Wednesday 1 October 2014

Music Chart - September 2014

Another amazing month of new music. Not one...but two Ryan Adams albums!, each showcasing the man's unique talents. 1984 is down and dirty punk meets garage rock and the eponymous album is borderline ironic - he has spent years detaching himself from 'almost namesake' Bryan Adams yet the latter release brings together soft-rock influences and clichéd scansion. The contrast makes the former more interesting but musically inferior. Then comes a much welcomed new album from Counting Crows, returning from something of a slump: a nice, yet limp covers collection after a 'more of the same' mid-tempo drawl live album. But Somewhere Under Wonderland is magnificent - upbeat, energised and committed in equal measures, with Adam Duritz sounding better than ever.

To compliment this trio, Leonard Cohen - now a feisty 80 years old - brings us one of his best albums, well, since the last one. Wonderful song writing and a stilted, yet charming, delivery makes Popular Problems an engaging and compelling listen. Then, another stalwart of the music industry: Aphex Twin returns with a list of incomprehensible and unpronounceable songs on the brilliant Syro - a masterclass of electronic genius. And lastly the sublime, weird and often wonderful Alt-J return with an album that is arguably better than their award winning début.

A late entry to the 2014 chart is Coldplay's Ghost Stories... while clearly a shadow of their former selves, Chris Martin and the boys deliver a beautiful heartfelt and inoffensive collection of love songs - the band's best for a very long time. And in total contrast, Pulled Apart By Horses continue to thrash things up while Lonely The Brave have a long way to go before they can claim Biffy Clyro's crown.

Nothing challenges the mighty War On Drugs who hold the top spot.

  1. Lost In The Dream by The War On Drugs
  2. Augustines by Augustines 
  3. Syro by Aphex Twin
  4. Rave Tapes by Mogwai
  5. Morning Phase by Beck 
  6. Gach Sgeul (Every Story) by Julie Fowlis
  7. Somewhere Under Wonderland by Counting Crows
  8. Forgetting The Present by Remember Remember 
  9. Built For Storms by Nigel Stonier
  10. While 1 is less than 2 by Deadmau5 
  11. The Fire Inside by Luke Sital-Singh
  12. Royal Blood by Royal Blood
  13. Beauty & Ruin by Bob Mould
  14. Smoke Fairies by Smoke Fairies 
  15. The Gloaming by The Gloaming
  16. Tales From The Realm Of The Queen Of Pentacles by Suzanne Vega
  17. Ryan Adams by Ryan Adams
  18. You Chose These Woes by Model Village
  19. Beautiful Desolation by Paul Thomas Saunders
  20. This Is All Yours by Alt-J
  21. Alarms In The Heart by Dry The River 
  22. Popular Problems by Leonard Cohen
  23. Owl John by Owl John
  24. Mandatory Fun by Weird Al Yankovic
  25. 48:13 by Kasabian
  26. Indie Cindy by The Pixies 
  27. Ghost Stories by Coldplay
  28. Running With Scissors by Janet Devlin 
  29. The Voyager by Jenny Lewis
  30. The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett by Eels
  31. Pe'ahi by The Raveonettes
  32. Grinning Streak by Barenaked Ladies
  33. Upside Down Mountain by Conor Oberst 
  34. Teeth Dreams by The Hold Steady
  35. Burn Your Fire For No Witness by Angel Olsen
  36. The Take Off And Landing of Everything by Elbow
  37. Lazaretto by Jack White 
  38. Get Hurt by The Gaslight Anthem
  39. Word Of Mouth by Seth Lakeman 
  40. So Long, See You Tomorrow by Bombay Bicycle Club 
  41. 1984 by Ryan Adams
  42. Heartstrings by Howling Bells
  43. Honeyblood by Honeyblood
  44. Futurology by Manic Street Preachers
  45. IX by Corrosion Of Conformity 
  46. Pale Communion by Opeth
  47. Into The Lime by New Mendicants 
  48. The Day's War by Lonely The Brave
  49. 9 Dead Alive by Rodrigo y Gabriela
  50. A Letter Home By Neil Young
  51. In The Silence by Asgeir
  52. Held In Splendor by Quilt
  53. Blood by Pulled Apart By Horses
  54. Wilderness of Mirrors by Lawrence English
  55. Ultraviolence by Lana Del Rey
  56. Salad Days by Mac Demarco
  57. Blood Red Shoes by Blood Red Shoes 
  58. Alvvays by Alvvays
  59. Supernova by Ray LaMontagne
  60. Echoes by Emily Smith 
  61. Everyday Robots by Damon Albarn
  62. Atlas by Real Estate
  63. Croz by David Crosby
  64. Benji by Sun Kil Moon 
  65. St. Vincent by St. Vincent
  66. Cursing The Sea by September Girls
  67. Wildewoman by Lucius
  68. Luminous by The Horrors
  69. High Hopes by Bruce Springsteen
  70. Songs About This And That by Karin Krog & John Surman
  71. Waking Lines by Patterns
  72. Unrepentant Geraldines by Tori Amos 
  73. Complete Surrender by Slow Club
  74. The Future's Void by EMA
  75. Here And Nowhere Else by Cloud Nothings
  76. Wig Out At Jagbags by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
  77. Total Strife Forever by East India Youth
  78. Too Much Information by Maximo Park
  79. Warpaint by Warpaint
  80. Are We There by Sharon Van Etten
  81. To Be Kind by Swans
  82. Eagulls by Eagulls 
  83. Education, Education, Education & War by Kaiser Chiefs
  84. The Crystal Method by The Crystal Method
  85. Kid Face by Samantha Crain
  86. None The Wiser by The Rifles
  87. Oh My Sexy Lord by Marijuana Deathsquads