not only lived up to my hopes and expectations, they exceeded them. Everything I love about them - and all Kim's work in general - was on display. The rawness, the quirkiness, the honesty and the sheer all-round fun (even in dark, sinister songs like Walking With A Killer and All Nerve) was in abundance. The set drew mainly from the new album and the seminal 'Last Splash', which is understandable seeing as this line-up made them. All the new songs sounded great. My favourite track on the new album, Howl At The Summit, was immense and put a massive grin on my face. Josephine's deadpan delivery on Metagoth was another peak moment. That song in particular summed up what made this such a good show. Metagoth is full of weird and wonderful sounds and effects, and live the band succeeds in reproducing them. I'm not an advocate of bands trying to sound the same live as they do on record - what's the point of that? - but The Breeders have tried to make the songs work in the concert setting. They sound like they're supposed to, only edgier and sharper.
There were smatterings of other old faves too: Glorious, Fortunately Gone and Happiness Is A Warm Gun from 'Pod' went down a storm, as expected, as did Safari. But for me, one of the big highlights was Off You, one of Kim's most delicate, beautiful and quiet songs. It has been one of my fave Breeders songs since its release just prior to 'Title TK' in 2002, and it was a wonderful surprise to hear it played here. The crowd hushed as Kim, Kelly and Josephine delivered a quite stunning, spellbinding performance. That was one of those 'wow' moments I've spoken about before. (The last one I had was at last year's Nadine Shah show in Cardiff).
To top it all off, the banter between band members and audience was great fun too. Josephine showed us the toy bubble machine she bought earlier in the day. "Bubbles make everything better," she said. Kim and Kelley mainly took the piss out of Josephine. "How does it feel to be back playing to your people?" Kim asked her British bass player, before making fun of her accent. The crowd got it too. Whenever a shout came from an audience member, Kim looked puzzled and asked Josephine "Do you know what that meant? I need a translator." Kelley sang the violin part in Drivin' On 9 as "we don't have a violin player", after which she was greeted with the largest cheer of the night.
Oh, and then there was Cannonball. And Gigantic. What more do you need to know?
Despite the air-con, the Academy got hotter and sweatier and sweatier and hotter as the night wore on - but I didn't care. When we stepped outside, I wasn't so disappointed about it still being 25 degrees and horribly muggy at 11pm as I was about the show having come to an end. Without a doubt, Kim, Kelley and the gang didn't let me down. My fears have subsided.
